In This Issue:
He Paid Our Ransom
No Other; Just Jesus
The Lord Will Provide!
He Heard His Request
Volume: 1008 May 26, 2025
Theme: Jesus
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He Paid Our Ransom
Bill Brinkworth
“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
Sometimes, we take our salvation for granted after being saved for a while. The joy of escaping Hell may have “worn off”, and as we go through another day, we say, “Ho hum, I’m saved, but what’s the big deal.”
Reading Mark 10:45, I saw six words that reminded me how special and blessed I am to be saved. Those words are “… his life a ransom for many.”
To renew your excitement about your salvation (if you are saved), think for a minute what a ransom is. When a crime is committed, and a person is kidnapped, sometimes the kidnappers try to make money. They offer a person the opportunity to rescue the snatched person for a high price. Often, they warn that if their requests are not met, the person will never be seen again and will probably be murdered.
The kidnappers do not go to a person that hates the one they took. They send a message to someone who loves the abducted person so much that they would give anything to get that person back.
Jesus was reminding us here that we are all kidnapped by sin, and unless someone had paid the price, all would have perished; they will spend an eternity in Hell! It is a sad, sad truth that we are all Hell-bound because of our sins.
In this case, the ransom required to save someone from a terrible end was not money or possessions. The only payment that would be acceptable was the blood of a sinless person.
Now, the good news! There is one who loves you so much that He would pay the price to save you. It just so happens that He is the only one qualified as sin-free. He was willing to pay the ransom with His life for yours. Jesus, God’s only Son, stepped forward, willing to pay the price. Not only was Jesus willing to be a ransom for you, but He is also willing to pay everyone’s sin debt to all who ask Him.
Now, how can anyone not be excited about salvation after that realization? There is someone who loves you so much that He will rescue you from an eternity in Hell if you ask Him.
Jesus, thank you so much for what You have done for us!
No Other, Just Jesus
Bill Brinkworth
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” I Timothy 2:5
What fantastic news, as recorded in I Timothy 2:5, it must have been to the Jews who were familiar with Old Testament worship. Before Jesus’ death on the cross, they could not go directly to God themselves. They had to have priests go to God as middlemen for them. After the sacrificial death of Christ, they could go to God themselves by praying (I Tim 2:1).
However, then and even today, there are still many who believe they cannot go to God themselves. Those folks still, if they realize it or not, attempt to worship the way it was done in Old Testament times.
Some still go to a “priest” in a confessional and tell him their sins. With his words and by doing what he tells them to do, they believe the “priest” can order their sins to be forgiven. They are trusting the man to be their mediator between them and God.
There are also those who pray to the dead. Others murmur prayer needs to deceased biblical characters, in hopes that “person” can be the middle man between them and God to have their sins forgiven or requests granted.
Sincere as those people are, what they are doing is contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures. I Timothy 2:5 tells us there is only one mediator between us and God, and that is Jesus Christ.
We no longer have to present a perfect, unblemished animal sacrifice for the high priest to take through the temple’s curtain to the Holiest of Holies. When Christ died, God ripped the veil in two from the top to the bottom. Now, any believer can go to God in prayer through Jesus Christ.
Telling a priest, parent, or another person one’s sins will not remove the consequences of one’s iniquity. Those people may want to help, but they, too, are sinners needing a mediator. Going to anyone other than Christ to meet a need in one’s life or receive help from God will not result in God answering one’s requests.
The only one who is qualified to go to the Father on our behalf is His Son, Jesus. He is the only mediator between God and man.
“Well, my friend, today we have a Mediator — the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus can because He is God. He is able to save to the uttermost, and He has paid the price for our salvation. He is a Mediator because He has also become a man.
“Jesus can hold my hand. He understands me. He understands you. You can go to Him, and He will not be upset with you. He will not lose His temper, strike you, or hurt you… He still loves you and wants to put His arm around you.” — J. Vernon McGee
The Lord Will Provide!
J. Newton
Though troubles assail, and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail, and foes all unite
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The promise assures us the Lord will provide.
The birds, without barn or storehouse, are fed.
From them, let us learn to trust for our bread.
His saints what is fitting shall ne’er be denied,
So long as ‘tis written, “The Lord will provide.”
When Satan appears to stop up our path,
And fills us with fears, we triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us (though oft he has tried)
The heart-cheering promise, “The Lord will provide.”
Satan tells us we’re weak, our hope is in vain.
The good that we seek we ne’er shall obtain;
But when such suggestions our graces have tried.
This answers all questions, the Lord will provide.
No strength of our own, nor goodness we claim;
Our trust is all thrown in Jesus’ name.
In that strong tower for safety we hide;
The Lord is our power; the Lord will provide.
When life sinks apace and death is in view,
The Word of His grace shall comfort us through.
Not fearing or doubting, with Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting, “The Lord will provide!”
“He that feeds His birds will not starve His babes.” — Matthew Henry
He Heard His Request
J. G. Wilson
A lady, who had just sat down to breakfast, had an intense urgency in her heart to instantly carry a loaf of bread to a poor man who lived about a half mile from her house. Her husband wished her either to postpone taking the loaf of bread until after breakfast or to send someone else to deliver it to the man. She chose to immediately take it herself.
As she approached the small hovel, she heard a voice. Desiring to listen to what was being said, she stepped softly. She heard the poor man praying, and among other things, he said, “O Lord, help me! Lord, Thou wilt help me. Thy providence cannot fail. Although my wife, myself, and children have no bread to eat, and it is now a whole day since we had any, I know Thou wilt supply.”
The lady could wait no longer; she opened the door. “Yes,” she replied, “God had sent you relief. Take this loaf, and be encouraged to cast your care upon Him who careth for you, and when you ever want a loaf of bread, please come to my house.”
“Bread for today is bread enough.” — E. M. Bounds