Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!

He Is Risen



Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.



And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.



Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?



He is not here, but is risen!



Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.



It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.



But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. - Luke 24:1-12




Happy Resurrection Day!!

Happy Substitutionary Atonement Day!

Since I have become a Christian, it has always been ironic to me that we call today ‘Good Friday’.

Good Friday is the day that Christians celebrate, in some way or another, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Celebrate…the word almost makes me shudder. How does most of the world celebrate Good Friday? Well, here in the States, most folks get the day off from work. I would, and could, argue that most of the folks off from work today never give a second thought about what actually happened on the day they call ‘Good’ Friday.

What did happen?

Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb and God’s Son, was brutally and horrifically beaten and then hung on a cross.

Why? Why did this happen? If He was God’s Son, why did this happen?

Jesus, was being punished.

For what?

For your sins.

What sins? What sins do I have that Jesus would have to be hung on a cross for?

You have broken the Ten Commandments (1 John 3:4) and breaking any one of the Commandments (James 2:10) puts you in the cross-hairs of a perfect and righteous God.

Because of your sin (transgressing or breaking the Law) you are now condemned to death (Rom 6:23). The Bible says that you will be punished for breaking God’s Law….

Luke 12:5 says… Fear Him (God) who, after He has killed, has power to cast into Hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!


Who goes to Hell?

Rev. 21:8 - But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

1 Cor 6:9-10 also say’s … Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

If you have told a lie, you will go to Hell. If you have stolen something, you will go to Hell. If you have taken the Lord’s Name in vain, you will go to Hell. If you have committed adultery, you will go to Hell. If you have made an idol of something, you will go to Hell. The list goes on and on.

Once you have broken just one of God’s Laws, you have a one way ticket to Hell for punishment; eternally.

You have to pay for your own sins…..or have someone pay for them for you.

What? Someone can pay for my sins beside me?

Yes. This is called Substitutionary Atonement. In other words, someone could stand in your place and take your punishment for you. But there’s a catch. You knew there was.

This someone has to be perfect and sinless. You see, God will only accept a replacement as long as that replacement has no spot or blemish. This person must be perfect in word, thought and deed.

Who is worthy and who would be willing to stand in your place for your sins?

Are you ready for this?

God will do it. In fact, He already did it.

2000 years ago, God stepped out of Heaven and clothed Himself in human form. He walked and lived a perfect sinless life (He was God, He could do that). He allowed Himself to be taken by man and was horribly beaten and then crucified on a cross.

He died on that cross. He died in a most horrific manner for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the world. He took all the consequences of Hell for us, because of our sins. He did that because He loved us (John 3:16). They took Him down from the cross and put Him in a tomb that no person had ever been before.

But that’s not the end of the story.

Three days later, God raised Him from the dead so that you COULD have forgiveness of sins and life eternal in Heaven.

It’s like this…you broke the Law and Jesus paid your fine.

Jesus became our substitute offering to God. He became our ‘scape goat’, if you will.

The question now becomes; how do you receive this free gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God?

The Bible say’s you must repent (Mark 1:15, 6:12, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, 17:30, 2 Pet 3:9). The Bible says that there is no forgiveness of sins without repentance (Acts 2:38). To repent biblically means to have a godly sorrow for your sins and to turn from them.

After you repent the Bible says you must trust in Jesus to save you from God’s wrath. If you were on a plane that was about to crash and there was a parachute under you seat, you just wouldn’t believe in the parachute, you would put it on.

In the same way, you must put on the Lord Jesus and He will save you from your sins.

This, my blogging friends, is what today is all about.

Happy Substitutionary Atonement day!

This incomparable book!

This incomparable book!

(Thomas Brooks, "Apples of Gold" 1660)The whole of Scripture is but one entire loveletter, dispatched from the Lord Christ, to His beloved spouse!

Oh! the mysteries, the excellencies, the glories which are in this incomparable book! There are none so useful, none so needful, none so delightful, none so necessary to make you happy and to keep you happy--as this!

Ah! the Word of the Lord is . . . a light to guide you, a counselor to counsel you, a comforter to comfort you, a staff to support you, a sword to defend you, a physician to cure you!

The Word is . . . a mine to enrich you, a robe to clothe you, a crown to crown you. bread to strengthen you, wine to cheer you, a honeycomb to feast you, music to delight you, a paradise to entertain you!

Oh! therefore, before all and above all: search the Scripture, study the Scripture, meditate on the Scripture, delight in the Scripture, treasure up the Scripture!

There is . . . no wisdom like Scripture wisdom, no knowledge like Scripture knowledge, no experience like Scripture experience, no comforts like Scripture comforts, no delights like Scripture delights, no convictions like Scripture convictions, no conversion like Scripture conversion!

I exhort you to a speedy, serious, diligent, and constant study of the Scripture. Ah! you do not know how soon . . . your blind minds may be enlightened, your hard hearts may be softened, your proud spirits may be humbled, your sinful natures may be changed, your defiled consciences may be purged, your distempered affections may be regulated, and your poor souls may be saved . . . by searching into the Scriptures, by reading the Scripture, and by pondering upon the Scripture.

Ah! if you do not in good earnest,give yourself up . . . to the reading, to the studying, to the pondering, to the believing, to the practicing, to the applying, and to the living up to the Scripture--Satan will be too hard for you, the world will be too hard for you, your lusts will be too hard for you, temptations will be too hard for you, deceivers will be too hard for you, and in the end you will be miserable!

Good gosh........

The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs.

Ringing with applause?

Now you can get applause and kudo's these days for just admitting that you're a lying cheating and adulterous person.

Oh, come quickly Lord Jesus!

It is an interesting thing to see God at work.

It is an interesting thing to see God at work.

No, I’m not talking about the Earth spinning at over a 1000 miles per hour while traveling around the Sun at 67,000 miles per hour inside a Solar System that’s blistering along at 558,000 miles per hour within the Milky Way; although that’s pretty impressive.

Pretty impressive? No….amazingly impressive? No….I having a problem coming up with the right adjective here. Astounding? Astonishing? Incredible? Miraculous?

Incredibly miraculous?

Sorry, I got sidetracked.

It is an interesting thing to see God at work.

What could that mean? Well, it could mean lots of different things. What would it mean to my neighbor across the street? The lady that cleans the office? The Eskimo that looks up at the Northern Lights? The homeless man starring at his last few quarters? The mother as she looks upon her newborn baby?

What does it mean to me to see God at work?

What does God look like when He is changing a person? How does that person reflect his Maker while God is changing him? If God was changing a person, how would that person react to the change? Would he fight it or would he embrace it? Would he struggle with the change or adapt to his new features?

If God were changing a person, how now would that person look to others who knew him before God started changing him? Would they see a change in that person? Would they talk among themselves about how this person, whom they thought they knew, was now radically different than he used to be? Would they have to ask the person what was going on or would that person be bursting with excitement from the change? Would they beg the person to tell them what’s different or would that person be so burdened with the change as to tell them before they asked?

Hmmm.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

A brother in Christ shared with me today those very words as if they were just profoundly spoken by the Lord Himself to him personally. This brother in Christ is actually fairly new to the faith although he has pretty much grown up in church. I’ve known this person for more than 17 years and had seen him baptized well more than a decade ago. But something happened. He realized a short while back that he was lost. He came to the realization that he was not born-again as Jesus said one must be to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He realized that Christ did not come 2000 years ago to condemn him, but rather, he was condemned already. He came to a very personal realization that his sins did more than just separate him from God, his sins condemned him to a real hell for the punishment of those sins. He recently repented of his sins and now has his trust in Christ to save him from God’s wrath on the Day of Judgment.

But, even more than that, he is working out his salvation until it will be made complete when he leaves this world for his home with the King of glory. It’s an incredibly miraculous change that is evident to all who know him.

Now those words of John 14:6 mean something very personal to him. In fact, they are more than just words; it’s a narrow path that leads to his Savior.

Yes, it is an interesting thing to see God at work.