The Gospel is this...

"Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you... I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve." 1 Cor 15:1-5

What an amazing summary of the Gospel. It is here that we have our hope, for it lies in nothing else, to this truth we can hold fast and through it be saved, saved from ourselves! Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised on the third day, but not just in anyway but in complete fulfilment of the promise of the Father found in scripture. And then he revealed himself to the twelve that he might have witnesses and that through them his church might reach the ends of the earth. If we accept this gospel, this good news then we too are part of that church and it is our duty to also be His witnesses in the world.

The sign of Jonah

Luke 16

 ³¹He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

The word of God (Moses and the Prophets) is sufficient for repentance and faith not even a miracle can add to this...

We may look for the sign and the wonders as proof or something for us to latch on to in order to have faith. We may call out as the Pharisees did to Jesus "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." but all we will be given is the sign of Jonah (Matt 12:38-42). Three days Jesus was dead but then he rose again and assended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the only true God that the work of salvation be completed. Faith comes through a knowledge of the promises of God for salvation. Even the promise of salvation delievered to Adam and Eve right after the fall (Genesis 3:15) was sufficient for their repentance and saving faith how much more so now that the work of salvation of complete and we see in full the saving work of Jesus!

Let our cry for wonders and miricles fall by the wayside as we hang onto the sign of Jonah!

Torment

Luke 16

24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

What must be the torment of hell that one would desire over anything else one drop of water to cool his toungue!

"If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unloved, unwarned and unprayed for" Charles Spurgeon

Faithfulness

 Luke 16

¹²And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

Reading this passage my mind reached back to my childhood and what it meant for me to be part of my parents household. How did I treat  the possessions of my parents, what were my stewardship values for those things that wern't mine. I will always be grateful to my parents for installing in me good habits about the possessions of others when I was young so that now when I have my own I can be a good steward of those also.

Redemption

Exodus 13:11-16

 11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

 Each first born male animal each first born male child the Lord claimed. The Israelites were required to sacrifice the first born male animal and redeem each first born male child with sacrifice. This was to be a powerful testiment for all generations of the cost of redemtion (the death of the first born) to bring the Isrealites out from a slavery under the Egyptians to a new slavery under the only true God. What a powerful picture of the price paid by our Redeemer Jesus Christ, God's first born over all creation to redeem us from slavery to sin to slavery to himself.