Wednesday, December 8, 2021
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Thursday, August 12, 2021
When Pontius Pilate decided to go to hell...
In John 18, Jesus has been taken from the Jewish High Priest to Pontius Pilate's court. He is interviewing Jesus, and trying to find out what to charge Him with. Part of the interview goes like this:
"Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?""
"Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.""
38 Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
These are the words with which Pilate condemned himself and decided to go to hell.
Jesus said, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." PIlate could have said almost anything, such as, "Oh?" or "Tell me...what is the truth?" but he gave the one answer that condemned him forever.
"What is truth?"
That expression betrayed Pilate as a man who did not know or care, and who did not intend to change.
The true Christian knows Jesus Christ as "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." He knows that in Jesus Christ are hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." These are absolutes. Pilate believed in nothing. He liked it that way. Jesus' appearance before him was a golden opportunity to abandon the lies and relativism by which he had lived, and turn to God but he did not want that. Instead, he spoke to Jesus what was in his soul. Emptiness. Nothingness. That was the way he liked it.
I probably should point out that Pilate's answer is the politician's answer--is the answer of someone who does not want to be bothered with values or morality or absolutes--they are "inconvenient." The concept of right and wrong just doesn't fit with them, nor does the idea that there might be truth.
Jesus had a favorite saying, repeated many times: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear (i. e., pay attention, listen)." You determine your own destiny by what you hear and what you believe. Many people reject truth when it's presented--at first. However, the final rejection is to fully deny that it exists. That is what Pilate did.
Jesus Christ is the "Wisdom (applied truth) of God to those who believe," but to those who say, "What is truth?" it doesn't matter, because the concept of truth can't enter their heart and soul.
What I have to say to you today is, "Have an ear." Listen to the truth of God. Jesus Christ is "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:31). Those four things define the progress of the Christian life, and it all starts with listening to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears His voice...(John 18:37).
Monday, August 9, 2021
Genesis: Implications from the first words of the Bible
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth."
This flies in the face of almost all modern thinking--yet it is the most profound statement of God's power and work in Scripture, aside from Jesus Christ.
The problem with everything "just happening" is that scientiests, while they haven't changed their mind about evolution, are now forced to ignore almost all the complexity in the Universe. The more astronomers search into the known universe, the greater complexity we see. The greater the complexity, the less likely the universe is not designed by awesome intelligence and power. If you doubt the incredible complexity of the universe, watch Anton Petrov on YouTube. Watch the newest findings about physics, astronomy and where we live. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is incredibly complex, with many new discoveries now being made almost every week.
IN the beginning, GOD...
When was that? well, we don't know. Does it matter as much as the reality that the Universe loudly says to us, "God made me?" If you believe that the Universe "just happened," I challenge you to spend some time with its complexity. Think it through. Choose wisely. If the Bible is true, your future hinges on your choices.