Written Word

The Life of Christ in Five Phases - A Book for YOU!

Six Solid Reasons for Reading/Studying The Life of Christ in Five Phases by Aaron J. Smith

1.   The book is well-researched for the authenticity of  the data it contains.

2.   The Life of Christ in Five Phases takes the accounts of the 4 Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – and synthesizes them into one harmonized account told in narrative form.

3.   At particular places in the study the author  has inserted superscript numbers that indicate the reader should go to the end of the chapter he is reading and look for a corresponding number there that will give the reader more light on an event or fact presented. The extra attention will require a relevant “side path”  known collectively as “Instructor’s Notes,” which would be unwieldy to present in the main text.  The reader has the option of reading these Instructor’s Notes or not. He or she will still learn  much about the life of the Savior without the Notes. Obviously, though, they can learn substantially more by reading every Instructor’s Note.

4.   The Life of Christ in Five Phases  is coil bound for a reason: it makes for much easier navigation through the book. It can be laid out flat without the usual difficulty one would have with a normally bound book. Book marks can be inserted  wherever needed and returned to with little trouble. The Life of Christ in Five Phases is  designed for easy use and easy study!

5.   LC5 has charts and diagrams at a number of places where they can make a fact or point of discourse clearer to the reader.

6.   There is an index of significant words in the back of the book to help the reader find their location (by page number) in LC5.

WE AT JACLYN ENTERPRISES CAN CONFIDENTLY RECOMMEND THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN FIVE PHASES TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DIG A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST! IT IS WELL WORTH THE EFFORT AND TIME!

For more information on  how to purchase the book, click on this address: http://bit.ly/U05x1

The Love of God for Mankind

(Excerpt from One Believer's Thoughts on Various Christian Topics by Aaron J. Smith - "LOVE" http://bit.ly/1lX09G )

 

In this post we shall first try to comprehend the love of God toward us as it is personified in Jesus Christ. We emphasize the word "try" because it would be folly and the height of arrogance for any pathetically ignorant human to claim that he in any substantial measure understands divine love.

However, in making this admittedly weak attempt, we need to look at and define some of the attributes of God along with love. They all have a bearing on, and interrelate to love.

Selected Attributes of God

Righteousness

Doing and being right.

Justice

Fairness, equity, an evenness in exchange.

Mercy

Lenience not justly required or expected; grace (unmerited divine favor); an adjusting of a situation so that it is tolerable

Love

A driving Force that seeks the well-being of the one who is loved in spite of all obstacles. It requires a need in the one loved that must be filled at all costs by the one who loves.

 

These attributes of God all demand expression just as our various traits of character clamor for expression. Satan, of course, warped our natural traits. He marred God's handiwork in man after God had made man pure and upright. God is different from man in that all His traits are good and positive and can thus be termed attributes. But, attributes in God or traits in man, they all yearn for expression.

God's Righteousness demands that He should adhere to that which is right, and it makes the same demand of mankind. Without righteousness man will die. So this is man's situation as the Scriptures render it: Since "there is none righteous, no not one" (Rom. 3:10), and since "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,...[therefore] death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.

God's Justice also needs to express itself. Justice insists on an evenness, a like value for like value, "an eye for an eye." It adamantly states that every sin should bring full penalty on the sinner. That is why, when Adam sinned, God evicted him from the Garden and any possible access to the tree of life. That is why the flaming sword of Justice flashed forth from its scabbard to slay man if he would attempt to gain the coveted prize of eternal life.

But God's Mercy is not silent either. Mercy cries out for leniency for man, contending that the favor of God has to be extended to man. Without this favor, mercy laments, doom will be his eternal fate. Of course, mercy's plea is apparently opposed to Justice and Righteousness.

Then there is the Love of God. Because of all that love entails (see definition above) God would never deny it expression. Man, with his errant behavior in Eden, his present tragic state, and his abysmally bleak future, seems to be a perfect recipient for the love of God. Looking closely at the situation, we can see that all the attributes of God are making demands within the being of God. And some of the demands seem to be diametrically opposed to one another. However, because they are a part of God Himself, they must be heard.

If a human had such a variety of apparently conflicting thoughts and feelings within himself, he would have all sorts of neuroses and psychosomatic illnesses. His fragile psyche would fragment into jittery unwholesome parts. But God is a perfectly integrated, whole Being whose attributes comprise a vastly complex yet positive Person. The Old Testament refers to God as "Elohim" or "gods" and there is a solid reason for it. God is very multi-faceted and abstruse beyond human words. He is truly all things wrapped in one mighty Person.

The Demands of Righteousness and Justice

Adam, who committed the first sin, was thrust out of Eden and condemned to an eventual physical death and an accompanying spiritual death. This last – physical death – was a terrible doom leading to the "second death," which is the lake of fire (hell).

To grind into man's sinful forehead the hopelessness of the situation, God brought forth a law. This was not just any law: it stated specifically what sin was. Then it commanded man to live in perfect accord with the law. As Paul put it in Romans 7:13b, sin became "exceeding sinful" by means of the very law that was contrary to it. In Eden man fell into sin; on Sinai (where the law was given) he writhed in it. Thus God met the demands of Justice and Righteousness until man's physical and eternal death would be fully accomplished.

Love Makes Its Own Strong Claim

Man's death sentence and its confirmation by the law were paradoxically the very things that began to meet love's demand (see diagram above on "Selected Attributes of God"). This was the demand for a need on man's part that would require a supreme sacrifice by God to fill it. The need was strongly evident: There is no fate worse than eternal death, which is not, as it might seem, an eternal cessation of existence. This "second death" of which we speak is an eternity of longing in the most acute sense for the satisfying of the appetites left uncurbed in this life. It is an eternity of most poignant and searing remorse for having finally passed up the last opportunity to come to God. It is an aeons-long period of being cut off from the slightest sense of the presence of God. Even the sinner and atheist have the "unaware" sense of God's presence. Man is made to be upheld by His Presence, and if he should ever lose even the sinner's faint and unaware sense of His Presence it would be a literal hell. Mankind is completely dependent on God.

Man was damned for an eternity and there was nothing he could do to evade his fate –

But the love of God...suffering long and yet remaining kind, seeking not its own, bearing all things – it could never stand by and see man so devastated.

But the love of God... following close on man's heels in spite of his perfidy and callous disregard for all God's goodness, would not let man go. It pursued him. It persistently swelled within the righteous heart of God, crying out for the redemption of man by any means.

But the love of God... can never be denied. Ironically, man can refuse it, but it will impose itself on him in spite of himself. The love of God, never ceasing, never flagging in its fervor, will never fail. Prophecies and tongues and knowledge shall fail, but love, never. As long as we are amenable to this love we can never be lost. Is this Eternal Security (as we generally know the term) of a person? No. Just the eternal and undeniable love of God.

The demands of love did not mean that righteousness ceased to demand death as the penalty for sin. Sin inevitably brings on death. There would seem to be an impasse at this point. The situation was an impossible one. But Love accepts as final no position that is detrimental to man except man's own decision to go to hell despite the love that will not let him go. Of course this is a contradiction in logic, but so is a love that dares to sacrifice its holy Self for unlovable, despicable man.

God, who is the essence of love, could not let man die. But God, who is righteousness, could not let man live in the sin that was an integral part of man. Nor could God violate His own Justice in His attempts to save man. This brings Love into play again. Love finally (yet from all eternity) drove God to the outer limits of possibility and into the realm of utter impossibility. Love devised a plan that would scale the heights of selflessness and take an extreme toll of God in the doing. It would snatch man back from the grip of death and sin, and give him eternal life.

Since man could not save himself by his own death, God – the Creator of the universe, the eternal God of all power – determined to die for him! Let this sink into your mind and reach deep into your heart. There were two things, though, that blocked this divine plan: 1) God is a spirit and a spirit cannot die; and 2) there had to be a sinless human life given for man's salvation. The law required that man's redeemer be close of kin to man. He must be human. Lev. 25:47-49.

Then came Jesus. In answer to the urgent demand of the love of God, Jesus the Son of God came to earth. This sinless perfect Man left the heavenly realm and came to a world steeped in sin. He came, He lived in the midst of the sin that He hated, and He died by becoming the very thing He loathed – He became sin in order to destroy it once and forever.

The love of God – it surrounds all men, saint and sinner, and prevents man's arch enemy from blasting him into nothingness. Love is the most determined force in all this chaotic cosmos and will hound man to the very ends of being. It effectively turns aside the sword of Justice and softens the punishment of outraged Righteousness.

This amazing love seeks out a Lot in a city full of sinners who do not care to be saved. It wraps its caring arms around a thief dying on a cross. Love replaces the severed ear of one who had lost that ear because he came to crucify the Lord of glory. Love does not care who its object is – a saint, a sinner, a self-righteous person, a backslider completely awash in the sin he once hated, a confused soul immersed in sexual lust, a gay, a murderer, a drug addict – love reaches even to such as these. How can we fail to respond to such love?

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We CAN Live above Sin

Coping with Wrong Desires

This discourse is not concerned only with sexual desires; it is dealing with morality in general and how to cope with the thoughts to sin that come to your mind. If you have no such problem, well and good; but it might be good to pinch yourself to see if you are still alive. All living sane persons are beset by unwanted thoughts that they know God does not want them to entertain, and we need to face the problem head-on.

Let's first define "lust." Lust, as it is used in the Bible, comes from a variety of words in the Hebrew and Greek, meaning anything from "desire" to "craving" to an overpowering longing to do what God has forbidden us to do. The last meaning is how we followers of Christ understand the word today. A desire or even a craving to do something or to have something forbidden by God is not a sin if the person who has the desire does not give in to it. It is the nature of mankind to lust, and salvation does not remove it. Salvation washes away the dreadful stain of past indulgences and imparts grace to overcome all residual sinful impulses arising from our carnal nature.

Sin Does Not Have to Be a Deed

But there is a danger that we may be lenient with ourselves and think that if we do not put the desire into action, we have come through the test unscathed. Be careful: If it is in your "heart" (if you yearn) to commit a sin, you are guilty of the sin before you have literally committed it. Jesus said, "...whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Mat. 5.28)

Perhaps this will make it plainer to you: When you hold the thought fondly and wish you could do whatever it may be, you have crossed over the line. You have sinned. The truth is that you would do whatever the sinful desire is, if you had the opportunity – without being caught in the act. Unlike people like you, who can discern only outward actions, God sees the heart: If the will to do is only in your heart without the actual committing of the deed, you are guilty,

This does not mean there should never be an impulse to do wrong in the mind of a believer – that is known as temptation and we all experience temptation – but when the desire is strong enough that it demolishes the barrier of your Christian conscience, it becomes a sin to you. The "barrier of your Christian conscience" to which I refer is that restraining wall that does not allow you to host sinful thoughts. The thoughts will come often and uninvited, but you should meet them at the door and bid them a hasty adieu. Never ask them in to stay for dinner.

If you harbor a wrong thought that comes into your mind instead of rejecting it, it will go deeper and deeper into your mind until it enters the heart and becomes a part of you. Even though you may never act on the thought, you are guilty of the overt deed. You have entertained the lust and thus, in effect, you have done what God said not to do. Quickly get rid of all sinful thoughts and replace them with virtuous concepts, so as not to leave a vacuum in your mind. Paul advises us,

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Phi 4:8.

Keep your mind occupied with positive thoughts.

The Lingering Effects of Past Misdeeds

For the believer in Christ, being restored to the favor of God after the believer has unfortunately fallen into sin – and perhaps even wallowed there awhile – is something he will never forget. It can be a bittersweet remembrance of the sin itself (bitter), and the grace, the mercy, the tender love and compassion that delivered him from his downward plunge into the cesspool of sin (sweet) – these are things he can't understand, but he is so very glad the grace, mercy and love were there for him. He knows he did not deserve them in the least, but God lavished them on him despite his being totally undeserving.

Yet there are times when the enormity of his past sins – sins that are now forgiven – come washing over the restored former defector, bent on sweeping him away from his haven in Christ. And the more God pours His grace into this now repentant sinner's life, the greater his sins loom in his mind. It's ironic that the closer the believer gets to Christ, the more he can see how terrible those sins were. They were, as a matter of fact, terrible offenses against the One who created the erstwhile sinner and lavished His love upon him.

It is difficult, at certain vulnerable times in our lives, for us who at one time fell and did not bounce right back up, to realize we are forgiven. The thought of what we did and to whom we did it can be a cancer that gnaws at us from within. But the blood of Christ has washed us clean from sin, inside and out. And further than that, as we go about our daily life, the "washing of water by the Word" (Eph. 5.26) cleanses us from the filth of the world that we pick up merely by walking in a sinful world.

The sins do not get inside of us. In a figure they cling loosely to our feet and can be readily washed off by the daily application of the Word of God. It is similar to Jesus' washing the feet of His disciples. At first Peter refused to allow his Lord to humble Himself in that manner, but when he realized how important an event it was, he completely reversed himself. He asked Jesus to wash not only his feet, but his hand and his head also. But "Jesus saith to him [Peter], He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all [referring only to Judas]." Joh 13:10.

That is why, if it is possible, we should ingest the written Word of God into our beings daily either by reading it or hearing it; and if we can do neither, we should meditate on the Word that is in our hearts.

The disciples were cleansed from all their sins by their coming to Jesus: His blood, not yet shed, had washed them clean. The foot washing was symbolic of their daily cleansing from the sins of the world through which they walked and with which they necessarily came in contact. They were cleansed continually by their association with the Incarnate Word Jesus Christ.

Today's believer is saved and kept saved as surely as the disciples were. They had Jesus the Word of God keeping them daily from sin. We have the same Word in our minds and hearts and it keeps us as surely as Peter was kept when he denied Jesus three times in Jesus' darkest hour. Peter was never a castaway during his defection: his faith in Christ remained as Jesus prayed that it would.

You will note, however, that Peter did not remain in his defection. As soon as he fully grasped what he had done, he repented. As Jesus had prayed, Peter's faith did not fail. Jesus has also prayed for us that we should not be swallowed up by the sin that skulks us on every side and attacks us from within (the carnal nature). He prayed that we should be one in the Father and Him just as the Father and Jesus are one.

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; (21) That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (Joh 17:20-21)

As long as we have our faith in Jesus, we cannot fail.

Believers in Christ Are a Marked People

   

Jesus was a marked Man. He was marked for death by the adversary of all that is good, Satan. But Satan is limited in what he can do. He can do only what God allows him to do. Only at certain times in His life could Satan touch the person of Jesus, as 1) in the wilderness temptation, 2) in Gethsemane and 3), most notably, at Calvary. However there was a time when Satan was given the opportunity to attack Jesus’ followers. He seized on the chance eagerly.

Jesus had told His disciples to leave Him behind in the unspecified desert place where He had fed 5,000 people with only five loaves and two fish. They were now  sailing across the Sea of Galilee toward Bethsaida or Capernaum.

“And when he [Jesus] had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.  (24)  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.  (25)  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.  (26)  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.  (27)  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.  (28)  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.  (29)  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  (30)  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  (31)  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”  (Mat 14:23-31) 

The storm  could not touch Jesus because His Father had  marked Him for life. He walked on the waters as if He owned them, which in reality He did. But in Jesus’ predestination for life was  locked away the coming horrors of Gethsemane and Calvary where the waves would engulf Jesus and the winds would batter the life out of Him.  Notwithstanding this, Jesus was predestined for everything He suffered and, in the end, He was foreordained to life for Himself and for all who would believe in Him.

We, who Satan in his arrogance had marked for utter destruction, are nonetheless destined for life by the Creator of all life. There will come a time in that predestined life when the “Horror of the shade” (death and trials that momentarily seem even worse than death)  will overcome us, but we, like our Savior before us, are divinely marked for life. If our faith falters as Peter’s did and we find ourselves in the utmost peril and our life is being forcibly taken from us – if we have enough faith and intelligence to cry out, “Lord, save me!” our God will most surely reach out His loving hand and snatch us from the watery grave for which Satan had marked us.

You who are at this moment sinking beneath the waves, catch this lifeline I am throwing your way. If you will only exercise the tiny bit of reasoning you have left and fan the small spark of faith left flickering, and realize your predicament – if you will get into your heart and mind the power of this Jesus who went through hell and yet came back to live forever – if you call on Him believing, you shall yet live. You too are destined for life, not death. Fulfill your destiny. You absolutely cannot fail if you keep your faith in Jesus. Live with that certainty.

Don't Make the Transition for the New Convert More Difficult Than Necessary

The Church is experiencing “new births” often and we need to show these spiritual babes some love and tenderness. Many of the new converts to Christianity haven’t much of a clue as to what this new world they are entering is like. They do not need scolding and nagging. They need love and patience on the part of their new church family in order for them to get acclimated to the new world as smoothly and quickly (please do not make “quickly” the operative word here!) as possible.

1.   Dress

a.    In the matter of clothing worn by the new convert,  the females are more likely to be the target of the church “purists” than the males, for whatever reason. It could be that there are usually more women in any local church than men and the law of averages makes the female converts fair game for the church “mothers” to lay on them their sometimes harsh and scripturally unfounded church “laws.”

b.   Whether the convert is man or woman, we must remember they are babes in Christ and need gentle handling. Some modes of dress that are not too shocking to the Christian eye may be tolerated until the neophyte has had a chance to get his or her footing and to receive sufficient teaching.

c.    It is not good to get too caught up in the length of a dress or how closely it fits or how “worldly” it is. “Worldly” is a relative word and can mean different things to different people. With proper teaching the new convert will develop a sense of what is proper Christian attire; although, to be candid, we have members who have been in  the church for years and have not yet attained to that maturity.

It is not so much the number of years saved as it is how much teaching the veteran member has been willing to accept. Twenty years of salvation means nothing to a heart that is generally pliable, but obdurate in certain areas of teaching. But that is another subject.

d.   We should never forget that the hallmark of the follower of Christ is love, and love is gentle, kind and seeks not to offend in any way possible.

2.   Speech

a.    Some words are flat out unacceptable in any decent society. Correct the new saint in this area, but do so gently.

b.   There are many words that are acceptable in the world from which the new convert has just recently come, but they are not acceptable in the Church. Use wisdom and love. If wisdom and love say “reprove now,” reprove now. If immediate reproof is not needed, then wait for the new saint to learn better.

c.    Some words are rather awkwardly lodged in a gray zone, a sort of no man’s land in which the word is not offensive to all believers, but are a definite no-no to others. Go according to the local church’s views in the matter.

d.   This sub-item is a trifle different from the preceding three. Why should we expect new converts to parrot the same things we say without actually meaning what our mouths are uttering? Do these new saints have to memorize every line that is “religiously correct” for every occasion? For instance, is it really necessary for everyone who is saved to testify in a certain way? (This may vary depending on the location of the congregation.) The same words can also apply to a guest speaker. The opening of the speech or testimony goes something like this: “Giving honor to the pastor and the first lady and the deacons and the elders and brothers and sisters and friends” and so it goes on and on into the night.

A brief acknowledgement of the pastor and elders would have sufficed for a guest speaker. For a testimony by a member of the congregation, church etiquette does not require any acknowledgements. You are at home with the family, so say what you have to say, and by all means give the new believer freedom to express his praise and love for his Savior – in his own way. Why do we have to be so starched and formal?

There is so much more to say on the subject of handling new converts and I cannot deal with them all at this time. But I would like to urge my fellow veteran church members to treat the babes in Christ as befits their age and experience. They are young and tender; be kind to them. Some may never have been in a church before in their adult lifetime, if at all. If there is something in their attire or speech or behavior that needs correcting right away, correct them in love. But don’t let your high-handed attitude or rough speech run them away from the salvation they have newly acquired.

It is the same with the Church as it is with society in general: our new generation is the future Church. If the Church is to continue to exist and grow, it will be by these present babes in Christ. So be tolerant and kind to our “newbies” and do all things in a spirit of love.