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In Christ
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Christ is the great reservoir of blessing, and only those who have this living connection
share in His great spiritual blessings.
Only those who are "in Him."
· Without Christ - a sinner; spiritually dead and morally bankrupt
"In Christ" - a saint,spiritually alive and a joint-heir with Christ
· Without Christ one is nothing, has nothing, and can do nothing.
"In Christ" one is everything, has everything, and can do everything in Christ.
· Jesus said, "Without Me ye can do nothing."
Paul said, " I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me."
Someone has expressed it like this:
"If you take Christ out of Christian, what you have left is i-a-n. I am nothing.
With Christ I am everything!
"Shall I tell you why my life now is so easy?
'Tis because this wretched self has ceased to be;
Once it caused me all my troubles, but it's buried,
And it is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me!"
Christ lives in me!
What a lifting, liberating, thought.
“All of God was in Christ...
All of Christ is in me...
All I needed was Christ Himself...
And I have Him living inside me!”
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Christ’s Heir
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Watchman Nee tells about a new convert who came in deep distress to see him.
“No matter how much I pray,” said the man, “no matter how hard I try,
I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I’m losing my salvation.”
And Nee said, “Do you see this dog here? He is my dog.
He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to me.
Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son.
He makes a mess, he throws his food around, he fouls his clothes, he is a total mess.
But who is going to inherit my kingdom?
Not my dog; my son is my heir.
You are Jesus Christ’s heir because it is for you that he died.
So it is with us!
We are Christ’s heirs, not through our perfection but by means of his grace.”
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Put Christ In Control
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The distinguished English scientist and preacher, Henry Drummond, was once riding in a carriage with a driver
who had been demoted in life because of his drinking problem.
The driver told Drummond that his habit was bringing him closer and closer to ruin,
and he did not know what to do about it.
Drummond answered, “Suppose this team of horses should become frightened and runaway
and we were in great danger.
Suppose you know me to be the most expert horseman in the world, well able to handle any horse
however wild or out of control.
What would you do?”
The driver replied, “I would immediately put the reins in your hands.”
Drummond continued, “Then why didn’t you put the reins of your life into the hands
of the great Expert on human nature?
You cannot overcome the habit by yourselves!
Why didn’t you let Christ take the reins of your life?”
In every situation – whether confronted by a person under the control of a bad habit,
or in the midst of violent winds, or in the presence of enemies who would destroy Him
– Jesus was always in control.
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Now Weep
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There is no substitute for the compassionate heart – that yearns over the lost.
A young preacher, who died in his 20s, made one of the greatest impressions upon Scotland of any preacher
who had ever lived.
A visitor came from another country to see the secret of that young preacher.
When the visitor came to the church, only the caretaker was there.
When the caretaker learned why the man had come, he said, “Come with me.”
He took him to the study of the young preacher and said,
“This is his chair in which he studies and this is the desk on which he places his books.”
Then the caretaker said to the visitor, “Sit in his chair.”
The man sat in the chair.
Then the caretaker said, “Now put your hands on top of the desk.”
The visitor put his hands on top of the desk.
Then the caretaker said, “Now bury your face in your hands and weep.”
We must have a burdened heart, a face that knows tears,
and a prayer always in our heart that the lost might be saved.
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Let Go! Let God!
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Shortly before his death, Henri Nouwen wrote a book entitled, Sabbatical Journeys.
In it he tells about some trapeze artists, the Flying Roudellas.
They explained to Nouwen that there is a special relationship between "flyer" and "catcher" on the trapeze.
The flyer is the one who lets go, and the catcher is the one who snatches him from free fall.
As the flyer swings high above the crowd and ground below, that fateful instant comes when he must let go.
He must release his grasp on the device that is bearing his full weight and arc out into the air.
If it is exhilarating, it must also be terrifying!
Then he must remain as still as possible and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to find him,
pluck him from the air, and bring him to safety.
One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen:
"The flyer must never try to catch the catcher.
He must wait in absolute trust.
It is the catcher's job to find, grab, and haul him in, and his task in that nerve-wracking instant is to wait
and trust.”
You and I are "flyers" in the circus called life.
God is the "catcher."
Our task is to wait for him in absolute trust, to know that He will watch us and keep us from falling
and to present us before his presence in triumph.
God has never missed anyone who put his trust in Him and waited for Him to keep His promises!
“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault
and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!” Amen (Jude 24-25).
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Atheistic Professor
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Recently one of our church members sent me an email.
I want to share it with you.
It was posted to the Syracuse University Campus Crusade for Christ.
I do not know where it originated:
An atheistic professor of philosophy turns to one of his new students and asks,
" You're a Christian, aren't you?"
The young man answered, " Yes sir."
The professor: " So, you believe in God."
" Absolutely," the student answered.
" Is God good?" The professor asked.
The student responded, " Sure! God is good."
The professor came back with: "Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
" Yes," The student answered.
Professor: " Are you good or evil?"
Student: " The Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins: "Ahh! The Bible!"
He pauses for a moment.
“Here's one for you.
Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him.
You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"
Student: " Yes sir, I would."
Professor: " So, you're good..!"
Student: " I wouldn't say that."
" Why not say that?
You would help a sick person if you could... in fact, most of us would if we could...
God doesn't."
The student doesn't answer.
Professor: " He doesn't, does He?
My brother was a Christian and died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him.
How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that?"
There is no answer from the student.
Professor: " No, you can't." He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk.
Then, he said, " Let's start again. Is God good?"
Student: " Er... Yes."
Professor: " Is Satan good?"
" No," answered the student.
Professor: " Where does Satan come from?"
The student quietly answers: "From God?"
Professor: " That's right. God made Satan."
The professor sensing victory: " I think we are going to have a lot of fun this semester."
He turns back to the Christian: " Tell me young man, is there evil in the world?"
" Yes sir!"
Professor: " Evil is everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?"
"Yes."
Professor: "Who created evil?"
There is no answer.
"There is sickness in the world. Immorality. Hatred. Ugliness.
All these terrible things are in our world. Who created them."
The professor questioned.
There is no answer.
The professor shouts at the student: " WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME PLEASE!"
The professor closes in for the kill and puts his face into the face of the young man
and says, " God created all evil, didn't He?"
There is no answer.
The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues, " How is it that this God is good if He created evil?"
There is no answer. The professor continues to press the student.
" Do you believe in Jesus," the professor asks.
The student's voice cracks as he answers, " Yes, I do."
The professor shakes his head sadly.
" Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world.
Have you ever seen Jesus?"
Student: " No sir I've never seen Him."
Professor: " Have you ever heard Him or felt Him or tasted Him?"
" No sir, I have not."
Professor: " Yet, you still believe Him. That takes faith.
According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that?"
The student hangs his head without a word.
Another Christian student raises his hand. " Professor, may I speak?"
The professor turns and smiles: " Another Christian ready to enter the fray.
Come, speak some wisdom to us."
The student looks around the room.
" Some interesting points you are making, sir.
Now I have a question for you. Is there such a thing as heat?"
Professor: " Yes, there is heat."
Christian student: " Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, there is cold also."
Student: " No sir, there isn't!"
The professor's grin freezes.
The room becomes very quiet.
The Christian student continues:
" You can have lots of heat, even more heat; super- heat; mega -heat; white heat.
You can have a little heat, or no heat but we don't have anything called "cold."
We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.
There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than 458 degrees.
You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.
We cannot measure cold.
We can measure heat in thermal units because heat is energy.
Cold is not the opposite of heat. It is just the absence of it."
There is absolute silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop.
Student: " Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
Professor: " That's a dumb question. What is night if it isn't darkness?
What are you getting at? Sure there is a thing called darkness."
" You are wrong again, sir.
Darkness is not something.
Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, and flashing light,
but if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it is called darkness, isn't it.
That is the meaning we use to define the word.
Darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it.
Can you give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?"
The professor smiles at the logic of the young man and says,
" This will indeed be an interesting semester.
Would you mind telling us your point?"
" es, professor. My point is that your philosophical premise is flawed,
and therefore your conclusion is in error."
The professor's face begins to show anger, " Flawed...? How dare you...!"
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
Professor: " Explain..oh, explain."
The professor tries to regain control, but then he waves his hand for the student to continue.
The Christian student explains: " You are working on the premise of duality.
For example, there is life and then there is death.
There is a good God and a bad God.
You are viewing the concept of God as something finite or as something we can measure.
Sir, science cannot even explain a thought.
It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them.
To view death as the opposite is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life. It is merely the absence of it."
The young man holds up a newspaper he gets from a desk of one of the students:
" Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids in this country, professor.
Is there such a thing as immorality?"
Professor: " Of course there is, now look..."
" Wrong again sir.
You see, immorality is the absence of morality.
Is there such a thing as injustice?
No, injustice is the absence of justice.
Is there such a thing as evil?"
He pauses, " Isn't evil the absence of good?"
The professor's face has turned a bright red, and he is about to explode.
He is so angry that he is momentarily speechless.
The young Christian continues: " If there is evil in the world, professor,
and we agree there is, then God, if He exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil.
What is that work?
The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will choose good or evil."
The professor shoots back:
" As a philosophical scientist, I don't accept this matter as having anything to do with choice.
As a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor
as being part of the world equation because God is not observable."
The Christian replies:
" I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this world
is probably one of the most observable phenomena around.
Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it each week!
Tell me, professor, do you teach your students that they have evolved from a monkey?"
Professor: " If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course I do."
Student: " Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives the student a silent, stony stare.
" Professor, since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove
that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir?
Are you now not a scientist, but a priest?"
Professor: " I'll overlook your impertinence in the light of our philosophical discussion.
Now, have you quite finished?"
Student: " So you don't accept God's moral code as having to do with what is righteous?"
Professor: " I believe in what is - that's science!"
" Ahh! SCIENCE!" The student begins to grin. "
Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena.
|Science also is a premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED?" The professor sputters.
The class is in an uproar.
When the commotion subsides the Christian continues: " To continue the point you were making earlier
to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?"
The professor just stares at him.
The Christian looks around the room.
" Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?"
The class breaks out in laughter.
The Christian points to the professor:
" Has anyone here ever touched the professor's brain?
Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain?
Has anyone ever smelled it?"
No one appears to have done so.
The Christian shakes his head sadly, " It appears no one here has had any sensory perception
of the professor's brain.
Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science,
I DECLARE that the professor has no brain."
The class is in chaos!
The Christian sits.
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Well Done!
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A railway gatekeeper, who one cold night required every passenger to show his ticket
before passing through to the train, and was rewarded with considerable grumbling and protesting,
was told: "You are a very unpopular man tonight."
"I only care to be popular with one man," was the reply, "and that is the superintendent."
He might have pleased the passengers, disobeyed orders, and lost his position.
He was too wise for that; his business was to please one man--the man who hired him, gave him his orders,
and rewarded him for faithfulness, and who would discharge him for disobedience.
The servant of Christ has many opportunities to make himself unpopular.
There are multitudes who would be glad to have him relax the strictness of his rules.
If he is their servant, they demand that he should consult their wishes.
But if he serves them, he cannot serve the Lord. "No man can serve two masters."
He who tries to be popular with the world, will lose his popularity with the Lord.
He will make friends, but he will lose the one Friend who is above all others.
He will win plaudits, but he will not hear the gracious words: "Well done!"
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