May Quotes

God has a purpose for your life. You have something to do here. 

-Pendragon (movie)

And wars are exhausting — especially long ones. That’s why you are often tired. Most soldiers who experience the fierceness of combat want to get out of it. That’s why you feel urges to escape or surrender. That’s why there are times you’re tempted to give up.

"But don’t give up. No, rather “take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7).

-Unknown

Live as though Christ died yesterday, rose from the grave today, and is coming back tomorrow.

-Unknown

When a man comes to the point that he will no longer receive anything except from the hands of him who has the right to withhold, and in who giving alone lies the value of possession, then is he approaching the inheritance of the saints in light, those whose strength is made perfect in weakness. But some, for the present, can in no way comprehend such matters any more than the chickens in the yard. Their hour will come; in the meantime, they are counted the fortunate ones of the earth.

-George MacDonald (The Laird's Inheritance)

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.

-Unknown

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. 

 -J.R.R. Tolkien

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend. 

-Augustine of Hippo

Times will come in life when you’ll realize you’ve made a mistake. At that moment, you have two choices: You can swallow your pride and “pull a few nails,” or you can foolishly continue your course, hoping the problem will go away. Most of the time the problem will only get worse. …When you realize you’ve made a mistake, the best thing you can do is tear it down and start over.

-Joshua Harris

It is in the unknown that fellowship with my Lord is sweetest. It is in the unknown that God's mercy is most beautifully manifested. It is in the unknown that our faith is refined and comes forth shining more brightly.

-Unknown

Never did the Church so much prosper and so truly thrive as when she was baptized in blood. The ship of the Church never sails so gloriously along as when the bloody spray of her martyrs falls upon her deck.

-C.H. Spurgeon

Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 

'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.' 

-E.B. White

He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.

-Abraham Kuyper

Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honours God

and brings Him into active aid.

-E.M. Bounds

A Christian home should be a place of peace, and there can be no peace where there is no self-denial.

-Elisabeth Elliot

Because in the end, any book that comes the closest to the themes of good and evil in Scripture will always ring closest to our own hearts. The triumph of Ultimate Good is the theme of eternity. And God has written eternity on the hearts of men.

-Schuyler McConkey

A Time

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Hope in His Love

I noticed an interesting thing, typical of poetry, in Psalm 33 this week. Verse 18 says this, Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. This psalm is a song of praise displaying God's attributes and telling how nature and humanity bow to His supreme authority. We're to be joyful in His
power and providence over history and and creation. He created the heavens and the earth just by the breath of His mouth. His Word is upright and faithful. The earth is full of His steadfast love. He moves the seasons and oceans and times of man. He abolishes human counsel, but His counsel stands forever. The king and warrior aren't delivered by their army or strength, but rather it's those who fear and hope in His steadfast love that have His watchful eye protecting and providing for them.

The fear of the Lord is our wisdom and understanding, and the hope of eternal life and a Savior who remains with us always is our responsibility if we desire the Lord's deliverance. We must actively known His character in order to fear Him. We must read His word to have hope in His love. Our works demonstrate our salvation (but they don't save us), and God seeks out those who fear and hope in Him. To fear God is, first of all, to have faith in His saving power to deliver from sin. To fear Him as a believer then, is to love Him and obey His commands.

To hope in His love is to know His presence with us in a real and tangible way. It's to know and cling to the promises that His love remains despite our faults. That His forgiveness is certain when we repent. That He takes our weaknesses and makes them our strengths, and that His love is the binding factor between fellow believers.

Verse 22 gives us a slightly different angle on the same thought: Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Though we might hope and fear in God, ultimately, it's His work to place that His overwhelming love in, on, and through us. It's a plea that God would and continue to have His love flow through us as we live. It's God's work in us that produces the hope and fear. It's our responsibility, yes, but it's God's work. That love stems from a hope in God. We hope in a God who is love, and if we are being conformed to His image (as all believers are), then we will become more and more the instruments and ambassadors of that love. May we also pray that His steadfast love would be on us as we continue to hope in Him.

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,

And pardoned from His sin.

When years of time shall pass away

And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,

When men who here refuse to pray,

On rocks and hills and mountains call,

God's love so sure shall still endure,

All measureless and strong;

Redeeming grace to Adam's race--

The saints' and angels' song.

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure--

The saints' and angels' song!

"The Love of God"

From my mother's womb

You have chosen me

Love has called my name

I’ve been born again, into Your family

Your blood flows through my veins

You split the sea, so I could walk right through it

All my fears were drowned in perfect love 

You rescued me, so I could stand and sing 

I am a child of God

"No Longer Slaves"

Gospel of John, Part 4

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Should the resurrection of Jesus be considered one of the "signs" of the Gospel? Why or why not? (This is not asking you if the resurrection is important to Christianity.)

John’s Gospel records seven of Jesus signs before His resurrection and one sign after His resurrection. These signs were displayed by Christ to manifest His glory, turn unbelief to belief,[1]  test faith,[2] and proclaim His deity.[3] John’s eight signs, however, were not the only ones Jesus performed. Surpassing even these miraculous signs was Christ’s resurrection: a miracle demonstrating His power over His own physical body and over the sting of death.[4] The resurrection should be considered one of the signs of the Gospels because it also accomplished the same results as the other signs.

In the resurrection, Christ manifested His glory by demonstrating that He had power over death.[5] Satan thought He had conquered Christ by slaying His human body, but just as God had promised hundreds of years before, Christ would crush the Serpent’s head by His resurrection.[6] After His resurrection, Christ’s glory was displayed even more fully in His ascension to the right hand of the Father.[7]

The resurrection was one of Christ’s signs to turn unbelief to belief. Though Jesus had often spoken of His death and resurrection to His disciples, they didn’t not understand it nor grasp the full meaning until His ascension. The resurrection was meant to bring about ultimate saving faith in those who would believe.[8] The disciples did eventually believe. The women who followed Jesus believed. The centurion at the cross believed. The thief crucified with Christ believed. Countless others also followed the Savior and many gave their lives because of this one sign. The other eight signs recorded by John were meant to bring about faith in a Person. The resurrection was a sign of that Person meant to confirm faith.

The resurrection tested the faith of Christ’s followers. Mary, blinded by her emotions, had her faith tested when the “gardener” spoke to her. Peter’s faith was tested through his denial. The disciples were tested in the Garden of Gethsemane and during the three days and nights after the crucifixion. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were tested by Jesus Himself when He scolded them for not remembering the words of the Old Testament Prophets. Thomas faith was tested when he saw the Lord’s pierced hands and side. The resurrection was the one great sign that tested faith to the utmost, determining whether a person’s faith would stand or fall. Many had believed in Jesus previous signs and wonders, but the sign of the resurrection laid the foundation for saving faith. Without saving faith, there is no salvation, forgiveness from sins, or eternity with Christ.[9]

The resurrection, like Jesus previous signs, also proclaimed Jesus’ deity. Only the Giver of Life could break the chains of death and work a physical and spiritual miracle in raising Himself from the grave. No other had done this, and no others would. In raising Himself from the dead, Christ demonstrated His equality with the Father, for God is the Author of Life.[10]

The resurrection was Christ’s greatest sign to believers and unbelievers alike, that Jesus is the Christ.[11] Those who believe today don’t have the blessing of seeing Christ’s physical miracles. Though John and the other Gospel authors recorded the miracles of Christ, our faith today rests completely on what Christ has already done and in our faith in the miracles that others witnessed. Thomas had the advantage of seeing in order that he might believe, but we are blessed because we haven’t seen, yet we believe.[12] The resurrection was also written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that in believing we might have life through His name.[13] The resurrection stands in the past, present, and future as the greatest sign of the Bible.[14]

---

[1] Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John, 208.

[2] Merill Chapin Tenney, Topics from the Gospel of John, 157.

[3] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 1-11, 83.

[4] 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.

[5] 1 Corinthians 15:26-27.

[6] Genesis 3:15.

[7] Philippians 2:9-11.

[8] Merill Chapin Tenney, Topics from the Gospel of John, 158.

[9] Leon Morris, Jesus is the Christ, 186.

[10] John 2:18-22.

[11] John MacArthur,  The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 12-21, 386

[12] John 20:24-29.

[13] John 20:31.

[14] 1 Corinthians 15:1-20.