It's Monday!--Jesus Is Risen--He Has Risen Indeed!

Do not fear, for you 

will not be ashamed;

neither be disgraced,

for you will not be

put to shame; 

for you will forget

the shame of your youth....

For the LORD has called you

like a women forsaken and

grieved in spirit, like a 

youthful wife when you

were refused, says your God.

for a mere moment I have

forsaken you, but with

great mercies I will 

gather you.

Isaiah 53:4a; 6-7

     The holy week is over, Good Friday has come and gone, Holy Saturday is spent in our remembrance that the body of Jesus lay in the grave, resurrection Sunday passed by and for many it was a day of worship, for others it was a day of festivities; none the less, Monday is here and all that is before us is the future: what will you do with it? For some, the past week that we celebrate as the reason for the appearance of the Son of God here on earth, is nothing more than some Christian holiday, they scoff at our worship of Jesus Christ, they laugh at our piety and solemnity, and the mock our belief that the resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith. Yet, Isaiah wrote this fact: "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me" (Isaiah 54:17). It is God who will silence the oppressors, and it Jesus Christ, His resurrection, bodily, in plain view of all onlookers, and His visible ascension into heaven, from where our righteousness derives, we are eternal creatures and nothing here on earth can have hold on our lives: unless we allow it to be so! God is willing, we have the resurrected Son of God making intercession; but we have to place our faith in Him, and not in things of this world. It is Monday, what will you do with this knowledge that Jesus Christ suffered and died, lay in a tomb three days, bodily resurrected, and ascension into heave where He sits at the right hand of God making intercession for all of God's children? Has this knowledge empowered your faith? Are you willing to be used of God? Would you believe in God, have faith in His Son if He did not give you anything, and all that occurred in your life was some form of affliction? Will this derail your faith in Him? Do you want God to give to you but you are not willing to become devoted to Him and give your life for Him? It is time for a person to decide whether or not they are serious about their God and the reason they are left on this earth after believing upon Him and upon the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Will you? It's Monday, time is moving on and you have work to do, with you spouse, with your children, with your church, in your studies so that you are prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks. Turn off that TV, turn off that radio, put away your Ipad, your cell phone, anything that will distract you from doing exactly what God demands of all of His children: to preach the word, both in our life and by word. To examine what is being taught in the pulpit, in Bible studies, and this examination is by knowing the word of God, and this knowing comes to a person by their intentional study. Did not Jesus send His disciples to make disciples? Did not that command extend to all of God's children? Yes! God through the apostle Paul reminds us that how are people going to hear the word of God, for if they do not hear, how are they going to be able to respond? We do not know all of God's children, and we do not know who will respond, but we do know that we are to preach the word, in our life and in our actions. Paul writes: "And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace (Isaiah 52:7), who bring glad tidings of good things" (Romans 10:15:cf. Nahum 1:15)! Paul admonishes Christians to preach for if not then how would anyone hear the gospel and put their faith in it, for he says: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Let me take note for you on this verse: 1. Faith comes by hearing. 2. Hearing is of the spoken word of God, for that is the Greek word used here in this verse: "ἄρα ἡ πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ" I have made the word to be red and bold to show that it is the spoken word that is used here in this verse; yes we are to read His word as it is the inspired word of God, but we are to be able to speak the gospel, and to show from His word where we have gotten what we say, it is not to be something that God has somehow revealed to use in some vision or special thought, no, it is that the Holy Spirit will cause you to remember, to call to mind that which you have put into your memory, even if you do not at all times remember a particular verse. Something must be said about the Bible that so many have come to read and have left out the Authorized Version or the New King James version, It is the NIV, or the ESV versions, yet the NIV has not done well with this verse. The NIV reads: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17 NIV). You might think that I am being "picky" but I am not for a study of the various manuscripts find that this translation is not to be found except in the critical text, and softens the fact that the word we preach is the word of God, that it is more than just a message, it is the spoken word of God that we preach, this and this alone will cause those that God has drawn to Him, and enabled, that person through the gift of faith given to that person by God: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). James adds this important fact: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17). It's Monday, the message we preach, the words that come from our mouths is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that by His death everlasting life is through His death and given to those who will believe on Him. How can they believe? For some theologians belief can come just from a man or woman desiring to make a decision for Christ. James says no; for all perfect gifts, and the gift of faith is one of those gifts, comes only from the Father. Why? If you take the belief that anyone can believe, by their own power then you have destroyed the fact that man is totally depraved, and that deprivation requires that man must die, the justice of God must be met, so if man could choose from his own will, then this doctrine of total depravity is destroyed and so is the need for a savior, one who could pay a debt that no man can pay. If one cannot by themselves pay this debt, then how can we say that they can choose God by their own admission from their own belief? They can't! So then, which will it be, a belief in man being totally depraved and in need of a Savior, but not being able to choose the One sent by God as Savior, they need that thing that they do not have, faith. 2. Or, God gives that perfect gift, and then by that gift of faith, they are now enabled to choose the Savior and believe on Him. James caution us in this regard: "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren" (James 1:16). 
     It's Monday, take up your cross and follow Jesus, do not let anyone or anything deter you from following Jesus. It will take courage, it will take a change in lifestyle, you may have to cast of things that have in the past been enjoyable by you, but now your decisions based on the faith that is driving you to desire Him, to live for Him, to be willing to be a martyr for Him, is now the most driving force in your life. Monday is here, Tuesday is on its way, the future is ahead, the only question then is: what will you do with what God has given you? 

Listen to Me, you who
      follow after righteousness,
you who seek the LORD;
     Look to the rock from which
you were hewn, and to the hole
     of the pit from which you were dug.
                                             Isaiah 51:1


It's Monday--Praise God


Richard L. Crumb














 

Christians Are Graced By Jesus’ Resurrected Body

Jesus said to her,

“Do not cling to Me,

for I have not yet

ascended to My Father;

but go to My brethren

and say to them,

‘I am ascending to My Father

and your Father, and

to My God and your God.’”
John 20:17

     How the heretics misuse this verse! They attempt to show this verse as proof that Jesus Christ is a created being and not God; for when He uses the term: “My Father,” and to “My God,” they state that this is proof that Jesus was not God. Others cavil at the mention of Mary wanting to “cling” to Jesus and He would not allow that to happen. Allow me to address the word “cling” in the New King James Version and that the King James Version uses the word “touch.” The Greek work “ἅπτου” has to meaning to touch, or fasten one’s self to something or someone, to cling to that something or someone as would be the case when it is used as the touching as in carnal intercourse with a women or cohabitation as is used: “Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch (“ἅπτου”) a woman” (1Corinthians 7:1). Paul in writing to the Colossians says: “therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations––“Do not touch (“ἅπτου”), do not taste, do not handle,”… (Colossians 2:20-21). John adds: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not (“ἅπτου”) touch him” (1John 5:18). Mary upon seeing that it was Jesus was excited and desired to touch Him: He who died just three days earlier was not alive and speaking to her, oh! How she wanted to cling to Him, but this was not to be for Jesus sent her to the brethren; Jesus was not calling them His disciples, rather He called them brethren, and He told her to tell them that He was ascending to the Father, His God, and their Father and God. Things have changed between them and Him, and by this verse Jesus shows to the relationship that exists between them and Him and the Father. As the Son of God, there was a Father, His Father, and now by relationship the Father was their Father, and as the Son of God, God was His God, and now God was by this new relationship their God. Jesus will not longer walk with them in this world, but they need fear not for He gives to them the command that they were being sent and that they had the power of the Holy Spirit: “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). To Thomas who was a doubter; are you? Have you been? Do not fear for God has revealed His Son to us as He did to Thomas. No, He does not physically show us His hands, and His side, but by His word He reveals that this is true as written by John who was present when Thomas was asked by Jesus to put his fingers in the nail holes, and the spear wound in His side; but Thomas upon seeing the truth could only exclaim: “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28). Thomas did not speak of two separate individuals, rather he in awe looked to Jesus and called Him his Lord and God. All that Jesus performed, all that Jesus had done, and said, the healings, the feeding of the 5,000 men and the scraps that filled the twelve baskets, more, more, things would flush through his mind but now the One who died on the cross was alive, and He talked with Him, and showed him the wounds. How else should we expect Thomas to react? Jesus is alive, and all of the promises in regards to the Messiah, and by Jesus Himself are proven to be true and when He speaks of His coming again that too will be accomplished. The resurrection is all the proof a child of God needs, for it is the foundation for our faith.

            Yes! By the death of Jesus, death was destroyed, Satan is defeated, and the promise that God’s children will be clothed with incorruption, immortality, will occur just as the promise of the Messiah occurred. Jesus Christ is the first–fruit of all of God’s children, and being the first–fruit there is more fruit to come; all of God’s children are the fruit of God and will inherit everlasting life. Only God can save a person from their sins, this saving grace was not and cannot be given to anyone other than to God, for if it was given to an angel, a created being, as some teach, as do the Jehovah Witnesses, then we cannot have assurance that our salvation is sure, in simple words; a done deal! God did not relegate salvation to none other than Himself, and this He did by sending to earth His wisdom, clothed in a human body, to die a death that all humans have in common, but not as a sinful man, One who had inherited the primal transgression of sin by our federal head of all humanity, Adam, and Eve, rather He was the Son of God, and did not have sin and now by His sinless death procured eternal life for all who believe in Him.

            This is what we are about to celebrate, not just Easter, the hunting of colored eggs, or other festivities, rather it is a somber time in which we take the time to reflect on our Savior, to ask God in prayer to forgive our sins of commission, if any, and of omission, if any, therefore we then can come to the Lord’s table and dine with Him by taking, with a clean conscience, a clean heart, the bread that represent His body that was broken for you and me, and of the wine that represents His blood that was poured out and by the blood splashed upon the ground our souls are made white as snow before God for He sees His children by looking at us through His Son who is making intercession for all of God’s children. Think upon this: The Savior, raised to life, His own body now immortal, the very Son of God, having come from God as from a Father, whose Word and Wisdom, and Whose Power He is, has brought salvation to us all, and taught us of the Father, our God and our Savior. It is a time of rejoicing, a time to set things straight if they do need to be set straight, to teach our children the importance of this day for the cross is displayed as th sign, or monument to His victory over death and its corruption.

            Shout Hallelujah, said Amen, He is risen, He as ascended to God, and He makes intercession for you and me!

How much more shall the blood of Christ,

     Who through the eternal Spirit

Offered Himself without spot to God,

    Cleanse your conscience from the

Dead works to serve the living God?

                                          Hebrews 9:14

May God Continue to Bless and to Keep You

Richard L. Crumb

           

The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ Is The Monument Of Victory

For I delivered to you first of all

That which I also received:

that Christ died for our sins

according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried,

and that He rose again

the third day

according to the Scriptures,

and that He was seen by Cephas,

then by the twelve.

After that He was seen by over

five hundred brethren at once,

of whom the greater part remain

to the present, but now some

have fallen asleep.

After that He was seen by James,

then by all the apostles.

Then last of all He was seen

By me also, as by one

Born out of due time.

1Corinthians 15:3-8

            The apostle Paul was arrested in the year 57 A.D. and the letter(s) to the Corinthian Church was written before his arrest and while he was on his third journey and was residing for a while in Ephesus. Jesus Christ was crucified about the year 33 A.D., therefore only 24 years had lapsed since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and those who saw Jesus alive after His resurrection would still be alive, at least some of them, and if Paul had written that which was not true, then there would have been an uproar over Paul having written a lie. He didn’t! the fact of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ cannot be disputed with impunity for even men who did not claim to be Christian wrote of His death. Victory over death was the monument of Jesus Christ’s sojourn while on earth and is the monument or foundation of our faith. The resurrection of Jesus was not some form or resuscitation, and then the body would die, a death that is natural to all men, no, Jesus’ body was raised from the dead to immortality, this was the work of Jesus Christ, for He is the common Savior of all, and is the true life of all, death was destroyed and now death is trampled on by all those who believe in Jesus Christ, and how did Jesus trample on death? By the resurrection of His body, and that resurrection was that the body which was now immortal: “…he who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen (1Timothy 6:15b-16). This is a mystery, so mysterious that many have confused their theology and claim what the Bible does not claim, that Jesus comes twice, once for the Church and once for all others, especially those who have put faith in Him. But this is not so, there is not plan B for He has only said that He is coming on the Last Day, and when He comes then will all of God’s children, the dead and those still alive receive the promise: “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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in Victory” (1Corinthians 15:51-54; cf. Isaiah 25:8).

            This fact of the resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ is proved more effectively by those facts, more so than by any words, especially of those whose mental sight is not sound. Death having been slain, put to death forever, how then  could there be any other issue that this resurrection of Jesus is the Victory, the monument for it is the final event that secures salvation for all of God’s Children. He then took this victorious act and sat down at the right hand of God for there He makes intercession for all of God’s children forever: “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God though Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them”(Hebrews 7:24-25). Even the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us, defining our theology of the Trinity, for if both are doing the same act of intercession then both would by necessity be the same, that is to be of the Godhead, the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). If anyone will cavil over the facts finding them to be insufficient, then let him or her provide proof in the opposite to what has been said to regards to the facts presented.

            Dead men cannot provide any effective action, for their influence is only as good as long as they are alive, and stop upon their death and the grave. It is true that only deeds and actions that have energizing effect belong only to the living. Yes, there may be some lasting effect by what the have done, but they do nothing more, they are dead, and their power to cause more action by being alive is gone, gone to the grave with them; they work no more. The Savior is alive and His influence to energize people, daily, moment by moment, is in effect due to Him being alive. We find that Jesus Christ is persuading numbers of people all over the world to accept His faith and to be obedient to His teaching. Yes, you are called, enabled by Him, and are called God’s children but there is still the need for a person to be persuaded, and this is done by hearing of the Word, and this faith then enables that hearer to choose Jesus Christ even if it takes more than one hearing. Sin is sin, and sin holds sway over a person and as a person becomes sanctified in this life then the word of God has more influence in that person’s life: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher” (Romans 10:14). Listen closely: does a dead man prick the consciences of a man so that they throw off long established traditions and bow down to the teachings of Jesus Christ? There may be some overflow of influence due to a man’s work, or life, but that is not the dead man doing it actively, for a person is being influenced by the work of a person at this point and not the person who is dead. At some point in time the influence of a person loses its active effect and slowly fades away while another living person gains influence, a living person. But, if Jesus Christ is not alive, actively alive, and if He is dead, how is it that He makes the living to cease from their activities, such as the adulterer from his adultery, the murderer from murdering, the unjust from the avarice, and the profane man to become religious? If He did not rise, is still dead, how is it that He routs and persecutes and overthrows false gods, whom unbelievers think are alive. Wherever Jesus Christ is named, idolatry is destroyed and the fraud of evils spirits is exposed. This is the work of One Who is Alive, who lives and is not dead: more than that it is the work of God. How absurd it would be to say that this is not true when all evidence for its truth is present from history and even in our day, for we see the unbeliever become a believer, we see changed lives, and we see men and women everywhere claiming and acknowledging with their mouths, and with their lives, that Jesus Christ is alive and is the Son of God. The unbeliever has not facts to support their claim that the resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen.

            This is what this season is all about, the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is what is changing our lives, the facts are the facts, but we have the call of God, we have the enabling of God through the intercession of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, therefore we live our changed lives, and we preach wherever we can, both by mouth and by action.

For it is written:

     “As I live, says the LORD,

every knee shall bow to Me,

     and every tongue shall

confess to God.”

     So then each of us

Shall give account of himself

    To God.

                        Romans 14:11-12; cf. Isaiah 45:23

Make Plans Now! It is Not Easter––It is Resurrection Day

Richard L. Crumb