GOD’S WORD FOR DECEMBER 5

Our  book this month  is a continuation of “Chiseled by the Master’s Hand ~ Lessons From the Life of Peter,” by Erwin  Lutzer.  Dr. Lutzer is  Canadian-born and served as Senior Pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years, until his retirement in 2016.   He now serves as Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church.  He’s written many books and has radio and internet teaching programs.

PETER’S PERSONAL REVELATION  (Cont’d)

Matthew  6:13-20 and  Chapter 16

Stand at any major intersection in the United States and ask, “Who is Jesus Christ?” and you will receive many answers that appear to be complimentary.  Christ will be honored for being a great teacher, for living by the Golden Rule, and for preaching the love of God.  He will be praised for many virtues, admired for His humility, and remembered for his kindness to the poor.  Some will commend Him for turning water into wine and criticizing the established religion of the day.

Laudable though such responses appear to be, they are an insult.  If that is all Jesus was, He was a liar.  Remember this basic axiom: 

THE BETTER THE WORLD UNDERSTANDS THE BIBLICAL CHRIST, THE MORE IT HATES HIM.

If they speak well of Him, it is because they do not understand Him.  Those secular musicals, movies, and books that are favorable to Christ inevitably misunderstand His message.  Alexander Maclaren understood with clarity.  “What we believe to be precious,  it (the world) regards as of no account.  What we believe to be fundamental Truth, it passes by as of little importance.  Much which we feel to be wrong,  it regards as good.  Our tools are its tinsel, and its jewels are our tinsel”

Only when Christ stays at a safe distance, preferably in a manger, does the world feel comfortable in His presence. 

When confronted with His deity and holiness;

When confronted with its own sinfulness in His presence;

The world then flees to its own opinions and excuses.  To confess Christ fully is indeed a gracious gift of God.

Benjamin Franklin was a great friend of the revivalist George Whitefield.  Yet before he died, Franklin said that although Whitefield had often prayed for his conversion, the revivalist “did not have the satisfaction of having his prayers answered.”   When asked by Ezra Stiles, the president of Yale University, whether he believed in the deity of Christ, Franklin said he had doubts about that doctrine, though he “soon would have the opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble.”

Pity Franklin!  Imagine dying without knowing that Christ is indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  Imagine dying and being forced to stand before God on the basis of one’s own flawed performance.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CHRIST?

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John 15:5~ ~ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

John 8:12 ~ ~ Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Psalm 104:24-30 ~~ O Lord, how manifold are Your works!   In wisdom You have made them all.   The earth is full of Your possessions—  This great and wide sea,  in which are innumerable teeming things,  living things both small and great.    There the ships sail about;   There is that Leviathan  which You have made to play there. These all wait for You,  that You may give them their food in due season.

 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

 You hide Your face, they are troubled;  You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.  You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;  And You renew the face of the earth.

Psalm 115:3 ~ ~ But our God is in heaven;  He does whatever He pleases.

Job 12:7-10 ~ ~ But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;

And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

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