This above YouTUBE video features some very powerful words by Dr. John Piper. It is a must listen to. You can listen to this entire message he gave at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary here.
In this week's installment of "Your Weekly Dose of Gospel," I felt the urgency further direct your hearts and minds to feast upon the Word of God as it speaks to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As you read and maybe meditate upon the many verses below, I trust they will be an encouragement in your life and in your service in the gospel to worship the One who conquered sin, Satan, death and the grave. The resurrection of our Lord isn't something we should just focus on once a year during the Easter season, treating it only as the "icing on the cake" of Christianity. But it should occupy our souls and eclipse all other joys every day as the central theme of our faith. There is no greater news than, "He's alive! He's alive! He's alive and I'm forgiven, heaven's gates are opened wide... He's alive!" Therefore, as part of the worship-centered life we should live Coram Deo 24/7 rejoicing and glorifying in the resurrected Jesus.
The tragic fact is though, in today's evangelical climate the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is sometimes strangely absent - or even purposely left out of gospel presentations. But even more concerning, it is now acceptable by some evangelicals that the gospel, without including the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, could be embraced as the genuine gospel. That is a hellish lie beloved. If Christ did not rise from the dead, we are the world's greatest fools, our faith is a sham, and there is no gospel to proclaim. This should be a burden to us all; and produce in each of us deep, aching, heart-wrenching prayer for revival and reformation to the very gospel that demands our lives be forsaken even unto death.
What a joy to go into all the world and proclaim this good news to people in every nation that salvation is only by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we go to our neighborhoods, cities, schools, places of work, and families may we never leave out of the gospel beloved, the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord is risen,,,
Steve
1 Cor. 15:1-4
The Gospels:
Matt. 16:21 ¶ From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Matt. 20:19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
John 2:22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
John 21:14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
Acts:
Acts 2:14 ¶ But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. Acts 2:32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
Acts 3:15 but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
Acts 4:2 being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Acts 4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.
Acts 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.
Acts 17:18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
Acts 24:21 other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”
Acts 26:23 that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
The Epistles:
Rom. 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Rom. 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Rom. 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Rom. 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Rom. 7:4 ¶ Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Rom. 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Rom. 8:34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
1Cor. 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1Cor. 15:12 ¶ Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 1Cor. 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 1Cor. 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 1Cor. 15:15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 1Cor. 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 1Cor. 15:17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 1Cor. 15:20 ¶ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
2Cor. 4:14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
Gal. 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Eph. 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph. 2:6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Phil. 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; Phil. 3:11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Col. 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
1Th. 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
1Pet. 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1Pet. 1:21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
1Pet. 3:21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Thursday, March 22, 2012
DON'T BURY THE GOSPEL IN YOUR DAILY LIFE, YOUR WORK, YOUR SCHOOL, OR YOUR CHURCH
...the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A LIVING HOPE
...unshakable assurance in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you."
(Colossians 3:12-13)
1 John 2:28-3:3, “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. [29] If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. [3:1] See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [2] Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is. [3] And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."
Most people use hope today as a synonym for making a wish; fulfilling a dream or satisfying a desire. To some it maybe a roll of the dice to obtain something that is seemingly out of reach and unattainable: a new car; the longed for promotion; the right mate for life (are you single, saved, satisfied and searching?) or maybe a chance to win the lottery. Some are looking for hope beyond hard circumstances, impossible trials with presumably a ‘no light at the end of the tunnel’ situation. We’ve all been at that place at one time or another in our lives of feeling like we're walking around with both feet planted firmly in mid-air, haven't we?
Some turn their search for hope to the empty promises made by late-night salesmen offering you the latest fast ticket to success. Or some might look for advice from psychics or mediums, who claim "divine futuristic omniscience" into the deep hidden secrets of your life.
Some searches for hope though, are not so casual. We remember all too well the tragic deaths of thirty-nine people known as Heaven's Gate-cult in their emasculated mass suicide with the hope of rejoining together in a spaceship hidden behind the comet Hale-bopp.
Listen to these powerful words from Scriptures as to what real hope truly is: Hebrews 6:19-20a,
"This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us…"The writer of Hebrews says that our hope is, an anchor for the soul; sure; steadfast; fixed—connected with the One who entered as a forerunner for us. Literally, we are "chained with Christ" for eternity and that is good news.
1 Peter 1:3-5 reinforces the sure and steadfast hope that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected (kept) by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."How encouraging are those words. Our hope is living; obtained through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And then listen to this list of promises: it is imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, is reserved in heaven and protected (kept) by the power of God. Now that is hope beloved... amen?
The Apostle Paul gives us further reason to rejoice in our hope when saying in Colossians 1:5,
"because of the hope laid up for you in heaven which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel."The hope that we have as Christians is in separable from gospel truth. How sure is this hope? As surely as Jesus died and rose from the grave; as sure as we are justified and are being sanctified; as sure as we have been born again; we have hope!
Therefore, based on the truth of God’s Word, we can define hope as being:
Hope, is undiminished trust in Christ in response to the promises of God as established in His Word by the Holy Spirit, and then waiting patiently for His sovereign fulfillment.
A World of Hopelessness
If to be in Christ is to have hope eternal, then to be without Christ is to be absolutely hopeless. There is no hope apart from salvation in the Lord.
Job 8:13, "the hope of the godless shall perish."Isn’t that a dim picture of the hope that the world offers? Even the hope that is depicted in most magazines, newspapers, sitcoms, talk shows, etc. is usually placed in three things: brains, bodies and bucks. That's why the Lord says through the weeping prophet Jeremiah, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glories, glory in this, that he knows and understands Me, that I am the Lord" Jeremiah 9:23-24.
Job 27:8, "for what is the hope of the godless… when God requires his life?"
Isaiah 8:19-22, “And when they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. And they will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.”
Ephesians 2:12, "remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the common- wealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in this world."
We do not build our hope on this world...
"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" for "this world is passing away and the lust of it…" 1 John 2:17a. Why? "For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" 2 Cor. 4:18b. "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to [fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches] but in the living God" 1 Tim. 6:17.
We do not build our hope on ourselves...
"Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, “You have made my days as handbreaths; and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor." Psalm 39:4-5.
Listen to these penetrating words by Charles Spurgeon:
"Before the Eternal, all the age of frail man is less than one ticking of the clock. This is the surest truth that nothing about man is either sure or true. Take man at his best, he is but a man, and a man is a mere breath, unsubstantial as the wind. He is constant only in inconstancy. His vanity is his only verity; his best, of which he is vain, is but vain; this is true of every man, that everything about him is every way fleeting. Those whose glory is in themselves will hang the flag at half-mast;" for "all flesh is as grass and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass…" Isaiah 40:6b-7a.
"Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue… Since his days are determined, the number of his moths is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass" Job 14:1-2,4b.
1. the Source of our hope is God:
Psalm 43:5, "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God…"
Lamentations 3:21, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope." The memory of God's devotion to His people brings hope out of hopelessness."
2 Thess. 2:16, "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."
Titus 1:1-2, "Paul, bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began."
2. the Security of our hope is Christ:
1 Timothy 1:1b, "Christ Jesus, who is our hope…"
Colossians 1:27, "Christ in you the hope of glory."
3. the Strength of our hope is the Holy Spirit:
Romans 15:13, "...that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Galatians 5:5, "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."
4. the Scope of our hope is in the Word:
Romans 15:4, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
No one ever lives greater than their view of God; and our view of God is formed by what He has revealed concerning Himself, by His Spirit, through His Word. We may see His invisible attributes, eternal power and Godhead revealed through general revelation (Romans 1:18ff), but the self-revelation of who God is and His redemptive plan for man is solely revealed in special revelation - the Word of God. Therefore, if in our worship, we pervert the Word - we pervert a right view of God; if in our music, we distort His truth - we distort a true representation of His character; if in our songs, we misrepresent the Scripture - we misrepresent the Savior; and if in our worship, we twist His truth - we cause people to worship someone less than who He really has declared Himself to be. What a responsibility to handle accurately the word of truth.
Psalm 119:49, "Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope."
Psalm 119:74, "Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your word."
Psalm 119:114, "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.”
Psalm 119:147, "I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help; I hope in Your word."
Psalm 119:166, "Lord, I hope for Your salvation and I do your commandments."
5. the Speech of our hope is joy and victory:
Romans 5:2, "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Romans 5:5, "and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
1 Thess. 5:8, "and as a helmet, the hope of salvation."
6. the Sign of our hope is sanctification:
1 John 3:3, "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."
7. the Surety of our hope is the Lord's return:
Titus 2:13, "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Question: Do you have the assurance of this living hope in Christ today? Do you have the comfort that your life is hid in Christ and that there is not any situation that can rob you of your joy in Him? If not, then trust in Christ this very hour, repent of your sin; confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead; and know for certain that there is real hope through the gospel of grace that can never fade away.
Friday, October 24, 2008
ASSURANCE
...our joy and confidence in salvation wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ
The Gift of God's Son, the Guarantee of All Other Blessing
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? -Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? -Romans 8:32
Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else? -Romans 8:32
“When God calls a sinner, He does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do, love one day and hate another; or as princes, who make their subjects favorites and afterwards throw them into prison. This is the blessedness of a saint; his condition admits of no altercation. God’s call is founded upon His decree, and His decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out His people’s sins, but not their names.” -Thomas Watson
“If our religion be of our own getting or making, it will perish; and the sooner it goes, the better; but if our religion is a matter of God's giving, we know that He shall never take back what He gives, and that, if He has commenced to work in us by His grace, He will never leave it unfinished.” - C.H. Spurgeon
"God commended his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." If, then, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, will he freely give us all things. "All things!" How comprehensive the grant! "According as his Divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness." Holding the security in the hand of faith, you may repair to your Heavenly Father, and ask for all that you need. So to speak, God has bound himself to withhold no good thing from you. He is pledged, and from that pledge he will never recede, to grant you all you need. What is your demand? Is it the Spirit to seal, to sanctify, to comfort you? Then draw near and ask the gift. "For if you who are evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" Is it pardon? Then ask it. He who provided the sacrifice for sin, will he not freely bestow the forgiveness of sin? Is it grace? Having given you the Reservoir of grace, is he not as willing and "able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work?" Is it comfort? Having given you the "Consolation of Israel," will he not prove to you the "God of all comfort?" Is your necessity temporal? Are your circumstances adverse? Filled with forebodings of approaching difficulty, the cruse of oil and the barrel of meal dwindling, are you anxious and fearful? Take your temporal need to God. What! will he bestow the higher blessings of grace, and withhold the inferior ones of providence? Never! And can you press to your believing heart the priceless, precious, unspeakable gift of his Son, and yet cherish in that heart the gloomy, misgiving, thought of God's unwillingness and inability to supply all your need?" - Octavius Winslow
“For non-reformed theologies..."at the end of the day, the security of the believer finally rests with the believer. For those in the opposite camp [Reformed], the security of the believer finally rests with God -- and that, I suggest, rightly taught, draws the believer back to God himself, to trust in God, to a renewed faith that is of a piece with trusting him in the first place." - D.A. Carson
From the "Hymnbook of Heaven":
1 Samuel 2:9; Nehemiah 9:16-19; Psalm 31:23, 32:7,23,28-33, 38, 84:5-7, 89:30-33, 94:14, 97:10, 121:7, 125:1; Proverbs 2:8; Isaiah 40:30, 54:4-10; Jeremiah 32:38-42; Matthew 18:6, 12-14, 24:22-24; Luke 1:74, 22:32; John 3:36, 4:13, 5:24, 6:37-40, 51, 8:31, 10:4, 8, 27-29, 17:11, 15; Romans 6:1-4, 7:24-8:4, 28-39, 11:29, 14:14; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, 3:15, 10:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:11-14, 4:30; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 3:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5; 2 Timothy 1:12, 4:18; Hebrews 3:14, 7:25, 10:14, 36-39, 13:5; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2 Peter 3:8; 1 John 2:19, 3:9, 5:4, 13, 18; Jude 1, 24.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
...by John Piper
Updated
For a band of Bereans,
Steve
Here is another video where Piper is declaring the essentials of what the gospel is... in one sentence and in a under 30 seconds.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
UNSHAKABLE HOPE IN THE MIDST OF PROFOUND GRIEF
...this is the assurance of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
FIVE YEAR OLD MARIA CHAPMAN TRAGICALLY KILLED
...please pray for Steven and his entire family
Update:The girl, Maria, was hit in a driveway on the family residence Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother, said Laura McPherson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
McPherson said no charges are expected.
"It looks like a tragic accident," she said.
She said several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident, which happened in Williamson County just south of Nashville.
The brother apparently did not see the little girl, McPherson said. She did not have the name or exact age of the brother, only that he is an older teenager.
The girl died later at Vanderbilt Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.
Chapman, originally from Paducah, Ky., and his wife have promoted international adoption and have three daughters from China, including Maria.
Chapman has won five Grammy awards and 51 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association.
The singer's Web site said that Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, were persuaded by their oldest daughter to adopt a girl from China. The experience led the family to adopt two more children and create Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption.
The Chapmans did missionary work at Chinese orphanages in 2006 and 2007, according to the Web site.
"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing — our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the Web site. "We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world."'Chapman also has released a book about being a father entitled "Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess."
