The Seventeenth Epistle

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Who Shall Return?
This Same Jesus

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DATELINE: Sunday, February 25, 2001.
By Rev. James R. Bingham

Special to corndancer.com
Posted from Memphis, Tennessee

Acts 1:6
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Revelation 1:7
Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Everything must change. Nothing remains the same, except.... rain comes from the clouds.... and hummingbirds do fly.

The stock market, the best source of unpredictability, forever conveys the need for change. Forgive me. I'm not the best at humor, but this makes my point.

Today's Stock Market Report

Helium was up, feathers down, and paper stationary. Knives were up sharply but pencils lost a few points. Elevators rose while escalators continued their slow decline. Weights were up in heavy trading. Diapers remained unchanged and Scott Tissue touched a new bottom. Light switches were off and Coca Cola fizzled. Balloon prices were inflated but Caterpillar stock inched up a bit. Mining equipment hit rock bottom while batteries exploded in an attempt to recharge the market.

Well, now, in the case of diapers, it is evident that not only do things change, but some things have simply got to change.

Okay, enough of my "stand up." My point of discussion is that we live in a transient society. It is necessary that we change as a part of living. What we thought was the end yesterday is proven to be only the beginning.

Because I am the type of person I am, and because I have seen the life I have seen, oftentimes I allow what I read to beckon me to a nostalgic review of the wonders God has wrought in the lives of men. As a result, I seek evidence of having lived as one who continues to grow in the spirit.

Wars, Rumors of Wars,
False Prophets, a Savior,
The Downtrodden, Melchezedek.

Allow me to posit some ramblings of an adolescent Christian.

We've all heard the phrase, "Wars and wars and rumors of wars." Haven't there always been wars, wars, and rumors of wars?

False prophets will come to work great wonders and deceive the very elect if it were possible. Haven't there always been magicians, charlatans, men and women who are adept at slight of hand?

Why does mankind always come to a point in history where it is necessary for a savior?

Are the downtrodden best defined as those who have been trampled on by the "haves," or are the downtrodden and the "haves" the same and don't realize it?

What about Melchezedek? Is the mystery of his existence and Jesus to him yet a mystery?

What has changed?

Stay with me. I'm really going somewhere with this.

From Adolescence to Maturity.

Isn't it true that we have documented, with evidence, where we were — and refused to admit that we need to change? For instance, we can easily look at past works we have completed and see that our thinking has changed, hopefully to a more mature state. That is evidence.

Evidence allows us to realize the possibility of a continuum beyond the limits of our finite minds. Sometimes it is hard to look back and see how immature we were. That's no shame. It's a badge. Paul in I Corinthians 13:11 said, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

Paul pointed out that he recognized himself (his "I" in the now) to be the same person who was once a child. He said he remembered how he had thought, but that he had changed to a more mature level. Yet one thing remained constant. He was still Paul.

We change, but we are still the same person, but hopefully, more mature.

The Necessity
For a Fixed Point of Reference.

All efforts to capture and bottle truth require a constant. This requirement was graphically and emphatically demonstrated in Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity. For anything to be valid, or relative, there must be a constant, the fixed point of reference. To put it another way, to be real we must find a point of comparison to help us define our reality, our sense of realness.

Noted Jazz artist Les McCain said, "Try to make it real, compared to what?" The "what" is the constant. In order for us to know whether we have changed, there must be something that remains the same.

Here we go. In Acts 1:6-11 the onlookers and followers of Jesus had come together to receive from him the gift of reality; they hoped he would make life "real" for the world in which they lived. They knew they were living a life they felt was not desirable when they compared their reality to the fixed points of reference in their society. The dictates of the government (their treatment at the hands of the Romans) formed the constant in their sense of reality.

For relief — to satisfy their desire for change — they asked Jesus if he would restore the kingdom to Israel.

They asked because Jesus had proven himself to be powerful enough to change things for the better. He had healed the sick, raised the dead, given hope to the hopeless and sight to the blind. He came back from the dead. He demonstrated forgiveness, meekness, long-suffering, and temperance — all the good required of him to show he was the epitome of a perfect man as outlined in scriptures.

Jesus demonstrated that power would surely come to believers when they chose to follow him and live as he had lived.

The Right to Be Called
A Child of God.

He was declared and received as the Messiah. He took the worst while giving his best. He withstood ridicule with humility. He was bruised for our iniquities, yet he promised, to all who believe, the right to be called the children of God.

To be called a child of God? So? Think again. To be called a child of God, you must have the credentials to back it up. What a wondrous set of credentials you receive! You've got to be able to make it real. Compared to what?

Don't we labor to overcome the sins of the world and the inevitable pitfalls that are associated with sin? Jesus makes it possible, through our belief in and acceptance of his teachings, to overcome the world. He allows us to depend on him as our fixed source of strength that never changes, never falters, neither slumbers nor sleeps.

My point of reference, the Gospels and the Holy Writ, solidifies my faith. I want forever to be able to proclaim: It is no secret what God can do. All he did for others, he can surely do for me.

O' wretched soul that I am, I need someone to lean on. Sad to say, but friends will let you down. Friends will sometimes hurt you worst of all by revealing your secrets. They are the only ones who can reveal them. How do you think enemies find out your secret weaknesses and strengths?

I need some one I can tell my troubles to. I need someone who will hear my cry and come to show me the way.

While They Watched,
He Was Taken Up in a Cloud.

Maybe you already have everything you need. It wouldn't surprise me. The newly saved followers of Jesus knew they had found all they needed in Jesus. Yet, while they watched, "... he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight."

What a fantastic sight to behold — but it must have left an empty feeling in the hearts of those dear ones who watched him ascend. Who, now, would be there at their side to lead them to victory over the realities of life surrounding them.

And two men in white clothing said, "...why stand ye gazing up into the heavens? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

This same Jesus! Not an imitation Jesus. Not a memory of Jesus. A real Jesus. To some of you, who are grounded in need for factual verification of reality, this episode in the life of our Lord must seem like some kind of fairy tale. Perhaps — but how much do you know that you are not revealing, or refusing to accept, about the Real Jesus?

You say, "I don't know. Anyway, it has not been proven what the real Jesus is." I say take heart, let not your heart be troubled. Revelation 1:7 says "..he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him: and all they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."

You've Got to Believe to Make It Real.

Listen! There is such a thing as a leap of faith. It is the act of moving beyond the evidence and stepping right into a reality of which you have no factual verification. Hear me. You've got to believe to make it real!

When you drift to sleep at night, you just know in your heart that you will wake up the next morning. You plan on it. When you watch your children go off to school, you prepare for their return. Isn't that a leap of faith?

On this day, this glorious day when you read this sentence, know that neither you nor I, none of us have seen tomorrow, yet each of us believes that tomorrow will come.

Jesus will come. He will be the same then as he was then. He has given us evidence. Not just the scanty historical accounts; he has left irrefutable evidence of who he was and who he is, what he can and will do for us. His evidence is the inspired Word, related by over forty inspired men and compiled in the best of the best sellers of all time, The Holy Bible.

If you are yet waiting to exhale, then do so - now! — and take the leap! Change your way of thinking and address life as Jesus would have you address it.

You say people have already declared themselves to be him who descends from the sky. Did you see them descend? All eyes shall see him — not after, but when he comes.

A Lifetime of Good Reasons.

There's good reason to shout! There's good reason to believe that faith works. There's good reason to stand up and say "For God I live and for God I die!" There's good reason to put away childish things and see in maturity the reality of things as they really are.

We've got to change this system of living that keeps us separate and apart from one another, such as invidious class distinctions. Hey, we've got to make this world a better place for today and tomorrow. How? Make Jesus and his teachings the constant in your life.

Friends will change the way they see you. The political climate will shift like sand around and below you. Jesus, however, is the constant — if you believe.

When He comes for those who believe — and I'm not talking about spying behind Haley's Comet — when He comes for those who believe — and I'm not talking about drinking poisonous drinks to prepare for Him — and when He comes for those who BELIEVE, I want you and me to be in that number.

If you are in that number, you will hear and recognize His voice like a sheep recognizes the voice of the shepherd.

Don't be caught in a state of indecision, like the subject of that old and beloved Negro Spiritual "Trouble Don't Last Always."

When He comes, we will know what to do because we have allowed Him to instruct us. We will be lifted from this world to meet Him in the air!

Give God Some Praise!!!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Rev. Bingham
can be reached by E-mail at
jamesrbingham@juno.com.
His phone number in Memphis is
901.785.5691.