April 15
“If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God…” (Jn 7:17). When Pilate asked Jesus the question, “What is truth?” Jesus answered him with a categorical response. In effect, Jesus was asking Pilate if his was a genuine question or purely an academic one. Jesus was not merely checking on Pilate’s sincerity. He was opening up Pilate’s heart to himself, to reveal to Pilate his unwillingness to deal with the implications of Jesus’ answer. “They who are on the side of truth, listen to Me” (Jn 18:37), He said. Intent in the pursuit of truth is prior...
Read MoreApril 14
Ridley Haim Herschell, born to a devout Jewish family in Strzelno, Poland, had no peace. One morning he bought something wrapped in scrap paper on which was printed: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” A few days later, he picked up a New Testament, which opened at the same passage! He borrowed the book and eagerly read it. He wrote: “One day I wept bitterly before the Lord, entreating Him to give me peace. These words of Jesus came to mind: ‘Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name. Ask…’ (Jn 16:24). I cannot describe the reluctance I felt to pray in Jesus’ name. At...
Read MoreApril 13
In Bill Maher’s movie, Religulous, he baits a U.S. senator for believing in “a talking snake in the garden.” But “why should it be thought a thing incredible” for atheists to believe in a snake with the ability to talk? Don’t they believe that a whole species of “animals” arose after millions of years of non-talking life forms and that they somehow developed, by a series of happy accidents, the ability to use articulate speech? Steven Pinker, director of MIT’s Center of Cognitive Neuroscience, stated in The Language Instinct: “As you are reading these words, you are taking part in one of the...
Read MoreApril 12
Amy Orr-Ewing tells of a conversation her husband had with a woman at a wedding reception: “At one point she had said, ‘The reason I am not a Christian is that I am studying English Literature, and I don’t believe that there is a Transcendental Signified, and so I can make the Bible mean whatever I want it to mean.’” She explained that words have no actual meaning. A word only has the meaning that a reader or a hearer gives it. It does not itself carry any ultimate meaning because there is no God (Transcendental Signified) to give ultimate meaning to words. “My husband looked at her and...
Read MoreApril 11
“Our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance” (1 Thess 1:5). Note three aspects to assurance: “the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Col 2:2); “the full assurance of hope” (Heb 6:11); and the “full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:22). Assurance may be lacking for three reasons: if a person is not truly saved and the Spirit is convicting them of their need; if a person is truly saved and living for Christ but is being attacked by the devil to unsettle him;...
Read MoreApril 10
Charles Spurgeon tells the story of an old man who heard a young man preach. When he was asked what he thought of it, he was slow to answer. At last he said, “If I must tell you, I did not like it; there was no Christ in it.” “No,” answered the young man, “because I didn’t see that Christ was in the text.” “Oh!” said the old man, “but don’t you know that from every little town and village in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, ‘There is a road from here to Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.” “But suppose you’re...
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