 |
|
| Volume 19 Number 9 September 2017 | Page 6 |
|
|
| Volume 19 Number 9 September 2017 | Page 6 |
Raymond Elliott
“In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1). The prophet Zechariah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, penned these words approximately five hundred years before the coming of Jesus Christ. Because of the immediate context containing prophecies regarding Jesus Christ before and during His crucifixion, we understand that this passage pertains to His death. In Zechariah 9:9, the writer mentioned that “Your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (NKJV). This was fulfilled according to Matthew 21:4-5. In Zechariah 12:10, we read, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” This prophecy was fulfilled according to John 19:37. Again, we find another prophecy regarding Christ in Zechariah 13:7, “…Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.” The fulfillment of this prophecy is recorded in Matthew 26:31.
The location of the “fountain” in Zechariah 13:1 was to be in Jerusalem. A fountain is a source of fresh water that gushes forth for thirsty souls. However this “fountain” refers to that which flowed from the side of our Savior while He hung on Calvary’s cross. It was a Roman soldier who “pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). His precious blood was shed “for sin and for uncleanness.” When Jesus instructed His disciples to drink of the cup, He said, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” In Romans 6:3-4, the apostle Paul explained that we come in contact with Christ’s blood that saves when we are “buried with Him through baptism.”
In 1772, William Cowper wrote the lyrics of the moving and beautiful hymn, “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” based on the words found in Zechariah 13:1. Here is the first stanza of the song:
There is a fountain filled with blood,Praise God for His immeasurable love!
There Is Only One Gospel
Sunny David
There is only one Taj Mahal in the whole world. People from all over the world come to India to see the Taj Mahal. How would you react if someone told you that he went to Japan to see the Taj Mahal?
The apostle Paul had the same reaction concerning the Gospel when he wrote to people in Galatia. He said, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-8).
Paul’s marveling was real and genuine because there is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ; there is only one way to be saved. Yet there, the Galatians were turning to a “different gospel.” Jesus Christ, the Author of the Gospel sent His disciples into all the world to preach the Gospel—not gospels (plural) as some erroneously refer to the first four books of the New Testament, saying, “the Gospels” (plural). The first four books of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—contain the message of the Gospel of Christ. They consist of four accounts of the same one Gospel. There is only one Gospel, not four gospels.
The Gospel of Christ consists of three important ingredients, which are: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). By the preaching, believing and obeying of this Gospel, the people at Corinth were saved from their sins.
The Gospel of Christ—not musical concerts or so-called healing services—is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Also, nowhere in the Bible do we read where people were told to pray the “sinners’ prayer” or to “accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior” to be saved from sins. Everywhere, in every instance, according to the teaching of the Bible, when people believed in Christ upon hearing of His Gospel, after they had repented or changed their hearts, they were baptized to be saved (Acts 2:37-38; Acts 8:12, 35-39; 16:31-33; 22:16).
Only by obedience to the Gospel of Christ one becomes a Christian, not by physical birth into a family where parents may be believers in Christ or by faith alone, but by the spiritual birth of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5). Let me illustrate the point. There may be those who are called Indians in America, but the “native American Indians” are actually not real Indians because they do not belong to the country of India by birth. They are not native or inhabitants of the subcontinent of India. By just calling ourselves something does not make it true. Many in the world today call themselves “Christians,” even though they have never obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ by which one becomes a Christian (Acts 26:28).
Christ, according to His promise as we read in Matthew 16:18, built His church, which is the body of saved people. He adds those who are saved by obeying His Gospel to His church (Acts 2:38, 41, 47). All members of the church of Christ are called Christians (Acts 11:26; 1 Peter 4:16). All Christians, therefore, are in the church that belongs to Christ. This also means that there are no Christians outside of the Christ’s church because the Lord never fails to add to His church or His spiritual family—His kingdom—those who are born into it (John 3:3-5; Colossians 1:13).