There are many experiences which occur in the
course of our years for which there is absolutely no obvious and
immediate explanation.Who
knows why our burden has to be so heavy?Who knows why we have to cry sometimes?Life is a mystery.
There are riddles that remain unanswered,There are mysteries that remain unraveled.There are perplexities that remain perplexing.There are diseases for which there is no known cure.And what we don’t understand about our trying experience now, we
must believe that we’ll understand it better by and by.
When we cannot see the way, we must trust the way.When we do not know the way, we must believe the way.When we do not know why, we must believe that God knows why.We must walk on by faith, and trust God to make the way, with
unshakable certainty, “And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.”
From the sixth to the ninth hour, there was just
darkness over all the land.
It seems to be this dreadful feeling of abandonment that Jesus
experienced for three somber hours while hanging from the cross.All his life, he had enjoyed the blissful blessedness of unbroken
fellowship with his Father.
But now here he is on the cross, suspended in space, hanging below the
bosom of heaven, orbiting above the earth as though rejected by both and
accepted by neither.
The man who had been the friend to so many, the man
who healed the sick and raised the dead – this man now is suffering like
no man ever suffered before.
For three hours, beginning at the sixth hour until high noon when the
sun was shining at its zenith, the light went out and heaven drew a
curtain around Calvary.For three hours, some phenomenon occurred which made Jesus feel
that God had deserted him and left him abandoned in the dark.
Hear the eeriness in the cry of Jesus: “Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani,” that is, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
And life is sometimes just like that; you ought to
be living in the sunshine, and yet circumstance has consigned you to the
darkness.Abandoned is a
strong word.And yet, the
truth is that there are times in our lives when we feel abandoned by God
and left trembling in the dark.Ask the young couple whose baby is dead on arrival; ask the
person who loses his or her mate in the prime time ofhis or her life.Ask
the families of those people whose lives were wiped out by an armed
sniper’s bullet.There have
been times in your life when it felt like God had turned out the lights
and left you wounded and hurting in the dark.It’s high noon when the sun is glistening in its golden orbit.Everything ought to be light and bright, tight and right, but
instead, it’s dark.It’s
midnight at mid-day!
Everything is all mixed up.
It’s night time in the day time.As children of God, all of us have had a
night-time-in-the-day-time experience.We looked to be blessed; instead we got trouble.We thought we would get a clean bill of health; instead we had to
have surgery.We thought we
were going to get that promotion; instead we got a pink slip.All of us have experienced the strange phenomenon of night time
in the day time, but we are still standing.
There are two things about this
night-time-in-the-day-time experienceemanating from the text that should keep us standing.First of all, there are some painful experiences that we have to
go through.Pain is a fact
of life.There is physical
pain and there is spiritual and emotional pain—and Jesus was feeling all
of it.Nails were in his
hands and feet.His back was
lacerated.And, as if this
wasn’t enough, he couldn’t feel the nearness of God.They offered him pain killer, but he didn’t take it.He endured the pain.
It may hurt, but endure it!It may make you feel like God has abandoned you, but endure it!Don’t give in!Endure
it!God won’t stop the pain,
but he’ll hold you and help you go through.I am Still Standing!
The second lesson we can learn is that darkness
doesn’t come to stay.
Matthew says that this darkness occurred from the sixth to the ninth
hour.(Matthew 27:45) The
darkness comes, but it goes.
And as painful and as disturbing as it is, my brothers and sisters, the
good news is that it doesn’t last forever.Whether it’s three hours, three days, three weeks, three months,
or three years, the darkness doesn’t last forever.If you continue to stand, having done all to stand; you will
discover that Joy comes back!Peace comes back!
Happiness comes back!In the
language of the Psalmist, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy
cometh in the morning.”
(Psalm 30:5)The darkness
comes, but it doesn’t come to stay.It’s temporary.I
think I hear somebody singing, “I’m so glad that trouble doesn’t last
always.”“I’m so glad that
behind every dark cloud there’s a silver lining.I’m so glad after every rainstorm there’s a bright new sky.The sun will shine again.”
I am so
glad that I am a member of the Church of Christ,
I have been a member of the
Church
of Christ over
fifty-five years and I don’t feel no ways tired.I have had obstacles to deter me, but thank God, I am Still
Standing.I have situations
to defeat me, trials to discourage me, those who have deceived me, and
my night-time-in-the-day-time experiences but thank God, I Am Still
Standing!
THE NAME THAT
SAVES
There are names that give courage to warriors' hearts, names that give
inspiration to philosophers' minds, names that give skill to sculptors'
chisels, glory to painters' utterances, endurance to athletes'
struggles, and joy to martyrs' sufferings.There
is a name that gives strength to friendship when the road is rough, and
there are more thorns to endure than roses to kiss.
There is a name that is a roof
over our heads and refuge when the storm is raging.
There is a name that is a
bondage-breaking name for those bound in sin.
Tis
the name of Jesus, who is from above and is above all.
I am trying to get to the
SAVING NAME OF JESUS.
We must lift up His name in songs, in prayers, in sermons, in living, in
giving, in serving as our rallying cry. Charles
Lamb was right when he said, "If all the illustrious men were gathered
together and Shakespeare should enter their shinning company they would
all rise to do him honor. But if
Jesus Christ should come, we would all kneel to worship Him."
Napoleon was right when he
confessed, "I know men, and I tell you Jesus is not a man.
Comparison is impossible between
Him and any other being in the world."
I agree with the hymn writer who so eloquently
penned, "Precious name, O how sweet. Hope
of earth and joy of heaven." No
wonder the Biblical historian, Luke, wrote in Acts 4:12, "Neither is
there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved."
IS THERE ANYTHING IN A NAME?There
is power in a name. If someone is knocking on your door at two o'clock
in the morning, almost to tear it down; you get upset.
But when you hear a voice saying,
"OPEN UP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW,"
things change. Power is in the
name of Rockefeller in the financial world, power in the name of Ford in
the industrial world, power in the name of Socrates in the philosophical
world, and power in the name of Mozart in the musical world.
In the religious world, there is power in the name of
Jesus. Salvation is in the name
of Jesus, and no other. The
apostles worked miracles in Jesus' name (Acts 3:6), repentance and
remission of sins preached in His name (Lk. 24:46), Baptized in His name
(Acts 8:16). We worship in the
name of Jesus (Mt. 18:20), we work in His name (Col. 3:17) and we pray
in His blessed name. (John 14:14)
GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION
HEAR THE GOSPEL:"How
shall they call on him whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14). "So then faith comes by hearing
and hearing comes by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
(Luke 11:28) But he said, Yea rather, blessed are
they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
BELIEVE:"And without
faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that seek after him" (Hebrews 11:6). "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damn"
(Mark
16:16).
REPENT OF
PAST SINS:
"The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he
commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent." (Acts
17:30). "Nay except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish"
(Luke 13: 3, 5).
MOUTH
CONFESSION THAT JESUS IS LORD:
"Behold here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And
Philip said, if thou believeth with all thy heart thou mayest. And
he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God"
(Acts 8:36-37). (Romans 10:9-10)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.
BAPTISM FOR
THE REMISSION OF SINS:"And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be
baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the
remission of your sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit." (Acts 2:38). Baptism puts one into the church of
Christ, the church you can find in the Bible, Romans 16:16.
God wants all his people to exist and be a part of his church.(1 Peter 3:20-21) Which sometime were disobedient,
when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while
the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were
saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away
of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
THEN LIVE RIGHT
AND STAY FAITHFUL: Live a
Christian life. "Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth
the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9); (Revelation 2:10) Fear none
of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall
cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall
have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee a crown of life.
IN TIMES LIKE THESE
WE NEED THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, THE GOSPEL TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT
THE TRUTH.
Hear… CLOYS R. CECIL, SR.
· National Evangelist · Minister of the Central
Church of Christ, Sanford, NC
· Veteran, dynamic preacher
· Bible Questions get Bible Answers
Spring Gospel Revival Meeting MAY 18—23, 2008 SUNDAY—
11:00 a.m.& 6:00 p.m.
MONDAY thru FRIDAY at 7:45 p.m. Meeting Flyer
Church Address: 894 S. 14 Street &
Clinton Avenue Newark, NJ 07108
Television Program: Televised in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Jersey
City Cable Channel 190 on Sunday from 7:00-7:30 p.m. and Tuesday from
9:00-9:30 p.m.
Events at the Newark COC
Monthly Singing Fellowship
Date: Sunday, May 18
at 3:00 p.m.
Ladies Prayer Meeting / Bible Study
Date: Saturday, May 24
at 5:00 p.m.
Youth Devotional
Date: Friday, May 30
at 7:30 p.m.
22nd ANNUAL GOSPEL CONCERT of
The Newark Adult Chorus
Date: Saturday, June 28
at 7:30 p.m.
FALL GOSPEL MEETING: Dates: Sept. 21-26, 2008 Guest Minister:
Dr. W. F. Washington
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Area Events
23rd NORTHEASTERN MEN'S RETREAT
in Kent, CT. Dates: June 6-7, 2008 Theme: "AGAINST ALL ODDS!" ACTIVATING ACTS IN
THE 21ST CENTURY.
Guest Minister: Dr. J. J. Turner
McDonough, GA.
For more information go to
www.cocmensretreat.com.
GOSPEL MEETING
Huntington, NY Dates: June 8-12, 2008 Guest Minister:
Dr. R.C. Wells
New York, NY Bro. Willie Davis is the Host Minister.
59th Annual National Youth Conference University of South Carolina Columbia, SC Dates: July 21-27, 2008 Theme: CHRISTIANS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Jude 20-21
32nd Annual National Christian Singles Seminar The Marriott Hotel, Indianapolis, IN Dates: Aug 29-Sept 1, 2008 Theme: CHRISTIAN AND SINGLE? "MISSION POSSIBLE!"
I Corinthians 7:32-34 Hosting Congregation: Kingsley Terrace Church of Christ,
Indianapolis, IN
Visit www.ncss2008.org for more
information.
CRUSADE FOR CHRIST 2009
Dates: June 28-July 2, 2009 Location: Kansas City Convention
Center,
Kansas City, MO
Guest Speaker: Dr. Jack Evans, Sr.
Terrell, TX
Dr. Daniel Harrison is the Director.
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