Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

_Jesus' Death
Apr 28th, 2020
Weekly Bible StudyHugh Davidson
Categories: Commentary;Topical Study;Bible Salvation

One of the most striking things about the four accounts of Jesus’ death in the Gospels is the absence of sensationalism. In other word’s there were no death defying acts of heroism, there were no great speeches to challenge or teach us, there were no moderators that stand off to the side and describe in vivid detail every little thing that happened and there wasn’t even a demonstration from heaven that showed us the horror of God or even the anger of the angels. All that’s there is the simple story of three men being crucified and the one in the middle is the Son of God.

And I think the physical suffering of Jesus was the worse kind of torture that any man has ever devised as a means of execution and I don’t want to minimize His agony any more than I want to amplify what the writers are silent about, but at the same time, the four gospel accounts make me wonder, why there isn’t more emphasis on the physical torture and the horrendous abuse that Jesus suffered?

And, we can assume that the physical torture that He went through was extreme because before He was taken to the place of crucifixion Jesus was beaten and tortured by the soldiers and we assume that He collapsed on the way to Calvary because a man named Simon of Cyrene was drafted into carrying His cross. So, the first question that comes to my mind is, why didn’t any of the gospel writers tell us the specifics of what happened while Jesus was on the cross?

And I would suggest several reasons and the first is, the physical suffering of Jesus was a very small part of what He endured. After all, His physical pain was what men were able to impose on Him but I think the greatest suffering He had to go through was the spiritual agony He endured when He who knew no sin became sin for us. I mean, He took on Himself sin and we have to consider that He was pure and sinless and the experience of His taking on sin must have been the most repulsive thing He ever could have ever experienced.

And yet, the scripture tells us that Jesus took our place in order to save us from everything we’ve ever consciously or unconsciously done to offend God and when He suffered and died He experienced the punishment we deserved. And compared to this kind of suffering, His physical suffering would have been miniscule in comparison. There are many who assume the three hours of darkness that covered the world during the crucifixion was God’s way of turning out the lights so we wouldn’t see what Jesus was going through. And I think all this is part of the goodness of God to keep us from knowing any more than He wanted us to know.

The second reason they didn’t tell us more is because there’s really no way that you or I could possibly comprehend even a little of God’s wrath. Many of us have tried to imagine what heaven will be like and yet, no matter how hard we try or how far we let our imaginations run wild, our minds always fall far short of even coming close because as 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Listen, the verse says, you’ve never seen anything like you’re going to see in heaven, you’re going to hear things you’ve never heard on earth and you’re mind can’t even get around the wonderful things God has in store for you. I like how one theologian said, “I can’t describe all the furniture of heaven anymore than I can tell you the temperature of hell but I’m not going to let what I don’t understand affect my choice.”

You can always tell when you’re talking to a member of one of the false cults by what they have to say about hell because they’re always trying to eradicate the idea altogether. One of Satan's favorite lies is to try to convince people that the suffering of hell is something they experience while they’re alive in this world and that God somehow owes them something for all the negative things they’ve had to go through in this life. And then he also tries to get them to believe the lie that death is only a state of sleep or rest. I had a friend explain his idea of the afterlife by saying, “Death is like lying in beautiful fields of flowers with classical music playing in the background.” And when I tried to explain that he wouldn’t be able to see the flowers with all the smoke or hear the music with all the screaming going on he didn’t want to hear any more. (You know how it is, you try to be sensitive but some people just don’t appreciate your efforts)

The cults also teach that hell is a place where souls are simply annihilated and cease to exist while others teach reincarnation and that means that everyone will have another chance to be born and live their lives for as many times as it takes to become purified, and then they’ll progress to a higher form until they finally reach heaven. I actually had one guy explain to me that all this was taught in the Bible and when I asked him where, he said, “In John 3 it says, “You must be born again.” And his idea was that you were born again and again and that was the process. And then there are others who say that hell is only a place away from God, but it’s not a place of torture. And all of these are lies of Satan to cause people to minimize the reality of hell.

Epicurus, the great Greek philosopher, said that he could die happy if he was absolutely sure that death was the end. Well, I think the whole human race could die happy if they were sure that death was just peaceful oblivion but since no one can see what lies behind the curtain of life it’s wise to make sure where you’re going before you actually have to go.

The Bible says a lot about hell and Jesus described it as a place as such a place of horror that it would be better to cut off one of your limbs than to end up in that awful place.

Hell is a real place according to God's word and anyone who says it isn’t, is promoting false doctrine. And the only way to escape hell is by becoming a child of God so you can go to heaven. And do you know what the strange thing is? There are only two choices. When I was a kid and I didn’t like what we were having for supper, my mother would say, “There are only two choices, you can take it or you can leave it.” And here God says, “You can have the most wonderful experience for all of eternity that’s simply beyond description or you can have the worst torture imaginable. God says, here they are, and now you have to make your choice. So, which do you want?

And then the third reason we don’t know how much Jesus suffered is that it would cause us needless suffering. I’m a husband and a father and I can say that I don’t like to suffer but it’s even more painful for me to watch either my wife or one of my children going through something rather than going through it myself.

And if the purpose of Jesus’ suffering was to suffer in our place, then why would He allow us to understand the depths of what He suffered knowing it would just cause us to live with such a sense of shame for what we caused Him go through? What I am trying to say here is that Jesus was gracious in not telling us any more than He had to, because He didn’t want us to suffer for the sins for which He already suffered and died.

Loss of first love - Exploring Revelation
Apr 28th, 2020
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

Last week we saw the Church of Ephesus as a Model Church.

We saw how hard and faithfully they labored to serve and glorify Christ. We saw how they were faithful to God's Word and would not tolerate sin and disobedience to the Word. Apostates and apostasy were not tolerated for one second. The church was a model of what Christ desires His church to be.

Ephesus was also a representative church. FIRSTLY it was typical of the churches in the First Century, in that ERA, the churches were predominantly like Ephesus.

SECONDLY Ephesus was representative in that in every period of Church History there would be some churches, maybe few at times but there would be some churches like Ephesus.

We need to study this church carefully and ask God to enable us to be like it.

Today,in our study, we see a terrible decline in the Ephesian Church. At the time of John's writing the Ephesian Church was about forty years old.

Somewhere along the line, in the history of this wonderful church, something tragic happened! Something unacceptable happened. Outwardly, the church appeared the same as it had always appeared.

Listen as the Lord puts His finger on the terrible, unacceptable thing that happened. "Thou hast lelt thy first love." The Lord says I cannot accept that.

When a young man and woman fall in love, there is FIRST LOVE. Only those who have experienced it can understand what first love is. It defies description, it is so intense, so wonderful.

Almost invariably, after marriage, after the children come, after the tedious fulfilment of obligations, somewhere along the line, the first love is lost! Perhaps there is still love, but not First Love.

That happened in the Ephesian Church. quietly, imperceptibly, that white hot love, first love, cooled and faded away.

The problem was not on the outside, not in their programs or service. The problem was on the inside.

Vance Havner said, "People can be as straight as a gun barrel theologically, and as empty as a gun barrel spiritually."

The same thing happened to the Galation believers. Paul said to them, "Where is the blessedness ye spake of?" Those Galatian believers had lost their first love. The Laodicean believers lost their first love, the Lord said they were lukewarm. The Lord said lukewarmness, loss of first love will cause Me to spew you out of My mouth, it's not acceptable.

What a tragic thing it is when a person loses his or her first love. Put a number of them together and you have a church that has lost its first love.

We can fool everyone around us, they won't even know. We can't fool the Lord, He feels it with pain. We can't fool our own hearts!

I can recall the days when I devoured God's Word. When I revelled in Christian fellowship, when I spent sweet times alone with Christ. When I gave out tracts. When I witnessed and longed to see others come to Christ. to get alone with God's Word, Oh how it thrilled my heart! Oh the thrill of those early days when Christ was truly Lord of all!

But, never mind 40 years ago, what about today? Is Christ as real to you today? Does your heart vibrate with LOVE and JOY and PEACE?

One major evangelical denomination in America conducted a survey. They discovered that 96% of their High School Grads left the church within 24 months of graduation. You can't transfer lukewarm, loveless, lifeless christianity to the next generation.

Lukewarmness is always terminal in christianity if it is not repented of, and corrected.

John says, "Remember from where thou art fallen" (vs.5) Remember where you once were and "wake up!" Remember how you used to love Me, "Thou art fallen".

It doesn't matter that you are working hard for me, laboring hard,and doctrinelly true, if you've lost your first love you are just going through the motions. Unless things come out of a heart that is aflame with love for Me, they are meaningless to Me.

"REPENT AND DO THE FIRST WORKS," Return to your first love, return to the works that first love moves you to do.

Then we have the warning "OR ELSE" this is a very stern warning, you cannot go on like this! I never intended My church to be a cold and indifferent organization that just functions mechanically. I will not allow you to go on like that indefinitely.

"I WILL COME UNTO THEE QUICKLY (suddenly) AND REMOVE THY CANDLESTICK.' Do you realize that the Lord is in the business of terminating churches? Five of the seven churches were terminated by the Lord. De-commissioned, no longer a Church of Jesus Christ. Everywhere you look today you can see de-commissioned churches. They still have a building, they still have services, they still think they are a church. The truth is they are no longer the Church of Jesus Christ.

"THOU HAST LEFT THEY FIRST LOVE," that is ultimately terminal for the life of any church!!!

By Strength of Hand the Lord Brought U.S. Out - Exodus 13:14
Apr 28th, 2020
Morning MeditationF. B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

FOUR times over in this chapter Moses lays stress on the strong hand with which God redeemed His people from the bondage of Egypt; and we are reminded of "the exceeding greatness of His power, which is to us-ward who believe'' (Eph 1:12-20).

God's strong hand reaches down to where we are. - It would have been useless if Israel had been bidden to help itself up to a certain point, whilst God would do the rest. The people were so broken that they could only lie at the bottom of the pit, and moan. God's hand reached down to touch and grasp them at their lowest. So God's help is not conditional on our doing something, whilst He will do the rest. When we are without strength, when we have expended our all in vain, when heart and flesh fail - then God comes where we are, and becomes the strength of our heart and our portion forever.

God's strong hand is mightier than our mightiest adversaries. - Pharaoh was strong, and held the people as a child may hold a moth in its clenched fist. But a man's hand is stronger than a child's, and God's than Pharaoh's. So Satan may have held you in bondage; but do not fear him any more, look away to the strength of God's hand. What can it not do for you?

We must appropriate and reckon on God's strong hand. - It is there toward them who believe, as a locomotive may be next a line of carriages; yet there must be a coupling-iron connecting them. So you must trust God's strength, and avail yourself of it, and yield to it. Remember that His arm is not shortened, nor His · hand paralyzed, except our unbelief and sin intercept and hinder the mighty working of His Power.