Napoleon, Socrates or Jesus? Who would you vote for?

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Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “If Socrates would enter the room, we should rise and do him honour, but if Jesus Christ came into the room, we should fall down on our knees and worship Him.”  Dr Luke, the writer of the third gospel account in the New Testament, would have agreed wholeheartedly with the French General.  

If ever a man wrote a book filled with good news for everybody, Dr Luke is that man. His key message is, "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save those who are lost".  He presents Jesus Christ as the compassionate Son of Man, who came to live among sinners, love them, help them, and die for them.  In Luke’s Gospel, we meet individuals as well as crowds, women and children as well as men, poor people as well as rich people, and sinners along with saints. It is a book with a message for everybody?  

Would you rather fly Economy Class or Business Class?

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Some years ago I was speaking at a conference in Delhi, India and thankfully there were other speakers who were utterly riveting to listen to and absorb what they were saying. One such was a Canadian and he related a time when he was going to travel by plane when the check-in staff wondered whether he wanted to be upgraded. One of his joys in travelling is speaking with fellow passengers and he wondered whether that would be possible if he were upgraded. However, he was persuaded and duly went into Business Class rather than Economy Class and so could look forward to a much more comfortable journey.

As he went to sit down in the plane he introduced himself to a business women nearby with the words,  “I have been upgraded and it is only for one reason.” She politely enquired what that reason was and he said, “To talk to you about the Lord.”  I am sure she had never encountered such a direct approach before and it made her somewhat irritable and even angry. Her anger was directed firstly at the fact that he had been upgraded whereas she had paid the full amount for the privilege of travelling Business Class and secondly that he now wanted to engage her in a conversation about the Lord!

Are you prepared to believe the evidence?

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Believing the Evidence

J. Warner Wallace was an atheist for 35 years. He was passionate in his opposition to Christianity, and he enjoyed debating with his Christian friends. He became a Police Officer and eventually advanced to Detective. Along the way, he developed a healthy respect for the role of evidence in discerning truth. When he took time to be honest with himself, he had to admit that he never gave the case for Christianity a fair hearing. When he finally examined the evidence properly, he found it difficult to deny, especially if he hoped to retain his respect for the way evidence is utilised to determine truth. J. Warner found the evidence for Christianity to be convincing.

Your health and welfare

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Sometimes when I sit down to write this column, I find that 101 things fill my mind, and I can’t quite focus on writing. Life is busy, and we often lose our focus because we have so many things bouncing about in our heads. 

There is a little statement in the book of Psalms, and it says this ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ Psalm 46:10. Stillness is something that many of us crave and that most of us find very difficult to achieve. It is possible to be so preoccupied with living that we forget what life is really about.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ was very aware of this, and so he would on occasion call his disciples to take a break from the busyness of life and come aside and rest for a while. So, therefore, I want to invite you as you read this article to put aside anything that will distract you and come apart from the busyness of your life and reflect, rest, and consider this most important matter of your personal welfare. 

Who can you trust?

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We are promised much in life by so many. These promises do not always come to fruition. Would it not be wonderful if you knew who you could trust and to know that someone you trusted was 100% reliable?

The prophet Zechariah wrote, directed by God's Spirit, 500 years before the Lord Jesus was here. He wrote about a king coming in a lowly way and being transported unusually. The Bible predicted that the Lord Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey’s foal and join several Bible prophecies together. The Bible even predicted the day.

Right on that day, the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey. It is astounding how accurate the predictions are and the period of time between the prophecy and its fulfilment.

Really though, we should not be surprised; we should be reassured! The Bible is God’s Word, it is true, and as such, it will be accurate, and we can trust each and every word.

When the Lord Jesus entered the city, the people recognised the prophecy and hailed Jesus as king. They threw their coats on the road for the donkey to ride over and waved palm branches and shouted ‘Hosanna’, which means ‘save us!’

They had their own idea about how that should be done. They wanted Jesus to recruit an army and rise up to overthrow what they saw as the biggest problem that they had, the Romans!

They wanted Him to be their king and to wear the crown of the king of Israel.

The people failed to see their biggest problem; they failed to see that the God who ensured the prophecy was fulfilled would meet their need in His own way. They thought they knew best; they failed to trust God.

There would be a crown, but a very different one than the one they envisaged.

The prophet Isaiah said that each of us is like a straying sheep; we wander away from God and go our own way. Rather than following God’s way, we take the crown and put it on our own head, and thinking we know best, we rebel against God’s way, which is sin. We deserve to face the punishment of our sin.

But God so loved us and sent His Son for us. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent by the Father God to be the Saviour of the world. For this, He had to go to the cross. He wore a crown, not one of gold and rubies, but one of the thick eastern thorns. He should have had an orb and sceptre, objects of power in His hands, but He took nails through them. He should have had the finest royal robes, but He was crucified in shame on a cross. He should have been surrounded by His people adoring Him, but the crowds cried for Him to be crucified.

Why did He choose this? So, we as sinners could be forgiven! So, we could escape the punishment of sin, so we could enter Heaven.

How is this all possible? It is possible because the sinless Son of God bore our sin in His body on the cross. He died for us, and we can be forgiven by trusting in Him. The Bible makes a simple but profound statement ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!’

To be saved from sin, we must trust in the Son of God.  Is it not wonderful that the One we must trust has proved to us His trustworthiness in the accuracy of the Bible. Do you trust in Him?

Messages with Meaning (03/03/21)

Written by Stuart Scammell for Your542Day