IT REALLY DID HAPPEN

The city of Jerusalem is silent.  The Passover is finished. The throbbing excitement of the past few days is over.  The cruel voices of the mob to crucify Jesus are still now.  The city sleeps.  A bloody period, it seems, has been placed at the end of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

But, in the midst of the stillness of Jerusalem, there is one who moves restlessly through the city streets and on through the gate of the city.  It is a woman, bent and frail, her hands are clutched as in unutterable grief and there are tears on her face.  It is Mary Magdalene.  What tragedy Christ’s death was to Mary.  He had done so much for her.  She had lived in open sin and shame but by His love, He had lifted her to a new way of life and to self respect.  Now, all of this is gone.  Jesus was dead. He had died before her very eyes.  She came to the tomb, but to her amazement the tomb is empty.  She knows not who took the body nor where the body had been placed.   As Mary stood in the half darkness, suddenly there was a figure standing in the deeper shadows.  She thought he was the gardener and she said,   “They have taken my Lord away…and I don’t know where they have put Him…  Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means Teacher).  John 20:15-16  Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord.”  John 20:18
I can only imagine what Mary must have felt.  But, she knew what she saw.  She saw Jesus resurrected from the dead.  She had to share such good news.

  Christ is alive.  How do you know?  Because He lives in your heart.  That is subjective evidence, very personal.  But, there is objective truth.  The resurrection is a historical fact based on reliable witnesses.  Jesus appeared alive, following His death and burial, to many people.  He appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the women, to two men on the road to Emmaus, to Simon Peter, to ten Apostles, to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee, to over 500 people at once, to James, to the Apostles at the time of His ascension, and to the Apostle Paul at the city gate of Damascus.  Now, these are all matters of historical fact.  What we do with such evidence is a matter of faith.

I thought of the preacher, William Sangster.  he was dying of cancer. He could get around but couldn’t speak.  He lived with his daughter.  One Easter Sunday, he became very despondent and discouraged. The daughter hardly knew what to say to this preacher.
Mr. Sangster wrote on a pad, “What a tragedy.  Resurrection Lord’s Day and no voice with which to praise my great Redeemer’s name.”   His daughter could give him no answer.
Finally, this broken hearted man wrote, “There is only one thing more tragic – to have a voice and fail to praise the great Redeemer’s Name.

Praise Him who died for our sins, was buried and then rose from the dead.

 

DIVINE OR DEVIL

Jesus is either the divine Son of God or the devil.  There can be no neutral ground because Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, will live, even though he dies,  and whosoever lives and believes in Me will never die, do you believe this?”   John 11:35   What an enormous claim.  Staggering is His promise of life.  That’s what we want to believe. It is what we need, LIFE now and forever more.  That’s Jesus offer.

We are all involved in the tragic possibility of suffering.  Every intelligent person knows that he lives every minute of his life on the brink of disaster. Life is transitory, perilous, potentially horrible.  I do not believe that God causes death or takes our loved ones in death.  God is good. He is love.  Some misfortunes are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, some are simply an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible, natural laws. It is a fact of life, that in this world we groan and die.

Death is not morbid nor to be dreaded.  Death is the gateway into eternity with God.  Eternal life, God’s kind of life, begins when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Meaningful, purposeful life is ours as we come alive in Christ.  He changes us inside out with newness of life.  We can have that resurrection power now.  In Christ, we are not on our way to death, but we are on our way to life. Life in Christ is deathless.  Death from man’s understanding seems to be failure and defeat but in God’s sight for those in Christ, it is victory and gain.  The tomb is not a blind alley, it is a thoroughfare.  Death is not a door marked exit, but a door marked entrance.  It is not the end but just the beginning.  May we see in Christ’s death, the death of death.

Just think:  “Of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven.
Of taking hold of a hand, and finding it God’s.
Of breathing a new air, and finding it Celestial.
Of feeling invigorated and finding it Immortality.
Of passing from storm and tempest to unbroken Calm.
Of waking up, and finding it HOME.”

 

Government Divine

There are three divine institutions, established by God: the FAMILY, the CHURCH and GOVERNMENT.

God set apart the home by instituting marriage.  Husband and wife committed to each other and the means of propagating the human race through children.  God set apart the Church to be God’s means of offering salvation to all mankind.  God set apart government to protect the rights of individuals.  There must be law (government) or you have anarchy.  Government is established to enable people to live together peaceably which demands law.  Government makes possible for a large group of people to provide for one another.  Government is the representative for the people in directing the affairs of the state.

Romans 13:1 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
I Peter 2:13-14 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by Him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
I Peter 1:17 “Show proper respect to everyone: love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

There is one exception to our responsibility to government and that is found in Acts 5:9: “Peter and the other Apostles replied: we must obey God rather than men.”

Our first obligation is to God.  The law of God is the highest law of all.  There can be no conflict, no interference with God’s clear teachings. No earthly power can require the children of God to do wrong,  to not love the Lord, to not worship God.  Our primary allegiance is to God through obeying His Word.  But, God has delegated His authority for governing people to man so we must be subject to any and all laws not contrary to the laws of God.

Even though government is of God the choice of the people who do the governing is up to man.  Israel wanted a King, like other nations, so God allowed the people their choice and it turned out disastrous.  God has given man a wisdom to chose who they will have governing them.  Be wise in your choice.  Don’t blame God if the wrong person gets in office.  Majority vote does not necessarily mean right.

We Christians are citizens of two worlds and to both we must be obedient. Our first and primary obedience is to God and then to government as long as it does not contradict the laws of God.  Be excellent citizens of both worlds.

A MESS

“Six year old Dan decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes.  He found a big bowl and spool, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.  He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Dan was covered with flour and getting frustrated.  He wanted this to be something very good for Mon and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove, and he didn’t know how the stove worked.  Suddenly, he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor.  Frantically, he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

Just then he saw Dad standing at the door.  Big crocodile tears welled up in Dan’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking.  But his father just watched him.  Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process.

That’s how God deals with us.  We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess.  Our marriage gets all sticky, we insult a friend, we can’t stand our job, or our health goes sour.  Sometimes, we just stand there in tears because we can’t think of anything else to do.  That’s when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.

Just because we might mess up, we can’t stop trying for God or for others.  Sooner or later, we’ll get it right, and then they’ll be glad we tried.”             Author unknown

This story was told by Larry Ford, deacon at Lester Road Christian Church, for communion meditation.   I asked him for a copy.  I liked it.  God loves messes like us.  Jesus died for messes like us.  When we do the very best we can, trying diligently to be our best, He covers our mess with His forgiveness and love.