"make us a king"

Our article today focusses on the disappointing desire of the people of God to prefer the rule of man to the direct rule of God.

The situation is like this: Samuel is now old and sadly his sons are rebellious and do not follow in his ways. Unfortunately it appears that it took the people to point this out to Samuel, as there is no mention of their behaviour previously. It presented a problem to the people as they were not sure what would happen when Samuel died, perhaps they were selfishly thinking, "what's going to happen to us? Who is going to judge us then?"

Quite wrongly they make their request - "make us a king to judge us like all the nations" 1 Sam 8:5



After all they had experienced, after all the history of divine blessing, guidance and provision they no longer want God to rule over them.It seems that they no longer appreciated that they were different and distinct from the nations. They seem to have forgotten that God singled them out for blessing and separated them to himself: "for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth" Deut 14:2

Let us be clear that this is exactly what they were insinuating, for the request displeased Samuel, and God made it clear to him that "they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them" 1 Sam 8:7

Remember that the people had tried this once before, in the book of Judges chapter 8 the people approach Gideon - "rule thou over us... for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian" and we recall the wise and magnanimous response of Gideon, which is useful to remember here - "I will not rule over you... the Lord shall rule over you"

Of course, we know what happened, God gave them what they wanted and so began a line of kings marked largely by failure, weakness and wickedness. Even the best of the kings failed at some point, as they were only sinful men at the end of the day, just like us! The kings basically teach us that man is a poor substitute for God, and as the Psalms say - "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man"

I am sure most of us will understand that one day there will be a perfect king who will reign in righteousness, the king of kings and Lord of Lords, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ! Isaiah 32:1 and Psalm 24 would make this clear to us.

Going back to our account in 1 Samuel 8 though, we would apply the broad lesson to ourselves today and ask ourselves the following searching questions:

• Do we honour men more than we honour God?


• Do we value and respect the thoughts and opinions of men more than the truth of the Word of God?


• Do we prefer to identify ourselves with fellow-men or with God?


• Do we appreciate the fact that we ourselves are distinct and different from the world, that we are sanctified positionally and separated unto God?

Let us be challenged by the import of this sad account in the nation's history.

Lessons concerning the ark (1 Samuel 6)

The ark is sent back by the Philistines following 7 months in their land. They send it back on a cart pulled by 2 dairy cows and it makes its way to Bethshemesh, west of Jerusalem. The men of Bethshemesh rejoice to see the ark return to them and show their joy by offering a sacrifice to God there and then using the cows and the wood of the cart.

There can be no doubting that this was an admirable and appropriate response - they were so glad to see that which spoke of the things of God again, that they spontaneously made sacrifices to God using the available materials to hand! They didn't wait, they didn't put it off, they didn't go home to do other things first! Their hearts were ready to worship there and then and they wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. This should speak to us today...

Are we slow to worship? Of course we are not solely talking about on a Lord's Day morning, for worship can be given at any time! Are our hearts in a state of readiness to worship?  Do we let other things get in the way of giving worship? Are we too lazy to worship, or to prepare to worship? Perhaps for the younger men who may be reading this - are you too self-conscious to worship publicly? Too concerned with what others may think of your contribution? Let me encourage you in this: prepare something simple, that your heart is taken up with and go for it. "Just do it" - as the Nike slogan says. If your nerves or insecurity is stopping you from publicly worshipping, then let me tell you, the best remedy is to take the plunge or forever sit in silence! What a tragedy this would be, but very sadly it happens.

[caption id="attachment_198" align="alignleft" width="264" caption="An aerial shot showing some ancient ruins at Bethshemesh"][/caption]

The attitude of praise from the men of Bethshemesh stands in stark contrast to what happened next. For some reason, which is not given or described, the men of Bethshemesh decide to look into the ark. Did they not know there would be consequences? Did they do it out of ignorance? Or did their curiosity get the better of them and cause them to knowingly disobey the commandment of God? We do not know, but the holiness and righteousness of God demanded that there be judgement for such a transgression, and he smote the men of Bethshemesh so that 50,070 lost their lives.

Here is what I learn from this; praise and worship is good and needful, but we must also be knowledgeable of God and his ways. We should always show reverence when handling the holy things of God and be obedient to his Word! What does Samuel later say to Saul in chapter 15:

"Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

We do well to heed the lessons of 1 Samuel 6 - Worship is vital, it should be spontaneous, natural and also genuine and from over-flowing hearts. However we must also recognise that we deal with a holy and a righteous God when we come into God's presence, and we handle holy things when we handle his Word. But moreover, God values more than anything else obedience to his Word and a willingness to do his will, to honour him and put him first in our lives.

God give us help and discipline to put this into practice in our lives.

Yours in Christ, Mark

Lessons concerning the ark (1 Samuel 5)

Moving on from chapter 4 I think there is also a strong challenge to our hearts concerning the ark in chapter 5. Once again the picture is of the ark as the things of God in our lives, and this time we break into the story with the ark captured and in the land of the Philistines.

Chapter 5 - The Ark is Demoted

The ark is taken by the Philistines to Ashdod and into the temple of Dagon where it is placed by the statue of Dagon. Most of us will know the story; in the morning the idol had fallen on its face before the ark, and on the second day it had fallen to the earth with its hands and head cut off!

[caption id="attachment_195" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Dagon - Fish god of the Philistines"][/caption]

The Philistines had made the mistake of demoting the ark (symbolic of the power, glory, holiness and grace of God!) to an object to be placed alongside their heathen idol Dagon. I wonder if we too are sometimes guilty of the same? What do you mean, I hear you say? Well, I believe that we believers can also be guilty of idolatry in our lives! An idol can be anything that we have promoted in our lives that takes a disproportionate amount of our time, resources, affections and interest. It is something that takes the place of God in our lives, and assumes the dominant object in our hearts affection. It can be something in our life that we value and treasure above everything else, it can be an object, an interest, a sport or a passion/hobby. Remember the words of God himself - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me... for I the LORD they God am a jealous God"

God is jealous of our time and attention, he wants to be number one in our lives, and what's more he deserves to be, for he has intervened in grace and saved us from judgement and hell! He has bought us with a great price, the precious blood of his dear Son, and we belong to Him and He is our Lord and Saviour. Dare we relegate God to just another 'interest' or just another 'hobby' in our lives? As we look around churches today, perhaps we can see examples of people who have done just that. They don't see God as any more valuable or important in their lives than all the other things they are interested in, in fact in many cases the things of God have sadly slipped WAY down the pecking order. How tragic!

I think this is extremely challenging for myself as I survey my own life and how I spend and divide my time and resources!

I am glad that God reminds us of the futility of idols in His Word, and perhaps we should consider this as we assess our own interests and priorities in life:

"The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them." Psalm 135:15-18

I believe God shows this in our passage in 1 Samuel, as it is interesting that Dagon's head and hands were severed as he lay face down before the ark! Here was God demonstrating to one and all that Dagon was empty, hollow, subservient to the ark and the power of God, he had neither intelligence (the head) or power (the hands).

May God preserve us from modern-day idolatry and unhealthy interests and unbalanced priorities! May we take up the challenge and reassess our priorities and ambitions and may they be for the things of God and his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. May we never demote the things of God in our lives in favour of earthly interests or worldly pursuits.

Yours in Christ, Mark

Lessons concerning the ark (1 Samuel 4)

Summarising these chapters 4 through to 6 in 1 Samuel, I notice that the ark of the covenant is prominent and there are 3 simple but challenging lessons we can learn here.

The ark speaks powerfully of the things of God, it represented Gods presence with his people at this time and spoke of his glory, it spoke of worship, priestly service, the Law and his provision for them.

Chapter 4 - The Ark is Lost

Here is a sad event. The people call for the ark to be brought to the battle with the Philistines, and it is clear that they had demoted it to nothing more than a weapon, a symbol of military might and power to serve their purposes.

"let us fetch the ark... it may save us out of the hand of our enemies"

They did not seek Gods help or presence, and crucially they showed no faith in God. They simply rushed to use the ark as a mere object or tool! Perhaps there is a danger for us too to view the things of God in this way? Are we simply taken up with the things of a God as an 'object' in our lives to serve our purposes? A tool that we simply refer to when we are in need of help or a 'boost'? Do we forget the person and character of God and our personal relationship with him? Have we lost the true enjoyment and appreciation of the things of God?

Look at the fallout from this towards the end of the chapter. Although the spiritual condition of the land was poor at this time, it seems there were individuals who felt the huge sense of loss. Eli, the ageing priest who had in many ways failed to be a strong spiritual character and lead by example, falls backward off his chair at the news that the ark had been lost. Note that he was also given bad news about his 2 sons, but it is the news regarding the ark that evoked such a powerful reaction! Finally, note the tragic case of the wife of Phinehas, who went suddenly and violently into labour and lost her life as a result of hearing the news regarding the loss of the ark. Her reaction to this awful news seemed to be the main reason she calls her soon to be orphaned child Ichabod, as the glory had departed from Israel - the ark was a symbol of the glory of God! She clearly far more spiritual than her wicked husband Phinehas, and there is a lesson here too in wisely choosing our husband or wife!

[caption id="attachment_190" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Ark of the Covenant - It spoke of God and his wonderful character"][/caption]

I wonder if we put similar value and regard on the things of God in our lives? Of course I know we don't have a physical symbol like the ark to treasure and hold dear but we are using this as a picture of our enjoyment of the things of God in all the forms that this can take. I challenge myself; Do I have a driving passion for the things of God? If these things were taken from me would I too be heartbroken and devastated? Notice that in both examples the news of the loss of the ark ultimately caused their deaths! They were nothing without the ark, there was no life without it! Simply put; if we lose the value of the things of God it will ultimately lead to spiritual death. We become empty and shallow Christians, no good for worship or service. We may go through the motions but ultimately we have lost the heart and soul of our Christian lives.

May the Lord challenge our hearts in this matter.

Yours in Christ, Mark

Samuel's spiritual growth

As we move on into First Samuel we can chart the growth and development of the boy Samuel. It is of course encouraging to see that he not only grew and developed physically but that he also grew spiritually in the things of God!

Let's look at this from the text.

2:11 "And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest."

When Samuel was a child he served as a child, and here we see that he humbly serves under Eli, assisting in the daily duties in the tabernacle at Shiloh. He was just a child the verse reminds us, but he was still able to serve the Lord in a simple way! Our spiritual or physical age is no barrier to simply serving God. However, it would not have been appropriate for the child Samuel to have started lecturing the people and preaching at them, so as a young boy he serves God in a simpler way until such time that he has grown spiritually in order to take on a more public responsibility for God.

This verse is also poignant as it mentions that Elkanah his father went home to Ramah where the family home was, but Samuel of course stayed and served the LORD in Shiloh. It must have been hard for parent and child alike to be separated, but what an opportunity for Samuel to serve God! What a lesson for us, it is necessary sometimes to separate ourselves in dedication to the things of God, to study and learn more of him in order to grow spiritually. Sometimes this will mean that we have to spend less time with other legitimate things in order to spend time with the Lord, but he will reward them that honour him in this way.

2:26 "And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men."

Here we see that Samuel's spiritual growth is beginning to have an effect on those around him! The people can see that there is something different and appealing about this boy Samuel. His attributes are beginning to shine through, and his growth is recognised by God and the people. Of course we shouldn't strive to impress those around us with spirituality or make an outward show of 'all the things we are doing for God', but people in our churches or even in secular circles should be able to see that there are signs of spiritual life, and there should be a testimony for God.

This too is proof that the simple service in the Sanctuary has had an effect on our lives and that we are developing spiritually. The years Samuel spent serving Eli had a positive effect on his life as he was serving God and learning more about him.

3:19-21 "And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel... knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD... the LORD revealed himself to Samuel..."

The LORD blessed Samuel, he was with him and fulfilled his purposes and will through him. This is what is meant by "and let none of his words fall to the ground". In other words, God fulfilled his prophecies that were spoken by his servant Samuel. God saw fit to actively use and work through Samuel! The same can be said of us if we apply ourselves to the things of God and grow spiritually.

Here we see the ultimate fulfilment of  what we spoke about in our previous point - all Israel, from the very north to the very south of the country, knew that Samuel was going to be something for God. May we strive to merit the same reputation, by growing spiritually and being an example to others!

The LORD revealed himself to Samuel - what a tremendous privilege and blessing, but one that can be ours as well! By growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, he will reveal himself to us if we live closely with him day by day and apply ourselves to his Word.

4:1 "And the word of Samuel came to all Israel."

Here we see Samuel fully moving into a public sphere of ministry now, and his words come to all the people. Please note that he has grown substantially, I would judge that he is certainly no longer a child! He has served faithfully in the tabernacle all those years, humbly and simply, yet quietly and obediently. This was a crucial stage in Samuel's growth and development, and so it must be for every believer! We cannot expect to launch ourselves into public service if we have not grown spiritually, and known God in the Sanctuary first. Even the Apostle Paul, who went into public service very soon after conversion, still spent several days (without sight and without food and drink) engaged in prayer to God!

7:15-17 "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD."

Finally here we see firstly, the faithfulness of Samuel, that he judged Israel ALL the days of his life. What a commendation and testimony! We also see something of his constant service and activity, for he travelled through the area on a constant circuit serving God in the locality. Please note that these places were all fairly local to where he lived in Ramah. He didn't travel to places hundreds or thousands of miles away which would have taken him far away from his home town, he certainly had a burden for Ramah and the nearby cities and towns. I think this is possibly relevant for us today, to have a burden primarily for our localities and the place where we live. However I fully appreciate that modern methods of transport make it far easier for those of us engaged in public service such as preaching to travel around and get to places further afield without detriment to our local assemblies or our families!

I think it's touching that Samuel set up home in Ramah, the place where he was born and where his parents home was. I'm not saying there is a lesson here for us to stay where our parents live, as God will move people wherever he will to serve him! I do think though that it is touching that Samuel returned to Ramah from Shiloh after he had fully grown and matured, to operate and serve God in his home town. No doubt his parents would have been thrilled to have him close by and to see their son fully grown and serving God in such a way! There can be no doubt that it is encouraging to see younger ones growing in the things of God, and never underestimate how encouraging this is for older believers!

May the Lord bless as we apply ourselves to our own spiritual growth and development.

Yours in Christ, Mark

Samuel - A chosen servant

There can be no doubt that Samuel was chosen by God to fulfil his purpose and do a work for the Lord. In chapter 3 of 1 Samuel however, there is also no doubt that there was nobody else suitable for this role, so God had to raise someone up!

"And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision"

At this period of history we are in-between the times of the judges and coming into the time of the kings. As the scriptures states, there was no open vision and the word of the Lord was scarce and rare. The spiritual state of the land was poor at this time, and this malaise had clearly spread to the priesthood, who should have known better.

In the first chapter we see that Eli the priest shows a lack of spiritual discernment with Hannah, as he assumes that somebody praying earnestly must be drunk! Now we learn that his eyes waxed dim, and this perhaps didn't just refer to his physical senses but also his spiritual senses too. We learn that his sons were behaving wickedly in their priestly office, yet Eli did little to control or rebuke them. Also Eli failed to recognise that it was the Lord's voice calling the child Samuel, he clearly wasn't used to hearing God's voice!

[caption id="attachment_186" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Samuel is awakened by God's voice calling him"][/caption]

I think Eli had become comfortable and familiar with 'the way things were' around him. Maybe the spiritual state of the nation had worn him down, and begun to take a toll on his own spiritual verve. This should be a challenge to ourselves, that we should not become desensitised to the evil in the world around us and even become familiar with it and allow the standards of the world affect our Christian testimony. How easy it is to become embroiled in the world and become characterised by it's ways!

Little wonder then that God chose to bypass Eli and seek a fresh start in the young boy Samuel. It always encourages me that God chose to reveal his mind and purpose to a child! It teaches me that maybe God isn't looking for people who know it all, or who are great achievers in their own right, but simply someone who will obey his voice and be zealous and eager to serve and is teachable like a child. This should be a lesson to us, how teachable are we? How wiling and zealous are we in his service?

The chapter contrasts 2 individuals: Eli and Samuel, the old and the new, the outgoing failure and the incoming promise!

The challenge for us is to emulate Samuel, and to be looking for God's voice and be obedient to it. We must surely also avoid the pitfalls as shown by Eli, to never become people of comfort and leisure in this world and have our spiritual senses dulled.

Yours in Christ, Mark

 

Hannah - A godly woman

We mentioned in our previous post that Hannah is a lovely Bible character and as we move into chapter two of Samuel there are some lovely observations we can make...

We finished our thoughts last time by looking at Hannah's thankfulness and praise for answered prayer concerning a child, and this continues into chapter two. The first 10 verses are Hannah's praise and thanksgiving to God and these verses stand in stark contrast to the bitterness and sorrow of chapter one. I think this is important, as life can be just like that; elation and happiness one minute, when you feel indestructible and that nothing can go wrong, and then everything can go wrong and events can combine to leave us feeling helpless, worried and in despair!

What I think this sequence of events in 1 Samuel shows us is to get into a routine of bringing things before the Lord, and when we see answer to prayer or experience blessing, to immediately give thanks to God and acknowledge his goodness and guidance in our lives. Unfortunately I find I am very quick to bring something before God in time of need, but a lot less quick to give thanks when he answers prayer and I see his hand in my life!

Hannah shows a tremendous knowledge of God in her prayer, so much so that it was a challenge to me. The way she prayed bore the hallmarks of a woman that lived close to God and obviously communicated regularly with God, so that her prayers expressed a knowledge of the character and attributes of God! Surely we who have the full scriptures and have been saved by the grace of God and indwelled by the Spirit should also be able to pray in the same way? A case in point is her acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God in verses 6 and 7. She confesses that it is God that controls life and death, and God can make men poor and rich as he wills, just as he can exalt or humble a man. What a lesson this is, and what grace to accept Gods will in these matters!

v19 is lovely. Every year Hannah came up with her husband and would bring Samuel a new coat. I had never given this much thought before, but I realise now that this must surely have been very difficult for her, as it seems as if this yearly visit was the only time she got to see her soon whom she had given to the Lord. Each year the coat would have been made a little bigger, and as she made and prepared it in the home ready for the yearly journey it would have been a constant reminder of her noble sacrifice, but also the great blessing she had been given from God. I think therefore it is lovely that God saw fit to further bless Hannah and give her 3 sons and 2 daughters, as I think this godly woman would have been an excellent mother from what I can see in these chapters. She was a spiritual woman who put God first in her life, and experienced great blessing as a result. It put me in mind of the scripture:

"Them that honour me, I will honour"

 

 

Meditations on 1 Samuel

Hello fellow believers, the last 3 weeks have been manic and I have been involved in other things and so haven't been able to post here for some time! My apologies.

I have been beginning to read 1 Samuel and I intend to go through these books to 2nd Chronicles and see what can be learned from the times of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Already through reading the opening chapters of Samuel I have found much profit and benefit, and I commend the further study of this book to you!

Some Opening Remarks and Observations...

The book opens with a number of things:

• A divided family


• A godly woman


• Worship and sacrifice


• Men who didn't understand or who should have known better


• Earnest prayer and a heavy heart


• Answered prayer and a thankful heart

The first 8 chapters of Samuel record the move from Theocracy (God ruling the people) to a Monarchy (a man ruling the people for God). This was part of a general downward trend of rebellion and departure.

If we look at Hannah briefly we see here a lovely Bible character. Her name means "grace" and we can certainly see this godly characteristic borne out in her life here in the first chapter! She is in a very difficult situation, with her husbands attentions and affections divided (although he had a preferential spirit towards her) yet she exhibits long-suffering, grace and meekness. She turns her sorrow and hardship into an opportunity for earnest prayer to her God. What an example for us here! If only we would turn our struggles and trials into prayer, rather than a negative spirit or bitterness and anger.

The abundance of Hannah's sorrow (v6-10) is matched by the abundance of her prayerfulness (v10-13), and also by the abundance of her sacrifice (v24-28). In actual fact when you look at the closing verses of the first chapter, we see that Hannah gave back to God all that she had been given by God (her son Samuel). It is a challenge to ourselves: do we give back to God when he answers our prayers? We should be thankful and praise God when he hears our cry and answers our prayer!

"for this child I prayed" - what a story is wrapped up in those words!

Hannah was experiencing the blessed position of being in communion and fellowship with God, something which is available to each and every one of us as believers. She had experienced sorrow and deep need, she had committed it earnestly and solemnly to God, and God had answered her prayer in a wonderful way! She was now free and generous in her praise and thanksgiving to God, having been blessed so.

Might we follow the godly example of Hannah and "take it to the Lord in prayer" so that we too might experience blessing at the hand of God and enjoy a living and real relationship with him.

Yours in Christ, Mark

 

The 'thirds' of scripture... (part 3)

Welcome again fellow believer to the blog and in particular to the final part of our look at the 'thirds' found in scripture. Today we are looking at the 'third watch'.

The third watch - Luke 12:38

I realise that we are lifting these verses slightly out of context and from their proper application, but I feel that they can equally apply to saints who await the soon coming return of the Lord Jesus to the air! I think there are lessons and applications for us here that are fair to make.

Under the Jewish system, the third watch of the night was also the last watch of the night before morning, from 02:00 to 06:00. The night had been long and dark and the watchers would be tiring and weary, but there were signs of morning approaching! My fellow believer, I can't think of a better picture of today, as we look around this sorry world as evil abounds on every corner, doesn't it feel like we are in the third watch of the night? There can be no doubt that there is much unrest in the world, and we are living in dark and difficult days of testimony, surely the Lord will come soon as he promised in his Word!

"surely I come quickly" Revelation 22:20

If we read the previous verses the Lord speaks about those servants who are waiting and watching for their Lord to return. There are 2 things that the Lord mentions about these waiting and watching servants:

"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning"

In Bible times the loins being girded would mean that the person was ready for activity and movement, as their garments and robes were long and flowing and needed to be girded in order to do serious activity! As we wait and watch for the Lord we should be active in service, ready to move and do his will.

The lamps burning would speak of the light of testimony, as the scriptures often refer to a testimony being a light, whether it be individual or collective as an assembly. In these dark days in which we live, surely it is even more imperative that our light of testimony burn all the more brighter to bring glory and honour to God and be a witness and beacon for the lost world around us! If this shows us anything, it is that our testimony is of great importance and interest to the Lord. He delights in it and it brings glory to him. We challenge ourselves - what state is our testimony in, both individual and collectively?

Finally, by way of encouragement we notice that there is blessing for those faithful and expectant servants:

"And if he shall come in... the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants"

Surely this would point us on to a future day of appraisal and reward for the believer, or as it is called the Judgement Seat of Christ:

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" 2 Cor 5:10

As we leave this rich and profitable mini-study, let us leave ourselves with these challenges:

Our life and testimony down here does matter! The Lord is looking for it and will bless faithful servants in a future day. Are we content to coast along, to settle for spiritual mediocrity?

The time is short, the Lord is soon coming, we are in the third watch - how will be found?

The 'thirds' of scripture... (part 2)

Welcome to the third part of our thoughts concerning these fascinating 'thirds' found in the gospels. I hope you have enjoyed the thoughts so far and found them productive and stimulating. If you have, then please leave a comment for me so I know you have!

The third day - Matt 16:21

Praise God we can move on from talking about the third hour and think about the third day when Jesus rose from the dead! We do not remember a dead Saviour today but one who rose mightily from the dead and ascended and is alive at God's right hand today. Of course in his resurrection we see the divine plan of salvation and the sovereign will of God being revealed and worked out. The resurrection showed that God was well pleased with the work of his Son, the price for sin had been paid, and it showed he had triumphed over death, 'sheol' and the grave! The resurrection glorified God and proved to all that his was a victorious death and that he had fully completed perfectly all that he had set out to do. He had prophesied regarding his death, burial and resurrection and all had come to pass as he had said.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus also has further implications for the believer;

1. It speaks of our new life in Christ - Romans 6

"like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life"

A fellow believer reminded me recently; "we easily accept and remember the truth that Christ died for us, but it's very easy to forget that we also died with Christ!" How true - Our "old man", that is to say all that we were in Adam was crucified with Christ on that cross. When we got saved we were born again, we were made a new creature, these are all scriptural terms to describe what happened when we repented and trusted Christ as Saviour! We who were once dead in trespasses and sins were given a new life, a spiritual life that we never had before. Of course baptism is a picture of this - Our old man was crucified with Christ and buried, and we 'arose' with new life, ready to serve God!

I wonder if we were to take assessment of our Christian testimony, could we say that we were walking in " newness of life"?

2. It speaks of our future life with Christ - 1 Cor 15

This passage makes clear that if Christ is not risen, then our faith is vain or empty and we are of all men most miserable! The truth of the resurrection is vital to our faith! I like the words of assurance in this passage however:

"but now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept"

"Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming"

These verses tell us that because Christ has risen, we can be certain that our bodies too will be raised from the dead when he returns to the air in the event that we call 'the rapture'. Death is certainly not the end of the story for the believer!

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words"

So we can see that there is a wonderful future for the believer, whether we die or not and it is all founded upon the resurrection of Christ, so we can have assurance when we talk about these things!

I hope these thoughts have been an encouragement to us. Next time we will look at the final 'third' that I want to consider, can you guess what it might be? If you feel like chancing your arm, leave a comment!

Yours in Christ, Mark