The Holy Spirit THE SENSATIONAL IS NOT ENOUGH
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,, though one rose from the dead. Luke 16:31.
It is the dead that are raised, the blind whose eyes are opened, and the spectacular things that draw our attention. But how long has it been since you came home rejoicing because someone's name had been added to the book of life?
Heaven looks at things so different from the way we do. The miracles at which we wonder seem simple to God. But when someone comes to Jesus, all heaven rejoices. We put the faith healers on the television screen, and report them in the newspaper. But you don't see special features about someone who has just accepted Jesus and had his name written in heaven.
In Luke 16 is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. There have been all kinds of attempts to explain that story. We understand that the story was a parable that Jesus used to illustrate a point. One of His lessons was the deceitfulness of riches. He didn't happen to be talking on the state of the death at that time. But the other point was more subtle, one that Jesus used as a method of reaching the Jewish nation, depicting their plight. They were like beggars sitting at the gates of a rich man in the fires of torment. The rich man said, "Please send someone back to tell my five brothers so they won't end up as I have." And the answer comes, "They will not believe, though one rose from the dead."
We think that someone rising form the dead would convince anyone. But it didn't back then, and it won'ttoday. The Jewish leaders were not convinced, even when One rose from the dead. And Jesus was not the only one who rose from the dead. Lazarus' story must have hit the press of the Jerusalem Times too. But none of it caused them to believe.
To Elijah in the cave, Jesus made it clear that it wasn't the spectacular that counted. It wasn't the earthquake and the fires and the winds. It was the still small voice. In Acts 8 you have Simon the sorcerer, who was impressed only by the spectacular, and wanted to buy the power to do the same. He was told to repent. We must not depend on the spectacular today, to prove or to convince of truth. We must not join the search for the sensational, for the sensational is never a sufficient basis for our faith.
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,, though one rose from the dead. Luke 16:31.
It is the dead that are raised, the blind whose eyes are opened, and the spectacular things that draw our attention. But how long has it been since you came home rejoicing because someone's name had been added to the book of life?
Heaven looks at things so different from the way we do. The miracles at which we wonder seem simple to God. But when someone comes to Jesus, all heaven rejoices. We put the faith healers on the television screen, and report them in the newspaper. But you don't see special features about someone who has just accepted Jesus and had his name written in heaven.
In Luke 16 is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. There have been all kinds of attempts to explain that story. We understand that the story was a parable that Jesus used to illustrate a point. One of His lessons was the deceitfulness of riches. He didn't happen to be talking on the state of the death at that time. But the other point was more subtle, one that Jesus used as a method of reaching the Jewish nation, depicting their plight. They were like beggars sitting at the gates of a rich man in the fires of torment. The rich man said, "Please send someone back to tell my five brothers so they won't end up as I have." And the answer comes, "They will not believe, though one rose from the dead."
We think that someone rising form the dead would convince anyone. But it didn't back then, and it won'ttoday. The Jewish leaders were not convinced, even when One rose from the dead. And Jesus was not the only one who rose from the dead. Lazarus' story must have hit the press of the Jerusalem Times too. But none of it caused them to believe.
To Elijah in the cave, Jesus made it clear that it wasn't the spectacular that counted. It wasn't the earthquake and the fires and the winds. It was the still small voice. In Acts 8 you have Simon the sorcerer, who was impressed only by the spectacular, and wanted to buy the power to do the same. He was told to repent. We must not depend on the spectacular today, to prove or to convince of truth. We must not join the search for the sensational, for the sensational is never a sufficient basis for our faith.
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