Tag Archives: benefit

No miracles to benefit self

03 Friday Jun 2016

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The Lord Jesus came to this earth to proclaim salvation to man, declaring the glory and mission of the Almighty (John 1:18). As He walked on this earth, it was His mission to teach the way of righteousness to those in bondage to sin. The Scriptures teach that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The consequence of this “falling short” is death, spiritual death (Romans 6:23). Since man has fallen short of God’s salvation, the only “bridge” to the Father is via Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

The mission and the message of Jesus was not readily received, however. He came unto those that were similar to Him with a message of God, but a great many were not interested in what He had to say; that is, they were intrigued, but not converted (cf. John 1:5-10). Though some responded that way, not all did. One such person was a great teacher among the rabbis; his name was Nicodemus. He came to the Lord Jesus in the night time hours, declaring to Him that no man can do the things He (Jesus) had done, unless God is with him (John 3:2). Nicodemus heard the words of the Lord, but it was the miraculous confirmation/authentication of that word spoken that said to him this man is from God.

Clearly, the authenticating signs (miraculous works) Jesus did was to convince people that what He spoke was not of human origin. “Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing” (John 2:23, NET). Jesus did not do this for Himself, or simply to bring attention to Himself as a man preaching; He did this for the sole purpose of “declaring God” (1:18).

The Gospel (or Book) of John is a good place to see why Jesus made use of the miraculous signs. It was not His intent to bring attention to Himself as a man, but to bring attention to Himself in the message He preached. There is a difference (John 5:30). Thus, slowly, prayerfully and with desire to please God, please read the Gospel of John.

Written for missionary Randal Matheny in the Southern Hemisphere

Important?

19 Friday Feb 2010

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Church Attendance

In the latest PWB (Pastor’s Weekly Briefing, 2/19/10), there is an entry about church attendance and the percentages of those who attend within particular states. They recognized the top ten states where church attendance is high, and the ten states where church attendance is low. I found it interesting that of the ten states considered high, each one of those states would be considered a “red” state and the low states would be considered a “blue” state. Any correlation? The New England states (Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) are all “blue,” and one “red” state also listed in the category of low attendance. Of the “high” category, they are all “red” states.

What about church attendance, is it important, and why is it important? Those who love the Lord will gather with others who love the Lord. Those who say they love the Lord, but don’t gather with the saints, many times, delude themselves. The Scripture is clear; the Holy Spirit considers it very important for the saints to gather together on a routine basis (Hebrews 10:19-25). In the early church, they gathered daily (Acts 2:46). The importance of gathering weekly was (is) for the purpose of participation in the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

Gathering together with the saints benefits us because we have a common association with people desiring to try to understand life and God’s role for our lives in the society we live. It encourages us to “hang in there,” because whatever “curveball” life presents, we are in the batter’s box and have good eye-hand coordination to make contact with the ball, getting a base hit. Gathering together encourages us to focus our attention on the One we worship. We are not there to be entertained, to be read to, to be sung to, but to participate in service to the Lord. It is very important and it is unfortunate when there are those who call themselves Christian who dismiss the Lord with their thinking and actions relative to church attendance.