Any proof Jesus rose from the dead?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:13-17

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Paul isn’t saying, “If Jesus is still in the grave, then we’re mistaken.” He’s saying, “If Jesus is still in the grave, then we’re telling a lie.”

It’s one thing to be mistaken; it’s another to be a false witness.

Now you have to ask: Were the disciples liars when they said Christ was risen? If so, why would they lie? What did they have to gain?

All of them except John died as martyrs. They were tortured, persecuted, stoned, crushed, humiliated, burned at the stake. They were killed by lions.

Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff. People tell lies to get out of trouble, not into trouble. A person might live for a lie, but few will willingly die for a lie. 

The disciples said, “Listen! We’ve seen Him! We’ve touched Him! We’ve handled Him!” Tradition says Simon Peter was crucified upside down. Was he a con man? Was the apostle John a crook? Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament—was he a known perjurer, deceiver, and false witness? These men would die for a lie?

Of course not. Jesus has indeed risen as they said!

ACTION POINT:

If someone were to ask, “What proof is there that Jesus really rose from the dead?”—what would you answer? Are you prepared with a well-thought-out, logical answer?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Five Reasons to Be Fearless

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

The reason God wants us not to be afraid concerning money or other things of the world is because that fearlessness — that freedom from anxiety — will magnify five great things about him.

First, not being afraid shows that we treasure God as our Shepherd. “Fear not, little flock.” We are his flock and he is our Shepherd. And if he is our Shepherd, then Psalm 23:1 applies: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” — that is, I shall not lack anything I truly need.

Second, not being afraid shows that we treasure God as our Father. “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” We are not only his little flock; we are also his children, and he is our Father. He really cares and really knows what you need and will work for you to be sure that you have what you need.

Third, not being anxious shows that we treasure God as King. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He can give us the “kingdom” because he is the King. This adds a tremendous element of power to the one who provides for us. “Shepherd” connotes protection and provision. “Father” connotes love and tenderness and authority and provision and guidance. “King” connotes power and sovereignty and wealth.

Fourth, not being afraid shows how free and generous God is. Notice, he gives the kingdom. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He doesn’t sell the kingdom or rent the kingdom or lease the kingdom. He is infinitely wealthy and does not need our payments. So, God is generous and free with his bounty. And this is what we magnify about him when we are not afraid, but trust him with our needs.

Finally, not being afraid — not being anxious — shows that we trust that God really wants to do this. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It delights him. He is not begrudging. It makes him glad to give us the kingdom. Not all of us had fathers like this, who were made happy by giving instead of getting. But that sorrow is not the main thing any more, because now you can have such a Father, and Shepherd, and King.

So, the point of this verse is that we should treasure God as our Shepherd and Father and King who is generous and happy to give us the kingdom of God — to give us heaven, to give us eternal life and joy, and everything we need to get there.

If we treasure God in this way, we will be fearless and God will be worshiped.

John Piper 

Was Jesus just a religious fanatic?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain…. you are yet in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15: 14, 17 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

It’s an unthinkable question: what if there had been no Easter?

What if Jesus Christ hadn’t risen from the dead? Our faith would be futile, death would have dominion, sin would be sovereign and the future would be fearful.

His death without His resurrection cannot save anybody. Our faith is worthless if He is still in the grave.

How do we know Jesus wasn’t just a religious fanatic, someone with a martyr complex who happened to get crucified? How do we know He is the Son of God and God incarnate? Romans 1:4 says He is “declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead.” That’s saying, “How do we know God accepted His sacrifice at Calvary? The resurrection.”

The Bible says He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. No resurrection, no Savior. No Savior, no forgiveness. But Jesus went into the tomb and three days later walked out like a butterfly bursting from a cocoon. He is our risen Savior.

ACTION POINT:

Celebrate the risen Savior! Read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 carefully. Ask the Lord to reveal to you all it means for your salvation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Freedom To Choose Comes With Consequences

What are these radical factions afraid of?

Do they not have freedom to choose their religion?

Why do they feel the need to try to take others freedom to choose the risen God?

Freedom to choose comes with consequences! 

You are not forced!

God is perusing you in love.

He isn't demanding!

Your choices decide your eternal resting place.

There are only God's heaven and Satan's hell.

He made a way for forgiveness through His precious Son Christ the Lord.

Without Christ, there is no forgiveness and you die in your sin, forever separated from holy God.

Never trust any religion because it's not what saves! 

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  - Psalm 90:1-2

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  - Psalm 90:12

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 

16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!  - Psalm 90:15-17

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." - Mark 8:31-38

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:1-6

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. - Galatians 3:22-29

Hallelujah!!!

The Key to Radical Love

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

One of the questions I posed while preaching on loving our enemies from Matthew 5:44 was, How do you love the people who kidnap you and then kill you?

How can we do this? Where does the power to love like this come from? Just think how astonishing this is when it appears in the real world! Could anything show the truth and power and reality of Christ more than this?

I believe Jesus gives us the key to this radical, self-sacrificing love, described in Matthew 5:44, earlier in the very same chapter.

In Matthew 5:11–12, he is again talking about being persecuted, just like he was when he said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” What is remarkable about these verses is that Jesus says that you are able not only to endure the mistreatment of the enemy, but rejoice in it. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you. . . . Rejoice and be glad.”

This seems even more beyond our reach than praying for our enemies or doing good to them. If I could do this humanly impossible thing — namely, rejoice in being persecuted — then it would be possible to love my persecutors. If the miracle of joy in the midst of the horror of injustice and pain and loss could happen, then the miracle of love for the perpetrators could happen too.

Jesus gives the key to joy in these verses. He says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” The key to joy is faith in God’s future grace — that is, being satisfied in all that God promises to be for you. He says, “Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.” Our joy in persecution is the joy of heaven streaming back into this moment of horror and setting us free to love. So, this joy is the freeing power to love our enemies when they persecute us.

If that is true, then the command to love is implicitly also a command to set our minds on things that are above — all that God promises to be for us — not on things that are on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

The command to love our enemy is a command to find our hope and our deepest soul-satisfaction in God and his great reward — his future grace. The key to radical love is faith in future grace. We must be persuaded in the midst of our agony that the love of God is “better than life” (Psalm 63:3). Loving your enemy doesn’t earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy.

John Piper 

Defeat death—secure your future

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I was about to speak at a funeral. And as I wandered among the beautiful flower arrangements, the precious widow walked up and laid her hand on the sleeve of her beloved of more than 50 years. She patted him a couple of times, then turned and walked away. I thought to myself, “Is that it? Is that all there is to life?” 

No. Death does not have dominion! Christ is risen! Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished. There is a God who in the form of man, the Lord Jesus Christ, grappled with the iron bars of death and is victorious. Death does not have dominion because Christ arose. He took the gloom out of the grave. He has given us a hope that is steadfast and sure.

ACTION POINT:

Do you know where you’re going when you die? Have your sins been forgiven? Are you sure Jesus Christ is in your heart? If so, bow your head and thank Him, for sin has been subdued, death has been defeated, and your future is secure. If not, ask him to take control of your life right now. He will save you today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Afraid to Stray

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalm 31:19)

Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19.

1. The goodness of the Lord

There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness, as the psalm says, for “those who fear” him.

This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts forever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good (Romans 8:28). Even their pains are filled with profit according to Romans 5:3–5.

But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness. Romans 2:4–5 describes it like this: “Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Kindness. Forbearance. Patience. Goodness. But it does not meet with the fear of the Lord, but hardness.

That’s the first truth: the goodness of the Lord.

2. The fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the fear of straying from him. Therefore, it expresses itself in taking refuge in God. That’s why two conditions are mentioned in Psalm 31:19 — fearing the Lord and taking refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have 1) stored up for those who fear you and 2) worked for those who take refuge in you!”

They seem to be opposites. Fear seems to drive away and taking refuge seems to draw in. But when we see that this fear is a fear of running away — a fear of straying from him — then they work together.

There is a real trembling in the heart of the saints. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). But it is the trembling one feels in the arms of a Father who has just plucked his child from the undertow of the ocean. It is the trembling at the terrible prospect of thinking we don’t need a Father.

So, cherish the goodness of the Lord. Fear straying from him. Flee from every sin and take refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you!”

John Piper