The Heaton File

Tuesday Morning Early Start – Important Doctrines

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38)

What Is Truth

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. This is a known fact that has never changed since the beginning of time. There has never been a deviation of this fact. It is a certainty as long as the earth remains. No argument will change this reality. The veracity of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west is never challenged or denied. This is truth.

Recently mankind witnessed a supermoon lunar eclipse. The next supermoon eclipse will occur in 2033. How does man know this? Because truth is not only the same yesterday and today but it will also be the same in the year 2033. If the world remains the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west in the year 2033. Why? Because truth is constant. In mathematics 1+1=2 whether you speak English or Russian or live in Italy or Bolivia. Math is the purest form of truth because it does not change. You can believe that 1+1=3 but it does not change the truth. It just means that what you believe is wrong.

The Bible is truth. While no one argues about the rising and setting of the sun or the truth in mathematics the Bible is seldom viewed as truth. Critics of the word of God deny the exactness of its contents yet its message has remained unchanged since the beginning of time. Like the sun it reflects the hand of its Creator as being complete, unchanging and without variation. A charge is made that man changes the world of God but an honest examination finds this to be false. Jesus came to bear witness of the truth given to Him by His Father and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the word of God has remained the same since the day of its inception. Disbelieving the Bible does not change the truth no more than when the Jews killed Jesus on the cross changed the fact that He was the Son of God.

When we view the Bible as anything but TRUTH then we deny the sun rising in the east and 1+1=2. The difference is that one day the truth of science and math will be destroyed but the truth of God’s word will be eternal. Only in the Bible can we find the mind of God and only through our acceptance of the Bible as being our guide will we find happiness and meaning. Pilate asked “What is truth.” It was standing before Him.

Such is the irresistible nature of truth that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing. The sun needs no inscription to distinguish him from darkness. (Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1791)

Monday Morning Coffee Break – Life With Jesus

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched– where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched– where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire– where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:43-48)

Hand, Foot And Eye

Jesus could preach some hard lessons. There were occasions His own disciples chided Him because He offended some with His teaching. It is clear from the ministry of the Lord His purpose was singular. Matthew 23 is a fiery condemnation of the hypocrisy of the Jewish elite who put themselves above the Law. Jesus told His disciples that many would not like what He had to say about divorce in Matthew 19. In the final days of His life the Son of God declared there was only one way to the Father, one truth to salvation and one life in Him. Tough words. Consider His teaching on distractions of life.

Our hands are very precious to us. With them we are able to engage in a full life in contrast to the handicap of missing one or both hands. Our feet are also very precious to life as they give us the mobility to live a productive life. There is no doubt how priceless our eyes are to life. When any one of these members is damaged or lost it makes life hard. Losing a hand or foot or eye would cause great concern. However, the teaching of Jesus suggests a challenging lesson about those things that are important in life that we are willing to voluntarily forgo so that we can rise to the glory of God.

Jesus does not tell His disciples to literally remove these parts of the body but to look at things in life as to what is of value and what is not. The lesson is of values. If our hand caused us to lose our soul would we be willing to cut it off? Would we follow the same course with our feet or eyes? What is of greater importance in life? What we have here in a temporary way or what we will lose if we go into eternity with everything intact? These are tough questions. The answers are more difficult.

The rich young ruler was not willing to give up his riches. Some refuse to turn from false doctrine to save their souls. Many follow the pleasures of this life unprepared for a life without end. So often in our lives we are put into positions of temptations because we will not remove certain things from our lives so that we can live holy before God. If watching television caused you to sin would you be willing to get rid of it. If pornography is a constant temptation through the means of the internet would it not be better to cut it off here than to be cut off there? What if our job was not conducive to our spiritual welfare and we refused to give it up because we trusted in it more than God? Friends help us identify who we are but if they are not helping us be lights in a world of darkness are we willing to retain them and lose our soul?

The challenge of cutting off our hands, feet and eyes is a lesson of how devoted we want to be to the Lord. Life as child of God is a life of crucifixion. There are choices to be made. Sometimes these choices are the hardest decisions we will ever make in life. But these choices are about where we will spend eternity. Nothing else matters. How sad it will be to lose our soul because we were unwilling to give something up here.

In so far as man himself, consecrated by God’s name and dedicated to God, dies to the world that he may live for God, he is a sacrifice. (St. Augustine, The City of God, X, 426)

Sunday Morning Starters – Worship

These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. (Deuteronomy 12:1-5)

For Which We Are Gathered

The first day of the week is a special day. Unlike the other days of the week it is time of reflection, devotion and worship. Since the beginning of time the Lord has desired the heart of man to give honor and praise to the Creator. Abel’s sacrifice reflected the glory of God. The altars of Abraham filled the heavenly realm with sweet incense. Songs of praise rang forth from the glories of the Temple as God’s people worshipped Jehovah. On the first day of the first day of the church three thousand devoted Jews learned a new way to worship God. Throughout the pages of the New Testament writers the early church gathered on the first day of the week to sing holy hymns of glory to God remembering the sacrifice of their savior Jesus Christ.

We should never look at the Law of Moses as simply a physical law requiring things to do to please the Lord. There were many regulations to follow but the intent of the Law was to instill in the hearts of the people the universal need of all men to bring their hearts to God. The allurement of idol worship was rooted in the physical satisfaction of a god that was seen and served with the hands of men. Worship to the Almighty has always been about bringing a heart of worship to the throne of the One who made us for glory. Throughout the Law God forbade His children to follow after the gods of the people because it would take their hearts away from Him. He demanded they not worship with such things. It is easy for the child of God today to worship the Lord with the external satisfactions of a religion of works. His will is still that we not worship Him with such things.

What we do today is a heart filled love for a sacrifice so large the world cannot contain its complete message. We are created for glory and standing at the cross of Jesus we see the greatest glory known to man. The first day of the week is a day that should belong to praise and worship of redemption. Salvation is the message of the day. Eternal life fills our hearts with the promise of life after death. Fellowship with saints who love the Lord with all their hearts, souls and minds is the joy of this day. Let us not worship God with such things as the gods of this world. Do not wait for a song to remove the thoughts of the world from our minds. Live each day with Christ. Let today be a resounding chorus of praise for the One who delivered us and saved us from sin. Today is a day of worship!

Salvation is not putting a man into Heaven, but putting Heaven into man. (Maltbie D. Babcock. Thoughts for Everyday Living, 1901)

Saturday Morning Promises – Great Stories

Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. (Exodus 23:20-28)

How Could They Turn This Down?

The Old Testament is a wonderful story of the love and grace of God. From the book of Genesis to the final words of Malachi the tapestry of God’s plan to save man is unveiled in bold colors in the promise of the blessings from the Lord. As the people trembled at the presence of the Almighty at Sinai He assured them of complete victory over all their enemies and blessings beyond the imagination. The Lord would send His Angel to lead them having victory over all enemies that come up against them. There would be no people in the world that would be able to defeat them. Imagine for a moment being told the Angel of the Lord would be THE enemy of their enemies! This promise is sure and steadfast. Incredible.

There were formidable foes to be defeated. The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites were a superpower of allies impossible to destroy. These people were warriors bent on the destruction of their enemies razing the ground of those who would oppose them. Jehovah God tells a nation that had just a few months before struggled to survive a brutal oppression of slavery they could defeat these powerful nations. Israel was not a nation of warriors. When Saul was King a century later no one had weapons. But God tells these brick mason slaves they would be able to defeat a host of nations if they would trust in His word.

The promise of God goes beyond the military might. If they would obey His word they would never go hungry or lack for drink. He would take sickness away from them and no woman would experience the painful agony of a miscarriage. Peace would reign throughout the land as the fear of the nation of Israel would fall upon all the nations around them. Prosperity would fill the land with milk and honey as no nation had ever experienced. The promises were true. His word was powerful. He told the people this could be all theirs if they would simply obey His Angel. They turned God down.

Read again all the things God said He would do and then remember how the people walked away and said “no.” How is that possible? What people in their right mind would turn away from such an offer? The Lord truly promised them health, wealth, might and power and the children of Israel refused God’s offer. How? Read Exodus 32 when they made a golden calf and said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Read Number 13-14 when the Hebrews came to the promised land and shrank back in fear refusing to enter. Unfold the history of the Jews and see how they turned away from every promise God made to them. Their lineage is a living sermon on the refusal of God’s blessings.

John tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for all men. The story is the same as it was with Israel. Now it is Jesus Christ God sends forth as the Word. If we will obey His word and follow Him we will enter a spiritual promised land. Our greatest enemy will be defeated when we follow Jesus. Nothing will be able to stand against us because we are soldiers of the cross. All spiritual blessings are found in Christ Jesus and all these promises are sure and steadfast. Death is no longer feared. Sin has been defeated. Hope reigns. Eternal life promised. And sadly like Israel most people stand at the Kadesh-Barnea of life and refuse the protection of the only one who could bring victory. Fear turns the heart away from God. Rebellion to accept the Word as truth causes men to wander in a wilderness of hopelessness to their ruin and death.

Faithful children of God embrace the promise of the Lord as their life. The Angel of the Lord encamps around us and protects us. Our blessings are found in the Son of God and realized in the hope of eternal life. Only God could give us that. Thank you God for loving me so much to allow me to come to your abode and live with you. Thank you for Your protection, Your blessing, Your promise and Your Son. Now that is a great story.

A little boy playing on the deck of a ship in a mighty storm was asked by a passenger if he wasn’t afraid. “No, I’m not afraid. My father is the captain of the ship.” (Rufus M. Jones, The Radiant Life, 1944)

Friday Morning Reflections – Wisdom Literature

Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. (Proverbs 19:14)

She Had Good Understanding

Marie died last night. She was not known by many but those who knew her understood the burden she bore every day. A simple woman with no pretense of outward glory she beamed from an inner spirit of a deep love for the Lord. Her love was seen in the care of her children and her husband whose greatest desire was to preach the gospel. Mark began at an early age to speak the words of truth. Time would present a terrible challenge as he lost his eye sight. As a family they would always struggle to provide for the family yet through it all remained a spirit of optimism and hope that God would take care of them. He did. He always did. Until the final moments of life there seemed to be a hope for the future but the body was unable to endure. Death embraced Marie and she was taken. But God was still doing what He had always done – one of His saints has gone home. Glory.

Children still remain at home. Family gathers together to mourn yet rejoice in the spirit of Marie. She patiently worked under many hardships but it would seem hard to notice. The family will be at a great loss for the one who cared for everyone else to the neglect often of herself. She was not a woman of the world. She was a woman of God. Her desire was not for the riches of this life and seldom enjoyed that. The heart of Marie was in the riches of God. Her eyes were on a heavenly home where no moth or corruption would come. The heart of Marie trusted in the riches of God’s grace. She died in faith. Death became a release allowing her life to experience the amazing joy of eternal salvation in Christ.

She was a woman of good understanding. Her character was that of Eve who was brought to man as a help-meet. There is no comparison of her worth for her life of service to God was of more value than precious gems. Her husband praised her and her children loved and adored her. She will be missed beyond measure. Life was cut short. Joy is found in the love she died in the Lord and found blessing during her short time of illness a greater reward was waiting for her. She really did understand things.

The chapter of faith in Hebrews 11 notably inscribes the names of the faithful. Legion are the names that fill the roll. It would seem natural to think if the writer were speaking of today Marie’s name would be found somewhere etched upon those pages of glory. Her significance is not about her life or her name. The reason for these few words is because in the death of a friend there is the glory of God. She lived not for herself but for her God. And that is the most important understanding of all.

The woman was made out of a rib out of the side of Adam; not of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arms to be protected and, near to his heart to be loved. (Matthew Henry, Exposition of Genesis, 1725)

Thursday Morning Thankfulness – Epistles of Paul

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1)

The Heavenly Diet

America is a culturally obsessed nation of the glorification of the outward body. The market for dieting is a billion dollar industry ranging from programs, supplements, exercise equipment and pressure to be thin. This springs from the gluttonous habits of many citizens that endanger their health by unwise eating habits and lack of physical activity to keep the body at a proper level of health. For many it is simply a driven desire to retain youth for the glorification of pride. Dieting can serve an important part for a better life.

The stark reality is that with the benefits of dieting seeking to maintain a good sense of health the body has one end goal: death. A bumper sticker sums up the challenge of life saying, “Diet, Exercise And Die Anyway.” This attempt at humor does ring with a tone of reality. Diet and exercise are an essential part of good health but good health is temporary. The body is a perishing machine. It will be destroyed one day. Sadly if many who spent timeless energy in keeping the physical body fit would spend as much time exercising the spiritual body there would be a great change in our world.

When God created man He did not take a physical body and put eternity in it. As my good friend Danny Roberts explained we are eternal creatures inhabiting a physical body. The key to understanding who we are is to realize we are creatures that will never cease to exist. Eternal. Without end. Death will only remove the shackles of a temporary body. Our bodies are likened to a tent which is only used for a short time without permanence. We live on. Everyone lives on. Death is not the end it is the beginning.

For the child of God the knowledge of an eternal body is joy. The outward man perishes and the inward man will continue on. Children of God live to receive a body that will be raised to the glory of God. This new body is joyful and filled with pleasure. It does not need to diet or run five miles every morning. It will never gain weight nor be afflicted with disease. Pain is gone. No more aches and pains and sorrow and tears. Death is the new diet that takes all this away for the Christian. There are no mirrors in heaven to see if our hair is combed or if the clothing fits. Our new body is perfection. What a day that will be. Lord come quickly.

The body of a man is not a home but an inn – and that only briefly. (Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, c. 63. A.D.)

Wednesday Morning Meditation – Psalms

A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills– from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. (Psalm 121)

Looking Up

The psalmist has a clear picture of happiness for the child of God. One of the great joys of knowing the Father is to know that He looks down upon us with His favors. Our joy comes when we turn our eyes toward Him to view His beauty. When we are drawn by God’s love we are “looking up” people. Life has meaning and purpose. Our lives are not characterized by a sad downward weakened spirit of despair. In the midst of a world filled with chaos our thoughts are on His power, deliverance, grace and mercy.

Our natural response in walking carefully is to look down to measure our steps. For the Christian our sure walk is accomplished by looking up. He will not allow us to stumble because He is our protector. His hand of love covers us with glory and peace. His power will keep us from the evil one. He knows all of our ways and paths that we ponder. How infinite is this knowledge to share in the love of God that He cares so much for us.

Throughout scripture the Lord wants us to be looking to Him for help. There is no one that can fully satisfy our longings as He who made us. If despair fills our lives look up. When the dark clouds of doubt obstruct our view look beyond to the glory of God. He made the heavens and the earth and He sent His Son so that we can view that heavenly home of promise. Our hearts long to be with Him to see Him face to face. We live each day anxiously longing for the return of the Lord in the clouds. Look up. Lift the drooping face of sadness to the joy of Jesus Christ. Let your heart be filled with the gladness of God’s love. We are never alone. He is always with us. He will never forsake us. He will never leave us. Look up.

A man is truly happy when he is rightly related to God and to people, because then his lower nature is rightly related to his higher self. (Kirby Page, Living Joyously, 1950)

Tuesday Morning Early Start – Important Doctrines

The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?” (John 18:19-23)

The Doctrine Of Christ In Me

Following the arrest of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord was first brought before Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest. This preliminary examination was to gain proof of charges the Jews would use to present their case to the Roman authorities to have Jesus killed. There was no semblance of jurisprudence in these proceedings as the only goal desired by the fevered mob of Jewish leaders was the a sentence of death on Jesus. Annas was a powerful man among the Jews. He asked Jesus to tell him about the kind of people that followed Him and what was the basis of His teachings. This inquiry was only to gather information to be used against Jesus.

The Lord was always the master teacher. He utilized every situation to teach the will of His Father. Coming before Annas was no exception. In a rebuff of Annas’ ploy Jesus said that what He taught was never in secret and He never tried to hide anything He taught or said. The doctrine of Jesus was an open book. When He would come into a town or city with a synagogue the Lord would take His case to the Jewish teachers. His first encounter was twenty-one years earlier when at the age of twelve He challenged the teachers in the Temple.

Earlier the Jewish people had received Jesus into Jerusalem with a triumphant procession followed by the Lord driving out the merchants selling in the Temple. The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead still resounded in the ears of the chief priests and Pharisees. Nothing Jesus did was hidden from the people. His life was a testimony to the will of His Father. If they did not believe Him they could ask His followers. This angered one of the officers of the high priest and he struck Jesus with the palm of his hand. Jesus’ reply was simply to judge Him by what He said as either true or false. Having nothing to answer Annas sent the Lord bound to Caiaphas.

All the glory of the Father was found in the life of Jesus. The Jews killed Him because of their envy. Time and again the Jewish leaders sought for clear evidence against Jesus and the only answer the Lord gave was to look at His life and what He said. That was a powerful lesson for the people of that day. When Jesus died His Roman guard remarked, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” A life filled with words, deeds and example became the testimony of God the Father.

We will not live to the level of sinless perfection as Jesus did. He became the curse on the tree by His life so that we could live for the Father. In our imperfections we can still live in such a manner that when people speak against us as evil doers we still have a testimony of life that declares the Father. Peter admonishes his readers to live a life blameless before others to glorify God. The doctrine of my life should be a daily reflection of Christ living in me. My speech should always be a mirror of the word of God. My attitude should be measured by the love of God. The impression I leave upon those around me is the imprint of Christ. When people see me they do not see me they see God. To live like Christ is to know Christ. Immerse your life in the character of the Son of God and you will look just like His Father.

Someone has said … that the only Bible which millions of people read today is the daily example of Christians – your example and mine. (James E. Murray, Address, March 31, 1948)

Monday Morning Coffee Break – Life With Jesus

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them,  “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”–He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” (Luke 5:17-26)

Eager Roofers Needed

The crowd included Pharisees and teachers of the law from every town of Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem. There could be no doubt the spiritual elite were gathered in one place to hear what Jesus had to say and see if the miracles were true. This crowd could only be defined as a multitude of people crowded in to be healed and see healing. Somewhere close by some men had grave concerns about a friend who was paralyzed. Knowing he could not go to Jesus they took it upon themselves to carry him the distance to where Jesus was.

When the men arrived at the house they had a problem. Because of the press of the crowd they were unable to take the man in. So many people were crowding into the house and around the house it was impossible to bring their friend to Jesus. Begging people to move was to no avail. Pleading their case fell on deaf ears. Undaunted they hatched a bold plan. Gaining access to the roof they began removing the tiles (a large hole) and with ropes let their friend down into the midst before Jesus. Now they waited to see what would happen.

Those in the house were astonished at the bold tact of the men. Dirt and dust rained down on the crowded room as they opened a hole. Complaints rose from voices asking what the men thought they were doing. What is the meaning of tearing a man’s house apart to let a stranger down before everyone? Jesus did not miss a step. He immediately recognized the faith of the eager roofers and declared their friend free of sin. It would seem at least that while it was a blessing to have sins forgiven the intent of the bold move was something more than that. Jesus knew the hearts of the friends but He also knew the hearts of those religious leaders from all over the land who had come to watch Him.

As the Master Teacher Jesus used the moment to further prove to His skeptics that no man could do what He did save He was the Son of God. It is easy to say to anyone their sins are forgiven. There is no evidentiary proof this took place as only words passed the lips of Jesus. On the other hand to tell this emaciated paralyzed man to rise up and walk out the door was a different story entirely. And that is what Jesus did. To the friends joyful surprise their fellow comrade rolled over, stood on his own two feet, gathered his bed together and walked out the door. And he did this immediately.

I can only think what a trip home that was for all those men who brought their friend. There can be no words to fully show the gratification of the paralyzed man to what his friends did for him. He found salvation because his friends took the time and effort to take him to Jesus so that he could be healed. They did not heal him. There was no power within their hands to heal their friend. But they knew how to take him to Jesus. When they met an unyielding crowd they knew how to take a roof apart. They would not rest until they had their friend into the midst of Jesus. To their delight they returned home with a friend who was now healed. Others would rejoice when they saw their son, brother and friend no longer bound by the chains of suffering.

We need roofers today. There is a need for folk who may not have the skill to fully explain the gospel of Christ to friends and neighbors but they know how to bring them to a place where they can find the healing power of the Lord. Sometimes it may take drastic measures but that just means they will not rest until they have shared the gospel with those they love. The real joy in the story is the trip home. Have you experienced what happens after the person you brought to learn the gospel goes home a Christian? It is a great feeling – for everyone.

The New Testament is the history of the life and the testimony of common men who rallied to the fellowship of Jesus Christ and who by their faith and preaching remade a world that was under the thrall of a Roman army. (Woodrow Wilson, Address, May, 1911)

Sunday Morning Starters – Worship

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Recreated At Dawn

The butterfly is one of the most amazing creatures crafted by the hand of God. Beginning from a small egg it becomes a somewhat unattractive worm with legs that does nothing more than eat. In time the caterpillar encases himself in a chrysalis before an incredible transformation takes place. What began in one form transforms into the beauty of a fragile butterfly. The thing that makes this whole process even more wonderful for the child of God is that in most cases this event happens a little before dawn and the lesson is profound.

Paul uses a phrase in Romans 12:2 that Christians are to transform themselves from the elements of the world to a new mind as living sacrifices to God. This metamorphism is very much like the creation of the butterfly. The image of the caterpillar is in stark contrast to the delicateness of a butterfly. There is beauty in the creative hand of God in the caterpillar but it does not radiate the picture of exquisiteness found in the butterfly. Our lives are likened to the caterpillar when we live for ourselves and our single intent in life is to devour whatever is in our way for our own pleasures. It is not until we have buried ourselves in the grace of God we can emerge as creatures filled with the beauty of God living within us. And all of this was made possible when another wonderful thing happened before dawn – Jesus rose from the dead.

It is comforting to see the hand of God in creation telling the Bible story. On the first day of the week very early Jesus came forth from the grave to offer to man the glory of His Father. We no longer are enslaved by the devouring pursuit of sin but set free to fly to the throne of God in the beauty of His spiritual creation. There can be no comparison to the former life. It is hard to believe that such a beautiful creature can emerge from a lowly creature like a worm. In Christ we have been transformed from a sinful creature to the glory of God. How wonderful that knowledge. The grace of God is so filling.

When you see butterflies remember what that means spiritually. The rainbow reminds us of God’s promises and the butterfly tells us the promise is true. Thank you Lord for your loving grace.

Grace is the germ of glory; it has the potencies of the beatific vision with it. (Fulton J. Sheen, Religion Without God, 1928)