by HARVEYOPP | May 1, 2015 | Paul Tripp
Easter has come, and now it’s gone. I hope that Sunday was a stirring worship experience for you, a reminder of the present and eternal hope you have because of the bodily resurrection of Christ.
Something dangerous can happen to Christians a few days after Easter – we forget that Jesus walked out of the grave. No, I don’t mean that we literally forget this historic event; I mean that we forget to live a life based on our resurrection faith.
In today’s devotional, I simply want to remind you of 3 resurrection guarantees that enable you to live with unusual stability and lifelong activism.
- The resurrection of Jesus guarantees eternity. No matter how mundane, routine, and slowly progressing your story seems to be, it’s marching towards a glorious conclusion. There will be a moment when God will raise you out of this broken world into a paradise where sin and suffering will be no more (1 Corinthians 15:52, Revelation 21:4).
- The resurrection of Jesus guarantees security. No matter how unpredictable and out-of-control your life feels, Jesus is reigning, and he will continue to reign until the final enemy is under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). That doesn’t mean you won’t experience pain and hurt in this world, but it does mean there’s nothing that Jesus does not know about, cannot intervene in, or alter altogether.
- The resurrection of Jesus guarantees delivery. No matter how hopeless and weak you think you are, you have been provided with all the grace you need to make it to the end. Future grace always carries with it the promise of present grace. God will provide everything you need until you see him face to face (2 Peter 1:3).
Because of these 3 resurrection guarantees, you can live with unusual stability and lifelong activism. You don’t need to blown around by the unpredictable circumstances of daily life, because you have a predictable eternity coming. And, while you wait for Christ to return, you have the motivation and ability to make the godly decision every single time, regardless of what you’re facing.
Beloved brothers and sisters, no matter what happens today or tomorrow, you can live with unusual stability and lifelong activism because the resurrection of Christ guarantees eternity, security, and delivery. That’s a message that shouldn’t be limited to just one Sunday a year!
by HARVEYOPP | May 1, 2015 | Scott Henry
“So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
The Word of God teaches us that our life upon this earth is very short. James tells us that our life is like a vapor, which is here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14). We read in 1 Peter 1:24-25: “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.” In light of these texts, is it any wonder the psalmist asks the Lord to teach him to number his days? In other words, the psalmist wants the Lord to teach him how brief and fragile his life is upon this earth, and how his life is to be lived for the glory of the Lord and not simply for pursuing earthly pleasures.
Again, the psalmist declares, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). When a believer realizes the brevity of life he then begins to live wisely because he understands the Lord has given him only so much time to live for God’s glory and the good of humanity. Do you really understand the brevity of your life? Does your life show a heart of wisdom in living for God’s glory? Scripture tells us that we are fragile, brittle, delicate people who live moment by moment by the grace and power of God. Nothing else keeps our heart pumping and our lungs breathing but the grace and power of God, “for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), since God “upholds all things by the Word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). Knowing the truth that our lives are only a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow, teaches us our place before God and how we ought to live before Him. Therefore, let the words of Psalm 90:12 always remain upon our lips as we move about in this troubled life. “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
by HARVEYOPP | May 1, 2015 | Scott Henry
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse… (Romans 1:20).
The world was created by the Word of God (Genesis 1:3; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), and thereby reflects the mind and character of God (Romans 1:20). Man was created as the image of God (Genesis 1:16-27) and therefore cannot escape the face of God… “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever” (Romans 11:36). Therefore, all the facts of this universe, every human being, all the creepy crawlies, all the birds of the air, all the beasts of the field, all the fish of the sea, all the trees of the forest, all the flowers of the meadow, all the grains of sand on the seashore, all the stars in the heavens, all the tiny molecules in the atmosphere, every last thing that God has created declares the invisible attributes of the true and living God (Romans 1:20-21).
There is, therefore, no environment, no dark little corner, no small hiding place in this world where man can flee to escape the revelation of God (Psalm 139:8; Hebrews 4:13). “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world…” (Psalm 19:1-4). God’s natural revelation goes out to the ends of the earth and all people in every tribe, tongue, nation, and language of this world see His glory (Psalm 97:6).
Therefore, even when living in open, idolatrous, rebellion against the true and living God, all men are in the condition of knowing the true and living God and not merely “a god” (Romans 1:21), albeit in judgment as covenant breakers. Therefore the Apostle Paul says that all men are without excuse for their rebellion (Romans 1:20), and even their conscience accuses them of their rebellion against the true and living God (Romans 2:14-16). And the Apostle John wrote, Jesus is “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:9). Therefore, don’t believe the “agnostic” when he says, “I don’t know if God exists.” The God who “upholds all things by the Word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3), and “who gives life to all things” (1 Timothy 6:13), and “who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways”, as we read in Daniel 4:35, “…did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 17:14). When people say, “I don’t know if God exists,” they are simply suppressing information they already know to be true (Romans 1:18). Therefore, believe God’s Word and not fallen, unregenerate, rebellious men who are liars and more vain than vanity itself. God’s Word alone is trustworthy and true. Jesus said to the Father, “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). And the Apostle Peter wrote, “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 2:24-25).
by HARVEYOPP | Apr 15, 2015 | Scott Henry
“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…” (Galatians 1:3-4).
Our greatest need is the salvation of our soul. We need to be cleansed from sin and restored to a right relationship with God. But the wickedness of our heart always leads us to seek our own remedy for sin or even deny that we need a remedy. This only demonstrates the depth of our depravity and our desperate need for the saving grace of God; and God’s grace is the only reason anyone is saved from the penalty of sin. Because God is gracious, loving, kind, and merciful toward sinners, Jesus Christ, who is fully God, took upon Himself the nature of man and came into this world and “gave himself for our sins.” He was pleased to lay down His life in order to redeem sinners given to Him by His Father and “deliver them from this present evil world.” As the Apostle Paul wrote in Titus 2:14: “…that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
This Gospel is something the world stumbles over and considers foolishness. “For we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness…” (1 Corinthians 1:23). But the Good News taught in our text is that Jesus Christ gave Himself to save sinners from the penalty and slavery of sin and the dominion of Satan — Jesus came to save His sheep from the wrath of God. Are you trusting Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice for your sins? Are you resting in Him as the only Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), the One who knew no sin but became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him? (2 Cor. 5:21) Are you resting in Jesus, the only One who can cover and clothe sinners in His righteous robes, cleanse us from the defilement of sin with His precious blood, and cause us to be accepted by the Father? Look to Jesus today … He alone can pardon! As the hymn writer declared:
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! precious is the flow, That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
by HARVEYOPP | Apr 15, 2015 | Scott Henry
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
In Ephesians 4:32, we are commanded to forgive one another. And in our text the word “forgiving” in the original language is in the present tense, which means Christians are to be those who continually forgive one another. To forgive means we don’t keep a list of wrongs that have been done against us. The dialog between Jesus and Peter makes this clear: “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). In other words, to forgive means to dismiss and send away those grievances. And our motivation in forgiving others is found at the end of vs. 32 of our text: “God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you.” Are you forgiven of God of all your sins as one who justly deserves death and damnation? Well, if the God of heaven and earth has graciously and completely forgiven us in Christ, who are we to do anything less to those who have sinned against us? The motivation for tenderheartedness and kindness toward others is the awareness of God’s forgiving mercy to those in Jesus Christ.
That is what Jesus taught in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. The man who was not conscious of forgiveness was quick to go out and grab his brother by the neck. And Jesus said, “My father will come in anger and so do to you if from your heart you do not forgive one another.” When a person does not forgive others it is good evidence that they have not been forgiven by God. Those who have tasted God’s forgiveness desire to forgive others and do the deeds of their Father in heaven. That’s what Paul says in Ephesians 5:1: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” How do we imitate God? Ephesians 5:2 says by “Walking in love, even as Christ also has loved us, and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” In other words, do not walk as the unbelieving world. They walk in vanity, greed, lust and wickedness. But you who know the true and living God must imitate God. You must show forth the love of God as God’s dear children. And the test of whether we truly love God and whether His Word abides in us is how we live toward each other. If you say you have tasted the kindness, mercy, and forgiveness of God yet you still walk in evil speech, bitterness, anger, wrath, and are unforgiving of other believers then your profession of faith is nothing but a clanging symbol. As we read in 1 Cor. 13:1: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
What about you? How do you speak of other believers? Do you speak edifying, caring and loving words, or do you slander, gossip and backbite your brothers and sisters in Christ? That’s the way of the world, not Christ. How do you respond when another Christian sins against you and then comes seeking forgiveness? Are you quick to forgive or do you bear a grudge and walk in unforgiveness? (Scripture tells us that unforgiveness is a device of Satan … 2 Corinthians 2:10-11) Are you an imitator of God or do you live like the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18? Hear the exhortation of Scripture: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1-2).
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