The Great Affirmation

August 23

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you— Joh_14:2

Christ Knew about Death; Socrates Only Speculated - It is not by any amplified detail that these words so appeal to human hearts. It is rather by the quiet, assured confidence with which the Savior speaks of the beyond. In the whole of literature there is but one scene worthy to be compared with this. It is where Plato tells of the last hours of Socrates in prison before he drank the poison. I know few things more admirably fitted to reveal the preeminence of Christ than a comparison of these two incidents. Like Christ, Socrates is going to die. Like Christ, his thoughts run on immortality. He discusses it with the friends who come to visit him; he speculates, he argues, and he wonders. What a perfect and stupendous contrast between that and the attitude of Christ. Socrates speculates about a life unknown. Christ speaks of a life that He has known, a realm as real and familiar to Him as my study is to me. It is not what He says so much; rather it is the tone in which He says it that has reached the heart and comforted humanity and given it an anchor for the soul. Where others speculate, the Savior knows. Where others question, He is quietly sure. Where others see but dimly in the shadows, He sees with the certainty of God. And all this on the night of His betrayal, when all that He had lived for seemed in ruins, and nothing seemed to lie before Him but a grave.

Man's Instinct for Immortality - These great words of Jesus corroborate the longings of the heart. All that we crave and hope for in the deeps here is countersigned by the Lord Jesus. Deep and ineradicable is the instinct of man for immortality, witnessed in every age, in every country, in every religion. Even when men deny it with their lips, still do they confess it with their lives, for life has its arguments no less than intellect. By the powerlessness of the whole world to satisfy the poorest heart; by the cargoes we all have on board of things that are not wanted for the voyage; by the passion for truth, the craving for perfection, the glimmering of ideals we never reach, man stretches out his hands to immortality. Whoever loved without longing for forever? Deep affection postulates eternity. Love does not want a year or a millennium. Love cries for immortality. And now comes Christ and looks upon mankind and sees the secret hunger of their souls and says, "If it were not so, I would have told you."

There are beliefs that influence life but little, like the old belief that the sun went round the earth. We may cling to them, or we may give them up, with little difference to conduct. But there are other beliefs that touch and mold and color every action of the common day, and among these is the belief in immortality. In the light of it everything is altered. Altered is our outlook on the world. Altered is the discipline of life, and the import of the chastisements of heaven. Love is different, and hope is different; duty gains august and awful sanction if that instinct of immortality be true. Changed is the face of suffering, of infirmity, of weakness, and of pain. Changed is the loneliness of dying; changed the horrid darkness of the grave. And Christ says, "Children, do you think one instant that if that were an error I would let you keep it? If it were not so, I would have told you. Believe if you like that the sun goes round the earth. That does not matter. I shall not interfere. You may be Mine; you may be washed and sanctified though you believe that the sun goes round the earth. But that deep instinct for immortal life affects profoundly everything you do, and if it were a deception I would have told you."

"I Would Have Told You So" - He would have told us because He loves us and cannot bear to see His own deceived. He would have told us though it almost broke His heart to see the vanishing of hopes and dreams. He would have told us because He was the Truth and refused to let His people live and die under a hope that was the devil's falsehood. Christ corroborates our deepest longing for an immortal life that shall be personal. And He does it in His own quiet way, confidently, with perfect, full assurance. No wonder, then, that this is the favorite chapter with millions of the human race. No wonder that when Lockhart read it to Sir Walter, his big heart was rested and was comforted. No wonder that in Margaret Ogilvy's Bible the pages would fall open at this place, and when she could not read, she stooped and kissed it.

Spurgeon for July 31

“I in them.”
- Joh_17:23
If such be the union which subsists between our souls and the person of our Lord, how deep and broad is the channel of our communion! This is no narrow pipe through which a thread-like stream may wind its way, it is a channel of amazing depth and breadth, along whose glorious length a ponderous volume of living water may roll its floods. Behold he hath set before us an open door, let us not be slow to enter. This city of communion hath many pearly gates, every several gate is of one pearl, and each gate is thrown open to the uttermost that we may enter, assured of welcome. If there were but one small loophole through which to talk with Jesus, it would be a high privilege to thrust a word of fellowship through the narrow door; how much we are blessed in having so large an entrance! Had the Lord Jesus been far away from us, with many a stormy sea between, we should have longed to send a messenger to him to carry him our loves, and bring us tidings from his Father’s house; but see his kindness, he has built his house next door to ours, nay, more, he takes lodging with us, and tabernacles in poor humble hearts, that so he may have perpetual intercourse with us. O how foolish must we be, if we do not live in habitual communion with him. When the road is long, and dangerous, and difficult, we need not wonder that friends seldom meet each other, but when they live together, shall Jonathan forget his David? A wife may when her husband is upon a journey, abide many days without holding converse with him, but she could never endure to be separated from him if she knew him to be in one of the chambers of her own house. Why, believer, dost not thou sit at his banquet of wine? Seek thy Lord, for he is near; embrace him, for he is thy Brother. Hold Him fast, for he is thine Husband; and press him to thine heart, for he is of thine own flesh.

Spurgeon Devotions

July 22

Morning
“I am married unto you.”
- Jer_3:14
Christ Jesus is joined unto his people in marriage-union. In love he espoused his Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection he toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid, and now, having sought her by his Spirit, and brought her to know and love him, he awaits the glorious hour when their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom presented his betrothed, perfected and complete, before the Majesty of heaven; not yet hath she actually entered upon the enjoyment of her dignities as his wife and queen: she is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents of Kedar; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of Jesus, dear to his heart, precious in his sight, written on his hands, and united with his person. On earth he exercises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows her to assume his name, and to share in all his wealth. Nor will he ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce he will never mention, for “He hateth putting away.” Death must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God; yet there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in Heaven Christ and his Church shall celebrate their joyous nuptials. This affinity as it is more lasting, so is it more near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which Christ left his Father, and became one flesh with her.

Defeatism Grieves God

Christian defeatism grieves God. We must refuse to stand as mere spectators while the godless dismantle our nation.

Believers through Christ are to be the overcomers, not the overcome.

Have we forgotten how those first century believers, working against even greater odds, “turned the world upside down”?

Have we become so mesmerized by the coming “tribulation” that we have forgotten Christ’s order to “occupy until I return”?

Once again Christians must become the nation’s salt, its preservative, and put the reins into the hands of righteous leaders.

No longer can be we mere “hearers” but through God “doers,” if the nation is to survive.

Let us pray that those of Christian character will lead and guide us in the ways of the Lord.

Have a great day,

Bro. Harry Shomaker

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The Church

The Church
The Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age which began with Christ and the Apostles, was empowered at Pentecost, and will be caught up to be with Christ at the Rapture (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2).

The establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
The autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4).

Disciple, Profiteer, or Temporary Miracle-Believer: The Work of the Word in John 2

Our relationship with Jesus Christ is a two-way street, hinging on his discipleship of us through the Spirit, and our continued discipleship with him through the word of God.

We pick up in John 2:13-25, after Cana. The remainder of John 2 post-Cana seems like a disjointed collection of different accounts of Jesus moving southward with his disciples to Jerusalem. But there is a uniting concept there, and in the Gospel of John, which does not always follow chronological order, sequence is key. If John puts something in a particular order, they may be linked not by time, but by theme. The theme, friends, is discipleship.

After resting after the Cana (water to wine ) wedding at Capernaum, Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem, where Jesus cleared the temple of the livestock hawkers and the money-changers. He went on his rampage, and then his disciples recalled the scriptures that had forecast his zeal (John 2:17). Then, he was questioned apparently by some in the religious establishment, and he answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19). After the Resurrection, his disciples recalled what he had said “and they believed the scripture” that had forecast it (John 2:22). Finally, Jesus attended Passover, and performed miracles there, seen by many. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because knew all men. (John 2:24). Commit here is from the Greek word for “have faith” – pisteuo. Why did Jesus not commit himself to those people? Jesus did not have faith in those people in Jerusalem because their faith was superficial – they only saw his works, they did not know his words, and how his works fulfilled the Word of God. He needed to see them paging through scripture in search of the deeper, prophetic ramifications of his deeds.

This latter part of John 2, holds for us a classification for people who claim Christ into three groups:
1) Disciples: Believe not only in Christ or his miracles, but are students of the Word. They are Bible readers and studiers, like those at Berea. They pore over what they see in the scriptures to see if it was so. (Acts 17:11)
2) Temporary believers. These are the souls he won by performing miracles. They liked what they saw and signed on, but did not continue in his word. Jesus obviously did not continue on with them either.
3) Profiteers. These are people who profit from the selling of the word, and these are cast out of the Temple by Jesus. These are people more akin to Judas, who might walk among believers, but their hearts are only interested in material gain that they associate with their ill-founded belief in God.

The Gospel of John points to the need for us to be saved, but then gives us a choice about discipleship. I believe the two are connected. If we choose not to become disciples of Christ, then Christ himself will not commit himself to us.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:7)

How do we abide in Christ? Love each other. But this also calls for the converse of that: the words of Jesus abiding, or living, in us. And to do that he must be willing to abide in us. That means that one of the key components of discipleship is staying in the Word. Is not the Gospel of John centered on the fact that Jesus Christ is the living logos, of God, made flesh? Not just a son of God, as someone holy, but the Son of God, the only begotten. Abiding in his Word was why Jesus chose to keep close to his disciples while he would not entrust himself to those believers who were just interested in the fanfare of miracles and free food.

So, in this way, we can conclude that his works on earth were of far less important than his words on earth. The works of Christ are recorded in the gospels, some of them, in fact just a very small smattering of them, John noted, were included, and they were included in John precisely to make us believers (John 20:30-31). But the words of Christ, of God, breathed through scripture, must be our compass and map for the rest of our Christian walks. Fulfilling the Word, and being ready for its complete fulfillment in his return, is the “works” that God wants us to do for the rest of our lives here on earth. Let us not misunderstand the task of discipleship.

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