I began writing this blog for one reason and one reason only, to seek and save the lost of the world. I was on the brink of death and Hell I didn’t even know it, I was blind; God reached down from heaven and rescued me, saved me and healed me. My passion in life now is to help other lost sinners find healing from the Great Physician. You see I was like many walking the earth today, I thought I was saved but I was dead. I was not living for the Lord I was living for myself. It was when I realized I was a sinner and my sin wasn’t what I did to other people, it wasn’t the consequences of sin; I realized that my sinning was against God my creator. Have you ever come to that lowly place yourself? The best Biblical description I find of this and what happened to me is in the book of James. (Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. ~James 4:9-10) It was when I realized that my sins were against God that my heart was broken and I found myself in gloom and despair humbling myself before the Lord casting myself at His feet on the alter that He reached down from Heaven and lifted me up and healed me, He said follow me and I did. He said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” ~Matthew 11:28, and He did. There isn’t one thing you and I or anyone else can do to save ourselves “Salvation is of the Lord” ~Jonah 2:9. “For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the Gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” ~Ephesians 2:8-9. It is out of this Grace that God begins to transform you and mold and make you a new creation for His workmanship.
Jesus said: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” ~Matthew 16:24. But He makes a promise that what you give up in this life you will receive a hundredfold as much in the life to come and inherit eternal life. So I began following Jesus hanging on His every word living this life for him instead of myself. I found out that I had no idea how sinful I was until I began following the Lord. The Holy Spirit makes you aware of every temptation to give you a way out. Something happened to me that was totally unexpected and came out of nowhere. Jesus said “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of Men” ~Matthew 4:19. This wasn’t meant for certain followers but for all followers. I never asked to be a fisher of men, never wanted to be a fisher of men, but Jesus has made me a fisher of men. (Now then, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were speaking through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God ~2 Corinthians 5:20)
I ask you, have you been reconciled to God by the saving blood of Jesus Christ? I called myself Christian but until 7 ½ years ago I wasn’t following Jesus. Are you following Jesus? Have you realized that your sins are directly against God? A lot of Churches tell you that you shouldn’t question your faith but that isn’t what the Bible says. The Bible says: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” ~2 Corinthians 13:5. So I implore you on Jesus Christ behalf, examine yourself, test yourself? Have your repented (denied yourself) and are you following Jesus? If after doing so you realize you are in the Faith then continue on and live for Jesus but if after examining yourself you realize you’re not in the faith then; humble yourself before the Lord, Repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation and He will lift you up!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
FREE GIFT
Next week is Thanksgiving and I am so thankful for all that God has blessed me with. He has given me far more than I ever deserve and there is no way I could ever pay Him back. He has shown me love when I was unloving. He died for me while I was still sinning how wonderful is that? (For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast ~Ephesians 2:8-9) God has given me a free gift and there is nothing I can do to earn it. He has given me Grace for my sins; there is nothing that I can do to earn this grace, the gift cost more than I could ever earn. Yes, the gift has a price just as all gifts do but I didn’t pay the price; the price of the gift was paid for by the giver, Jesus Christ. (For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him ~2 Corinthians 5:21) I have sinned and broken God’s laws and the bible says (the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord ~Romans 6:23a) I have received the gift of eternal life not because of what I have done; but I have received the gift of eternal life despite all I have done.
In talking to people I have found that most people think that they are good people; now there are a few that think they’re bad but very few. Well if you are a good person than this gift may not be for you. Jesus said: “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” ~Matthew 9:13b. To paraphrase, Jesus said: “If you think you’re a good person I didn’t come to save you I came to save those that know they are bad people”. Jesus walked up to people that considered themselves to be bad people and told them one thing “Follow Me”. (After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the Tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him ~Luke 5:27-28.) Now Levi was a bad dude and he knew he was a bad dude. He was an extortionist; he himself was a Jew and he was extorting money from the Jewish people and he was using the Roman government to do it. Not only had he abandoned his own people to become rich but he was taking from the poor as well and doing it for the love of money. Now this is the dude Jesus walks up to and says “Follow me”? Then he tells the religious people of the time; the scribes and Pharisees who were trying to live a righteous life “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. So couldn’t you just here these guys saying “now he claims to have come from God and he chooses to hang out with sinners and tax collectors instead of us”. What’s up with that? Not only does he hang out with the bad of the bad but if they choose to follow Him he promises them eternal life (see Luke 18:30) So Jesus the son of God offers bad people eternal life if they will follow him and offers good people nothing.
You see there is a problem with thinking you’re a good person and it is something that Jesus knew and it is the reason Jesus said: “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. What Jesus knew is that there are no good people. Yes that’s what I said there are no good people. The bible and Jesus Christ himself say this. The bible says: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ~Romans 3:23. Jesus said: “No one is good but One, that is God ~Luke 18:19. Now when people say they are good that’s because they compare themselves to other people and when comparing themselves to other people they always pick someone worse than themselves. The problem with this is God doesn’t judge us in comparison to other people he judges us in righteousness compared to his law (see Exodus 20). There is one thing that Levi the tax collector knew that the scribes and the Pharisees didn’t know that caused Jesus to say to Levi “Follow Me” and that is that Levi knew he was not good. Jesus is saying to you the same thing He said to Levi “Follow Me”. Today not tomorrow but today for you don’t know if you have until tomorrow but today do what Levi did; leave all, rise up and follow Jesus.
God Bless and peace be with you,
Mike Peek
In talking to people I have found that most people think that they are good people; now there are a few that think they’re bad but very few. Well if you are a good person than this gift may not be for you. Jesus said: “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” ~Matthew 9:13b. To paraphrase, Jesus said: “If you think you’re a good person I didn’t come to save you I came to save those that know they are bad people”. Jesus walked up to people that considered themselves to be bad people and told them one thing “Follow Me”. (After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the Tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him ~Luke 5:27-28.) Now Levi was a bad dude and he knew he was a bad dude. He was an extortionist; he himself was a Jew and he was extorting money from the Jewish people and he was using the Roman government to do it. Not only had he abandoned his own people to become rich but he was taking from the poor as well and doing it for the love of money. Now this is the dude Jesus walks up to and says “Follow me”? Then he tells the religious people of the time; the scribes and Pharisees who were trying to live a righteous life “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. So couldn’t you just here these guys saying “now he claims to have come from God and he chooses to hang out with sinners and tax collectors instead of us”. What’s up with that? Not only does he hang out with the bad of the bad but if they choose to follow Him he promises them eternal life (see Luke 18:30) So Jesus the son of God offers bad people eternal life if they will follow him and offers good people nothing.
You see there is a problem with thinking you’re a good person and it is something that Jesus knew and it is the reason Jesus said: “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. What Jesus knew is that there are no good people. Yes that’s what I said there are no good people. The bible and Jesus Christ himself say this. The bible says: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ~Romans 3:23. Jesus said: “No one is good but One, that is God ~Luke 18:19. Now when people say they are good that’s because they compare themselves to other people and when comparing themselves to other people they always pick someone worse than themselves. The problem with this is God doesn’t judge us in comparison to other people he judges us in righteousness compared to his law (see Exodus 20). There is one thing that Levi the tax collector knew that the scribes and the Pharisees didn’t know that caused Jesus to say to Levi “Follow Me” and that is that Levi knew he was not good. Jesus is saying to you the same thing He said to Levi “Follow Me”. Today not tomorrow but today for you don’t know if you have until tomorrow but today do what Levi did; leave all, rise up and follow Jesus.
God Bless and peace be with you,
Mike Peek
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Remember Me
(Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Lord, remember me when You come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”~Luke 23:39-43)
There were two men crucified along with Christ one on His right and one on His left. One of these men was saved from judgment and entered into the Kingdom the other did not and would face the wrath of God. Both of these men had committed the same crime both the gospels of Matthew and Mark said they were robbers. (See Matthew 25:38 and Mark 15:27) Now what did the criminal that went to heaven have that the other criminal didn’t have? He had Knowledge of three truths and he accepted those truths and did not deny them! It was these truths that caused him to repent and put his trust in Jesus Christ.
First he understood that he broke the law, that his crime was wrong. Have you broken God’s laws? (For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God ~Romans 3:23) What is sin? 1 John tells us what sin is. (Sin is lawlessness ~ 1 John 3:4) Sin simply put is anything that breaks God’s laws. What are God’s laws? You know the Ten Commandments: (Exodus 20)
1. You shall worship no other God’s but God the creator (the God of the Bible)
2. You shall not worship false God’s (a God you make up, if your God is anything other than the God of the Bible your worshiping a false God.)
3. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. You shall honor the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
5. You should honor your mother and father.
6. You shall not murder. (The Bible says: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him ~1 John 3:15.”)
7. You shall not commit adultery. (Jesus said: “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart ~Matthew 5:28.”)
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet the things that belong to your neighbor.
This man’s crime was that he was a thief. What is yours? No one can look at these commandments and be guiltless. (Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin ~Romans 3:20.)
Second he had knowledge and accepted the fact that there is a price to be paid for breaking the law. (He said: “we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds ~Luke 23:41a.”) He broke the law and knew it because he had knowledge of the law; he also had knowledge of the penalty for breaking the law. He knew because of the crime he committed that death was the penalty. Death is also the penalty for us breaking God’s laws! (The wages of sin is death ~Romans 6:23.) You earn a wage for doing something and the wage you earn for breaking God’s laws is death. Now we know that our bodies will one day stop to function but the Bible talks about a second death the death of your soul. (“All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death ~Revelations 21:8.”) That is hell. The penalty for breaking God’s laws is the death of your soul in hell!
He had a third knowledge and acceptance. He believed who Jesus was! He knew that Jesus was sinless. (But this Man has done nothing wrong ~Luke 23:41b.) He knew that Jesus was Lord and knew that He had a Kingdom in Heaven, he believed and accepted that. Now what did this man do that caused Jesus to tell him: (“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise ~Luke 23:43.)? He did the same thing you most do to escape judgment; he Repented and put his trust in Jesus Christ! Repented: (But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds ~Luke 23:40-41.) Then put his trust, his faith in Jesus Christ:(Lord, remember me when You come into your Kingdom ~Luke 23:42.)
Don’t kid yourself without doing this you will face judgment from God. (It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment ~Hebrews 9:27.) At some point your body will stop functioning and the bible tells us when that time comes we will face judgment. When people say they are saved do you know what they are saved from? They are saved from God himself; they are saved from the wrath of God. The bible tells us the penalty for sin is the death of our souls in eternal torment in Hell! Wouldn’t you like to escape that; Paradise or Hell? You have a choice to make just like the two criminals on the cross. What must you do to be saved?
Repent: That means to acknowledge that you have broken God’s laws and what you deserve for your sins is punishment. Apologize to God and confess your sins to Him. Then turn away from sin no longer desiring sinful pleasures but hating sin itself.
Trust in Jesus: Believe that Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God, that He lived a sinless perfect life, allowed himself to be crucified in your place for your sins then rose from the grave defeating death forever. Put your trust in Him alone and then follow Him; not your own desires but His, do what he says, the bible describes it as dying to self. (He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again ~1 Corinthians 5:15)
If you will Repent and Trust in Jesus you will be saved! Please do so today your very life depends on it.
There were two men crucified along with Christ one on His right and one on His left. One of these men was saved from judgment and entered into the Kingdom the other did not and would face the wrath of God. Both of these men had committed the same crime both the gospels of Matthew and Mark said they were robbers. (See Matthew 25:38 and Mark 15:27) Now what did the criminal that went to heaven have that the other criminal didn’t have? He had Knowledge of three truths and he accepted those truths and did not deny them! It was these truths that caused him to repent and put his trust in Jesus Christ.
First he understood that he broke the law, that his crime was wrong. Have you broken God’s laws? (For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God ~Romans 3:23) What is sin? 1 John tells us what sin is. (Sin is lawlessness ~ 1 John 3:4) Sin simply put is anything that breaks God’s laws. What are God’s laws? You know the Ten Commandments: (Exodus 20)
1. You shall worship no other God’s but God the creator (the God of the Bible)
2. You shall not worship false God’s (a God you make up, if your God is anything other than the God of the Bible your worshiping a false God.)
3. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. You shall honor the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
5. You should honor your mother and father.
6. You shall not murder. (The Bible says: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him ~1 John 3:15.”)
7. You shall not commit adultery. (Jesus said: “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart ~Matthew 5:28.”)
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet the things that belong to your neighbor.
This man’s crime was that he was a thief. What is yours? No one can look at these commandments and be guiltless. (Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin ~Romans 3:20.)
Second he had knowledge and accepted the fact that there is a price to be paid for breaking the law. (He said: “we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds ~Luke 23:41a.”) He broke the law and knew it because he had knowledge of the law; he also had knowledge of the penalty for breaking the law. He knew because of the crime he committed that death was the penalty. Death is also the penalty for us breaking God’s laws! (The wages of sin is death ~Romans 6:23.) You earn a wage for doing something and the wage you earn for breaking God’s laws is death. Now we know that our bodies will one day stop to function but the Bible talks about a second death the death of your soul. (“All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death ~Revelations 21:8.”) That is hell. The penalty for breaking God’s laws is the death of your soul in hell!
He had a third knowledge and acceptance. He believed who Jesus was! He knew that Jesus was sinless. (But this Man has done nothing wrong ~Luke 23:41b.) He knew that Jesus was Lord and knew that He had a Kingdom in Heaven, he believed and accepted that. Now what did this man do that caused Jesus to tell him: (“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise ~Luke 23:43.)? He did the same thing you most do to escape judgment; he Repented and put his trust in Jesus Christ! Repented: (But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds ~Luke 23:40-41.) Then put his trust, his faith in Jesus Christ:(Lord, remember me when You come into your Kingdom ~Luke 23:42.)
Don’t kid yourself without doing this you will face judgment from God. (It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment ~Hebrews 9:27.) At some point your body will stop functioning and the bible tells us when that time comes we will face judgment. When people say they are saved do you know what they are saved from? They are saved from God himself; they are saved from the wrath of God. The bible tells us the penalty for sin is the death of our souls in eternal torment in Hell! Wouldn’t you like to escape that; Paradise or Hell? You have a choice to make just like the two criminals on the cross. What must you do to be saved?
Repent: That means to acknowledge that you have broken God’s laws and what you deserve for your sins is punishment. Apologize to God and confess your sins to Him. Then turn away from sin no longer desiring sinful pleasures but hating sin itself.
Trust in Jesus: Believe that Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God, that He lived a sinless perfect life, allowed himself to be crucified in your place for your sins then rose from the grave defeating death forever. Put your trust in Him alone and then follow Him; not your own desires but His, do what he says, the bible describes it as dying to self. (He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again ~1 Corinthians 5:15)
If you will Repent and Trust in Jesus you will be saved! Please do so today your very life depends on it.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
HE IS RISEN
I am so excited about what God has given me to write about today. I am excited because it is what brought me to Jesus. That is the resurrection of Jesus Christ! What is so amazing is; the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus is found in the reactions and lives of His disciples. Many in the time of Jesus considered Him to be a good person and a profit but He began to say a lot of things that people just couldn’t stomach. He angered the religious leaders of the day who thought they were good people by showing them they were not and He began to claim He was God and told people that the only way to heaven was through Him. He called Himself the door. “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” ~John 10:9. He called himself the bread of life. He told people that anyone that eats of Him will have eternal life. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” ~John 6:51. He called Himself the good shepherd. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” ~John 10:7. He told people that He has the power to lay down His life when He wanted to and take it up again when He wanted to. “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again” John 10:17-18. He goes on to tell people that He is the way to heaven and the only way, whatever way you are counting on is not the way to heaven He is the way to heaven. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” ~John 14:6. He a man claimed to be God! He said: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” ~John 14:9. To paraphrase if I may he basically said: “ if you’ve seen Me you’ve seen God”. Jesus said many other things like this. Can you imagine how hard it was for some people to swallow? Actually I can because it was hard for me to swallow. During Jesus’ time the people were looking for the messiah the chosen one of God that was promised by God and the profits to save them. So people of the time looking for the messiah seeing the qualities of the messiah in Jesus began to follow Him but when He began making these outrages proclamations about Himself many deserted Him and He was left with a select few that held on to the hope that He was the messiah.
Then came the capture, arrest, trial, and death by scourge and crucifixion on the Cross at the hands of the Romans; this left the remaining disciples without hope. If you read in combination the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you get a real picture of what happened. These men left, they completely deserted Him and were scattered, they weren’t even together as a tight net group anymore some of them as friends hung out together but the group has a whole was dispersed. They weren’t even to be found during the crucifixion it was the women who stood by and watched. Peter who later became a great leader in the church denied three recorded times that he ever even knew Jesus. There is strong indication that these men no longer believed Him to be the messiah and went back to their normal lives. After Peter and John see the empty tomb the bible tells us they went home. “Then the disciples went away again to their own homes” ~John 10:10. The bible talks about two men on the way to a village called Emmaus: “Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus” Luke 24:13. When asked what they were talking about they said that they were discussing Jesus and had hoped that he was the messiah indicating that they may have lost that hope. In the book of John: Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John were all back in Nazareth fishing (back home working their jobs) meaning they went back to their everyday lives. They were referred to as the sect of the Nazarenes and all indications were that this sect of the Nazarenes had died along with its leader.
So then we move to “THE ACTS of the Apostles” The book of Acts. You have Peter who denied as a coward three times he ever even knew Jesus who went back to his job of fishing in Nazareth who then in the book of Acts stands up and preaches for the first time in front of thousands of people and preaches in such a way the bible tells us three thousand souls were saved that day. (See Acts 2) Then you have Peter and John going into the temple in broad day light professing the name of Jesus before everyone without fear. They’re arrested and brought before the religious leaders and even the religious leader’s marvel at the speech and boldness of these two men. The city of Jerusalem is in an up roar because these men who formerly followed Jesus where back and they were boldly proclaiming throughout Israel that the Messiah had come and Jesus was the Messiah. They were preaching to everyone ‘Repent of your sins and trust in Jesus’. They were doing this without fear of man at all. All of these men who were formally cowards preached salvation through Jesus Christ their entire lives without wavering even with the threat of death, torture, and imprisonment.
So why would these men who were cowardice suddenly be full of boldness? I’ll tell you why, they saw a dead man come back to life! That’s right the saw a dead man rise from the grave! This same man who said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” ~John 10:9. This same man who said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” ~John 6:51. This same man who said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” ~John 10:7. This same man who said: “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again” John 10:17-18 and then does exactly that. This same man who said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” ~John 14:6. This same man who said: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” ~John 14:9. This same man who they heard say these things and more who died and is now alive. After His resurrection they saw Him with their own eyes; they walked with Him, talked with Him, ate with Him and touched Him. They could do nothing else but go around telling everyone that Jesus died for your sins and is raised, no matter the threats against them. As Peter and John said before the rulers who threatened and commanded them “not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus” ~Acts 4:17. “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” ~Acts 4:19-20 So I tell you here and now Jesus is the Christ the son of God and He is risen from the dead. The proof of this resurrection is in the lives of the disciples!
So you have a choice to make, just as I did. You have a problem. The bible tells us and your own conscience tells you that you’re a sinner you have broken God’s laws. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. What do you get for breaking God’s laws? Death: “For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23a. But God through Jesus has a gift for you. “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” ~Romans 6:23b. “But God demonstrates His own lover toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” ~Romans 5:8. How are we saved? “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” ~Romans 10:9. Just as with the disciples you cannot truly believe Christ is raised from the dead and remain the same. Just like Thomas said when he saw and touched the risen savior proclaimed: “My Lord and my God” ~John 20:28. I encourage you to repent (turn away from your sins) and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Confess your sins to Him today and put all of your trust in the risen savior, Jesus Christ!
God Bless,
Mike Peek
Then came the capture, arrest, trial, and death by scourge and crucifixion on the Cross at the hands of the Romans; this left the remaining disciples without hope. If you read in combination the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you get a real picture of what happened. These men left, they completely deserted Him and were scattered, they weren’t even together as a tight net group anymore some of them as friends hung out together but the group has a whole was dispersed. They weren’t even to be found during the crucifixion it was the women who stood by and watched. Peter who later became a great leader in the church denied three recorded times that he ever even knew Jesus. There is strong indication that these men no longer believed Him to be the messiah and went back to their normal lives. After Peter and John see the empty tomb the bible tells us they went home. “Then the disciples went away again to their own homes” ~John 10:10. The bible talks about two men on the way to a village called Emmaus: “Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus” Luke 24:13. When asked what they were talking about they said that they were discussing Jesus and had hoped that he was the messiah indicating that they may have lost that hope. In the book of John: Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John were all back in Nazareth fishing (back home working their jobs) meaning they went back to their everyday lives. They were referred to as the sect of the Nazarenes and all indications were that this sect of the Nazarenes had died along with its leader.
So then we move to “THE ACTS of the Apostles” The book of Acts. You have Peter who denied as a coward three times he ever even knew Jesus who went back to his job of fishing in Nazareth who then in the book of Acts stands up and preaches for the first time in front of thousands of people and preaches in such a way the bible tells us three thousand souls were saved that day. (See Acts 2) Then you have Peter and John going into the temple in broad day light professing the name of Jesus before everyone without fear. They’re arrested and brought before the religious leaders and even the religious leader’s marvel at the speech and boldness of these two men. The city of Jerusalem is in an up roar because these men who formerly followed Jesus where back and they were boldly proclaiming throughout Israel that the Messiah had come and Jesus was the Messiah. They were preaching to everyone ‘Repent of your sins and trust in Jesus’. They were doing this without fear of man at all. All of these men who were formally cowards preached salvation through Jesus Christ their entire lives without wavering even with the threat of death, torture, and imprisonment.
So why would these men who were cowardice suddenly be full of boldness? I’ll tell you why, they saw a dead man come back to life! That’s right the saw a dead man rise from the grave! This same man who said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” ~John 10:9. This same man who said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” ~John 6:51. This same man who said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” ~John 10:7. This same man who said: “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again” John 10:17-18 and then does exactly that. This same man who said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” ~John 14:6. This same man who said: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” ~John 14:9. This same man who they heard say these things and more who died and is now alive. After His resurrection they saw Him with their own eyes; they walked with Him, talked with Him, ate with Him and touched Him. They could do nothing else but go around telling everyone that Jesus died for your sins and is raised, no matter the threats against them. As Peter and John said before the rulers who threatened and commanded them “not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus” ~Acts 4:17. “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” ~Acts 4:19-20 So I tell you here and now Jesus is the Christ the son of God and He is risen from the dead. The proof of this resurrection is in the lives of the disciples!
So you have a choice to make, just as I did. You have a problem. The bible tells us and your own conscience tells you that you’re a sinner you have broken God’s laws. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. What do you get for breaking God’s laws? Death: “For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23a. But God through Jesus has a gift for you. “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” ~Romans 6:23b. “But God demonstrates His own lover toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” ~Romans 5:8. How are we saved? “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” ~Romans 10:9. Just as with the disciples you cannot truly believe Christ is raised from the dead and remain the same. Just like Thomas said when he saw and touched the risen savior proclaimed: “My Lord and my God” ~John 20:28. I encourage you to repent (turn away from your sins) and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Confess your sins to Him today and put all of your trust in the risen savior, Jesus Christ!
God Bless,
Mike Peek
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