Illustrations - His Life

THE CONSTANT CHRIST - “The legs of the lame are not equal”

There is a way that seems right to a man but the legs of his thinking are unequal and in the circling eddy of his life he is swept to delusion and on death.In refreshing contrast it is written of the Christ*
‘His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold.’

He stands in the perfect balance of grace and truth; erect in all the fairness of unsullied manhood; rooted in all the essential nature of His deity. As man in all His walk,
He pointed heavenward,
pillard in light,
marbled in beauty,
adorning all doctrine of the Father.
His flawless righteousness upheld entire superstructure of God's purpose of grace.
With Him there was no variableness or shadow caused by turning. His heart was large with the largeness of God, running in the way of His commandments.... He is the constant Christ.

Geoffrey T.Bull
“God Holds The Key “ Hodder and Stoughton Limited London 1959

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Zeal of Christ

‘Even Christ pleased not Himself.’ He was utterly consumed in the zeal of His Father’s house. As man He ever moved for God. As God He ever moved for man.
Geoffrey T.Bull
“God Holds The Key. Hodder and Stoughton Limited London 1959

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JESUS’ FULLMENT OF PROPHECY SETS HIM APART FROM OTHER RELIGIOUS LEADERS.

Dr. Charles C. Ryrie has pointed out that, by the law of chance, it would require two hundred billion earth’s, populated with four billion people each, to come up with one person who could achieve one hundred accurate prophecies without errors in sequence. But the Bible records not one hundred but over three hundred prophecies that Jesus fulfilled!

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Christ let everyone know

Christ let everyone know what he thought of blind eyes and deaf ears and broken hearts: They didn’t repel him; they compelled him. And two thousand years hasn’t changed his mind about us. He’d still rather dine with the destitute, call on the crippled, and welcome the wayward. It’s hard to comprehend sometimes, isn’t it?

HUGS FROM HEAVEN: EMBRACED BY THE SAVIOR by Caron Loveless, Howard Publishing Co., West Monroe, LA, 1998, p. 5.

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ONE SOLITARY LIFE
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.
Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never had a family or owned a home.
He never set foot inside a big city.
He never traveled two hundred miles from the place he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.
While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While He was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had — his coat.
When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of a man upon this earth as powerfully as this "One Solitary Life."

— Anonymous

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Wanted By:
the FDA for turning water into wine without a license,
he EPA for killing fig trees,
the AMA for practicing medicine without a license,
the Dept. of Health for asking people to open graves, for raising the dead and for feeding 5,000 people in the wilderness,
the NEA for teaching without a certificate,
OSHA for walking on water without a lifejacket and for flying without an airplane,
the SPCA for driving hogs into the sea,
the NATIONAL BOARD of PSYCHIATRISTS for giving advice on how to
live a guiltfree life,
the NOW for not choosing a woman apostle,
the ABORTION RIGHTS LEAGUE for saying that whoever harms children, it is better that they had never been born,
the INTERFAITH MOVEMENT for condemning all other religions, and by the ZONING DEPT for building mansions without a permit. Guess Who? Peter T. Forsythe was right when he said, “The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master.”

Warren W. Wiersbe, THE INTEGRITY CRISIS (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), p. 22.

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JESUS ACCEPTING HIM

The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple of his eye, the center of his affections, an only child, the focus of this little family's attention.
The son grew up, but in his early teens his mother died, leaving him and his father. Fitzgerald grieved over the loss of his wife but devoted himself to fathering their son. In the passing of time, the son became very ill and died in his late teens. In the meantime, the Fitzgerald financial holdings greatly increased. The father had used much of his wealth to acquire art works of the "masters."
And with the passing of more time, Fitzgerald himself became ill and died. Previous to his death he had carefully prepared his will with explicit instructions as to how his estate would be settled. He had directed that there would be an auction in which his entire collection of art would be sold. Because of the quantity and quality of the art works in his collection which was valued in the millions of English pounds, a huge crowd of prospective buyers gathered, expectantly. Among them were many museum curators and private collectors eager to bid.
The art works were displayed for viewing before the auction began. Among them was one painting which received little attention. It was of poor quality and done by an unknown local artist. It happened to be a portrait of Fitzgerald's only son.
When the time came for the auction to begin, the auctioneer gaveled the crowd to attention and before the bidding began, the attorney read first from the will of Fitzgerald which instructed that the first painting to be auctioned was the painting of "my beloved son."
The poor quality painting didn't receive any bidders…except one! The only bidder was the old servant who had known the son and loved him and served him and for sentimental reasons offered the only bid. For less than an English pound he bought the painting.
The auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the attorney to read again from the will. The crowd was hushed, it was quite unusual, and the attorney read from the Fitzgerald will: "Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my art collection. The auction is over!"
In today's world, everyone wants the Father's blessings. They want God to heal them of their physical aliments, provide them with nice things, give them good jobs, and guarantee them salvation. They want all of God's blessings, but they are not interested in God's son. They have no use for Jesus. But unless people accept and embrace the son, there are no blessings from God. All of God's inheritance and blessings are given to only those who love and bid for His son!

More Stories From The Heart
Alice Gray, Multnomah, pp. 126-127.

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Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.
Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said: "As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet."

Ernest Renan said: "Jesus was the greatest religious genius that ever lived. His beauty is eternal, and his reign shall never end. Jesus is in every respect unique, and nothing can be compared with him. All history is incomprehensible without Jesus Christ."

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We know that Jesus lived.
We know that Jesus lived. He was a man in history, as well as a man for all times. Tacitus, perhaps the greatest Roman historian born in the first century, speaks of Jesus. Josephus, a Jewish historian born A.D. 37, tells of the crucifixion of Jesus. A contemporary Bible scholar said that "the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing this person, Jesus. His description took more space than was given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte."

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In the Old Testament we have preparation for Christ;
in the Gospels, the presentation of Christ;
and in the Acts through Revelation, the appropriation of Christ.

-- Warren Wiersbe, Be Free, p. 85.

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After renowned missionary Johnathan Goforth (1859-1936) had spoken in a chapel in southern China, a man asked to talk to him.
He said "I have heard you speak three times, and you always have the same theme. You always speak of Jesus Christ. Why?"
The missionary replied, "Sir, before answering your question, let me ask, 'What did you have for dinner today?'" "Rice," replied the man. "What did you have yesterday?" "The same thing."
"And what do you expect to eat tomorrow?" "Rice, of course. It gives me strength. I could not do without it. Sir, it is --" the man hesitated as if looking for a strong word.
Then he added, "Sir, it is my very life!"
The missionary responded quickly, "What you have said of rice, Jesus is to our soul! He is the 'rice' or 'bread of life.'"

See: John 6:35-58

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Christ -- was never in a hurry, never impressed by numbers, never a slave to the clock.

-- J.B. Phillips

See: Mat 14:23; John 11:1-15

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Howard Hendricks drew this from John 13:3, a valuable insight and application:
"There was no identity crisis in the life of Jesus Christ. He knew who He was. He knew where He had come from, and why he was here. And he knew where He was going. And when you are that liberated, then you can serve."

Howard Hendricks, "The Problem of Discrimination," Moody Bible Institute Founder's Week Messages, 1979, p.145-146.

See: John 13:3-8; 1 Pet 5:2-4

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How Jesus looks at men.

When Jesus decided to change Peter's name in John 1:42, it demonstrated how Jesus looks at men. He does not only see what a man is; he also sees what a man can become. He sees not only the actualities in a man; he also sees the possibilities. Jesus looked at Peter and saw in him not only a Galilaean fisherman but one who had it in him to become the rock on which his church would be built. Jesus sees us not only as we are, but as we can be; and he says: "Give your life to me, and I will make you what you have it in you to be." Once someone came on Michelangelo chipping away with his chisel at a huge shapeless piece of rock. He asked the sculptor what he was doing. "I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this marble," he answered. Jesus is the one who sees and can release the hidden hero in every man.

-- William Barclay's Commentary on The Gospel of John

See: Matt 4:19; Phil 1:6; Heb 13:20-21

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Khrushchev and the Kingdom of God

Nikita Khrushchev once boasted that he would exhibit the last Soviet Christian on television by 1965. Khrushchev has since gone to give account of himself to the Judge of all mankind, and his deadline for the extinction of Christianity in Russia has also passed. Throughout history, so-called big men and little men have strutted across the stages of life defying God. But as Psalm 145:13 promises, "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations."

See: Psa 2:2

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Life enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth

An anonymous author made this striking comparison: "Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ's 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.
Jesus painted no pictures; yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michalengelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.
Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him.
Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratorios they composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.

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The Garden of Eden
At the beginning God put man into a garden; what for? So that he might admire the flowers and pluck the fruits? No! "To dress it and to keep it." He put him into the garden in order that man might put his God-made hand on God's unfinished work and finish it.
The Garden of Eden was a garden of potentialities, waiting for the touch of man to make it perfect.
God placed man in it, and said, Now touch it with labor, and it will laugh at you with flowers.

PEACE BY THE CROSS By G. CAMPBELL MORGAN
See the full sermon on Sermons

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Suppose Christianity is not a religion but a way of life, a falling in love with God, and, through Him, a falling in love with our fellows. Of course, such a way is hard and costly, but it is also joyous and rewarding even in the here-and-now.
People who follow that Way know beyond all possible argument that they are in harmony with the purpose of God, that Christ is with them and in them as they set about His work in our disordered world.
If anyone thinks this is perilous and revolutionary teaching, so much the better.
That is exactly what they thought of the teaching of Jesus Christ.
The light He brought to bear upon human affairs is almost unbearably brilliant: but it is the light of Truth, and in that light human problems can be solved.
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), When God Was Man [1954]

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