Were the Disciples Liars? by Adrian Rogers

APRIL 2

Were the Disciples Liars?

“But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise.”- 1 Corinthians 15:15

It’s one thing to be mistaken; it’s another thing to be a false witness. Were the disciples liars when they said Christ was risen? Were they deceivers? If so, why would they lie? People usually lie in order to gain something. But what gain did they have if Jesus Christ was still in the grave?

They died as martyrs. They were tortured, persecuted, and burned at the stake. They reddened the mouths of lions, were stoned, crushed, and humiliated. Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff. People tell lies to get out of trouble, not to get into trouble. A man may live for a lie, but few, if any will willingly die for a lie. No, they did not lie. Jesus Christ has indeed risen as they said!

If someone were to ask you, “What proof do you have that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead?”--what would you answer them? Are you prepared with a well-thought-out, logical answer?

The Search for the Sacred by Stephen Davey

The Search for the Sacred

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Newsweek ran an article entitled, "The Search for the Sacred." It was a typical article, speaking of the search and longing for spiritual truth, without ever mentioning Jesus Christ.

What I found most fascinating--and heartbreaking at the same time--is the way people responded to the article in the "Letters to the Editor" section of the following issue:

My parents had open minds and allowed me to explore different teachings and beliefs, rather than stifling me or limiting me to any one path. I'm grateful for that. As a youth, I studied Greek mythology and I read Frazier's The Golden Bow. I then read the Bible from cover to cover after a near-death experience. I have spent my life examining various philosophic and religious beliefs through independent study. And today, I have a deep and significant relationship with the god of my understanding.

This writer has obviously rejected the God of creation, having replaced Him with a god of her own creation.  Another wrote:

Although I didn't consciously seek the sacred in my travels during the last five years, I found it--at dawn in the Hong Kong botanical gardens, observing the Chinese practice Tai Chi. I found it on a drizzly morning in a London church listening to a rehearsal of a Mozart selection. I found it at midday in an outdoor Hindu temple in Bali, and at night in the Karnak temple in Luxor, Egypt. I found it in all of those places.

I wouldn't want this person's blended religion, but I'd sure like to have his frequent flyer miles!

Yet another respondent made this complaint:

Tell me, when are we atheists going to get equal time? We don't lack inner strength, peace, identity, self-esteem, or a purpose for living. What we do lack is the need to lean on a crutch of a fantasy figure who will make everything alright [sic], who will take care of us and forgive us, no matter what we do. We lack the desire to have our lives and loves defined by a two-thousand-year-old collection of documents. Atheists don't have all the answers, but at least we know that the place to start looking is within oneself, not into the ozone.

Wow! We certainly live in a world searching for spirituality. And how do we know which religion is right? Plato, a renowned Greek philosopher, provided an answer somewhat accidentally when he wrote, "It may be that someday there will come forth from God a logos  [Word], who will reveal all mysteries and make everything plain."

My friends, Plato's desire has been answered!  John 1 says that the logos or Word from God came and revealed Himself to  mankind. That same Word died on our behalf so we might be able to have a personal relationship with Him. Man's journey to search for God ends with... Jesus Christ.

Prayer Point: Ponder for a moment what an incredible privilege it is to know God and to be called His child. Then, thank Him for pursuing you, even to the point of death, and making it possible for you to know Him.

Extra Refreshment: Read John 1 and mark in your Bible the words that speak of God's revealing His truth to us through Christ (hint: came, dwelt, revealed).

---

April 2 / Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

They looked... and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" (Exod. 16:10).

Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud and when you have found it, continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.

Do not yield to discouragement no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.

Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you would flee from a viper. And be not slow in turning your back on it, unless you want to bite the dust in bitter defeat.

Search out God's promises and say aloud of each one: "This promise is mine." If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.

The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength into your soul.

At first you may not be conscious of this, still as you resolutely and uncompromisingly "snub" every tendency toward doubt and depression that assails you, you will soon be made aware that the powers of darkness are falling back.

Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, God-ward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, discourage us!

All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance.  --Selected

On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still gleamed like a circle of light. Then he slowly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky. He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings. The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle's domain. A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength. In those far away heights be had played with the lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once be forgot and flew too low. The soul is that eagle. This is not its home. It must not lose the skyward look. We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ. We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave. There is no time for the soul to stampede. Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!

"Keep looking up--
The waves that roar around thy feet,
Jehovah-Jireh will defeat
When looking up.

"Keep looking up--
Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;
The Light of Light shall fill thy soul
When looking up.

"Keep looking up--
When worn, distracted with the fight;
Your Captain gives you conquering might
When you look up."

We can never see the sun rise by looking into the west.
--Japanese Proverb

Ask for the Promises by Alistair Begg

DAILY DEVOTIONAL APRIL 2, 2018

Ask for the Promises

He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Isaiah 53:10

Ask God to fulfill this promise quickly, all you who love the Lord. It is easy work to pray when our desires are fixed and established on God's own promise. How can He who gave the word refuse to keep it? Immutable truth cannot demean itself by a lie, and eternal faithfulness cannot degrade itself by neglect. God must bless His Son; His covenant binds Him to it.

The Spirit prompts us to ask for Jesus what God the Father decrees to give Him. Whenever you are praying for the kingdom of Christ, let your eyes behold the dawning of the blessed day that draws near, when the Crucified will receive His coronation in the place where men rejected Him.

Take courage, you who prayerfully work for Christ with only scant success—it will not always be this way; better times are ahead. Your eyes cannot see the wonderful future: borrow the telescope of faith; wipe the misty breath of your doubts from the viewfinder; look through it and behold the coming glory.

Reader, let us ask, do you make this your constant prayer? Remember that the same Christ who tells us to say, "Give us each day our daily bread," first gave us this petition, "Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Do not let your prayers be all about your own sins, your own desires, your own imperfections, your own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder and get up to Christ Himself, and then as you draw near to the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, offer this prayer continually: "Lord, extend the kingdom of Your dear Son."

When you fervently present such a petition, it will elevate the spirit of all your devotions. Make sure that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by working to promote the Lord's glory.

Tools for Life by David Jeremiah

Monday, April 2 Tools for Life    Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, [Ezra] read from the Book of the Law of God. Nehemiah 8:18    Imagine you’ve hired a contractor to carry out some major remodeling on your home. You open the door to find a man dressed in casual clothes and no sign of tools or workers. Expressing surprise, you ask him if he is there to begin work and he says, “Yes, I am!” When you ask where his tools and workers are, he says, “Well, I’ll figure something out!”

Recommended Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

This is a man who is not “thoroughly equipped” for his job (2 Timothy 3:17). And sometimes we find ourselves not equipped for the job of living life. But sometimes we meet people who are—they possess a sense of wisdom, of peace, of contentment, and of purpose that amazes us. When we get to know them, we discover they have spent consistent time, for many years, studying the Word of God. The doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction they have gained is evident in their lives (2 Timothy 3:16).    Don’t show up for the job of life without the tools you need. Let the Word of God thoroughly equip you for life.    The truly wise man is he who always believes the Bible against the opinion of any man.  R. A. Torrey

Anonymous Kindness April 2, 2018

Read: Matthew 6:1–4 Bible in a Year: Judges 16–18; Luke 7:1–30 When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.—Matthew 6:3 When I first graduated from college, I found myself needing to adopt a strict grocery budget—twenty-five dollars a week, to be exact. One day, while entering the checkout line, I suspected the groceries I’d selected cost slightly more than my remaining money. “Just stop when we reach twenty dollars,” I told the cashier, and I was able to purchase everything I’d selected but a bag of peppers. As I was about to drive home, a man stopped by my car. “Here’s your peppers, ma’am,” he said, handing the bag to me. Before I had time to thank him, he was already walking away. Remembering the simple goodness of this act of kindness still warms my heart and brings to mind Jesus’s words in Matthew 6. Criticizing those who made a show of giving to the needy (v. 2), Jesus taught His disciples a different way. Instead of making giving all about them and their generosity, He urged that giving should be done so secretly it’s like their left hand isn’t even aware their right is giving (v. 3)! As one person’s anonymous kindness reminded me, giving should never be about us. We give only because of what our generous God has so lavishly given us (2 Corinthians 9:6-11). As we give quietly and generously, we reflect who He is—and God receives the thanksgiving only He deserves (v. 11). —Monica Brands Have you ever been the recipient of anonymous kindness? Share your story at Facebook.com/ourdailybread. Giving quietly and generously reflects God’s generosity. INSIGHT: Today’s article describes acts of giving motivated by humility and kindness. There is no greater example of kindness and generosity than our God. Paul wrote that God’s kindness was at the heart of our rescue: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us” (Titus 3:4-5). Peter challenged to spiritual growth those who had “tasted the kindness of the Lord” (1 Peter 2:3 NASB). And Paul wrote to the Romans: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 NASB). Paul made it clear that God’s kindness is behind the call to repent—to change our minds about our sin and our need of God’s forgiveness. When we are generous to others, we model the generosity and kindness our loving God has shown to us. Bill Crowder

Helpful or Heartless Toward Others? by Oswald Chambers

Helpful or Heartless Toward Others? It is Christ…who also makes intercession for us….the Spirit…makes intercession for the saints…  ROMANS 8:34, 27 Do we need any more arguments than these to become intercessors– that Christ “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25), and that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for the saints”? Are we living in such a relationship with others that we do the work of intercession as a result of being the children of God who are taught by His Spirit? We should take a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us? Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship? If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works His miracles. Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don’t worship God, and we fail to intercede. If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness toward God and despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them. We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing them with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord. Are our lives in the proper place so that we may participate in the intercession of our Lord and the Holy Spirit? From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition Bible in One Year: Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. from Biblical Ethics, 111 L

Jesus: Obedient Unto Death by Charles Stanley

Philippians 2:5-11

Imagine someone asking whether Jesus is Lord of your life.  Unsure how you’d respond? Then think back to the last time God commanded you to do something. If following through was just too hard to face, it’s likely you haven’t yet given Jesus lordship over your life. When Christians feel the need to confer with anyone before obeying what they know God is telling them to do, an idol is likely in the way—whether it’s pride, a relationship, or an aspiration.

Our Father understands that obeying Him can be a challenge for everyone—including the Son. We can be encouraged by Jesus’ example in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He was wrestling in prayer with His Father’s will. Jesus was committed to being obedient but still struggled. Have you ever wondered what He saw in the “cup” when He prayed that God would let it pass from Him, if possible? (Matt. 26:39). At least four things would have made any of us want to push that cup away:

1. The suffering Jesus would endure when He was crucified.
2. The sin burden of the entire world.
3. The desertion of His disciples. 
4. The separation He would feel from His Father.

We correctly see Jesus as God, but sometimes we forget that we cannot separate His humanity from His deity. His suffering and pain were greater than any we will ever know. And yet, though grieved to the point of death, He made a choice to obey the Father, demonstrating to us that we too can do even the most difficult things when we live in submission to God.

Draw Near / EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

The crowd around the cross would meet again. Pilate, Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas thought it was all over when they buried Jesus, but how wrong they were! The priests had taken all precautions. Soldiers guarding the tomb were paid off. Followers of Jesus were disbanded and worshipers threatened. Christ, Who had risen from the dead, was missing; some said He had ascended.

Fifty days after the crucifixion and ten days after the alleged ascension, the city of Jerusalem was astounded by the most dramatic event in its history. Thousands thronged near a tiny upper-story room where 120 believers had been secretly praying and waiting. From that meeting, a missionary effort would arise that would reach the entire world. A spiritual explosion occurred which the priests and officials could never contain. God's Holy Spirit had filled these believers, and they would charge through the world with the glorious news.

Because they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke boldly about Christ; people recognized they had been with Jesus; and they could not keep silent even though threatened, beaten, and jailed. Even during persecution, they prayed for power rather than deliverance. The entire world would be shaken by these believers. Today, before Christ returns, we can move our world as those men did theirs. 

Jesus--the same yesterday, today, and forever--can fill us so full of the Holy Spirit that we too can speak boldly, show by our countenance we have been with Christ, and be so overjoyed with the Lord that we cannot help but tell what we have seen and heard.

“This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭4:11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What Happened to the Shadow? by Adrian Rogers

APRIL 1

What Happened to the Shadow?  

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” - 1 Corinthians 15:55

There was a great preacher once whose wife died. Their little girl didn’t fully understand all that had happened. But one day while she was in the car with her father, she saw the shadow of a truck passing by. The setting sun made the shadow huge, much bigger than the truck.

The little girl said, “Daddy, look at the big shadow.”

He said, “Sweetheart, would you rather be hit by the shadow of the truck or by the truck?”

“That's easy,” she said, “I'd much rather be hit by the shadow.”

He said, “That's right, darling. And it was only the shadow that hit Mama. The truck hit Jesus two thousand years ago at Calvary.”

That’s why David calls it “the valley of the shadow of death.” Jesus has taken the sting out of death, the dread out of the grave! He has become our victor!

Many people fear death-- a shadow looming over each of us, representing the unknown. Yet Jesus disarmed death and took away its power. The believer in Christ can have this assurance: beyond that shadow is the sunlight of the eternal morning. Speak with the Lord right now and share with Him something you fear. He already knows about it anyway. Picture yourself giving that fear over to Him. Place it in the nail-scarred Hand. It is a risen, victorious Hand!

April 1 / Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

Though he slay me, yet will I trust him (Job 13:15).

For I know whom I have believed (2 Tim. 1:12).

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I will believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil worketh good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:
'I trust in Thee.'

I will not doubt, though all my prayers return
Unanswered from the still, white realm above;
I will believe it is an all-wise love
Which has refused these things for which I yearn;
And though at times I cannot keep from grieving,
Yet the pure ardor of my fixed believing
Undimmed shall burn.

I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like bees about a hive.
I will believe the heights for which I strive
Are only reached by anguish and by pain;
And though I groan and writhe beneath my crosses.
I yet shall see through my severest losses
The greater gain.

I will not doubt. Well anchored is this faith,
Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale;
So strong its courage that it will not quail
To breast the mighty unknown sea of death.
Oh, may I cry, though body parts with spirit,
'I do not doubt,' so listening worlds may hear it,
With my last breath.

"In fierce storms," said an old seaman, "we must do one thing; there is only one way: we must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there." This, Christian, is what you must do.

Sometimes, like Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you; and then you can do but one thing; there is only one way. Reason cannot help you; past experiences give you no light. Even prayer fetches no consolation. Only a single course is left. You must put your soul in one position and keep it there.

You must stay upon the Lord; and come what may--winds, waves, cross-seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers--no matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm, and hold fast your confidence in God's faithfulness, His covenant engagement, His everlasting love in Christ Jesus.
--Richard Fuller

It Is Time by Alistair Begg

It Is Time

It is the time to seek the Lord.
Hosea 10:12

The month of April is said to derive its name from the Latin verb aperio, which means to open, because all the buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the gates of the flowery season.

Reader, if you are not yet saved, may your heart, in keeping with the universal awakening of nature, be opened to receive the Lord. Every blossoming flower warns you that it is time to seek the Lord; do not be out of tune with nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires. If you tell me that the warm blood of youth leaps in your veins, then I entreat you, give your vigor to the Lord. It was my unspeakable happiness to be called in early youth, and I am thankful to the Lord every day for that. Salvation is priceless, let it come when it may, but oh, an early salvation has a double value in it.

Young men and women, since you may die before you reach your prime, "It is the time to seek the Lord." You who feel the first signs of decay, quicken your pace: That chest pain, that biopsy report, are warnings that you must not trifle with; with you it is definitely time to seek the Lord. Did I observe a little gray, a little thinning in your hair? Years are flying by, and death is drawing nearer by the day; let each return of spring arouse you to set your house in order.

Dear reader, if you are now advanced in years, let me entreat and implore you to delay no longer. There is a day of grace for you now—be thankful for that—but it is a limited season and grows shorter every time the clock ticks. Here in the silence of your room, on this first night of another month, I speak to you as best I can by paper and ink, and from my inmost soul, as God's servant, I lay before you this warning, "It is the time to seek the Lord." Do not make light of this; it may be your last call from destruction, the final syllable from the lip of grace. 

Anticipating Jesus' Death by John MacArthur

STRENGTH FOR TODAY

Anticipating Jesus' Death  “‘After two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion’” (Matthew 26:2). Jesus adhered perfectly to God’s timetable for His death, which was part of the Father’s larger plan of redemption. The history of redemption most definitely centers on the cross of Jesus Christ. Hymn writer John Bowring expressed this fact well: In the cross of Christ I glory, Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time. All the light of sacred story Gathers round its head sublime. The apostle Paul was so convinced of the central importance of Christ’s death on the cross that he told the Corinthians, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Paul knew that without the cross of Christ there is no salvation and no true Christianity. Jesus Himself knew the length of His earthly life was determined by God’s sovereign timetable and that the time of His death could not be altered or thwarted. Concerning control over His life, He declared, “I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:18). As the Son of God, Jesus was able to look forward to His death and even predict that it would be in Jerusalem and that He would rise on the third day (Matt. 16:21). During Jesus’ ministry, people such as the Jewish leaders unknowingly threatened God’s timetable when they sought to kill Him. But all premature attempts to murder Christ failed because they did not fit into God’s sovereign plan for how, when, and why Jesus should die on the cross (John 1:29; Acts 2:23-24). But Jesus’ reference to the Passover in Matthew 26:2 did fit into God’s plan; our Lord’s suffering and death was perfectly timed to coincide with that celebration. Passover was known by the Jews as the festival in which sacrificial lambs were slain, but now the death of the Lamb of God would forever replace Passover’s importance. We can take great comfort in all this, knowing “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7) and that Jesus the Lamb was “foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of [us]” (1 Peter 1:19-20). Suggestions for Prayer Thank the Lord that His sovereign plan for Christ’s sacrificial death could not be changed by man’s will. For Further Study Read John 10:1-18, and select several verses for meditation and memorization. What does the passage say about the nature of salvation? From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

Despised for All of This April 1, 2018

Read: Isaiah 53:3–12 Bible in a Year: Judges 13–15; Luke 6:27–49 He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.—Isaiah 53:12 Susannah Cibber gained fame in the eighteenth century for her talent as a singer. However, she was equally well known for her scandalous marital problems. That’s why when Handel’s Messiah was first performed in Dublin in April 1742, many in the audience did not approve of her role as a featured soloist. During that inaugural performance, Cibber sang of the Messiah: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3 kjv). Those words so moved Rev. Patrick Delany that he jumped to his feet and said, “Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!” The connection between Susannah Cibber and the theme of Handel’s Messiah is evident. The “man of sorrows”—Jesus the Messiah—was “despised and rejected” because of sin. The prophet Isaiah said, “My righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (v. 11). The connection between Messiah and us is no less apparent. Whether we stand with the judgmental audience members, with Susannah Cibber, or somewhere in between, we all need to repent and receive God’s forgiveness. Jesus, by His life, death, and resurrection, restored our relationship with God our Father. For this—for all Jesus did—be all our sins forgiven. —Tim Gustafson Father in heaven, we all stand in need of Your forgiveness. We stand too in awe of Your Son Jesus, who was despised and rejected for our sins. Thank You for coming to us in Jesus 2,000 years ago so that we might know You now. Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Revelation 19:6 kjv