–Duane Boehm  (Never Too Old)

       “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
                    –1 Corinthians 1:18 (NKJV)
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               “The cross upon which Jesus died
               Is a shelter in which we can hide.
               And its grace so free is sufficient for me,
               And deep is its fountain; as wide as the sea.”
                       –Ira Stanphill

     Many years ago, I wrote this in one of my studies:  We must realize that life is a very serious matter.  What happens in this life determines our eternity, therefore, man cannot waltz through life.  Even the church has false teachers moving away from the centrality of the cross.  The Cross is, and will never be popular–a stumbling block and foolishness in the eyes of the world.  The wages of sin is death; therefore, the Lamb of God was slain, placed on the cross as our substitute to offer redemption.  I wrote further in my notes:  the reason for the atheist–they cannot accept the cross, the only way to be reconciled to God, thus they say there is no God.
    This was written in regard to a study I was doing on the Cross of Christ.  In that study, it became more than a symbol, more than an object to be hung on the wall or around the neck.  As Christians the central message is, and must always be, the cross of Christ.  Paul writes, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14, NKJV)  I began to ponder the cross and what it really means.  Yes, it was an old rugged cross; yes it represented a horrible death, but think more, put it altogether–the King of Glory, the Son of God came to hang on that cross.  I read something from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and I tend to agree that without the cross Jesus was only a good teacher.  His ethical teachings will not solve the problem of sin.  His wonderful parables would be only nice stories that taught a valuable lesson.  But with the cross, man can not be reconciled, he can be justified before God Almighty.  Mankind must go to the cross, he cannot, he must not shy away from it.
     Jesus didn’t come to save; He came to die.  He came to pay the supreme sacrifice for sin–His death on the cross.  God’s wrath and justice was satisfied and now there is grace and mercy poured out–“grace that is sufficient for me.”  The blood of Christ was shed for the redemption of man–for my redemption.  Peter tells us, “that you were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18,19, NKJV)
     Take heart, look to the cross, the sacrifice of Jesus and live.  Our hope is in that cross and the sacrifice of Jesus upon it.  Don’t for a moment take it lightly, your eternal destiny depends on what you do with the cross.  Don’t be frivolous when gazing upon it, don’t think of Easter as only peeps and chocolate bunnies and eggs, but gaze upon that cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Will it be foolishness, a stumbling block to you, or will it be accepted as a comfort to your soul?  The chorus of Stanphill’s song says, “There’s room at the cross for you.”  Stay rooted and grounded in the great truth of the cross.  

                    –Ezekiel 34:25 (HCSB)
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       “Life is a privilege which God wants us to value.  When we turn from Him and pursue our own selfish desires, we lose sight of the sacredness of His gift.” (Dan Dick)  With that in mind we turn to Proverbs 3:16-18 some reasons why we should seek and search and ask for wisdom.

          16 — Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor.
          17 — Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
          18 — She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her.  (NKJV)

     The person who has discovered wisdom has found a priceless treasure.  These are individuals who understand that happiness and peace do not come from the amount of wealth one has.  They understand that the eternal is to be preferred over the temporal.  “As a person comes to know God better he or she will avoid those activities which are self-destructive and unprofitable.  The person receives a deeper appreciation of God in the world.  Life becomes more meaningful and the person gains new understanding of what it means to be a success.” (Dick)  Look at what God did for Solomon when he asked for wisdom, the ability to judge the people and discern between good and evil.  God replied to Solomon, “And I have also given you what you have not asked:  both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.  So if you walk in My ways to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” (1 Kings 3:13-14, NKJV)  
       Who does not want a pleasant life?  Who does not want to go through this journey with peace?  J.L. Flores reminds us that “There is a pleasure in the duties relating immediately to God.”  Serving Him is in itself a pleasure.  Robert South tells us that the pleasures from wisdom “never satiates nor wearies.”  There is a calm assurance as we go through life.  We are free from the company of anxious doubt, we are free to move about in our actions that are pleasing to God.  We should also remember that “Wisdom of itself is satisfactory, as it implies a revelation of truth, and a detection of error to us.” (Isaac Barrow)  Along with a pleasant life will come peace.  Know that is not the peace from troubles and trials, but it is peace in the midst of them.  “Wisdom makes all the troubles of life easy and supportable, by rightly valuing the importance and moderating the influence of them.”
       The tree of life–that is abiding in Christ; it brings a pleasant and peaceful life, a foretaste of heaven so to speak.  Note, however, that the tree must be taken hold of.  F.B. Meyer states that a “tree requires careful tendence and bearing fruit for the patient cultivator.”  In other words, after taking hold of the tree, there must be the vigilant care of it.  Grasp hold, hand on, “Wisdom is a tree of life to them that ‘lay hold’ of her.” (Jermin)  A little wisdom is like a little godliness–it does relatively little good.  To lay hold takes work but the result is worth it.  Giovannie Diodati, states that “True wisdom maintains man in the spiritual life of God’s grace, and the communion of the Spirit.”    It is to have a conscious void of offense toward God and man. (Meyer)  
       Let us not forget those magnificent words of Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (1-3, NKJV)  This is true wisdom, godly wisdom.
       One other thought lest we forget that Jesus hung on a rugged cross–a tree, if you will.  This is the true “tree of life”, the cross of Christ.  It offers life, fullness of joy, and peace not only in this life, but eternally.

                    –Isaiah 58:11  (ESV)
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This morning we will finish our look at Psalm 139, and what a powerful portion it is.  George Wood offers two suggestions regarding this portion of the Psalm.  First, he points out that David asks God to look at the person who wronged him and that He should do something about them.  Second, we see his spiritual maturity coming forth.  

          19 — Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!  Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
          20 — For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
          21 — Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?  And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
          22 — I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
          23 — Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties;
          24 — And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  (NKJV)

     David desires a world where there is no more evil and wickedness.  O what bliss if that could be true.  That will happen only after the Great White Throne Judgment and the New Jerusalem descends from heaven.  Until that time, wickedness will wax more and more–as the days of Noah.  One thing we see in the first part of this section is David’s zealous loyalty to God.  David could not bear to hear God’s name taken in vain and blasphemed.  His name was being abused and it greatly bothered David.  Yet, today, we see this happening even among the family of God.  Shame!  David said that he could not be accepting of those who despise God.
     One thing that we should gather from this section that there is no place of neutrality toward those who attack God; they are to be counted as his enemies.  “To oppose God was to oppose David” (Lawson) and so it should be with us.  John tells us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15, NKJV)  James exhorts us, “Adulterers and adulteresses!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friends of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4, NKJV)  Perhaps it would be good for us to read verse 19 from the NLT, “O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!  Get out of my life, you murderers!”
     Yet, before we go further, we need to stop and ask God to search and judge ourselves.  Explore my heart, he is saying, he wanted God to know his heart so God could make it known to him.” (Lawson)  Have you ever thought why we need mirrors?  It is to check ourselves, to see if there is a stray hair or a blemish that we don’t know about.  Sometimes we need to take a closer look in the mirror, that is, we need to take a closer look in God’s Word and then ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what is wrong or what may be false in our lives.  God, though infinite, is also very personal.  Psalm 139 is a good psalm to read to take inventory of our lives.  Steven Lawson states, “As we ponder the immensity of His greatness, yet intimately involved in a personal relationship with us, our hearts should be awestruck, even dumbfounded, that He should be so mindful of and involved with us.”
     In closing I would add the prayer given by George Wood:  “Lord Jesus, please dig into me.  As You search, I ask You to carry away the thoughts, habits, and actions that offend You; and to repair the wounds that only You can heal.  Thank You that although You know everything about me, You still accept and love me.”

               “Lord, we thy presence seek;
               May ours this blessing be;
               Give us a pure and lowly heart,
               A temple meet for thee.”
                    –John Keble

                    –J. Lee Butts  (Ambushed)

       “Behold, I tell you a mystery:  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed–…  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

                    –1 Corinthians 15:51, 53  (NKJV)
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     I want to spend one more day looking at the life of Jesus, or at least speculating upon it, before He entered His ministry.  Stuck back in the writings of Paul there is a phrase that is not often mentioned.  “After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:7, NKJV)  For some reason, Jesus after His resurrection made it a point to see His half-brother James.
     Most likely James was at least four years younger than Jesus, possibly more.  He, nor the other brothers:  Judas, Joseph, and Simon or His sisters of which He had at least two are mentioned until He begins His ministry.  Paul mentions James one other time, “But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.” (Galatians 1:19, NKJV)  Perhaps the question should be, where was Joseph, the father?  Most scholars believed he died sometime after Jesus’ twelfth birthday as he is never mentioned again after that memorable trip to Jerusalem.
     Were the siblings jealous of Jesus?  Did they hear the stories told by Mary of the miraculous birth or did they listen to the scandalous voices of the people regarding Mary and Joseph?  Surely they knew of the escape and short exile in Egypt, but in the wisdom of God we are not told anything of their relationship as children.  If Joseph did indeed die when Jesus was in His adolescent years, then Jesus as the oldest would be expected to care for the family.  Perhaps the income was meager and the siblings were disgruntled over that.  There was one point during Jesus’ ministry where the Jews sought to kill Him and His brothers told Him to leave or to show Himself to the world. (John 7:1-10)  They seemed to chide Him and there was another time where they came with Mary to see Him as recorded in Matthew 12. Whatever their relationship was in childhood or during Jesus’ ministry, Jesus especially sought out James after His resurrection.
     Life was hard, Jesus for a time worked as a carpenter or stonemason, whichever you prefer until it was time for His mission.  I have always wondered when He realized that He was indeed, God’s Son.  Surely it was early.  Joseph would have told Him the stories and while sitting with His mother as a babe, she would have told Him of His birth and sang the songs of the Jews.  When He began to read I can imagine Him delving hungrily into the Scriptures.  There was a time, I believe when the Holy Spirit whispered into His soul the truth of the Word of God.  By the time He was twelve, He had somewhat of an understanding.
     The life of the Jewish people were torn between the political/religious groups of the time.  There were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the Essenes, and the Zealots and on top of that was the presence of Rome.  It was a time of turmoil for there was a major uprising by the Zealots led by a certain Judas (no connection to Jesus) that had been crushed by the Roman general Quinctilius in which he crucified two thousand.  Later there was another uprising, so we can see that the people were looking for their Messiah.
     Recently I heard someone say that Jesus and John probably played together as children.  Probably not.  I would say that on the Passover there would be a good chance they would have met.  Hmm, did John jump when he saw Jesus as he did in the womb?  However, they both understood that they had a mission that came down from heaven; it was a mission that would lead to the death of them both for different reasons and in different manners.  
     Now that we have speculated for some time we need to understand that there is a purpose that we do not know of the early life of Jesus.  We are to focus on His mission, His purpose, and His salvation for the redemption of mankind.  We are to see that He was God’s only begotten Son, and that He was born of the virgin Mary–the Incarnation.  So in this upcoming Easter don’t look for the child or his life as a boy, but look to the Savior of the world.  Offer yourself to Him as a living sacrifice.