“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

— Jeremiah 29:13

Felix Mendelssohn was one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time. (If you’ve ever attended a wedding, you’re probably familiar with his famous “Wedding March.”) Mendelssohn was born in 1809 to a wealthy family, unlike most other composers of his time. He was happy, although one blotch marred the perfect picture of his life. Because they were Jewish, the Mendelssohns often received unfair treatment and were denied basic rights by those around them. It is shameful that everything the Mendelssohns owned could be snatched up at a moment’s notice. To avoid mockery and persecution, Felix’s father, Abraham, took his children to the Lutheran state church and had them baptized. The Mendelssohns put on the cloak of state respectability and became “Christians” … at least in name.

Though Felix was outwardly a Christian, his heart was empty. He sought to fill this vacuum until his grandmother shared with him a manuscript that was written by an obscure composer who had died seventy-five years earlier. The composer was Johann Sebastian Bach, and the manuscript was St. Matthew’s Passion. The music moved Mendelssohn, but the words captivated him. As Mendelssohn considered the meaning of these words in St. Matthew’s Passion—“He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows … God hath made Him to be sin for us”—he came to realize that indeed a Savior had come into the world and His name was Jesus. Mendelssohn discovered that being a Christian was not about religion, but about a relationship with Jesus Christ. This discovery changed his life.

Because of his exposure to Bach’s work, Mendelssohn made a great contribution to music, reviving interest in Bach’s work, which had fallen into neglect. Later Mendelssohn, like Bach, wrote music that glorified the Lord. In doing so, Mendelssohn shared with the world the treasure he had found—the Gospel of Christ—a musical testimony that continues to affect people’s lives.

“Music is one of the fairest and
most glorious gifts of God.”
Martin Luther

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

— 3 John 4

Today many people try to live as if no absolute truths govern their existence. They say, “Truth is relative.” But imagine if these people declared that the law of gravity was not “their truth.” If they jumped from the top of a skyscraper, they’d soon discover the error of their philosophy. Gravity, like all other absolutes, exists whether or not we choose to believe in it.

Relativism may seem like a wonderful philosophy, but life without absolutes is meaningless. The philosopher Nietzsche promoted moral relativism, and he exerted a strong influence in the lives of Hitler and others, but we can sum up Nietzsche’s life in two graffiti messages once found on a building. The first message: “God is dead.—Nietzsche.” The second message: “Nietzsche is dead.—God.” Whatever “truth” humans profess, God’s truth always prevails in the end. (By the way, Nietzsche was insane during the last several years of his life.)

Jesus proclaimed the existence of absolute truth, and we learn of it through God’s Word, our source for defining absolute rights and wrongs. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Jesus didn’t say, “You will know a truth.” He didn’t say, “You will know your truth.” He said, “You shall know the truth.” God’s truth stands for everyone. We cannot reject God’s truth as just “somebody else’s truth, but not mine.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is not a truth, part of the truth, or somebody else’s truth. He is the truth. How ironic that Jesus, the incarnation of absolute truth, had to stand trial before Pilate, a coward whose truth changed to please the crowd, and to hear Pilate sneer, “What is truth?”

God’s absolute truths give us joyful purpose in this relativistic age. How wonderful to know that our faith is built on truth. I’m a Christian not because I need to be or because it feels right (although both are true). I’m a Christian because Christ is the truth.

“In regard to this great book [the Bible], I have but to say,
it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good the
Savior gave to the world was communicated through this
book. But for it we could not know right from wrong.”
Abraham Lincoln

“And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.”

— Matthew 5:41

How do you deal with people who “do you dirty?” We all have people in our lives who stab us in the back, say cruel things about us, or do mean things to us. But the Bible has a secret, one we often overlook, for dealing with those who mistreat us. It’s the secret of “the second mile.” To understand it, we need a quick history lesson.

The Medes and the Persians, and later the Romans, had a law that stated that a government official could, at any time, force a citizen to carry any burden for one mile. When Jesus told His followers to walk the second mile, he referred to this law. Jesus wanted people to return good for evil—to, out of their free will, go far beyond what others expected of them.

Christ’s urging is like a timid flower within the Sermon on the Mount, but the fragrance it gives can transform your whole life and work wonders of reconciliation with those who anger you. People who fail in relationships and in business are often those who, when asked to go a mile, try to make it a half-mile. The mediocre people are those who go the one mile, doing what people expect of them but not an inch more. But when you look at a successful person, you’ll find someone who has gone the second and the third mile a thousand times over. A person who habitually does more than expected, who finds ways to please, will succeed.

So how does this work? It’s simple. If someone does you wrong, you do them right. I’ll be the first to agree that this goes against human nature as does much of applied Christianity. But the second mile allows us to transform any slight or injury into a blessing, and it gives us a tool to knock down barriers in school, in business, in our marriages, and in our homes. See today if you can’t find some opportunity to go the second mile for someone in your life.

“Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet
sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
Mark Twain

“And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.”

— Genesis 22:10

Call to mind the biggest trial you’ve ever faced (you might face it even today). Remember the struggle, the pain, the despair? Does it help to know that through your trials God tests and perfects your faith?

Consider Abraham trudging his way toward Mount Moriah to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. From Abraham’s trial and faithful response we gain great blessing, a treasure-trove of lessons, to give us insight into what God teaches us through trials.

The first lesson we learn from Abraham’s story is that God needs to test our faith to strengthen and purify it, just as gold must endure fire to gain strength and purity. God tested Abraham’s faith to determine upon whom Abraham relied, and Abraham passed the test by offering his son as a sacrifice. In turn, God provided another offering, a ram, saving Isaac’s life. As Abraham endured this trial, he gained even greater trust in God. Through our trials, we learn to trust less in ourselves and more in our heavenly Father.

Second, Abraham’s story teaches us that we’ll face trials throughout our entire lives. Even as a very old man, Abraham was called to leave his homeland and go to a place he did not know. When Abraham was ninety years old, God challenged him to believe he’d have a son. Until the end of Abraham’s life, God tried and perfected Abraham’s faith.

Third, we learn from Abraham’s story that God prepares us for difficult trials. Only after Abraham passed the tests of so many other trials did God allow the most difficult one to occur. God teaches us to climb the lower peaks before calling us to scale the loftiest summits. He teaches us to wade in the shallows before He calls us to plunge into the depths of the oceans. At each level of our faith, God has lessons for us to learn, and by His grace He enables us to pass successfully through each trial.

Take some encouragement from these lessons today. If you’re presently enduring a trial, know that God has not forgotten you. In fact, through it He wants to draw you closer to Him. Trust your heavenly Father to bring you through victoriously and with a greater faith in Him.

“The brook would lose its song if we removed the rocks.”
Anonymous

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ … for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

— Galatians 2:16

Most people don’t get it. The darkness of spiritual ignorance has pervaded people’s minds, leaving vast numbers abjectly ignorant of this central doctrine of Christianity.

What am I talking about? The doctrine of justification by faith—the fact that we can have eternal life because Christ’s death has cleansed us of all sin, making us worthy to live in God’s presence.

Do you understand justification by faith? If you don’t, you’re not alone. So many, including Christians, can’t explain it. If you were to ask people from a variety of church backgrounds how to get to Heaven, I believe that most answers would include a work or act. “I go to church every Sunday.” “I keep the Ten Commandments.” “I try not to hurt people.” But none of these answers matches what the Bible teaches us about salvation.

So how do we become “justified?” The Westminster Catechism describes it most aptly, saying that justification is an act of God’s free grace wherein He pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous because of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross. What does that mean? Most important, it means that God sets us free from eternal punishment by His will, not our own. The only thing we can do is accept the gift by faith.

God is the only one who can justify us, and yet we continue to try to justify ourselves. Someone once said to me, “I can justify everything I have done to God.” Though most people wouldn’t state it that way, many people try to do just that. But the doctrine of justification condemns every person’s effort to justify himself or herself. Only God can justify us. He does it once and for all, completely and perfectly, in the twinkling of an eye.

Who are you trusting for your salvation: yourself or God? Only God’s free grace can save you. Accept His undeserved favor, and stop your striving. Allow Him to give you the free gift He offers, and just watch where it will take you.

“Justification is the pivotal point around which all else turns.”
Geerhardus Vos

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations …”

— Matthew 24:14

This month marks the annual remembrance of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Columbus was a brave and farsighted leader whose monumental discovery changed the world. But our society often questions Columbus’ character. We know he was a man of flesh and blood, a sinner as we all are. And we know he made mistakes. Yet we can’t hold him responsible for all the things modern critics would like to blame him for.

So what kind of person was Columbus? His son portrays him as a gracious, loving father. Columbus was a godly man who so fervently attended to Scripture reading, prayer, fasting, and all of the worship services, that if one didn’t know he was a seafaring man, one would have suspected that he belonged to a holy order. In fact, when Columbus first landed in the New World, his first act was to plant a cross on the land.

The names Columbus chose for the places he discovered also indicate his dedication to Christ. He named his first landing place “San Salvador,” which means “Holy Savior.” He named his next landing places “Vera Cruz,” which means “True Cross,” and “La Navidad,” which means “The Nativity” or “Christmas.” Then Columbus came to an island with three hills on it, and he named it “Trinidad,” meaning “The Trinity.” He did this time after time in the places he landed, indicating his godly focus and nature.

Today you’ll often hear people doubt the goodness of Columbus’ character. Part of this is because they perceive that Columbus sailed for “gold and glory.” But listen to what Columbus himself said about his reason for sailing: “It was the Lord who put it into my mind to sail to the Indies. The fact that the Gospel must be preached to so many lands—that is what convinced me.” Overall, I think Columbus is a model of courage, who admirably drew his life’s vision from Jesus Christ.

“No one should fear to undertake any task
in the name of our Savior, if it is just and if
the intention is purely for His holy service.”
Christopher Columbus

“Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

— Psalm 29:2

What do you expect when you go to church on Sunday mornings? Do you view Sunday morning church as a type of performance? Many people do. They listen to the choir as if they were at a concert, ready to critique the choir’s performance. They sing hymns but never once as they sing do they ever think of praising God. Instead, they sing hymns by rote, with their minds turned off.

But God doesn’t want us to sit back as passive observers. He wants us to actively participate in worshipping Him.

Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, thought that most people conceive of church as a drama wherein they are merely spectators. In this drama, the minister is the principal actor. God prompts the minister by whispering His lines in the minister’s ear (should the minister chance to forget them), and the congregation members are the critics who pass their judgment on the performance.

The truth of the matter, says Kierkegaard, is that church is a drama of sorts. But if we view worship as God designed it, the congregation members should be the actors, the minister the prompter, and God Himself the critic. Why? Because worship is one’s response to the revelation of God. When we recognize God’s true nature, we want to worship Him in direct proportion to the clarity of our vision of Him.

So many people don’t understand the true joy of worship. And God doesn’t want us to miss it. This Sunday, remember to actively worship God as a participant, not as a mere spectator. When the choir sings and the minister preaches, lift their words in praise to God. “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.”

“If absence makes the heart grow fonder, some
people ought to love their churches greatly.”
Anonymous

… Unlike those high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices—first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.

— Hebrews 7:27

There were priests in the Old Testament, but now Christ, our great High Priest has come. He completed the work that they could only begin.

With a priest and an altar you have something else: you have a sacrifice. For hundreds of years, at God’s instruction, the ancient Hebrew priests offered sacrifices with many specific guidelines. There were daily sacrifices and specific annual offerings. They may have “forgiven” sins temporarily, but never permanently.

All of these sacrifices foreshadowed the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. What He did is the basis for all forgiveness. His blood was much more precious than that of bulls and goats.

Read Hebrews 9-11 and you will notice that one word appears over and over and over again. It is a word that I recommend you underline. It is “once” or “one.” By one sacrifice Christ has forever reconciled us to God. There was only one sacrifice, and it took place upon the Cross 2,000 years ago. On that finished sacrifice all of our hopes are founded.

Question to ponder:
What does it mean that our High Priest offered Himself up “once for all”?

… weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

— Psalm 30:5

Sorrow, sadness, and weeping are all part of this life. None of us are untouched by the troubles of the world. But these are temporary—whereas joy, for the Christian, is everlasting. 

One time at a speaking engagement in Indianapolis, a man came up to me and said, “I was down in Ft. Lauderdale on vacation, and I met a lady in your church who shared with me those good tidings of great joy.” She had told him of the Gospel and he had accepted Christ. He continued: “You certainly cannot know, you cannot imagine the indescribable joy I have known for the last year since I came to know Christ. I never would have believed it.”

It is never recorded once that Jesus ever laughed, and yet the night before He went to the agony of the Cross, He said, “I have spoken these to you, that My joy may remain in you” (John 15:11). He came from the source of all joy—from Heaven—and He came to bring that joy to us. He took all of our sorrows and our griefs upon Himself, and thus, though He never laughed that we know of, He did weep. And He wept, so that we might be glad.

Question to ponder:
What difference does it make that sadness is temporary?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

— Matthew 5:3

To be poor in spirit is to recognize that you are spiritually needy. It is to see that in ourselves we are poor and in need of a savior.

Christ came—not with pomp and circumstance, not with royal splendor, not with power, not with armies, but into a family with a great lineage: however, one that had fallen into poverty. He grew up in the home of a carpenter. He grew up in a city that was a byword: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46 NKJV).

He grew up with no education, and yet He was the wisest person who ever lived. He grew up, astonishingly, with no background. He exited that town, which was nothing, walked up on a hill, and there delivered the greatest discourse on human ethics the world has ever heard—the Sermon on the Mount. It has never been equaled and certainly never excelled.

The humble carpenter spread His blessings all over the world and taught us that humility is a virtue.

Question to ponder:
What is the relationship between having spiritual riches and being poor in spirit?