Dear Friends,
I have a sneaking suspicion that most of you will not be able to tell me the author of the following quotes! Perhaps you’ll be shocked and surprised.
- “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
- “Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.”
- “He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”
- “There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
- “He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas.”
- “Look before, or you’ll find yourself behind.”
- “Well done is better than well said.”
- “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.”
The quotes come from one of our “Founding Fathers” – Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was born in Boston and was raised in a devout Puritan home. His father, Josiah, was a member of Boston’s Old South Church who raised his son on the teachings of New England Calvinism. God was sovereign. Human beings were separated from God because of their sin. God, in his divine mercy, however, chose to offer salvation to humankind through the death and resurrection of his only son, Jesus Christ. Men and women were required to perform good works in the world, but any attempt in doing them without the aid of the Holy Spirit would be useless in the eyes of God.
Franklin believed that religion promoted virtuous behavior and that Jesus was the greatest moral teacher who ever lived but was not God. When Franklin was nearing the end of his life, Ezra Stiles, the president of Yale College, was curious about Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) and his faith. In 1790, just a few weeks before Franklin died, Stiles asked the nation’s senior statesman if he would commit his religious beliefs to paper. Franklin agreed.
“Here is my Creed,” Franklin wrote to Stiles. “I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him, is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this … As for Jesus of Nazareth … I think the system of Morals and Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw … but I have … some Doubts to his Divinity; though’ it is a Question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it is needless to busy myself with it now, where I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble.”
He does know now! You and I will know one day for sure as well. We are starting the 13th chapter of John this Sunday. Below is the 3rd verse.
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments: and taking a towel, He girded Himself.”
Jesus knew exactly who He was, and the demons absolutely believed in His deity. Only men and women created in the image of God doubt His claims to be the Son of God. Is it important to know where you stand with King Jesus? Friends, it is a matter of life and death.
Jesus knew that He was the Servant of Jehovah. He knew where He came from, where He was going and why He came in the first place. That is why He the Lord of glory could pick up a towel. How are you doing in terms of “foot washing” and making Christ known? Jesus left us an example that we should follow in His steps.
I hope to see you this coming Sunday and as usual I encourage you to invite someone. Who knows, they may surprise you. My title is, “The Shocking and Surprising Side of Jesus.”
By His grace and for His glory,
Glen