TAKING JESUS AT HIS WORD
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
Jesus of Nazareth made some of the most amazing statements and outstanding promises ever uttered by anyone! Why should we believe Him? Who was Jesus of Nazareth and what credentials does He have? Since He was about 2,000 years ago, how do we know that He is still alive?
What proof exists to confirm His impressive claims of having come from Heaven to do His Father’s will? Can we trust the Holy Bible? Can we trust His Words? After 2,000 years, we do have an enormous wealth of solid historical, biblical and spiritual proof that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was Who He claimed to be, the Chosen One of God.
And that His promises are genuine and will all be fulfilled, as He said! His resurrection three days following His vicarious death for us all on Golgotha’s Hill is the foundation Stone of Christianity and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
If He had not risen from the dead, there would be NO Eternal Life, NO Gospel Message of hope, peace or joy and NO forgiveness, healing, or blessing! There would be nothing but pain, fear and loss for time and eternity, if Jesus Christ of Nazareth had remained in the tomb!
St. Paul wrote: “Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there be no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then also them that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now, is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that Slept.” (1 Cor.15: 12-20)
TWO SUBJECTS THAT UNSETTLE ATHEISTS!
The two subjects that agnostics, atheists, and evolutionists fear more than anything else are: the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus! The birth of Jesus of Nazareth, His life and crucifixion were all well documented by the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman Authorities.
The earthquake, darkness at noon and the rent veil in the Temple at the time of Christ’s death, were AWESOME, frightening and very unnerving!
Our Lord’s resurrection, however, rocked the Jewish Community bringing tens of thousandsto belief in Jesus as Messiah and God, and God’s Son! His resurrection from the dead on the third day, the huge stone rolled away from the tomb, guards prostrated on the ground at the sight of angels and long dead saints seen in Jerusalem, would have made a tremendous impact on the residents of the Holy City.
How could they dispute it? The Roman Centurion and his soldiers at the cross had witnessed it all and they bowed down saying: “Surely, this was the Son of God.” Certainly he would have investigated the damage at the Temple and how could anyone explain the supernatural force that rent that 66 foot high, 33 foot wide and 4 inch thick veil from top to bottomAnd if there was no resurrection,
WHERE WAS THE BODY? Who could have moved the body and why would kidnappers remove His grave clothes? How could they have gotten the grave clothes off a ridged corpse and how could they do all that with an entire detail of soldiers guarding the tomb?
And how would the High Priest, religious scholars and the Sanhedrin explain, why no one died in the temple when the Holy of Holies was compromised? They would have realized that Almighty God had vacated the Temple. Any man entering the Holy of Holies with the exception of the High Priest carrying blood and only on the Day of atonement, would instantly die. Yet, no-one died! At the moment that JesuChrist, God’s Pascal Lamb cried out, It is finished; It is fulfilled; It is paid; (gr.tet-telestai) and died, Almighty God tore the veil and left the Holy of Holies! (John 19: 30)
WHY? Jesus was the Sacrifice, the Mercy Seat and the High Priest. After having defeated death, Hell and the grave, He rose victoriously from the dead and carried His shed blood into the Holy of Holies in Heaven, where it is now interceding for us before the throne of God! (Heb.2: 14; 9: 11-14, 24)
THE PHENOMENON OF PENTECOST!
The phenomenon of Pentecost was so powerful that it swept 3,000 souls into the Kingdom of God. Jesus had promised His disciples: “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judæa and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8)
JESUS promised: Peace be unto you; as My Father hath sent Me, so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and He said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. (John 20: 21,22); And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on High. (Luke 24:49)
The BIBLE says: To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the PROMISE of the Father which saith He; Ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1: 3-5)
John the Baptist had prophesied: I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and Fire. (Luke 3: 16)
THE FIRE OF THE LORD FELL!
“And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there cane a sound from Heaven as of a mighty rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2: 1-4)
Thousands of people rushed near to hear and see this great thing. St. Peter spoke from the Holy Scriptures, reproving, challenging and inviting them to repent of their sins and promising them forgiveness of sins and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, if they would receive the Lord Jesus Christ and believe the Gospel!
He declared, Ye men of Israel, hear these word: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, wonders in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it. Acts 2: 22-24).
Therefore, let the all the House of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, Whom ye have crucified, both LORD and CHRIST. Now when they heard that, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2: 36-39)
SAUL OF TARSUS MEETS JESUS!
Christ’s resurrection from the dead and His appearance to Saul of Tarsus, the notorious enemy of the fledgling Christian Church, opened the Gentile World to the Gospel and eventually the acceptance of Christianity by pagan Rome!
Can you imagine the impact of Saul’s apprehension by Jesus Christ of Nazareth on the Damascus Road had on the Sanhedrin, the scribes, Pharisees and the Jewish Priesthood! Saul of Tarsus was a leading light and a ferocious enemy of Jesus Christ and His followers. He was a 24-karat-gold religious fanatic who suddenly was struck down to the earth, blinded by the appearance of Jesus Christ and soundly converted and filled with the Holy Spirit.
He had held the clothing of the men who threw the stones that killed Stephen, the first Christian martyr. By his own testimony, he had wasted the church, and destroyed it. (Gal.1: 13-16, 23)
The Holy Scripture says: 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 (goads).
“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.(Acts 9: 1-9)
HE SHOWED HIMSELF ALIVE!
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth changed the world! Nothing like this had ever happened before! It was the great event that triggered the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit could not be poured out on the Church before Jesus Christ, God’s Pascal Lamb, had poured out His blood for the sins of the world. And Jesus had to ascend the Throne, before receiving from the Father the right to pour out the Blessed Holy Spirit upon the Church!
Without the outpouring of the Holy Spirit there would not be a Church, because the Church was born on the Day of Pentecost. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the early followers of Jesus filled Jerusalem with Christ’s doctrine and turned the world upside down. (Acts 5: 28:17:6).
For forty days after His resurrection our precious Lord and Saviour appeared on a number of occasions to His disciples while strengthening His Church and preparing them for the descent of the Blessed Holy Spirit.
The Holy Record states: To whom He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Acts 1: 3). St. Paul, formerly a bitter, hateful enemy of Jesus of Nazareth and His Church, lays out in concise words what is the pure Gospel:
" For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ DIED for our sins according to the Scriptures, And that he was BURIED, and that He ROSE AGAIN the third day according to the Scriptures:
And that He was SEEN of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that He was SEEN of above five hundred 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. For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Cor.15: 3-10)
WHAT DID THE PROPHETS SAY?
When the Risen Christ encountered the two disciples on the Emmaus road, He stated: O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:25-27). Jesus appeared to His disciples and others who were with them:
"And as they thus spoke, Jesus Himself stood in their midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said unto them, why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. And when He had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet.
“And while they believed not yet for joy, and wondered, He said unto them; Have ye here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb, And He took it and did eat before them. And He said unto them: These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the LAW OF MOSES, and in the PROPHETS, and in the PSALMS concerning Me.
Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
And, behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endured with power from on high. And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He bless ]ed them, He was passed from them, and carried up in Heaven.
" And they worshipped Him, and returnrned Him, amd returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen," (Luke 24: 36-53).
Max Solbrekken World Mission Box 44220 RPO Garside, Edmonton, AB, T5V 1N6. Email: [email protected]; comehometojesus.ca;Youtube; Facebook; Blog: MSW; Donations can be made by e-Transfer; make your donation to: [email protected]; God bless you!
