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The Significance of the Resurrection

Bibical Text: Romans 1:3-4

Every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why Scripture refers to it as the "Lord's Day." We mark this event in a special way on Easter. But what does it mean?

Romans 1:3-4 says that the resurrection makes certain declarations about the person and mission of Jesus Christ, saying that He was, " . . . Declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." The resurrection is the definitive statement about Christ. It designated and "definitely marked Jesus off" (Robertson) - "in a striking, triumphant and miraculous manner" (Amplified). In fact, as you read the book of Acts, you keep reading references to the way the early church carried the gospel. There are remarks such as, "The apostles gave witness to the resurrection"- not the cross, the resurrection. Lots of people had been crucified; only one had come back from the dead. The new life proved the death had meaning.

The resurrection vindicates Jesus' identity as God. He is "declared to be the Son of God". He was not raised in order to become God. Jesus already was God, and had for an eternity past, existed as God. The resurrection vindicated His claims to Deity. Jesus had refused to exercise His rights as God - to be recognized, to be worshiped, to be understood, to be obeyed. Only those to whom God chose to reveal Him had the eyes to see. But now, how do you argue with someone who was previously dead?

In the 1700's there were two young intellectuals by the names of Lord Littleton and Gilbert West. Both were lawyers and both rejected the claims of Christ. One day in a conversation it was concluded that Christianity stood on two foundations: the resurrection of Jesus and the conversion of the apostle Paul. Should these two stories be disproved, the rest of Christianity would fall with them. Gilbert West agreed to write a book disproving Jesus' resurrection and Lord Littleton agreed to write a book disproving that Paul was converted by hearing a voice from heaven. No problem, they thought. But when they got together to share their progress reports, they each had to confess that the evidence was winning them over to the other side. In fact, when it was all over, there were two books: Lord Lyttleton's The Conversion of St. Paul and Gilbert West's book, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, arguing that the resurrection is a fact of history.

Conversely, the resurrection is the first stage in the exaltation of Christ as man. As God, He needed no exaltation. How can one be raised up when He is higher than the heavens? He already is up! As God, in the ascension, He merely resumed His place of glory. Yet, while on earth as man, Jesus had to be tempted, tested, and proven. He "became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him" (Philippians 2:8-9). The Man Jesus was exalted in His resurrection, His ascension, and His enthronement.

The resurrection declares that Jesus is Messiah. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ [Messiah]" (Acts 2:36).

I read of a Rabbi a number of years ago who said that he believed in the resurrection of Jesus. He thought that it was in the category of Elijah and Elisha being used of God to raise people from the dead. Other Rabbi's were quoted as saying that this could not be, one stating something along the lines of, "Doesn't he realize that if Jesus rose from the dead then it means that his other claims are also true?" Yes, exactly!

The resurrection declares that Christ's sacrifice was accepted - Jesus was, "Delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification" (Romans 4:25). "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" (1st Corinthians 15:17).

The resurrection makes the new birth possible. Death cannot give life. The cross secured atonement, but it takes a living Savior to apply salvation. "We have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1st Peter 1:3 RSV).

The resurrection brought about Christ's continuing intercession for His people. "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). We will never sin or fall without deliberately climbing right over His heavenly intercession.

The resurrection makes our own resurrection possible. "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead" (1st Corinthians 15:20-21). Firstfruits refer to the first part of the harvest to come in. It represented the rest of the harvest yet to come. When an automobile manufacturer designs a new car they will, before going into mass production, first come out with the prototype. Christ is the prototype, the firstfruits, of the resurrection. He is the first of many to follow. All those who are His will be raised like Him. (There is a great story which is on point here.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

IT'S TIME TO TURN BACK

Biblical Text: 1 Kings 18: 24 and 37

"And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, 'It is well spoken.'"

"Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again."

War is dirty business. As America prepares to wage war against terrorism, the media and the Internet are flooded with opinions as to whom we will be fighting and how this war will be won. But on one thing they do agree.This "war" we intend to wage will be a very costly affair in terms of human loss, both American and Afghani.

Some say that the only way to prevent the wholesale destruction of innocent Afghani's is to send in our ground troops to root out Osama Bin Laden. And there is little we can expect in the way of help from those in Afghanistan who oppose the Taliban, for they have no weapons with which to fight. They are a poverty-stricken people still recovering from wars waged by the Soviet and Great Britain, without success. They live in mud-dried homes interspersed in the hillsides, with scarce food, no healthcare, and no organized army or infrastructuresave the Taliban. They live in a barren wasteland, clinging to life by a thread, while the Taliban feast before their eyes. It's no wonder that the Taliban army is growing. They are the symbol of life, freedom and victory for those helpless young lives that grow up around them. The Taliban are the role models to a suffering Afghani generation.

As we watch facts unfold and flags unfurl, the Christian community.those of the household of faith.pray, not just for innocent American families and military troops, but for the innocent in Afghanistan and other Arab nations, who will also be dragged into war.

And with whom are we at war? Contrary to a sector of public opinion, this is not a war between Islam and the West. Islam is IN the westand the east, the north and the south. No, this is definitely not a war against Islam, and we must be careful not to classify it as such. This is a war between GOOD and EVIL. And in the end, "GOOD" will prevail, because God will prevail But at what cost?

As our news media broadcast the widespread destruction in New York and Washington, D.C., thousands fell on their knees in repentance and prayer. Prayer vigils, once thought to be the foolishness of religious zealots, have become the hope of millions, while in Afghanistan, far from our shores, the Taliban prepare for a holy war.

The stark contrast between the prayers of the masses of Americans and the street dancing, chanting Taliban of Afghanistan, parallels another old historical account of major significance, with far too many striking similarities. In this ancient confrontational account, the ruling infrastructure shows striking similarities to the ways of the Taliban. And if America is to defeat this enemy, we pray that our nation will demonstrate lasting similarities to the followers of the One True and Living God.

We read the biblical account of Elijah, the Tishbite, in the days of King Ahab's rule in Israel, as a story of great promise. It was there that the first showdown between the gods of the world and Elijah's God took place. Then, as now, the world was "halting between two opinions." King Ahab had led the Israelites into idolatrous worship of false gods, constructing great monuments and altars. For 22 years, King Ahab rebelled against God and "did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all that were before him." (1 Kings 16: 30)

The people of Israel became divided in their worship.some followed after the custom of the King, while others remained faithful to the One True and Living God. Severe drought drove animals from the land, brooks dried up, and no rain fell. Yet, the remnant of Israel remained faithful to the One True and Living God, while King Ahab continued to lead his followers in the worship of Baal.

Calamity and trying times bring out the best and the worst in humanity. On the one hand, the world is full of King Ahabs, who outwardly profess belief in God, while inwardly, they construct their own personal altars to unknown godsgods of positiongods of power.gods of wealthgods of influence.

On the other hand, the voice of the One True and Living God can be heard in sermons from a thousand pulpits, and on the lips of a hundred million praying Saints. Their altars are not of influence or wealth, position or power. The altars they erect are holy altars that belong only to God.

Like Ahab and Elijah, we have come to the brink of a showdown between the Baal's of the world and Jesus Christ. The altars of Baal stand gleaming in the sunlight, while the altars of God solemnly await their vindicating hour. How long will this nation and our world straddle between two opinions?

There are two opinions in Afghanistan and indeed the Arab world. The radical Taliban would have us believe that they desire a holy war to vindicate the god of Islam. But how can a holy war be waged with unholy people? Do holy people murder innocent citizens? Do holy people feast of the fat of their land while their fellow citizens starve in the hills?

There are two opinions in America and the technologically advanced world. Monuments of wealth and power take first place in the lives of countless millions. We watched in horror and disbelief as two buildings that housed one such "altar" came tumbling down on Tuesday, Sept. 11^th, 2001 taking the lives of thousands of our citizens. The Wall Street "altar" took an unprecedented blow, leaving us to question in whom we really put our trust.

The world is crying out for answers to the grave injustice of terrorism. But this is not a war against terrorism.this is a war between the altar of good and altars of evil. And as Elijah so eloquently put it thousands of years ago."the God that answers will be God."

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to prepare an altar to their godto dress a sacrificial bullock and lay it upon kindling wood. Elijah did the same. Two altars, side by side, exactly the same, yet so very different. One was offered to the god of firethe other offered to the God who made fireand that made all the difference. The prophets of Baal called upon their god to demonstrate his power and ignite their altar but no answer came.

Elijah taunted them.

"Cry louder!"

"Maybe he's talking and can't hear you!"

"Maybe he's on a vacation and beyond reach!"

"Maybe he's sleeping, and your loud cries will awaken him."

And the prophets of Baal cried louder and louder, cutting themselves and offering their own flesh as sacrifice to their unresponsive deity.

In this ancient biblical account there is a message to the Taliban and to America today. Beware of the god you serve. Beware of sending soldiers into a holy war, as living sacrifices to a dead god. "Choose" first, "this day, whom ye shall serve." Your faith, a faith in the One True and Living God, is the only fuel that will ignite your altar of sacrifice.

This war between good and evil will not be won with "altars" of wealthWall Street cannot reign fire down from heaven.

This war will not be won with influencethe negotiating savvy of Colin Powell and the entire State Department cannot reign fire down from heaven.

This war will not be won "by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, sayeth the Lord." (Zechariah 4: 6b)

America cries "United we Stand!". But in whom are we united? We dare not march off to battle bearing in our hearts the altars of a false god, or we will meet with our misfortune. This is not a war between America and Afghanistan, or Islam, or the Arab nations. This is a war between the god of evil and the One True and Living God. And the God that answers will be God.

I hear Elijah crying, "Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again." To every thing there is a season", so the scriptures tell us, "and a time for every purpose under heaven." What time is it now? And old folk ballad summed it up like this:

"To every thing, turn, turn, turn;

There is a season, turn, turn, turn;

It's not too late."

It's turning timethat's what time it is.

It's time to turn from altars of wealth to altars of witness.

It's time to turn from altars of power to altars of peace.

It's time to turn from altars of carnage to altars of consolation.

It's time to turn from altars of fear to altars of fellowship.

It's time to turn.turn from our wicked waysIt's time for America to turn.It's time for all nations to turnand seek the face of the One True and Living God.

We pray with Elijah today. "Hear us, O Lord, Hear us, that these thy people may know that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast TURNED their heart back again." It's time to TURN..TURN..TURN.

The Secret Hiding Place

Biblical Text: Psalm 91: 1-4

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Moses knew something about the Secret Place. When the last breathe of life had been squeezed from his Egyptian enemy, and the family who raised him had abandoned him in the wilderness, leaving him to die an outcast among the rotted carcasses of past travelers, Moses knew no fear. He had found the Secret Place.

David knew about the Secret Place. When King Saul's unbridled anger was kindled against him, and David was forced to reside in the cold caves of a lonely and desolate hillside, he knew no anguish, for he was dwelling in the Secret Place.

Jeremiah knew about the Secret Place. Though the known world refused his prophecy, he was not afraid of their angry faces. And when the stench of King Zedekiah's dungeon enveloped him, Jeremiah knew no fear, for he was in the Secret Place.

The slaves of the steaming south knew about the Secret Place. When the week's labor came to a bitter end, and the sweat of a thousand moments of anguish and pain were weighing heavy on their weary souls, they escaped into the woods to the Secret Place.

Where is this Secret Place? Is it a desert, or a cave, or a dungeon, or a wood? It is none of these. The Secret Place belongs to the Most High, and He cannot be contained by the longitude and latitude of our simple existence. There are no walls of stone carved from the bowels of the earth that can confine Him. There are no vast and desolate dunes of sand that can contain Him. There are no dungeon chains to hold him captive. There are no furtive woods that will summon Him. He is in none of these.yet our predecessors found Him in all of these.

Our soul begins a quest at birth searching for the Secret Place. From the moment of our first disappointment, to the exhausting realization at death's door that life must be more than meat and drink, we're on an endless journey in search of that Secret Place "which leadeth unto lifeand few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14)

And if not WHERE, then WHAT? What is this Secret Place that staved off Moses starvation, that comforted undersized King David, that bolstered the spirit of a weeping Jeremiah, and caused thousands of slaves to rejoice even in their intense sorrow? What is this plane of higher existence..this Secret Place. What is this Secret Place that causes us to cast off earthly logic, and love our enemies and pray for those who use and abuse us. What is this Secret Place that can carry us away on lofty beds of spiritual ease in the midst of our greatest trials and tribulations?

I can tell you that it is a plane neither horizontal nor vertical, parallel nor perpendicular. It is the place where God's Spirit abides. It is an awesome place, "and few there be that find it."

It is a place of protection from the injurious surroundings that engulf us; that Secret Place which builds a fortress of fortification around us, and when the outward forces of evil press upon our flesh, forms an everlasting wall of security for our spirit.

Surely He shall deliver thee" And Antiquities record bears witnessHe shall deliver thee from all evil;

From an angry Pharaoh,

From the fiery furnace,

From the mouth of the lion,

From the spear of a Giant named Goliath.

Can our own historic record enjoin with our antecedents? for surely He has delivered US:

From the pits of Southern slavery and northern indifference,

From the taskmaster's whip and the jailer's chain,

From the unhealthy diet of slaughterhouse scraps and banquet leftovers,

From merciless hangings and inhumane burnings,

From government-authorized dog bites and blasting water hoses.

From tattered tenement housing and drug-infested neighborhoods.

From second-hand books and a decade-old syllabus.

And "Surely He shall deliver thee.." from those who would seek to snare us with their broad nets of tortuous and twisted injustice.

Injustice that caused Jimmy Lee Jackson, a young student, to give his life;

Injustice that caused Viola Liuzzo, a white mother from Detroit, called a nigger lover, to have her brains blown out at point blank range;

Injustice that took the lives of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney - two Jews and a Black man - found in a common grave, bodies riddled with bullets in Mississippi;

Injustice that caused four darling little girls in a church in Birmingham, Alabama to make the ultimate sacrifice.

They all died that we might have a right to live.if we abide in the Secret Place.

"He shall cover thee with His feathers." as a hen covers her brood. So shall He protect us from the chilling blasts of racial apathy, and the covert operations of Satan's birds of prey who seek to erase the gains of the Civil Rights Movement with the abolishment of Affirmative Action. As the eagle covers its young, so shall the Lord protect us with His mantle of grace and mercy..if we abide in the Secret Place.

"His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." His truth.The Word that was set forth from the time of Creationshall be our protection. His truth shall shield us from the damning results of a mediocre education that seeks to keep us in our place; His truth shall shield us from the subtle atrocities of insult and disrespect; His truth will be our shield and our defense, while the powerful refuse to allow their abundance to supply our lackbut only if we abide in the Secret Place.

In the Secret Place, there is Divine protection from the unprovoked injustice of wicked men and the influence of malicious spirits.

At times, life is hard, as hard as crucible steel. It has its deep and painful moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flower. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. Through it all, God walks with us. Never forget that God is able to lift us from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hopeand transform dark and desolate perils into the sunlit paths of inner peace.

In the Secret Place, you may lie down in peace and sleep, comforted by the knowledge that your body, soul and spirit are in the hands of He, who neither slumbers nor sleeps.

In the Secret Place, a troubled mind gives way to peaceful appeasement.

In the Secret Place, enemies are transformed from stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

In the Secret Place, misfortunes no longer trouble us;

Sorrows no longer torment us;

Burdens cannot restrain us.

In the Secret Place, we are sheltered from the destroying influence of fear.

We are delivered from the burning resentment of jealousy.

We are elevated above the betraying power of economics.

Come with me to the Secret Place, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. It's a place dripping with the waters of expectation and consolation;

It's a place ripe with the potential of pledge and promise.

It's an inward retreat from outward disappointments.

A place of safety from every situation;

A place of defense from every danger;

A place of tranquility for your troubles.

A place of help for hardships,

A place of hope for your heartaches.

A place of peace from persecution.

Abide here, in the Secret Place, and you will be renewed, rekindled, and rewarded.

Where or what is this Secret Place? It's the dwelling place of the Most High; His habitation. He resides in the Secret Place.noHe IS the Secret Place, and those who find Him find a good thing.

He is whatever we need, wherever we are, and whenever we need Him.

He is Alpha and Omega.

And nothing is impossible for Him, when our spirit aligns with His will.

He is ubiquitous and all-knowing.

And no man can retreat from His judgment, though we hide behind closed doors and in dark places.

He is devoted and loving;

And no one can equal His compassion and tenderness in heaven or on earth.

He is Holy;

In Him there is no vulgarity, no impurity, no indecency, no hypocrisy, no infidelity.

Come to the Secret Place.but be warned.

He is a God of judgment, before whom all shall one day answer.small or great, rich or poor, powerful or common, young or old.

In the Secret Place, we will give full account for our actions.

Our subtle tendencies toward racism and partiality,

Our slothfulness and excuses,

Our questionable business practices,

Our slanted code of ethics, and our unfairly measured disciplines.

Come to the Secret Place.but come with a repentant and contrite heart,

Come regretting and confessing;

Come trusting and desiring.

And abide under the Shadow of the Almighty. It is no Secret, what God can do..what He's done for othersHe'll do for you. With arms wide open, He'll comfort you. It is no Secret, what God can do!

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