A Stone Of Stumbling
By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Some thirty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, St. Peter wrote to the believers of the Jewish dispersion:
“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious; but unto them which be disobedient, the Stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” (I Pet. 2:7,8).
It is true that Israel’s builders, 1900 years ago, “disallowed” Christ as the cornerstone for their building, and that when He became the “Head of the corner,” according to Psa. 118:22, it was for them an occasion for stumbling and embarrassment.
But Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him. In Rom. 9:33 St. Paul quotes from several Old Testament passages:
“As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
In Peter’s day and in Paul’s, those who looked upon Christ as their Cornerstone were never given cause to be ashamed. It was those who disallowed and refused Him who kept stumbling over Him and were constantly embarrassed by Him.
So today, those who put their trust in the crucified, risen Christ are eternally secure and will never be put to shame for having done so. But those who reject Christ keep forever stumbling over Him. They hear Him preached over the radio, they see Him offered as the One who died for their sins, they are constantly confronted with His claims and they are embarrassed. They keep forever stumbling over Him.
Moral: trust Him now as your personal Savior, for “whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
Today's Devotional Sponsor:
By Pastor Ricky Kurth
“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 10:17).
We know that God forgives the sins of His people, but does He forget them? It would seem so. Our text suggests that He “will not remember” the sins committed against Him by His children (Isa. 43:25). Believers have always found a great deal of comfort in this blessed thought.
But then God calls upon us to likewise forgive others “even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). Doesn’t this suggest that we too should forgive and forget? Perhaps you are thinking, “But Pastor, you don’t know what they did to me!” True, but was it more than what was done to God when men crucified His Son?
Remember, God’s vow to forgive and forget the sins of His people includes even the brutal murder of His only begotten Son. We are tempted to think, “Well, it’s easy for God to forget,” but such is not the case. God says of the sins of unbelievers that He “will NEVER forget ANY of their works” (Amos 8:7). How then can this God of “total recall” forget our sins? Does His memory have a convenient “on/off ” switch that makes it easy for Him to forgive and forget? If so, then we who do not have such a switch would have an excuse for forgiving but not forgetting. But if God has such a switch, would He not also have to erase His memory of Calvary, or else forever wonder why His Son had to die? But it cannot be that God could forget the Cross, for Revelation 5:6 joins John 20:27 to reveal that the Lord’s resurrection body will forever bear the scars of the Cross, making it impossible for God—or us—to ever forget His sacrifice for our sins.
What then is the answer to our question? Can God forget our sins? Perhaps the reader has noticed that we never read that God will forget the sins of His people, but rather that He “will not remember” them. By a deliberate act of His “will” He chooses to act toward us AS IF He has forgotten our sins, on the basis of the blood of the Cross. That’s how fully and completely He has forgiven our sins. And if we are to forgive others “as” God forgave us, then we too must choose to act toward others as if we have so fully forgiven their transgressions against us that we have forgotten them—also on the basis of Christ’s shed blood. This and this alone is complete forgiveness of others, and it is high spiritual ground indeed.
May God help us to live with a slate wiped clean of “all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking… with all malice” (Eph. 4:31).
Crock-Pot BBQ Ribs
Ingredients:
• 4 pounds Ribs of your choice ( I prefer Riblets - More meat and less bones)
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoons vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bottle of sweet baby rays BBQ
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoons oregano
Directions:
1. In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except for the ribs themselves.
2. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.
3. Cover, and cook on Low 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender.
DAILY SMILE:
A father says to his teenage daughter: “Hannah, did you have a fight with your mother?”
“Yes, daddy, I’m sorry.”
“Well, she has driven around the block nine times!!! Go out and make peace with her before she wears out my tires!”
"How blessed are those who make peace, because it is they who will be called God's children!” -Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers - Those who strive to prevent contention, strife, and war; who use their influence to reconcile opposing parties, and to prevent lawsuits and hostilities in families and neighborhoods.
Every man may do something of this; and no man is more like God than he who does it. There ought not to be unlawful and officious interference in that which is none of our business; but without any danger of acquiring this character, every man has many opportunities of reconciling opposing parties. Friends, neighbors, people of influence, lawyers, physicians, ministers of the gospel, may do much to promote peace. And it should be taken in hand in the beginning.
“The beginning of strife,” says Solomon, “is like the letting out of water.” “An ounce of prevention,” says the English proverb “is worth a pound of cure.” Long and most deadly quarrels might often be prevented by a little kind interference in the beginning.
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