Everything I Needed To Know About Jesus…

·”Jesus Christ Is The Same Yesterday, Today And Forever” Hebrews 13:8
·Jesus Christ Is The Foundation For Life. If There Is Not A Proper Understanding Of Who He Was And What He Did One’s Theology Is Wrong.
·If One’s Theology Is Wrong It Is Impossible To Have A Right Philosophy Because There Would Be A Wrong Outlook On Life.
·If One’s Theology Is Wrong It Is Impossible To Have A Right Sociology Because There Would Be An Improper Concept Of Man.
·If One’s Theology Is Wrong It Is Impossible To Have A Right Self-Worth Because There Is An Improper Self-Image.
·Who Jesus Is Means Everything To A Person.
·I Learned Everything I Need To Know About Jesus As A Child In A Christian Home And In My Little Home Town Church. What We Need To Know Is So Simple A Child Can Comprehend It And Yet So Profound A Theologian Can Spend A Lifetime And Never Fully Comprehend It. Things I Needed To Know Are:

Virgin Birth
·”Behold A Virgin Shall Conceive And Bear A Son, And You Shall Call His Name Emmanuel, For He Shall Save His People From Their Sins” (Matthew 1: 23).
·”God Was Manifest In The Flesh…” (Titus 3:16).
·”Our Great God And Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
·Granville Sharps Law

Virtuous Life
·”He Himself Has Suffered, Being Tempted, He Is Able To Aid Those Who Are Tempted” (Hebrews 2: 18).
·”Tempted In All Points, Even As We” (Hebrews 4:15).

Vicarious Death
·”The Church Of God, Which He Purchased With His Own Blood” (Acts 20:28).
·Whose Church? The Church Of God.
·Who Purchased It? God.
·With What Did He Purchase It? His Own Blood.
·When Did God Shed Blood? On Calvary.
·Who Died On The Cross Of Calvary? God.
·Neither A Father Or Mother Contributes Any Blood To A Fetus. The Fetus Develops Its Own Blood. The Blood Of Christ Was The Blood Of God Because He Was God.
·”He Made Him Who Knew No Sin To B Sin For Us, That We Might Become The Righteousness Of God In Him” (Ii Corinthians 5:21).
·Being Born Of A Virgin He Had No Old Adamic Nature Like Every Human Being. He Lived A Perfect Life And Had No Personal Sin. He Was The Only Perfect Sacrifice To Die For Our Old Sin Nature And Personal Sins. That Explains Why Infants Go To Heaven. He Died For The Old Sin Nature And They Have No Personal Sin So His Blood Atoned For Them.

Victorious Resurrection
·”But Christ Is Risen From The Dead, And Has Become The First Fruits Of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep” (I Corinthians 15:20).
·The First Fruit Of The Crop Was Harvested As Assurance There Was More To Come.

Vindicating Ascension
·”It Is Christ Who Died, And Furthermore Is Also Risen, Who Is Ever At The Right Hand Of God, Who Also Makes Intercession For Us” (Romans 8:34).
·”There Is One Mediator Between God And Men, The Man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).
·President Kennedy’s Chief Labor Mediator Said: “A Mediator Is One Who Is Equal To Or Superior To Both Parties.
·At The Right And Left Hands Of The High Priest Sat A Priest. When A Person Was Guilty The High Priest Would Instruct The Priest On His Left To Write A Bill Of Condemnation. When Innocent He Turned To The Priest On His Right And Instructed Him To Write A Bill Of Acquittal. Jesus Is At The Right Hand Of The Father.

Valedictory Return
·”I Will Come Again…” (John 14: 3).
·”For The Lord Himself Will Descent From Heaven With A Shout, With The Voice Of An Archangel, And With The Trumpet Of God, And The Dead In Christ Will Rise First. Then We Who Are Alive And Remain Shall Be Caught Up Together With Them In The Clouds To Meet The Lord In The Air. And Thus We Shall Always Be With The Lord” (I Thessalonians 5: 16, 17)

That Brings Us Back To Titus 2:13. We Should Live —-
“Looking For The Blessed Hope And Glorious Appearing Of Our Great God And Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)

Encouragement

JOHN 14: 16

Jesus Christ was the most encouraging person to ever live. Should not those of us who follow Him be encouragers? Give it!

Christ is spoken of as our encourager in II Thessalonians 2: 16, 17: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation [encouragement] and good hope by grace, comfort [encourage] your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.” If He does it for us we should do it for others.
Encouragement doesn’t have to be earned. Praise does.

Encouragement energizes us. Give it and keep on giving it.

There is a special bamboo in China that serves as an example. Once planted the bamboo does not grow for four years. All during those four years it has to be watered and cultivated, but it doesn’t grow. The fifth year it does. It often reaches a height of 90 feet. If neglected during the first 4 years it never grows.

Encouragement is needed at all times. If you have been giving it without any apparent results don’t stop cultivating.I. A DEFINITION OF ENCOURAGEMENT
The word is a compound of the prefix EN, meaning to put in or into; and the word courage, meaning confidence, strength. To “encourage,” then, literally means to put courage into someone.

The prefix DIS negates or reverses the word it is attached to. “Dissatisfied” means “not satisfied.” So, to discourage a person is to take courage away from him.

An encouraging person is pleasant to be around because he or she makes you feel built up, strengthened, IN-couraged by his or her presence and words. An encouraging person supports and strengthens, rather than weakening or tearing down.

The origin of our word courage comes from the Latin COUR which refers to the condition of the heart. King Richard was so bold that it earned him the name “Richard de Lion,” literally, “Richard the Lion Hearted.” That is, King Richard the man with the heart of a lion.

We, as babies, are born with courage. There is no one more courageous than an infant. He demands what he wants when he wants it. No adult is too busy to be summonsed to do what the infant wants when the infant wants it. Parents are on standby 24 hours a day. There is no guest so important as to cause the infant not to demand what is wanted when it is wanted.

Gradually circumstances of life begin to discourage the child. That little prefix “dis” is the work of the devil. God has a great big eraser. He not only comes along to erase the prefix “dis,” but to replace it with another prefix, “en.” God wants to encourage us. Should not we aspire to encourage one another?

The most common word for encouragement in the Bible is the word PARAKAELO, PARA, meaning “beside, near, with, alongside,” and KALEO, meaning “to call or summon.” A paraclete is one called to the side of another to encourage. It may be to bring comfort. The Septuagint often gives this rendering of the word. God is often pictured as the One coming to the side of the needy and encouraging them. “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). “When the cares of my soul are many, thy consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:18, 19). “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God, Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” (Isaiah 40:1, 2). “As one whom his mother other comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:13).

But the word has a broader meaning than just comfort. When John uses it of the Spirit, it is translated in a variety of ways because its scope is difficult to limit. John saw the Spirit bringing the very presence of the risen Christ to the church. This is what Jesus had promised: “I will not leave you comfortless (encourage-less); I will come to you” (John 14:18, KJV). He does come to us, through the Spirit.

PARAKLETOS has many renderings: “one who pleads our cause,” “comforter,” “advocate,” “helper,” “someone to stand by you,” “he who is to befriend you.” When we think of all Jesus is, we understand why translators have difficulty pinning down the meaning of the word.

The disciples discouraged the women who brought the alabaster jar of ointment; Jesus encouraged her. He gave her the kind of praise that immortalized her gift to Jesus.

When the frightened disciples mourned the death of Jesus and their forsaking of Him, Jesus came to them, not to condemn, but to strengthen them with the encouraging words, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21).

He came to the side and the aid of the woman caught in adultery and forgave her. He came to the side of many who were sick, sometimes resisting the discouraging words of crowds – even His own disciples. He was beside His disciples as the hour of darkness drew near and the sorrow of Jesus spoke to them of impending doom. He said “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1).

William Barclay points out that in secular Greek, the most characteristic usage of PARAKLETOS is in connection with help given a legal trial. The one called in would speak in support of his character; he was a friend of the accused, and would try to influence the judge in his favor.

A paraclete – encourager – then, helps us when we are in trouble, when we are in a situation with which we cannot cope. Jesus, in I John 2:1, is called our paraclete – advocate, defense attorney, helper – with the Father. Romans 8 says that what Christ does at the right hand of the Father, the Spirit does within us, helping us in our weakness, interceding for us, freeing us from condemnation so we are encouraged to claim our inheritance as children of God.

But there is still another facet of this tremendous word. It also means “to urge on or exhort.” A person needing help may not require comfort as much as challenge. Barclay says that the word is often used in Classical Greek, regarding exhorting troops about to go to battle. It not only empathizes; it motivates. It not only gives comfort; it gives courage.

PARAKLETOS is the word used of speeches by leaders, and of soldiers who beckon each other on to victory in the midst of conflict. It sends hesitant soldiers into war, and fearful sailors into the storm. This use of the word is common in the Epistles.

Paul uses this word when telling the Thessalonians to “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (I Thessalonians 5:11). He calls them to action three verses later: “And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak…” (I Thessalonians 5:14).
The writer to the Hebrews commands, “Exhort one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13). That means more than comfort. We are to challenge one another, and “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

II. A DESIRABLE EXAMPLE FROM THE BIBLE
Nehemiah possessed the gift of exhortation. He is a classic Old Testament example of an exhorter. He saw the need of the people in Jerusalem; he surveyed the damage thoroughly before speaking to the people. When he finally called them together, he was able to encourage their weak hearts so that they said, “Let us arise and build.” With each potential setback, Nehemiah decisively dealt with the problem while exhorting the people to new courage.

David was a hero but became a fugitive because of Saul’s jealousy. He often had to fight discouragement. Jonathan’s friendship brought needed strength to his spirit.

Three times God spoke from heaven on behalf of Jesus. At Jesus’ baptism, He proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). The same words came at the transfiguration. Shortly before Christ’s death God responded to Jesus’ prayer by assuring that He had glorified His name and would continue to do so.

Our Father is called “The God of all encouragement.” “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…who comforts (PARAKLETOS – encourages, motivates) us…” (II Corinthians 1:4) so that we are able to do the same for others. Certainly, our best examples for encouraging others come from the Trinity. No one encourages His children like God our Father does. No one knows just the right word to bring hope and faith in the face of adversity like Jesus. He praises a centurion for remarkable faith, He comforts and challenges the sisters of Lazarus to greater faith. He encourages the little children by receiving them. His work of encouragement is now being continued in His body through the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s letters, especially in the first paragraphs, are often good examples to us of the way God wants us to build up one another. He liberally praised his fellow laborers. Paul was not a person who stood around waiting for people to compliment him. He was full of encouragement and exhortation.

III. A DUBIOUS EXAMPLE FROM THE BIBLE
While Caleb and Joshua attempted to encourage the people to take the promise land, ten spies brought back discouraging reports. How easily people respond to discouraging news! We don’t need anymore people with the gift of discouragement. A part of our character has been distorted by the fall, and we are prone to listen to a bad report before a good one. If we do not abide in Christ, we are conditioned pessimists. We complain about the weather, we expect bad luck, we hang onto bad news as if it were gospel.

Moses didn’t send the spies to discover WHETHER OR NOT, but HOW. He wanted a report, not an evaluation. Shame on us when we discourage God’s people by our negativism. Shame on us when we are careless with words that eventually keep others from the promised land of their inheritance. Shame on us when we relay negative news and multiply discouragement among the people of God.

God was angry with those spies – so angry that they died in the wilderness. That is where people who persist in discouraging others will always die. They will never expect to receive God’s best, and they never will.
God looks for people who are God-centered optimists and can share that attitude with others. God’s news is GOOD NEWS, not bad news, Jesus came proclaiming a message of liberty, joy, release, hope, and comfort. If your message does not match that, swallow it, don’t share it. Or you may find yourself eating dust instead of grapes.

King Rehoboam should have listened to the elders. They advised him to lower taxes so that the people of God would be encouraged. He instead listened to some of his contemporaries and made the citizens’ burden heavier. Rather than strengthening the kingdom, he did what discouragement always does – divides.

The real prodigal in the story of the prodigal son is the elder brother. What a discouragement he must have been to his father. The father encouraged him: “All that is mine is yours.” But he would not receive it, nor would he receive his brother. There will always be those who in, the midst of merriment, choose law over grace. For them, life is not a gift to be enjoyed by a duty to be performed. They find it hard to encourage anyone. They demand everything from themselves and others – and never get it.

IV. DEVELOPING ENCOURAGEMENT IN MY OWN LIFE
As times get tough we need more encouragement. There are so many reasons why we could be discouraged. We need to remind one another of the many more reasons to be encouraged. When the situation looms so large that our vision is clouded, we need to help one another look upward.

People are growing increasingly discontented, disillusioned, and discouraged. Satan is striving to wear down the saints. We need an immunity to discouragement. We must “exhort one another daily.” We must become skilled at “stirring one another up to love and good works.”

Our hearts easily grow cold and tired. We are busy. We are bombarded by propaganda, little of which is really good news. God’s people must accept the challenge to encourage. Some Christians are being lost by extreme discouragement. Some are casualties through the bad reports of others. We must not fail to be builders rather than destroyers.

Albert Sweitzer said “For every one negative input it takes eleven positive ones to overcome it.”
It is easier for one negative person to pull five positive people down than for five positive people to pick up one negative person.

Surround yourself with positive people as an encouragement.

V. SELF EVALUATION
A. Do my words of encouragement easily outweigh words of correction or criticism?
B. Do people become more cheerful around me?
C. Would my family consider me an encouraging person?
D. Is it easy for me to praise others?
E. Am I careful to ask forgiveness of others when I have given a negative report or discouraging word?
F. Have I been diligent to encourage those I associate with – children, students, employees, husband/wife, brothers, sisters, fellow church members?
G. Have I been diligent to encourage those God has placed over me – teachers, employers, elders, pastors, church leaders, civil servants, government leaders?
H. Do I pass along only good news and swallow gossip, or do I delight in sharing bad news?
I. Does my conversation with friends generally build people up?
J. Do I think more about giving praise than receiving it?
K. Do I desire to become “encourager?”
L. Am I able to encourage those who have hurt me? Can I “bless those who persecute” me as Jesus commands?
M. Have I recognized how encouraging God is to His whole creation? To me?
N. Do patient people bother me?
O. Do I avoid jobs that will test my patience?
P. Has my impatience caused me to be unpopular?
Q. Am I patient enough in my personal prayer time so that God has a chance to communicate with me?

The Easter Effect

MATTHEW 28: 1- 7A

JESUS CHRIST died a quivering corpse on a cruel cross.

Heaven was in danger of embarrassment.

Earth was in danger of enslavement.

Deity was in danger of being disgraced.

Devotion was in danger of being disillusioned.

Then an angelic messenger brought the best news since the angels in Bethlehem announced His birth. It was a message that brought joy to the world — HE IS RISEN.

JESUS CHRIST triumphant bodily resurrection has a daily effect on the lives of millions.

He Who overcame the ultimate enables individuals daily to achieve the optimum.

Those dying with faith in Christ do so confidently knowing their Lord also walked this path and turned around to come back and say, “It’s OK! What is ahead is worth the trip.”

See the broken hearted bereft by the death of a loved one. They grieve, but not as those who have no hope. Knowing their deceased beloved is more alive than they ambition regarding ultimate reunion inspires hope in them daily.

Observe the youth in a minority position beleaguered by moral bullies standing firm in the faith enabled by the support of their living Lord.

The stressed and distressed person in business is enabled to maintain moral equilibrium because of an awareness of the compelling presence of the resurrected Christ.

The wife/mother/domestic engineer puzzled by the perplexities of life is encouraged knowing she is the object of the love of the living Lord.

The elderly, alone, knowing in reality they are not alone because of their compassionate companion, the resurrected Lord.

Listen to the hope expressed by the person who has to surrender to the awfulness of what is happening to them when they are wrapped in suffering like the cloth around a mummy. Hear their hope springing from an awareness that He ever lives to comfort.

Easter has a daily effect on all of us.

Journey with me back to that first resurrection morning. The light of dawn is but slight as the Creator turns up His daily rheostat on the scene. If we had come uninformed, like the women who were the tomb’s first visitors, we would have been coming to visit a dead man.

A brilliant young jurist who had been a party to the crucifixion as a disbeliever was later converted to faith in Christ by the fact of the resurrection. His name was Saul. He was from Tarsus. After the rumor of the resurrection spread he was empowered with legal documents entitling him to search out, torture, and if necessary kill those professing belief in the resurrection. In the course of the events that followed he to became a believer in the Lord of the resurrection and wrote:

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen …(I Corinthians 15: 3 – 5a).I. HE DIED
To understand the resurrection we must accept His death.

Critics of the resurrection have consistently concocted lies to try to discredit it. Facts won’t allow it. He died according to the Scripture. That is, on the day of His death approximately 30 prophecies regarding Him were fulfilled. They occurred just like the prophets said they would.

Persons who profess He didn’t actually die don’t understand to what He was subjected in the last hours of life. One reason Pilate wanted to scourge Him was that it alone often resulted in death. This coupled with the hours of torment by His detractors depleted the best of men. Asphyxiation killed most who were crucified. Blood loss drained any remaining life. Then there was the coup de grace. The Roman soldier’s spear thrust opened a wound in His side, pierced the pericardium, and punctured the heart allowing blood and water to freely flow out.

His death had a purpose. According to the Scripture He died for our sins. This is a reduction of the gospel to its essence. Our salvation is based on a historical event. Our salvation is dependent upon the happenings in two moments in time. One is the moment of His resurrection and the other is the moment of our faith response to Him. He has done His part and awaits our response.

II. HE ROSE AGAIN
The women came to the grave to complete the internment process which was aborted by the sundown which brought the Sabbath day. They walked as they talked about who would remove the stone. Such stones weighed between one and three tons.

Engage your intellect to learn a beautiful principle. The Scripture says the stone was “rolled away.” The Greek word for “rolled” is KULIO.

Mark uses a prepositional prefix “ANA”. Thus, the word ANAKULIO. With the prefix added the word means to roll up an incline.

Luke uses a different prefix, “APO”, which when added renders APOKULIO which means to roll a great distance.

Combined we get a picture of how the angel moved this one to three ton stone. He moved it up hill a great distance away.

That is how our Lord works. He didn’t just tilt the stone He MOVED it.

Colleagues and critics alike agree the tomb was empty that Easter morning. The expected dead man wasn’t there. The angel messenger said it clearly, “He is not here, for He is risen…”

One of the most prominent critics of the resurrection recently stated that the appearances of Christ after burial can’t be attributed to hallucinations. That is obviously true because there has never been such a thing as group hallucination.

Note these observances: “and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen of James, then all the apostles, Then last of all He was seen by me…” (I Cor. 15: 5 – 9a).

Did you catch that? He was seen of Peter. Of all the people who didn’t expect to or want to see Jesus it was Peter who just a few days before had refused to even acknowledge knowing Him. He lived to write of what the resurrection meant to all of us in the opening verses of his first letter:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice…” (I Peter 1: 3 – 6a).

Now back to the modern critic who concedes the appearances can’t be attributed to hallucination or any of the other normal attempts to explain it away. He has a new theory. Are you ready?
Jesus had a twin brother.

Sure, He did! And all of His life no one knew? You have got to be kidding. Such would have been exploited long before.

After the resurrection and reports of His appearing great persecution broke out.

Imagine Mary seeing Jesus’ twin and the resulting confusion. Can’t you just her saying to him: “Buford, what do you mean showing up here now, Bubba, causing this confusion!”

When the pressure and persecution built on the disciples don’t you know they would have hunted up Buford and exposed him to stop the persecution. “Buford, if you keep up this charade you are going to get us all killed, Bubba.”

A contemporary of Christ was medical doctor Luke. He examined the evidence for the resurrection and concluded it consists of “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1: 3). Observe, there were “many…proofs” and they were “infallible.” The statement was made by a man of science based on first person observation at the time of the event. It didn’t come from a dreamer with a vivid imagination two thousand years after the event.

Every argument against the resurrection is philosophic.

Every argument for the crucifixion is historical.

Our philosophy should help us explain the events of life not explain them away.

As the appointee of the highest court of the day to investigate reports of a crucifixion, Paul heard more reports of the resurrection than anyone. In the court of Festus with King

Agrippa present Paul testified: “For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.” (Acts 26:26)

Had not the fact of the resurrection been common knowledge someone in the court would have disputed the claim.

The resurrection redefines for us hope. It happened when there was no hope of it happening. The idea of Christ coming back from the grave was alien to anything His followers thought. Despair dominated during those initial days after His execution. Their hope was given birth. The best news the world ever heard came from a grave yard just outside Jerusalem: “He is risen.” With that announcement hope arose.

There are many nihilistic, fatalistic, and pessimistic philosophies alive in the world today. Summarily they generally fall under one of three headings.

Rene Descartes opened the door for a naturalist point of view with his statement: “I think; therefore, I am.”

This was the intellectual steppingstone to the conclusion that God made the universe and removed Himself from any other association with His creation. This philosophy assumes nature has its own set of laws and dynamics which govern the universe without any overriding reason or purpose.

A second philosophy, existentialism as defined by Jean-Paul Sartre, declares, “Every living thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness and dies by chance.” What a downer! Many people live with that attitude without knowing it as a formal philosophy.

Later the German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche simplified it with the expression, “God is dead.”

The third philosophy of life is defined for us by the resurrected Christ. Christ fortifies His followers with tangible
hope as expressed from the other side of the grave in this His immortal inaugural:

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore …” (Rev 1:18.)

Because of His resurrection Christ made life user-friendly. He gives hope, purpose, meaning, and direction to life. Our hope is not tied to success, security, wealth, or power, but to Christ. His future is our future.

This is illustrated by this dialogue:
“Are you a believer?” asked Caligular.
“Yes,” responded the man.
“Then I shall kill you too.”
Then the man started laughing.
“If you don’t renounce the faith I will kill you.”
The man laughed even more.
“What is your name demanded?” Caligular.

Finally controlling his laughter the man threatened with death said, “My name is Lazarus.”

The resurrection made death a laughing matter.

There are 20,000 new words being added annually to our language, and still there isn’t one adequate to express the meaning of our eternal hope in Christ Jesus.

One of Christ’s last appearances was on the Mount of Olives where a large crowd watched Him ascend into heaven. Then an angel appeared “who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.'” (Acts 1:11.)

III. HE IS COMING AGAIN
We should know it. He left us a vital clue in the grave. John 20: 7 notes it. The napkin used as part of the burial cloth is described by John as being left folded in a place by itself.

In the orient in that era napkins were used by noblemen in dining. Servants stood by to attend their master. If the master crumpled the napkin and left the table the servant knew he was finished and was not coming back.

If the master folded the napkin and left it on the table it signaled he was not through and was coming back.
That folded napkin and the angels message coincide, “He is coming again.”

You want proof of His coming. The many infallible proofs of His resurrection confirm it.

Legal minds today concur in the uncommon common belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

John Singleton Copley, one of the great legal minds in British history and three times High Chancellor of England wrote, “I know pretty well what evidence is, and I tell you, such evidence as that for the resurrection has never broken down yet.”

Two brilliant American jurists, James E. Bennett of New York, and Irwin H. Linton of Washington D.C. have come to the conclusion that it is absolutely impossible for any man with a legal mind, and accustomed to sifting evidence to sit down and thoroughly investigate the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and come to any conclusion other than that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

Dr. Thomas Arnold, touted by his colleagues, as a man of intellectual integrity and legal excellence wrote: “I know no fact in the history of humankind which is proven by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the mind of fair inquirer, that the great sign which God has given us, that Christ died and rose again.”

Therefore we are “to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10).

We wait and live with HOPE. We wait and live OBEDIENTLY.

A Day For Renewal

Lamentation 5: 19 – 21
(The Book Was Written By Jeremiah)

In Verses 1 – 18 It Is Acknowledged That The Nation Is In Disarray: “The Crown Has Fallen From Our Head.” Moral As Well As Civil Law Had Broken Down. The Rule Of Man Among Them Has Been Overthrown.

Confession Of Sin Is Made: “Woe Is Us, For We Have Sinned” (Vs. 16).

Following This Confession Hope Begins To Rise. Freed From Thoughts Of Themselves Their Hearts Are Turned Toward The Lord.

“You O Lord, Remain Forever” (Vs. 19a).

“Your Throne From Generation To Generation” (Vs. 19b). This Speaks Of The Moral Governance Of God.

In The Lord There Is An Anchor For The Soul. Her One’s Heart Can Safely Rest. There Is An Absolute.

Since God Is Forever The Moral Governor Of The Universe, His People Can Have Hope. There Is A Basic For Stability.

In Applying The Statement, “The Crown Has Fallen From Our Head” To America We See A Nation In Which God’s Moral Absolutes Have Been Abandoned In Favor Of Relativism.

Ask An Advocate Of The Philosophy That There Are No Moral Absolutes If He Believes There Are No Moral Absolutes And He Will Say, “Absolutely.”

It Is Popular To Say, “There Are No Moral Absolutes.” Right And Wrong Are Determined By The Situation. This Is Called Tolerance.

Most Of Us Believe In Old Fashioned Tolerance. However, The Word Has Been Redefined As Positive And Negative Tolerance.

To Say, “I Love You And Respect Your Right To Believe As You Do, But Disagree With You,” Is Considered Negative Tolerance And Not Proper.

Positive Tolerance Means One Persons Idea Is As Good As Any Other. It Does Not Allow For Any One Idea To Be Considered Right And Another Wrong. If One Person’s Idea Is As Good As Another’s We Need To Dig Up Adolph Hitler And Apologize. We Need To Open Prison Doors And Let Theodore Kazinsky And All Other Prisoners Out.

College Professors Dealing With Students Trained To Believe In Positive Tolerance Are Running Into Moral Problems. They Are Finding Students Who Believe Slavery Was Right. After All, It Was The Accepted Idea Of Many People. Genocide Is Acceptable For After It Is A Popular Idea In Some Societies.

There Needs To Be A Return To The Moral Governance Of God.

Some Critics Say This Is An Appeal To Return To Old Testament Law. Most Fail To Realize There Were Three Bodies Of Law During The Old Testament Era.

* There Was The Civil Law, The Laws Of The State. These Were The Judicial Laws Established By God For Ancient Israel Only. They Have Been Changed By Various Societies And Were Not Intended To Be Applicable To Any Other Nation.

* There Was The Ceremonial Law, The Sacrificial System. This Was Fulfilled By Christ And Is No Longer Applicable. Because Of “The Lamb Of God Slain From The Foundation Of The Earth” There Is No Longer A Need For Animal Sacrifices.

* There Was The Moral Law Of God Which Has Not And Does Not Change: “You, O Lord, Remain Forever, Your Throne From Generation To Generation” (Vs. 19a).

Individually We Need To Pray With Jeremiah: “Turn Us Back To You, (Revive Us) O Lord, And We Will Be Restored” (Vs. 21).

Come Back To Jesus Christ, “The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever.”

When We Do, Then We Will Be Renewed, Revived.

A Change Of Mind

PHILIPPIANS 2: 5 – 11

JESUS CHRIST is the perfect, peerless pattern for all who believe. He is not to be JUST our pattern. Indeed He is a pattern beyond compare, however, before being our model He must be our Master. Patterning our lives after Him is an impossibility until He becomes our Savior and then empowers us. Apart from this imparted power there is no possibility of following Him as our pattern.

Jesus is our worthy example after we have trusted Him as Savior. For this reason the text says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” That would require a mind transplant.

The impossibility of having a brain transplant has long intrigued scientists. Whose memory would it be if someone else’s brains were transplanted into your head: yours or the donor’s?

It is not possible to transplant a brain, but it is possible to transplant a mind; the mind of Christ. For that reason the text challenges us: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”

Thomas A. Edison remarked, “The chief purpose of the body is to carry the brain around.” If that is true, why is so much emphasis put on the vehicle and so little on the cargo?

The brain is visible matter. The mind is invisible non-matter.

Your brain consists of between 40 and 50 ounces of gray matter, approximately 80% of which is water. That leaves 10 ounces of gray matter with which to think and reason.

If each of these gray cells were the size of a football, the entire surface of the globe would be covered 27 feet deep with pigskins.

Compared to a computer, the brain is far superior. The human mind can accommodate up to 100 million bits of information per inch. That means your brain has the capacity to store all known information. The human brain has the capacity to capture, store, recall, and program more than six hundred bits of information per second.

A British neurophysician has said that if we were to electronically approximate an average human brain, the result would cost close to three billion billion dollars (that’s a 3 followed by eighteen zeros).

The brain is the stage on which the mind plays out the human drama.

William James, noted American philosopher and psychologist, summarily said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that men can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind!”

THAT MEANS YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE BY CHANGING YOUR MIND.
Devotees of the New Age movement have pushed the concept of mind control beyond the realm of reason. In doing so they have caused many in the Christian community to shy away from this important subject or neglect it at best. The Bible speaks often about the importance of the mind and our thoughts. For example.

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

Some extremist have pushed this principle too far and say, “You are what you think about all day.”

That isn’t true. If it were all teenage boys would be girls. There might be a pretty even trade off because all some girls think about is boys.

Isaiah assures us of great peace of mind resulting from proper thought. “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

Paul gives an inventory of positives and concludes by saying “think on these things” (Philippians 4: 8).

Through the prophet Ezekiel God revealed: “Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me,…for I know the things that come into your mind” (Ezekiel 11:5).

Real victory and joy come when we know God’s thoughts. When our delight is that of the Psalmist in 139:17 we are winners:

“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17).

Controlling the mind is the job of the will — our real self.

It is important to control the mind because attitudes determine actions.

Not only can you change your mind on a single decision, you can change your entire lifestyle by changing your mind regarding Christ.

Attitudes determine actions. I want you to engage in an experiment to demonstrate this to yourself.

Everyone please stand. Assume this attitude toward those around you for a moment. Shortly I want you to greet those around you like they are unimportant to you and you are trying to get by them to speak to someone more important. For a moment, and just a moment, consider those people around you unimportant to you and greet them in that way. Pretend you want to get away from them quickly in order to get to someone more important. Please behave toward those around you in that exact manner right now. Thanks!

Now I want you to greet those same people around you like they are your best friends you haven’t seen in some time. Greet them as though you are excited to see them.

Thanks! Please be seated.

First you had a negative thought. The people were not important and you didn’t particularly care for them.

Then you greeted them with a positive attitude and it made a difference in your actions. Your attitude determined your action.

By letting the Lord work though you it is possible for you to change your attitude, disposition, and lifestyle.

Here is a thunderous thought. Your mind doesn’t know the difference between reality and what you tell it. Take some temperamental trait for example. Let’s consider one that might well relate to many different people. What are your early morning hours like? Are they a drag? Do you or someone you know go around with your head down repeating, if not out loud and least silently to yourself, “I don’t like this day. I wish it hadn’t begun yet.”

That is what you have been telling your mind and it believes it. Now try sending a different message like this.

“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I have never lived it before and will never live it again. I want to live it up in such a way that I won’t long to live it down. There will be no instant replay or rerun therefore I want to live every hour of it in such a way as to please my Lord.”

That will start the juices jangling and change your focus from negative to positive and positive attitudes change your actions to positive actions. Our Lord enables it to work.

Our physiology is a term used to refer to how we behave. When your psychology changes your physiology changes. That is when your focus changes from negative to positive your actions change also. When your mind changes from the carnal to the mind of Christ your behavior also changes.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:3-5).

Servants with a renewed mind bring “every thought into captivity.”

Consider the elusive goal of happiness which our constitution guarantees us the right to pursue and most people chase after with great energy. British author Samuel Johnson wisely wrote of happiness, “The fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and he who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he proposes to remove.”

This brings us to our text and insight into how to properly change our mind. Desiring for us the very best, the Lord God inspired the writer of Philippians to exhort us to “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus …” TODAY you can have a mind transplant. The mind of Christ can be yours. That is, Christ’s way of thinking can become your way of thinking. His outlook can become yours. His opinions can become yours.

Philippians 2: 5 – 11 is an appeal to you to change your mind. Why not? You changed it many times to get to the mind set you now have. This passage offers the optimum admirable attitude. If you are not a Christian it would have to begin with you changing your mind about Christ before you could change it to the mind of Christ. The mind set of Christ does not come about by imitation, but impartation.

Let’s take a look at this passage and bit by bit apply it.

The expression “mind of Christ” is a summary reference to His outlook on life. Outlook determines outcome.

This does not come about by imitation, but impartation.

This passage traces Christ’s descent from Sovereign to servant.

I. THE SOVEREIGN (Vs. 6)
Before Bethlehem, Jesus existed in eternity and deity. As a member of the Trinity He was coequal, co-eternal, and co-essential with God the Father.

In leaving heaven and assuming a human form for us, He revealed His mind as being UNSELFISH. If we manifest this mind set we will:

Prefer one another. “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10).

Bear each others burdens. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Edify each other. “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another…” (I Thessalonians 5:11).

In Philippians 2: 6 and 8 two different Greek words are translated “form.” To understand them is to begin to comprehend the humility of Christ in coming to earth from heaven.

In verse 6 “form” translates MORPHE, meaning nature or essence. It is an outward expression of an inward nature.

In verse 8 “form” or “fashion” translates SCHEMA, which refers to outward appearance that changes.

For example, your SCHEMA changes all through life. We go through stages, such as, baby, infant, juvenile, adolescent, young adult, middle-aged adult, and older adult. However, at every stage we are a human being.

Take the substance “Playdough.” Shaped as a square it has the form of a square but is Playdough. Remold it as a sphere and it has the form of a sphere but is still Playdough.

In heaven Jesus existed as God. On earth in His human form He was a man, but His nature was still that of God.

The mind of Christ is one of servitude. He came to serve.

II. THE SERVANT (Verse 7)
He took upon Himself the actual “form” of a servant. He didn’t pretend to be a servant, He wasn’t play acting, He actually became a human being.

In fusing manhood and deity He didn’t cease being God. His MORPHE did not change, His SCHEMA did. Internally He was the eternal God. Externally He was a man.

“In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).

He “made Himself of no reputation” (Vs. 7). That is, He did not use His deity for Himself. His every use of His supernatural power was for others and never for Himself.

Unselfishness was the first attribute of the mind of Christ noted in this passage. Service is the second one.

Christ said, “He that is going to be greatest among you has got to be a servant” (Matthew 23:11).

Too many people live their lives on the cafeteria plan — self-service only.

A selfish person is like a ball of string, all wrapped up in himself.

Selfish people are like the fellow who prayed, “Lord use me, but mostly in an advisory capacity.”

Albert Schweitzer, a man with a servant’s temperament, said, “The only ones among us who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”

Finding happiness apart from service is as impossible as finding a black palomino.

Traits of Christ as a servant which we must emulate are:
A. Service must be voluntary. He “became obedient” (Vs. 8).
B. Service evidences total dependence. He said, “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30).
C. Service is evidenced by steadfast devotion. Resolutely, Christ said, “I must work the work of Him who sent Me” (John 9:4).

This requires a will cast not just in iron, but titanium, in order to maintain fresh devotion. To stay when others stray requires a will well-fixed. Consistency counts for more than capacity.

A spastic, herky-jerky, on-again, off-again fidelity dishonors the Lord, displeases the world, and defeats the doer.

III. THE SACRIFICE (Verse 8) “He humbled Himself”
At times our service must involve sacrifice. Thomas a Kempis wrote in the “Imitation of Christ,” “Remember that you are here to serve, not to rule; that you are called to suffer in the furnace. Here no one can abide, unless he is ready to humble himself with all his heart for the love of God.”

Many are willing to serve IF they don’t have to sacrifice.

Christ humbled Himself. He wasn’t humbled. Even in His ignominious death He gave His life, it was not taken. He said, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” (John 10:18).

IV. THE SOVEREIGN AGAIN (Vss. 9 – 11)
As a result of His faithful mission as the Suffering Servant, God the Father highly exalted God the Son. He gave Him a new name, “Lord.”

Let me illustrate in part what it means for Him to be Lord.

Think of yourself as living in a rental complex. Your landlord is a person who seems bent on controlling all tenants and making life miserable for all. His rent is extravagant. If you can’t pay on time he charges you exorbitant interest to get you further in debt. He barges in at all sorts of inconvenient times and charges you maintenance costs for damage he causes. Your life is miserable.

Then there is a fearful knock on the door and you open it timorously. Someone else is standing there who says, “I’ve taken over this housing unit. I bought it. You can live here free as long as you would like. The rent is fully paid for life. I am going to live in the manager’s apartment and will be glad to be of help whenever you call on me.

What a relief. You have been saved from the old tyrant landlord.

Soon there is a knock on the door. You have hardly had time to rejoice in your new found freedom. You open the door and there stands your old landlord! He is as mean, demanding, and glowering as ever. He says he has come to collect.
What are you to do? Do you pay him? Do you do what he wants you to do? Do you walk right up to him and bop him on the nose? NO — he’s bigger than you!

You confidently tell him, “You will have to take this up with my new Landlord who lives right over there in the manager’s apartment.

Your old landlord tries to coax then coerce you to pay-up. He endeavors to entice and then extort money from you. Your response, “Take that up with my new Landlord.”

All along your old landlord knew this he was simply trying to get you to pay-up out of habit or from pressure.

That is a parable of a Christian. Once Christ has delivered a person from sin and the devil that person can depend on Him. The old landlord will continue to come back but you just refer him to your new Landlord.

How do you keep the devil from mastering your mind? You let the mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

Follow this closely. “Lord” translates the Greek word KURIOS. It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew ADONAI, the personal name for Jehovah God among the Jews. No Jew pronounced the name Jehovah even when reading Scripture. Instead they substituted ADONAI.

When the Old Testament Hebrew name for God, ADONAI, was translated into Greek it was translated KURIOS. Therefore, when in the New Testament Jesus is called “Lord” He is being called God. Is He your God?

To bow before Him now means salvation.

To bow before Him in eternity means condemnation.

You will bow before Him. You choose when.

The timing of your choice determines whether it is unto salvation or condemnation.

In the 19th Century, Italy was divided and ruled by the Austrians. There was a growing movement to free Italy and unite it as a free state under Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia. A slogan appeared all over Italy which symbolized this hope: “Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy.” In Italian it was: “Victor Emmanuel Re De Italia.” By using the first letter of each Italian word, patriots produced the slogan VERDI. It appeared everywhere as expectation grew. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel became king. The slogan still appeared, but with different meaning. It was no longer a cry of expectation. It became a about of triumphant realization.

Today we anticipate the coming of the triumphant Lord Jesus. Today it is an anticipation. The day of triumph will come and then it will be triumph of realization.

I don’t know your opinion of Jesus Christ. I do know His opinion of you. He loves you. If your opinion hasn’t been one of love for Him you can change your mind today and spiritually bow before Him, making this a day of triumphant realization.

What He did was “to the glory of God the Father” (2:11). Your positive response to Him will also be to the glory of God the Father. Then – – –

“All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostate fall:
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.”