“I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:10
Praise Report
God continues to move in
mighty ways through our congregation. Allow me just to show you his blessings
by the numbers. In 2013: our worship
attendance averaged 1287 on a weekend; at least 501 different people were
involved in Bible classes; 47 adults were confirmed in the Christian faith and
61 children were brought into Jesus’ family through baptism. Some people have said to me, “John, you are a
numbers person.” My answer is, “You’re
right! Every number represents a soul
Jesus died for. You bet numbers matter!”
Did You Ever Wonder???
Q: Did you ever wonder why the devil took Jesus
up to the top of the Temple in Jerusalem and told him to jump? (Matthew 4:5-6)
A: The Temple was built on the top of Mount Zion.
The top of the mountain was leveled out into a plateau, and on that plateau the
whole area of the Temple buildings stood. There was one corner at which
Solomon's Porch and the Royal Porch met, and at that corner there was a sheer
drop of four hundred and fifty feet into the valley of the Kedron below. Why
shouldn’t Jesus stand on that pinnacle, and jump down, and land unharmed in the
valley below? People would surely take
notice and would follow a man who could do that!
On the top of the roof of the
Temple itself there was a place where every morning a priest stood with a
trumpet in his hands, waiting for the first flush of the dawn across the hills
of Hebron. At the first dawn light he sounded the trumpet to tell people that
the hour of morning sacrifice had come. Why shouldn’t Jesus stand there, and jump
down right into the Temple court, and amaze people? Had not Malachi said,
"The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his Temple"? (Malachi
3:1). Was there not a promise that the angels would carry God's Son with
their hands making sure no harm comes to him? (Psalms
91:11-12).
This was the very method that
the false Messiahs who were continually arising promised. Theudas had led the
people out, and had promised with a word to split the waters of Jordan in two.
The famous Egyptian pretender (Acts
21:38) had promised that with a word he would lay flat the walls of
Jerusalem. Simon Magus, so it is said, had promised to fly through the air and
had died in the attempt. These pretenders had offered miracles which they
could not perform. Jesus could perform anything he promised. Why shouldn’t he
do it?
There were two good reasons
why Jesus did not adopt that course of action. First, he who seeks to attract people
to him by providing them with “a show” has adopted a way in which there is
literally no future. The reason is simple. To retain his power he must produce
ever greater and greater “shows”. This
year's sensation is next year's Netflix feature. A gospel founded on
miracle-mongering is doomed to failure. Second, that is not the way to use
the power of God. "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test,"
said Jesus (Deuteronomy
6:16). He meant this; there is no good seeing how far you can go with God;
there is no good in putting yourself deliberately into harms way, and doing it
quite recklessly and needlessly, and then expecting God to rescue you from it. (Barclay commentary used)
The Next Sermon Series
Tough Questions Christians Hope No One Asks Them
April 20, 2014
Isn’t believing in an empty
tomb the same as the Easter bunny?
April 27, 2014
Why rely on religion in an
age of science?
May 4, 2014
One Asks – Why do you think Jesus
was God?
May 11, 2014
Why should I believe God
sends people to hell?
I look forward to seeing you this weekend!
Dr. John Parlow
No comments:
Post a Comment