Walking in the Old Paths

[Patzt]

Before my husband passed away, he started to write some devotionals for me to post on an internet site (not a Christian site) and many were blessed by what he wrote over the last few months of his life.

I thought I'd share them here from time to time and maybe someone here on CU will also be blessed.

WALKING IN THE OLD PATHS Jeremiah 6:16 By the late Jack Scott 1. Angels

Angels, Angels, Angels. The ubiquitous angel. We find them in the Avon catalogue, in the jewellery shop window, and on the covers of glossy and not so glossy magazines. People claim to talk to angels, receive messages from angels and have angel companions. Many of those who pay great attention to the angelic hosts, oddly enough have little time for the Creator of angels or for His precious Word.

The reality of angels is not to be doubted. There are frequent references to them in the Bible. In fact, if you are interested in numbers, angels are mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. The writer to the Hebrews reminds Christians that "Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels." [/b](Hebrews 12:22).

Yes, indeed there are angels, but how did they come into existence, what is their function and what is their relationship to the Eternal Son of God?

David, King of Israel reminds us in Psalm 148 that God created all things in heaven and on earth. Verses 2 and 5 read as follows, "Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him all His hosts. Let them praise the name of the Lord; for He commanded and they were created."

Paul the Apostle assures us in Colossians 1 that this one who created all that "IS" was the Son of God. "For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible".[/b] (For the context, it is suggested that Colossians 1:12-19 be read).

These heavenly created beings have many tasks to perform, ranging from chanting the praises of the triune God to executing judgment on fallen angels and those among humankind who reject the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. ?One of their principle activities is to minister to God?s people. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation?"[/b] (Hebrews 1:14)

Some people have tried to teach that Jesus Christ is an angelic being, the first created being and therefore the chief angel. Nothing could be further from the truth. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament (Hebrews 1:5-14) makes it very, very clear that while angels are created beings, the Son of God is the King Eternal uncreated and without beginning.

It is this same Jesus who became a man, lived a sinless life and has become the sacrifice for sin for all who will believe in Him. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." (Romans 3:25)

Just a word of warning: not all angels are good. There are fallen angels too. These are enemies of God and of the souls of humans. Those who feel that they receive guidance from angels need to be very careful. Should anyone, human or angelic point you to any other source other than Christ for salvation or direct you to take actions condemned in the word of God, flee from that being and turn quickly to Jesus Christ the Saviour of men.

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel which is not another: but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." [/b](Galatians 2:6-9 New King James).





Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.

[Brother Love]

Thanks for shareing, I will be looking forward to your next one.

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel which is not another: but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 2:6-9)

[Patzt]

Thanks Brother Love...

I'll post his next one.

WALKING IN THE OLD PATHS Jeremiah 6:16 By the late Jack Scott 2. The Lamb of God

Spring is not far away in this part of the globe. In a few weeks, buds will be bursting into beautiful cascades of colour.  Brown fields will give way to tender, luscious shoots of green grass. The mornings will resound again with the melody of song birds, as they flit around in their new bright spring feathers, doing the things birds do while building their nests and raising their little ones. Soon, too, the little lambs will be seen sporting on the hills and in the valleys of Ontario, and Scotland and Ireland and many other places throughout the world.

Perhaps it was in spring that John the Baptist, on seeing Jesus coming to him said: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29 (NKJV) What an unusual thing to call an adult male. What a peculiar statement to make. Think of it again. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Lambs were familiar to the Jewish people of John's day. Lambs were a reminder to them of their history, when as slaves in Egypt, God had commanded them to kill a lamb, a spotless lamb, for each household and apply its blood to the lintel and door posts of their houses so that God's judgment would not fall on them. This exciting story can be read in detail in Exodus 12.

When I was a boy (many years ago), my father used to tell me stories to illustrate the Bible way of salvation. He seemed to have an endless store of them. Some of these stories I have remembered fondly over the years. One was about a man in Switzerland who was employed to repair the steeple on a local village church. So used, was he to working at heights that he did not bother to attach himself with a safety rope. He wanted freedom to move around, but alas his desire for freedom almost cost him his life. To their horror, some of the villagers saw him slip and grasp wildly to break his fall. To no avail, downward he hurtled. The villagers ran frantically to where the worker lay. He must be dead! But wonder of wonders he was alive. Instead, a lamb lay beneath him bearing his weight. The lamb was dead, crushed beneath the human load which had fallen on it.

When John the Baptist called the Lord Jesus Christ, "The lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world", he was telling his hearers that Jesus would die on the cross to take the weight of sin of the nations so that judgment need not fall on those who like the Israelites in Egypt were protected, by the blood of the lamb.

In the book of Revelation 7:9-10 (NKJV), we see, "a great multitude from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues standing before the throne of the Lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying with a loud voice saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb".

There is a lovely hymn we sometimes sing in the church where we fellowship that speaks of Christ's sacrificial work as the Lamb of God and the blessings brought to all those who are His by personal faith in Him.

The Lamb of God to slaughter led,
The King of glory see!
The crown of thorns upon His head,
They nail Him to the tree!

The Father gives His only Son,
The Lord of Glory dies
For us, the guilty and undone,
A spotless Sacrifice.

Enthroned with Thee now sits the Lord,
And in Thy bosom dwells;
Justice, that smote Him with the sword,
Our perfect pardon seals.

Eternal death was once our doom;
Now death has lost its sting;
We rose with Jesus from the tomb
Jehovah's love to sing.

 ~Robert C. Chapman~

Let me lovingly ask you a very personal question, "What is your relationship to the Lamb of God? Have you put your faith in Him to deliver you from the judgment to come?" To do this you must first agree with God that you are a helpless sinner unable to meet the demands of His law, unable to pay the price of your own sin. Then you must agree that as the Lamb of God, He has taken away your sin.

If you have trusted Him you will one day sing the song of the redeemed in heaven

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom
And strength and honour and glory and blessing"

Blessing and honour and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb for ever and ever."
Revelation 5:11,12

The alternative is frightful. Those who do not seek the Lamb as Lord and Saviour will want to flee from Him as Judge, and will "call on the mountains and rocks to fall on them to hide them from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" [/i] (Revelation 6:15-17).

It is my prayer that none who read this will miss the day of Salvation, and the mercy of the Lamb, for who will be able to stand in the coming day of the wrath of the Lamb.



Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.

[nChrist]

Patzt,

AMEN SISTER!!!!

These devotions are beautiful, and you've given me more to add to my study list. Thank you sincerely for sharing these with us.

Love In Christ,
Tom

[Patzt]

Thanks so much, dear Tom.  I do pray that each time I share these that someone somewhere will come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

[Patzt]

I hope that no one minds but I'll share the third "Walking in the Old Paths" in here.

[Patzt]

WALKING IN THE OLD PATHS Jeremiah 6:16 By the late Jack Scott 3. Crutches and Heart Transplants

His bitter countenance hardened to a sneer when I informed him that I was a Christian.

"Christianity," he snapped," is only a crutch for weaklings".

His eyes flashed hate against his Maker as he repeated this old tattered and silly platitude. It was obvious that rage was rolling and boiling within his innermost being.

What should I say in reply? Perhaps I could remind him that the sinner is lame and blind and in need of help and assistance on life's great journey. I could go on to say that Christ alone is able to support the morally lame and guide the spiritually blind. However, such an answer would have been inadequate and misleading.

It is indeed true that unregenerate man is "poor and lame and blind" and therefore, unable to walk uprightly and in a straight path before God Who is holy, righteous and just. But man's disease, in a spiritual sense goes far beyond the darkened eyes and the deformed feet. Both his sinful sickness and his spiritual penury are merely symptoms of a far more serious malady. Isaiah, the prophet wrote, "...The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;...". (Isaiah 1:5,6) The sickening symptoms of this disease are vividly pictured for us by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10-18:

"There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."
"Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit;"
"The poison of asps is under their lips";
"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

[/b][/i]


This may sound awful, but remember it is God's diagnosis of the problem, and men left to their own devious devices will soon manifest such terrible conduct as that described. We only have to read of the acts of men in recent history to confirm the truth of it. Even the behaviour of "civilized" troops sent to keep the peace in war torn lands attest to thefacts of scripture.

Man does indeed seek out and use many devices to support himself as he travels through life. Indeed these props may appear to be of some help for a time, but by and by they crumble and break when they are most needed. These supports give a false sense of security and will be of no help at all when the poor forsaken soul stands before the Last Great Assize. These crutches have various names. A few examples are: socialism, humanism, atheism, psychology, religion and entertainment to name but a few. They all have some things in common. For example, their place of manufacture was Hell and their designer was the arch enemy of souls. His name is Satan. They are among the many and diverse tools which he uses to blind men to their personal depravity and to the real cause of the present distress of nations.

When God reaches down and imparts saving faith to a poor sin sick soul, He does much more than provide a crutch.  He performs a spiritual Heart Transplant.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26,27 NKJV)

As the new heart is thus given in grace, the unsoundness of the head is also dealt with. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:21-23 NKJV)

To the one who calls Christian faith a crutch we can confidently answer, "It is not merely a crutch to the lame. Rather it is a spiritual heart transplant which never fails." The recipient of such a new heart as God gives will never die spiritually for he has eternal life.

Oh, that sinners may be moved to cry with Israel's king David "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10 NKJV). Those who do this, trusting in Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on Calvary will receive new hearts and will become new creations in Christ. "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) This truly describes the experience known as the new birth. Those who have truly experienced it no longer need crutches for they are enabled to "walk in newness of life."

Beloved reader, have you received this divine surgery? You don't need to have your name put on a waiting list. God now calls sinners to repentance and faith in His Son the Great Physician of souls.




Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.

[Patzt]

I hope that it's ok to add another of these Walking in the Old Paths.

[Patzt]

WALKING IN THE OLD PATHS Jeremiah 6:16 By the late Jack Scott 4. The Old Guide Book

In the years of long ago when I was a child, I often heard my mother sing a hymn that somehow I understood was very dear to her. Sometimes I would find her sitting alone singing it with tears on her cheeks. As the years rolled by its importance to her seemed to increase.

Some would have thought it a very strange choice had they heard her quietly sing it. Most people who knew her would have been surprised to hear her sing at all, for she never sang in public. Not even with the congregation. While others sang, she would follow in her hymn book intently with her eyes and I suspect with her heart. Her lips would not move, nor her tongue utter a single syllable. Those who knew our circumstances (although they were probably few in number) would have been astonished at the words:

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings-- Name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

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Over the years we had accumulated few of this world's goods and it was a constant struggle for her to feed and clothe the family.

What then were the blessings that a very poor Irish woman could sing about? They certainly had no value on the stock market and could not be accumulated in the local branch of the Belfast Savings Bank. The "passbook" in which the blessings she sang about were listed was an old black leather covered Guide Book. On the spine in faded gold letters were two words which made up the title, "Holy Bible". The pages were more worn than the cover. Once white, they had long since yellowed with wear and age and tear drops.

My mother probably never heard of John Locke, philosopher and writer, but she would have agreed with the truth of his statement when he said, "It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, without any mixture of error, for its matter: it is all pure, sincere, nothing too much and nothing wanting."

Theologians refer to the Bible as God's Special Revelation to Man. The wonders of creation testify to us of God's unsurpassed wisdom and power, but the Holy Scriptures tell us so much more about God, and it helps us to understand ourselves if only we are willing to accept its teachings. In it we see that God is holy, just and righteous and at the same time, gracious, loving and merciful.

Woodrow Wilson, twenty-eighth president of the United States, spoke truly when he said, "The Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life."

Paul, the apostle, reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 that: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

It is true that ungodly men have attacked the word of God and tried to destroy it down through the ages.  Many have used or attempted to use "facts" of science to disprove its truth. In 1861 the French Academy of Science published a booklet listing over fifty supposed "facts" to contradict the Bible. Atheists of the day rubbed their hands in glee as they ridiculed the Christian faith. Today all of the claimed "facts" are rejected by men of science.

In the early and mid-nineteenth century, archeologists said that they were confident that their findings would discredit the accuracy of the Bible. A few years ago, I heard a lecture by a professor of the Department of Archeology at the University of Toronto in which he said that the Bible is now considered by many archeologists to be the most reliable guidebook to finding remains of old cities etc. in the middle-east.

Yes, the Bible is an old guide book. In fact it is the only truly reliable guide book on the path of life.

An ancient writer said: "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105 NKJV)

Despite the attacks of Satan and puny men, "We rest upon the impregnable rock of Scripture". (Winston Churchill)

THE BIBLE STANDS
(Click title for music)

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
'Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
And they glow with a light sublime.

Chorus:
The Bible stands tho the hills may tumble,
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble,
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the bible stands.

The Bible stands like a mountain tow'ring
Far above the works of men;
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can.

The Bible stands, and it will forever
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given;
All its precepts I will obey.

The Bible stands ev'ry test we give it
For its Author is divine;
By grace alone I expect to live it
And to prove it and make it mine.

[/color]

There are many "great and exceeding precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) found in the Old Guide Book we call the Bible. There are countless multitudes of blessings in this grand old book. One outshines all the others and accepting it is the condition for receiving and enjoying all the other blessings. It is described many times over. We shall look at only a few instances where it is mentioned.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:16, 37)

What love God expressed to us in the coming of His Eternal Son in the body of human flesh! True God and true Man to suffer the penalty of sin upon the cross. What a blessing to know that those who repent of their rebellion and sin and trust Him as Lord and Saviour possess eternal life.

Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians 2:4-10 gives us a great summary of this wonderful blessing. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

You can enter into this the greatest blessing that can ever be known to mankind. Why not do so now by faith in Jesus Christ?

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of Salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2b).



Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.

[Brother Love]

AMEN!!!!


You can enter into this the greatest blessing that can ever be known to mankind. Why not do so now by faith in Jesus Christ?

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of Salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2b).

AMEN!!!!

[nChrist]

I hope that it's ok to add another of these Walking in the Old Paths.

AMEN SISTER!!!

PLEASE! - Post all of them. I also enjoyed the midi piano music. "THE BIBLE STANDS" - MOST DEFINITELY!!!

The children of God may be poor by the world's standards, but we are RICH IN JESUS!

Love In Christ,
Tom

[Patzt]

It pleases me that you are enjoying these.

[Patzt]

WALKING IN THE OLD PATHS Jeremiah 6:16 By the late Jack Scott 5.  How Great a Sinner Are You?

Although it occurred about thirty-six years ago, not long after I first arrived from Ireland, I remember the conversation as if it happened yesterday. I had been "volunteered" to be a part of an evangelistic team whose task it was to visit every home in Toronto with the message of the Gospel. We were representing first and foremost the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and secondly Jarvis Street Baptist Church, a well known historic evangelical church near the city centre.

I had made several calls that evening but only one stands out in my memory. The house was an older well kept, ivy covered brick home in a respectable and affluent area of the city.

The man who opened the door in response to my knock was well groomed and very polite. He had the kind of confidence which is born of success. I introduced myself and explained the purpose of my visit. He smiled indulgently,

"My dear fellow", he said, "This is a respectable neighbourhood. We are all good people around here."

He paused for a moment and then went on. "I'm quite religious and I'm not really a great sinner. The message you have is for great sinners."

For a second or two, I prayed quietly. "How shall I answer this man?" I felt a little intimidated for a moment, but I composed myself quickly.

"Sir," I said, "If a man broke the greatest of all of God's commandments, would that make him a great sinner?"

He looked a little puzzled and then the air of confidence returned. "Yes, I'd say so." He replied. "But I'd never do anything like that."

I quickly opened my New Testament at Matthew 22 and requested him to read aloud verses 35 to 40 inclusive.

He took my New Testament and began reading with a look that said, "Oh, I'll indulge him for a few minutes."

He read the words clearly...at first:

"Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

By the time he got to verse thirty-eight, his look of confidence had begun to ebb and so had the colour in his cheeks.

When he finished reading, his eyes were toward the paved door step.

"No one keeps those commandments", he almost whispered.

"That is true." I replied. I then went on to quote Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God."

The man nodded his agreement. The Holy Spirit was working through the Word of God convicting him of sin. He listened receptively as I related to him the story of redeeming Grace and of the Saviour who bore the penalty of sin on Calvary. I rejoiced that the good news is that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

R. A. Torrey, a famous American preacher of a bygone era, when he was in Australia, was approached by a man who looked like a boxer. He said to Torrey, "I am not a Christian, but I am moral, upright, honorable and blameless, and I'd like to know what you have against me."

Mr. Torrey looked the man straight in the eye and replied, "I charge you, sir, with high treason against Heaven's King!"

God's great commandment is that we love Him with all our heart with all our soul and with all our mind. To disobey this great commandment is indeed high treason against the King Eternal. Since Adam transgressed in the garden of Eden no one except the Man Christ Jesus, who is God manifest in the flesh, has kept this the greatest of all commandments. Since we have broken such a weighty commandment as this we have absolutely no hope of earning salvation by our good works.

As we read in Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." And in Romans 3:20, "Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin."

No, there is no justification by good works or keeping the law, but there is justification through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 5:1, we read these tremendous words, "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

My wife sometimes sings an old hymn which declares the divine principle of salvation by grace alone. Do you agree in your heart with the words it proclaims?

Not what these hands have done
(Click to hear music)


Not what these hands have done
Can save this guilty soul;
Not what this toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.



Chorus:
Thy work alone, my Saviour,
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.



Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God;
Nor all my prayers, or sighs, or tears
Can bear my awful load.



Thy love to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest,
And set my spirit free.



No other work save Thine,
No meaner blood will do,
No strength, save that which is Divine,
Can bear me safely through.



I praise the God of grace,
I trust His love and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine,
My God, My joy, my light.

When we have entered into a living union with Christ, through faith in His precious blood, the shackles of sin are broken and we are enabled to do the works which please God, not in order to earn eternal live but because we now have it abundantly.

The Apostle John in his first epistle explained, "These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." (I John 5:13).

The Lord Jesus Christ himself said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: and the good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep." (John 10:10 & 11).

Are you working for that which you can never earn, or are you trusting in what Christ has accomplished for sinners?



Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.
 

[Shammu]

Patzt, thank you for sharing, do you have more to post? If you do I look forwards to the next ones.

Praise God, that Jack Scott is now with the Lord. The devotionals he wrote are GREAT!!

[Patzt]

WALKING IN THE OLD PATHS Jeremiah 6:16 By the late Jack Scott 6.  A Fact of History

They anointed and wrapped His broken, bruised and mutilated body with loving hands. Surely their hearts were rent within. Can we doubt that tears flowed like rivers of water down their cheeks until they could cry no more? The One they loved and followed was dead. The One they thought would establish again the throne of His ancestor, David, lay embalmed in oriental manner, in a cold, dark cave. Perhaps they looked on as the authorities sealed the tomb and posted a Roman guard to keep watch. Their saddened minds had forgotten His promise "But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee" (Matthew 26:32).

There are still unbelievers who try desperately to explain away what happened. They have developed some very stupid and unbelievable theories in a vain attempt to disprove the great fact that death could not hold Him in its icy grip. In triumph He burst the bars of death.

Ed Harlow, in his book "Basic Bible Doctrines" reminds us that the resurrection of Christ is the best documented fact of ancient history. It is not my purpose in this short article to give all of the evidences of proof but consider this: If the Lord did not rise again, then His disciples have perpetrated one of the greatest hoaxes of all time. But that does not make sense at all because they had nothing to gain if it were not true, and very much to lose. But preach the resurrection they did at great personal cost. For preaching the truth of the resurrection they were imprisoned, flogged, stoned, crucified, thrown to lions, and burned to death. No, they peddled no hoax, no imaginative myth, but the glorious reality that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Life and victor over death.

As he contemplated the great fact of the resurrection, Robert Lowry was moved to write the following lovely hymn:

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus, my Saviour!
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus, my Lord.

Chorus:
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes;
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives for ever with His saints to reign!
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus, my Saviour!
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Lord!

Death cannot keep his prey,
Jesus, my Saviour,
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord.

Have you ever taken time to contemplate the significance of the resurrection and the great truths we are to learn from it?

First, it is the apex of the doctrine of the Deity of Christ. It is the grand proof of His Divine origin. None but One who is God could raise Himself up from the grave. Jesus had told the Jews that He had that power and now it had occurred.

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father" (John 10:17-18).

Jesus by His resurrection proved beyond doubt that His claims to equality with God were founded on the firm foundation of the rock of eternal Truth. There can be no serious doubt about it. He is the Son of God. We read in Romans 1:4 "...and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

This is the very keystone of our Faith.

Secondly, the resurrection is the believer's assurance of the completeness of Christ's saving work on the cross. If God the Father had not been fully satisfied with the atonement made for my sins, Christ would not have risen from the dead. The tomb would still be sealed. Unlike some other religions we do not worship a dead prophet, but a living Saviour who has triumphed over sin and death.

Paul reminds us in Romans 4:23-25, "Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."

Are you trusting in the crucified, living, ascended and coming Saviour? Only He can take away the guilt of sin and give peace to the troubled conscience.

A third thing that we can learn from the resurrection of Christ is that we too shall live again. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (I Cor. 15:22)

For the one who is united by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ this is a blessed future to ponder. One day "...the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds of the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (I Thess. 5:22). Surely all who have been saved by grace echo the words of John as he brings the Revelation to a close, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

But what of those who reject Christ? We are reminded of the words of the blessed Son of God Himself, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28,29).

If you, dear reader, are one of those who face the resurrection of condemnation, I would urge you to flee from the wrath to come. Flee away to Jesus. He has graciously said, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37. He died for sinners such as you and me and His resurrection brings blest assurance to all who believe on Him.


Jack Scott loved his Lord! He passed away on January 10, 2001 after a lengthy illness.
He is missed greatly by his family.