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Tag: Gospel

The Gospel is Good News to all who will humbly accept Jesus and listen to His teaching.

We refer to the four books of the Bible which tell the story of Jesus Christ as the Gospels. These books are named for their authors: Matthew, a Jewish Apostle; Mark, a disciple of the first generation who recorded accounts of Peter and the Twelve; Luke, a gentile Physician and disciple of the first century; and John, one of the Twelve Jewish Apostles chosen by Jesus.

  • Rude christians

    Rude christians

    I have searched the Gospels, Letters and Old Testament and found NO excuse for rudeness in Christians.

    Christians claim that God is a God of love. (Scripture confirms this.) We claim that Jesus came to the world because God ‘so loved the world….’ (Scripture confirms this.) God is love. Jesus is love. The Holy Spirit counsels us in love.

    So why do christians so often witness rudeness, coldness and indifference to the heart of God’s love?

    I must confess that on occasion I am the rude christian who does not return the phone call of a brother or sister in the Lord. Sometimes I forget to answer a text or an email. I often forget to pray for some saints who I know need prayer. Yet I speak of a more devastating rudeness by which we wound the body of Christ’s church.

    As I have just spoken against elevating any saint, man or woman, above God; I will lift up their many examples of love for others. (We have witnessed or read of what they have done for others out of love and compassion; things that we ought to do, but do not.)

    Have you seen a Christ-like love for others, even from a non-Christian?

    Yes, of course; we all have.

    The Law of Moses sets high moral example for us. The Qur’an sets some very strict examples of how men and women ought to behave in relation to each other. The traditions and writings of Hinduism, Buddhism and other poly-theistic religions hold relationships of family and community much higher than (it would seem) do Christians. We seem unwilling to practice this relational love in our daily, relational lives with other Christians.

    Their better relationship to family, community and country will not cover our sinfulness or redeem our mortal flesh from hell. Their fine families and close communities will not bring even one soul to eternal life. (And you do not just die, return as a cow, bird or amoeba to work your way once more to eternal bliss of some sort.)

    Yet Christians must realize that this same love for others is the same love that Christ Jesus commanded brothers and sisters in the Lord to have for each other.

    (No rudeness.)

    God IS a God of relationship.

    IF we are truly in relationship with God; IF we truly have a relationship with Christ Jesus; THEN that relationship does NOT include a rudeness toward God the Father and that relationship does NOT include a rudeness toward the risen and eternal Christ Jesus… IF HE IS your LORD.

    Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by rejecting His counsel of love – a love for one another, which does not include rudeness.

    We have numerous scriptural instructions to “love one another.” No doubt, this love intended by Jesus does not include even a hint of rudeness.

    I could say much more just on the meaning of Christ’s love commanded to us and perhaps will return to this in another post.

    John 15:17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

    My focus, however, is a conviction against our rudeness which Christ will not condone.

    Perhaps the closest possible example of Jesus that may seem to demonstrate rudeness for another human being follows in this story.

     Matthew 15:

    21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word.

    ‘There it is,’ you say. Jesus appears rude to the woman here.

    Jesus had left Galilee with the Disciples. (You know how sometimes you just have to get away from it all. Not exactly a vacation, but time together for Jesus and His dearest friends.)

    I’m kind of busy with other things. You know, we all are. right? So Jesus had not gone to the Syrian coast to work or to preach.

    23b And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

    Wow!  Nicely said, “get lost.”

    Is it rudeness to Jesus to try to send her away? (I wonder if some of my casual requests for an answer from my brother or my sister in Christ seem intrusive?)

    ‘I left you a voice-mail (when you didn’t answer).’ I didn’t get a reply to my text… even now. (You know I was hoping for some Christian fellowship – some time together for just you and me, dear brother/sister in Christ.)

    Why are you ignoring me?

    But something happens here that shows this woman to have more than just a casual, intrusive request of Jesus.

    25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

    Again, the woman is persistent. (I know, I’m a real bother to you.) She comes humbly to Jesus, kneeling before Him, humbling herself to Him as her Master in every way.

    The woman makes her request as a lowly servant, saying, ‘Even the master who feeds his own children and family will give crumbs to the dogs.’

    Yes, beloved sister… beloved brother in the Lord… give me just a crumb. (I know you’re busy; yet I need this one thing from you.

    I need a crumb of your love, dearly beloved.)

    27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

    28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

    Jesus may have (at first) appeared rude, as our Lord was engaged in conversation and engaged in meals with His Apostles. Jesus may have seemed rude to her as He paid closest attention to those nearest to Him.

    Yet what was the lesson of Jesus and the obtrusive relationship of this woman from outside the fellowship of followers?

    Faith! For her faith Jesus showed her compassion. For her humility Jesus gave her healing for her beloved daughter.

    Suppose that your daughter was possessed by a demon? Suppose that you knew of a Man who could save her from darkness? What would you do?

     John 14:12

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

    Do you grieve the Holy Spirit by your rudeness to those for whom you should have compassion and show mercy?

    Jesus didn’t and neither should we.

    I ask you; dearly beloved sister, dearly beloved brother: in the Name Christ Jesus, would you please have fellowship with me?

    Please give some crumb of Christ’s love to another.

    (To do anything else, would just be rude.)

  • Personal Witness of a Personal Love

    Personal Witness of a Personal Love

    Luke 10:23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

    Isaiah 53

    Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

    John 1:

    14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

    Who IS Jesus Christ?

    And what is the witness of His divinity?

    Note that I ask, ‘Who IS Jesus Christ,’ not, ‘who was Jesus Christ.’

    For if Jesus Christ is not divine – if Jesus Christ is not God; then Jesus was and is not; for the son of man was not and is not the Christ – God with us. If Jesus is not the Christ, then the gospel is not true witness and our faith would be in vain (as states Paul in 1 Corinthians 15).

    Yet again, as Paul did witness, as the Apostles did witness, as John the Baptist did witness, as Jesus’ mother and brothers did witness, as many were witness to the resurrection of Christ Jesus: He IS Divine – Jesus, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit IS GOD! This is our witness of the gospel of grace for those who will believe.

    Where were you three years ago (in 2011)?

    Were you walking near to the life of a loved one? Were you involved in the daily life – the comings and goings of one so dear that you knew nearly their every action, most of what they said and understood much of what they thought? Were you – three years ago and for these past three years – that near to your beloved, a man or woman of this flesh? Were you near to their soul? Are you joined in your purpose and understanding even now to do what they would have you do?

    And where are you now (on this day in the year of our Lord, 2014)?

    Have you remained faithful in your relationship and love to your beloved? to your husband (or wife)? to your children? to your brothers and sisters in the Lord?

    I would venture to say that you have NOT been as near to any soul, to any of flesh and blood, as was the John the Disciple to Jesus. (And may we be convicted by the Spirit for our neglect of the love of those nearest to us in Christ Jesus.)

    This was the intimacy of John, Peter and the Disciples of Jesus: they lived with the Man, they ate with Him, they traveled with Him, they listened to His teachings in public, they listened to His instructions in private, they witnessed His miracles in public and they witnessed His Power in private.

    It is with this intimacy and understanding of the risen Christ and the Incarnate Son of Man that John the Apostle witnessed Jesus by his Gospel, his letters and his Revelation of Jesus Christ.

    Jesus was, IS, and is to come – GOD!

    AND God is love.

    How can we, a mortal man (or woman), a soul surrounded by flesh and bone and a mind finite in understanding, grasp the fullness of the love of Christ Jesus?

    Indeed, we cannot; but must know the Lord by humility and faith. We must believe by faith the many witnesses of God in the flesh.

    The witness of John the Apostle in his first letter [KJV]:

     That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

    2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

    3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

    NO faithful Jew speaks lightly of GOD – of ‘That which was from the beginning.’ John makes a remarkable statement about God here:

    ‘That’ which WAS FROM THE BEGINNING (Only GOD IS from the beginning), we have heard and we have seen with our eyes.

    We have touched GOD! And He has embraced us!

    How near may a man stand to God? How near dare a mortal come to the Immortal?

    John is witness that God, in the Person of Christ Jesus, came near to us – near to him. Is it any wonder that John’s witness is: God is love?

    John comforts us, “our hands have handled … the Word of life.”

    Following the resurrection, the Holy Spirit was witness to John and the disciples of the divinity and power of Jesus. Following these letters of John the risen Christ is once more witness to John on Patmos (after the other Apostles have been martyred for Christ). Yet prior to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, GOD the Father gives witness to the Son in the presence of John.

     Matthew 17

    And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light…

    5 He [Peter] was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

    6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”

    We may also be familiar with the witness of God the Father at the witness of Jesus’ baptism by John. We are perhaps less familiar of the following witness of God the Father to Jesus Christ the Son, near the completion of Jesus’ three year ministry on earth.

    John 12

    Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead…

    9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead…

    12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…

    23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…  27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.”

    Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

    29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

    30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

    John, the Beloved Disciple, is witness to the love and glory of Christ Jesus. John says of his Holy friend:

    1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

    John held the hand of God, in Christ Jesus. John lay upon the breast of our Lord Jesus, hearing the beating of His mortal heart. John beheld the holes of the nails of the cross in the flesh of the hands of the risen Christ Jesus. John is witness that God is love and in Him is no darkness at all.

    John 13:23 KJV Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

    John’s Gospel and witness and Revelation reveal the light and life and truth of God in Christ Jesus, that only in Him is light and life. He IS the living water. He IS the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

    Only in Him will you have eternal life. Only in Christ Jesus will you have the fellowship of love. Only if by faith you follow and witness by His love: Jesus IS Lord, will you have any life and hope and love for your soul – in this life and that which is to come, which we cannot understand, except by faith in Jesus Christ.

    May our Lord draw you into His arms of love and light and life.

    Amen.

     

     

     

     

  • Dearly Beloved

    Dearly Beloved

    If you think only of a moment of marriage vows for these kind words, think again.

    How can you claim a relationship to Jesus Christ when you will not witness by your relationships to other Christians that we are dearly beloved by you?

    Christ Jesus demonstrated a genuine love for sinners. (Do we not all remain sinners, even in Christ?) Yet some sinners do cling to an earthly love for temporal things, though Christ offers a clear choice to follow Him or be condemned to judgment.

    Jesus has genuine compassion for us. Yet His compassion is not enough to save you from Hell unless you embrace a relationship with Him.

    Dearly beloved, dear brother in the Lord,

    (Though I speak to you as a beloved brother in Christ, I include our sisters in the Lord also by my appeal.)

    Do you have love and compassion for other Christians? Do you care about those of your church – the body of Christ?

    Dearly beloved,

    Are you not beloved believers, near to the heart of our Lord?

    Yet how far removed from His love are your hearts of stone which reject fellowship with your fellow disciple.

    Who would Jesus embrace? Think of the example of His Disciples, those who gave up everything to follow Christ Jesus.

    Who acknowledges the love of Jesus by nearness to His love?

    The risen Christ had been asking Peter for the commitment of His love in leading the church after His ascension. Jesus had asked Peter three times: “Do you love me?”

    Following this, the Gospel records:  Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved— John 21:20

    John will so embrace the believers of the church, evidenced by his witness, letters and Revelation. Yet the Apostle John also cautions believers to have relationship with Christ and not to claim Him only in Name.

    1 John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

    7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,

    we have fellowship with one another,

    and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

    The ‘disciple Jesus loved,’ who as a young Apostle reclined at Jesus’ side in the fellowship and communion of the Twelve, instructs the church to ‘have fellowship with one another’ – a relationship. John and Peter both frequently address believers as, ‘dearly beloved,’ as do Paul, Jude and the writer of Hebrews.

    Dearly beloved,

    Do you claim a relationship to the love of Christ Jesus?

    You who call yourselves Christians, why do you boast about your special relationship with him? [see Rom. 2:17]

    Dearly beloved,

    We must also embrace the relationship of fellowship with our beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord. You know the scripture:

    But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. [Romans 5:8]

    Do you neglect the call of righteousness which follows?

    So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. [Romans 5:11]

    Let us, dearly beloved, also rejoice in the new relationship with one another in Christ Jesus, our Lord and beloved friend.

    The beloved disciple, John, writes to us, the chosen, dearly beloved Bride of Christ:

    2 John

    I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth— 2 because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

    3 Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love…

    5 I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. 6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning…

    Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. 9 Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

    Dearly, beloved,

    Remember the example of our loving Lord, Christ Jesus. Remember the example of love and fellowship witnessed through the Apostles of our Lord.

    Remember your relationship to our loving Lord by nurturing and embracing the relationship of Jesus’ unfailing love with one another.

    Dearly beloved, I pray for you.

    Pray also for me.

    Roger