No More Blood Sacrifices Required

Berean Baptist on August 26, 2019

Many sacrifices of the Mosaic Law were not fully understood by the Old Testament saints who practiced them. We have the advantage of the New Testament which helps decipher aspects of them that were unknown to ancient believers. We have knowledge of the resurrected living Christ who is the antitype of the symbols.

It is not knowledge of symbols so obscure and deeply hidden that only a few can discover them through uncommon intellect. These truths are discovered to any Bible student who will do the work of digging through the texts, praying for guidance, and carefully thinking them through. The key is that we can put Old and New Testaments together to uncover the fascinating picture of Christ that emerges from them. The picture is multifaceted and is only seen as the depths of scripture are mined. I am confident if you study and apply, you will see patterns emerge, and you will find yourself with many “aha” moments in which you say, “Why didn’t I think of that before?”

One of the most mind-boggling aspects of the sacrifices is the sheer volume of animals required to make them all. Sacrifices were made every morning and evening of every day—a lamb in the morning and a lamb in the evening. On the first day of each month, the number increased to two bulls, one ram, one goat, and seven lambs. On high feast days, such as the Day of Atonement, more animals were needed. But perhaps nothing is as stunning as the dedication of the temple by Solomon. Over a fourteen-day period, 142,000 animals were offered. There were so many the altar constructed for the purpose could not handle them. Solomon had to sanctify the middle court to give more space for more altars. This caused a lasting impression to be indelibly stamped on the people. The shedding of blood is required to satisfy God as atonement for sin. Hebrews says if no blood is shed there is no forgiveness of sin.

I would like to emphasize this because modern theologians desperately rewrite biblical history to get rid of the blood connection to the salvation of souls. They do not want the blood of the cross because they believe it is barbaric. At least they do not want God to have anything to do with it. They say if God sacrificed His Son, He is a cosmic child abuser. Rather, it was man’s idea there should be a cross and Christ was crucified on man’s initiative not God’s. This denies the plain statements of the Bible such as found in Acts 2 and divorces Old Testament worship in sacrifices from anything to do with the plan of redemption.

This rewrite of biblical theology is devastating to the salvation of the fallen race. Embracing this error is fatal in its consequences, for man can never be reconciled to God without the blood. We cannot entertain any doctrine that devalues the blood atonement. Therefore, rather than lessen the impact by running away from the sacrifices in order to sooth spiritually squeamish weaklings, we accentuate them as much as possible by learning the sacrificial system in all its glorious difficult implications.

We are thankful blood sacrifices need not be made today, but this is only because the value of Christ’s blood is infinite. His death did what 142,000 animal sacrifices and millions more could not do. Thank God for the cross. The Son of God is the last sacrifice forever.

                                                          Pastor V. Mark Smith

For Sale: The Gospel: Are You Buying?

Berean Baptist on December 4, 2017

Our focus in this article is the real meaning of the gospel, which sadly is distorted and misunderstood by many. The gospel is the good news, but what particularly is this news?

Some say it is the news that God has a wonderful plan for your life. I believe this is far too simplistic even to the point of being almost heretical. There are many who have a very bad plan mapped for their lives because God has no dealings with them. To assume God has a good plan for them that might not happen is too have too little confidence that He is able to make any plan happen. On the other hand, for those who hear and believe, it is rare their lives include much good—at least not an attractive good that would cause them to come to Christ. Jesus said the lives of His people would be filled with suffering. They would be hated, ridiculed, and considered the scum of the earth.

As we know, God’s wonderful plan is for the afterlife which puts us in the position of enduring the world until this plan is realized. This is not to say a Christian cannot be happy and find peace and contentment in this life. The apostles suffered beatings for their preaching, and yet they rejoiced they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Most do not consider this their kind of joy.

Rarely do we find an honest approach with the gospel. Most feel they must sell the gospel as the most attractive offer you can get. If the pot is not sweetened enough, nobody will buy. However, the real gospel does not need to be sold. The Holy Spirit is not concerned whether people weigh the pros and cons of believing and decide accordingly. The Spirit convicts the heart and brings the person to Christ despite all his objections. He makes us willing to receive the gospel when before we were dead set against it. No matter how bad it looks, people will come to Christ because they have been made willing through His power (Psalms 110:3).

In the days of the apostles, it was impossible to hide the negative aspects of belief in Christ. People could see what it meant to follow Him. Christians lining the roads for miles on crosses was a pretty good indication what it meant to trust Christ. If this is what you were selling, they weren’t buying. In one interesting case in Acts 5, it wasn’t enemies that killed Christians—it was God. Two believers were struck dead for lying to God. In that passage, it says fear came on the people. Many wanted nothing to do with the apostles for fear they would be killed as well. Interestingly, those that were drawn to Christ continued to come and the church continued its rapid growth.

Is it necessary to resort to deceitful tactics and hide the truth? A gospel that is not radical and changes the lives of those who believe is no gospel at all. The good news is the saving power of Christ not a short, sweet version that involves little to no commitment. The gospel may cost your life. It declares the wrath of God against sin and the penalty in hell for those who commit them. It provides the alternative for eternal death by repentance from all sin, faith in Jesus Christ alone, and surrender to His Lordship over the life.

This kind of commitment is not good news for those looking for comfort. Christianity does not end life’s problems. It may very well create many more. You cannot sell this because nobody is buying. Tell the truth. The truth is used by the Holy Spirit to save no matter how difficult it is to believe.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Unparalleled Sorrow

Berean Baptist on May 22, 2017

Psalm 88

Each week when I write on the Psalms, I begin in nearly the same way. I do a simple reading of the text to see if there is anything that stands out and speaks to me in a special way. Next, I go to commentaries to see what others have said and usually to pick up some historical background. When I finished reading this psalm, I said to myself, “Oh man, how sad and how so much like Christ!” I did not feel I needed to go further because it sounded so much like the agony of Christ as He went through the sorrows of the cross.

The psalm needs a comment on every verse, but I cannot do that here. As you read, the parallels to Jesus are so striking that you will not miss my commentary. Surprisingly though, after reading commentary, there were some commentators that made no connection to Christ. Since apparently it can be missed, let me point out just a few verses. Once you see the pattern, you can easily fill in the blanks.

Notice verse 4: “I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength.” In Jesus dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All power belonged to Him, but as a man He subjected Himself to the weaknesses of the flesh. He was cruelly beaten until it was impossible for Him to lift His cross. He was a man with all strength taken away.

Verse 7: “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou has afflicted me with all thy waves.” God poured out on Him the fury of hell because He had taken sin on Him. No one knows the extent of the pain and suffering. It was the equivalent of the infinite suffering of hell for those who would believe.

Verse 8: “Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou has made me an abomination unto them…” Who can help but think of Peter who cursed in his denial, “I do not know the man!”

Verse 11: “Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?” Jesus knew the Father would raise Him. If He agreed to die, the Father would complete the plan. A dead and corrupted Christ in the grave would dishonor the Father. He must be raised to take on a glorified body. He is the firstfruits of the resurrection which ensures the Father would be glorified in our resurrection.

Verse 14: “LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?” Does this not sound like, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Verse 15: “I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up…” As just a boy, Jesus said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” As a young man He said, “For this cause came I into the world.” What cause? The cruel death of the cross. He lived with the view of where He was going from the time He was old enough to understand.

Someone wrote this is the saddest of all the psalms. Who cannot agree when it gives such a vivid picture of the sorrows of Christ? He went lower than anyone has ever gone. Here is our solace. To the bitterest of depths went Christ (v.6), but He arose triumphantly over the grave. Sin, Satan, death, and hell are defeated. His sorrow is your joy, for by believing in Him the dark night of the worst terrors is done.

 

Oh the grace of Christ the Sovereign to receive around His throne

Distant souls from every nation, once estranged, but now His own!

Bound by blood, we’ll stand together, unified by love’s great cost;

With one voice, we’ll sing forever, “Thank you, Jesus, for the cross!”

 

I Am Poor and Needy

Berean Baptist on December 19, 2016

But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying. (Psalms 70:5)

I wrote this article while sitting in the food court at Chicago O’Hare waiting for my flight to continue my trip home to Lexington, KY. It was a long, long layover, so I decided to make use of my time by doing a little bit of work. I really don’t consider it so much work but rather the privilege of consuming my time with the Word of God.

As we were waiting on the plane to disembark at the Chicago airport, the lady in front of me stood up and I noticed she was wearing a beautiful diamond studded cross around her neck. I was thinking about this cross as I sat down to write this article. I had forgotten what Psalm I was dealing with this week, so when I opened my Bible I was struck by verse 5 of Psalm 70. David wrote, “I am poor and needy.” The diamond studded cross around the lady’s neck was a glaring contrast to these words, but more importantly to the whole idea of a cross.

Our spiritual need is expressed by the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor in spirit are those who realize they are spiritually bankrupt with no hope to lift themselves from the throes of their deep poverty. We would think that in order to deliver the bankrupt it would take an abundance of riches. Who can help someone who is poor if they are equally poor? Despite the paradox, this is what Christ did. He became poor, forsaking the riches of heaven in order that we might be made rich. The cross He went to was not embossed with jewels because no such crosses existed. His cross was rough, splintered, and blood stained. It represented the most reprehensible death possible, and most criminals that experienced it were considered dangerous threats to society.

David said, “I am poor and needy” and in order for Christ to meet His need He went down to the place David was. Jesus is able to succor us because He feels our infirmities having experienced all we have been through. I scarcely believe Jesus would think a cross of diamonds would fairly represent who He is. This shows just how little most people understand of the reproach of the cross. If we knew it at all, no one would ever make a piece of jewelry of it. We would be horrified to wear it for such a misplaced purpose as an ornament of beauty.

I was not able to speak with this lady and I am sure she would not want to hear my opinion of her cross. She may have been a well-meaning Christian that was making a statement of her faith. On the other hand, she may have been like those who think such religious ornaments are required as meritorious acts that aid in salvation. A third option is that she likes beautiful, expensive jewelry not even thinking of belief in the one who died on the cross. The last two options are dangerous. Misapplying the work of the cross or ignoring its significance leads both persons to the same punishment. Neither understands how poor and needy they are.

Do you understand how God really sees you, and do you know what Christ did to change how He looks at you? The cross makes the difference. If He sees the cross before He sees you, the cross has fulfilled its intended purpose.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Do You Hate Him?

Berean Baptist on December 5, 2016

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. (Psalms 69:4)

When commentators comment or preachers preach on the death of the cross, they write and speak with an outsider’s view. We speak without personal experience because we have not been through the great pain and suffering the Saviour endured. In this psalm, the story is not told from a commentator’s view, but from the mind of the precious Saviour Himself. This is one of the fascinating pre-manifestations of Christ as He speaks personally through the pen of David. His story concerns the terrible anguish He must endure.

The psalm begins with the analogy of a flood. Calvary is the place where the torrent of God’s judgment was unleashed upon Christ. Like a flood that completely overwhelms, the Saviour was engulfed with both the sins of the world and God’s’ wrath against it. I can imagine these statements may well have been a part of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane as He contemplated the death of the cross. Luke records His anguish was so great that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. The mental anguish was so great that capillaries burst pouring blood into His sweat as it beaded and fell to the ground.

There is much to consider in this psalm, but today I am drawn to verse 4 and this phrase: “They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head…” Jesus quoted this verse in John 15:25:  “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” They hated Him without cause is probably the most perplexing statement ever spoken. For what good reason should we turn our backs on the one who offers forgiveness, who saves us from certain destruction, and who promises the unfathomable blessings of heaven? Why are we not rather lost in wonders of ceaseless praise? And yet, we are not—none of us would have saved Jesus from the cross because we also hated Him without cause.

In the Lord’s Supper, we picture what men did to Christ. The bread is broken to symbolize the beating of His body. The cup is poured to reflect the blood pouring from the wounds in His head, His back, His hands, and His feet. As we solemnly partake of the symbols, we no longer hate Him. We are reconciled to Him by the cross, and the one we hated becomes precious. The contrast of the before and after picture is demonstrated by Peter: Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. (1 Peter 2:7-8)

We are humbled by the marvelous grace of our loving Lord who has made us partakers of the divine nature. Our sins are the cause of His torturous death, and His love is the cause of His triumphant redemption. The agony of Psalm 69 leaves us no excuse for any longer hating Him. When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).

Which side of the psalm are you on? Have you trusted Him? If not, you hate Him without a cause. If you are not with Him, you are against Him (Matt. 12:30). I sincerely hope you will trust Him today. The only way to find out why He is truly precious is to see Him from the safety of His mercy, love, and grace.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

Be Exalted, O God, Above the Heavens

Berean Baptist on September 19, 2016

Psalm 57:11

Many of the David’s psalms were born out of his pleadings to God for relief from oppression. I can imagine that when David was first anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel there must have been at least a small swelling of pride that he was God’s choice. This meant in due time he would enjoy the privileges of royalty. However, it wasn’t long before he discovered God’s favor would cause him to be the scorn of his enemies. Certainly, Saul was none too pleased to learn his family would never become a dynasty, which made David the target of Saul’s wrath. Thus we have this psalm as David plead with God to deliver him from Saul’s intense anger.

David, God’s choice for king, did not write these words from a gilded room in a palace. Rather, he was in a dark, dirty cave where he was hiding while fleeing for his life. David had climbed the rocky cliffs of En Gedi many times in fear for his safety, but though the situation seemed bleak, he knew God had chosen him and he knew his heart was right. Because of this, he fully expected protection from his Lord until he should be brought to his time to occupy the throne.

As I read this psalm, I am reminded of two very special objects of God’s divine choice and protection. The first is the Lord Jesus Christ who was ordained by the Father to bear the reproach of the cross in order to make atonement for our sins. He too was specifically chosen, and yet His path to glory took the same turn as David’s. The exaltation of the throne was to come later until He was made perfect through suffering (Heb. 2:10). In the meantime, the enemy was everywhere trying to take His life before the time. The difficulty of the cross was never a deterrent to Him. He knew what the Father promised. As He prayed in John 17, He knew the Father would restore Him to the glory He had before stepping down to come in human flesh (John 17:5). For this reason, Hebrews says He went to the cross for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). With His death, He would bring millions to worship the Father before the throne.

The second object of God’s divine choice is me. If you are a believer, you can substitute your name for what I am about to say next. Before I was born, God chose me to a crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4), and to sit in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3-4; 2:6). However, there is a meantime just as there was with David and Christ. The meantime is this life in which God’s people often find themselves at odds with a God rejecting world. Because the world hated Christ, it also hates us which often leaves us the objects of ridicule (John 15:18).

As neither David nor Jesus were greatly discouraged, so we should not be discouraged. We have the same promise given to them. We shall not be left to the destruction of Satan, but as David wrote in verse 3, “He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.”

God’s choice is the same as God’s salvation. The first infallibly leads to the second. I hope you can relate this great truth to the message today as I speak on the eternal election of God. Those whom God chooses He does not fail to bring to glory (Rom. 8:29-30). So, take heart in times of trouble. You were always in the eternal purpose of God. He is able to see you through. “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.”

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Blessing of Bible Study

Berean Baptist on September 21, 2015

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalms 27:4)

 One of the greatest pleasures I have as the pastor of this church is the time it affords me to do in-depth Bible study. Although I believe every Christian should take time to read and meditate on scripture, I know it is not possible for most of you to spend the kind of time it takes a pastor to study the word and prepare sermons. Since I do have the time, and you expect that I should use it, I am blessed to read and study the word along with the writings of many good men of God.

I have heard some preachers criticize the use of commentaries and other aids saying a man should get his instruction straight from the word and allow the Holy Spirit to speak directly to his heart. I would never deny such a method is excellent, but I also believe it would be foolish to reject the wisdom of good godly men who have also been spoken to by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you have never thought of it this way, but a good commentary acts as a preacher’s preacher. My sermons to you are commentary on scripture, so why should I be deprived of commentary on scripture?

My whole point here is to come to this—in reading commentaries, I often come across golden nuggets of thought that are a particular blessing to me. I was looking over the 27th Psalm when I read William MacDonald’s commentary and I was truly blessed by his treatment of the text. He took each verse and showed how the Lord Jesus may have thought on this Psalm in the hours before He was taken to the cross. I do not have space to rehearse the entire Psalm, but I can give you a few examples of how MacDonald handled the comparison to Christ.

In verse 1, the Psalmist said “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” MacDonald remarked that when the chief priests and the elders of the temple came to take Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). While He said this, Jesus consoled Himself with the words of the Psalm, ”The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

Verse 2 is interesting. In John 18:6, the scripture says when Jesus spoke to the men that came to arrest Him, they heard His voice and they went backward and fell to the ground. Compare this to “When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.”

The intention of Christ’s enemies was to take Him to trial, condemn Him, and then lift Him up between heaven and earth by nailing Him to a cross. MacDonald says as they planned to do this Jesus was anticipating another kind of lifting up. Notice verse 6 of the Psalm: “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.”

When Jesus was arrested, great fear came on all the disciples and they forsook Him and fled. When all your friends forsake you and when no one is there to stand with you, on whom do you depend? Would Jesus think on the words of verses 9 and 10? “Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”

This is just a small sampling of the commentary, but how blessed I was to find this little jewel in the hundreds of books in my library. Bible study is interesting, uplifting, exhilarating—and fun. I hope you delight in God’s word and use every opportunity to learn more about our great God and the salvation He provides in Jesus Christ.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Incomprehensible! Unexplainable!

Berean Baptist on August 17, 2015

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? (Psalms 22:1)

It would be best that we tread lightly with these comments because we approach the holiest ground of any passage of sacred scripture. Here is the tree of Calvary prodigiously portrayed by the pen of David nearly one thousand years before the actual event. The mystery of scripture’s inspiration is opened before us with stunning accuracy as the death of the cross is foretold.

The first sentence of the 22nd Psalm is too high and holy for human comprehension. As Jesus hung on the cross bearing the sins of the world, He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Martin Luther read these words and was completely perplexed. He wrote, “How can this be, God forsaking God?” This question was not speculative hyperbole. This was truly God the Father turning His back on God the Son, the only begotten darling of the Father. He was forsaken as a vile criminal with no offer of compassionate support. Why would God do this? How could He do it?

The “why” is explained throughout the entire canon of scripture. Sin lives on nearly every page of your Bible. We are infected with it from head to toe. It saturates our minds and fills even the smallest crevice of our bodies. It is impossible to speak of humans unless you also consider the corruption of our nature and our abhorrence of God. Scripture says all have gone the way of sin—there is none righteous. We are so consumed that we are spoken of as spiritually dead. The “why” of God’s forsaking Christ becomes clear when we realize the stench, the sewerage, the disgusting filthiness of our vile nature—every repugnant vulgar sin was placed on Christ as He hung on Calvary. The “why” is because God in His holiness, in His perfect righteousness is incapable of looking on sin.

As Jesus hung on the cross, the Father did indeed turn His back on Him because Christ became everything that God is not. Fellowship with the Son must be cut off because in those hours of suffering He was doused in the corruption of the sins of the world. He was paying a ransom to God by suffering the pangs of Hell for His people. The “why” is the theology of the atonement. He suffered to bring us to God, and the only way He could do it was by separation from the Father. He could not become sin for us and at the same time remain in fellowship with the Father. The reduction of truth here to our level of understanding is that He was shut off from the Father so that we would not have to be. The marvelous truth that shines through for us is the love of the Father and the Son that caused both to break eternal harmony to rescue the wholly undeserving. The “why” of Christ’s rejection is profound, yet the whole history of redemption provides the explanation.

The other question is much more difficult. In fact, I cannot explain it. “How” did the Father do it? How can the invisible, immutable Holy God condescend to the fabric of the creature and then have all sin placed on Him? None of this is comprehensible to the mortal mind. It happened and we know it did, but we are left to gaze upon it and marvel at its reality while at the same time only thanking God that in His infinite wisdom He knew it was the only way our redemption could be accomplished. We marvel but we cannot explain.

This Psalm is mostly a mystery. I do not know how God did it, but thank God He did!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Battle for the Resurrection

Berean Baptist on May 21, 2015

The 18th Psalm is another of the remarkable Old Testament passages that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. We notice at the beginning of the Psalm that David wrote it after he was delivered from the hand of Saul. David related his own experience of deliverance and yet as he wrote the Holy Spirit had much more profound intentions as these words relate to the deliverance of Christ from the death of the tomb. David depended on God to deliver him as he refused to lift his hand against God’s anointed. There were times when David had Saul’s life in his hands, but he never raised a finger against him. This was a battle he chose to leave in the hands of the Almighty.

In David’s action, we see the character of Jesus Christ. He was led to the death of the cross and yet he never opened His mouth in His defense nor did He command angelic armies to release Him. Jesus went to the death of the cross obediently fully expecting the Father to raise Him from the grave. This Psalm reflects His righteous obedience and the fury of God as He beat back the forces of evil that were determined to keep Him in the tomb.

At first, the cross and the tomb appear to be the ignominious defeat of Christ. Satan surely believed he had won the victory and the demons who are his evil companions encamped around the tomb to keep watch to make sure their victory was not short lived. The resurrection would mean their defeat which they struggled with all their might to prevent. God the Father left the body in the tomb for three days and on the third a battle for the resurrection commenced. Verse 5 speaks of death that tried to hold Jesus locked behind the stone that was rolled against the door. Verse 6 is the cry of the Saviour as His soul pleaded for deliverance from the grave. In verse 7, the wrath of God began to shake the earth. The cosmic battle was engaged—an unseen battle that none were aware was happening. In verse 8, the fury of God is seen in the smoke that came from His nostrils as He vented his extreme anger at Satan and his forces of evil.

Verse 14 says He shot out lightening. Imagine the power of God as He wrenched death from the clutches of Satan. Jesus in His flesh was no match for the powers of evil just as no man can withstand demonic power on his own. He constantly prayed for strength and complete deliverance. As He believed would happen, verse 17 says He was delivered from His strong enemy. It is interesting that at the crucifixion those that mocked Christ said, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” This is a quotation from the 22nd Psalm, and indeed Christ did trust God to deliver Him. He did not ask to be delivered from the cross. It was predestined and necessary. He rather trusted God to deliver Him from the tomb. The greatest display of God’s power is not that He could save His life, but that He could restore life to the dead. The Psalmist wrote in 18:19, “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.” The mockers said of God, “Let him deliver him if he will have him.” Yes, God would have Him because of His perfect righteousness and satisfaction for sin. Both Psalm 22:8 and 18:19 say God delighted in Him.

It is too easy for us to pass over this Psalm without thoughtful consideration. None of us knows the depth of commitment Christ made nor the actual power of God that raised Jesus from the dead. These are not trivial matters. No human can fathom the majesty and holiness of God. Consider this as you read. You step into another dimension that will not be fully realized until you stand face to face with God. Be sure you face Him with Christ and not without.

  Pastor V. Mark Smith

THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

Berean Baptist on February 23, 2015

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war…And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11, 16)

 This may well be the most magnificent passage in all of scripture. Since the awful day of disobedience in the Garden of Eden, the world has been waiting for the entrance of creation’s gracious King. He visited us before under different circumstances and for a different purpose. He did not appear as the royal King; He did not project the fierceness of a mighty warrior; He did not come with fire in His eyes to bring vengeance upon His enemies. He came as a humble, meek servant with compassion in His heart. He came to seek and save that which is lost. He came for helpless sinners doomed to suffer the wrath of Almighty God for their crimes against Him. He came to take away the guilt of sin for all that believe by satisfying the divine justice of God.

The first advent of Christ was for you and me that trust Him. He came to give us salvation. He had to come in the humiliation of human flesh in order to do it. So, He appeared the first time as Hebrews says to “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” He was the pure innocent Lamb slain for the vile and guilty. The Second Advent is also for us. The writer of Hebrews adds to the first statement: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28)

The second time Christ comes it will not be as the sin bearer, but nonetheless it is also to bring us salvation. In this sense, salvation means our final deliverance from this sin cursed world. The Second Coming is for believers as Christ enacts His plan to rid the world of all opposition and bring us the blessedness of the new heaven and new earth. But, there is also a sense that the Second Coming is for unbelievers. They humiliated Him the first time. They despised Him and turned their backs on Him. They beat Him without mercy and then nailed Him to a rugged cross. The second time He comes He will not permit this. All will be forced to give Him the honor and glory He deserves. At the end of the 19th chapter, He destroys so many unbelievers that the fowls feast to the full upon their bodies as if it was carrion.

Revelation 19 is very unlike Luke chapter 2. There is no stable; there is no manger; there are no swaddling clothes of peasants. There is no lowly humility. This time He comes as a mighty warrior to conquer the world, to make it His kingdom, and to force His enemies to submit to His rule. This is the side of Jesus most never hear about. And yet, you must understand the wrath of God before you will ever understand the love of God. Do not take your ease because you think you are not guilty. Do not comfort yourself in the erroneous hope that God will never punish the guilty. Revelation 19 is as true as Luke 2. The KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS is coming. Are you ready? Repent of your sins, trust Jesus to save you from them, and you shall be!

Pastor V. Mark Smith