HERE’S
GOOD NEWS
JESUS
CALLS FOR YOU!
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
"And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the
blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, He calleth thee.
And he casting away his garment rose, and came to Jesus.” (Mark 10: 49, 50)
As Jesus left Jericho, accompanied by His
disciples and a great number of people, he passed by a blind beggar named Bartimæus.
When the beggar heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he immediately cried out, “Jesus,
Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Those
nearby ordered him to be quiet, no doubt telling him that he was shouting too
loud or that Jesus didn’t have any time for him. That did not deter him,
however. The Bible says that, “he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of
David have mercy on me.
“And
Jesus STOOD STILL and commanded him to be called.” Although there were a lot of people following Jesus
and He had already walked past the beggar, Bartimæus touched Him with his
faith! The scene had suddenly changed.
Those who had previously told him to be quiet now rushed to his side, saying, “Be of
good comfort. Rise, Jesus is calling for you.”
THE
GOSPEL CHANGES EVERYTHING!
Jesus
still invites: “Come unto Me all ye who
labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matt.11: 28). You
may ask, “Is that for real? You mean, I can approach Him anytime with
everything? I can tell Him about my struggles, broken dreams, frustrations,
disappointments and failures?” The answer is a resounding,
“Yes! Yes, you can!”
What an opportunity to fellowship with Him,
to praise Him and worship Him, and tell Him how much we love Him. And to pour
out our hearts to Him about our fears,
pains and sicknesses, and to
intercede for loved ones who have been laid aside because of debilitating
diseases!
The Bible says: “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.” (1Pe.5:7); “For in that He himself hath suffered being
tempted He is able to succour (help)
them that are tempted.” (Heb.2:18)
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into
the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let
us hold fast our profession for we have not an High Priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted as
we are, yet without sin.”(Heb.4: 14, 15)
There is a touching account of JESUS sleeping
in the hinder part of the ship while His disciples were desperately trying to
keep the vessel afloat, during a severe storm. As they struggled against the wind and the waves, these seasoned
fishermen most likely had forgotten He was on board, as they went about doing
their work as sailors.
When the ship “was now full” of water and they were about to go under, they
awakened Jesus, saying: “Master carest
Thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4: 38)
The Bible says: “And He arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be
still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them,
Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared
exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the
wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:39-41)
HUMAN
NATURE HAS NOT CHANGED!
Human nature has not changed. We always want
to do things by ourselves, don’t we? The disciples could have called on Jesus
earlier. Either they forgot that He was with them or they were determined to
handle this situation on their own!
Two
things happened. First, Satan wanted to kill Jesus. He had sought Jesus’
death shortly after His birth in Bethlehem, and again when the religious
leaders sought to push Him over a hill. And secondly, Jesus knew that they
needed to go through that test so that He could show them His power and ability
in all situations.
He stated unequivocally: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” (Mark 16: 17, 18)
There are some theologians who desperately want
to believe that God no longer performs miracles and have latched onto two 4th
century Manuscripts that leave out several verses from Mark 16 that deal with
the miraculous.
Dr. T.J. McCrossan in ‘Bodily
Healing & the Atonement’ states: “A few scholars have denied the authenticity
of the verses in Mark 16, but Iranaeus
quotes these verses as a part of Mark’s Gospel, and remember, he was a
pupil of John the Apostle. This is positive proof that these words are
genuine.”
Honest scholars must ask the questions: “ARE VATICANUS
(B) AND SINIATICUS (A) INFERIOR TRANSLATIONS? Are they deliberately misleading
and spurious in their treatment of these texts?”
The subtle and devious work of the two
carnal-minded and unsaved theologians, HORT and WESCOTT (admirers of pagan philosophers
Socrates and Plato and evolutionist Charles Darwin) hoodwinked the
Christian community into believing that the inferior, flawed and possibly
altered spurious manuscripts in question, were in fact more reliable than the TEXTUS
RECEPTICUS from which the Authorized Version (KJV) was translated by 54 of
Great Britain’s greatest, most godly and learned theologians. See: ‘Satan
Infiltrates the Church’ maxsolbrekken.com
We believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its entirety, original purity
and No inerrancy; No exceptions; No deviations; No distortions! We
believe in the verbal (words),
plenary (extending to all parts
equally) inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, which means that God 'breathed out' His
Word through prepared men. (2 Tim. 3: 16, 17; 2 Peter 1: 20, 21; Phil. 2: 6;
Titus 1: 9)
We believe the Bible is the only true rule
for faith, morals, life and practice in the Church. It teaches
that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of
sin is death. (Rom.3: 23; 6: 23)
And
that only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross and His
subsequent resurrection from the dead are sinners able to be 'born again'
(1 Peter 1: 18 -23), redeemed from the
curse of the law (Gal. 3: 13) and
freed from the power of sin and condemnation. (Rom. 5: 1-21; 8:1)
HE
DOES CARE FOR EACH OF US!
He does care! That is why He
took our place on the Cross in order to REDEEM us from the power of the Devil
and darkness, purchasing our Eternal Salvation and translating us into His own
dear Kingdom! (Col.1: 13)
JESUS stated: “I beheld Satan as lightening fall from
Heaven. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over
all the power of the enemy: and NOTHING
shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10: 18, 19)
That is not all. He has given us His
blessed Holy Spirit to remain with us forever, to watch over us, anoint us and
empower us:
“And
whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I WILL DO IT.
“If ye Love Me, keep My commandments. And
I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, the He may
abide with you forever.”
Here is His PROMISE: “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8)
JESUS knows about us and hears us every
time we call on His name. And He does ANSWER! Our Lord said: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and call upon
Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me.”
(Psa.50: 14, 15)
“For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek: for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom.10: 12, 13)
Everything changes when we understand that He is calling us. Our
perspective is altered when the truth that He cares about us and that He is
near at hand, waiting for us to come to Him, penetrates our spirit! And that
when we do come to Him, our prayers will be answered and the darkness will be
gone forever!
WONDER OF WONDERS!
It is so comforting to know that He wants
to have fellowship with us and that He has included us in His schedule, and is
in fact waiting for us. How could anyone forget the painting of Jesus standing
at our heart’s door knocking and asking for admittance?
An old Gospel song entreats: “Don’t
turn Him away. Don’t turn Him away. He has come back to your heart again,
although you’ve gone astray. O’ how you’ll need Him to plead your cause on that
Eternal Day. Don’t turn the Saviour away from your heart. Don’t turn Him away!”
Our dear Saviour invited: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if
any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, and will sup
with him and he with Me.” (Rev.3:20); “Him
that cometh Me, I will in wise cast out.” (John 6:37)
Dr. Oswald J. Smith, a Presbyterian
Missionary to the British Columbia Indians, was appalled at the conditions in
which they lived. He preached the true gospel and prayed for them to be saved,
delivered from wickedness and healed of their diseases. He was thrilled to see
the power of God deliver them.
In 1939,
he shared those experiences with Homer
Rodeheaver. The talented and anointed musician wondered if he could write a
song that expressed those truths. In a short time, Oswald J. Smith penned the
words to the song that George W. Shea
has sung to hundreds of thousands and heard by millions in Billy Graham’s Crusades and on Television.
WHEN
JESUS COMES!
One
sat alone beside the highway begging
His
eyes were blind, the light he could not see
He
clutched his rags and shivered in the darkness
Then
Jesus came and bade his darkness flee
When
Jesus comes the Tempter’s power is broken
When
Jesus comes the tears are wiped away
He
takes our gloom and fills our hearts with gladness
For
all is changed when Jesus comes to stay
From
home and friends the evil spirits drove him
Among
the tombs he dwelt in misery
He
cut himself as evil powers possessed him
Then
Jesus came and set the captives free
Unclean,
unclean the leper cried in torment
The
deaf, the dumb in helplessness stood near
The
fever raged, diseased had gripped its victim
Then
Jesus came and drove out every fear
Their
hearts were sad as in the tomb they laid Him
For
death had come and taken Him away
Their
night was dark and bitter tears were falling
Then
Jesus came and night was turned to day.
So
men today have found the Saviour able
They
could not conquer passion, lust and sin
Their
burdened hearts had left them sad and lonely
Then
Jesus came and dwelt Himself within.
BARTEMÆUS CALLED JESUS
MESSIAH!
What is so significant is the
faith that Bartimæus had in Jesus of Nazareth. He repeatedly addressed Him as
the Son of David, meaning the
MESSIAH. And secondly, he asked for MERCY.
One of the attributes of God is that He is
MERCIFUL. Bartimæus was addressing Jesus of Nazareth as Almighty God with power to extend His mercy to him, a poor blind
beggar. In his heart he KNEW that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the
God-man whom all righteous Jews had been waiting for to bring Redemption to
Israel.
Undoubtedly, he had heard the reading of the
Holy Scriptures declaring His coming: “But
thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the tribes of Judah, yet out
of thee SHALL HE COME forth unto Me
that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth HAVE BEEN from of old, from EVERLASTING.” (Micah 5: 2)
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a SIGN; Behold a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a SON,
and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isa.7: 14); “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the
government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful
Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa.9:
6)
As a beggar, sitting beside the road, he
would have listened to the voices of those who passed by and had undoubtedly
heard the voice of John the Baptist or his followers, speaking about Jesus of
Nazareth as the chosen Lamb of God Who would give His life for the sins of the
world! (John 1: 29)
THY
FAITH HATH SAVED THEE!
When Bartimæus received the invitation to
come to Jesus, he immediately arose and threw away his beggar’s robe and his
beggar’s cup, and was taken to the Master.
Jesus asked him: “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto
Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way;
thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight and
followed Jesus in the way.” (Mark 10: 51, 52)
Although Jesus had given Bartimæus such a
great gift, He didn’t demand that he follow Him. He said: “Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.” He wants it to be our
decision. Bartimæus’ faith in Jesus was strong. His faith had saved him and
made him whole, so it was no surprise that the Scripture records: “and immediately he received His sight and
followed Jesus in the way.” An old
gospel song says:
I’m following
Jesus one step at the time.
I live for
the moment in His love divine.
Why think of tomorrow,
just live for today.
I’m following
Jesus each step of the way.
The pathway seems narrow but He leads me on
I walk in His shadow my fears are all gone
My spirit grows stronger each moment each day
I'm following Jesus each step of the way
WALKING ON THE WATER WITH JESUS!
A
unique event happened in the life of Simon
the son of Jonas whom we call, ‘The
Big Fisherman’. Jesus had sent His disciples away in the boat, while He
went to the mountain alone to pray.
“But the ship was now in the midst of the
sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on
the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
“But straightway Jesus spake unto them,
saying, Be of good
cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered
him and said,
Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on
the water. And He
said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he
walked on the water, to go to
Jesus.
“But when he saw the
wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus
stretched forth His hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were
come into the ship the wind ceased.” (Matt. 14:22-32)
The disciples were obeying their Master’s
orders when they embarked on the short journey across the waters. They were
experienced fishermen and were used to storms, however, the one that hit them
that evening continued for hours and they were in mortal danger.
They
had rowed for hours. Finally, in the fourth watch of the night (3:00 - 6:00), Jesus
came to them. While in prayer, He had seen them in the spirit and immediately went
to them walking on the water. The disciples were terrified thinking they were
seeing a ghost.
Jesus called out to them: “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
Peter shouted: “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come to Thee on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” Peter jumped out of the boat
and walked on the water but when he took his eyes off JESUS and focused on the
roiling sea, he doubted and began to sink.
Peter cried out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately, Jesus stretched out His hand and
lifted him up. He turned to Peter and said: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” And when they
came into the ship, the wind ceased. The storm was over!
I believe that the Devil sent out that
storm to destroy the disciples of our Lord. But he failed again! In Sunday school we used to sing this little
song: “With Jesus in the vessel you can smile sat the storm.” Amen.
CALL UNTO ME IN TROUBLE!
The
Scriptures are replete with references to God meeting the needs of His people
when there was no hope in sight, during times of calamity, war, sickness and famine.
That is why St. Paul stated: “But my God
shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
(Phil.4: 19)
The Bible states that our God is real,
relevant and available, not like the imaginary, illusive, fictitious gods of
the pagan. Many have not heard of the Eternal God Who created the worlds through
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. What an opportunity we have to announce the GOOD
NEWS to them!
Rebuking His people, the Omnipresent God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob asked: “Am I
a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? (Jer.23: 23) He
states that He is everywhere!
He promised, however, to bring His people
back from Babylon after seventy years of exile because of their sins: “For thus saith the Lord, That after
seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good
Word toward you, in causing you to return unto this place.”
Reminding
them of His great love for them, He declared: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye
call upon Me, and shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall
search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer.29: 11-14)
HEALING
THE SICK &
CASTING
OUT DEMONS!
Our Lord came to the assistance of nine
disciples who were trying to cast out the demons from a deaf and dumb,
epileptic boy. The disciples had tried and failed to cast the demons out.
He had given them all power to heal the
sick and cast out evil spirits. “And
when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal manner of sickness and all
manner of disease.
Jesus commanded them: “And as you go, preach, saying the Kingdom
of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10: 1, 5-8)
While He was on the Mount of
Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, the other nine disciples failed to
deliver an epileptic boy who was deaf and dumb!
The boy’s father said: “And oftentimes it hath cast him into the
fire and into the waters, to destroy him, but if Thou canst do anything, have
compassion on us, and help us.”
Jesus answered: “If thou canst believe all things are
possible to him that believeth.” The father cried out, with tears: “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.”
Jesus cast out the evil spirit and delivered the boy to his father, totally
well!
Jesus forgave and liberated the woman whom the scribes and Pharisees
brought to Him on the charge of adultery. After He had admonished that the one
among them without sin should cast the first stone, they left without saying a
word.
Jesus crossed the water to liberate Legion, the insane, demon possessed
man who lived among the tombs. When the townsfolk heard about it, they saw the
man, fully dressed and in his right mind sitting at the feet of Jesus.
And Jesus left the Temple on a feast day
to visit a paralytic who had lain
for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda, waiting in vain for healing. Seeing his
hopeless condition and knowing he had been there for a long time, our Saviour
asked him: “Wilt thou be made whole?”
The paralytic had given up and was filled
with bitterness and hopelessness. He answered: “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the
pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me” Jesus replied:
“Rise take up thy bed and go to thy
house.” (John 5: 1-9)
JESUS
WEPT!
Jesus waited four days after the death of
Lazarus, before going to see Mary and Martha. Martha said: “Lord,
if Thou had been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now,
whatsoever Thou will ask of God, God will give it Thee.”
Jesus said: “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha answered: “I know that he
shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said: “I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me Me though he were dead, yet
shall he live. And whosever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.
Believest thou this?”
Martha answered: “Yea,
Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, which
should come into the world.” (John 11: 21-27).
“And when she had so said, she went her
way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and CALLETH for
thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto Him.”
(John 11:28, 29)
HE
IS STILL CALLING FOR US!
The Bible records: “When Jesus therefore saw
her (Mary) weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled
and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto Him, come and see. Jesus
wept.”
Jesus ordered the stone to be removed from
the cave, then He lifted His eyes to Heaven and prayed: “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou
hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that
they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.
“And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Come Forth. And he that was
dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound
about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, LOOSE HIM AND LET HIM GO.” (John 11: 33-44)
Jesus
came to two confused disciples on the Road to Emmaus and asked them why they
were sad. Cleopas wondered if he had
not heard the news:
“Concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in deed and Word before God and
all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be
condemned to death and have crucified Him.”
Jesus expounded to them the Scriptures: “O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His
glory?”
THEY SAW THE NAIL
PRINTS!
As He blessed and broke the bread, they saw
the nail prints in his hands: “And their
eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And
they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us as He talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us
the Scriptures?” (Luke 24: 19-32)
As He had promised, He appeared to them: “Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me
no more, but ye see Me: because I live ye shall live also. At that day ye shall
know that I am in My Father and ye in Me, and I in you.” (14: 19, 20)
WHAT DID JESUS MEAN? He had promised: “A little while, and ye shall not see Me;
and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father.”
(John 16: 16-20)
The disciples didn’t understand it. He was
referring to the fact that He would be going away twice. First, He would die on the Cross for our sins and reappear briefly
and show Himself to them.
Second, He would ascend to Heaven where
He is seated on His Father’s right hand waiting the moment when He shall return
for His bride, the Church of the Living God!
His Disciples were filled with joy during
the 40 days in which Jesus appeared to them before His ascension to Heaven, and
again on the Day of Pentecost when He poured out the Gift of the Holy Ghost
upon them!
He returned then, as He said He would: “If a man love Me, he will keep my Words;
and My Father will love him, and WE (My Father and I) will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14: 23)
You may say: “Is that possible? Is Jesus not
seated on His Father’s right hand in Heaven?” The answer is: Yes, God
is everywhere at the same time! God the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One, yet are three Persons; Eternal, Omnipotent,
Omniscient and Omnipresent!
Here is GOOD NEWS: “Beloved NOW are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be like: but we know that when
He shall appear, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. And
every man that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2, 3)
FACE TO FACE WITH CHRIST
Face to face with
Christ, my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be?
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me.
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
Only faintly now, I see Him,
With the darkling veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.
What rejoicing in His
presence,
When are banished grief and pain;
When the crooked ways are
straightened,
And the dark things shall be
plain.
Face to face! O
blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so.
How very exciting to KNOW that the God
of the universe knows about us, cares for us and has provided everything we
need for this life and the next! Amen.
TWO
HISTORICAL EVENTS
GIVE
THE ATHEIST’S PAUSE!
There are
two historical events that drive
atheists crazy and almost give them apoplexy, and nags at their warped thought
processes. Over and above all the arguments that they postulate in favour of
atheism, these two great historical
events smash to smitherines their humanistic ramblings and ignorant bias
against Almighty God!
“What are these two historical events?” you may ask. These two great historical events that
have helped to shape almost two thousand years of world history are the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and
the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus!
Only a certified, calculated,
conniving fool or total ignoramus without any respect for the historical record
would be so foolish as to try to refute these two outstanding world changing
events!
Under
totalitarian regimes, however, people are brain-washed like in the former
Soviet Union where the official Party Line was: “There is No God”, or in
Hitler’s Nazi Germany, “We are the Superior Race” and in
the Muslim world where the masses are told, “Jesus was not crucified. Allah
changed His features and someone else was crucified.”
How would MOHAMMED know that? He was illiterate and could not read or
write. Yet, a billion people believe that lie! The Roman Empire was highly
organized. They kept perfect records and the chain of command reached to the Emperor!
The JEWISH leaders who lobbied for Jesus’
crucifixion kept meticulous records. Their leaders stood at the cross jeering
Him: “He saved others; himself he cannot
save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we
will believe him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver him now, if He will have
him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” (Matt.27: 42, 43)
CHRIST’S RESURRECTION ATTESTED!
Here are some questions for those who have doubts of
Christ’s resurrection: “Why was the body of Jesus not found? Why
did the Roman detail guarding the Tomb of Jesus fall asleep, knowing the
penalty for such irresponsible conduct? Could not one of them have stayed awake?
These were professional soldiers who had been charged by Pontius Pilate to
guard Jesus’ Tomb.
“Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch:
go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre
sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.” (Matt.27: 62-66)
When the women came to the tomb early in
the morning they found the tomb empty and the guards lying on the ground like
dead men. The Holy Bible states: “And,
behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from
Heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
“His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And
for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel
answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen from the dead, as He said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead;
and behold He goeth before you into Galilee; there ye shall see Him: lo, I have
told you.” (|Matt.28: 2-6)
As the women went to tell His disciples, “Jesus met them, saying, all hail. And they
came and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him. Then said Jesus unto them,
Be not afraid: go tell My brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall
they see Me.” (Matt.28: 9,10)
FOLLOW
THE MONEY!
By this time the Roman Soldiers had begun to stir and had found their way into
Jerusalem to report the supernatural things that had happened to them: the
appearance of the angel and the awful fear that had gripped them and losing
consciousness. When they had come to, the Roman Seal had been broken, the
gigantic stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty!
Not knowing how to counter this powerful
event, the Chief Priests concocted
one of the most STUPID lies ever told, that the entire guard of soldiers had
fallen asleep and during the night Christ’s disciples had stolen His body! Here
is the Holy Record:
“Now when they were going, behold some of the watch came into the city
and showed unto the Chief Priests all the things that had been done. And when
they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave LARGE MONEY unto the soldiers: Saying,
say ye, His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept.
“And if this comes to the Governor’s ears, we will persuade him and
secure you. So they took the MONEY,
and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported by the Jews
until today.”
MORE
QUESTIONS DEMAND ANSWERS!
How did the Roman Soldiers know the disciples stole
Jesus’ body, if they were sleeping? Why were the burial clothes left behind and
the napkin that covered His head neatly folded? The followers of Jesus were in
confusion and disarray. They were afraid and hiding from the Jewish leaders and
the Roman authorities.
What would those frightened, disheartened disciples do
with Jesus’ dead body? His burial clothes would have been nearly impossible to
cut off His body, yet they lay on the floor intact. Thieves are in a hurry and it
would be absurd to say that they removed his heavy burial clothes before taking
Him away. How could they have moved His body in the darkness of night?
Why didn’t anyone die when entering the
Temple with the torn VEIL exposing the ‘Holy of Holies’ which only the High
Priest could enter on the Great Day of Atonement? ANSWER: Almighty God had left the Holy of
Holies!
The
Holy Bible states: “And behold the veil
in the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent;
“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept
arose and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the Holy
City, and appeared unto many.
“Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus,
saw the earthquake, and these things that were done, they feared greatly,
saying, TRULY THIS WAS THE SON OF GOD.” (Matt.27: 54)
MORE
THAN 500 JEWS SAW
THE
RESURRECTED CHRIST!
St.
Paul wrote: “And that He was seen of
Cephas (Peter), than of the Twelve:
after that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once: of whom the
greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that
He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all, He was seen of
me also, as one born out of due time.” (1 Cor.15: 5-8)
DR. HYMAN APPELMAN was a great Baptist
Evangelist whom Billy Graham called, “one of the most powerful preachers I have
heard”. He was a Jewish lawyer, who had been disowned by his family
when he received Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. When he preached in our
Church in 1971 he made this statement: “You might be able to fool one or two Jews,
but you could never fool five hundred Jews at one time!”
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the
Foundation Stone of the Gospel. It is the driving force that separates
Christianity from all other religions. Without His resurrection His death ‘Faith
in Christ’ would have been meaningless!
ST. PAUL ON
MARS HILL!
When St. Paul preached the Gospel in
Athens, he presented the resurrected Christ as the Saviour and ultimate Judge of
sinful mankind. He declared that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, thus
granting Him the authority to be the Judge of the living and the dead!
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks,
encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? Other some, He
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection.”
This was new to them and brought different
reactions: “And when they heard of the
resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again
of this matter.” (Acts 17: 32)
No one in Athens had witnessed such a
miracle. No one there had heard of anyone being raised from the dead. In their
ignorance of spiritual matters, they could not understand something as
spectacular as a crucified man coming back to life.
And to see the man who had lobbied for
Jesus’ crucifixion and had imprisoned, persecuted and put to death His
followers, standing before them preaching in His name, must have blown them
away!
There was more: St. Paul, who had been His
enemy was now preaching that this same Jesus would give Eternal Life to all who
believed on Him!
CONVERSION OF SAUL OF TARSUS!
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus was so
amazing and nation shaking, I compare it to Osama bin Laden meeting Jesus Christ in a blinding light and
immediately preaching to Muslims everywhere that Christ is the Only Saviour of
the world, and that believing in Allah is meaningless.
Osama bin Laden’s story, however, is a very sad story! How unfortunate
that no-one reached him with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The BIBLE records: “And Saul, yet
breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,
went unto the high priest. And desired of him letters to Damascus to the
synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
“And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from Heaven:
and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
“And he said, Who
art Thou, Lord? And the Lord said,
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to
do? And the Lord said unto him,
Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
“And the men which journeyed with him
stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man, And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no
man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was
three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
A
CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME!
“And there was a certain
disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, I am
here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in
the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold he prayeth.
“And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting
his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of
this man how much evil he hath done to Thy saints at Jerus
“And here he hath authority from the chief
priests to bind all that call on Thy name. But,
the Lord unto him, Go thy way for he is
a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and
the children of Israel.
“For I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake.
And Ananias went his way, and entered
into the house; and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even
Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou came, hath sent me, that thou
might receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
“And immediately there fell from his eyes
as it were scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized.
And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days
with the disciples which were at Damascus. And
straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue, that He is the Son of God.
JESUS THE GLORIFIED SON OF GOD!
“But all that heard him were amazed,
and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in
Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound to
the chief priests? But Saul
increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at
Damascus, proving that This is VERY CHRIST.
“And
after that many days were fulfilled,
the Jews took counsel to kill him. But their laying await was known of Saul.
And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took
him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
“And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he
assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and
believed not that he was a disciple. But
Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that He
had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly in Damascus in the name of
Jesus.
“And he was with them coming in and going
out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
disputed against the Grecians: but they
went about to slay him. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down
to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.
“Then
had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were
edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost were multiplied.” (Acts 9: 1-31)
PAUL: APOLOGIST, APOSTLE, PASTOR!
This great persecutor of believers in
Christ became the greatest and most proficient and well organized of all the
disciples and apostles of Jesus Christ, with an impact that is still felt
around the world today!
He was an apologist and a teacher. He was
an apostle and a pastor! The Bible states: “And Paul...reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that, that Christ must needs have suffered, and
risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you is
Christ.” (Acts 17:3, 16,17)
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every
Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks... Paul was pressed in the
spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And he continued there
a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them” (Acts 18: 5,6,11)
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and
to all the flock ... which He hath purchased with His own blood...Therefore watch, and remember that by the
space of three years I ceased not to warn, every one night and day with tears.”
(Acts 20:27-32)
“To whom God would make known the what is
the riches of the glory of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles; which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach,
warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Col.1: 25-28)
Does Jesus know what He is doing? Is He
really the Head of His Church? Is the Church secure in His hands? Is Jesus
Christ the Foundation of the Church? Is the Holy Spirit Christ’s representative
on the earth? Will the Church be triumphant?
THE ANSWER: “Yes, A thousand times, Yes!”
Is Peter the head of the Church?
Was Peter a pope? Is Rome the
Holy City? Is the Pope infallible? Does the Roman Catholic Church speak for God
and His Son? Would Peter agree with the assumption that the Church is built upon a mortal man?
THE
ANSWER: “No. A thousand times, No!”
In
1986, I preached at the First
Pentecostal Conference of Latin America in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That
week, a leading News Magazine carried a headline on the cover stating that the “Evangelical
Revival was turning Latin America from Cardinal Red to Protestant Black.”
In my weekly column in the Edmonton Sun, I quoted the News
Magazine’s article stating that every hour
400 Roman Catholics were converting to the Evangelical Church.
I stated Catholic belief that the Pope is
Christ’s representative on earth. Then, I wrote: “According to the Holy
Scriptures, Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and He sent the Holy Spirit
to be His Representative on earth. I am sorry, John Paul 2, I did'nt know that
the Holy Spirit had taken early retirement!”
THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS NOT
RETIRED!
St. Paul, without doubt, was the greatest
theologian to preach the Gospel. He was called from his mother’s womb to be the
leading crusader and build Christ’s Church. He alone had the right to call the
Gospel “my gospel”. (Romans 2: 16)
He was taught by Christ Himself: He was apprehended by the resurrected Christ on the Damascus
Road, tutored personally by our Lord Jesus in Arabia after his conversion,
carried up into Heaven and allowed to see and hear things that he was not
allowed to reveal.
To him alone was revealed the Mystery of the Gospel, Christ in the believer
the Hope of glory. And that God would make of the Jews and Gentiles one new man
in Christ! To Paul alone was given the Mystery of the harpazo, jerking up,
carrying away, Rapture of the Church.
Had
not the Holy Spirit led Paul to turn from the Jews and go to the
Gentiles there would be no Church today. The Jews eventually forsook the
Gospel of Christ and the murderous barbarians under MOHAMMED killed and
enslaved most of the Christians in (Asia Minor) the Middle East and Turkey.
Our
Lord KNEW that Europe was the KEY to
evangelizing the world so He sent Paul to Macedonia. He knew that MARTIN
LUTHER would shake up the corrupt Roman
Catholic Church and that from Europe the Gospel would spread across the globe for
several centuries by missionaries from Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and other
European nations.
He KNEW that the United States and Canada would
be raised up to herald the Gospel of the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus
Christ across the world in the some of the GREATEST Revivals known to man, so
He opened the DOOR for persecuted Europeans to settle North America!
Our Lord knew that Western Europe would become irrelevant in the spread of the Gospel
and that the Muslim hordes would begin to dominate there. He also knew that once the poor black people of Africa and the
persecuted Chinese and the liberated Roman Catholics of Latin America would get
a taste of the Gospel, nothing would stop them!
ALL MUST BOW AT CHRIST'S FEET!
The power of the Middle East Terrorists, China’s
Communists and Washington’s anti-Christian Lobby pale
into insignificance when compared to the power of the Crucified, Risen and
Glorified Christ Who is about to descend from Heaven with the shout of the
Archangel Gabriel to rapture the Church and judge the Living and the dead! (1 Thes. 4: 13-18; 1 Cor. 15: 50-54)
The HOLY BIBLE states: “And from Jesus
Christ, Who is the Faithful Witness and the first begotten from the dead (the
first to die and rise from the dead, never to die again), and the
Prince of the kings of the earth.
“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And
hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
“Behold
He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced
Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.”
(Revelation 1: 5-7)
“Now
unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the Only wise God our
Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24, 25).
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