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And He said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. Luke 24:46

As He met with his disciples after His resurrection, the Lord sought to comfort and restore them. He also spoke of the Scriptures that he had discussed with them earlier. At this time, he ‘opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures’. What a wonderful revelation they received that day! All of the Old Testament was revealed to them in a way that they had never grasped before. Just as He did with the folks on the Emmaus road, He spoke to them of all those things in the Scriptures concerning Himself.

As we gather to Remember Him today, let us keep in mind that we are celebrating the culmination of all of the prophecies, the reality of all of the types, the fulfillment of all of the offerings and ordinances. We are not told, of course, what Scriptures specifically He referred to. But we thrill today to know that throughout the Old Testament times, the Word of God was providing revelations of Christ.

We know that He did not suffer just to fulfil Scripture. But we also know that He could not have failed to fulfil Scripture.

Let us draw near today to appreciate His suffering and resurrection, and to also appreciate how the Word of God provides for us the details, in both the Old and New Testaments, of His suffering. -Jim MacIntosh

And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee, but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. Deuteronomy 7:15

Good health is something that the world really does not know much about. Despite better medications, great advances in scientific knowledge, exciting new treatment equipment, and even increasing longevity, people are still getting sick, doctors are becoming wealthy, and hospitals of all types are doing a steadily growing business. Wouldn’t it be nice to be free of all these diseases.

God promised Israel that they could be free of diseases and sickness. They had a wonderful opportunity, although they never took God up on His offer. This seems incredible to us, when we think about how good health is one of the greatest of all human blessings.

Bible students and scientists have calculated that if we followed the rules that God provided concerning food and separation, we too could free ourselves of most if not all of the diseases that afflict us today. Ancient time people could not understand the principles related to germs, sanitation, and isolation, but God placed in their ordinances and commandments those things that would protect them from contamination and unhealthy practices.

Unfortunately, life in the 21st century makes adherence to these laws and ordinances all but impossible for us. However, if we look to the spiritual message behind all these, we can free ourselves from the spiritual diseases afflicting mankind. Just as the ancient Israelite was to physically keep himself from contact with the sickly and depraved people living outside Isreael’s borders, so we ,as Christians, need to separate ourselves from the evil doctrines and behaviours of the world. We need to avoid contact with moral filth and ungodly associations. We need to cleanse our souls daily with regular and plentiful applications of the Word of God.

Read the Word today. Get alone with God. Be blessed! -Jim MacIntosh

And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. John 20:7

There is a special piece of cloth that bears an imprint of a man’s face and that some have suggested is the burial cloth that was used to wrap the body of the Lord Jesus. The Shroud of Turin has been extensively studied, its fabric has been examined and has been confirmed to be likely from the same period of history as the crucifixion. The stains that the cloth bears make it apparent that the person who was wrapped in it had been crucified. Although the Roman Catholic church does not take an official position on this cloth, it also does not, because of the amount of money involved, discourage those who wish to venerate it as possibly the very shroud of our Saviour. But it is not.

All one has to do is read today’s text and see that there was a napkin wrapped about Jesus head, a napkin that would have made the images on the Shroud of Turin impossible. Whoever was wrapped in that shroud, it was not Christ. So we can write that shroud off as irrelevant. But there is great significance to what we read in this verse about that napkin. It was a separate piece of material, although we don’t know anything else about it. But it speaks volumes about the resurrection.

Remember what we read about Lazarus who was raised from the dead? He was still wrapped in graves clothes, and Jesus had to instruct people to unfasten him. But when it came to His own resurrection, Jesus did not need anyone to unbind the graveclothes. He Himself cast off the trappings of death, and folded up the napkin. He who was dead is alive forevermore. Because of the power of His resurrection, we too have the hope that our bodies will be not only changed, but raised incorruptible.

How important is it to you today that Christ arose? Consider the napkin and appreciate that He has everything about His own death, and about yours, in perfect order. -Jim MacIntosh

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Luke 16:23

In a BBC interview last month, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, declared that hell is merely a state of mind, not a real place. During the same interview, he also dismissed the Book of Genesis as being not historically correct, and said he ‘trusted’ that there is a God, although he could not say he knew it as a certainty. Dr, Williams is a very influential man. He is the head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, which claims 77 million members, who look to Dr. Williams for spiritual guidance and leadership. It would appear that Dr. Williams is leading his flock into the very hell he refuses to believe in. Not believing in hell will extinguish none of its flames, nor reduce its level of torment one degree. Do we as Christians believe in hell? Of course we do! The Bible declares its reality. Does that belief make any difference in our lives? Good question!

The next time you are among a crowd of people, such as a busy shopping mall or an airport, look about you at the people’s faces. Know this: the vast majority of those folks, in a few short years, will be wailing out their eternal woes in the flames of hell. They are lost, and most don’t know it. They are helpless and hopeless, and they need to hear the Gospel, even if most of them won’t pay any attention to it. Maybe if we took hell more seriously, the unsaved around us might get the message and seek deliverance.

The fact that we have been delivered from the pit is cause for much rejoicing and gives us much peace. But sometimes, we get comfortable in our Salvation, and forget that although we are secure in Christ, there are swarms of people all about us who are still abiding under the wrath of God. What would it take for us to take an interest in the lost? What would it cost us to hand out a Gospel tract, or speak a word in witness to our redemption? What would it take for us to be shaken out of our apathy and see sinners in their desperate peril of hell’s flames?

Get a match, light it, and quickly blow it out. Smell the sulphurous odour that comes from the match… that’s what the lost will smell for eternity, magnified a million times. Do we care that they are going there? May God grant us a love for lost souls, and a desire to see them delivered from perdition! -Jim MacIntosh

And He said unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many. Luke 14:16

As a political reporter in the 1970’s, it was my privilege to attend some rather lavish banquets. I remember one in which the Province of New Brunswick hosted then Governor General Edward Schreyer on his first official visit to the province. The ballroom was spectacularly adorned, the tables were beautifully set, and the guests were dressed to the nines. I had no idea there were as many tuxedos in the province as I saw that day. The serving staff was fast and efficient, and the foot was wonderful. Premier Richard Hatfield made a pretty flowery speech to introduce the Governor General, and the guest of honour – the Governor General – trotted out his best oratory skills to enthrall and delight the audience. It was one of the most spectacular meals I have ever attended. When the banquet was over, and the speeches all said, and the guests filtered out through the lobby into the night, I went home. It all came to an end, except for the delightful memory, and has never been repeated. That’s not how the banquet to which the Lord Jesus invites us today ends!

The disciples would often look back on how they partook of the first supper with the Lord, as they met week by week in the years that followed. They would recite the events of that night and wonder how long the weekly remembrances would continue. They still continue today. The feast to which we gather today is a continuation of that to which our Saviour invited us in His own words. In physical terms, it does not compare to the great feasts and banquets of the world. But in spiritual terms, it soars far above anything this poor world can afford. The Guest of Honour is a Personage far above the governors general and VIPs of earth. Just the fact of His presence makes it the most important event of the day.

Our text tells us that the maker of the suppeer bade many. So did our Lord. He would that everyone would eat of His supper. But they will not come. So today, in small companies in scatterd places, the feast is held, the supper is eaten. Tickets to the Governor General’s supper were expensive, I hear. So too are the tickets to the supper to which we gather today. The tickets cost the very life blood of the One who invites us. For us, the tickets are free, but for Him, the price for our attendance was all that He had.

Let us appreciate this great Supper today, and come and thank the Lord Jesus for making it possible for us to attend. -Jim MacIntosh

For whither is easier: to say, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee’, or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? Matthew 9:5

This is a fascinating question Jesus asked. How would you answer it? What do you think is easier? Of course, either is easy to say, as long as it doesn’t involve actually doing anything. There are those around us today who claim to be able to forgive sins. There is a ritual involved, a confession is made, pennance is issued, and the sins are supposedly gone from the person’s record. The Word of God makes it clear that this is false, nothing more than an effort by religion to appease consciences and to raise money. There is nothing in the Bible to support such forgiveness. There are also people today who claim they can perform miracles of healing. Such miracles are performed during elaborate and noisy charismatic meetings. Most, of course are fake, and most are performed by men who worship money more than God. Those who claim today to be able to either forgive sins or to heal the lame are speaking either for their pocketbook or for their father the devil. But Jesus could – and did – make such claims.

The man who was healed might not have realized it right away, but the Saviour’s first pronouncement was the greatest. The man’s sins were forgiven. The ability to get up and walk was something that would have benefited the man for several decades at the most. But the forgiveness of his sins was of eternal benefit. This man was proclaimed fit for Glory; he could rejoice in the knowledge that when his body eventually succumbed to whatever disease of old age that would claim him, he was going to to to the place and the Person of all comfort, there to dwell forever. Beyond any doubt, the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins was the greater of the two miracles that man received that day.

As people pour out many thousands of dollars for their health; as the country to the south struggles with multi-billion-dollar health care reforms, there is much interest on making and keeping ourselves healthy and mobile. Even among Christians, the greatest miracle would seem to be the giving of health to this sick man. Our priorities are wrong. Our bodies are temporary. Our soul is eternal. Much as we appreciate being healthy, to be forgiven is vastly more important.

What do you value more today, your health or your salvation? What do you work the hardest for, to see people reached and saved, or to see them helped in lesser more temporal ways? -Jim MacIntosh

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. 1 Timothy 4:1

If we look carefully at today’s text, we can surely believe that we are indeed in the latter days. Never in the history of the world have so many been enticed by seducing spirits, those flowery and exciting demonstrations of the charismatic movement, which claims to be operating in the power of the Holy Spirit but is instead operating in the power of seducing spirits of evil and error. The doctrines of devils is also becoming more and more commonplace around us as we see the false cults that deny the position and power of the Lord Jesus while raising up base and sinful men to the positions of prophets and demi-gods. We are not ignorant of much of this activity. However, We are unaware of how pervasive this evil has become in the world about us, and how much it affects even those of us who have trusted Christ.

Seducing spirits would have us believe that the end justifies the means, and that entertainment is a good way to draw people to meetings. Seducing spirits would have us believe that evil such as homosexuality and immorality is actually not all that bad. Seducing spirits would have us believe that the Moslems maybe do have some good ideas and it’s OK to let their leaders share the teaching of spiritual things to our young people. But God says the preaching of the cross – not the pounding of drums and twanging of guitars – is the power of God unto salvation. God says sin is just as sinful as it ever was, and homosexuality and immorality are still as abominable as they ever were. As for the Moslems, their doctrine is truly that of devils, with their vile prophet Mohammed having been one of the most satanic people who ever lived, preaching a god who bears no resemblance to the God of the Bible but is instead that old dragon, Satan.

Paul tells us that in these days, some shall depart from the faith because they give heed to these seducing spirits and devilish doctrines. Giving heed to these evil and godless things will lead to giving in to them; surrendering to the satanic. How we need to search our thoughts and attitudes to make sure we are not being softened to accept that which is from these spirits and doctrines!

Note that Paul says some will give heed. That suggests to us that some will not. Some will stand firmly on what the Word of God says concerning sin and evil. Some will stand firm on the proclamation of the Gospel. Some will stand firm for the principles of scripture concerning the gathering of the Lord’s People. Some will not deny the faith. Let us be among those who stand for God. -Jim MacIntosh

Only, let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel. Philippians 1:27

The word ‘Gospel’ is used twice in today’s text. What does our responsibility concerning the Gospel entail? A definition I read recently placed three crtitical aspects on our involvement in the Gospel: A message to be proclaimed (see Mark 16:15; 1 Corinthians 15:1); A Person to be presented (see Acts 8:35, Acts 9:20); and A lifestyle to be practiced (see today’s text and Titus 2:10). These three go together and cannot be separated if we are to be faithful in our Gospel duties toward God.

Not all of us can proclaim the message. But we can all support those who do in prayer and practical means. Not all of us have an opportunity to present Christ in the Gospel, but we can all be the kind of Christian who will not take away from the preaching of the cross. As to the third aspect, this is something that applies to all of us, we must all practice the lifestyle into which the Gospel has brought us.

Our conversation – that is, our manner of life – should be a commendation to the Gospel. Nothing about the way we live should bring reproach on the Gospel. Our neighbours and relatives should see no inconsistencies in the way we live and the faith that we profess. There should be no hint of immorality or ungodly behaviour. Nothing about us should cause the unsaved to be uninterested in hearing the Gospel. There is no room for hypocricy, which is probably the biggest hindrance to the preaching of the Gospel in North America today. How tragic for some poor sinners to go to hell because someone who claimed to be a Christian behaved shamefully un-Christlike!

Paul also reminded the Philippians of their responsibility to strive together. Unity in a Gospel effort is essential. How can we expect God to bless meetings in which some members of the Assembly throw themselves whole-heartedly into the effort and other members make it obvious that they just don’t care?

This is the season when a Gospel series is probably being held near enough for you to take an interest. Can you in good conscience invite people to attend Gospel meetings? Can you show unity with other Christians in effort and desire for God to save souls at this time? -Jim MacIntosh