music "Amazing Grace" John Newton, Isaac Watts
The cross was used as an instrument of death, then and now. It was either a plain vertical stake to which the victim was fastened, with the hands and feet tied or nailed above the head, or such a stake provided a crossbar to which the victim was fastened with the arms outstretched.
Today we lift our hands above our heads or raise our arms out and up to form a cross figure. We do this to die to the fleshly man, to live for Jesus and to submit.
In pre-Christian times, that is before Christ, the cross’s emblem had been clearly investigated as a well known heathen sign. Around 400 B.C. the cross started by the Romans as a form of a death penalty and was known as a crucifixion, another form of a horrible, brutal and painful death man inflicted and still inflicts upon other man. This is a horrible death, a death of suffocation.
As God does so well, He turned an evil thing into His glory. He has made the emblem of a cross an impressionable, unforgettable and an emotional emblem of life, eternal life, for believers. In Christian times the cross, from itself being the most vile and repulsive of objects, became in the minds of believers the symbol of all that is Holy and precious. As Christ is the ‘power of God and the wisdom of God’ unto salvation, it is but natural that those who experience the power of salvation should glory in the cross. I proudly wear and display this undisputable emblem of everything which stands for righteousness and goodness. AMEN!
Jesus Christ suffered and died for you and I on that cross, the most vile and repulsive of objects; God allowed this to happen so it would be an undisputable emblem of all that is Holy and righteous. “And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head. And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off of Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.” Matthew 27:29-31.
Submit, obey Him
and answer His call, it is not going to ring forever. Answer, “And
be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians
4:23, 24. See the reason of the cross, feel the pain and love Jesus had at the
same time for you and I. Do not be one of many that hear and see the cross, but
do not feel the love and power it can bestow upon them. “For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power
of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18. Don’t perish foolishly, you have a
choice to make. The scriptures tell us what will happen to you and me if we do
not follow and obey God. I want to
be saved and have the power of God to fight my fights against Satan and his
devils for me. You will lose if you do not have the power of God behind you.
Jesus said in Matthew
Do you want to be
worthy and have the power you can have just for the asking? Then let Jesus into
your life “ … and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby:” Ephesians
 |
John the Baptist saw Jesus, who He really was, upon baptizing Him, when he said, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Then the Lamb fell in John 3:16-18 when we read, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” DO YOU BELIEVE?
Let me tell you about a man that I know really well and whom I am very close to. I know him almost as well as God knows him; but, God still knows him better! About thirty-five to thirty-six years ago this man had surgery for the removal of plantar warts on the side of his foot. Just plain ole warts which grow from a fungus, I think. The surgery was a success and this man walked around on crutches to try to get through his everyday job duties. Without any thought of any more of these warts on his foot, he forgot about them. Until, they started growing back and were getting bigger and bigger.
This man was not a regular church-goer, he was raised this way. But after marriage and settling down some, he started going to church. Through God’s saving grace and the call from God, this man was baptized. Not paying any attention to his foot where the warts were until he got home; THE WARTS WERE GONE!!! PRAISE GOD! Well, his podiatrist, who was getting ready for surgery again, didn’t have anything to say. No need for surgery! And until this day, this man has never been bothered by these warts again. This, the healing power of God!
Well, as all back-slidden Christians, not going to church became easier and easier. This man had just some of God; that’s all he said he needed.
During this man’s early childhood, the statement came up more than once, that every time he would fall into a pile of manure, he would come up smelling like roses. This man still did not feel God’s hands upon his shoulders.
Then the military
called him, greetings, you have been officially drafted into the U. S. Army,
report such and such … . This man had not been married long and leaving his
new bride was hard. Just as God would have it, this man’s duty fort was just
236 miles from his home. PRAISE GOD!
Continue on to Page 2 of The Testimonial--->
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