TRIAL TESTIMONY

“Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37 NKJV).

In context, Pilate is questioning the Lord Jesus on the charge that He is a king. The answer that the Lord Jesus gave is most instructive. It speaks about the person of Christ, the purpose of Christ, and the people of Christ.

Person of Christ – “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world.” Here we have a great statement on the dual nature of the Lord Jesus. “Born” refers to His humanity, and “come” refers of His Deity since it speaks of His pre-existence. Often in Scripture the humanity and Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ are given side by side. For example, Luke 8:22-25 records the Lord Jesus sleeping on a boat (His humanity) but waking to stop a storm with His Word (His Deity). The Lord Jesus Christ is both man and God, or Theanthropos: The God-Man.

Purpose of Christ – “That I should bear witness to the truth.” The purpose of the Lord Jesus was to give witness of the truth about the most important matters of life, such as, heaven, hell, salvation, God, and holy conduct. No witness is more important. Man needs to know the truth about these things more than anything else. And the Lord Jesus is the greatest Witness of the truth ever to be given to mankind.

People of Christ – “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” The people of the Lord Jesus are attracted to spiritual truth, and to the Word of God. One can easily discern the genuine believer from the phony believer based on how they respond to the Word of God. The genuine believer responds enthusiastically to the preaching of the Word. On the other hand, the phony believers are not very interested in the Word of God. Their interest in church is not spiritual. They may be interested in church activities, especially the social activities; but there is no interested in the Word of God. What are your interests?

(Adapted from Butler’s Daily Bible Reading 3)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“To know the Word of God, to live the Word of God, to preach the Word, to teach the Word, is the sum of all wisdom, the heart of all Christian service!”

Charles Edward Fuller (1887 – 1968)

American Baptist Minister and Evangelist

Word Study

Farewell

In Acts 15:29 we read, “That you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell” (NKJV).

“Farewell” is the Greek word rhṓnnumi (ῥώννυμι = hrone'-noo-mee). The word means farewell, to be strong, to thrive, prosper. In classical Greek, rhṓnnumi appears most frequently in the passive voice meaning strengthen or have strength or might. It can also mean to be eager, enthusiastic and to be in good health. It was the usual way of closing of a letter where it means “farewell.” The word is not found in the Septuagint. The New Testament also uses rhṓnnumi (“farewell”) in the conclusions of letter. The word carries with it an admonition to be strong and a wish for general wellbeing and good health. Such admonition would doubtless include a person’s spiritual life, relationship with the Lord Jesus, and other believers.

Did You Know…

According to the apostle Paul, men who speak “lies in hypocrisy” have their consciences “seared with a hot iron.” Basically, they became hardened, and insensitive. (1 Tim. 4:2).

Bible Quiz

What was in the mouth of the dove who returned to Noah after he sent it from the ark?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz

What are we commanded to do in order to “stand against the wiles of the devil?” “Put on the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:11).

Prophecies Fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ

The Time of Messiah’s coming (Gen. 49:10; Luke 2:1-7; Gal. 4:4)

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Gen. 49:10 NJKV).

Here we have the great promise of the coming of the Messiah. And in Gal. 4:4, we read, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” The phrase “fullness of time” meant that the world was providentially ready for the birth of the Messiah. Unlike us, God is always on time. While we may struggle to understand why He doesn’t act in world events or in our personal lives as speedily as we think He should, the Bible proclaims the punctuality of God in working according to His plan. He is sovereign over every event in time and eternity. And so just when we thought we were alone in the world, the Redeemer came to declare God’s love for us. He came the first time in the “fullness of time” and He will return in the fullness of time!

Did You Know – Christian History

William Alfred Passavant was born in 1821 in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. He was a Lutheran minister who brought the Lutheran Deaconess movement to the United States.

Passavant studied at Jefferson College before training for the ministry at Gettysburg Seminary. He was ordained to the ministry, and he held pastorates in Baltimore, MD, (1842-1844), and Pittsburg, PA. (1844-55). In the 19th Century, government charity did not exist as it does today. Unless the church and private organizations met needs, people suffered. However, when Passavant saw a desperate need, he tried to meet it. He had no money to care for the many sick people he had taken in. This was a normal state of affairs for the compassionate Lutheran minister. He would go out of the house, saying, “The Lord will provide. I am going out to get some money and will be back to dinner.” Later, he would return with a sick person. “The Lord has not sent us money, but he has sent us one of His people to be cared for.” And so, without money, he opened Sunday schools, hospitals, orphanages, immigrant stations, libraries, colleges, and helped found the Pittsburgh Synod. He did so without fund-raising appeals or financial gimmicks. He believed that all such methods dishonored God. His work went on during times of great trouble; he took on more tasks despite fewer hands and smaller contributions.

Passavant would labor all day and late into the night. Then, while others slept, he knelt and prayed. “What must we do that we may work the work of God?” he asked. “The church is not merely a sheepfold, but a workshop,” he declared. And yet, in spite of all his hard work, people who thought of themselves as Christians harassed him. Some were terrified that they might catch diseases. Others resented him because his godliness showed up their spiritual indifference. Through it all, Passavant persevered. God rewarded his bold and loving faith with success time and time again. After his death on January 3, 1894, people looked back in amazement at all that he had accomplished. The many institutions that he opened became foundational to the Lutheran Services Organization, the largest church social program in the nation. Passavant was a man who took to heart Christ’s teachings and commands. In addition to all his labors, and pastoral work, he edited church magazines that he had founded. But despite his extraordinary faith, his name is almost unknown in the nation to which he contributed so much.

A Little Humor

A little boy who wanted $100 very badly prayed and prayed for two weeks, but nothing happened. Then he decided to write a letter to God requesting the $100. When the postal authorities received the letter to “God, USA,” they decided to send it to President. The president was so touched and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. His thought was that this would be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5, and immediately sat down to write a thank you note to God which read, “Dear God, Thank you for sending me the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington D.C., and as usual, those crooks deducted $95.

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Stop, drop, and roll won’t work in hell!”