LEGALISM OR OBEDIENCE?

INSISTANCE upon the plain injunctions of Scripture is often confused with legalism, the latter being insistance upon one's personal opinion masked as being Biblical. But, Jesus said, "If you love me keep my commands." Doing so and encouraging such is obedience, not legalism. Be sure to differentiate between the two.

d.christen

MAKE THE WORLD GO AWAY....SEE HEAVEN APPEAR......

     I recently listened to the beautful tune MAKE THE WORLD GO AWAY, by Floyd Cramer. Just those words will make some start humming it all day. 

     It brought to my mind a verse of Scripture. When at the end of time God sets up THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT SEAT of Christ, the scene is described with these words: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them"(John 20:11). 

     Often when leaving 'home sweet home' we feel nostalgia and loneliness as the old homestead fades in the rear view mirror. But just imagine all earth and heaven distancing themselves, fading into the far reaches of the eye. All unsaved people will experience this! It will be awful. They can't go back. Their destiny is decided. They stand before the Judge of all judges, Jesus Christ, devoid of His salvation.

And here is what happens..."Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." When this happens it will be Jesus who makes the world go away. No pleasant tune will sound forth from the glorious angels of heaven. Only the agonies of hell will become louder and louder as the lost near hell. 

     Oh, be saved now! To avoid hearing the words of condemnation at the Great White Throne, right now hear and heed the words of the Gospel: "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).

Sir Winston Churchill is reported to have said: "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a simple word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy and hope." At heaven's gate just one word gains admission: JESUS! 

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." And this, not just to escape hell but to know God and enjoy Him forever. 

Believe not just about Jesus but believe on Him. Earth will fade but heaven will be your eternal home. No loneliness there!

-Dick Christen

WHAT? JESUS TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS NOT TO BEAR WITNESS?

Just this morning I was asked:

"Question about a couple passages: What have you gathered from verses like Mark 1:44-45 and Mark 7:36 where Jesus urges them not to tell about the great things He has done and the people decide to do it anyway? Is that showing the failure of humans even with the simplest of tasks?"

These passages relate to Jesus' words of warning to His followers after performing a miracle. They were to stay 'mum' about the wonder they had just seen. "And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He *said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone'...(Mark 1:33,34). In  this chapter Jesus healed a leper. It was instant, complete and mind-boggling. 

I answered the question this way:

I interpret such incidents in a most mundane manner. The last phrase of v45 says "they were coming to Him from everywhere." The multitudes surrounded Him. Everyone was talking about Him. They were ever so curious. The press of the crowds (the Paparazzi) necessitated extreme measures for His safety and that of the crowds. Crowd control. So, Jesus hushed the listeners to offset the mad rush. In effect, why add fuel to the fire? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I think it was a safety measure to guard God's time table for His redemptive  mission. I don't think we need to read any 'anti witness' allegation into Jesus' word of common-sense caution.
And, they disobeyed out of mere excitement for the great things He was doing. They couldn't contain themselves, they couldn't keep it in. They'd burst from the sheer marvel of it all. I think Jesus understood this and with tenderness resisted any urge to rain down fire on them for their failure to heed His directive 😃.

Certainly the Bible is deep with mystery. When we interpret it we sometimes are so bent on finding deep mysteries that we fail to understand the obvious and surface plain sense that is there also. This is a mistake and leads to unnecessary intrigue. As has been said, when plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense.
dick christen