Resurrection Sunday

Every year we set aside a special day to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote, "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" I Corinthians 15:3-4. In reality this should not be a once a year celebration, but an every day celebration.

The implications of the resurrection are profound:

First, the resurrection of Jesus demonstrates His power as the One and Only Savior! He holds the keys to eternity. Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He will reign victoriously forever, and forever. No other faith claims a risen Savior.

Second, the resurrection of Jesus assures the resurrection of every believer. I Thessalonians 4:16-17 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an 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 to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." In Christ, though we die, we shall live for eternity.

Third, the resurrection of Jesus points us to the abundant life here and now- Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly" John 10:10. Every day we must live our lives in light of who we are in Jesus Christ! The primary goal of our lives must be to honor and glorify God who has created, redeemed and sustained us.

Christ Crucified

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on His way to the cross to cries of Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Those cries would soon change to crucify, crucify! Everything that Christians believe is wrapped up in Christ crucified, buried, and risen. The cross is our message, the message of hope and confidence. It is the emblem of suffering and shame. The world despises the cross, but believers are drawn to it. We must embrace the cross, proclaim the cross, and never be ashamed of the cross. We have great confidence knowing that when we proclaim Christ crucified, rebellious souls will surrender to God and join us in worshiping Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Why was Christ crucified?

Christ was crucified for the sins of man- Our sins made it necessary. In this feel good, anything goes age we live in, sin is not a popular topic. Even in churches, the doctrine of sin is woefully neglected. Yet the Bible is straightforward- All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. Our sinfulness made the cross necessary. God is infinitely holy in character. His holiness defines who He is. He created our first parents, Adam and Eve holy and sinless, but with the ability to choose. In the Garden of Eden they chose to rebel against God. Because of the Fall of Man we are sinners by nature and by choice. As sinners, the Bible describes us as spiritually blind, spiritually dead, and unable to come to God on our own. As God in the flesh, the sinless Son of God took our sins upon Himself and in doing so endured the wrath of God on sin. Christ was crucified for the sins of man!

Christ was crucified according to the plan of God- Acts 2:23 indicates that Jesus was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God . . . nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put . . . to death. By the Sovereignty of God He was delivered to death because God ordained it from all eternity. Yet godless men put him to death. The total Sovereignty of God is presented alongside the complete responsibility of man for his actions.

Oswald Chambers wrote- In the Cross we may see the dimensions of Divine love. The Cross is not the Cross of a man, but the exhibition of the heart of God. At the back of the wall of the world stands God with His arms outstretched, and every man driven there is driven into the arms of God. The Cross of Jesus is the supreme evidence of the love of God.

Christ was crucified to reconcile sinners to God- 2 Corinthians 5:18,21 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ . . . For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

That is the Good News of the Gospel. God so loved the world that He made the way of reconciliation. God is the reconciler and sinners are the reconciled. He has provided the way for us to be brought back into a right relationship with Him! When you recognize your sin, and trust in Christ as your Savior and Lord, God credits His righteousness on your behalf. That is the only cure for sin!

All around you there are people carrying a heavy weight of sin. They are sick in their hearts from the tremendous burden they bear. You can look into their eyes and see it in their faces. People long for something more, something better. They long for freedom. Where can they go? Only to Christ!

Baptism at Cross Lanes Baptist Church

We had baptism today at CLBC. Baptism is a joyous occasion! It is the first step of obedience in the life of a new believer following salvation. Baptism does not save a person, but it is an outward symbol of an inward reality of what Jesus Christ has done in a person's heart and life. From a New Testament perspective, it is the first major public profession of one's faith. It is a visual of our identification with the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:4-6 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

As a minister of the Gospel, I count it a great privilege to administer the ordinance of baptism. My prayer would be that there would be so many saved through the ministry of CLBC that we would be able to baptize every Sunday!

The Things of God and the Things of Men

Dr. Frank Catanzaro, Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, led a marriage retreat for CLBC over the weekend and approximately forty of our people participated. He preached in both morning and evening services on Sunday. Dr. Catanzaro was my professor for a Biblical Counseling class I took ten years ago at SEBTS. He helped me to begin to understand the importance of Biblical Counseling and the centrality of the Word of God in it. He is a man who loves God and His Word, and believes not only in the veracity of Scripture but also the sufficiency of Scripture for all of life.

Dr. Catanzaro brought the morning message from Mark 8:27-38. I have read the passage many times, and preached it as well, but the Lord showed me something from it today in a fresh way that I have not seen as clearly before. When Jesus rebuked Peter in v33 He said, For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. Ouch! How often could that be said of us? We give lip service to the things of God and maybe even do the right things outwardly for the most part. But when God evaluates our lives and our service for Him, is His evaluation of us that we are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men?

I hope that the testimony of your life is that you are mindful of the things of God. Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . .

Community Easter Event

This weekend we were blessed to host a community event for kids. There were crafts, games, and food galore. Nearly two hundred children participated and there were over four hundred people present. The weather outside was challenging with a driving snowstorm, but people did not seem to mind. Everyone had a great time. Thanks to all of the staff and volunteers who made this event possible.

The majority of attendees were from outside of the CLBC family. What a blessing to be able to meet so many new families and have opportunity to share with them the love of Jesus Christ and the true meaning of the Cross and the Resurrection!

My prayer is that CLBC will truly be an outwardly focused church. We are in vision and purpose, but practically we want to instill in the fabric of the church a passionate love for God and for people that leads us to openly and unashamedly share our faith in Jesus with the community around us.

As White As Snow

Winter is not over yet in West Virginia. We had several inches of snowfall and very cold temperatures this weekend though we were spared the worst of it that hit other parts of the country. Due to ice on the church lot, we had to adjust the service schedule and cancel the early service and Bible Fellowship. We were only able to have late service and evening activities. I do not like to cancel services for any reason, but sometimes safety precautions call for it.

The beauty of the snow brought some thoughts to mind. First, God sends the snow. Psalm 147:15-16 He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. When it snows, the snow comes from God so it doesn't concern me like it used to when the schedule is interrupted. It is a reminder that God is in control.

Second, the beauty of the snow is a reminder of the purity of God. Sin in our lives is impurity and as believers hinders our walk with God. Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. The righteousness that we have in Jesus Christ is the only way to positionally be in right standing with God, but also the only way to practically live out the faith.

As we approach Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, may our hearts be focused on God who is infinitely holy, and the significance of the cross and the blood of Jesus that secures our holiness and makes us as white as snow!

Rescued from Darkness

Matthew 20:29-34 tells the story of Jesus’ encounter with two blind men. Blindness was extremely common in ancient times. Some were blind from birth, others were blind from childhood diseases, still others from accidents. Blindness is still not uncommon in the developing world. I was in Asia for a mission trip and encountered many blind people on the streets begging for help. It is estimated there are as many as 50 million blind people in the world today.

The subject of blindness is important in the Bible. Blindness is a spiritual metaphor used to represent the spiritual inability to see God’s truth. A person who is physically blind cannot see God’s visible revelation- the earth, the grass, the flowers, the trees, the snow, the sky. A person who is spiritually blind cannot see God’s spiritual revelation- the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the forgiveness of God and eternal life. So, in reality the world is full of people who are either spiritually seeing, or spiritually blind. Those who are spiritually blind need to be rescued from the darkness of sin.

For the spiritually blind person it requires the work of God in their life to shine the light of the Gospel. God is the only source of light. “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). Not only is God the source of light, He is also the giver of sight. God is the Primary Mover in salvation. Through His Word and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit he brings the spiritually blind person into the light.

The blind men sitting on the side of the road in Matthew 20 saw their need, they recognized they were blind and when they heard Jesus had come near they cried out to Him for mercy. In anguish and despair, they knew their help was close by so they cried out to the Lord. They called Him the Son of David, a term that recognized Him as the Messiah. Jesus said in Luke 4 v18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” The multitude tried to quiet the two blind men, but they would have nothing of it. The Bible says they cried out all the more.

Jesus stood still when he heard their cry. The Son of God, on His way to Jerusalem to fulfill the will of God and give His life on the cross, stopped in His tracks and ministered to two hopeless blind men. This is a reminder that Jesus came for people, to seek and save that which was lost, to rescue people from darkness. Jesus asked the men what they wanted Him to do. In His omniscience, He already knew, but He wanted to hear them say it. He wanted to hear them express their faith. The blind men asked Jesus to open their eyes! V34 “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight.”

When Jesus healed them, they followed Him. When the Holy Spirit brings conviction in our lives, and opens our eyes so that we see Jesus, then we are able to turn from our sins and believe in Him by faith, through a divine work of grace that we do not deserve. All genuine believers will then be followers of Jesus!

I had a blessed opportunity this past week to witness to a man on the brink of death. He was nearing 80 years old, and had a serious heart attack that had put him in the Critical Care Unit of the hospital. I received a phone call from one of the ladies in the church who knew the family and they had requested that a pastor come and visit. I made my way to the hospital. I found out that the wife was a believer and that the husband had been raised in a Christian home but had never been saved. The gentleman was conscious and very aware and I began to share the Gospel with him. He listened intently and told me that He wanted to be saved and He asked God to forgive him and save him based on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. I witnessed a divine work of grace whereby God had spared this man from death when his heart failed, giving him one last opportunity to be saved. Less than twenty four hours later, he stepped out into eternity . . . with Christ, rescued from darkness!

I am thankful for the grace and mercy of God. Though I once was an undeserving sinner, hopelessly lost in the darkness of sin, God saw fit to rescue me by His grace and for His glory. I once was blind but now I see!