Tag: Light

Who Made It?

Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist; but he was an infidel, while Newton was a devout believer, and they often locked horns over this question, though their mutual interest in science drew them much together. Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large gilded ball representing the sun, and revolving around this were smaller balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, in their proper order. These balls were so geared together by cogs and bells as to move in perfect harmony by turning the crank.

One day as Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. He was scientist enough to recognize at a glance what was before him. Stepping up to it he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies all move in their relative speed in their orbits. Standing off a few feet, he exclaimed, “My! What an exquisite thing this is! Who made it?”

Without looking up from his book, Newton answered, “Nobody!” Quickly turning to Newton, the infidel said, “Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this thing?”  Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in. But the astonished infidel replied with some heat, “You must think I’m a fool! Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I’d like to know who he is.”

Laying his book aside, Newton arose and laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder and said: “This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such incongruous conclusion?”

The infidel was at once convinced and became a firm believer that Jehovah, “He is the God” (1Kings 18:39.)

Author unknown

Issac Newton’s infidel friend became a believer and found out the following:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

 (The Word is Jesus Christ.)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1

And God made the two great lights, the greater light;…. He made the stars also.  Genesis 1:16

The sea is His, and He made it: and His hand formed the dry land. Psalm 95:5

Happy is he…whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepth truth forever. Psalm 146:5-6

And Jonah said…”I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.”  Jonah 1:9

The God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;… Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because he has fixed the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom he has appointed, having furnished proved to all men by the raising him from the dead.  Acts 17:24,30-31

STEPS TO SALVATION

First, acknowledge your sinfulness and need:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

Second, exercise faith in Christ:

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.  Acts 16:31

Third, confess your sins to God:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1: 9

Fourth, forsake your evil way:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55: 7

Fifth, confess your faith:

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10: 9

CLOSING

If you are like Newton’s friend, an unbeliever in Jesus Christ, and you realize that God is the maker of all things (including you and me), I encourage you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, If you do these five steps from your heart (not just your mind), I assure you, you will have the greatest Christmas you ever had.  The reason for the season, Jesus Christ, will come into your being and begin to make all things new in your life and forgive you of all your sins. He will give you purpose and hope in this unraveling world.

Do it now, today! Please do not put it off.

Merry Christmas to all,

Carl

Source: the bulk of this blog comes from a gospel tract by the same title. Pilgrim Tract Society, Inc. is the publisher.

Where is everyone an evangelist?

Hell.

Everyone in hell is an evangelist.

Listen to the account Lord Jesus told of two different men who died. One went to paradise where he was greeted by Abraham and the person who had rejected the truth that God had given Moses, died and went to the place where he was tormented in flames.

Notice the wicked man’s desire for someone to evangelize his brothers:

‘Then I beg you, Father (Abraham), that you send him (Lazarus) to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ (Luke 16:27-28)

This man, now that he had left his earthly life where all that mattered was how he satisfied “Self” with his riches, now was concerned about “warning” his five brothers about coming to this place of torment.

Right now, the five brothers are being tormented in the flames with this man because the account goes on to tell us that the five brothers rejected Moses and the Prophets and what they said about how to be saved in the Old Testament. They have been there for around 2000 years, and they will be there until the Great White Throne Judgement of Revelation 20: 11-15. Then they will be cast into the lake of fire with the Antichrist, satan and death where they will stay FOREVER AND FOREVER.

The rich man waited too long to become an evangelist!

Dear Christian, have you warned anyone about this place or are you “waiting”?

Two things are coming that no man can stop: death and hell. Hell for those who reject the salvation found only in Jesus Christ. Let us put aside our busyness, our apathy, and our fear of rejection so we can be obedient and warn our neighbors, friends and others about this horrible place.

EVERYONE deserves a chance to hear.

Share the marvelous Light that brought you out of darkness with those who still sit in darkness. Darkness of unbelief and man’s religion!

Take the basket off your Light – Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Carl

Oecolampadius -“The Light of The House”

This morning I read my devotion from The One Year Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten. The devotion spoke about how being “second fiddle” is a time-honored profession in God’s work.

Johann Hausschein was Ulrich Zwingli’s “wing man” or “second fiddle” during the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland in the 1500s. He was very intelligent and Erasmus considered him the “foremost intellect of his day”. Johann was a theologian, preacher, a reformer of church practices and a defender of biblical truths.

Johann’s surname in German means “the light of the house”. At some point in his life he changed his surname to the Greek equivalent, “Oecolampadius”.

“Light of the house”. What a beautiful word-picture of what the biblical believer in Jesus Christ is to be. He is to be like a light shining in a home, repelling the darkness so that those living there can see their way. A light removing the mystery of what is around us, in the darkness.

If you have ever been through a hurricane, ice storm or tornado and lost your electric power, you were thankful for any source of light you had as the darkness enveloped your home. There was great rejoicing when the lights came back on.

I spent a considerable amount of my life working at a wood preserving manufacturing plant where we made wooden utility poles like you see along the highway. After an ice storm or hurricane destroyed the utility grid in an area, we would send hundreds or thousands of wooden utility poles, so the local utility could restore power. Our truck drivers said people would line the streets and applaud when they rolled into town with the utility poles.

Humans were not made to dwell in darkness.

Sadly, far too many today do dwell in spiritual “darkness”, a state of ignorance. Ignorant of the life changing love of God which He manifested by sending His Son Jesus to die for our sins. Ignorant of the resurrection of Christ, the born again experience, and the many other biblical truths that deliver man from evil and the evil one.  As we will see later, we, as lost people separated from God by our sins, are described as being “darkness”.

The prophet Isaiah (9:2-4) prophesied by the Holy Spirit and said, concerning  Jesus’ birth:

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

Jesus is the Light. What a beautiful metaphor and truth.  Isaiah goes on to say there will be great joy and rejoicing because of this Light:

“… You shall increase their  gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of  harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” 

Why this rejoicing and gladness?

“For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor…”

Because Jesus  will set people free from the oppressor of mankind, the evil one, satan.

We recently learned of the death of a young missionary who was trying to reach a government protected, unreached island tribe off the coast of India.  The tribe killed him when he reached the shore.  The world says “leave these people alone and let them live as they have for thousands of years.” But the reality is that the darkness they live in is full of fear and terror created by evil spirits that control and torment them. They are one of the “oppressors” that Jesus, The Light, came to expose and defeat in peoples lives.  On my desk I have a DVD entitled “I Will Never Go Back! The Testimony of Chief Shoefoot, A Former Shaman.”  This Amazon witchdoctor tells how he was possessed and controlled by demons and how Jesus Christ set him free from these evil spirits.  He said he would never go back to living like his people had lived for thousands of years. Why? Through someone sharing Jesus Christ with him, he now knows the truth about God, man, sin, satan and freedom in Christ. He is walking in the Light.

May we be “the light of the house” wherever God puts us.  May we reflect the light or knowledge of Jesus, in humility and wisdom, onto the people and circumstances around us.

People don’t like darkness and some people are just like outdoor moths. They will come to the Light!

Father God, Giver of all wisdom, thank you for sending the Light into the darkness and rescuing us when we were helpless.  Help us to reflect  Jesus, the true Light, into the darkness around us.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

“For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth)…”  Ephesians 5:8-9

Carl