I am excited about the resurrection because it DISTINGUISHES A SAVING LORD
Hebrews 7:25 (KJV) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
A Jewish student had been attending the evangelistic meetings of Alfred H. Ackley. He asked Ackley, “Why should I worship a dead Jew?” The question ultimately prompted the writing of the Ackley’s great hymn entitled He Lives.
Ackley said to the young Jewish student, “He lives! I tell you, He is not dead, but lives here and now! Jesus Christ is more alive today than ever before. I can prove it by my own experience, as well as the testimony of countless thousands.”
The message of Easter is about a LIVING and a SAVING Jesus. In Hebrews 7:25 we are reminded that Jesus is living and that He is also saving. As a living Saviour, He is in the saving business.
The angel that announced His birth declared, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”
Jesus himself said in Matthew 18:11, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”
The Bible says in John 3:17, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”
We read, “Wherefore He is able also to save to the uttermost.” Jesus is able to save! He has the ability to save!
When I look in the Bible I see that He can save at ANYTIME.
In Acts 2, three thousand were saved at “the third hour of the day” (Acts 2:15). That would be nine o’clock in the morning.
Paul testified that he was saved at “midday” (Acts 26:13). Midday is noon.
The thief on the cross was saved between the sixth and ninth hour (Cp. Matt 27:45). That was between the hours of 12 and 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
Nicodemus was saved at “night” (Cp. John 3:2).
The Philippians Jailer was saved at “midnight” (Cp. Acts 16:25).
He can save in the morning, evening, or at night. There is no time He can’t save.
Furthermore, He can save ANYWHERE.
He saved Levi in a custom-house (Mark 2:14). A custom-house was a tax-collectors office. That’s like getting saved in an IRS office!
Peter and Andrew were saved on the seashore while they were working (Cp. Matt 4:18).
The paralytic man was saved in a home (Mark 2:1).
Zaccheaus was saved at the foot of a tree (Luke 19:4).
Paul was saved in the middle of the road (Acts 9:3).
The Samaritan woman was saved at a well (John 4:11).
The Ethiopian Eunuch was saved in a desert (Acts 8:26).
The Philippians Jailer was saved in a jailhouse (Acts 16:26).
The thief was saved on a cross (Matt 27:38).
He can save at anytime and anywhere. Let me also say that He can save ANYONE. The disciples asked in Matthew 19:25, “Who then can be saved?” Thank God anyone can be saved.
He saved the harlot Rahab.
He saved the demon-possessed Mary Magdalene.
He saved a moral man like Nathanael.
He saved a religious man like Nicodemus.
He saved a rich man like Zaccheaus.
He saved a poor man like Lazarus.
He saved a fisherman like Peter.
He saved a doctor like Luke.
He saved a government official like the Ethiopian.
He saved a tax collector like Matthew.
He saved a thief like the thief on the cross.
It matters not who you are, what you have done, Jesus is able to save!
Furthermore, it says, “Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost:”
Charlotte Elliot wrote a hymn that is probably sung somewhere around the world every Sunday. It is the hymn Just As I Am. It is actually a testimony of how she came to Jesus. At the age of 33, she was an invalid, bitter, and often vented her frustration on her family and even God. She complained, “If God loved me, He would not have treated me this way.”
On one occasion her father had invited the noted Swiss minister, Dr. Cesar Malan, to be a guest in their home. While they were seated at the dinner table she gave vent to one of her typical emotional outbursts, condemning God for His cruelty to her. Her father, embarrassed at her lack of respect for their distinguished guest, excused himself and left the room with the rest of the family.
Dr. Malan and Charlotte were left alone facing one another at the table. After a few tense moments, he said to her, “You are tired of yourself, aren’t you?” Angrily she asked, “What do you mean?” Dr. Malan replied, “You are holding to your hate and anger because you nothing else in the world to cling to, consequently, you have become sour, bitter, and resentful.”
Charlotte then asked, “What is your cure?” He told her that she needed the faith she was trying to despise.” Charlotte broke, and she unburdened her heart, releasing pent-up feelings she had been struggling with for years. Dr. Malan explained how God could help her find peace for her soul and as well as her mind and body.
She then asked, “If I wanted to become a Christian and to share the peace and joy you possess, what would I do? How would I go about it?” Dr. Malan replied, “You would give yourself to God just as you are now.” She repeated the words, “Just as you are now,” and then added, “I would come to God just as I am. Is that right?”
“Exactly,” said Dr. Malan, “praying this prayer, ‘O God, I come to you just as I am, to be made over by you and to be used for your glory and your kingdom.” That day Charlotte Elliot did come and 14 years later she wrote:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that biddest me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.
All we have to do is come just as we are. Someone might say, “I need to get some things straightened out in my life before I come.” The devil will see to it that you never get your life straightened out. You need to come just as you are. Another might say, “I need to come, but not today. I will come later.” Today is the day you need to come. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”
It matters not who you are or what you have done, you can come.
Hebrews 7:25 tells that we come to God “by him.” We must not only come, but we must accept the Lord Jesus as Saviour. We come to God by and through the Lord Jesus. Within our celebration of Easter is Jesus dying for our sins on Calvary’s cross.
Emerging from the Civil War was a band of guerillas known as Quantrell's band or raiders. They had been ordered to be shot on sight. After burning a town in Iowa, they had been caught. A long ditch was dug and they were lined up in front of it and blindfolded and tied, and just as the firing squad was ready to present arms a young man dashed through the bushes and cried, "Stop!"
He pointed to one man in the line and asked to take his place. "I'm single," he said, "while he has a wife and babies." The commander of that firing squad had the young fellow blindfolded and bound. The guns rang out and he fell dead.
Time went on and one day a man came upon another in a graveyard in Missouri weeping and shaping the grave into form. The first man asked who was buried there and the other said, "The best friend I ever had." He then told the story of the young man who had taken his place. He had got the body of his friend after he had been shot and buried it. The man had traveled many miles from his home to place a withered bouquet on the grave marked by simple slap of wood with the words, "He died for me."
On that grave today there is a nice marble monument that was added years later by the man. The monument stands fifteen feet high and on it is this inscription:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLE LEE
HE TOOK MY PLACE IN THE LINE
HE DIED FOR ME
When you look at the cross of Calvary you see an eternal monument that says, “He died for me.” He died to save you. He died that you and I might come to Him and be saved. All that He asks is that we come to Him and accept Him as our Saviour.
His authority to save is seen in the closing words of Hebrews 7:25, “Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Do you want to know why He has the ability to save? Do you want to know why we can come to Him and be saved? It is because He is alive! He saves because He lives!
Don’t pay any attention to those who doubt or deny the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He’s alive! He arose again from the dead just as the Bible declares.
A man once wrote a religious editor and said, “Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think?” He received the following reply, “Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes; nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side; embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for 72 hours and see what happens.”
The angel said in Matthew 28:6, “He is not here: for He is risen.” Yes, He rose again from the dead. He is not lying in a tomb somewhere. He rose from the dead. He, as the Bible says, “ever liveth.” He is not only able to save, but praise His name, He is available to save. If a person will come to Him, He can and wil
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