Scripture
Which of you can truthfully accuse Me of sin?
~John 8:46, NLT
Quote
“Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. He either was or wasn’t and you either believe He is or that He is not.”
~William Franklin Graham
I’m sure you can find some vile things on YouTube. I haven’t seen any but of course, I have not looked in that direction. I love the fact that when a hymn or song comes to mind, all I have to do is spin my office chair and hit a button and I can hear a competent artist sing the song. YouTube also has great Christian films on the Apostles and other bible characters. There are great sermons on YouTube. Yesterday, I listened to what some call Billy Graham’s greatest sermon and it was on the deity of Christ. I am familiar with C.S. Lewis view on this subject and I am sure Lewis influenced Graham’s thoughts but Dr. Graham shared it in a slightly different way.
Concerning the deity of Christ: [1] If Jesus knew that He was not really God’s son and yet claimed to be: He is a fraud, imposter and charlatan. [2] If Jesus really believed He was the Son of God but was not, He was delusional or insane. [3] If Jesus was who He said He was: we had better take notice. He deserves more than our attention; He deserves our devotion and worship. Jesus fulfilled all the Messianic expectations. John the Baptist had some doubts {I’m sure a dungeon will do that to a person} and he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was truly the Messiah: this is Jesus response…“Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” These are the things that Isaiah predicts the Messiah will do and Jesus did them all. Note the list: blind see, lame walk, cancer cured, deaf hear and the dead are raised. What do these things have in common? A human, a mere human, cannot do them. Only God can do these things. Certainly this is evidence that Jesus was who He said He was and these are the things that impressed Nicodemus and Joseph.
I can’t share the entire sermon but the verse above {John 8:46} is proof that Jesus was God. LORD willing I will stand before two congregations and preach this Sunday and I can assure you, I will not open with this line…“Is there anyone out there who can accuse me of sin?” I would have to be crazy to ask such a question and the congregation might sit spell bound and not respond out of fear of my insanity but I can assure you, everyone out there who knows me can stand and say, “I can.” My friends know my sin, my wife knows my sin, my children know I am a sinner; even my grandkids know that Granddaddy is a sinner. I had some mild road rage with Josie riding with me the other day: it was mild, like “you moron, drive it or park it and put a house number on it…If you aren’t going to take a dumb get off of the commode.” Why do people feel like they have to stop dead in the middle of highway 36 before they turn? What intelligent person does this? It’s like these challenged people who stop on the Lawrence County Turnpike {Iron Man Road} to get mail out of a box: are you kidding me? Back to my very mild road rage: I don’t think Josie was impressed or amused: she will make some man a good wife someday.
It all boils down to FAITH. There is all kinds of evidence that Jesus is God but don’t wait for Him to coming surfing on a cloud and show you His nail scarred hands to prove that He is who He professed to be: this is not His way. Listen, if you are going to work with HIM, it has to be His way and that is faith. He has given you his word and His spirit and that’s all you are going to get. Now He can throw in a Red Sea or a Pentecost anytime He chooses but He doesn’t prove Himself to us. He is [like alive right now] and we either believe it or not. June fixes my breakfast everyday except weekends. I go to Jack’s on Saturday and fast on Sunday. She brought my breakfast to my office today and I ate with no hesitation. How could I do such a thing? Faith, I enjoyed my breakfast by faith. I didn’t see her prepare it; she could have put poison in my eggs but I don’t need to see her prepare my food because I TRUST her. Actually you cannot function in this world without FAITH. No one has greater faith than an atheist. He or she is standing in the middle of a garden and declaring: “There is no gardener.” Of course faith alone doesn’t save anyone, it is the OBJECT of our faith that saves. Put your FAITH in Jesus.
No, I did not get up late; I forgot to post the blog when I got to the office. Have a great day.