He is the bright
and morning star!
You do have to get up early to
see this star! (The MORNING star!) And, at least spiritually,
one has to get up "early" to best find Jesus! Listen to Wisdom
(Jesus) speak in Proverbs 8:17 --- "I love
them that love me; and
those that seek me early shall find me."
And men used to navigate by
this bright and morning star! It was always "true" in its
guidance! So is Jesus! His name is Faithful according to
Revelation 19:11. Amen! He has never led me astray!
And this star is known for its
brightness! (The BRIGHT and morning star!) So is Jesus!
Remember the Mount of Transfiguration! Our Lord is described in
Hebrews 1:3 as "Being the brightness of
his (the Father's) glory, and the express image of his person!"
And naturally the "morning"
star suggests that soon the cold darkness will be dispelled and
the warmth of sunrise will occur! It's like the longing of the
Bride in Song of Solomon 2:17 --- "Until
the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my
Beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the
mountains of Bether." It's like the old song used to
say: "Some golden daybreak, Jesus will come!"
So the next time you're up
early, step outside and find it, that "bright and morning
star!" It will be the most brilliant one in the heavens in the
pre-dawn hours. Then just gaze at it for a little while ... and
worship the TRUE Bright and Morning Star Who lives in your heart
(if you have been saved).
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 3 ...
HE IS OUR FRIEND!
One
of the most astounding things Jesus ever said is recorded in
John 15:15. There He tells us: "Henceforth
I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his
lord doeth: but I have
called you friends; for all things that I have heard of
my Father I have made known unto you."
"I
have called you friends" says our Lord to His disciples!
Therefore, I can Biblically
say: JESUS IS MY FRIEND!
That is precisely what the
Bride calls her Bridegroom (the Church calls her Saviour) in
Song of Solomon 5:16 --- "His mouth is
most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved,
and
this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."
"This is my Friend!"
The old song writer surely was
right when he penned: "What a Friend we have in Jesus."
Let me show you the depth of
His friendship to you. "Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
(John 15:13) Jesus died for us! Calvary is, among
thousands of other things, the very essence of His Friendship to
some lost and dying sinner!
Jesus is a Friend to Whom we
shall never have to say good-bye! "For he
hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
Hebrews 13:5
And as our Friend, Jesus tells
us all we need to know! He withholds no "secrets!" Listen to
Him in John 14:2 --- "If it were not so, I
would have told you." Wow!
Go back for a second and look
at Song of Solomon 5:16 again. She said
"This is MY Friend!" (Like the little sheep in
Psalm 23 could say "The Lord is MY Shepherd!)
Dear Reader today, be sure
Jesus is your personal Saviour ... and Friend! Without
Him you will miss the real meaning of this
Christmas time of
year! In fact, without Him you will miss Heaven itself!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 4 ...
HE IS OUR BROTHER!
The
first time I heard a preacher say it ... I reacted negatively!
He
was closing his public prayer ... before the whole church
congregation ... and he ended in this fashion: "These things we
ask in the Name of our dear Elder Brother, Amen."
By that title He meant Jesus.
I
thought, "This man of God is failing to exalt the Lord as he
ought." He merely called Jesus our Elder Brother!
Then I came across this verse in Hebrews. It of course changed
everything.
It is worded as follows and is
obviously speaking of Jesus: "For both He
that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for
which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."
(Hebrews 2:11)
"He that
sanctifieth" is Jesus!
"They
who are sanctified" represent blood-washed, born-again,
spirit-filled children of God.
Then, of that godly group, we
are told that Jesus is not ashamed to call them BRETHREN!
Wow!
Therefore, by His Own
teaching, I can call Jesus my Brother!
Again, listen to Jesus in
Matthew 12:50 --- "For whosoever shall do
the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother." This great statement is
repeated in Mark 3:35 too.
Think of it!
Jesus is the Son of God, the
Lord of lords and King of kings and a whole lot more ... yet He
is not ashamed to call you Believers (and me too) "brothers!"
And He would have to be
our Elder Brother because He is eternal! As the Blessed
Second Person of the Trinity and the darling Son of God He has
existed forever!
Our youngest Grandson (little
Aaron who is 3 years old) just LOVES his "big brother" (Andrew
who is 8). It thrills me every time I heard him call for his "brober."
(That means "brother" in his vocabulary!) Brother is his hero.
Well, I have a Brother Who is
my Hero and Saviour and Lord and Provider and Protector (the
list is just beginning) too!
And He (Jesus) isn't even
ashamed to call me His little Brother either!
This brotherhood implies that
we both have the same Father! (In a different way of course.)
Jesus is the only begotten sinless Son of God. We are sinners
saved by Grace and born-again (as well as adopted) into the
Family! He is THE Son and we are the sons of God!
That's fine with me.
What an honor ... to be in
that Family!
And, good news, one of these
passing days, we shall see Him, our Brother in all His Glory!
If you will allow me ... I
believe (as He is King of kings and Lord of Lords) Jesus is also
Brother of Brothers!
I sure hope no one leaves this
Page today thinking I have devaluated Jesus!
On the contrary, I have sought
to exalt Him more and more!
He is our Everything, our
All-in-All! Paul even said this: "Christ is our Life!" It's
in Colossians 3:4 --- "When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in
glory."
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 5 ...
HE IS OUR REDEEMER!
Job
called the Lord by this Name. It is repeated in the New
Testament also.
It
means "to buy something back again!"
Look: "For I know that
my redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth." Job 19:25
When mankind was first created, he "belonged" to God. After
all, God made him!
But Adam and Eve "sold"
themselves to sin! At least that's the term Paul uses in Romans
7:14. ("For we know that the law is
spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.")
Isaiah charges the Israelites
with selling themselves to iniquity (at a terrible price)!
"For thus saith the LORD,
Ye have sold yourselves
for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money."
Isaiah 52:3
Jesus as our Redeemer is
motivated toward us by love! "In all
their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence
saved them: in his love
and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and
carried them all the days of old." Isaiah 63:9
And the PRICE for our
redemption? That would be the BLOOD of Jesus!
"Forasmuch as ye know that
ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot." 1 Peter 1:18-19
And once we are saved, it is
true that: "What? know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own? For
ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1
Corinthians 6:19-20
And our song through the
eternal ages will be (along with multitudes already in heaven):
"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for
thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." Revelation
5:9
Today some time get alone with
the Lord and THANK HIM for being your Redeemer! Praise Him that
He bought you! Now we can truthfully and with meaning sing the
old song: "Now I belong to Jesus!" Look with me at Isaiah
43:1 --- "But now thus saith the LORD that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear
not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name;
thou art mine."
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 6 ...
HE IS MASTER! (Christmas Day, December 25, 2004)
I
choose a strange Name for Jesus today. At least it's unusual
for this Christmas Day!
But, nonetheless, He IS our Master! That is, if we're
really saved He is!
Of
course to be one's Mater ... Jesus must already be one's
Redeemer and Saviour.
And, I promise you, salvation will not have been yours long ...
until you will develop a keen desire to do something to serve
the One Who delivered you from sin!
For years I have held a bit of
a "negative" view of this title "Master," particularly in
reference to Jesus.
The word used ("didaskalos")
just means "teacher." (Jesus will have to be MORE to you than a
teacher ... for you to go to Heaven! He must be accepted as the
divine Son of God and Saviour Who shed His Blood on your behalf
at Calvary!)
"Even Judas could call Jesus
Master," I would often say! (See here Matthew 26:25 ---
"Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered
and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast
said.")
BUT I've come to realize that
MASTER is a legitimate Name for our dear Lord Jesus for
sure!
But, Preacher Bagwell,
"Master" is a term that sounds so demeaning! It puts us in an
inferior position! It assumes a Leader/follower or a
Lord/servant mentality! We believe in equality. So say
thousands in America today.
But let me assert that this
Preacher has NO TROUBLE calling the dear Lord Jesus Master!
I am delighted to be His servant! I acknowledge Him as my Lord
joyfully!
Listen to something the Queen
of Sheba said to Solomon one day: "Happy
are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which
stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom."
1st Kings 10:8
If the servants of Solomon
were happy ... will not the servants of a Greater Than Solomon
be even happier? Yes! Yes! Yes!
What, work for Him (Jesus) the
rest of our days?
Serve Him faithfully?
Seek to obey His every
command?
Just remember this, fellow
Believer:
HE DIED FOR YOU AND ME!
HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD
FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION!
HE LIVES FOR US IN HEAVEN
RIGHT NOW!
HE IS INTERCEDING FOR US
TODAY!
AND HE IS COMING AGAIN FOR US
TOO!
Jesus, Who did (and still
does) so much for the redeemed, gladly should be served by us
all forevermore!
And it seems that I'm hearing
a bunch of "Amens" right now echoing across the land!
Jesus loves to hear us call
Him Master too! "Ye call me Master and
Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." These are the words
of our dear Lord! He just said that He IS the Master! And He
added that it is good to call Him That! The verse is in John
13:13.
The first thing a delighted
Mary Magdalene said to Jesus almost immediately after His
Resurrection is recorded in John 20:1.
"Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto
him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master." Wow! She
called the Lord, in His glorified Body, simply "Master!" (The
title "Rabboni" also means chief or prince or master! It is an
Aramaic word.)
Let us all this Christmas Day
join the Psalmist and declare: "O LORD,
truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant." Psalm 116:16
(Twice He said it in succession!)
In Exodus 20:5 a released
slave, who refuses to leave the house where he has so long
served, says this: "I love my master."
That says it all! "I love my Master too!"
That's service ... compelled
by love!
That too was one of Paul's
motives, you remember. "For the love of
Christ constraineth us." (2nd Corinthians 5:14) To
"constrain" is to compel or propel or even to grasp and hold!
And for those of you who may
be still having trouble on that "serving Jesus" idea ... you had
better not go to heaven! For we are told that eternally the
saints will serve the Lord! "And there
shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it; and his
servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face;
and his name shall be in their foreheads." (Revelation
22:3) Now, remember, this is in the last chapter of the Bible,
not the first!
I've written this little note
to my fellow servants this Friday in December.
Thank God for the privilege of being His slave! The common
word for "servant" in the New Testament is just that, "doulos,"
a slave!
Lord Jesus, today we think of
Thee as the Babe in a manger, as the Child of Bethlehem. But
also help us to remember Thy Deity and Sonship to Almighty God.
In fact, Thou are very God Himself! And That makes Thee
MASTER of all!
Gladly I so acknowledge Thee
as Such!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 7 ...
HE IS OUR PHYSICIAN!
Once Jesus, referring to Himself, said this:
"But
when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole
need not a physician,
but they that are
sick." (Matthew 9:12)
It
is obvious that Jesus of course could heal diseases physically.
Lame men walked and blind men saw and deaf men heard at His
touch or command. BUT in reality there is a greater malady than
just bodily sickness!
The
old-timers years ago called it "sin-sickness."
In fact, sin is a spiritually
fatal condition ... every time! James puts it this way:
"Then when lust hath conceived, it
bringeth forth sin: and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
James 1:15
This "sin" thing is bad!
Psalm 103:3 actually says this
of our great God, He ... "Who forgiveth
all thine iniquities; who
healeth all thy diseases."
Amen!
And that (most importantly of
all) includes the cancer called sin!
Listen to the Psalmist as he
prays: "I said, LORD, be merciful unto
me: heal my soul; for I
have sinned against thee." Heal my SOUL!
Jesus is The Divine Physician!
Our Lord's healing credentials
are even more clearly stated in this Old Testament verse:
"I will put none of these diseases upon
thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD
that healeth thee." Exodus 15:26
But HOW is this soul sickness
of ours healed?
That, like everything else in
the Christian life, begins at the Cross of Calvary!
Isaiah 53:5 tells us:
"But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed."
The Doctor named Jesus, the
One Who controls the "Balm in Gilead," is yet available today!
He sits at the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven!
"Is there no balm
in Gilead; is there no physician there?"
Jeremiah 8:22
Yes, there is!
And His Name is Jesus!
Do you know Him today?
(And while I have emphasized
the spiritual healing of Jesus today, which is by far the most
critical to humanity, He also is able to touch and heal us
physically. Thank God for good medicines and doctors ...
but all true healing comes from the Lord! He made us!
He knows all about us! And He can touch us and repair our
bodies as well as regenerate our souls!)
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 8 ...
HE IS OUR HOPE!
Paul says it in 1st Timothy 1:1.
"Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ
by the commandment of God our Saviour,
and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope ...."
Notice the Title He gives
Jesus here.
He is our HOPE!
Years ago we often sang a song
at the little church we attended (when I was a boy). Its
opening words were: "My hope is built on nothing less ... than
Jesus' Blood and Righteousness!"
I love those words.
Without Jesus we have no
hope! Again Paul tells us: "That at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope,
and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12
Hope here does not mean a
"rabbit foot" or "four leaf clover" kind of thing! It means an
assured confidence of future events based upon the promises of
God!
The Greek word for hope ("elpis")
is even once translated "faith" in the King James Version of the
New Testament. (Hebrews 10:23)
Therefore, be sure your hope
for Heaven and your hope for all your future provision and your
hope for answered prayer and your hope for _____________
(everything else good and holy too) ... are based on Jesus!
If so, you will live a
victorious and happy life on earth. (Not necessarily a wealthy
life and certainly not a problem free life ... but a blessed
life!) "Happy
is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the
LORD his God." Psalm 146:5
Again I say ... today, Monday,
live with all your hope and trust and faith leaning on the Lord
Jesus! (I mean consciously live that way! Remind yourself of
that Fact again and again!) See what a difference that little
deed makes in your daily schedule!
"... God
would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is
Christ in you, the hope
of glory." Colossians 1:27
Now this is a "blessed hope!"
And will become even more so when Jesus comes again! Live ...
"Looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 9 ...
HE IS OUR CAPTAIN!
Jesus is our Captain!
Such is said of Him in Hebrews 2:10 ---
"For it became Him, for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make
the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings."
Precisely, He is the Captain of our salvation!
The noun here (in Greek ... "archegos")
means One who leads the line! One Who is in first place! A
pioneer! The trailblazer!
The word is usually a military
term in Scripture.
It's good to know that when
the conflict rages (against the world and the flesh and the
devil), we have a Captain! One Who has never lost a battle!
In Judges 11:6 the people of
Israel plead for help with these words:
"And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we
may fight with the children of Ammon."
"Come ... be our captain!"
That's exactly what we need to
say to our dear Lord!
Back in Joshua 5 the Lord
appeared (a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus I believe) to a
hesitant leader ... and identified Himself as the Captain of the
Lord's Host, The Leader in battle! "And
he said, Nay; but as
captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto
him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the
Captain of the LORD'S
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot;
for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."
(Joshua 5:14-15)
We often sing these words: "Saviour,
like a Shepherd lead us ... much we need Thy tender care!"
Then a few of you will
remember this song: "Lead on, O King eternal, we follow not
with fears!"
But our thought today says,
"Lead us O great Captain ... If Thou be for us, who can be
against us? The battle is the Lords!"
Let us say along with those in
2nd Chronicles 13:12 --- "And, behold,
God himself is with us
for our Captain!"
Our youngest Grandson, little
Aaron Elijah Bagwell, sings a chorus: "I'm in the Lord's
army!" (It's about marching in the infantry and riding in the
cavalry and shooting the artillery!)
I'd like to say we had all
better acknowledge that we too are in the Lord's army! And that
He's The Captain!
Let HIM lead you today!
Then you can surely say with
Paul, "But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1st
Corinthians 15:57
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 10
... HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
The
Lord Jesus is, according to Jeremiah, our very RIGHTEOUSNESS!
"In his days Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name
whereby he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Jeremiah 23:6
In
God's eyes ... our own "human" righteousness is terrible!
"But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as
a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
Isaiah 64:6
Even in the New Testament we
see this Truth. "Even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them
that believe: for there is no difference." Romans 3:22
Here's a verse that will
literally make you shout for joy! "I will
greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he hath covered me with
the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels." Isaiah 61:10
Trust Christ Jesus as your
Saviour. Believe on Him and be saved. And when you do, He will
wash away your sin. He will truly take away your man-made
goodness ... and reckon to you the Righteousness of God!
"Surely,
shall one say, in the
LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall
men come ...." Isaiah 45:24
What peace this Truth brings!
Enjoy it today, dear Believing
friend!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 11 ...
HE IS OUR SUBSTITUTE!
Jesus died as our Substitute!
That's exactly what Peter means when he says this:
"For Christ also hath once suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
Those precious words are found in 1 Peter 3:18.
See
where Jesus died as "The Just" ... suffering for
the unjust!
Our Lord is The "Just" One.
We were the "unjust" ones, lost in our sins.
He is our Substitute!
When Peter says
"the Just FOR the unjust,"
he uses the Greek preposition "huper." It specifically means "in
one's stead!" Others dictionaries say it means "on behalf of!"
Here, in King James English, it is simply rendered "for." All
these valid definitions teach the same Truth!
He died in my place!
Throughout Old Testament
history, little innocent lambs died in the place of their wicked
owners! They were sacrificed at an old-fashioned altar. Here is
how Moses describes it: "And
he (the sinning Jew) shall put his hand upon the head of the
burnt offering (the lamb); and it shall be accepted
for him to make atonement for him."
Leviticus 1:4
There it is again!
Substitution!
And the great 53rd chapter of
Isaiah gives us this same Truth. "Surely
He (Jesus) hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet
we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But
He (Jesus) was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Could it be
any plainer?
Then Isaiah continues:
"For the transgression of my people was
He (Jesus) stricken. By His knowledge shall My Righteous
Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities."
Then ...
"He (Jesus) bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors."
I don't want to be too
repetitive ... but Jesus is our Substitute. He died FOR you and
me!
Dear Christian friend, as you
worship our dear Lord today ... thank Him and glorify Him and
adore Him for being willing to die in our stead!
Paul, in 2nd Corinthians 5:21
went so far as to say this: "For He (God
The Father) hath made Him (Jesus, God The Son) to be sin
for us, (Jesus) Who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him." He became sin FOR us!
(That's "huper" again! In our stead!)
The theologians call it "vicarious
atonement." (Vicarious is from the Latin word for
"substitute," spelled "vicarious!" Letter for letter it's the
same! When that occurs it is known as a "loan word.")
He died FOR sinners!
Lord, thank You!
Thank You for being our
Substitute!
Today we praise Thy wonderful
Name!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 12 ...
HE IS OUR SHEPHERD!
Jesus is our Shepherd!
That's one of the word pictures He has left for us ... to
encourage us along life's road!
In
His death ... He is the Good Shepherd! In John 10:11 Jesus
says: "I
am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the
sheep."
In
His resurrection ... Jesus is the Great Shepherd! Listen to
Hebrews 13:20 --- "Now the God of peace,
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant ...."
And
in His second coming ... our Lord is the Chief Shepherd. That's
according to 1 Peter 5:4. "And
when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away."
Listen to Isaiah 40:11. "He (the Lord)
shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs
with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young."
Our
Shepherd gives us FOOD! ("Feed His flock!")
He
gives us a LOVE! ("Gathers us in His Arms!")
He
gives us TRANSPORT! ("Carries us in His bosom")
He
gives us GUIDANCE! ("Leads us!")
And
1st Peter 2:25 compares our Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, to a
Bishop! "For ye were as sheep going
astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of
your souls." The noun for "bishop" here is "episkopos"
which means one who "looks over" His flock! (The word "scope"
in seen in episkopos!) He's watching and guarding us, folks!
And
... last of all ... perhaps best of all, the Lord is MY
Shepherd! "The LORD is my shepherd; I
shall not want." Psalm 23:1
The
old song says "What a Friend we have in Jesus." I today am
saying "What a Shepherd we have in Jesus too!"
This surely makes a Believer feel "safe!"
Listen to our Shepherd one more time: "My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,
which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."
John 10:27-30
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 13 ... HE IS OUR GIFT!
Our
God is a "giving" God!
"For God so loved the world that He GAVE ...!"
So says John 3:16.
But
... look WHAT he gave!
I
really should say look WHOM He gave!
"For God so loved the world that
He gave HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON ...!"
I am prepared to say this: Jesus is The Gift of God to a lost
and dying world!
I once read of two young Bible students who sought through all
Scripture to find HOW MANY gifts God has bestowed upon His
people! They found 530 of them!
In fact, "Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning." James 1:17
But What is the BEST Gift of all?
Jesus is!
Why, Preacher Bagwell, you can't "classify" God gifts!
Yes, you can!
Paul did anyway!
"Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15
That must be Jesus!
"That in all things he might have
the preeminence." Colossians 1:18
We should thank God today in adoration and worship ... for the
Greatest Gift of all!
Jesus is The Saviour, The Redeemer, The Lord, The Christ, The
Son of God ... and The GIFT of God!
Praise His Name!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 14 ... HE IS OUR
LEADER!
Jesus is, among many other beautiful things, our LEADER!
Precious Psalm 23 makes that abundantly clear!
"He
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."
Psalm 23:3
We can not find our way all alone!
In fact, "All we like sheep have gone
astray." (Isaiah 53:6) We MUST have a Leader!
There's a little Greek word that fits well here. It's used in
our King James Bibles 4 times. It means "leader." (But in a
specific way!)
"Archegos" (pronounced ar-kay-gos') combines two little words.
"Ago" means "I lead" and "arche" means first or chief! Jesus is
The Chief Leader! (That "arche" gives us words such as
arch-angel! Chief angel!)
This specific term was used by those in the Greek world to
indicate the "line leader," the one who went first ... for
others to follow! Well, Jesus is The Line Leader for us
Believers! (And by now it's a long line too!)
In Acts 3:15 Peter calls Jesus "The
Prince of Life!"
He is the "archegos" of life! He's the line leader on the way to
eternal life. He IS the Life (John 14:6)! I have eternal life
today because Jesus led me to it ... and gave it to me! (By
faith in and the power of His shed Blood!)
Then Acts 5:31 says this of Jesus: "Him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a
Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins." Jesus is our Prince ("archegos," line Leader) Who
is already in Heaven right now, exalted there by the Hand of
God! (If the line Leader is already in Heaven ... I reckon the
line will end up there too!)
And Hebrews 2:10 adds to our
picture. "For it became him, for whom
are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings." Jesus is Captain
("archegos," line Leader) of our salvation! Am I saved? Are
things all right? IF I'm in the line Jesus leads, yes! He's
the True Salvation of a lost soul!
Lastly, in Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is called
"The Author and
Finisher of our faith!" The noun author is "archegos,"
line Leader! Wait a minute, Preacher Bagwell! You just said
Jesus is the Leader of the line and the Finisher of the line!
(No, I didn't say it ... the Bible did!)
How can He be first ... and last? (Beginning and End? Alpha
and Omega?) Because He is eternal and omnipresent and GOD!
Jesus is our LEADER!
But maybe Isaiah, in a verse too long unfamiliar to me, says it
best. God is talking about His coming Son and says:
"Behold, I have given Him for a
witness to the people, a
leader and commander to the people." (Isaiah 55:4)
Here God Himself just called Jesus our Leader!
By the way, do note that if Jesus is Leader ... He is
automatically Commander too!
Christian friend, aren't you glad you're been put in His line?
(The other line goes to a place of destruction!)
What was it the old hymn used to say? (It ought to still be
saying it in our churches ... but we now have "choruses" to
sing, don't we?)
"Lead on, O King, eternal!"
Today thank God for your Leader!
And follow Him closely!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 15 ... HE IS OUR
PASSOVER!
Every Christian remembers the story of the "Passover."
That night in Egypt long ago, if the blood was applied to the
doorposts ... safety was assured!
If not, at midnight instant death came!
It's all recorded in Exodus chapter twelve.
However in Exodus 12:13 the
Lord promised Israel: "And the blood
shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are:
and when I see the
blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be
upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."
What I'd like to show you
today (concerning the Passover) is a truth revealed in Paul's
First Epistle to the Corinthians. There he is correcting some
sin problems in that local church and says:
"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that
ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.
For even Christ our
passover is sacrificed for us." Wow!
The Apostle just called Christ
Jesus OUR PASSOVER!
Yes, Jesus is The Lamb of God
Who was slain that we might be saved!
Listen to John the Baptist:
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world." John 1:29 (That's "Passover"
language!)
Oh, dear friend, be SURE you
have been "washed" in the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Listen to John the Apostle
from the Island called Patmos as he tells us what Jesus has done
with His precious Blood! "And from
Jesus Christ, who
is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and
the prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
Yes!
The Bible still says:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die."
(Ezekiel 18:4 and 18:20)
The ONLY escape from that sure
death is The Blood of our Passover Lamb!
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
ARTICLE 16 ...
HE IS OUR LIFE!
Paul said an unusual thing in
Colossians 3:4. He called Jesus our very LIFE!
"When Christ,
who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
Him in glory."
Now we all know that once we have
trusted the Lord Jesus as our
