Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Jesus

  • Follow After Me -4-Evangelist

    I looked then, and saw a man named Evangelist coming to him, and he asked, “Wherefore dost thou cry?”

    He answered, “Sir, I perceive, by the BOOK in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment, and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second.”

    John Bunyan, “The Pilgrim’s Progress

    “I am condemned to die and after that to come to judgment,

    and I find that I am not willing to do the first,

    nor able to do the second.”

    The crux of our dilemma, the eternal choice of our mortality. You will die. Your life will end. You will breathe your last breath!

    Then what… O, tortured mortal soul?

    Are you willing to die?

    Are you able to come to the Judgment of Almighty God?

    We are condemned to die! AND what if, as the Good Book says, ‘we must face the Judgment.’ Are you prepared for eternity?

    This, of course, is one of the questions of the evangelist, the unwavering believer in Christ Jesus who stands before you with a Bible in hand and asks, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?’ (For the gravity of Hebrews 9:27 weighs as heavily on his heart as your sin for a time burdens yours.)

    The Heart of the Evangelist

    Our Eternal God broke with tradition and chose to live among us as a humble Son of man for a brief three decades two millennia ago. Jesus chose twelve Apostles to witness the last three of his life on earth. They heard his teaching and knew his love for them first hand.

    After our Lord rose from the defeat of the grave, Jesus appeared to the eleven remaining Apostles and to many followers several times. Christ, now risen from the dead, the Son of God who had walked on water and worked many miracles among the people had words of rebuke for the eleven followers. Jesus cautions us against unbelief and against hardness of heart.

    Mark 16:

    The Great Commission

    14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them,

    “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

    +

    Jesus rebuked the closest of his earthly friends for the hardness of their hearts for not believing He IS. The Lord then sends us into all of the world to preach the Good News to others, that they might also be saved from death and judgment.

    Preachers and Bishops are nothing more than mortal men and nothing less than God reaching out though scripture, faith and love to embrace new souls into the arms of Jesus Christ.

    Perhaps an evangelist has come to you and asked an uncomfortable question or two about your eternity. Maybe it was a simple as, “Do you think that ____ (so & so, a loved one who has just died) will go to heaven?”

    Maybe someone asked you to come to church with them. Or possibly another “member” of your church commented something like, “We haven’t seen you on Sunday for a while.”

    Do you have a hard heart when it comes to mention of Jesus Christ or church or Christians?

    Are quotes from the Bible anathema to your social circles?

    Is the written word of Scripture hidden away in your home and lost to your heart?

    The evangelist loves you as he loves all souls hidden in selfishness and lost in sin. One who cares for the very future of your soul reaches out to you with the very word of God from the Bible and offers eternal hope for your salvation.

    Who else has cared so for your soul as the one who embraces you with the love of Jesus Christ?

    Do you have any hope of heaven, for an eternal life of joy, for love after the death of your failing flesh?

    The evangelist or Christian mentor pointing you in the way of Jesus Christ wants your love to blossom and live beyond your days.

    Matthew 7:

    13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few…

    15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits… 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…

    21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord… 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

    +

    Do you follow the crowds or will you follow Christ?

    “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. – Matthew 7:13b

    The Apostle Peter, who had denied knowing Jesus three times just prior to the crucifixion of our Lord on the Cross, received Christ’s forgiveness, commission and new covenant for all who will believe. Peter writes in a letter to the church for us to read and believe scripture.

    2 Peter 1:

    19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

    An Evangelist come to one in darkness, Bible in hand and as a light in the darkness. Peter, John, Paul; others including Stephen, Lydia and Timothy, all quoting the truth in love from scripture, have been evangelists to the generations. Is it not also your calling in Christ Jesus?

    Second Letter of Paul to Timothy

    Preach the Word

    4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

    3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

    5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering,

    do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

    +

    Beloved believer, dear lost soul seeking the solace of Christ,

    Will you not come nearer to Jesus in these hurried last days approaching the judgment of the world and all souls? Will you only believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Savior, your only way to eternal life? Follow Him, by whose love for you, He ransomed your soul by the Blood of the Cross.

    Jesus Christ IS.

    Though I am a mere mortal, I proclaim the grace of God’s love though Christ.

    Dearly beloved soul looking to Jesus, won’t you follow after Him?

    Amen.

    To be continued…

    NEXT: Obstinate

  • Follow After Me – a series on Christian life in the 21st c.

    Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

    – Matthew 16:24

    Who do you follow?

    It seems in this 21st century that following Jesus is NOT the thing to do. Worshiping GOD seems to be a thing of the past. Tolerance for other religions (even those with no tolerance for our beliefs) seems to be an inviolable standard for a post-modern morality without standards. Christianity is on the outs.

    Those living in a European Union of atheist existence no longer challenge the communist for their opposition to God, but for their competition to our greed. Suppressed peoples of Africa, Asia and the Middle East are ignored for their needs, yet exploited for their resources.

    In the United States, a nation founded after a great awakening to the glory of God and hope in Jesus Christ, freedom of speech has digressed into irresponsible sound bites. And in a post-Christian U.S., religion in our former nation under God, has fallen into a frenzy of preservation of a lost way of life. We are no longer a safe haven for the tired, the poor and huddled masses. Even the language of future leaders would gamble on a ban of immigrants.

    Who in this world would you follow?

    A strong dictator with guns and oil and young men who will die for him? A billionaire who would buy the Presidency of a powerful nation? A robed Arab prince who beheads Christians? Perhaps an autocratic zealous religious leader of a long-gone false and violent prophet? Who would you trust with your life and your family?

    Who would you follow today?  Who would you trust with your present and your future, even sins of your past and hope for your eternity?

    Jesus Christ,

    a Savior for every century, a Redeemer for every sinner

    You probably don’t live in Israel. You are not likely the owner of a fishing fleet or dishonest tax collector. I know you don’t imagine that a dozen poor men, a few hundred common and poor Jews and women with no stake in a Roman district on the Mediterranean 21 centuries ago have anything in common with you.

    In fact, if you believe in God; in fact, if you believe in Christ Jesus; in fact, if you live in this day as a follower of the Way of Jesus you don’t have much in common with those who compete with you in the workplace and challenge you in your everyday 21st century life.

    You may only be looking for some answers to a life that matters – your life, even the souls of those you love. Where do you look? Who do you trust?

    Who would you learn from? Whose example would you follow? After all, you and I are sinners – failed sinners in a fallen world which digresses quickly toward the destruction of all we value.

    Why Jesus? Why do the words of the Gospel, the Good News of the Messiah of God coming to mankind, resonate with us?

    Read the story of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man of 21 centuries ago, who IS raised from the dead and rules over powers and principalities we cannot understand and you will see that He is the only man in history who IS exactly who He says He IS.

    Jesus Christ IS God Incarnate!

    He came to mankind in love for the cost of our sins. He came to save us from death and punishment. He will come again in judgment of those who have hated God and their fellow man. Jesus came to the world to establish His Kingdom in love. The LORD GOD, who has called for us to follow after Him in word and in deed, will celebrate the glory of His creation for all eternity in the fellowship of those who love and worship Him.

    Challenges of a 21st c. Christian life

    This NEW series will address our challenges of living as followers of Jesus Christ in a world of selfishness and obeying God in a world corrupted by godlessness. At any time in these last times, following Jesus in the footsteps of love through the darkness of days seems difficult at best.

    The Name of Jesus and glory of God are maligned by the headlines of hateful souls and agendas of prideful sinners.

    Yet read the Bible: understand the Law of God, praise the glory of the LORD, hear the writing on the walls, experience the hope of the Gospel, embrace the letters of love and heed the revelation of God’s will. Know the beginning and the end. See that the LORD has come to you and to me, because we are sinners in need of a Savior.

    I pray that the encouragement of this series might help you to see yourself as a fellow sinner who would like to flee this world, yet by our witness to the light of eternal hope we choose to listen to the Son of Man, Christ Jesus, who calls out to each of us:

    “Follow after me.”

    To be continued…

    NEXT: Hope for the Guilty

  • a Gift You Cannot Touch & a God You Can Embrace

    a Gift You Cannot Touch & a God You Can Embrace

    What are your expectations for Christmas? What are your memories of gifts and special moments past seasons? What gift have you given? What gifts will you receive?

    We hope anew for each Christmas to bring light into the darkness of our disappointments, discouragement of days past, present and future.

    Eddie Roger Jenny on skates
    Cortland Roller Rink c.1955

    What was it like when you were a child? What special gift remains in your memory in great detail, what special moment of Christmas yet warms your heart with love and joy?

    baby hugs pooh bearOr perhaps your warmest memories are from a special moment of a gift you gave to your own child, hugs of a Pooh Bear or love overflowing through a well-planned shared moment of opening a Christmas gift.

    So many of us rely on and turn back to our memories of Christmas. I remember Christmas pageants and little angels elbowing each other, as well as well-rehearsed Christmas carols bringing a chuckle of joy over an unplanned solo or lyric not just quite right.

    In the year of our Lord, 2015, Christmas seems so out of reach…

    We have ordered even more of our gifts from those online warehouses. We have sent less Christmas cards, made less phone calls, cancelled caroling and planned less dinners with others (at least that’s how it seems here).

    I have ordered gifts that may or may not arrive on time to loved ones I may or may not see. I have missed the touch of picking out personal gifts and handling them; wrapping them in a carefully chosen paper and seeing the look on their faces when my gift is opened. Rather, I hope these too many untouched gifts make it to far away places by Christmas.

    IMG_20151203_164417I have my Charlie Brown Christmas this year and Rudolph…

    We have so many lights and a big tree (but it isn’t real & I didn’t cut it down myself as I once did).

    Oh, and we do have a Nativity scene on the mantle. (We all get a little distracted by Christmas, don’t we?)

    Our church has already had a wonderful Christmas program. We invited guests; about half of them came. Carolers were going to come to our neighborhood this year from the Christian school, but that got rained out. (Less than half of the homes here even have Christmas lights.)

     

    Christmas is named for Jesus Christ

    Why, I suppose most would wonder? Why have Christmas? Why does a busy world like ours even need Jesus Christ?

    Of course our neighbors, rebellious family and unbelieving friends certainly don’t want to hear about the Cross of Jesus Christ and Easter. (More than enough violence in the world we would rather avoid.) But Christmas, that’s a holiday we can sell. (People like the lights and gifts and all. Makes us all feel good and remember nice stuff, right?)

    Just as Christmas has become a time of sending gifts we cannot touch, Christmas has also become a time of Jesus most of us cannot share.

     

    May I gently remind you here that I have shared Christmas messages with friends, family & strangers every year AND that so few of you have responded positively by even registering on my web site?

    I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. – 1 Corinthians 9:23

    Very few of us SHARE anything about Jesus with others or have any COMMENT on the Christian Social Witness of our brothers and sisters in Christ our Lord.

    We live in very impersonal times. Others wear headphones attached to their devices so that they will not have to hear us. The world is engaged in buying gifts for our selfish pleasures more than sacrificing things for the joy of a few others. Christmas is just another buying season, and a big one at that.

    Yet when we silence the music, turn off the virtual visual distraction of the games and news and entertainment; when we sit silently for once, peering into the opened gift of our beating heart, we find a void for the Gift of God better understood as the Baby Jesus in a manger, than a fearsome Father God at the Throne of Judgment.

    Fear Not!

    Fear not! Do you fear a Babe in a manger? Certainly not.

    Our GOD is a loving, compassionate and forgiving God, though He IS HOLY.

    Mankind feared the Presence of Almighty God, even more than a Father looking over you. Man fears any spirit, which we cannot see and do not understand, let alone the Spirit of the Living God when the LORD has made Himself know in time and place.

    Therefore, even angels, who worship and obey Almighty God; angels as messengers sent to the sons of Adam; powerful angels all men fear begin their announcement of the Messiah with: Fear not.

    Luke 2:

    10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

    14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

    Is the LORD pleased with you this Christmas, in His year 2015?

    You were made in the very image of God.

    No man or woman can reflect the Perfect loving righteousness of the LORD. By our sin we openly rebel against our Heavenly Father, who has created all things. By the distraction of our misguided hopes and dreams of self-righteous accomplishment, we reject the Spirit of God and forget to number our days.

    Even so, in His loving plan of redemption for those who will turn back to the LORD,

    God sent His only Son to a Manger, that we might embrace HIM.

    When Jesus’ beloved Disciple John once more beheld the Risen Christ in a Revelation of God’s plan, what were His first words of comfort?

    Fear not,

    I am the first and the last, and the living one.

    I died, and behold I am alive forevermore,

    and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

    Revelation 1:17b-18

    Perhaps you fear other men or circumstances. Maybe you fear your own death. You might even have reverence for God our Father and occasionally give Him a small portion of the glory God deserves.

    Joseph and JesusYet this Christmas, even by your confession, I adjure you to embrace Jesus as your Lord; embrace Christ Jesus just as you would lovingly hold a baby in a manger.

    Merry Christmas, beloved.

    Roger