Larry Lilly's Journal Resurrection From Among the Dead! Vol 19 Issue 4
Pastor Larry Lilly
Resurrection From Among the Dead
In these times of departure from the pure truth of God as taught by the Apostles, we must pause as we run through our life gathering this and that and ponder the spiritual validity of our faith in Jesus Christ, which is based primarily of His resurrection from among the dead and also the resurrection of all the dead, some to life and others to an existence of torment. Here’s the Apostle Paul’s statement in part in 1Corinthians:
1Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise.
16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (NKJV).
In the above passage, Paul brings to light the foundational truth of Christianity. He insists on the resurrection as presented in scripture as essential to the true faith. No fudging on the bodily resurrection of Christ. He joins with Christ’s remarks to the unbelieving Sadducees in Luke 27:40 that even Moses taught the future resurrection in his day.
The insistence of the life, death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead has been relegated to the backwaters of doctrine in our time; one preacher went so far as to take a group to the Holy Land expecting to discover the grave containing “The bones of Jesus.” Paul would assert the said preacher's search is in vain as his purported faith is absent any salvation power.
The Bible in our passage insists the Gospel is the good news concerning:
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that He was seen of many unimpeachable witnesses.
Paul further admits what is correct about all of us. We are NOT worthy of God’s Grace, in Paul’s case because he persecuted the Church, even to participate in the murder of Stephan. He praises God’s grace with this: “But by the grace of God I am what I am!” He, as all serious believers know the Grace of God, covers our sins and God uses us for His glory as Paul’s ministry is a testimony.
The Apostle closes with what would be called in today’s world, a power close.
If Christ has not risen, preaching is empty, and those who receive it have an empty faith. And faith without the resurrection is futile, and you are still in your sins. The last in my selection is heartrending:
VS 19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” Other version use “Miserable.” Either word conveys the thought of religious life, but minus the resurrection of Christ, a total waste.
The utter beauty of 1Corinthians 15 in its entirety is that because Christ lives, we can face the storms of life with clean hands and a pure heart. Also, we live, because Christ lives and we can be all the things that are compatible with the new life in Christ, as Bill Gaither asserts in his grand song, “Because He Lives.”
Because Jesus is raised from the Dead every son of Adam, the fallen progenitor of the human race, we can be transferred from the condemnation of The priestly first Adam into the heritage of the Last High Priest, Jesus Christ who lives forever and therefore is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him. See Hebrews Chapter 7,8,9,10 to get a handle of the Power of Jesus Christ, risen from the Dead and who lives forever to save all who come.
I personally love Hebrews 7:24-25.
This month on April 21st we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I hope you will have an emphasis on the Empty Tomb from which Jesus Christ, having been dead, walked out of bodily as He showed the disciples in the upper room and then Thomas a week later. Yes, Because He lives, we can face tomorrow here or in glory with victory in our heart.
The order or resurrection follows in 1Cor 15. Write to me if you want an explanation. LML.
***
Outside of the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no hope in this world. That cross and resurrection at the core of the Gospel is the only hope for humanity. Wherever you go, ask God for wisdom on how to get that Gospel in, even in the toughest situations of life. Ravi Zacharias
***
As a pastor in a Protestant church, my whole ministry centers on the conviction that by grace we are saved through faith. And it's not our faith that delivers us, as if believing something, anything at all were pleasing to God. It's the object of our faith - Christ's life, death, and resurrection - that saves us. Kevin DeYoung
***
The most casual reader of the New Testament can scarcely fail to see the commanding position the resurrection of Christ holds in Christianity. It is the creator of its new and brighter hopes, of its richer and stronger faith, of its deeper and more exalted experience. Edward McKendree Bounds
In these times of departure from the pure truth of God as taught by the Apostles, we must pause as we run through our life gathering this and that and ponder the spiritual validity of our faith in Jesus Christ, which is based primarily of His resurrection from among the dead and also the resurrection of all the dead, some to life and others to an existence of torment. Here’s the Apostle Paul’s statement in part in 1Corinthians:
1Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise.
16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (NKJV).
In the above passage, Paul brings to light the foundational truth of Christianity. He insists on the resurrection as presented in scripture as essential to the true faith. No fudging on the bodily resurrection of Christ. He joins with Christ’s remarks to the unbelieving Sadducees in Luke 27:40 that even Moses taught the future resurrection in his day.
The insistence of the life, death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead has been relegated to the backwaters of doctrine in our time; one preacher went so far as to take a group to the Holy Land expecting to discover the grave containing “The bones of Jesus.” Paul would assert the said preacher's search is in vain as his purported faith is absent any salvation power.
The Bible in our passage insists the Gospel is the good news concerning:
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that He was seen of many unimpeachable witnesses.
Paul further admits what is correct about all of us. We are NOT worthy of God’s Grace, in Paul’s case because he persecuted the Church, even to participate in the murder of Stephan. He praises God’s grace with this: “But by the grace of God I am what I am!” He, as all serious believers know the Grace of God, covers our sins and God uses us for His glory as Paul’s ministry is a testimony.
The Apostle closes with what would be called in today’s world, a power close.
If Christ has not risen, preaching is empty, and those who receive it have an empty faith. And faith without the resurrection is futile, and you are still in your sins. The last in my selection is heartrending:
VS 19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” Other version use “Miserable.” Either word conveys the thought of religious life, but minus the resurrection of Christ, a total waste.
The utter beauty of 1Corinthians 15 in its entirety is that because Christ lives, we can face the storms of life with clean hands and a pure heart. Also, we live, because Christ lives and we can be all the things that are compatible with the new life in Christ, as Bill Gaither asserts in his grand song, “Because He Lives.”
Because Jesus is raised from the Dead every son of Adam, the fallen progenitor of the human race, we can be transferred from the condemnation of The priestly first Adam into the heritage of the Last High Priest, Jesus Christ who lives forever and therefore is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him. See Hebrews Chapter 7,8,9,10 to get a handle of the Power of Jesus Christ, risen from the Dead and who lives forever to save all who come.
I personally love Hebrews 7:24-25.
This month on April 21st we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I hope you will have an emphasis on the Empty Tomb from which Jesus Christ, having been dead, walked out of bodily as He showed the disciples in the upper room and then Thomas a week later. Yes, Because He lives, we can face tomorrow here or in glory with victory in our heart.
The order or resurrection follows in 1Cor 15. Write to me if you want an explanation. LML.
***
Outside of the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no hope in this world. That cross and resurrection at the core of the Gospel is the only hope for humanity. Wherever you go, ask God for wisdom on how to get that Gospel in, even in the toughest situations of life. Ravi Zacharias
***
As a pastor in a Protestant church, my whole ministry centers on the conviction that by grace we are saved through faith. And it's not our faith that delivers us, as if believing something, anything at all were pleasing to God. It's the object of our faith - Christ's life, death, and resurrection - that saves us. Kevin DeYoung
***
The most casual reader of the New Testament can scarcely fail to see the commanding position the resurrection of Christ holds in Christianity. It is the creator of its new and brighter hopes, of its richer and stronger faith, of its deeper and more exalted experience. Edward McKendree Bounds
The Book Worm's Corner Comments From Helpful Books Joyce Lilly
Pre-Trib Rapture of The Church, YES! William Grant Nelson Ph.D. 5 Chp 197 pgs. See *Note
Dr. Nelson’s book is a rare kind of book in this time of fluff. As I read his book, Dr. Nelson went to be with the Lord in March. Please pray for his family and Church. He was still pastoring! I was reminded of the early days of Larry and I’s conversion to Christ. Back then it seemed as all of Christendom was aflame with the expectation of the soon coming of Jesus Christ in the rapture. Anyone in our region who did not believe in the rapture was rather quiet about such belief. Brother Grant was one of the mentors who had a great part in Larry and I’s early Christian life. This book will help anyone who reads it to a much clearer grasp of Eschatological view of the taking out of the church.
Tim LaHaye, states: “I found this book very readable and very eschatologically accurate. It comes to the basic truths of prophecy and proves that both the scriptures and the writings of the early church fathers, medieval biblicists and many of the reformers held to the Pre-Trib Rapture. Any sincere student of prophecy would benefit from reading this book.” Tim LaHaye Author of the Left Behind series.
Get Dr. Nelson’s book. JDL.
*April is Letter Month. If you will send a letter, Larry will send you a FREE copy of
The Pretribulation Rapture? YES!. Any help with shipping will help! (First come first served as the number of books is limited).
Larry Lilly
P.O. Box 5212
Terre Haute, IN 47805
pastor@bbcth.com
In May I will review another Great book by Dr. Nelson. JDL
Dr. Nelson’s book is a rare kind of book in this time of fluff. As I read his book, Dr. Nelson went to be with the Lord in March. Please pray for his family and Church. He was still pastoring! I was reminded of the early days of Larry and I’s conversion to Christ. Back then it seemed as all of Christendom was aflame with the expectation of the soon coming of Jesus Christ in the rapture. Anyone in our region who did not believe in the rapture was rather quiet about such belief. Brother Grant was one of the mentors who had a great part in Larry and I’s early Christian life. This book will help anyone who reads it to a much clearer grasp of Eschatological view of the taking out of the church.
Tim LaHaye, states: “I found this book very readable and very eschatologically accurate. It comes to the basic truths of prophecy and proves that both the scriptures and the writings of the early church fathers, medieval biblicists and many of the reformers held to the Pre-Trib Rapture. Any sincere student of prophecy would benefit from reading this book.” Tim LaHaye Author of the Left Behind series.
Get Dr. Nelson’s book. JDL.
*April is Letter Month. If you will send a letter, Larry will send you a FREE copy of
The Pretribulation Rapture? YES!. Any help with shipping will help! (First come first served as the number of books is limited).
Larry Lilly
P.O. Box 5212
Terre Haute, IN 47805
pastor@bbcth.com
In May I will review another Great book by Dr. Nelson. JDL
Letters and Comments (Larry's Most Read Internet letter in March).
LLLV19 3-18-2019 The Case Against Hatred of Jews
Most of the tribes of the world are plagued by a familiar malady, the hatred of Jews. This hatred comes in many packages such as “Anti-Semitic,” a term misused as the Arabs are of the Semitic group, and many have a vitriolic hatred for the Jews, even hate toward the Jewish God.
Our own beloved United States has its fair share of hate for the Jews.
The strangest hatred for Jews is articulated here as the little poem quoted by Francis Schaeffer back in 1943 reads,
“How odd of God to choose the Jew,
But not so odd as those who choose
The Jewish God and hate the Jew.”
How often as a non-believer growing up I heard the term concerning Jewish people “Christ Killers.”
Upon conversion to Jesus Christ, I discovered some Christians who were among those who hold Jews responsible for the killing of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. This in spite of Christ’s most famous words toward the Jews and Romans who had active human participation in the events, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
As a newborn Christian, I struggled with the contradiction of Christ’s words by Christians. Christ forgave those who were directly involved. Why shouldn’t we.”
The Apostle Paul, the noted theologian of Century 1, stated his agreement emphatically with Jesus on forgiveness with his passage in 1Corinthians 2:8;
“which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
The rulers of “this age” clearly identify the corrupt leaders of the Jews, and the brutal, spineless Pilate, yet they lacked the understanding of God’s way, and Christ issued His statement.
Anti-Semitism is not a biblical position, and thankfully such a doctrine is not the stance of Biblical people nor the official thought of the American People at large.
Larry Lilly Share with media for Twitter http://www.larrylilly.net/blog
Great IT Work. Oral Deckard
Most of the tribes of the world are plagued by a familiar malady, the hatred of Jews. This hatred comes in many packages such as “Anti-Semitic,” a term misused as the Arabs are of the Semitic group, and many have a vitriolic hatred for the Jews, even hate toward the Jewish God.
Our own beloved United States has its fair share of hate for the Jews.
The strangest hatred for Jews is articulated here as the little poem quoted by Francis Schaeffer back in 1943 reads,
“How odd of God to choose the Jew,
But not so odd as those who choose
The Jewish God and hate the Jew.”
How often as a non-believer growing up I heard the term concerning Jewish people “Christ Killers.”
Upon conversion to Jesus Christ, I discovered some Christians who were among those who hold Jews responsible for the killing of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. This in spite of Christ’s most famous words toward the Jews and Romans who had active human participation in the events, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
As a newborn Christian, I struggled with the contradiction of Christ’s words by Christians. Christ forgave those who were directly involved. Why shouldn’t we.”
The Apostle Paul, the noted theologian of Century 1, stated his agreement emphatically with Jesus on forgiveness with his passage in 1Corinthians 2:8;
“which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
The rulers of “this age” clearly identify the corrupt leaders of the Jews, and the brutal, spineless Pilate, yet they lacked the understanding of God’s way, and Christ issued His statement.
Anti-Semitism is not a biblical position, and thankfully such a doctrine is not the stance of Biblical people nor the official thought of the American People at large.
Larry Lilly Share with media for Twitter http://www.larrylilly.net/blog
Great IT Work. Oral Deckard
Page 4 Broken Things. Dale Byers
Dale Byers
Broken Things Dale Byers
One night I spoke on the subject of broken things and found I was having some problems with my message. It was amazing that I would have difficulty with a subject at which I am an expert. Do you realize how much of my life has been spent on broken things? When I was in Bible College, I drove a 1959 Rambler with continental kit, push button transmission and divided seats in the front. The problem with this wonder car was the windshield wipers became broken, or at least semi-broken, because the wiper blades would go down, but would not come back up. As a Bible college student, I did not have money or time to fix it and, being the mechanical idiot I am, I didn’t know how to fix it anyway. So, I did the next best thing. I tied a string around the wiper blade and threaded it through the window. When it was snowing, which was a common routine in Grand Rapids, I would pull the wiper blades up with the string and allow the machine to take the blades back down. As I traveled to my classes, I could be seen driving down the highway, pumping the string to keep my windshield clean. I also remember another car which had wiper blades that decided to come on when I used the turn signal, and sometimes I could not get the wiper blades to quit working.
One day I picked up one of our missionaries and was transporting him to his destination when he noticed the wiper blades suddenly began to operate. I explained that I could not get them to quit. He asked how I handled the situation. My explanation was simple, “I pray for rain.” I could speak for hours on the subject of working with broken things.
We live in a throwaway society. No longer do we repair broken things, we throw them away. In America it is less time consuming, and much more convenient, to buy something that is perfect.
That same line of thinking applies to people in our society today. At least 10% of our population are handicapped in some form, and for many they are an unwanted element in society. The world can reason that the way to handle the unborn babies who are not perfect is abortion. It is our society’s means of throwing away something that is undesirable and unwanted.
Not only have I spent much time with broken things, I have spent much time with broken people. I once served as Chaplain of a neurological rehabilitation center. It was a ministry to people whose lives were broken in one form or another. We believe that every individual is important to God and as much as possible are repaired. Those who cannot be repaired are ministered to as God’s special people.
Your life may come to a sudden turn in the road and you may find yourself broken in health. Your business may fail, and you lose everything but your shirt. God may ask you to live the rest of your life broken financially, physically or emotionally. Many individuals have known success in all those areas, then one day they find themselves helpless, weak and in great need.
It is when “we” are broken that we learn how much God values broken things.
Our Savior did not come to help the perfect, self-sufficient, or self-righteous. Christ came to minister to sinners. They who are whole do not need a physician, but He is the Great Physician to spiritually sick and dying people. Someone has said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. If you find that you are insufficient in yourself, then you qualify to receive God’s abundant mercy and grace by trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life. Then ask Him to bring someone into your life that is broken and in need of your care. Remember, He loves you and so do we.
* Blogsite for past articles: http://dalebyers.wordpress.com/
One night I spoke on the subject of broken things and found I was having some problems with my message. It was amazing that I would have difficulty with a subject at which I am an expert. Do you realize how much of my life has been spent on broken things? When I was in Bible College, I drove a 1959 Rambler with continental kit, push button transmission and divided seats in the front. The problem with this wonder car was the windshield wipers became broken, or at least semi-broken, because the wiper blades would go down, but would not come back up. As a Bible college student, I did not have money or time to fix it and, being the mechanical idiot I am, I didn’t know how to fix it anyway. So, I did the next best thing. I tied a string around the wiper blade and threaded it through the window. When it was snowing, which was a common routine in Grand Rapids, I would pull the wiper blades up with the string and allow the machine to take the blades back down. As I traveled to my classes, I could be seen driving down the highway, pumping the string to keep my windshield clean. I also remember another car which had wiper blades that decided to come on when I used the turn signal, and sometimes I could not get the wiper blades to quit working.
One day I picked up one of our missionaries and was transporting him to his destination when he noticed the wiper blades suddenly began to operate. I explained that I could not get them to quit. He asked how I handled the situation. My explanation was simple, “I pray for rain.” I could speak for hours on the subject of working with broken things.
We live in a throwaway society. No longer do we repair broken things, we throw them away. In America it is less time consuming, and much more convenient, to buy something that is perfect.
That same line of thinking applies to people in our society today. At least 10% of our population are handicapped in some form, and for many they are an unwanted element in society. The world can reason that the way to handle the unborn babies who are not perfect is abortion. It is our society’s means of throwing away something that is undesirable and unwanted.
Not only have I spent much time with broken things, I have spent much time with broken people. I once served as Chaplain of a neurological rehabilitation center. It was a ministry to people whose lives were broken in one form or another. We believe that every individual is important to God and as much as possible are repaired. Those who cannot be repaired are ministered to as God’s special people.
Your life may come to a sudden turn in the road and you may find yourself broken in health. Your business may fail, and you lose everything but your shirt. God may ask you to live the rest of your life broken financially, physically or emotionally. Many individuals have known success in all those areas, then one day they find themselves helpless, weak and in great need.
It is when “we” are broken that we learn how much God values broken things.
Our Savior did not come to help the perfect, self-sufficient, or self-righteous. Christ came to minister to sinners. They who are whole do not need a physician, but He is the Great Physician to spiritually sick and dying people. Someone has said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. If you find that you are insufficient in yourself, then you qualify to receive God’s abundant mercy and grace by trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life. Then ask Him to bring someone into your life that is broken and in need of your care. Remember, He loves you and so do we.
* Blogsite for past articles: http://dalebyers.wordpress.com/
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You may send your offering to the address to the left bottom of this block.
Your prayers and financial help are essential to the successful reaching and growing people for Jesus Christ. You are important to Jesus Christ!
Larry Lilly
P.O. Box 5212
Terre Haute, IN 47805
Reaching Raising Restoring
Update on Joyce
Joyce is halfway through her radiation treatments. At this point they are burning her so much that has to take a day off here and there to continue. She stays in good spirits spreading her joy visiting the sick and being a friend to the Ladies of Berean. Over the 58 years, 54 of which we have served Jesus as man and wife, Joyce has had the ability to keep on for the Lord in spite of dark clouds that may cross her/our path.
A Catholic Nun friend of ours nicknamed her, "Wontuff Cookie!" She is that.
The Ladies of Berean presented a lovely Prayer Shaw to Joyce to help her to keep warm and be reminded of theirs and the love of Jesus for her.
Your prayers are desired and appreciated.
God bless,
Larry
Joyce is halfway through her radiation treatments. At this point they are burning her so much that has to take a day off here and there to continue. She stays in good spirits spreading her joy visiting the sick and being a friend to the Ladies of Berean. Over the 58 years, 54 of which we have served Jesus as man and wife, Joyce has had the ability to keep on for the Lord in spite of dark clouds that may cross her/our path.
A Catholic Nun friend of ours nicknamed her, "Wontuff Cookie!" She is that.
The Ladies of Berean presented a lovely Prayer Shaw to Joyce to help her to keep warm and be reminded of theirs and the love of Jesus for her.
Your prayers are desired and appreciated.
God bless,
Larry