Spring has arrived, and we are approaching Easter, which is really Resurrection Sunday. I was recently talking to someone, and asked him if he believed there is life beyond the grave. He said, "No." On another occasion, someone said, "No one has ever come back to tell us." Well, Jesus Christ was crucified, and arose the third day. The empty tomb stands in stark contrast to the religions of the world, doesn't it. The hymn writer has it right. "I serve a risen Saviour..." The death and resurrection of Christ are the central fact of history: the sine qua non of the Christian faith. In fact, "If Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless," says the inspired Word of God (I Cor. 15:17).
In rereading the four gospel accounts of the Last Supper, and the events of Passion Week, I was reminded of an experience of Evangelist Billy Sunday a century ago. After one of his meetings, an irate woman came up to him and said, "What makes you so sure there is this personage you call the devil?" He looked her in the eye and said, "The way you act." I think it was James Madison who said, "If men were angels, we would need no government." But men are not angels, in case you hadn't noticed. In fact, according to the Bible, all men, by nature, are "alienated (from God) by wicked works," needing reconciliation. Did you know that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost? And that He died for the ungodly? Are you lost or ungodly? Then He came to save you. Every penitent sinner who comes to Christ, and places their trust in Him alone, are "justified by His blood": for we are "reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Romans 5).
Everyone has heard of Judas Iscariot. He was one of Jesus' disciples - a professed follower of Him. But his profession was not genuine. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, "One of you shall betray Me." After three years together, one would think some of the 11 would have pointed a finger at Judas. But not one suspected their trusted treasurer. He had even gone on preaching tours with them. Yes, he was a preacher. After Jesus made that revelation, "Satan entered into him." When people choose to live a lie with an empty profession of faith in Christ, their heart becomes hardened. For light rejected blinds; and eventually, Satan takes over. How tragic! That's why Jesus said that on judgment day many will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name; and in Thy Name cast out demons; and in Thy Name done many wonderful works?" Then He will say, "Depart from Me...I never knew you."
Did you know that Satan's big business is religion? Jesus was very blunt, and said to the religious leaders, "You are of your father the devil, and his works you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning ... he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8). And the Apostle Paul writes, "Satan himself is transformed as an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing that his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness..." Do you mean that Satan has ministers? Yes, and many false prophets. Remember, it was the religious leaders who "watched Him, that they might accuse Him." And they bore false witness against Him at the mock trial, demanding of Pilate that He should be crucified. Satan, "the accuser of the brethren," also "blinds the minds of them that believe not," to keep them in spiritual darkness.
America is in peril. Not because of the economy, but because of our spiritual blindness and rebellion against God. We are following in the footsteps of Sodom and Gomorrah, and you know what happened to them. Have you heard of what happened to Pompeii in A.D. 79? Lewdness, not lava, destroyed them. And it is destroying America. There is a war going on against righteousness. The Prophet Isaiah said, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil." That is what is going on. The country I grew up to love is being systematically dismantled. Mr. Santorum, in a campaign speech said, "Satan is destroying America." The media ridiculed him, but he is exactly right. "They that forsake the law, praise the wicked: but such as keep the law, contend with them." (Proverbs 28:4)
Bob Beetler is a resident of Battle Mountain.
[[In-content Ad]]
