One of the most powerful causes of strong emotions is rejection. To be rejected is to be denied, refused or spurned. It is a very unpleasant experience to say the least. Our ideas can be rejected. Our love, our needs, our personalities, our appearance, our beliefs and even our work for God can be rejected.

“One man said that in thirty-five years of marriage, he and his wife had never spoken a cross word to each other. In his case I suspect that one of two things was true. Either he was not telling the truth or he had a bad memory. When two people marry, they become one flesh but not one mind. They will have their differences of opinion, but these are swallowed up in their love for each other and the God given order of the home.”

Isaiah 53 states that our Savior was “despised and rejected of men.” We see that even Perfection can be rejected! There was no room for Him in the Inn. No room for Him in the nation. No room for Him in the religious system. Isaiah continues He “was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. See the emotion there? In Hebrews 4:15, speaking of Christ, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Our Savior was rejected, but His emotional and physical response was without sin.

Rejection causes sorrow. Jesus was “rejected” and He was called “a man of sorrow”.

Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” In another text describing the same event, Luke 19:41 states, “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.”

We know the emotions that affect us when dealing with rejection. The important thing is to deal with rejection Scripturally.

• Your own rejection can cause you to reject others. To get even.
• To test and try people to see if they also will reject you.
• To push people to reject you. “See, I told you so!”
• To go to the crowd that accepts you even if it is sinful.

“He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with. What you are, that you are; neither by word can you be made greater than what you are in the sight of God.” ― Thomas a Kempis

Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

How do you know that? There are certainly many subjects which we all claim to have some knowledge of. Whether we learned information in school, private study, someone else’s input or just by experience, we have an answer to the question, “How do you know that?” Many times our answers don’t “jive” with someone else’s answers. It all depends on where we get our information. Wouldn’t it be great if someone would collect the answers to some of the mysteries of everyday life? Years ago, the staff of the Science and Technology Department at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh had been doing just that. Every year they received nearly 100,000 inquiries from the public on a variety of subjects. Armed with 395,000 books, 425,000 bound periodicals, and thousands of government reports, the department had developed a special file to answer questions quickly and reliably. Today we have Google!!! There are many questions whose answers are unimportant, but interesting. How often do we blink? How many hairs do we have on our head? Why do geese fly in a V formation? How much water is in an inch of snow? You get the idea!

Job 26:7 states, He…hangeth the earth upon nothing.” God the Creator suspended the earth in space without any visible means of support. Yet for centuries pagan people imagined that the world rested on the back of a huge turtle, or that it was carried on the shoulders of the god Atlas. Job 28:25 tells us that the atmosphere has weight. Science has now confirmed this fact. No one imagined that the winds moved by certain fixed laws, yet this is intimated in Ecclesiastes 1:6, “…the wind returneth again according to his circuits.” Hundreds of years before Christ, it was thought that there were only about two thousand stars in the dome of space. Centuries later, the total was computed at 400 million. Today, astronomers agree with Jeremiah who said the stars cannot be numbered. Jeremiah 33:22.

There are many answers posed to the question of Job: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” Science says, He may live again.” Philosophy says, “He hopes to live again.” Ethics says, “He ought to live again.” Atheism says, “He will never live again.” The Reincarnationist says, “When one dies, One’s body decomposes, but is reborn in another body. It is the belief that one has lived before and will live again in another body. The bodies one passes in and out of need not be human. One may have been a Doberman in a past life, and one may be a mite or a carrot in a future life. Some tribes avoid eating certain animals because they believe that the souls of their ancestors dwell in those animals. A man could even become his own daughter by dying before she is born and then entering her body at birth.” You’ve got to be kidding!

What does God say in His Word? I John 5:11-13, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Romans 3:4, “…let God be true, but every man a liar…”

Ecclesiastes 7:14 states, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other…” There are good days and there are bad days. Gill writes, “God hath set the one over against the other; they are both by His appointment, and are set in their proper place, and come in their proper time; succeed each other, and answer to one another, as day and night, summer and winter, and work, together for the good of men.” ADVERSITY: An event, or series of events, which oppose success or desire; misfortune, calamity; affliction; distress, state of unhappiness. Edersheim writes, “For God to explain a trial would be to destroy its purpose…calling forth simple faith and implicit obedience.” God could have kept Daniel out of the lion’s den…He could have kept Paul and Silas out of jail…He could have kept the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace…but God has never promised to keep us out of hard places…what He has promised is to go with us through every hard place, and to bring us through victoriously. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10. Here is a good prayer in times of trouble. David prayed in Psalm 57:1, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry—two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its aches and pains, its faults and blunders. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot erase a single word we said. The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s sun will either rise in splendor or behind a mask of clouds—but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn. That leaves only one day—today. Any man can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities—yesterday and tomorrow—that we are liable to break down.

Spiritual people with a spirit of meekness are needed for days of adversity. Comforted people with a spirit of thanksgiving and praise are needed for days of adversity. Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such and one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” II Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

Spurgeon writes, Take heart, then, thou afflicted Church, and faint not in the day of adversity, for God hath set over against it the day of prosperity, when thou shalt be built up with all the riches and treasures of His grace, and when thy mouth shall be filled with laughter, and thy tongue with singing; and then shalt thou say, “The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”

Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior and thank God for the promise of eternal life. Jesus said, “Because I live ye shall live also.” The Bible tells us in Titus 1:2, “God cannot lie.” Hebrews 6:18, “It was impossible for God to lie.” I John 2:25, “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “I believe the promises of God enough to venture eternity on them.” Colin Urquhart writes, “God is the God of promise. He keeps his word, even when that seems impossible; even when circumstances seem to point to the opposite.” Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie;…” The promise of wealth drives men. The promise of promotion moves men. The promise of a good deal sometimes deceives men. “The big print giveth and the small print taketh away.” A deal too good to be true is usually too good to be true. When Herbert Hoover ran for election as President of the United States at the height of the prosperity born in 1928, one of his campaign promises, expressed as a campaign slogan of the Republican party, was “A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage.” The following year, in 1929, came the Wall Street crash and the Great Depression, and one of the popular comments of the day was to wonder what happened to “A chicken in every pot.” Although its origin is largely forgotten today, the saying still serves as a reminder of the emptiness of campaign promises.

There are approximately 8,810 promises in the entire Bible. In the Old Testament there are 7,706 and in the New Testament there are 1,104 wonderful promises. Deuteronomy 28 has 133 promises, which is more than any other chapter in the Bible.

Standing on the promises of Christ my King Through eternal ages let his praises ring
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing Standing on the promises of God

Standing on the promises I now can see Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,   Standing on the promises of God

The promise of His first coming. The promise of His salvation. The promise of His keeping. The promise of His second coming. The promise of Heaven. Etc. etc. I John 2:25, “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Promise!

“BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO!”

The truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.
– John MacArthur

The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable His disciples to go in. “HE IS RISEN AS HE SAID!” Happy Easter!!

What are you excited about today? The Bible uses the terms “stir or stirred up”. To be stirred up is not to be apathetic or indifferent or lukewarm. It means to be involved, emotional and zealous. Obviously, we can be stirred up about things in a bad way or in a good way. I Kings 21:25, “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.” The wickedness was already in the heart of Ahab, but his wife certainly “stirred the pot”.

“Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” Proverbs 10:12. “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.” Proverbs 15;18. “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.” Proverbs 28:25. “An angry man stirreth up strife…” Proverbs 29:22.

Don’t let the devil stir you up. Let God stir you up!

It should be easy for a Christian to be stirred up about the things of God. Easter is right around the corner. When we realize the value, the privilege and the benefit of all that Christ has done for us we should “…lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” II Corinthians 5:14-15, “The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” Galatians 4:18 states, “But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing,…”

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.

Remember, it is hard to steer a parked car.

The biggest problem is not to add years to your life—but life to your years.

The fire of God in your heart will melt the lead in your feet.

BUT CATCHY LITTLE STATEMENTS WILL NOT GIVE YOU ZEAL!

“Zeal is the heat or tension of the affections; it is a holy warmth, whereby our love is drawn out to the utmost for God, and His glory.” George Swinnock.

“If it be true zeal, then tract of time, multitude of discouragements, falseness of those deserting the cause, strength of oppositions, will not tire out a man’s spiritual strength. Zeal makes men resolute, difficulties are but whetstones to their fortitude and steels men’s spirits with an undaunted resolution.” Abraham Wright.

“Oh, what a benefit to be eaten up with the love and zeal of a good thing!” Richard Greenham.

Few things can stir the heart and soul like singing out a familiar hymn with other believers. While there are many great worship songs written in the past several decades, the church has a rich tradition of singing hymns that should be preserved for future generations.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love.