Tag: rejection

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Hebrews

If we choose to reject Christ

Hebrews

What will you do with Christ?

When all is said and done, that is the ultimate question that everyone has to answer.

For those who decide to put their trust in him, they find life, both here in this world and in the world to come.

But for those who hear the message of Christ and reject it, there is no hope for them in this life or in the life to come.

And that’s what the writer of Hebrews warns in this passage. He says,

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  (Hebrews 10:26-29)

What is the writer saying here?

If we deliberately sin by rejecting Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, there is no other way of salvation. There is no other sacrifice God will accept, whether it be animal sacrifice, the sacrifice of “good” deeds, of money, or anything else.

The writer tells us that even with the Mosaic law, a law brought by angels (2:2), people would perish for their rebellion against God on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more then will people be punished for continuing to rebel against God when Christ himself offers us this salvation bought with his own blood? 

It’s as if we are treating the precious blood he shed on the cross as if it were nothing. As if it were just ordinary blood as common as a bull’s or a goat’s.

And in rejecting Christ, we trample him under foot and insult the Holy Spirit himself.

The consequences of such behavior?

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (30-31)

In short, we will be judged. If we will not let Christ pay the penalty for our sin, we will have to pay it ourselves for all eternity. And there will be no escape.

How about you? What will you do with Christ? Will you accept the gift of grace he offers that he paid for with his own blood?

Or will you spit on his gift, and continue to rebelliously walk your own way?

You can receive his grace or you can receive his wrath. Which will you choose? 

Categories
Acts

A pattern of rejection

Acts

In this passage, we see the church’s first martyr, Stephen. Stephen was one of the seven deacons that had been chosen by the apostles in the first part of chapter 6.

But in preaching the Word of Christ, he came into conflict with the Jewish leaders, and he was hauled before the Sanhedrin, with false witnesses testifying against him.

When asked to give his defense, Stephen went into a detailed account of Israel’s history. His main point? That the Jews, time and again, rejected those God had sent to save them.

They did it with Joseph, sending him to Egypt as a slave, only to have Joseph save their lives later from the famine that had struck their land.

They did it with Moses, not only rejecting him before his encounter with God at the bush, but after he had led them out of Egypt.

This pattern continued even after they entered the land God had promised them as they rejected the words of the prophets and worshiped false idols.

And now, they had rejected the Christ himself. And still they claimed they were God’s people because they worshiped in his temple. But as Stephen said,

The Most High does not live in houses made by men.

As the prophet says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.’

What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things? (Acts 7:48-50)

In other words, “The temple means nothing if you have rejected and murdered the one God sent to save you!”

The Sanhedrin’s response? They continued in the pattern of their fathers. They murdered a man sent to warn them to repent.

How about you? What kind of pattern do you have in your life?

You may be religious. You may go to church every week and do a lot of good things. But if you reject Jesus as Lord and Savior and reject those who share the gospel with you, all your religious acts mean nothing to God.

Instead, you will find yourself condemned along with all the others throughout history who have rejected Jesus and those whom Jesus has sent to warn them.

There is only one way of salvation, and that’s through Christ. Won’t you receive him today?

Father, I have sinned. All my life, I have lived my own way and rejected the One you sent to save me. Jesus thank you for dying on the cross to take the punishment for all the wrong things I have done.

Now I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Spirit, and teach me how to follow you each day. In your name I pray. Amen.

Categories
John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

What has been written

The gospels

The interaction between Pilate and the chief priests is very interesting. Pilate put up the “charge” against Jesus, calling him the “King of the Jews.”

The priests immediately went up to Pilate, asking him to change it to, “He claimed to be king of the Jews.” But Pilate simply replied, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:21-22)

It strikes me that many people take the same kind of attitude toward Jesus that the Jews did.

They don’t want to recognize Jesus as their king. They don’t want to admit that he’s God’s Son. They don’t want to admit he’s the only way of salvation.

So they complain to Christians saying, “He just claimed to be the king. He just claimed that he was God’s Son. He just claimed that he’s the only way. But don’t go telling us that he really is all these things. We don’t believe it.”

But unlike Pilate, we have a higher authority than ourselves to point to. And we simply have to say, “What God has written in his Word, he has written. You cannot change what he has said. Nor can you convince him to change his mind.

What he has said is fixed for all eternity. And all your unbelief will not change it.”

People won’t like to hear that. The chief priests certainly didn’t. But the question is not whether you like it or not. The question is whether it’s true.

And the question is whether you will bend your heart to that truth or attempt to bend the truth to what you want to believe.

But if you try to do the latter, it’s not the truth that will shatter, but you.

Jesus said of himself,

Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone (that is, Jesus) the builders (the chief priests and other religious leaders) rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’…

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. (Matthew 21:42, 44)

The chief priests rejected Jesus, and as a result their whole world was shattered. Jerusalem was conquered, their temple destroyed, and worse, they will find themselves condemned before God on judgment day.

The same will happen to anyone who rejects Christ. What God has written is written.

The only question is, “What will you do with what he has said?”

Categories
Luke Luke 22 Mark Mark 14 Matthew Matthew 26

The ultimate question

The gospels

The trial of Jesus was an atrocity on many levels.

Among them, the priests and Sanhedrin knew Jesus was innocent. Yet because of their jealousy and hatred of Jesus, they were desperate to find a reason to kill him.

Jewish law required that two witnesses agree before condemning a person, but time after time, the testimony was completely uncollaborated.

Finally, they seemed to find two people that could agree. Two witnesses came up and said that Jesus had threatened to destroy the temple and that he would build a new one.

This, though Jesus had meant, “Though you destroy this temple, I will raise it up,” and that he was referring to his death and resurrection, not the destroying of the Jewish temple. (John 2:19-21).

As a result, there were contradictions between what even the two witnesses said and in the end, their testimony became completely invalidated.

The high priest was so frustrated at that point, that he finally questioned Jesus directly, and when Jesus refused to answer, he said,

I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. (Matthew 26:63)

And that is the ultimate question. Who is Jesus? Is he really the Christ? Is he really the Son of God? Because if he is, we owe him our lives. More than that, we are accountable to him.

Jesus warned them as such, saying,

But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:64)

The reference is to Daniel 7, where all authority, glory, and power were given to the Messiah, and judgment would be pronounced on all who warred against him.

The reaction of the priests and Sanhedrin? Rejection. They refused to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. That he was their Messiah. Instead, they accused him of blasphemy and condemned him to death.

Many people do the same today.

They are exposed to the gospel. They are exposed to the claims of Christ. And they reject him. They trample underfoot the one who loved them enough to die for them.

As a result, the writer of Hebrews tells us they will be judged. (Hebrews 10:28-30)

But for all who believe in him and receive him, he gives the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

The choice is yours. What will you choose? What will you do with Christ?

Categories
John John 9

A picture of salvation

John

After Jesus healed this man blind from birth, it caused quite a stir as we see in this chapter. But through this story, we see a beautiful picture of salvation.

We see, first of all, that this man was blind from birth. In the same way, we also were born spiritually blind and spiritually dead.

Then Jesus came for us. It wasn’t that this blind man sought Jesus. Jesus sought him out, and touched him. And though we, like this blind man, were not even seeking God, he sought us and touched us.

The man was then told to wash in the pool of Siloam. This is a picture of baptism, both our spiritual baptism in which God washes us of our sin, and of our physical baptism in which we proclaim to the world what God has done for us.

The man now seeing, the change was so dramatic that people could barely recognize him, saying,

Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg? (John 9:8)

Some people said yes, others said it couldn’t be, and the man had to insist that it was really him.

People often respond the same way to us after we become Christians.

Sometimes the change in us is so dramatic, that people can barely recognize us, and wonder, “Is this really the same person,” giving us the opportunity to give our testimony as this man did.

Like the man, however, we often don’t know so much when we first become Christians.

But as time goes on, we start to get a clearer idea of just who Jesus is. To this man, Jesus was first simply, “a man,” then “a prophet,” then finally, “God’s Son.”

But though we give our testimony, and though the change is undeniable, yet some people will reject not only Christ, but us.

And that’s what happened with this man. First, they tried to convince the man that Jesus was a sinner, and not from God.

But when this man could not be shaken, they rejected him.

Even then, this man’s faith was not shaken. And when Jesus found him again, he fell at Jesus’ feet and worshiped him for the new life he had been given.

Let us be like this man. Grateful for the change that God has brought in our lives. Sharing boldly what we know (limited though it may be) with others. Standing fast in the face of opposition. And ever worshiping and seeking our Savior.

Categories
John John 7 Luke Luke 9

A time for judgment, a time for mercy

The gospels

I mentioned in the last blog that there will be people that hate us because of the truth that we represent.

I also said it’s important how we consider how we say it, and the spirit with which we talk to people.

We see the importance of this in this passage.

After Jesus’ brothers went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stayed behind for a while. For how long, we don’t know, but finally he went up.

From this time forward, most of his ministry appears to be done in Jerusalem and Judea, and it would be about six months before he would be crucified.

Before he reached Jerusalem, however, he passed one last time through Samaria. He had previously gone through Samaria, and had had great success early on in his ministry. (John 4)

But this time, the reception was much different. When he sent messengers ahead of him to prepare for his coming, the people rejected him because he was headed for Jerusalem.

There was still much antipathy between the Jews and Samaritans, and this was perhaps the main reason for their rejection of him.

The disciples were outraged. Here Jesus deigned to reach out to these Samaritans who, in the disciples’ minds, deserved nothing from him. And yet, they rejected him.

The disciples put up with the Samaritans from the other village (John 4) because they had accepted Jesus. But when this village rejected him, James and John said to Jesus,

Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? (Luke 9:54)

They were perhaps thinking of Elijah in the Old Testament, and how he had called down fire on those who had showed utter contempt for the prophet of God. (2 Kings 1)

But Jesus rebuked them. The New King James Version and (KJV) adds the words,

You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. (NKJV vs. 55-56)

Whether Jesus actually said those words are up for debate, but they do capture his spirit.

There would be a time of judgment coming for the Samaritans who rejected him. But the time was not now. He had come to die for their sins, not to destroy them for theirs.

And that’s the spirit we need to have now. Yes, there will be a time of judgment coming for those who reject Jesus and the truth he gives.

But that time is not now. So until that time, we need to be praying and working for people’s salvation. We need to keep reaching out in love with the truth that Jesus has given us.

And by God’s grace, some will be saved.

By no means should we delight in or desire people’s destruction, no matter how vile their sin. Jesus certainly didn’t. He died so that they wouldn’t have to.

What spirit do you have as you deal with the people around you, even those who reject Jesus?

Categories
Mark Mark 6 Matthew Matthew 13

When people we love refuse our testimony

The gospels

I mentioned before that there were two times Jesus was amazed. The first time was when he saw a Roman centurion’s great faith. (Matthew 8:5-13)

The second time was here. Jesus, by this point, had become well known throughout the nation. This was, in fact, the second time we see him visit his hometown after he had started his ministry.

But though the people noted his miracles, and they noted his wisdom, they refused to believe.

Why? Perhaps it was because they had the picture of a carpenter in their heads. A person who put together their tables, and all the other wooden things in their houses.

All that time, they had never thought of him as anything special. He was just “the carpenter.”

Or perhaps they still thought of him as that little boy who lived down the street. The one who played with their children, and who had visited their houses and shared their food.

But because of these things, they could not imagine taking instruction from him. They could not imagine that they could learn anything from him. And so they took offense at him when he tried to teach them.

That’s why Jesus said,

Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor. (Mark 6:4)

What can we take from this? I think there are two things.

First, God can speak to us through the most unexpected of people. But we can miss it if we’re too busy looking down on them.

Sometimes we look down on them because they are younger than us and less experienced. Maybe we look down on them because they are less educated.

Essentially, what it comes down to, whether we admit it or not, is that we look down on them because we don’t think God thinks much of them. And because we think that way, we do not receive the things that they say.

But God can use the old and the young, the educated and uneducated, to speak to us.

He can use the pastor you respect, and he can use the brother or sister or neighbor that annoyed you when you were a kid (and maybe still does annoy you).

If anyone has given their lives to the Lord, the Holy Spirit is living in them, and he can and will speak through them. The question is, do we have a heart that is humble enough to listen? A heart that can see beyond the person to the Spirit that is in them.

The second thing we can learn is that there will be some people that will reject your testimony simply for the reasons I mentioned above.

If it happened to Jesus, and he was perfect, how can you be surprised if it happens to you when you are far from perfect?

You can’t control that. You can’t make someone believe. All you can do is share what God has given you and done for you. And if they reject your testimony, pray for them.

Because there is only one person who can change the human heart, and that’s God.

So in short, don’t get discouraged when people reject your testimony. Stay humble. And always be on the watch for whenever God may be speaking to you. If you do, you’ll find that he speaks a lot more than you ever realized.