"The Cross of Christ"

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect."  (1 Corinthians 1:17)

Some use this as an excuse to marginalize baptism in water.  As far as I can see in the Scripture, baptism is not an option.  Refusal to be baptized in water in Jesus' Name is to refuse the New Birth.  No one has the rebellious choice to decide which commandments of Jesus to keep or break.  To those who say, "What about the thief on a cross," I say, You are not on a cross.

Our text is not a minimalizing of baptism.  Rather, it is a maximizing of the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Note the contrast between, "with wisdom of words," and, "the cross of Christ."  Clever, always- attempting-to-shock-with-"new-revelation"-preaching, or hackneyed words all make, "the cross of Christ...of no effect."  Of course no person, no demonic force can ever make, "the cross of Christ...of no effect," but they do so for themselves and their hearers if people do not walk away in awe of Father's mercy and grace revealed in, "the cross of Christ."  I can remember when this awe first came to me. 

My Dad was preaching in a Good Friday service back in the mid 1960s.  He was preaching on one of the seven last words of Christ from the Cross.  I don't remember which one, but I shall never forget the impartation of that message.  It was as though, in the words of the old song, "I Stood at Calvary."  This is not nostalgic remembrance of my Dad; this is for me a great "memorial."  I can only wish and pray I could carry, "a double portion of [his] spirit," on this.

Can you say today, "I Stood at Calvary"?  Some of us have literally, but more important, I desire whatever appreciation I can receive in this life of, "the cross of Christ."  I repeat the phrase of Billy Graham, "The cross is the pivotal point of history," and, we can say of our lives.  At the cross our Lord Jesus Christ dealt with our sin, rebellion, wickedness, iniquity.  It is at the cross I am reconciled with the Living Triune God, in the Blood, in the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for more of what my Dad "saw" of Your cross.  Amen.
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Read "The Goal of Obama's Foreign Policy," by Carolyn Glick at: jhs58.blogspot.com
 

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Likewise Also"

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42)

I said to our local church decades ago that house groups keep a big church small.  We weren't a "big" church by any means, but a group larger than 10 to 15 is not very conducive to, "fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers." 

Most congregations today are guilty of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his work, Life Together:  "Simply to be together in Sunday where everything is determined from the front is a sad distortion of what it means to be the church.  Life together for Christians is meant to be much more than that."  Someone once described "church" for most Americans as coming to a church building and "fellowshiping  the back of someone's head."  Sarah and I have had some great moments at home having a meal, followed by the taking of bread and wine in remembrance and celebration, "the Lord's death until He comes."  This is just not exciting enough for far too many professing Christians.  For me, it is more and more the greatest worship I know. 

As I spent some hours at Golgotha a couple of weeks ago, I was renewed in my worship, thanksgiving, celebration of the Most Precious Blood, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.  I can say with absolutely no overstatement that I am alive today, I am in Christ today, I am serving our Lord Jesus Christ today, I am sharing this devotional thought with you today, I am a forgiven sinner today with a home in Heaven all because of The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.  It would be great if small groups of Followers of Jesus would take time for a meal together, to experience the communion fellowship of a house church setting.  This is not a criticism of present day church gatherings.  This is just an advocacy for more than Church "from the front." 

"Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you'....For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God....God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world."  Sharing a meal and the Table of our Lord with a small group of Fellow Followers of Jesus is an important key to living out our, "Abide in Me," life together.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I repeat Paul's prayer, "Forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"It Is I"-- All I Need To Know

"It is I; do not be afraid." (Jesus, John 6:20)

Can you not hear Jesus saying these words to you when you are fearful?  It is another version of Psalm 23, 27, et.al.  Jesus dwells in His Followers.  He is, "an ever present help...."  Some people call this "basic."  I call it ongoing salvation. 

The New Birth never ceases to amaze me.  Someone hears about Jesus, His Cross, death and resurrection, and they give their life to Him, "hearing Him" standing at the door and knocking, inviting Him in; voila, "....in Christ, he is a new creation."  The young black man who came to the front of the auditorium last Sunday had never been in the meetings.  He seemed to be someone like my Grandpa Barnette, a young man who just wondered into a Church meeting.  What followed for him and the German man was the Great Miracle of the Universe.

In John 6:33, Jesus says, "The bread of God is He...."  Notice that, "The bread of God," is not an it.  Look with me at some absolutely wonderful statements of Jesus in John 6:
    1. v. 27: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to                 eternal life."
    2. v. 29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."
    3. v. 35: "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who                  believes in Me shall never thirst."
    4. v. 37: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will     by no means cast out."
    5. vv. 48-51: "I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are     dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not             die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats this bread, he         will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of     the world."

Now, if that doesn't keep you the rest of the day, nothing will.  I encourage you to bath in these, "God-Breathed" Words.

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for the privilege of witnessing two more names "written down in glory."  It was all because of Your Word.  Amen.

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"And He Was Numbered With the Trangressors"

"Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above: 'THE KING OF THE JEWS.'  With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'"
(Mark 15:25-28)

When I first went to Golgotha (Skull Hill) this last time in Jerusalem, my daily reading had me in our text.  As I walked toward Calvary, I could envision myself approaching, "the place of a skull," with the group being led there to die.  

"With Him they also crucified two robbers,"----------- and me.  Forgive me, but the absolute utterly stupid accusation over the years towards the Jews that they "killed the Christ."  The Jews did not kill Jesus; the Romans did not kill Jesus; I killed Jesus, my sin, my rebellion, my estrangement from the Godhead took Jesus to the Cross.  "And He was numbered with the transgressors"-------------------- which includes you and me. 

And may we never forget that Jesus went to the Cross on His Own, in Father's purposes, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus chose the cross.  Neither the Jews, nor the Romans, nor anyone else chose that Death for Jesus.  John 10 records that Jesus said of His impending death, "No one takes it (My life) from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

The Gospel, which center in the Cross of Jesus and Resurrection of Jesus, has been in danger of being marginalized in the last 40 years.  "Movements," pop religion and other highly personalized and man-glorifying emphasis have in many places turned Christendom into man-centered religion rather than the Christ-Centered Covenant of the Blessed Trinity.
    "Lest I forget Gethsemane:
    Lest I forget Thine agony;
    Lest I forget Thy love for me,
    Lead me to Calvary."

"It was here.  The battlefield was here....2000 years ago.  I was here."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thankfully embrace, "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."  Amen.
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I will be preaching in the Word of Faith Outreach International Center meeting in Berlin this coming Sunday, Isaac Oppong, Pastor.  The time will be between 05:00 and 07:00 EST.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2