May 6
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” Galatians 3:38.
Man tends to delineate distinctions between himself and others. Many ‘royals’ find it unthinkable that they might ever associate with, let alone marry, a commoner. Rich people find little commonality with their less-financially endowed counterparts (other than perhaps to make tax-deductible donations to causes that are designed to alleviate poverty).
Well-educated people rarely conduct conversations with those whose academic credentials are wanting. Nationality and race are two frequently used points of differentiation with which man separates himself from his brothers.
Recently, a wealthy sports team owner found himself in a firestorm of angry criticism because of remarks he made to his mixed race paramour regarding her association with people of a race other than his own.
The total irony of this situation is that an aging lothario, an adulterer, insisted that the woman in question was perfectly welcome to interact with anyone whom she chose, as long as she did not bring them to his team’s sporting events. My speculation is that it isn’t the race of the men in question that this unfortunate tycoon disdained, rather, it is their youth and physical prowess.
Although he was baited into making racial comments that were inappropriate, a viable speculation is that it is his own unfavorable comparison to these young, attractive, virile men that he could not abide.
In light of the fact that the only advantage he has over any of them is his financial portfolio, it seems probable that his preference that his young girlfriend not be with them at his team’s games is because he didn’t want to have to face the reality of his agedness. How could he look at her with them and tell himself she finds him desirable (other than for his money!)
The team owner is paying a steep price for his comments, whatever their true intent may be. His discrimination has cost him much money and much respect in a community that had honored him in the past and intended to honor him again.
No doubt he has been required to ponder at great length the firestorm of criticism that has befallen him since the publication of his remarks, but I wonder if he has given any consideration at all to the one line of demarcation between men that God sees.
We see clearly from our introductory verse (Galatians 3:38) that God does not categorize people by societal status, by wealth, by political clout, by gender, by nationality, by race, but He does mark a very clear line of separation between those who are eternally damned and those who are eternally favored—and that line of demarcation is Christ.
No matter what pigeon hole the world puts us into, we are free to enter the flock of believers who will soar into the heavenlies to join Jesus in the air on that great and glorious day when the trumpet of the archangel sounds and the Lord comes to take the redeemed to Himself forever! (See I Corinthians 15:52 and I Thessalonians 4:16.)
And that’s one category into which we all should aspire to be placed.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Purged of the Leaven
May 5
“No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire. As for the offering of the first fruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma,” Leviticus 2:11-12.
“You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the LORD. . . . The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest,” Leviticus 23:17, 20.
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luke 12:1.
Throughout Matthew 23, Jesus lists a multitude of Pharisaical sins that could be grouped as legalistic externalism.
In Matthew 16:6, Jesus warns of the leaven of the Sadducees. Their sins are not listed here, but elsewhere we find they at least denied the supernatural and the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8).
Jesus also warns of the leaven of Herod (Mark 8:15), who was involved in a great deal of lying in his political wheeling and dealing, abusing the power of his office, adultery, and other behaviors that clearly evidenced the fact that he cared nothing for the law of God but was immersed in the sins of the world.
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” I Corinthians 5:7, 8.
“We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me,” Romans 7:14-20.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the prevalence of the leaven of sin can be clearly seen. We recognize its impact upon even the best of our offerings before our Holy God.
The recognition of our inability to be righteous before Him makes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ all the more precious to us. We understand that the One who is high and lifted up (Isaiah 6:1), who inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15), who is of purer eyes than to behold sin (Habakkuk 1:13) cannot allow us into His presence as we are. Of ourselves, because of our sin nature, we are completely undone.
In I Corinthians 15:50-52, Paul states our quandary quite clearly but he also proclaims our hope: “:Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
It is because of Jesus, the God-Man who lived a sinless life in our behalf and who died in our place and who rose to the everlasting glory of the Majesty on High that we may proclaim that I am Christ’s and He is mine! Thank You, Jesus, for purging us of the leaven of our lives that we may stand as righteous in Your sight.
“No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire. As for the offering of the first fruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma,” Leviticus 2:11-12.
“You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the LORD. . . . The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest,” Leviticus 23:17, 20.
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luke 12:1.
Throughout Matthew 23, Jesus lists a multitude of Pharisaical sins that could be grouped as legalistic externalism.
In Matthew 16:6, Jesus warns of the leaven of the Sadducees. Their sins are not listed here, but elsewhere we find they at least denied the supernatural and the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8).
Jesus also warns of the leaven of Herod (Mark 8:15), who was involved in a great deal of lying in his political wheeling and dealing, abusing the power of his office, adultery, and other behaviors that clearly evidenced the fact that he cared nothing for the law of God but was immersed in the sins of the world.
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” I Corinthians 5:7, 8.
“We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me,” Romans 7:14-20.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the prevalence of the leaven of sin can be clearly seen. We recognize its impact upon even the best of our offerings before our Holy God.
The recognition of our inability to be righteous before Him makes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ all the more precious to us. We understand that the One who is high and lifted up (Isaiah 6:1), who inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15), who is of purer eyes than to behold sin (Habakkuk 1:13) cannot allow us into His presence as we are. Of ourselves, because of our sin nature, we are completely undone.
In I Corinthians 15:50-52, Paul states our quandary quite clearly but he also proclaims our hope: “:Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
It is because of Jesus, the God-Man who lived a sinless life in our behalf and who died in our place and who rose to the everlasting glory of the Majesty on High that we may proclaim that I am Christ’s and He is mine! Thank You, Jesus, for purging us of the leaven of our lives that we may stand as righteous in Your sight.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Cleanse Your Heart
May 4
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings, “ Jeremiah 17:9, 10.
The Lord our God knows us. There is nothing within ourselves that we have succeeded in hiding from other men or that we have buried so deeply within our bosom that we have hidden it even from ourselves that He does not know.
Within the heart of who we are there is the likeness of who we really are—the likeness of who we are before God. He sees us and He knows us in the reality of our personhood. We may “fool all of the people some of the time, and we may even fool some of the people all of the time,” as so wisely observed by President Abraham Lincoln, “but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
And you cannot fool God at all.
The very fact that we might want to is a sure indication that our hearts are indeed, “deceitful above all things.” We who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we who have allowed our hearts to be the abode of the Holy Spirit, II Timothy 1:14, must be ever vigilant that we do not allow His holy presence to be removed from us because we have allowed ourselves to incorporate into the inner sanctum of our lives the essence of evil that He cannot stand.
We know that the devil himself is called, “the father of lies,” John 8:44. When we give ourselves to falsehood, we are emulating the evil one. We must not allow ourselves to be “caught between two opinions,” I Kings 18:21.
We must as Joshua proclaimed to the people of Israel, “Choose you this day whom you will serve; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” Joshua 24:15. We must not allow ourselves to give place to the enemy in this, for if we relinquish to him our solid foundation of honesty toward other men, he will endeavor to confiscate the totality of the truth we possess.
In all things, we must align lives with Jesus who is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, because no one can ever approach the Father but by Him (see John 14:6).
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings, “ Jeremiah 17:9, 10.
The Lord our God knows us. There is nothing within ourselves that we have succeeded in hiding from other men or that we have buried so deeply within our bosom that we have hidden it even from ourselves that He does not know.
Within the heart of who we are there is the likeness of who we really are—the likeness of who we are before God. He sees us and He knows us in the reality of our personhood. We may “fool all of the people some of the time, and we may even fool some of the people all of the time,” as so wisely observed by President Abraham Lincoln, “but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
And you cannot fool God at all.
The very fact that we might want to is a sure indication that our hearts are indeed, “deceitful above all things.” We who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we who have allowed our hearts to be the abode of the Holy Spirit, II Timothy 1:14, must be ever vigilant that we do not allow His holy presence to be removed from us because we have allowed ourselves to incorporate into the inner sanctum of our lives the essence of evil that He cannot stand.
We know that the devil himself is called, “the father of lies,” John 8:44. When we give ourselves to falsehood, we are emulating the evil one. We must not allow ourselves to be “caught between two opinions,” I Kings 18:21.
We must as Joshua proclaimed to the people of Israel, “Choose you this day whom you will serve; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” Joshua 24:15. We must not allow ourselves to give place to the enemy in this, for if we relinquish to him our solid foundation of honesty toward other men, he will endeavor to confiscate the totality of the truth we possess.
In all things, we must align lives with Jesus who is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, because no one can ever approach the Father but by Him (see John 14:6).
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Rebellion Is Put Down
May 3
Now a messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom." So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, "Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword," II Samuel 15:13, 14.
David served God with all his energy and with all his might. God was able to say of him that David was indeed, “a man after Mine own heart,” I Samuel 13:13, 14 and Acts 13:22. But David had not followed after the command of the Lord when it came to the living of his personal life.
Amnon, David’s son, was very attracted to his beautiful half- sister Tamar. Amnon concocted a scheme where, because he feigned illness, she took food to his bedroom. Amnon seized the opportunity to rape her, but once having his way with her, he no longer found her to be of any interest to him.
David had not imposed any penalty upon Amnon for his grievous treatment of his half-sister Tamar and this enraged her brother Absalom who was emboldened to take further measures against his father (see II Samuel, Chapters 13-15). The extent of Absalom’s rebellion went so far as to attempt to wrench the Kingdom of Israel from his father.
As we are told in II Samuel 15, David fled because he felt it would be impossible to defeat Absalom while remaining within the City of Jerusalem. David, still a warrior, even in his old age, preferred to fight in the open than to be under siege by his foe.
In II Samuel 18:32, David inquires after his son, for he had commanded that no one harm him. Even though Absalom’s heart was full of vile conceit and rebellion, David still loved him and wanted him to be safe, but that was not to be.
The story of his death is told in II Samuel 18:
Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going.
When a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” II Samuel 18:19-II Samuel 19:8.
Then Joab said to the man who had told him, “Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”
The man said to Joab, “Even if I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect for me the young man Absalom.’ Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.”
Then Joab said, “I will not waste time here with you.”
So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.
Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people. They took Absalom and cast him into a deep pit in the forest and erected over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a pillar which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to preserve my name.” So he named the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
We can empathize with Absalom who desired revenge for the indignity suffered by his sister yet we know the command to honor one’s father stands even when such ignominy is endured.
We know that had David managed his own household well, had he been faithful to the wife of his youth rather than taking other women to his bosom, his fellowship with God would have been unbroken and his authority over his children would have been fully established.
May we, in our living of our Christianity before our friends and families, take every matter that is of importance to the Lord as our basis for the establishment of our lives and the lives of the precious children He entrusts to us. May we never relent in our effort to assure that we and our children and their children, for all generations that the Lord tarries His return, are committed to the law of God that is immutable (see Psalm 19:7).
May we hold fast to Jesus, who has fulfilled His own perfect law in our behalf and may we go forth into the future in the assurance that our own past rebellion, our thoughts, or words, our deeds, are under the blood of the One who lived a holy life in our behalf.
Now a messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom." So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, "Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword," II Samuel 15:13, 14.
David served God with all his energy and with all his might. God was able to say of him that David was indeed, “a man after Mine own heart,” I Samuel 13:13, 14 and Acts 13:22. But David had not followed after the command of the Lord when it came to the living of his personal life.
Amnon, David’s son, was very attracted to his beautiful half- sister Tamar. Amnon concocted a scheme where, because he feigned illness, she took food to his bedroom. Amnon seized the opportunity to rape her, but once having his way with her, he no longer found her to be of any interest to him.
David had not imposed any penalty upon Amnon for his grievous treatment of his half-sister Tamar and this enraged her brother Absalom who was emboldened to take further measures against his father (see II Samuel, Chapters 13-15). The extent of Absalom’s rebellion went so far as to attempt to wrench the Kingdom of Israel from his father.
As we are told in II Samuel 15, David fled because he felt it would be impossible to defeat Absalom while remaining within the City of Jerusalem. David, still a warrior, even in his old age, preferred to fight in the open than to be under siege by his foe.
In II Samuel 18:32, David inquires after his son, for he had commanded that no one harm him. Even though Absalom’s heart was full of vile conceit and rebellion, David still loved him and wanted him to be safe, but that was not to be.
The story of his death is told in II Samuel 18:
Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going.
When a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” II Samuel 18:19-II Samuel 19:8.
Then Joab said to the man who had told him, “Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”
The man said to Joab, “Even if I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect for me the young man Absalom.’ Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.”
Then Joab said, “I will not waste time here with you.”
So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.
Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people. They took Absalom and cast him into a deep pit in the forest and erected over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a pillar which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to preserve my name.” So he named the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
We can empathize with Absalom who desired revenge for the indignity suffered by his sister yet we know the command to honor one’s father stands even when such ignominy is endured.
We know that had David managed his own household well, had he been faithful to the wife of his youth rather than taking other women to his bosom, his fellowship with God would have been unbroken and his authority over his children would have been fully established.
May we, in our living of our Christianity before our friends and families, take every matter that is of importance to the Lord as our basis for the establishment of our lives and the lives of the precious children He entrusts to us. May we never relent in our effort to assure that we and our children and their children, for all generations that the Lord tarries His return, are committed to the law of God that is immutable (see Psalm 19:7).
May we hold fast to Jesus, who has fulfilled His own perfect law in our behalf and may we go forth into the future in the assurance that our own past rebellion, our thoughts, or words, our deeds, are under the blood of the One who lived a holy life in our behalf.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Letter
May 2
Although the following letter cannot be 100% authenticated, its credentials for authenticity are substantive. May its publication here be a blessing to everyone who reads it. May everyone who reads it resolve to seek the one of whom Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him,” John 19:6.
LETTER TO TIBERIUS CAESAR FROM PONTIUS PILATE
(The original of this letter is in the library of Rome. An authenticated copy is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.)
A young man appeared in Galilee preaching with humble unction, a new law in the Name of the God that had sent Him. At first I was apprehensive that His design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews.
One day, I observed in the midst of a group of people a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told that his name was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected, so great was the difference between Him and those who were listening to Him.
His golden coloured hair and His beard gave to His appearance a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about thirty years of age. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between Him and His hearers with their black beards and tawny complexions. Unwilling to interrupt Him by my presence, I continued my walk but signified to my secretary to join the group and listen.
Later, my secretary reported that never had he read in the words of all the philosophers, anything that compared to the teachings of Jesus. He told me that Jesus was neither seditious nor rebellious, so we extended to Him our protection. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble, and to address the people. This unlimited freedom provoked the Jews - not the poor but the rich and powerful.
Later, I wrote to Jesus requesting an interview with Him at the Praetorium. He came. When the Nazarene made His appearance I was having a morning walk and as I faced Him my feet seemed fastened with an iron band to the marble pavement and I trembled in every limb, as a guilty culprit, though He was calm.
For some time I stood admiring this extraordinary Man. There was nothing in Him that was repelling nor in His character, yet I felt awed in His presence. I told Him that there was a magnetic simplicity about Him and His personality that elevated Him far above the philosophers and teachers of His day. All in all He made a deep impression upon me and everyone because of His kindness, simplicity, humility and love.
Now, Noble Sovereign, these are the facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth and I have taken time to write you in detail concerning these matters. I say that such a man who could convert water into wine, change death into life, disease into health, calm the stormy seas, is not guilty of any criminal offence and as others have said, we must agree truly this is the Son of God!
Your most obedient servant,
PONTIUS PILATE
Although the following letter cannot be 100% authenticated, its credentials for authenticity are substantive. May its publication here be a blessing to everyone who reads it. May everyone who reads it resolve to seek the one of whom Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him,” John 19:6.
LETTER TO TIBERIUS CAESAR FROM PONTIUS PILATE
(The original of this letter is in the library of Rome. An authenticated copy is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.)
A young man appeared in Galilee preaching with humble unction, a new law in the Name of the God that had sent Him. At first I was apprehensive that His design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews.
One day, I observed in the midst of a group of people a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told that his name was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected, so great was the difference between Him and those who were listening to Him.
His golden coloured hair and His beard gave to His appearance a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about thirty years of age. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between Him and His hearers with their black beards and tawny complexions. Unwilling to interrupt Him by my presence, I continued my walk but signified to my secretary to join the group and listen.
Later, my secretary reported that never had he read in the words of all the philosophers, anything that compared to the teachings of Jesus. He told me that Jesus was neither seditious nor rebellious, so we extended to Him our protection. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble, and to address the people. This unlimited freedom provoked the Jews - not the poor but the rich and powerful.
Later, I wrote to Jesus requesting an interview with Him at the Praetorium. He came. When the Nazarene made His appearance I was having a morning walk and as I faced Him my feet seemed fastened with an iron band to the marble pavement and I trembled in every limb, as a guilty culprit, though He was calm.
For some time I stood admiring this extraordinary Man. There was nothing in Him that was repelling nor in His character, yet I felt awed in His presence. I told Him that there was a magnetic simplicity about Him and His personality that elevated Him far above the philosophers and teachers of His day. All in all He made a deep impression upon me and everyone because of His kindness, simplicity, humility and love.
Now, Noble Sovereign, these are the facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth and I have taken time to write you in detail concerning these matters. I say that such a man who could convert water into wine, change death into life, disease into health, calm the stormy seas, is not guilty of any criminal offence and as others have said, we must agree truly this is the Son of God!
Your most obedient servant,
PONTIUS PILATE
Thursday, May 1, 2014
REMINDER!
TODAY, May 1, 2014, is the National Day of Prayer.
May we who believe in the mighty power of prayer bring the leaders of this planet and the great needs of our world before the One who has given us the privilege to pray for those in authority over us and who has assured us that His resurrection power resides within us, Romans 8:11.
May we who believe in the mighty power of prayer bring the leaders of this planet and the great needs of our world before the One who has given us the privilege to pray for those in authority over us and who has assured us that His resurrection power resides within us, Romans 8:11.
Pray for Those in Authority
May 1
It is always a blessing to know that a person of great influence and power has come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it does not happen until after the trappings of power have fallen from him; perhaps because no man can “serve two masters,” Matthew 6:24, God and himself. Here are some of Napoleon's own words that evidence the delight he had after he had given his heart to the Savior.
NAPOLEON BECOMES A CHRISTIAN IN EXILE
"The Gospel is not a book; it is a living being, with an action, a power, which invades everything that opposes its extension. Behold it upon this table, this book surpassing all others (here the Emperor solemnly placed his hand upon it). Never omit to read it, and every day with new pleasure. Nowhere is to be found such a series of beautiful ideas, and admirable moral maxims, which pass before us like the battalions of a celestial army...The soul can never go astray with this book for its guide..."
Napoleon continued:
"Everything in Christ astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, a His will confounds me. Between Him and whoever else in the world there is no possible term of comparison; He is truly a Being by Himself. His ideas and His sentiments, the truth which He announces, His manner of convincing, are not explained either by human organization or by the nature of things.
Truth should embrace the universe. Such is Christianity, the only religion which destroys sectional prejudices, the only one which proclaims the unity and the absolute brotherhood of the whole human family, the only one which is purely spiritual; in fine, the only one which assigns to all, without distinction, for a true country, the bosom of the Creator, God."
Napoleon concluded:
"Christ proved that He was the Son of the Eternal by His disregard of time. All His doctrines signify one only and the same thing-eternity. What a proof of the divinity of Christ! With an empire so absolute, He has but one single end - the spiritual melioration of individuals, the purity of the conscience, the union to that which is true, the holiness of the soul...
"Not only is our mind absorbed, it is controlled; and the soul can never go astray with this book for its guide. Once master of our spirit, the faithful Gospel loves us. God even is our Friend, our Father, and truly our God..."
The Word of God says of itself, "The entrance of Thy word gives light," Psalm 119:130, and it certainly appears that the Light of Christ flooded Napoleon's being when the great conqueror met the One who had conquered sin and death.
We can only wonder and imagine how amazing would have been the course upon which the world might have been set if Napoleon had arrived at his profound understanding of and love for Jesus Christ while great power was in his hands rather than when he had become an exile.
With this question before us, may we pray with great fervency for the leaders of our country and for the leaders of the world as Paul admonishes us to do in I Timothy 2:1, 2, "I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
Lord Jesus, we bring those to whom You have entrusted great authority and power before You and ask that You touch their hearts and kindle within them a love for You and an understanding of Your truth. We ask that the Holy Spirit would course through their minds and hearts and spirits and bring them to a saving knowledge of You, O, Christ, not just for their own eternal well-being but that this world of ours might enjoy the peace and security that will come if the Prince of Peace controls the 'princes' who hold power. In Your name we ask, Jesus. Amen.
It is always a blessing to know that a person of great influence and power has come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it does not happen until after the trappings of power have fallen from him; perhaps because no man can “serve two masters,” Matthew 6:24, God and himself. Here are some of Napoleon's own words that evidence the delight he had after he had given his heart to the Savior.
NAPOLEON BECOMES A CHRISTIAN IN EXILE
"The Gospel is not a book; it is a living being, with an action, a power, which invades everything that opposes its extension. Behold it upon this table, this book surpassing all others (here the Emperor solemnly placed his hand upon it). Never omit to read it, and every day with new pleasure. Nowhere is to be found such a series of beautiful ideas, and admirable moral maxims, which pass before us like the battalions of a celestial army...The soul can never go astray with this book for its guide..."
Napoleon continued:
"Everything in Christ astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, a His will confounds me. Between Him and whoever else in the world there is no possible term of comparison; He is truly a Being by Himself. His ideas and His sentiments, the truth which He announces, His manner of convincing, are not explained either by human organization or by the nature of things.
Truth should embrace the universe. Such is Christianity, the only religion which destroys sectional prejudices, the only one which proclaims the unity and the absolute brotherhood of the whole human family, the only one which is purely spiritual; in fine, the only one which assigns to all, without distinction, for a true country, the bosom of the Creator, God."
Napoleon concluded:
"Christ proved that He was the Son of the Eternal by His disregard of time. All His doctrines signify one only and the same thing-eternity. What a proof of the divinity of Christ! With an empire so absolute, He has but one single end - the spiritual melioration of individuals, the purity of the conscience, the union to that which is true, the holiness of the soul...
"Not only is our mind absorbed, it is controlled; and the soul can never go astray with this book for its guide. Once master of our spirit, the faithful Gospel loves us. God even is our Friend, our Father, and truly our God..."
The Word of God says of itself, "The entrance of Thy word gives light," Psalm 119:130, and it certainly appears that the Light of Christ flooded Napoleon's being when the great conqueror met the One who had conquered sin and death.
We can only wonder and imagine how amazing would have been the course upon which the world might have been set if Napoleon had arrived at his profound understanding of and love for Jesus Christ while great power was in his hands rather than when he had become an exile.
With this question before us, may we pray with great fervency for the leaders of our country and for the leaders of the world as Paul admonishes us to do in I Timothy 2:1, 2, "I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
Lord Jesus, we bring those to whom You have entrusted great authority and power before You and ask that You touch their hearts and kindle within them a love for You and an understanding of Your truth. We ask that the Holy Spirit would course through their minds and hearts and spirits and bring them to a saving knowledge of You, O, Christ, not just for their own eternal well-being but that this world of ours might enjoy the peace and security that will come if the Prince of Peace controls the 'princes' who hold power. In Your name we ask, Jesus. Amen.
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