Jesus was prepared to begin His public ministry in earnest, but first it had been necessary for Him to experience all the most alluring temptations Satan could throw at Him at the time. So after His baptism and subsequent encounter with Satan in the wilderness why didn’t Jesus just have done with the whole affair and establish Himself and His kingdom there and then? The answer lies in the fact that the world and everyone in it is fallen through sin (Romans 3:23 and 10-18). God the Father had ordained an eternal redemptive plan to offer Himself in the person of Jesus the Son as self-sacrifice in payment for the debt we all owe (Romans 6:23; John 12:32). I’ve heard it likened to a judge who in a court of law sentences a person for their transgression and then offers to release the condemned if that person will trust the judge to surrender himself and serve out the sentence on behalf of the person he condemned. In our case it is we who are the condemned (John 3:17-19), separated from a spiritual relationship with God because of our sin; it is Jesus who is the righteous Judge (Acts 10:42). Someday we will all stand before Jesus in eternity (Revelation 20:11-15) and when we do it will be established beyond any doubt whether our trust was placed in the Judge or in our own abilities to save ourselves. Those who have placed their trust in Jesus will eternally reside in His loving presence while those who in this life trusted in themselves, anything else or anyone else will suffer their eternal sentence in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).
The prophets and Psalmists of the Old Testament had for centuries proclaimed the message of the coming Christ in no fewer than at least three hundred citations (far too numerous to mention here). John the Baptist then proclaimed the message of Christ’s entry into the material realm of creation (Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11;Luke 3:1-22; John 1:15-34) and Jesus Himself would soon proclaim His future kingdom, but events had to first unfold in strict accordance with God’s plan for the redemption of mankind. That meant that Jesus would come to live among men to fulfill all the prophecies of the Old Testament and all the provisions of the Mosaic Law, a process during which He would minister to the world in such a way as to leave no doubt that He is the One who would sacrifice Himself. That sacrifice was made when Jesus died on the cross. It was there that Jesus exchanged His righteousness for our sin, and it was accepted as atonement and satisfactory fulfillment of our sentence by the Father, who then raised Jesus from death.
The Beginning Of Sacrifice
As a human, Jesus’ living of a sinless life was a sacrificial act because in the flesh Jesus denied His body and mind the self-indulgences to which we have all been slaves. Who among us has not at some time and in some way yielded to the lust of the flesh, the pride of life or the lust of the eyes? Who hasn’t become entangled in Satan’s snare, thus transgressing God’s righteous commandments? I believe, however, that the process of Jesus’ sacrifice began when He left the glory of Heaven for a time to enter the fallen realm with which we are familiar (Psalm 8:4-6; Hebrews 2:5-8). Jesus left heaven to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10) and to offer us freedom from condemnation.
The Mosaic Law touches on every aspect of life both in ancient times and now, and while it is a good and healthy moral code by which to live it serves a much larger purpose and has a much deeper spiritual meaning. It is the Law that points out our flaws (Galatians 3:24) and the inability to overcome them on our own. It is the Law that points us toward our need for a Savior (Romans 3:20), One who was in all points tempted in every way Satan can throw at us and who still lived without transgression or compromise (Hebrews 4:15). It is in His absolute fulfillment of the Law and the Old Testament prophecies (Matthew 5:17) that we can then see Jesus as the only worthy Judge (again Revelation 20:11-15) and thus as the only worthy sacrifice for our sin (Hebrews 9:23-28). Jesus began living His sinless life at the moment of miraculous conception (Luke 1:34-38) and lived it through death on the cross (Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:28-30).
Love Manifested
In His life everything Jesus did demonstrates His love for us (1 John 4:19). In His sacrificial death we find salvation and life (Romans 3:25 and 14:9; 1 John 2:2 and 4:10). In Jesus’ burial we see the condemnation for our sin removed forever from the sight of God (Psalm 103:12). In the resurrection we see evidence of our justification through Him and gain a glimpse of the glorified body every believer will someday eternally occupy (Philippians 3:21). After continuing to minister during the forty days following His resurrection (Acts 1:3) Jesus then ascended to heaven. In His ascension (Matthew 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 245-9; John 20:1-18) we are assured of Jesus’ unquestionable purity, for it is only in sinless perfection that He could leave the material world to once more reside in heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 1:9-11), and it is only through our trust in Him that we as believers can be redeemed from our fallen condition to someday reside there in His presence (John 14:1-4; Philippians 3:20). In the sure promise of Jesus’ return the believer finds hope for full and eternal reconciliation to the true God who created us and who ardently desires to know us as His children (again, Philippians 3:20).
In this series of articles we have to this point speculated that Jesus experienced many if not all human temptations during the first thirty years of His life among men and we’ve studied the passages in Matthew, Mark and Luke that relate Jesus’ face-to-face encounter with Satan in the wilderness. But surely these were not the only temptations our Lord endured and overcame as He began His ministry. Luke’s account (4:13) makes it clear that following the wilderness encounter Satan departed Christ’s presence in defeat, but only for a while. Although the timing of Satan’s next attack isn’t specified, we can look to a few more passages that describe when Jesus was definitely tempted in one way or another. Let us first consider…
…Dishonest Deeds
When a group of priests, scribes, and other attendants assembled in the temple at Jerusalem one morning shortly before the first Passover of Jesus’ ministry it is unlikely they could have predicted that their lucrative enterprises were about to be interrupted. For a long time they had been turning robust profits by scamming the common people, worshipers who came to the temple to pray and have their sacrifices offered. In short, one of their schemes worked something like this: if a person wished to make a gift or offer a tithe of money their currency had first to be converted to ‘temple money’ before it would be accepted. Tables and booths had been established for money-changers to convert one form of currency to the other, often at exorbitant exchange rates. The worshipers were thus being impoverished while the money-changers grew richer by the day, because instead of using the money for its intended purpose of maintaining the temple and supporting widows and the indigent it was diverted to line wealthy men’s pockets while making the people poorer. It’s an old connivance and it was being practiced with success by unscrupulous men at the temple.
Another money-making con was perpetrated by those providing animals for sacrifice. In rural areas the keeping of livestock was common but in the urban areas of Jerusalem it would have been problematic, especially because any animal sacrificed had to be without blemish of any kind. The percentage of such animals even within large herds would be small, so entrepreneurs acquired such animals whenever they could (it was permitted under the Law to purchase an animal for sacrifice and the practice was not uncommon). When someone of the ordinary folk brought an animal for offering it had first to be ‘inspected.’ Invariably some ‘flaw’ or ‘blemish’ would be pointed out by the ‘inspector,’ who would then reject the animal but ‘just happen to have available for purchase’ a better specimen of sheep or ox or dove at a premium price. The worshiper, in keeping the Law, had to buy the better animal, but instead of his offering then being made on his behalf the animal was simply turn-styled through the temple and returned to the entrance to be sold time and again. I once got several unsolicited chuckles in a Sunday school class by making the off-handed remark about this practice that some of the sheep had probably been sold so many times their wool was worn off, but to Jesus this situation was anything but a laughing matter.
Jesus never spoke His words lightly nor did He ever act without forethought and purpose. Every recorded word Jesus spoke is for our benefit, just as is every recorded deed. Yes, there were times when Jesus remained silent, and on those occasions His silence spoke more loudly than words might have but on this day, much to the embarrassment and shame of those conducting their dishonest occupations in the temple, this wasn’t one of Jesus’ silent moments. He surely recalled the inspired words of Isaiah 56:7, in which the house of God is twice described as a place of prayer and a place in which the people are to be joyous in their worship. Jesus also knew well the question posed in Jeremiah 7:11, which is: “Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord.” What happened next on this, the first of two recorded occasions when Jesus purified the temple, is found in John 2:13-17 (the second purification is recorded in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18 and Luke 19:45-47).
Jesus exemplified the principle about which Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil.” Jesus knew then and knows now that there are times when it is appropriate to be angry or frustrated in the face of blasphemy or to take a righteous stance against injustice or any number of other wrongs. There is a proper time, way and place to express ourselves about such things but there is never a proper time to let our emotions get the better of us through pride, arrogance or any form of self-gratification. To summarize what happened that day is to say that Jesus entered the temple complex and found men selling livestock for the sacrifices while others tended their currency exchanges. When He fashioned a scourge (a multi-tail whip) of small cords and used it to drive them all from the temple it wasn’t for the purpose of gratifying Himself; Jesus was in no way out of control. When He overthrew the money-changers’ tables Jesus wasn’t exhibiting destructive rage; rather, He was admonishing them, much as king Josiah about whom we studied earlier in this series admonished his people, and removing the source of temptation. When Jesus said in John 2:16, “…Take these things from here; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise,” He was chastening them, reminding them of the instruction of the Law and prophets they claimed to espouse while instructing them not to fall prey to the devil’s wiles in the future. Jesus’ act of corporal punishment and subsequent instruction were acts of love. “As many as I love” (Jesus said in Revelation 3:19), “I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent.” The writer of the book of Hebrews gives insightful treatment to the subject of God’s chastening (Greek paideias, or instructional disciplining) in chapter 12 verses 3-15. Jesus’ second purification of the temple (as cited above in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18 and Luke 19:45-47) is not dissimilar from the first and serves as a reminder that we must always be watchful for Satan’s trip-wires and snares lest we step unwittingly into one of his traps repeatedly. We should always desire to pattern our lives more closely after Jesus while exercising appropriate self control.
Satan Sets A Snare
In Matthew 16:21-23 Jesus has just made His first mention of the Church (Greek ekklesia, from a verb meaning to call forth, as for an assembly), after which He foretold His coming time of suffering, death, burial and resurrection. Peter at that time rebuked the Lord and contradicted Him, protesting that such things would never happen. Jesus’ response is unequivocal when in verse 23 He “…said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me; for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men.”
A number of points regarding temptation may be gleaned from this brief passage, but before we consider Jesus’ temptation in detail let’s think briefly on what was happening in Peter’s mind and heart. When Jesus prophesied His suffering and death Peter (who at times was a bit hot-headed, by the way), staunchly denied the truth of Christ’s words and in a bold pronouncement manifested his own pride as though to say, ‘Wait a minute, Jesus! I know more than You and I know that what You say cannot be true! Such events as You describe will never happen!’ We now know that Peter’s words were wrong, but Satan was using Peter as an instrument to throw temptation into Christ’s face and Peter, in human frailty, succumbed readily to his own pride. As we’ll see later, this was not the only time Peter yielded to one form of temptation or other and had to be corrected. Have we, people of equal frailty, ever been in some way tempted just as Peter was on this occasion?
Jesus could have responded by hotly rebuking Peter since the words had come from Peter’s mouth, but Jesus looked deeper into Peter’s heart and beyond Peter’s words to understand what was really happening. Jesus could have simply yielded to the pride of life at this point, which might have resulted in a brief shouting match Peter would have no doubt lost; Jesus could have yielded to the lust of the flesh and turned aside from the redemptive plan of God the Father altogether, thus preserving His human life for a few years.
He did neither, and therein lies an example for us as we pattern our lives after the Savior. Jesus exemplified the principle we have already studied and that was later put forth by His half brother James (James 4:7). Jesus first submitted Himself to God in light of the overall redemptive plan, thus successfully countering the temptation head-on and successfully resisting the devil. Jesus’ words “Get thee behind me, Satan” drive to the source of the issue as He continued, “Thou (Satan) art an offense unto me; for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men.” This might be translated another way: ‘Satan, leave my presence and get out of my sight. You are a snare set before Me because you are disposed to consider not the things of God but only those of man and your own selfish goals.’ In the face of Jesus’ rebuke Satan was then left with no recourse but to retreat again.
The Quiet Place Of Prayer
Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives lends further insight to His temptation and how He overcame it. Luke 22:39 states that Gethsemane was a place Jesus often went to for prayer and solitude, and it was there to which He retreated for that purpose shortly before His arrest. Jesus knew the hour of His betrayal had come and that His surrender to the Father’s plan would soon bear fruit through His suffering and death. From a purely human standpoint this was indeed a heavy burden to bear so Jesus invited His three closest human friends, Peter, James and John to enter the garden with Him and to be nearby as He prayed. That invitation points to Jesus humanity in that even He, at least in the flesh, sometimes needed the moral support found in close associations. He told these three (Mark 14:34) “…My soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death; tarry ye here, and watch (pray with me and for me),” and Matthew 26:38 records the same statement. The human side of Jesus’ emotions and mind was distressed and depressed as He looked forward to bearing not only the condition of sin for mankind but each individual sin ever committed by any person. And, He knew that even Peter, who had so vehemently promised to follow Jesus into death if need be, would soon deny their association not once but three times that night. Who of us would not find such denial distressing?
Everything Jesus was soon to face He would face alone, and surely Satan’s agents were besetting the Lord as He left His three companions to walk deeper into the garden. As a man, this was certainly among Jesus’ lowest moments. His prayer, recorded in Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:35 and Luke 22:41-42, is specific when He states openly “…Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup (everything Jesus was about to endure on our behalf) from me; nevertheless, not my will but thine be done (Luke 22:42).” Let’s consider for a moment Jesus’ instruction regarding prayer as found in Matthew 6:9-10 within the Sermon on the Mount: “After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” In setting the pattern for His disciples’ prayers Jesus instructs us that we are first to address the proper authority. It is God the Father who is our Divine Sovereign and we are to address Him as such with all possible reverence. We are to revere His name and worship Him. We are to ardently desire the coming of His kingdom, the kingdom that Christ (and through Christ alone we also) will someday inherit. Still, we are to submit our individual will to that of God in the sure knowledge that “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).” That means even those things that are unpleasant, so Jesus followed the proper outline precisely by first reverently acknowledging God the Father as the higher authority. No doubt despite His anguish He was in a worshipful frame of mind, perhaps even more so because He was so distressed, and therein is another lesson for us. Jesus presented His petition to God the Father openly and plainly while still remaining submissive. Ultimately, Jesus’ heartfelt prayer was that His human desires be reconciled to the Divine will of God.
You may recall from a previous article that in the face of temptation prayer is one way of escaping temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). In our times of need we, as God’s children, are privileged and in fact invited to boldly approach Him with our petitions, thereby finding the way of escape, His mercy and grace and help (Hebrews 4:15-17). Prayer works for us today just as it did for Jesus so many years ago. In Gethsemane the lust of the flesh for self-preservation and continued human life was surely a temptation available to Christ; to be relieved of the emotional and spiritual burdens He was bearing was another. Pride was probably a factor as well, as Jesus’ power and authority had already been proven through the working of many signs and miracles; He surely in that moment or at any other of His choosing could have worked another. Instead Jesus was humble and submissive, and an angel appeared (Luke 22:43) “…strengthening him,” probably in much the same way angels ministered to Him following His wilderness temptation. Still, Jesus’ human body and mind wanted to live, and we find in Luke 22:44: “And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Another way to translate that verse from the Greek text might be: ‘And coming to be in a struggle (Greek agOnia) He prayed more earnestly, perspiring so heavily as to be gushing blood upon the earth.’ As we now know, Jesus overcame His human distress and temptations to submit Himself as a willing sacrifice for all sin.
Concerning Judas
Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry the throngs that had followed Him began to revert to their old lives as they realized that being a true disciple of Christ wasn’t going to make for a life of ease (Matthew 5:10-12). Jesus always taught that living our lives in His service would at times be difficult and He never denied that at least some would even lose their lives for the sake of His name and His Gospel, the good news of eternal salvation. Some had grown weary of the travel involved as Jesus went about the country preaching, teaching and performing the signs and miracles that were testament to His identity. Others, simply desirous of entertainment, had grown tired of the miracles altogether. Those who longed for political relief from the Romans had come to the conclusion they were unlikely to see it in their lifetimes and that they might endure more intense Roman oppression if they continued to identify themselves with Jesus. Jewish religious leaders had plotted to kill Jesus and more than a few may have thought they, too, would die for following Christ. Jesus had miraculously fed thousands, but those desirous of nothing more than a full belly had come to understand that wasn’t going to happen on a daily basis for the remainder of their lives. John 6:66-71 says: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.” The word Jesus used in John 6:70 for devil (Greek diabolos) is a form of the Greek diabolou, the same as is used in the previously-considered accounts of Jesus’ wilderness encounter with Satan. If, (and I add heavy emphasis) if Judas was in fact a believer he had certainly strayed far from the path along which Jesus led. On the other hand, I think Judas had become so enamored by the material riches of the world that he had become blind to spiritual truth. He later betrayed Jesus for a mere thirty silver coins (Matthew 26:14-15). John 12:6 describes Judas as “…a thief, and had the bag (Greek glOssokomon, or coffer), and bore what was in it.” If Jesus had meant to teach us that Judas was anything other than a diabolou under the influence of the diabolou (Satan) of Matthew 4:1 He would surely have used a different word to describe the man.
Some think Judas was a believer-gone-bad while others contend he had never accepted Jesus as Savior in the first place. While enough ambiguity exists in the Biblical accounts to make a case either way, I hold the latter position. Judas was the treasurer of Jesus’ ekklesia, Jesus’ assembly of closest friends and followers, and he was a thief (Greek kleptEs) seeking to enrich himself at the expense of others. Judas had fallen prey to the lust of the eyes because with access to money he could have a ‘better’ life and more ‘things.’ Through embezzlement of the money he could buy ‘better’ food for himself and satisfy the lusts of the flesh in other ways, and with the position of treasurer of the church he could satisfy the pride of life, as he probably felt he had or deserved more ‘influence’ than his peers. So if, (and again I add heavy emphasis) if Judas was in fact a believer he had certainly stepped into Satan’s snare against which Paul warned in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 when he wrote, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Jesus might have had many reasons for choosing Judas to be among His companions. I speculate that Jesus wanted us to learn a few things so let’s think on what some of them might be. Judas was with Jesus every day and our Lord was always available but Judas trusted in material wealth rather than Christ, which teaches us the sad lesson that many – even those who have heard the truth countless times – will place their trust in themselves or in other things, and that such misplaced trust leads to ultimate destruction. Judas later hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-10) in remorse for his deeds, thus sealing not only his mortal but eternal doom. Because Judas had been under Jesus’ teaching he undoubtedly had great intellectual knowledge of Christ although he had never entered into the all-important intimate spiritual relationship with Him that we must have to be saved. Judas was never Jesus’ true disciple or friend, but in His long-suffering Jesus was always Judas’ patient friend, even to the end. When Jesus died on the cross He bore the weight of Judas’ sin just as He bore mine, but regardless of how blessed some people are they will ultimately reject the way of God as Judas did, betray His love and come to destruction.
The Place Of Prayer Disquieted
Later that same evening, only a short time after Christ’s prayer, we see a view of Jesus’ temptation from another perspective (John 18:3-13). As He was approached by Judas and a company of men intent on arresting Him Jesus could have fled or miraculously whisk Himself away but He did not. He knew His hour had come, and as Judas identified Jesus for those who would take Him into custody by greeting Him with a kiss Jesus might have been tempted to throttle Judas then and there, but Jesus was in perfect control of Himself and completely committed to the plan of redemption. He might have been tempted to lie about His identity but He didn’t. Instead, Jesus softly asked (Luke 22:48), “…Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” This simple question, posed so eloquently, is possibly what turned Judas’ conscience and led him to his own remorseful self-destruction a short time later.
Although He was urged by His disciples to do so, Jesus made no attempt to resist or to defend Himself. To the disciples’ surprise, He also didn’t want them to defend Him, yet Peter tried anyway (recall that Peter sometimes acted or spoke impulsively). In what was probably only a brief fray Peter used his sword to cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest. “Then said Jesus unto Peter (John 18:11), Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” That command, followed by a question for Peter, in no way intimates that a believer is to simply roll over in passivity; there may be times when we are threatened with violence and when it is appropriate to defend ourselves or others with equal or perhaps even greater force. Jesus was simply pointing out to Peter and the others that this wasn’t one of those times and that He was committed to the redemptive plan. The events of that evening were part of God’s plan. Then, in compassion, Jesus reached forth to touch Malchus’ ear and heal him (Luke 22:51).
There will be times when God calls us to a task of service that is in many ways unpleasant. Surely His imminent suffering and crucifixion was one of those times for Jesus but He, as we should be, was committed to God’s greater plan. We need not fully understand every aspect or detail of God’s overall plan the way Jesus did in order to fully understand the will of God for our lives. When we know beyond doubt what the right thing to do is, Satan offers temptations to shirk our responsibilities as disciples of Christ. Across the centuries countless numbers of Christians have endured imprisonment or given their lives rather than renounce the name of Jesus or their identity with Him. In many countries today Christians are ostracized, suffer imprisonment, undergo torture or even lose their lives knowing that the words of the imprisoned Apostle Paul, penned in Philippians 1:19-21, are as applicable today as ever: “For I know that this (my suffering in prison) shall turn to (provide evidence of) my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the (Holy) Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope (sure knowledge), that in nothing (pertaining to the Gospel, my preaching or my testimony) I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is (to exemplify) Christ, and to die is (to) gain (my eternal home in heaven through Him).”
Does This Apply To Us Today?
During His public ministry there were other times when Jesus surely confronted temptation, and in the next and subsequent articles we’ll consider a few more of them. In the meantime how can we in our day-to-day lives successfully endure the sneers and ridicule of neighbors or co-workers, the rejection of acquaintances, the pass-overs for promotion or the scoffing of those who hear our words of witness and testimony? How might we overcome the temptation of temporal preservation if someday faced with the prospect of losing our own lives for the name of Jesus? One way is to recall the words of 2 Corinthians 5:5-8 where Paul writes, “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” In Matthew 16:24-26 (immediately following His rebuke of Satan cited above), “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Do the cited words of either Paul or Jesus in any way suggest that we are redeemed by our works and deeds? Absolutely not; Paul made that point clearly when he wrote, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).” What Jesus is saying is that we are to live a self-sacrificial life in service to Him, and Paul is affirming it. In his letter to the church at Rome, chapter twelve verse 1, Paul put the matter into perspective this way: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” In light of everything Jesus has done for us isn’t it reasonable that we would want to serve Him? Will we stand in His presence in eternity ashamed because we weren’t willing to do more to serve Him? The words of Peter, recorded in Acts 4:12, are unambiguous regarding why sharing the truth of the Gospel with the fallen world is vitally important: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Peter’s words lend a very real sense of urgency to our service and the sharing of the Gospel.
Until next time prosper, my friends, and be blessed, and let’s all make a greater effort to share the Word with those who desperately need to hear it –
Tom