A look at the news makes it seem like someone keeps throwing logs on the fire, making the kettle the world is sitting in boil over.
Many don’t see it happening, others wring their hands in nervousness while a precious few are at peace and are waiting on the Lord. That peace is available to all and it is there for those who are willing to come out of the world and enter the narrow gate that is Jesus Christ.
There are perils in the world and men’s hearts fail them from fear. Despite the rhetoric of a politician and the machinations of those in power they all are powerless to stop what is happening.
What act of man could have prevented all the flooding and the following cyclone, which hit Australia? Did all our technological knowhow prevent the immense blizzard from sweeping across this nation and paralyzing many major cities? Did all the backroom wranglings prevent friendly governments falling one by one over the past few weeks?
The answer to every question is, no. Now that is a testament to the power, or lack thereof, of man.
It is when we embrace our powerlessness that God begins to really work and move in our lives.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:6-8
Hopefully those are familiar verses for us all, but if they are not, read them again and consider why Christ’s death on the cross was so unique and fulfilling.
We were, and are, children of sin. There is nothing we can do, no ceremony we can perform to change that undeniable fact.
Paul tells us in Galatians 5:4-5, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.”
It’s quite simple indeed, but it is powerful, but many do not want to hear it.
“I received some years ago orders from my Master to stand at the foot of the cross until he came. He has not come yet, but I mean to stand here till he does. If I should disobey his orders and leave those simple truths which have been the means of the conversion of souls, I know not how I could expect his blessing. Here, then, I stand at the foot of the cross and tell out the old, old story, stale though is sound to itching ears, and worn threadbare as critics may deem it. It is of Christ I love to speak — of Christ who loved, and lived, and died, the substitute for sinners, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”
It is strange to hear a preacher rail against the dilution of the gospel found in many churches today. It is odd indeed to not follow common thought among many in churches about updating the message to get more people in the seats.
On March 30, 1862, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was no ordinary preacher, and he still isn’t today, as words he spoke nearly 150 years ago still resonate today.
Somewhere, somehow, we have forgotten the simplicity of the gospel and now we like to talk about unusual passages from Scripture and relate them to our modern life. That’s great, and all Scripture should be studied in earnestness, but we mustn’t ignore the golden thread running through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation, the salvation offered by Jesus Christ through his death on the cross.
It is a simple message, but it must be proclaimed over and over that, “He who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ has eternal life.”
The gospel is still just as simple today as it was when Jesus was here, but just as those who were in his presence rejected Christ, so now today many more deny him and turn their backs upon the Living Savior.
For the unrepentant sinner this life is filled many things. They experience pleasure and happiness just as much as they experience pain, sorrow and suffering. So do the blood-bought servants of Jesus Christ, but for those who reject Christ there is a hole inside them; some try and fill it with objects while others fill it with anger and resentment even though they do not understand why they are angry.
Though Satan accuses us all daily before the throne of God, Jesus will reach down from the cross with his hand and take the burden of sin from our shoulders and place them upon himself, and wipe the tears from our eyes.
We are the woman caught in adultery. Out of anger and hate we are brought to Jesus and thrown down at his feet. Caught in our sins we cannot hide, the corruption of our flesh exposed, but Jesus stands between our wretched body and our accusers.
“And He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’
“She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either go from now on sin no more.”
When we go to the cross Jesus will not condemn us. Instead He will restore us to the Father. We condemn ourselves to an unthinkable eternity when we deny Christ.
The cross exists for a singular purpose, to bring us back to a “right” relationship with God and impute Christ’s righteousness upon us.
The message of Jesus and the cross is so simple, but it should not be ignored. Yes, the world is in turmoil, but when we are in Christ it makes sense. Chaos reigns, but with Jesus there is order. People are in anguish, but when we are covered by the shed blood of Jesus the pain is taken away.
There is nothing else but to believe on Jesus, all else is flotsam.
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If you need prayer or would like to comment Wayne can be reached by e-mail at wstewart@texasfarmandhome.com
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