The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Part Two

By James Boice
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lesson’s show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
 
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:5-9
 
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
It is not difficult to put the details of the narratives together. Jesus had been crucified either on Friday (which the church has traditionally believed) or else on Thursday (which is less widely held but, in my judgment, seems to fit the evidence better).1 In any case, Jesus lay in the tomb until the resurrection, which certainly took place before dawn on Sunday morning. At this point the women came to the tomb from Jerusalem bearing spices to anoint his body. There were at least five women and probably more. We have already seen that Matthew mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and that Mark adds Salome, Luke has the two Marys, Joanna, and others. These women started out while it was still dark and arrived at the tomb in the very early dawn.
 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

The Barrier of Unbelief

Posted 6/11/15 by Donald Barnhouse
To understand all this, we must understand what true faith is. It is not mere belief; it is belief plus a total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. I know a man who once quoted Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead; you will be saved.” He went on, “I believe this, and the man that believes this, he’s got his nose over the line, and that’s enough.” But that’s not enough. Salvation is not a cheap insurance policy to keep you from the flames of hell; salvation is a new creation. This means new life, new love, new desires, a new direction of will, a new center for living, and a new acceptance of the course of life, recognizing the sovereignty of God in even the littlest events of life. Faith is the total commitment of the life to the Lord Jesus, and that is why the Lord Jesus did not perform His greatest works without its being present.
 
Theme: The Earthly and the Spiritual
 
SCRIPTURE
Mark 6:1-6
 
The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

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Making God’s Word Plain is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Making God’s Word Plain and the mission of the Alliance.

Campolo's Easy Choice

Posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

It required no courage for Tony Campolo to bless homosexuality.

The evangelical world has been not-so-rocked by Tony Campolo’s recent declaration of support for homosexual unions. Specifically he has joined the cacophony of voices calling the church to embrace as members practicing homosexuals; to pronounce as wholesome the sin of homosexuality.

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Mortification of Spin is a casual conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Mortification of Spin and the mission of the Alliance.

Whole Souled Saving Faith

by Jeffrey Waddington • June 10, 2015
Real Title: 
Whole-Souled Saving Faith
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Every once in a while I run across someone who sings the praises of faith. After all, I am told, we are justified by faith alone. And indeed we are. The Reformers noted that faith is the instrument by which we are justified. Or more accurately faith is the instrument by which we are united to Christ and by being united to our Lord we are justified (as well as sanctified, adopted, and in an anticipatory way, glorified). Faith is utterly essential to our salvation in Christ. But what exactly is faith? Saving faith, I would like to suggest, is a grace-enabled, whole-souled response to the proclamation of the gospel. Saving faith is that response which joins us to Jesus. Faith is, as Jonathan Edwards put it, the vinculum or chain that ties us to our dying, risen, and reigning Lord.

Every once in a while I run across someone who sings the praises of faith. After all, I am told, we are justified by faith alone. And indeed we are. The Reformers noted that faith is the instrument by which we are justified. Or more accurately faith is the instrument by which we are united to Christ and by being united to our Lord we are justified (as well as sanctified, adopted, and in an anticipatory way, glorified). Faith is utterly essential to our salvation in Christ. But what exactly is faith?

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Following Jesus 53

Jesus knew what kind of man Judas Iscariot was. Immediately following Jesus’ gathering with the disciples’ hours prior to His crucifixion, He prayed. This is referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. Is found in John 17. 
 
Jesus knew what kind of man Judas Iscariot was. Immediately following Jesus’ gathering with the disciples’ hours prior to His crucifixion, He prayed. This is referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. Is found in John 17. 
 
While praying, Jesus shared this thought to God the Father regarding His disciples. “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

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Depression: Purposed Pain

Posted On Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Is depression a sin? Can a Christian be depressed and still godly? Thankfully we have pastor David Murray chiming in with his wisdom on the matter. David has authored many books, and a few of them deal with the topic of depression: The Happy Christian and Christians Get Depressed Too. In the Reformed tradition we believe our whole bodies are fallen, falling apart, and in the case of Carl’s hair, falling out. So how should we view depression in light of that? David & Co. confront the theology shaping our thoughts on depression and the difference knowing God can make for the depressed believer.

Is depression a sin? Can a Christian be depressed and still godly? Thankfully we have pastor David Murray chiming in with his wisdom on the matter. David has authored many books, and a few of them deal with the topic of depression: The Happy Christian and Christians Get Depressed Too. In the Reformed tradition we believe our whole bodies are fallen, falling apart, and in the case of Carl’s hair, falling out. So how should we view depression in light of that? David & Co.

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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Part One

By James Boice
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lesson’s show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
 
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:1-15
 
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
Have you ever noticed that when Hollywood tries to portray the life of Jesus it inevitably spiritualizes the resurrection? A few years ago I saw one of these films on television. It was well done. The death of Jesus was real enough. When the Roman soldier took a hammer and drove the nail through Jesus' hand, there was no doubt that you were seeing real metal, flesh, and wood. But when they came to the resurrection all you could hear was music. You couldn’t see Jesus. People rushed about in what was supposedly the joy of the resurrection. But where was the Lord? He wasn’t there. At last there was a ghostly view of Jesus in the clouds, but it was no resurrection. If the resurrection had been like that, I am sure that Thomas for one would never have believed in it, and I do not think that Peter or John or any of the others would have either.
 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

The Nazarenes’ Unbelief

Posted 6/10/15 by Donald Barnhouse
In chapter 6, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth (6:1– 6). We can well realize that, He loved His people and wanted to see them again, that He wanted to give the village a second chance. The last time He had spoken there, they had tried to kill Him, though here, more than any place, He should have been accepted. He had lived there for thirty years; people knew Him and His family. Joseph was now dead, and Jesus had become the carpenter of the village. Jesus had lived there among them and they had seen a perfect, blameless life. But it was all lost on them. They were blinded because of what they were in themselves. Jesus had eaten with them, drunk with them, dressed like them, had been—for all intents and purposes— one of them. They simply could not believe that one who was so much like them could be so different from them. It was as in the days of John the Baptist, when he said, “Among you stands one whom you do not know” (John 1:26). And, as in John 1:10, “He was in the world and the world was made through Him, yet the world knew Him not.” Here, those who knew Him best were deeply offended by Him.
 
Theme: The Earthly and the Spiritual
 
SCRIPTURE
Mark 6:1-6
 
He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?

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Making God’s Word Plain is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Making God’s Word Plain and the mission of the Alliance.

Tha Agony of Fitness

Posted on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 by Aimee Byrd on Housewife Theologian

We may think it comes easy for those who are fit, but that is not the case.

Even the fit have to suffer. In fact, the fitness inclined intentionally suffer for the greater glory. Let’s take the marathon analogy from Hebrews 12. No matter how much you may train, running a marathon is no easy task. Actually, the more conditioned you are, the better idea you have of the suffering that you are about to embark on. This is why we all aren’t signing up for the next long distance race that passes through town. The truly fit do not have a false confidence in their abilities.

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Following Jesus 52

Jesus knew what kind of man Judas Iscariot was. One of the most complete evaluations of Judas Iscariot by Jesus is found in the beginning chapter (13) of what is referred to as the Upper Room Discourse in the Gospel of John (13-16). 
 
Jesus knew what kind of man Judas Iscariot was. One of the most complete evaluations of Judas Iscariot by Jesus is found in the beginning chapter (13) of what is referred to as the Upper Room Discourse in the Gospel of John (13-16). 
 
The Apostle John records the following narrative. 
 
John 13:1-11. Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

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