Was there a secret message in Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch?
For nearly 150 years, a rumor circulated about a secret message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. As rumor had it, the President’s watch was being repaired when suddenly the shop owner announced that the first shots of Civil War had been fired at Fort Sumpter. At that moment, a watchmaker by the name of Jonathan Dillon took the liberty to engrave a secret message inside the President’s watch before reassembling it and sending it back to Lincoln at the White House.
For years nothing was said about the secret message. The secret remained hidden in time, its existence unknown to everyone except its engraver. Not even the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who carried this watch around, had knowledge of the secret. In 1906, an 86-year-old Dillon tipped off the New York Times about the secret, but the New York Times was never able to verify the story.
For the next hundred plus years the secret became the source of speculation and rumor. Did the secret message exist? What was the secret? Was there some sort of conspiracy? What truth might the watch hold? But then a few weeks ago the Smithsonian Institute announced that it had made an interesting historical discovery. They had carefully removed the cover of Lincoln’s watch and exposed the secret that had been kept hidden for ages! http://www.shoppingblog.com/cgi-bin/sblog.pl?sblog=3110926 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,508624,00.html
The secret message read, "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try."
What a powerful secret, and what an incredible message of hope. The first gun is fired! Slavery is dead! Thank God we have a President with guts, with courage--who at least will try. Think of how this secret has transformed the lives of millions of people. This secret points to one of the greatest moments in the history of United States!
But saints, our secret is greater still!
Our secret is greater than the secret in Lincoln's pocket watch.
Listen to what Paul writes in Colossians 1:24-27 (NIV). "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is...."
I do wonder anymore if there is a secret worthy of our suffering as Christians. I wonder if there is a secret worth enduring pain and hardship and affliction for. I wonder if there is a secret worth becoming a servant of,worth devoting our lives to, risking persecution for, or worth telling people held captive to sin about.Is there a secret worth firing a shot over, worth dying for, or worth marching against the fortresses of Satan over? Is there a secret so great, so powerful, that it might cause us to stop being cowards and to rise up with courage andset men free foreverfrom the dominion of darkness in which they're held captive?
For what do you suffer and sacrifice?
When is the last time you suffered for anything? And was it for something that really mattered? When is the last time you truly sacrificed something of value? And was it for something that really mattered? "I don’t feel like getting up for church. I don’t feel like serving. I’m too busy, I’m too old, and it’s too inconvenient."
I’ll tell you what I see people sacrificing for these days— bigger homes, bigger cars, new clothes, greater vacations, more wealth, more fame, more recognition, sports leagues, college educations, and retirement. Do you think that these things are of greater consequence than our secret? The things of this world are passing before our very eyes, but not our secret!
I’ll tell you this. If you continue neglecting the priority of our secret, not only will you lose all the things I just mentioned, but those you love most (your children) may very well lose their souls for eternity. We must sacrifice everything to advance our secret. We must be willing to suffer, whatever the cost. You must be willing to suffer unless you feel that the secret is just as well kept hidden.
Part of our secret is Jesus Christ.
Our secret isn’t what you might suppose it to be. If you say that our secret is Jesus Christ, you would only be partially correct. But let’s talk for a moment about Jesus Christ. Abraham Lincoln has nothing on Jesus Christ!
Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV) describes Jesus."He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Translation: Jesus is the Son of God. He is God! Jesus is supreme over all creation. Not only did he create all things, but he is the one for whom all things were created. And Jesus reigns as sovereign king over everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. There is not a greater throne, no greater power, no greater ruler, or no greater authority than Jesus. And were Jesus Christ to withdraw from creation, it would destruct. He is our creator and sustainer.
Incidentally, when we deny Christ the authority to reign sovereign over our lives, as Lord, we too begin to destruct. We fall under the dominion of darkness. Death reigns in our flesh.
We’ve seen the arrogance of men, drunk with their power and authority, reigning from their seats of power in Washington, destroying our nation with their greed and arrogance. We've seen men promising better life, freedom, and a good life. Christ is greater than all men.
Christ is the head of the body, the Church.
Colossians 1:18-24 (NIV) continues, "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of a your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."
Colossians 1:12-14 (NIV) speaks of, "…Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,in whom we have redemption,the forgiveness of sins."
Christ took it upon himself to destroy the dominion of Satan, to rescue us from death, to re-establish his sovereignty in our hearts, to reconcile us to our Father in heaven, to redeem us from the brokenness of our sinful rebellion, to die on a cross, and to forgive us our sin. He fired the first shot.He conquered the grave. He reigns on high at the Father’s right hand. He is our righteousness. He has taken upon himself the curse for our sins.
No greater sacrifice has ever been madethan that of God sending his one and only Son into the world. God did this sothat whoeverwould believe in Jesus should not perish,but would have eternal life. If God’s grace in Christ doesn’t flood your soul with joy and change your life,understand that nothing else will!
We have a secret that is worthy of our sacrifice.
There is only one thing that I can think of that is greater than the supremacy of Jesus Christ. And this,my friends, isour secret. This isthe secret that has been kept hidden for ages, but that has now been revealed to the Saints— revealed to Christ’s church! This isa secret worthy of our sacrifice.
In Colossians 1:24-27 (NIV) Paul tells us,"Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
The only thing I can think of that is greater than the thought of God, that is greater than Jesus Christ himself, is that the sovereign Lord over all creation and the Savior of the world would take up residence in you and me. Our secret is that Christ is in you. Christ, thehope of glory, is living within you.
Our secret is that Christ is living within us!
Saints, do yourself a favor this afternoon and take a good long look in the mirror. Peer deep into your eyes. Look deep into your soul and consider our secret anew. Let it change you. Let it transform you. "Christ in you, the hope of glory!"
If I may, I would like to offer you a preview of coming attractions. Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV) says,"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Our secret is that Christ has so fully taken up residence in our lives that we can now proclaim, "Christ is my life! I no longer live, but Christ lives in me! He’s on the throne of my heart. He’s in the center of mind. He guides my every word and my every deed. He is the king of my life. I live to please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in knowledge of him, and being strengthened with his power. I am giving thanks to God!"
The one who rescued us, Christ, now dwells within us. It's no longer a secret.
The one who has rescued us now dwells within us. And it’s a secret no more. You know what Romans 8:10-11(NIV) says."If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV)says,"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Now I must ask, what are you going to do with this secret? You carry this secret around in your Bible every Sunday morning, assuming you bring a Bible to church. You quietly meet with other Christians behind closed church doors to discuss the secret, learn about the secret, sing about the secret, reenact the secret through communion, and reenact the secret through the death, burial, and resurrection that water baptism represents.
But now you must ask, has our secret been given the priority in your life that it deserves to be given? In the Civil War men laid down their lives and shed their blood to set men free for this life. Christ laid down his life and shed his blood to set men free for all eternity and give them the hope of glory.
What are you going to do with this secret? In Colossians 1:28-2:3 (NIV) Paul tells us what he did with the secret."We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Will you commit yourselves to this same purpose?