Tag Archives: hope

Dead Accurate!

Bible Study, , ,

DEAD ACCURATE!

“Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: ‘Go ahead — tell us about yourself.’

“Paul took the stand and told his story: ‘I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

“‘From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up — and if they were willing to stick their necks out they would tell you in person — knows that I Iived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors — the identical hope, mind you, that that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries — it’s because I held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the one’s standing trial here, not me! For the life of me I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.'” Acts 26:1-10 (The Message).

Paul was smart! Here was a golden opportunity to tell his story to the king himself and he grabbed it with both hands. Many years before it had been prophesied that he would testify before kings. Did he recall those words at this moment when he stood in the dock before Agrippa? Did he recognised that this was not so much about defending himself against Jewish religious bigotry as it was about bearing witness to Jesus before an auspicious audience?

How attentively Agrippa, and Festus, must have listened to Paul’s story, hoping for a loophole or a slip of the tongue that they could latch onto for a legitimate case against him as the reason for sending him to Rome.

This moment had eternal significance for all who were present in the Great Hall that day. Before Paul stood before them, many of them were ignorant of the truth about Jesus, but once his story had been told, everyone, including the governor and the king, was faced with a choice. This is the real issue regarding the “good news”. Truth always demands a response. Every time Paul opened his mouth to inform his hearers about Jesus, they stood in the dock because even if they ignored the truth, it was a decision and made them guilty and culpable.

Jesus put it this way: “‘As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.'” John 12:47-48 (NIV).

Every lie about Jesus spoken by men in defines of their rejection of Him will collapse like a house of cards. God has spoken! He has appointed Jesus to be the sovereign and supreme ruler over all His creation. Through His obedience, Jesus earned the right to be exalted to the highest place and given a name that is above every name, “Lord”; — the name Satan so desperately covets and deceives people into believing that it belongs to him!

All the exalted claims that humans may make in the name of religion will be exposed at the judgment seat of Christ, and only the truth will remain, for truth alone can never be destroyed because it the very essence of the living God. All the lofty claims in the name of a god, whatever that god or gods be called, will vanish like vapour in the brilliant light and searing heat of Jesus, the King of kings.

Little did these men with such lofty opinions of themselves, know that that was the moment of their trial. In Paul’s testimony he was echoing the words of Moses: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19 (NIV).

The Rooster Pulled the Trigger!

Christian Life, , ,

THE ROOSTER PULLED THE TRIGGER!

“Arresting Jesus, they marched Him off and took Him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids…noticed him…and said, ‘This man was with Him.’
“He denied it, ‘Woman, I don’t even know Him.’

“A short time later someone else noticed him and said, ‘You’re one of them.’
But Peter denied it, ‘Man, I am not.’

“About an hour later someone else spoke up, really adamant: ‘He’s got to have been with Him! He’s got “Galilean” written all over him.’

“Peter said, ‘Man I don’t know what you are talking about.’ At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just them, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him…He went out and cried and cried and cried.” Luke 22:54-62 (The Message).

Would Peter ever forget that night? Every time a rooster crowed, for the rest of his life he would remember.

I guess that many thousands of sermons have been preached on this passage of Scripture over the centuries, mostly focusing on Peter’s denial and Jesus’ forgiveness. After all, it’s a message of grace that everyone needs to hear.

But God’s grace comes to us in many different ways. Sometimes we identify God’s grace as His direct intervention in our lives; miraculous healing, forgiveness, times when we cope when we have no strength of our own.

At that moment in Peter’s life, I am sure he would like to have killed that rooster because it triggered a memory that brought him to utter despair. What if Jesus had not warned him in advance that it would happen? Would the sound of the crowing rooster have had as much impact on him as it did? Probably not.

He would have felt bad about denying Jesus but, because of the warning, every time he heard the rooster, he would also have heard his own retort at Jesus’ warning, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to jail and to death.’ It was not Jesus’ words that haunted him as much as his own.

Peter did not know himself. He had no idea of his weak and cowardly heart until the crowing rooster pulled the trigger! He had a long journey ahead and a lot of growing to do before he could say those same words and mean them.

The rooster was only being a rooster but, for Peter, his voice was a forceful reminder of his fallible humanity and his need for God’s grace because he could not do it on his own. It was his failure that caused him to be aware of his constant need of God and caused him to rest in the power of Jesus to give him strength to stand under testing.

Peter could not have penned the words in his letter to believers under pressure had he not experienced what he did on that terrible night. Only tested faith can come out pure, like gold that has gone through fire. Had Peter not fallen that night, he could have claimed victory through his own will-power, but his crash was the best thing that ever happened to him.

The sound of the crowing rooster was a trigger, not of failure and despair but of hope, a reminder of God’s grace that forgives, restores and gives another chance to those who discover, through experience, how weak they really are, and who learn to rest in the strength that God supplies.

Forgiven

Christian Life, , , ,

FORGIVEN!

“Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution.

“When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified Him, along with the criminals, one on His right, the other on His left.

“Jesus prayed, ‘Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.’

“Dividing up His clothes, they drew dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, ‘He saved others. Let’s see Him save Himself. The Messiah of God — ha! The Chosen — ha!'” Luke 23:32-35 (The Message).

Luke’s story has very little detail. It’s almost as though he deliberately pulled the curtain on Jesus’ suffering. He was sensitive and discreet about his descriptions, writing only about those things which related to the character of Jesus and the fulfilment of prophecy — although he didn’t mention that fact in his story. He was writing about the Son of God, not a sensational tabloid account of a criminal’s last hours. Even Jesus’ criminal companions come in for the same kindly discretion.

Right in the middle of this tragic event there stands a shining light of hope for all of them; soldiers, perpetrators, unfeeling crowd, and even the two guilty men hanging on their crosses beside Him. One sentence echoes down through time, embracing everyone, from the first pair who set the ball rolling to every other person who has lived, and will live, to perpetuate the first pair’s rebellion against their Creator.

“‘Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.'”

Jesus encapsulated in His prayer the reason for this heinous deed, the responsibility for which sits squarely on the shoulders of every person who has lived. “They do not know what they are doing.” He extended forgiveness, then, to all of us now, since we have no idea of the implications of our stubborn rebellion against God.

Do you know how far-reaching one act of selfishness can be in your life? One careless word, one lie, one act of treachery or betrayal, one night of lust, one stolen kiss, one impulsive decision, can ruin a life, a family and even an entire community in a split second. We are left with a lifetime to regret what we did in a moment.

The spilt blood of Jesus speaks up for you even in the situations that leave you helpless and condemned. You did not know what you were doing! That does not excuse your behaviour. Jesus’ sacrifice does not remove the responsibility for our sin. He paid the debt by giving His life for ours, blood for blood, so that the Father’s justice would be fully satisfied.

The implications of Jesus’ gift are huge. Not only has the debt of our sin been paid but also the debt of those who have sinned against us. We no longer have the right to punish those who owe us because it is illegal to punish a person twice for the same sin.

This makes the sin of unforgiveness unforgiveable. It would be morally wrong for God to clear our debt if we refuse to clear the debt of someone who owes us. That makes unforgiveness an “unpardonable” sin which can take even a believer into eternal separation from God.

Jesus lived out His own teaching in the midst of His cruellest suffering. He was innocent, yet He forgave those who were responsible for putting Him there. He was there because He chose to be there, willingly submitting to His Father’s will. There was no other way to reconcile God’s wayward sons and daughters to Himself.

Jesus does not expect us to do what He did not do first. He taught us and showed how by His own impeccable choice to obey the Father to His last breath. He led the way and calls us to follow. In that there is life!