"Will the real Jesus please stand up?"
There are so many portraits of Jesus to be found in the
world. And most, if not all of them only cause confusion
among God's people today. In fact there are so many
images that many people have given up any hope of ever
finding out who He really is. So, who is Jesus anyway?
And is there any way for us to know anything about Him?
The answer is most assuredly yes. And why is it
important for us to have an accurate answer to this
question?
In order to know the REAL Jesus we must
go to God's word, the Holy Scriptures. It's critical for
us to have an accurate understanding of not only who
Jesus is, but we must also understand why He came, and
what He did for us here in this world, as well as in the
realm of our eternal destiny. Really we, as God's
people, need the REAL Jesus, not simply one that the
world has conjured up as a mere compromise. One who is
made in the image and imagination of men. We don't need
a Jesus who cannot redeem a single soul, or a Jesus who
is no more than a symbol for some group, whose only wish
to have a show of religion, but have no real sense of
the truth. And most importantly, if we don't have the
REAL Jesus Christ, we are left with an Anti-Christ (1
John 2:18-22; 4:3; 2 John 1:3). And prefix "anti" means
to "be against" or "in the place of." So when we, or
some other person presents a false Christ, we, or they
are become an Anti-Christ, being opposed to Christ
Himself.
This Jesus can be changed at the fancy of
the artist's preconceived prejudices, criticism, or
devotion to His own personal view of Jesus of Nazareth.
With the flick of a pin or paintbrush, or a few words,
he can change the color of His skin, His hair, in order
to suit any particular cause of which he might wish to
align himself. This kind of image can be created, and
re-created in their own image, which is an image of
unbelief. The problem today with so many of the
images that we have not only of Jesus Christ, but also
of His Church, is that there has been an open attempt to
redefine and neutralize the very authority of the Bible.
The so-called Bible seminaries and popular churches of
our day have all but banished the REAL Jesus of the
Bible. And without the REAL Jesus there is no Church.
After all, it's Jesus who established the Church Kingdom
of God. It is ruled, sanctified and protected by Jesus
Christ. And we need the Church just as a little baby
needs its mother's milk to nourish it, so that it will
grow. And in a real sense we cannot embrace Jesus
without embracing the Church. So in a real sense our
faith (not our eternal salvation,) stands on the REAL
biblical Jesus.
So beloved, how do we uncover the REAL
Jesus? And as I said, to answer that question we must
go to the only reliable source of witnesses available to
us. And that source is the scriptures, in the English
Bible, our King James Translation. This is the only
place that we can find the written accounts of those
people who knew Him. After all it was the disciples who
walked with Him on those dusty roads. They were there
and heard His words, and they of all people knew the
REAL Jesus; I mean they were there, and they have left
their witness for you to view.
Someone might come along and assert that
the disciples were biased, and so they are not reliable
witnesses. But we read that John said, "and he' [John]
'that saw it bare record and his record is true: and he
knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe" (John
19:35). What a foolish assertion for anyone to make,
saying that their witness cannot be true because they
are biased, and they have some hidden agenda. If that
were true it would also follow that we couldn't trust
any "biased" witness. And what would happen then? That
would end our system of justice, because all that
someone would have to say is, "well, this witness is
biased, and we can't trust him." No, and in fact their
agenda was not hidden at all, but was published openly.
Doesn't it seem strange that all of
these people, these men who are accused of being biased,
whose witness we are not trust, should hold fast to a
lie? Even when they were faced with their own sure
torture and death? I mean doesn't it seen strange to any
normal person that they would stand firm for something
that was not true? Yes, to even give up their own lives...and
for what...a lie?
We see that
under Roman law all that they would have to do in order
to not die was to renounce Jesus, and His resurrection,
proclaim that Caesar was Lord, and they would be allowed
to live. How easy it would be to simply say, "Well we
made it all up? None of it really happened." And then
they'd be allowed to walk free. But no, not one of them
gave in to this temptation, they stood firm, and all of
the disciples who were witnesses held to their witness
till the end. And so beloved child of God, if we can't
trust the Apostles to lead us to the REAL Jesus we're
only left with opinions. And that would lead us into
heresies of theoretical philosophies like Gnosticism.
Or, we become like those who accuse us, just another
skeptic relegating Jesus to realm of mere Christmas
ornaments for the holiday season, or an untruth perhaps,
not be really taken seriously. No beloved let us stand
for, and go straight to the source, the Holy
Scriptures...our Bibles.
The trusted
Doctor Luke says, "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand
to set forth in order a declaration of those things
which are most surely believed among us, even as they
delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were
eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good
to me also, having had perfect understanding of all
things from the very first, to write unto thee in order,
most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the
certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been
instructed" (Luke 1:1-4). Here is our eyewitness, and he
has left us his written account of "those things which
are most surely believed among us." How can we possibly
ignore him as a witness?
The Apostle
Peter also says, "for we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). Their claim
is a firsthand account given to us by those who were
willing to give up their lives for Him. Lets us hold
fast to their record. So then, "who was Jesus?"
The scriptures give us titles which give us a picture of
His person and work here in this world. "He is Christ,
Lord, Rabbi and Master, the Son of Man, the Son of God,
the Son of David, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the
Rose of Sharon, the Bright and Morning Star, the Word of
God, the Advocate, the Alpha and the Omega, the First
and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Only
Begotten of the Father, the Lamb Without Spot or Blemish
and the Great I Am. These are but only a few of the
titles that just give us a hint of His life, and the
glory of His work.
We make a
distinction between His person and His work, but we can
never remove the one from the other. These titles give
us a picture of the whole person of the REAL Jesus as
found in the witness of the New Testament, allowing us
to see the person and His work. I would like to take out
time to examine all of these titles for Christ, but for
the sake of time and space we will only take a look at a
few of them as the Lord leads. And if the Lord is
willing we will try to take a look at "Jesus as the
Christ" next time. God bless you and keep you, dear ones
in Christ.
Elder Thomas McDonald
Left Thy First Love
Rev. 2:4, 5
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou
hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first
works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will
remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou
repent.”
John was directed
of the Lord to write letters to the angels (messengers)
of the seven churches of Asia. These letters laid out
the conditions that were present in the seven churches.
The first letter was sent to the angel of the church of
Ephesus. In this letter the Lord told the church of
Ephesus to repent or he would remove the candlestick out
of his place. In Revelation chapter 1 the candlestick
was defined as the church. Thus the church of Ephesus
was commanded to repent or lose the church. The charge
the Lord made against the church of Ephesus was that she
had left her first love. Many have speculated as to
what that “first love” is. However, the scriptures
aren’t couched in speculation.
It is clear that
the church of Ephesus loved the Lord and loved his
service, for she was commended of the Lord for several
good things she was doing. The Lord commended her for
the fact that she could not bear them that are evil.
Thus it is plain that the church of Ephesus was “keeping
house” and administering proper church discipline and
government. Second she was commended for “trying them
that said they were apostles, and were not, and found
them liars.” The churches of today would do well to
take heed to try those who say they are gospel
ministers, but whose actions prove otherwise, and remove
them from the ministry. Third, she was commended for
having borne her responsibilities as a church and the
individual members having borne their responsibilities
in their lives and as church members. Fourth, she was
commended for her patience. Thus in those times of
great trial and conflict she had waited upon the counsel
and direction and deliverance of the Lord. Fifth, she
was commended for laboring for the Lord’s name sake.
What she did, she did for the honor and glory of the
Lord, for she did for “his name’s sake!” Sixth, she was
commended for not having fainted. So often when great
trials and troubles come upon us either as individuals
or as a church body, it seems easy to just give up. But
the church of Ephesus did not give up but continued on
in her love and service for the Lord even through the
times of trials and tribulations. In many ways the
church of Ephesus seemed to be in good shape.
However, the Lord
said the church had left her first love. While the
things the church was doing were good things and needful
things and commendable things and the churches of today
would do well to follow her example in those things, yet
there was something lacking in the church of Ephesus
that, if not corrected, would result in her losing her
identity as a church. One of the meanings of the word,
“first,” is “priority.” She had left her “first love”
by leaving the “first works.” The way the Lord
prescribed for her to repent was to remember and do the
first works.
There is a first
or priority work for churches. This first work isn’t
the only work, but it is the work that is to have
priority. To leave off the first or priority work will
result in the church losing the candlestick. In my
lifetime I would estimate that 50% or more of the
Primitive Baptist churches in existence at my birth are
no longer in existence today. While there have been a
few new churches constituted, yet not nearly as many
that have shut the doors. Is there not a cause for the
closure of so many of the Lord’s churches? Surely there
is and I would submit that the major cause is that the
vast majority of those churches that died out was that
they left their first love. I reiterate, it wasn’t
because those people ceased loving the Lord or that they
ceased keeping good church discipline or ceased laboring
for his name’s sake, etc. It wasn’t because they ceased
loving to hear the gospel preached. The main cause was
because they left off the first or priority works.
To understand what
the first work is we need only follow the examples set
forth in the new testament. When God sent forth John
the Baptist, he went forth preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God and many were baptized and pressed into
the kingdom. Moreover, the Lord called twelve, then
seventy and sent them to preach the gospel of the
kingdom calling upon God’s people to repent and enter
into the church kingdom. Before the Lord ascended back
to heaven he sent forth the eleven to teach, baptize,
and teach some more, and to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature , which they
fulfilled. On the day of Pentecost there were about
3,000 who gladly heard the gospel and were baptized and
were added to the church. Throughout the book of Acts
we see men who were called of God and ordained and under
the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit going
forth and preaching the gospel and subsequently many
being baptized and pressing into God’s church. This
wasn’t a mission system whereby money was raised and the
church sending forth missionaries for such a system is
no where supported in the word of God. Rather God
called men to preach the gospel. They were ordained in
the church and the Holy Spirit empowered them to preach
the gospel and directed their places of service. When
people heard the gospel it was because the Lord was both
working in the preacher and working in the hearer to
bring forth fruit unto His name’s honor and glory.
The Lord must open
these doors of utterance for the gospel to go forth unto
a people prepared to receive it. Man cannot open those
doors. Paul said in 1 Cor. 16:8, 9 “But I will tarry at
Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual
is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.”
Again Paul stated in 2 Cor. 2:12, “Furthermore, when I
came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was
opened to me of the Lord.” So we see it is the Lord who
opens doors of utterance which is further illustrated in
Acts 14:27, “And when they had come, and had gathered
the church together, they rehearsed all that God had
done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith
unto the Gentiles.”
Someone might
mistakenly draw the conclusion that the opening of the
door of faith is between the Lord and the gospel
minister and that the rest of the church has little to
do with this. Contrariwise, Paul instructed the church
of Colosse in Col. 4:3, “Withal praying also for us,
that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak
the mystery of Christ...” Similarly, Paul told the
church of Thessalonica in II Thes. 3:1, “Finally,
brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may
have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with
you.”
Jerusalem is a
long way from Denton, Texas. Yet the gospel has gone
forth from its beginnings in Jerusalem until today there
is a church at Denton and at many other locations in
this country. This gospel went forth because the Lord
called men to preach and opened doors of utterance for
them that the gospel would go forth to a waiting people.
When a church
loses the burden for the gospel to go forth beyond their
current membership then they have left their first love
and left off the first works. In Rom. 10 Paul said that
it was his heart’s desire and prayer to God that Israel
might be saved. He wanted them to be saved from their
ignorance and false works system and to be saved to
worship God in Spirit and in truth. Likewise, it should
be our heart’s desire and prayer to God that God’s elect
may be saved from ignorance and a false works system
unto a belief of the truth and to worship God in Spirit
and in truth in his church kingdom. I ask the reader to
join with me in prayer that God would give us such a
desire of heart and spirit of prayer and that He would
open doors of utterance that the gospel would go forth
to his waiting people.
Elder Vernon Johnson
"Jesus
is the Christ”
The expression that Jesus is the Christ is used
so often that most people think that it's His name. But
beloved Jesus is His name, and Christ is His title. Looking
at what Doctor Luke tells us in His gospel genealogy, he
writes, that when "Jesus Himself began to be about thirty
years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph."
(Luke 3:23). The Greek word "bar" means "son," so Jesus
would be referred to, so far as the common people were
concerned, His name was "Jesus Bar-Joseph," or "Jesus the
son of Joseph." And often He would be referred to as being
Jesus of Nazareth. But for the most part today, when people
refer to Jesus, they say, "Jesus Christ." And because this
term is used so often most people lose sight of the
significance of the term. Really Jesus is His name, while
Christ is His title. And the title "Christ" is used more
often than any other title for Jesus than any other title in
the New Testament. The title comes from the Greek word "christos,"
which means the "anointed." And this Greek word used
corresponds with the Hebrew word "Messiah." So when we say,
Jesus Christ, we are actually, making a confession, at least
with our mouth, that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah.
The Old Testament expression or title of
"Messiah" was someone who was uniquely anointed by God to
fulfill the divine task of deliverance. And the concept was
not just a simple concept, because of what the Old
Testament had to say about the thought. And as one would
view each of the text that had reference to "messiah" they
would seem to contradict each other. For example one text
would refer to the "messiah" as being a reigning king, like
David, who was expected to come and reign as an earthly
king, restoring the monarchy of Israel. And the people
thought that He would come, and throw off their enemies, and
put them under His feet.
And at the time of Jesus, the most popular
belief was that Jesus, as the "Messiah" was coming to
overthrow the Roman Empire, and restore to Israel their full
independence. This is evident in John chapter six, just
after He had taken five loaves of bread, and three little
fish and fed about five thousand men. In verse fifteen we
read, that "when Jesus therefore perceived that they would
come and take Him by force, to make Him a king, He departed
again into a mountain himself alone." We see that He knew
what they were all thinking about Him, now that He had done
this wonderful miracle for them, and they all had a full
stomach, now they wanted to force Him to become a natural
king. And that was not what He came to the earth to do.
In another place the "Messiah" is
viewed as the "suffering servant of Israel, the One who
would come and bear the sins of the people, taking away
their sins. This picture of "messiah" can be seen in Isaiah
53:3-5, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were
our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him
not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."
It's so easy to see the agony of Jesus who was "despised and
rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief." From these two points of view it was very hard for
them to be able to believe that He could be a suffering
servant and also be a Reigning King. How could He be a
Suffering Servant, and at the same time be a Royal King?
The third view of the "Messiah" is found in
what some refer to as being the apocalyptic scriptures of
the Old Testament. Writers like Daniel and Ezekiel have in
view a heavenly being who come down to us out of the
glorious presence of God Himself, to become an earthy king,
and a supernatural judge, who would come and judge the world
because of their evil. This view became almost overwhelming
during the Roman rule while the people of Israel looked for
a "Messiah King" who would come in David's name and restore
to the nation of Israel it's former glory. This expectation
for a coming political "Messiah" didn't come simply from
wishful thinking, but has rooted on certain Old Testament
prophecies. In Psalms 132:11 we read, "The LORD hath sworn
in truth unto David; He will not turn from it; of the fruit
of thy body will I set upon thy throne." And again in Psalms
89:29, 34-36, God declares, "His seed also will I make to
endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven¼My
covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone
out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will
not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his
throne as the sun before me."
And the prophet Amos declared, "In that day
will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and
close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up His
ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" (Amos
9:11).
And so naturally, in the time of the
seeming crisis this hope of an earthly king was set ablaze
by the Man Jesus Christ. With His miraculous signs and
wonders. That surely He would come and throw off the bondage
of their cruel Roman rule, and set up, and establish a great
new kingdom of David to rule over all the world forever!
This view was so compelling among the
disciples of Jesus, they knew that He came from the house of
Judah. Wasn't that the very tribe that scripture had
promised would hold the royal scepter from God would come
from? How could they miss the apparent fact that Jesus of
Nazareth was the literal fulfillment of the Old Testament
hope of the coming "Messiah?" And they believed, especially
Judas Iscariot that they would see Jesus ascend to the
thrown of Israel. So many times Jesus felt the need to flee
away from the multitudes who sought make Him a "their king"
by force (John 6:15). They could not possibly see nor
understand that, yes He was a king, but that their view of
Him was most limited and that they could not comprehend how
that He could be both at the same time. They, as well as the
crowds had very little patience of a King who would also be
their suffering servant. Jesus had repeatedly warned His
disciples about declaring that He was in fact the "Messiah."
But He never denied this fact; He was the "very Christ"
(John 7:26; Acts 9:22).
When they boldly proclaimed this fact to Him,
Jesus accepted the designation with His blessing. Then He
put the question to His disciples, but "whom do men say that
I the Son of man am?" (Matt.16: 13-17). Then Peter boldly
proclaimed saying, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God." To Which Jesus replied, "Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven." God had revealed
this to Peter, not by blood, but thru His Holy Spirit.
Peter's eyes were opened by the revelation from God the
Father.
In another place we see John the Baptist
testifying that Jesus as the Christ, he said that "there
cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose" (Mark 1:7;
Luke 3:16; John 1:27), and he called on the people to follow
Him. Later when he was cast into prison, his faith began to
falter and he sent messengers to Jesus asking, "Art thou he
that should come? or look we for another?" (Luke 7:19-20).
To which Jesus replied, "Go your way, and tell John what
things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead
are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed
is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." These weren't
just idle words spoken, but were carefully chosen by Jesus
showing that the prophecy of Isaiah 61, the text that He had
chosen the day that He entered into the synagogue in
Capernaum where He read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:17-18). And when He
finished reading He said, "This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:17-21). So what Jesus' was
saying to John was this: "go back to John and have him
recall the prophecies of Isaiah, and he will know with full
assurance the answer to his question." Jesus is the Christ!
May God bless us to have the same knowledge
of our Saviour the Lord Jesus as the Christ foretold in the
scriptures. Next time the Lord willing we will look at Jesus
as the "suffering Servant King." God bless you dear ones in
Christ.
Elder Thomas McDonald
|
