Passages

Ruth and I went to the Passages exhibit today. It will be in town only one more week. It will then be disassembled and transported to Los Angeles, where it will be on display for 18 months. I wish I would have gone sooner. I could have encouraged more of you to take advantage of it. It is a Bible Wonderland, a spiritual treasure.

The Green family, of Hobby Lobby fame, has amassed one of the largest Bible manuscript and artifacts collections in the world. They have invested tens of millions of dollars to save some of the most treasured Bible items in the whole world. I am grateful for them. We are able to have the exhibit here because Second's very own Cary Summers oversees the project on behalf of the Green family.

You have one week left to go through the exhibit here in Springfield. Tickets are about $20, when headphones are included. Allow 2 to 4 hours, even more if you are heavily into Bible archaeology.

To me, the most touching sections were those about the Hebrew Scriptures salvaged from Hitler's Holocaust against the Jews, and those about the price martyrs paid so that we could have the Bible in the English language. The most memorable moment was when an actor, who was talking about the possibility of having an English Bible, told of a man who gave up one year's salary in order to buy a copy of the Gospel of Matthew.

When you leave the exhibit, you will love the Word of God more than ever. You will treasure it more in your deepest heart of hearts.

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2 Corinthians Again

It's Christmas Eve. I just now finished my annual reading of the Bible, a custom I have maintained since 1976. 2015 will mark my 40th time to read the entire Bible. This is by far the most important spiritual discipline of my life. My life would be much impoverished without it.

Once I finish this annual habit, I try to read 2 Corinthians again. There are several reasons for this--one of the most important being the emotional bond between a preacher and a congregation that permeates the book. The Corinthians had their problems, yet Paul radically loved them.

Ruth and I feel this way about Second. We revel in our 19-year love affair with our church. These words from 2 Corinthians 7:4 brought this truth to mind this morning, "Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf." Ruth and I feel honored to serve at Second.

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Pliny's Letter to the Emperor Trajan about Christians

Pliny was governor of Pontus/Bithynia. His letter to the Emperor Trajan in 112 AD is the first pagan reference to Christianity. I thought you might find parts of the letter interesting, and have listed excerpts from it here.

 

…In the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished…

 

The sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god,…When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food…

 

The matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms.

Jesus: God of True God

Christians have always worshiped Jesus as being God. In the early days of the Church, Pliny, a Roman governor, wrote to tell the Emperor that Christians in his province regularly met to sing praises to Christ as God. The early Church did not simply admire and venerate Christ. They adored Him.

 
         Their mighty chorus has continued to swell through the ages. Saints of every generation have lifted the song of adoration to Jesus. Let the believers of our day join the celebration. Worship Jesus. Praise Jesus.

         The best way to honor the Father is to honor the Son. Some 300 years after Christ ascended, a church leader named Arius began to teach Jesus was divine, but created and secondary, less than God the Father. Arianism, like a cancer, weaved its way into the thoughts and minds of countless believers.

         Many, including a bishop named Amphilochus, vigorously fought the heresy, and were dismayed at the lenient spirit Emperor Theodosius showed toward Arianism. His lackadaisical attitude encouraged those who were undermining the full Deity of Christ. On the day Theodosius elevated his son Arcadius to serve as co-emperor, Amphilochus was among the throng of well wishers. The crowd processed by, congratulating the two rulers. The bishop spoke only to Theodosius and completely ignored his son. The angry father snapped at Amphilochus, “Do you take no notice of my son?”

         At this, the bishop said to Arcadius, “The Lord bless thee, my son.” This did not satisfy Theodosius. “Is this all the respect you pay to a prince I have made of equal dignity with me?” Amphilochus curtly replied, “Sire, do you highly resent my neglecting your son by not giving him equal honor with you? What must God think of you, who has let His co-equal and co-eternal Son be degraded in His proper Deity in every part of your empire?”

The reproof achieved its desired result. God help us never to indulge a creed holding Jesus to be anything less than God of true God. Jesus is Lord.

         Our greatest champion in this early struggle was Athanasius, the first person to list the 27 books as we have them in the New Testament today. His list, done in 367 AD, was confirmed at the Synod in Carthage in 397 AD.

This was not his main claim to fame. He is most famous for the crime that exiled him five times. He served as Bishop of Alexandria for 45 years; 17 of these in exile due to Roman opposition. His crime was; an unrelenting battle against the heresy that God the Son was less God than God the Father.

 Athanasius often stood alone, thus giving us the Latin phrase for which he is famous, “Athanasius contra mundum” (Athanasius against the world). Emperors feared him as powerful, but could not kill him due to the love of his people. In his 17 years of exile, they never acknowledged anyone else as their bishop. He was humble, and single minded in his love to Christ. He refused to embrace anything less than the full deity of Jesus, and he carried the Christian world with Him. Thank You, Lord.

Babe Ruth Memorabilia

I found myself today in the middle of a little debate over who was the greatest baseball player of all time, Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb. If the result is measured by the monetary value of each one's personal memorabilia, the winner hands down is Babe Ruth.

The Sultan of Swat had an unbelievably good sale of his artifacts this past week. One of his hats sold for over $300,000. A baseball he and Lou Gehrig autographed sold for over $100,000.

The real eye popper, though, is the fact his 1914 rookie card is expected to sell for over $650,000. It last sold for over $400,000 in 2013. It is considered the grand kahuna of baseball cards.

Here's why I am fascinated by this. Over 20 years ago Ruth and I saw a Babe Ruth rookie card on sale in Fort Smith AR for $15,000. One week after this, it was stolen. It was never retrieved. Had I known then what I know now I would have mortgaged my house to buy that card. Oh well. Maybe next time.

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An Ordination Memory

"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8 NAS).

I was ordained at age 18. Alvin Daniels was one of the deacons in our church. When he placed his hands on my head, I recognized his voice saying to me, "Remember Micah 6:8; Remember Micah 6:8".

I have remembered it, and every year when I reach Micah 6:8 in my daily Bible reading, I pause to meditate on its message, and pause to remember a special event in my life.

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Jesus' Radiance

I preached this morning on one of my favorite Bible phrases, “He is the radiance of His glory” (HB 1:3a). God is Light, a luminous One who dwells in His own uncreated brightness. To see God in His innermost essence means certain death.

His glory is too splendid for us to see and live. The Father must hide Himself from our view, but loves us and wants to reveal Himself in some way to us.

God the Father allowed His brightness to be transformed in a way that could be safely perceptible to human beings. An outflowing of God's glory was permitted. A beam was released. It was bright enough to be recognized as God, but veiled enough to keep it from being fatal to human eyes.

Jesus is the Ray that proceeds from the central Glory, and visits us. The Son brings God the Father to us, according to the measure of our capability.

Jesus reveals the glory of the Father, as rays of our sun reveal the glory of that body. A beam from our sun is distinct from the sun; each has its own identity. Even so God the Father is not God the Son, and vice versa. But it must also be said a beam is never separate from the sun, and the sun is never without a beam. In a similar way, the Father and the Son also co-exist. Neither is ever separate from the other.

The most important comparison found in this illustration is; the sun cannot be seen except by a beam. The only way our sun communicates itself is through its rays. Likewise, the Father has hidden Himself except for what shines forth in Jesus. Only by looking at Jesus can God be seen. Without Christ, people are completely in the dark with regard to knowing God.

 

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Son-Spoke

Sunday I began my Christmas messages for this year. My text included Hebrews 1:2a, “In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son.”

When God gave revelations in portions, He used prophets. When He gave the ultimate revelation, He Son-spoke. God used various servants to give certain messages, but when it came to His last, best word, He chose to come Himself and inhabit flesh. Since revelation has God as its source, and people as its object, it is appropriate the ultimate revelation was a God-man.

Now we have God's final Word. In our Lord Jesus we have the climax of the Gospel revelation. God has held nothing in reserve. We are no longer kept in suspense regarding new discoveries about God. He has nothing more to reveal.

Christ has to be the final spokesman of Deity, because He is God. Nothing more could be said or revealed.  Jesus revealed God by being Himself. Christ was not only a messenger; He was the message. Nothing more can be conveyed than God Himself. This is what happened in Jesus.

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