God Is Our Refuge And Strength

Posted on December 11, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Alwin Kroon on Unsplash

Psalm 46:1-2 To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear ….

As I read through the Psalms, and even through the prayers of the patriarchs throughout our Bible, I am struck by the fact that no one starts out their prayers with, “God, I want”. Those old saints who knew best, knew that as humans we do not need more stuff. We also do not need more comfort. But we do need more of God.

The Most Successful And Blessed People
Are Those Who Want More Of God

Read through your Bibles. God met with Moses at the burning bush, commissioning him to go and tell Pharaoh “Let My People Go” (Exodus 3:1-10). God gave Moses the power to bring ten plagues upon Egypt. As Moses led Israel out of Egypt, God went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:22). God led Israel through the Red Sea (Exodus 14:13) as if on dry land. The Lord fed Israel manna, bread from heaven (Exodus 16:15). God told Moses to come up on Mount Sinai to receive His Law, written with God’s own hand (Exodus 31:18). After all these magnificent things, with even

Exodus 33:11 …. the Lord speaking to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend …

still Moses asked God

Exodus 33:18 … I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

Moses did not want more stuff. He wanted more of God, to know more of God. And consider King David of Israel. God called David when he was but a shepherd (Psalm 78:70). God blessed David with victory after victory. God enabled David to kill Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4), and later in life promised David that the Messiah would come from his lineage (2 Samuel 7:13). Having had blessing after blessing, David prayed:

Psalm 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

It is God that we need. Not just on Sunday, but every day. Not just when we are in a valley, but up on the mountaintop. We need God because we are so terribly weak. At least, I am. I need Him more every single day that He grants me life.

We Are All Weak, But God Is Strong

Many times when we read the Psalms, we neglect to read the “Headers”. This Psalm starts with this header:

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.

This song is “to the chief Musician for the sons of Korah”. The sons of Korah were singers among the Levites, what we might call worship leaders. Korah himself was Moses’ nephew. He led a rebellion against Moses, trying to take over leadership of Israel (Numbers 16:1ff). God initially wanted to destroy all of Israel for this rebellion, but Moses prayed, and asked for Grace for Israel. God told Israel to separate themselves from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Following this, God caused the earth to open up, and to swallow all those who stood in rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16:31-33). However, God did NOT kill the sons of Korah.

Numbers 26:11 Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.

God did not destroy the innocent with the guilty, but, as He has said,

Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Though their father behaved shamefully, the sons of Korah continued to sing to the glory of God. The musical note “A Song upon Alamoth”, according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary:

“{this is} a musical term (1 Chronicles 15:20), denoting that the Psalm which bears this inscription (Psalm 46:1-11) was to be sung by soprano or female voices.”

I suspect the Psalm was sung this way because, in ancient Israel, most choirs were entirely of men. By making the Psalm to be sung only by women it emphasized that power in life does not come from human strength. It is God’s power that gives us the ability to prevail. The Lord spoke through the Prophet in another place, saying:

Jeremiah 17:5-7 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the {bush} in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

The strongest person is not the person who can lift the most, or endure the most. The strongest person is the one who knows the Lord, and knows to run to the Lord when tried.

Psalm 46:1 God is our REFUGE and STRENGTH, a very present help in trouble.

God is our REFUGE, the Hebrew מַחֲסֶה machăçeh, (pronounced makh-as-eh’), our “Shelter, Refuge, Place of Security”. The same word is used in:

Psalm 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my REFUGE {machăçeh} is in God.

Psalm 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my TRUST {machăçeh} in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

Psalm 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my REFUGE {machăçeh} and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Just as a refuge was a fortress, a tower, or a place of high walls, our God is a fortress, a tower, and a place of high walls. Resting in Him we have blessing and hope. God saved Israel because He loved her. He cast down entire nations in Israel’s defense. Will not God protect you, dear Christians, having shed the Blood of His own dear Son for your salvation?

We may be tried, but we are not to fret, fear, and foolishly worry over what is to come. We are a delivered and cherished people!

The Scripture says that God has

Colossians 1:13-14 … delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins

God did the greatest thing He could do for us at the point of our salvation. He gave His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Having saved us, we are to remember that we are precious to Him. Jesus Christ is God the Father’s BELOVED SON, in Whom He is well pleased (2 Peter 1:17). As Jesus gave Himself for you, you are also Beloved of God for His sake.

Our power is in God. Our strength is in Jesus.
Sometimes we forget this.

In 1 Chronicles 21 we see what happens when we forget our strength is not in us, but in our God to Whom we run. The Bible tells us that:

1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

It was the devil that whispered, “Hath God really said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”. With that whisper came the fall of humanity into sin. Satan whispers in our ears, encouraging us to doubt God, or to inflate our own ego. David told his right hand man Joab:

Numbers 21:2 … Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

Joab knew what was in the heart of David. David began to think that all the battles he had won were because of his own prowess, or because his army was bigger than anyone else’s army. Joab warned David:

Numbers 21:3 The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

I wish I had had a Joab to stand up and warn me all the times that I thought it was about ME, instead of being about God IN me. A Joab is a good friend who warns us when pride comes. As the Bible says:

Proverbs 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

Because David forgot that the blessings he had were from God, the Lord punished Israel (1 Chronicles 21:14-15) by killing 70,000 men. Let us not follow in King David’s footsteps, at least, not in this pride. As God told Zerubbabel:

Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

When trials come in life, always remember “God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble”. Do not try to fix it before you run to God. Trust Him Who saved you. When Job, that dear old Saint, lost all that he had, he would not curse God and die as his evil wife suggested (Job 2:9). He ran to his Refuge and Strength, saying:

Job 1:21 Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Our God Is Never Far Away

Psalm 46:1-2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though King David messed up when he numbered Israel, his head was in the right place when he came upon Goliath. Israel was gathered together to do battle against Philistia at Shochoh, when the Philistines sent out their champion, Goliath. Goliath is described in 1 Samuel 17:4-7. The Bible tells us that the tip of his spear weighed 18 pounds. Goliath was about 9 feet tall – a giant of a man. He was powerful as well. His metal armor weighed 157 pounds.

As everyone else looked at Goliath and trembled, David looked at God Who was beside him and rested. When King Saul doubted David’s ability to defeat the giant, he said:

1 Samuel 17:37 … The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.

The Lord our God was near David when he was guarding the sheep at night. The God Who gave David the ability to stop the lion and the bear would surely saved David from a bear of a man! David trusted in God – and Goliath lost his head that very day. Beloved, our God is near.

Stop listening to the whispers of Satan. Stop believing his lies. If your heart is shriveled with fear, God cannot use you to change the world. Look at the God Who saved you – and believe that He saves you still!

When the Prophet Elijah stood before 450 false prophets, and all of Israel, he did not allow the numbers against him to influence what he believed. Elijah knew that God is near, and that God is able. He told the false prophets:

1 Kings 18:24 … call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

God is near. God is near! He is not asleep at the wheel, but has promised “ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5). Our Jesus has promised,

Matthew 28:20 …. lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

If God is with us – and He is – and God is greater than Anyone – and He is – then we need not fear.

Psalm 46:2-3 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. SELAH.

The Bible tells us not to fear. Some 365 times throughout Scripture we are told, “Fear Not”. When we fear, we are implying that God does not love us. But God does love us. The Apostle said:

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

When we fear, we forget the faithfulness of God. But our God is there. He is right in the middle of it all with us.

Do you see the word SELAH? The word means “REST”. When we are tried, we need to REALIZE our limitations, then RUN to the Lord Who loves us. Hiding in His love, we are to REST in His embrace. Trust God, trust the Lord Jesus in your trial. He will not forsake you.

Psalm 46:5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

God is with His people. He has promised this in so many different ways. Jesus told us:

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Someone once asked me, “Why do you go to Church?” My response is, “Because Jesus loves the Church. But also, because I need the fellowship of the others.” I just received a call from an unchurched family seeking “Christmas for her kids”. They have hit hard times. I receive calls like this frequently throughout the year, every year since I have been in ministry. People who have no concern for the Lord, and have been through valleys of despair.

Beloved, I need my Church family. I need others around me to remind me to look to Jesus when I am tried. I need the WE of the Scripture, the Church that Jesus so loves. The Apostle said:

Romans 8:31-39 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God is with us, if we are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

Psalm 46:7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. SELAH.

In verse 3 we saw a SELAH, or “Rest”. Now in verse 7 we see a SELAH, or a “Rest”. The “Lord of Hosts” is with us – the God Who made all things, Who controls the angelic hosts, He is with us. REST. Rest in Him. God ends the Psalm with these wonderful words:

Psalm 46:10-11 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

We are not to fear. We are to glorify our God, to exalt Him, to lift Him up. Run to Him. Rest in Him. But do not fear. Our God is able! May He touch your hearts with His Spirit and His Word. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Psalms, Sermons Preached | Tagged | 1 Comment

Why Call Him “Jesus”?

Posted on December 6, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Vaishakh pillai on Unsplash

Every year around this time we focus on the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. His birth is unique among the births of all other children from the beginning of time. The birth of Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to the devil in Genesis 3:15. The Lord promised the devil, that old serpent (Revelation 12:9; 20:2):

“I will make you, you old serpent, and the woman enemies. Your seed and the seed of the woman will be enemies. The seed of the woman will crush your head – and you shall bruise His heel.” (my paraphrase of Genesis 3:15)

This “Seed of the Woman” is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He Who was born of a virgin, fulfilling the prophecy of Scripture:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

As the Christmas story goes, a Jewish Carpenter named Joseph discovered his wife to be Mary was pregnant – and they had not yet come together to consummate their marriage. Joseph decided to put his wife away – to give her a bill of divorce – but to do it privately. He did not want Mary harmed. As Joseph dreamed that night the Angel Gabriel came to him, saying:

Matthew 1:20-25 But while {Joseph} thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

The Apostle Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 when he refers to the child that the virgin Mary is carrying. The Angel tells Joseph to name the coming Child “Jesus”. But then Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14, telling us that the virgin born Child would be named Immanuel. So why didn’t Joseph name Jesus, “Immanuel”? Is this a discrepancy in the Scripture? No, not at all.

The short answer to the question is “Jesus” is our Lord’s human name, but “Immanuel” is one of our Lord’s
Divine Names.

“Immanuel” Is Jesus’ Divine Name, But
“Jesus” Is Immanuel’s Human Name

In the Old Testament God describes Himself with a variety of names, each one meant to explain to us who and how God is.

Humans have only one name, though we may have nicknames by which we are known. God introduces Himself with many different names.

When God called Moses to follow Him, and to go to Pharaoh to present God’s demand, “Let My people go”, Moses asked God:

Genesis 3:13-14 … when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

God is “I AM”, always present, never ending. He has always existed, and will always exist. He is the Great and Eternal “I AM”. But this is not the only name God uses of Himself. God calls Himself:

  • ELOHIM (the Godhead): In the beginning ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)
  • YAHWEH ELOHIM (the Lord God): … in the day that the LORD GOD made heaven and earth (Genesis 2:4)
  • EL SHADDAY (God Almighty): The Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am EL SHADDAY (Genesis 17:1-2)
  • EL BETEL (the God of Bethel): … God said to me in a dream, Jacob … I am EL BETEL
  • YAHWEH MEKADDESH (the Lord Who Sanctifies): The Lord spoke to Moses … I am YAHWEH QADASH (Exodus 31:12-13)

I could continue on, but you see the point. God uses many different names for Himself to describe His power and authority to us.

The Bible also uses many different names for our
Messiah, Jesus Christ.

In addition to Immanuel (God with us), the Prophet said of Jesus:

  • As we studied this morning in Isaiah 9:6, “His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of peace. Isaiah gave not just Immanuel (God with us) as a Divine name for the Messiah, but four more names in this text. Each name describes the power and authority of our Lord Jesus.
  • When Gabriel went to the virgin Mary to tell her of her pregnancy and future child, he told her in Luke 1:31-32 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Messiah’s human name is JESUS, but His divine name here is SON OF THE HIGHEST.
  • The Prophet Jeremiah saw the Messiah as “a King Who reigns wisely”. He went on to say “and this is the name by which He will be called: The LORD is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6)
  • When John the Revelator introduces “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth”, Jesus then describes Himself in Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. He uses two names to Divine names to describe Himself to us.

“Jesus” is the human name that our Lord was given, but He has taken to Himself many other Divine Names, each describing an aspect of His power and authority. But this brings me to a second question:

What Is The Significance Of The Name “Jesus”?

God is quite specific on naming the baby “Jesus”. He told Joseph:

Matthew 1:21 … thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

And God tells Mary:

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Why is Jesus called “Jesus”? We are told by Gabriel as he speaks to Joseph:

“For He shall save His people from their sins”

The name “Jesus” is very interesting, because there is an Old Testament “Jesus” and a New Testament “Jesus”.

The name “Jesus” comes from the Greek Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûs, (pronounced ee-ay-sooce’). This would be the Gentile form of His Name. The same name in Hebrew would be יְהוֹשׁוּעַ Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ, (pronounced yeh-ho-shoo’-ah or the shortened form Yeshua), that is, Joshua (. For all intents and purposes “Jesus” is interchangeable with “Joshua”. To the Hebrew, Jesus would be “Joshua”. To the Gentile, Joshua would be “Jesus”. The names are paralleled. Now you understand why I said there is an Old Testament Jesus, and a New Testament Jesus.

Whether Joshua (Yeshua) or Jesus (Iēsous), the name means “Yahweh Is Salvation”

In the Old Testament God’s people were called Israel. To Israel came the Law.
When God sent Moses to Israel to secure their release, it was by faith Israel was saved. Israel had to do as God said, acting in faith, if they were to be blessed and released from bondage. The Blood of the Lamb was put on the entryway of their homes. By faith Israel killed the Lamb. By faith Israel marked their homes with Blood. It was the blood of the Lamb that saved Israel.

When Israel left Egypt, it was God’s intent to carry them through the Red Sea, through the Jordan, and into the land of Canaan. God had promised this land to Abraham and his descendants many years before:

Genesis 15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

The Land of Canaan did not belong to the pagan people known as the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaims, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, or the Jebusites. God owns the land – all the land, regardless as to what human documents may say. The Scripture declares,

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

God headed Israel toward the Promised Land – but Israel did not have faith in God. They allowed what was going on in the land around them to influence their faith. They did not look up to God. Even Moses failed God in faith. When the Israelis murmured against God at a place called Meribah, Moses asked God what to do. God told Moses:

Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

Moses was but to speak to the Rock. The Bible tells us “This Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). The Rock represented our Jesus Christ, resurrected from the Grave. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well:

John 4:14 … whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Our Lord Jesus gives Living Water – the Holy Spirit of God – to all who are thirsty. Jesus said:

John 7:38-39 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Moses was to but speak to the Rock, to speak to Jesus, and living water would flow! Yet Moses struck the Rock, disobeying God. Because of this God told Moses, “You will not enter the Promised Land”.

To Enter The Promised Land, Believer,
You Must Follow Yeshua

When Moses – who represented the Law of God – failed to enter the Promised Land, who was his replacement to lead God’s people? It was Yeshua – Joshua. God made promises to Yeshua. He said:

Joshua 1:2-5 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

God gave the Old Testament Joshua (Yeshua) a very simple rule for power and victory. Yeshua was told to go forth in faith, knowing by faith three things:

God will be with you,
God will not fail you,
God will not forsake you.

Israel was to follow the Old Testament Yeshua/ Joshua, as the Old Testament Yeshua/ Joshua followed God. God said, “Step out on faith – I am there for you. I will not fail you. I will not forsake you. Just follow Me”. Everywhere the Old Testament Yeshua/ Joshua went, there was victory. There was only one blemish on his record, and that was when sin came into the camp. In Joshua 7:1 God’s people took to themselves that which was forbidden – and the Israelis lost, terribly lost the battle of Ai. Once Joshua uncovered where the sin was, he eradicated the sin, and from that point on Israel was blessed. Every Jew knew the story of the Old Testament Joshua. The Old Testament Joshua/ Yeshua (Yahweh is our Savior) lived a wonderful life, and led Israel (God’s people) into victory after victory.

Joshua/ Yeshua was a national hero to Israel. Every school child learned of Joshua, and the greatness that Israel achieved under his leadership.

Sixty three years before Jesus became incarnate (in the flesh) through the virgin Mary, Jerusalem was put under siege by Roman General Pompey the Great. At the end of the siege Judea (Southern Israel) was incorporated into the Roman Empire. When Joseph discovered his wife Mary was with child, he and all of Israel had been in Roman bondage and occupation for 63+ years.

Imagine this: For your ENTIRE LIFE all you have known of Israel is that it is subjected to the Gentiles. You grew up hearing about Yeshua/ Joshua, and hearing about how Israel had once achieved greatness in Canaan because of faith in God. Joseph’s father Jacob told him all about Israel’s great past. Joseph’s grandfather Matthan told him all about Yeshua, and the wonderful days when Israel was great. Israel was great because Israel followed Yeshua/ Joshua as he followed God.

But now? Israel is under Roman Rule. It has been under Roman rule for 63 years. The Temple was not built by Israel, but was built by Herod, the puppet Governor of Jerusalem . It is a Gentile built and Gentile funded structure.

The days are darkest. Now Joseph discovers that his Mary is pregnant – and they have not even come together yet. Oh, how dark Joseph’s spirit had to be! Then Gabriel comes. In the blackest of night, the light of God shines brightly. Now listen to what the Angel says as if you were Joseph:

Matthew 1:20-25 … Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

What the New Testament, written in the Gentile language called “Greek”, we hear that the Baby to be born of Mary is JESUS. But what Joseph hears is in the Hebrew. God tells him, “You shall call His name YESHUA (Joshua): for He shall save His people from their sins”.

Imagine what Joseph is thinking. “Joshua – my Son is
going to be another Joshua!” This would hit him
like a ton of bricks!

Once You Understand The Significance Of The Name Of “Jesus/ Joshua”, You Understand More Of The Significance Of The Scripture

The Angel told Joseph:

Matthew 1:21 … thou shalt call his name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

Those who followed Joshua in the Old Testament were blessed. Those who stood against Joshua in the Old Testament were cursed. Those who follow Jesus, the New Testament Joshua, are blessed. Those who do not follow Jesus, the New Testament Joshua, are cursed. Our nation will never be blessed while we follow the ways of the “Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites”. We must follow Jesus, the New Testament Joshua. We must rest in Him.

To Be Blessed, You Must Follow Yeshua.
This Is Not Optional!

The Old Testament Joshua gave the people of God a limited blessing, a limited rest. Why? Because even though Joshua led Israel to successfully take the land of Canaan, Joshua could not change the hearts of the people. Joshua’s leadership – just like every politician that has ever existed – can only do so much with broken people. God must change the hearts. It was the hardened hearts of Israel that led them from victory to Roman captivity. It is the hardened heart of a people that keeps them from the blessings of God.

When Jesus began His ministry, and as God the Holy Spirit healed people through Jesus, excitement built up around Him. So many people saw Jesus – Yeshua – as another Joshua. They thought that Jesus came to lead them from Roman rule an into Israeli independence. In John 6, when Jesus fed above 5000 people with five barley loaves and 2 small fish (John 6:9), the Bible says:

John 6:14-15 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Yeshua – the New Testament Joshua – fed above 5000 people with very little provisions. He would make a great King. So the crowd thought they could force Him to be their King, and as a mighty King, Yeshua could free Israel from Roman bondage. They thought that Jesus could bring peace into Israel just as they were. Beloved, the problem of humanity is not the environment. It is the human heart. It is the heart enslaved to sin.

It is the heart enslaved to sin that led Israel away from God time and time again. Our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:

1 Timothy 6:13-16 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.

Our Jesus – Yeshua – is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There will come a day when He will rule on this earth. But Jesus did not come the first time to conquer our enemies. When Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You a King?”, Jesus said:

John 18:36-37 … My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Jesus Christ – Yeshua – was born into humanity to lead us from the devil’s lie, and into the truth and the Light of God our Savior. He came to save a people, that, whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus came preaching the Kingdom. The Old Testament Joshua led a broken people into a Promised Land. The New Testament people came to change hearts, to turn us from the darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 4. The Book of Hebrews is very interesting, because it shows how the Old Testament shadows are fulfilled in the New Testament Jesus. In Hebrews 4 the Author warns against doing what the Old Testament Jew did under Joshua’s leadership. God tells us:

Hebrews 4:8-12 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The word “Jesus” in verse 8 is a reference to the Old Testament Yeshua/ Joshua. Joshua could lead Israel to a temporary rest, a taking of the land of Canaan for a time. But after a time, Israel (God’s people), lost this rest because of sin in their hearts. They departed from God in their faith, and lost the blessings of Canaan. Israel lost the Promised Land because of sin. Yet the Hebrews text tells us,

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God

Israel’s bondage under Rome was because of Israel’s sin. But this does not mean that God has abandoned His people. Absolutely not! There remains a rest for the people of God. That “rest” is in the New Testament Joshua – Jesus Christ our Lord. We “rest” in His Word. We trust in His provision. We know that He has conquered the world, and do not fear. How do we attain this rest? The Bible says:

Hebrews 4:11 Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief

We LABOR to enter into THAT REST. We struggle against ourselves, forcing ourselves to dwell on what Jesus has said, to do as the Master has commanded. This is the REST we LABOR to go into – our REST in Jesus. It is often a struggle. Even among the saved, there is a struggle. The devil, through media, television, and Internet, tells us to forsake the way of the Master and to follow the popular path. Beloved I tell you,

Matthew 7:13 … wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

It was the “wide gate” of public opinion that caused Israel to lose the Promised Land. But, as Jesus said:

Matthew 7:14 … strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

How do we govern our lives? Where do we place our minds? We place them on the Word of God. We both HEAR and DO what our God has told us. We must get back to the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12 … the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword

God loves us, and wants only the best for us. If we will be victorious, let us give our hearts and minds to Jesus. Let us trust in what He said. Let us both HEAR and DO His good pleasure. This is the way to reclaim our land. This is the way we as God’s Church will lead America out of the horrid hole it has gotten itself into.

We need Jesus, and His Word, as Lord over our lives. Let us follow Him with all that we have. For Christ’s sake I pray. Amen and amen.

Posted in Christmas Sermons, Matthew, Sermons Preached | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Unto Us

Posted on December 6, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Turn with me to the Book of Isaiah, often called the Old Testament Gospel of Christ. If you’re looking for it, go to the middle of your Bible to Psalms, the Hebrew Hymnbook. From Psalms go to Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, ISAIAH. While you’re turning there, I want to talk about the state of our world in 2020.

If I remember 2020 for anything, it will not be for the Coronavirus (a world-wide pandemic), nor for who won or lost the Presidency. What will make 2020 stand out in my mind is the incredible divisiveness and pettiness that I have seen from all of America.

I am told a local Church near us had a “split” the other day over the wearing of “masks”. That’s foolish. How are you going to explain that to Jesus on judgment day? (And yes, even Christians will be judged).

People are fighting about masks. They are fighting about politics. They are tattling on one another at the bequest of the state. I have read of people turning in other people to law enforcement because they had “too many” over for a family Thanksgiving meal. The Bible teaches us that we are to love God and love our neighbor. The Apostle Paul settled an argument over what could and could not be eaten at a Church supper by saying:

“If what I eat offends my brother in Christ, I will eat no flesh while the world stands. I do not want to hurt my brother!”
(my paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 8:13)

The arguments and division do not come from God.
They come from the devil and the darkness.
It hurts my heart when I see us in such confusion!

1 Corinthians 14:33 God is NOT the Author of Confusion,
but of Peace

Where confusion is, God is not. The Prophet Daniel – the man responsible for training the Magi (Wise Men) who went out to find the baby Jesus – prayed a great prayer. In that prayer he told God:

Daniel 9:7-9 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day … 8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

Beloved, our Lord Jesus said “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25).

We need to re-center ourselves – to get back to Christ.
Our communities need Christ.
Our Churches need Christ.

I asked God what I should preach this week, and as I prayed the content of Isaiah 9:6 came to my heart:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Let’s break this down, and apply it to our hearts.

Unto US A Child Is Born

In the first thirteen words of our text, the phrase “unto US” is repeated twice. What is this season we call “Christmas” about? It is what God did for US. He did not do it just for the Jew, nor for just one nation. The Apostle said:

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

God came in to humanity as a Jew, a Jew born of a virgin. But God did not come into humanity as a Jew just for the Jews. God came into humanity for the Jews FIRST because God keeps His promises.

God keeps His promises!

God promised King David – a Jew – that the Messiah would come from his lineage. Why? Because one day David was praying, thanking God for all the things that the Lord had blessed him with.

Have YOU thanked God for that which He has blessed YOU with today?

As David thanked God, he realized that he had a fine home, a palace to live in with Bathsheba his wife. And yet God had no home to stay in. David got under conviction. He told Nathan the Prophet, “I have a nice home. But God’s Ark – that which represents His Throne – it’s housed in a tent!” Nathan told David, “Follow your heart, for God is with you” (2 Samuel 7:1-3). That night God sent Nathan back to David, telling him:

2 Samuel 7:5 Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

God never asked for a house. But He loved David for what was in his heart, and promised him:

2 Samuel 7:12-14 … I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son.

With those words God promised that He would send His Son through the line of David, a Jew. Jesus was born a Jew because David was a Jew, and God promised David an eternal Son and an eternal Throne. Unto us a child is born means that God will keep His promise to David. But Unto us a child is born does not mean that God just keeps His promises to the Jews. God keeps His promises to everyone.

We All Come From The Same Stock.

Before there were ever Jews, God made our first parents, Adam and Eve. God made Adam and Eve – the prototype human – after His image. The Bible says:

Genesis 1:27 … God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

This is God’s design. People ask me, “Were Adam and Eve white, black, red, or yellow?” And my reply is, YES! Adam and Eve had the ability – based upon Divine Design – to be any color, and any skin and hair type. God made humanity with skin cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes produce a pigment called MELANIN. As one source notes, “The difference in skin color between lightly and darkly pigmented individuals is due to their level of melanocyte activity; it is not due to the number of melanocytes in their skin”.

We do not know what color our first parents, Adam and Eve, were. We do know that God told Adam and Eve to multiply, and fill the earth. Man began disobeying God early on, and settled in the land of Shinar (Genesis 11:1-9). Because they would not voluntarily do as God commanded, God confounded their language, that they would not understand one another’s speech. This caused humanity to spread.

When we speak of human melanin and what we call “race” – God does not even use that word in the Bible. Not for people. I looked it up. The word “race” is found four times in the King James, and each time it is used for running, not for color. When the Apostle Paul preached the Gospel at Athens, he said “of our God …

Acts 17:24-26 … God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth

Racism is evil. Racism in any form is evil. The God Who, in love, made Adam and Eve in His image. We are all offspring of that prototype. We are all of one blood. Though our disobedience at Babel scattered us, we are all of one race. We are the HUMAN race. Unto US a child is born.

Jesus died for the US. He died for the white, the black, the red, the yellow. Jesus Christ – Eternal God – would become humanity so that He could redeem humanity. Beloved, we are all born into this life sinners, corrupted because of our first parents. The Apostle Paul, himself a Jew, said:

Romans 3:9-12 What then? are we {Jews} better than {the Gentiles}? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 as it is written, {here the Apostle quotes Psalm 53:1-3 & 14:1-3}There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Racism is foolish because it assumes a particular outward color of a person determines their standing with God. God says, NO! You ALL are far from Me.

Romans 3:23 All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

Romans 5:12 … by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned

It was Babel and the Divine Design of the human body that caused people to scatter, and colors to begin to change. Disobedience to God brought confusion and death over all the world. Yet God promised that “unto US a Child is born”.

The devil brought and brings division. God the Father sent His Son to bring us together. The Apostle Paul, addressing racist and godless tendencies in the Church at Corinth, said:

2 Corinthians 5:14-19 the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 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. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:

I have read this text many times, but only today has it jumped out like a cobra after a meal! Christ Jesus – that Child born in Bethlehem – died for ALL. He did not die just for people like me, but for ALL people. Once you grasp that, the Apostle says, you are NOT to live for yourself, but for HIM Who died for all. That person you see, whether they be like you or not, Jesus Christ died for him. The Apostle said, and I paraphrase him:

“Because Jesus died for ALL, we who are Christians know no one AFTER THE FLESH”.

The color of a person should mean nothing at all to the right minded Christian. God loved that person of whatever color enough to shed His Son’s blood for him, as well as for you and I. The Apostle goes on to say:

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

What matters – or should matter – to the Church of Christ is whether or not a person is IN CHRIST – not what color of skin that person has. Unto US a Child is born.

Unto US A Son Is Given

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given …

The Child was BORN, but the SON was GIVEN. The Son of God was never born, but He Himself is eternal God, ever living, never ceasing. The Apostle John said of the Son of God:

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus Christ – the Eternal Word of God – WAS GOD. He was in the beginning with God. How much so? The Apostle says, ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM. Jesus Christ is Creator God. We are told in:

Colossians 1:15-17 {Jesus Christ} is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

It was Jesus Christ Who walked in the Garden of Eden. It was Jesus Christ Who formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and Eve from Adam’s rib. It was Jesus Christ Who walked in Eden that horrible day that Adam ate that which was forbidden. It was Jesus Christ Who cried out, “Adam, where are you?” It was Jesus Christ Who told the serpent of his future destruction, saying:

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

It is Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, who was GIVEN to cover the sins of all who will receive Him. It is this Jesus of Whom we are told:

Hebrews 1:1-6 God … 2 hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by {Jesus} also {God} made the worlds; 3 {Jesus} being the brightness of {God’s} glory, and the express image of {God’s} person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 … 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

When the Child was born, the Angel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

This was God keeping His promise, the one made to the serpent in Genesis 3:15. Isaiah foretold this “seed of the woman” by saying:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name {God with us}.

God would come to be with us through Mary. The Son of God is eternal, and has always been. But the Child born of that virgin Mary, God incarnate, is the Child born. The Son was given so that He might redeem His fallen world, the world hijacked by satan. But the Child was born to show the love that God has for every person. The Child was born so that God Himself could intervene in the confusion, and bring us back to Himself.

When the Son of God was born through Mary, He was born as the Son of Man to make payment for our sins. Born a Jew, He died for all. The horror of racism is that it covers up the great love and truth of the Gospel. God’s Son humbled Himself.

Jesus humbled Himself in Bethlehem, being born in a manger.
Jesus humbled Himself in family, being raised in Nazareth.
Jesus humbled Himself as He walked the earth. He had no home.
Just as God has no house, Jesus refused to buy property.
He wanted to save a people to Himself.
The Son of God humbled Himself to the Cross.

Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When we receive the Son of God as Lord and Savior, we ourselves become children of God, all equal in standing. Though receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will not change my skin color, it should change how I regard other people’s skin color. Though receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will not change my Divinely Designed sexuality, it should change how I regard the opposite sex. The Apostle declared:

Galatians 3:26-29 ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior gives us power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John 1:12). There are no second class citizens in the Heaven that our God occupies. There are no second class Christians in the Kingdom of God. All people have value, a value not derived by skin color, but by faith in Jesus.

Jesus Christ came into the world to tear down the walls that people build around themselves because of sin and racism.

Ephesians 2:14 … {Jesus} is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

By being born and going to Calvary, Jesus tore down the barriers between us and God, and between us and others. We who are saved are to be “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Born again by faith in Christ, the Christian views the world with different eyes. All that we see have the potential to be son of God. All.

The Government Shall Be Upon His Shoulder

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

When a person is saved, that person receives Jesus not only as SAVIOR, but also as LORD. “The government shall be upon His shoulder”. Jesus is my King. Jesus is my Lord. Do not believe that you can be saved by faith in a half- Jesus. A half- Jesus will not save a whole, broken you. We are told in:

Hebrews 3:6 Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

When Jesus walked the earth, He had no house, He was as God in the Old Testament. He ascended unto Heaven, but has a house now upon this earth. That “house” is you, dear Christian. Christ is in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). A.W. Tozer wrote in his devotional:

“No Christian believer should ever forget what the Bible says about the Person and the offices of the eternal Son, the Christ of God. “God hath made this same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Jesus means Savior; Lord means Sovereign; Christ means Anointed One. The apostle Peter did not proclaim Jesus only as Savior; he preached to them Jesus as Lord and Christ and Savior, never dividing His Person or His offices. Remember, also, the declaration of Paul: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved.” Three times in the passage to the Roman Christians telling how to be saved, Paul calls Jesus “Lord.” He says that faith in the Lord Jesus plus confession of that faith to the world brings salvation to us!”

The government is on His shoulders. Let me ask you:

Have you been hurt by racism, thoughtless people, ungodly actions?

Turn it over to Jesus!

After noting that the government is on His shoulder (Jesus is in charge of His people), this Child Born and Son Given is given FOUR titles:

Wonderful Counselor (there is no comma in the Hebrew)
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace

FOUR is the number of REST in the Bible. The fourth commandment is to remember a day of rest. Have you been hurt by racism, favoritism, meanness? Tell it to Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor. Share the burden with Him Who loves you so. Do not seek vengeance – seek to be like a Child of God. Jesus was hurt by ungodly people, and yet turned the other cheek. Jesus commands us:

Matthew 5:44-45 I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Have you been denigrated? Devalued? Share the hurt with your Jesus. Give it to the Mighty God that He is. Let God fight your battles – you live for Him. You need not avenge yourselves. Hasn’t Jesus promised:

Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Do good to those who do bad to you. Overcome evil not with more evil. Fire does not fight fire, but makes the blaze larger. I was often curious about the “heaping burning coals of fire on the enemy’s head” statement. In ancient times people used small, portable stoves to cook their meals. When the coals went out, they would carry the stove to a friends house, usually carrying the stove on their heads. A friend would given them a “heaping portion” of lit coals to carry home on their heads.

Do good, Beloved, when evil is done to you.

Let us live for Him Who gave so much for us. If you have seen Christ, you have seen the Everlasting Father. If you possess Christ, then you possess the Prince of Peace. Let us not play the devil’s game, burning our families, our communities, our churches, and our country down. If you have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, every day is another day headed home. If you do not know Him as Lord and Savior, He bids you come to Him today. He came for you! Will you go with our Jesus? May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit this very day. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas Sermons, Isaiah, Sermons Preached | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jesus Is The Christ

Posted on December 4, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash

What we call “The Christmas Story”, the conception and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, is only found in two books of the New Testament. It is found in the Gospel of Matthew, a Jewish Tax Collector who became an Apostle of Jesus Christ. More of the Christmas Story is found in the Gospel of Luke, a “beloved Gentile Physician” (Colossians 4:14) who was a companion of the Apostle Paul. We’ll talk about Luke’s account this coming Sunday night at Riverview. So turn with me in your Bible to Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew – a Levite – makes three claims about Jesus

  • First, Matthew says “Jesus is the Christ”, the Messiah that God promised to send to mankind in the Old Testament. “Christ”, the Greek Christos, is not Jesus’ last name, but His function. Later on in the Book of Matthew as Jesus enters the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, He asks His disciples,

Matthew 16:13 Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

Cæsarea Philippi was a well known seat of idolatry. The other disciples gave a variety of answers as to the popular concept of who Jesus was. It was Peter who declared:

Matthew 16:16 … Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus affirmed that Peter had spoken truly – that He is, indeed, THE Christ. Jesus is the Messiah promised. When Jesus stood before the High Priest just before His crucifixion, the Priest demanded:

Matthew 26:63 … I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus told the High Priest “You said it yourself” (Matthew 26:63). The High Priest tore his clothing, saying, “This Man has spoken blasphemy”. The Jews knew that when the Messiah came, that He would be “God with us”, the Christ. Jesus is the One and Only Messiah, promised of God throughout the Old Testament.

  • Matthew also declared Jesus to be “the Son of David”. If Jesus is the Christ, then He MUST be the Son of David. God made a promise to King David in:

2 Samuel 7:12-14 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son.

Messiah would come from the House of David. God promised this would happen in what we call the “Davidic Covenant”. David was to have a Son sit on his throne that would rule forever. When Jacob lay dying, he told Judah:

Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

“Shiloh” literally means “Him Who Is Sent”. Judah was to rule Israel (David was of the Tribe of Judah) until “Him Who Was Sent” – the Messiah – came. Throughout His ministry Jesus declared that He was the One sent as Messiah. He said in:

Luke 10:16 … he that despiseth Me despiseth Him {God} that sent me.

Mark 9:37 … whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

John 13:20 … he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

John 5:23 … He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

John 5:30 … I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Jesus is the Christ, the Shiloh that Jacob foresaw. He is the Messiah sent for us all, if we would but receive Him.

  • Jesus is also the Son of Abraham. Why is this important? It is because God promised Abraham:

Genesis 12:1-3 … Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God told Abraham that “in thee shall ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH be blessed. The Messiah was not just coming to save the Jews. Jesus was coming to save whosoever will believe in Him. God prophesied of the Coming Messiah:

Isaiah 42:1,4 -7 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. … 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee,and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7 to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

To prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David and Son of Abraham, Mark gives a genealogy of our Lord Jesus. When we read the genealogies in Scripture, I must confess, I often get sleepy. Yet Matthew quotes this genealogy to prove to Jesus meets the criteria of the Messiah. He starts Christ’s lineage in …

Matthew 1:2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren …

The genealogy continues unbroken to verse 6, where we read:

Matthew 1:6 and Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah;

Matthew’s lineage of our Lord Jesus begins at Abraham, continues through David, and ends with:

Matthew 1:16 and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Jesus is “called Christ”, designated the Messiah. His lineage traced through Joseph His stepfather qualifies Him to be the Messiah.

Joseph Was The Stepfather Of Jesus,
But Not His Father

Matthew 1:18 … Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise…

Word Study The word translated “birth” is the Greek γέννησις génnēsis, (pronounced ghen’-nay-sis). Yes, it means “birth”, but I find it interesting that the word sounds so much like Genesis. It is in the Book of Genesis that we see the creation of the world and the universe. We see the creation of mankind. We see Adam’s sin against God, and the loss of Eden. Throughout the Book of Genesis we see a list of people, some who did good, others who did badly. When you look at the Genealogy of Jesus presented by Matthew, every person mentioned is flawed. The Messiah did not come from a sinless line of people.

  • In verse 3 we see Tamar. Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law, who became pregnant by Judah (see Genesis 38).
  • In verse 5 we see Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who hid the spies from the Canaanites when Israel entered Canaan (see Joshua 2:13; 6:17-25).
  • In verse 5 we see Ruth, a Moabitess (see Ruth 1). The Moabites were forbidden to enter the congregation of Israel (see Deuteronomy 23:2). Ruth, however, became a believer in the Lord – and became part of the lineage of Jesus.
  • In verse 6 we see David, not as King but as adulterer and murderer. He killed Uriah so that he could have Bathsheba, his wife.
  • In verse 10 we see Hezekiah, one of the five godly Kings of Israel. His son Manasseh would be the most evil king in all of Israel’s history (see 2 Kings 21:2-7)
  • In verse 13 we see Zerubbabel, the godly leader of the Jews in the second return from the Babylonian exile (see Ezra 1-6). When we come to Zerubbabel’s son Abiud, as well as his descendants to Joseph’s father Jacob are not mentioned anywhere else in the Scripture. They are obscure.

The genealogy is marked by sinful, fallible, broken, and unknown people. This is why the Messiah had to come into the world. From Adam’s sin until the coming of Christ mankind is marked by brokenness. Raymond E. Brown in his book An Introduction to the New Testament notes that the genealogy of Jesus is in three sets of fourteen:

Matthew 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Brown notes that:

The first fourteen names are Patriarchs
The second fourteen names are Kings
The third fourteen names are Unknown or Obscure ancestors

Jesus’ Genesis Was Not Like Yours And Mine

The Messiah – though His lineage would be traced back to Abraham through Joseph – would not be Joseph’s child. He would be God’s Child. Read with me:

Matthew 1:18 -19 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

The GENESIS of Jesus the Messiah would be different than any other birth. Throughout the lineage of Jesus children were conceived as they were always conceived, born as they were always born. All of these people – regardless as to whether they were Patriarchs, Princes, or Prostitutes – were all fallen people. They were all sinners. Even the best of them fell short of the glory of God. The Bible tells us that:

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Adam’s sin caused not just himself, but all of his progeny (that’s us) to fall into sin. We are born physically alive into this world, but spiritually dead. The Apostle tells us that:

Romans 5:12, 15 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: … 15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

The Christ came into this world differently than any other man had ever been born. Through man sin entered the world. Man passed sin to his progeny. God foretold the coming of the Messiah Who would break this cycle of death. The Messiah had to be a man – just as Scripture prophesied – but He had to be a man different from any other Man.

Joseph was “BETROTHED” to Mary. This was a legally binding Jewish custom. The period of betrothal lasted around a year prior to the full sexual consummation of the marriage. Joseph had paid the dowry expected of Mary’s parents, and both he and Mary entered into what we today would call an “engagement” period. Joseph had yet to consummate the marriage. Why the delay? Perhaps because he was preparing a place for his bride. I do not know, but know that both were to stay chaste during the betrothal. In Verse 18 we are told:

before they came together, {Mary} was found
with child of the Holy Ghost

God promised the serpent, that old Devil (see Revelation 12:9), in the Garden of Eden that his destruction would come of the seed of the woman:

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

I am not a biology whiz, but even I know that women do not carry seed. Women bear eggs – men bear seed. The man joins with the woman, and impregnates her by sowing his seed on her egg. This is the way God made us to reproduce. But God told that old devil, the serpent “your head will be crushed by the seed of the woman”. This was the first prophecy of the Coming Messiah, the promise that He would come into the world differently from any other man before Him. The Messiah would be virgin born. Jesus Christ is the “Seed of the Woman” spoken of.

When Joseph found Mary to be pregnant, knowing that he himself was NOT the father (for he obeyed the covenant of marriage), he was put in a predicament. Had he accused Mary of infidelity before the High Priest, Mary would have stoned to death. The Law declared:

Deuteronomy 22:20-21 … if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: 21 then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

Joseph was “a just man”. He wasn’t sinless – none of us but Jesus are. But he decided to “put Mary away privately”. Joseph went home to sleep on the matter. I can imagine him tossing and turning that night. Yet the Bible tells us:

Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

The phrase “Angel of the Lord” appears 64 times in the Bible. Who is this “Angel”? In the Gospel of Luke, Zacharias is praying and fulfilling his priestly duties when

Luke 1:11 … there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

This angel goes on to tell Zacharias:

Luke 1:19 … I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

I suspect that this Angel of the Lord Who appeared to Joseph is the same Arch-Angel that appeared to Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father. Gabriel tells Joseph

Matthew 1:20 … fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost

The Messiah, our Jesus, is different than any other human born. When the Angel Gabriel goes to tell Mary about her pregnancy, Gabriel describes it this way:

Luke 1:35 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Word Study The fetal Jesus is described as a “Holy Thing” in the King James. This is the Greek ἅγιος hágios, {pronounced hag’-ee-os}, which means holy, consecrated, morally blameless. The Holy Spirit Who causes Mary’s pregnancy is called hágios pneuma. The word hágios is used of God. Our God is holy, holy, holy:

Isaiah 6:3 {the angels cry} Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Revelation 4:8 {the angels rest not by day nor night, but cry out} Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

That Child that Mary is carrying is holy, pure, without the stain of sin that afflicts us all. Jesus Christ is the second Adam. The first Adam, made of the dust of the ground, was made and named by God.

Genesis 5:2 male and female created {God} them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

The father usually named the children. In the case of Jesus, Joseph will not name the Child. Joseph is not the father, but the stepfather, the surrogate parent. He is a good man, and a wonderful caretaker for his family. But he is not the father of Christ. God is the Father of the humanity of Christ. Gabriel relays to Joseph what he has been commanded:

Matthew 1:21 And {Mary} shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Why “Jesus”? What Is The Significance Of His Name?

Why was “Jesus” named “Jesus”? What is the significance of His name? We have a clue in our focal text. Gabriel said:

Matthew 1:21 … thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins

Word Study The name “Jesus” in the Greek text is Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûs, (pronounced ee-ay-sooce’), which means “Yahweh is salvation”. The same name in the Hebrew – the native tongue of the Jew – isיְהוֹשׁוּעַ Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ, {pronounced yeh-ho-shoo’-ah}, which also means “Yahweh is salvation”. When Israel entered into the Promised Land of Canaan, it was Joshua the Son of Nun who led them:

Joshua 1:1-3 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

Moses died prior to entering the Promised Land because of sin in his life. Joshua (the Hebrew Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ, {pronounced yeh-ho-shoo’-ah}) led the Old Testament Israel into the Promised Land. The New Testament Joshua – Jesus – will lead His people into the Promised Land. This Jesus would be born to lead the New Covenant believer in power into the land of promise. Heaven is our home, and earth our pilgrimage. We belong to God because of Christ.

“Thou shalt call His Name Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ” is what Joseph heard. And Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ – God our Savior – shall save His people from their sins. The Christmas Story begins with a promise from God. The Messiah – Jesus Christ our Lord – will save all who believe on Him from their sins. When God prophesied of the coming Messiah He told Israel:

Psalms 130:7-8 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

This Child, this Messiah did not come just to cover our sins, but to save us from our sins. This Jesus …

Titus 2:14 … Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Jesus came to take broken humanity, to take us from that broken state and bring us into union with God. The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Jesus is the satisfactory covering for our sins (1 John 2:1-2). He was manifested – brought into humanity through Mary – to take away our sins (1 John 3:5). To those who come unto Jesus the Christ they are to be new creatures in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This Christmas, as you see the decorative lights often displayed in and around the homes, let us remember that God became Man so that He might bring Man to God. This baby that Mary is carrying will grow up to “wash us from our sins in His own Blood. He has made us who believe in Him kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 1:5-6).

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, Beloved, call upon Him this very day. Whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved. Amen and Amen!

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Salvation Is Of The Lord!

Posted on November 30, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Milan Seitler on Unsplash

Many people today that profess to be “Christian” do not believe what their Bible says. Liberalism and Leftism has infiltrated the Church of Jesus Christ, teaching that this grand old Book is just a figment of a human’s imagination.

The devil’s trifecta, Darwinian Evolution, Critical Race Theory and Gender Fluidity has replaced the Biblical account of Adam and Eve and Divine Design.

People are afraid to proclaim that God made anything. People are accidents of nature, and life is cheap. To have a guaranteed full Church and a fat check, do not preach this Bible as God’s Book.

Beloved, I still believe the Book. I have to believe the Book, because Jesus believed the Book. Jesus said …

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and {these Scriptures} testify of me.

When Jesus said this the New Testament had not yet been written. The “Scriptures” our Lord is speaking of is what we call “The Old Testament”. Jesus said that the Old Testament focused on two things: eternal life, and Jesus Himself. “The Scriptures testify of Me”. All of the Bible points to Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The Scriptures point to His love, His foretelling, His virgin birth, His earthly ministry, His horrible death on Calvary, His resurrection from the grave on the third day, His Church, and His second Coming. The Bible is about Jesus. Jesus would not have commanded us to “search the Scriptures” if He did not believe it to be true. Jesus extensively quoted the Old Testament while He walked on this earth. The Church proper is:

Ephesians 2:20 … built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

The APOSTLES wrote the New Testament, the PROPHETS the Old Testament. The CORNERSTONE of both Books is Jesus Christ.

It is not surprising that, when Jesus spoke of His impending death, burial, and resurrection, He would reference the Old Testament. One of His references was Jonah.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:39-40 An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Word Study Modern people look at our Lord’s statement with doubt. Many have said, “There is no way a WHALE swallowed Jonah”.

I agree!

What the King James translates as “whale” is actually the Greek κῆτος κοιλία kētos koilía, (pronounced kay’-tos koy-lee’-ah), which means “the belly of a huge fish”. The Septuagint (according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) says “Matthew 12:40, from Jonah 2:1 where the Septuagint, κήτει μεγάλῳ for גָּדול דַּג.”. Jesus said it was a “the belly of a great fish”. This is exactly what the Book of Jonah tells us. Turn with me to

Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The Hebrew tells us that Jonah was in theמֵעֶה me`ah דָּג dag (pronounced may-aw’ dawg), in the belly of a great fish. How is this possible that a man can live in the belly of a great fish three days and nights? It is because God engineered the man, and God engineered the fish. God made both for a specific purpose, and God can do anything He wants to do.

Our God is a miracle making God.

I do not find the great fish incredulous. The God Who hung the stars in space can make a great fish that can swallow a man. Jesus believed it, and tied the story of Jonah to His death and burial. What amazes me is that God can use broken things – like Jonah, you, and I – to do His magnificent good!

Our Lord Loves Our Broken World,
And Sends The Broken Saved Out To Save It

Jonah 1:1-2 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

The Bible tells us “the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai”. Don’t gloss over any of this. God chose Jonah to go to Ninevah for Him, to proclaim the Gospel. Why did God choose Jonah? The text tells us that

Jonah was the son of Amittai, the prophet.

This is repeated in 2 Kings 14:25-27. Amittai was a prophet, and Jonah was a Preacher’s kid. Jonah grew up under the preaching of his father. He is like so many that tell me “I’ve been going to Church my whole life”. Jonah knew the heart of God. Jonah knew that God loves people. After all, people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). And the Bible tells us that,

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God wants people to repent, to turn from following the false gods and goddesses, and to follow Him. God made us to follow Him. God tells Jonah to GO – this an Imperative – a command – “GO to Ninevah, the capital city of Assyria”. What is he to do?

vs 2 cry against it; for their wickedness is come up
before me

God is going to destroy Nineveh if the people do not repent. God destroyed the world by flood because of wickedness:

Genesis 6:5-7 … God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of wickedness:

Genesis 18:20-21 the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

God will destroy Nineveh because of wickedness. Jonah, you go out and CRY AGAINST IT. Do not justify it’s darkness. Tell them I love them, but they must repent!

As God speaks to Jonah, He speaks to the Church today. “Arise …. Go …. Cry Against“. These are Imperatives in the Hebrew text – they are not suggestions but are commands. Destruction is coming, but it can be averted. The nation must repent. They must stop, and heed God. You, like Jonah, stand in a place of the intercessor. A loving God will do what He does not want to do. If the cancer is not averted, the world will perish. Jonah, go right now. Tell them to repent. Don’t entertain them – tell them.

How did Jonah respond? He ran away. Jonah thought by running that he could get away from the Presence of the Lord. You cannot hide from God!

Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Psalm 139 “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Why? There were several reasons. When God came to Jonah, the Commentary Critical & Explanatory on the Whole Bible states:

“this prophecy of Jonah was given at a time when Israel was at the lowest point of depression, when “there was not any shut up or left,” that is, confined or left at large, none to act as a helper for Israel”

Assyria was the enemy of Israel, and
Nineveh the capital city of the enemy.

So many Christians today want to take the “Benedictine Option”, to wall up themselves as if a monastery, to hide from the world. Yet this is not an option. If you are saved by faith in Christ, you are to LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS. Jesus commanded:

Matthew 5:44-45 I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Our Lord loves people. But when a people drift too far from Him, His love for the world will lead Him to destroy that which is cancerous, that He might save the whole. Jonah ran. Too many believers today run. No, you cannot run. There is no option to run!

If you run, God will find you. If you run, destruction will come upon you. Jonah must stand!

Jonah 1:4-7 … the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the ship-master came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

Proverbs 16:33 tells us “The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord”. Jonah, you cannot hide. You must stand with Jesus.

Jonah 1:8-10 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? 9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Jonah was honest, and I believe at heart a decent man. He just did not want to heed the Lord. But the Lord gave him no option to disobey. God does not expect you to be perfect, dear Christian, but He does expect you to be obedient. Jonah asked the men to throw him overboard. He was ready to die for his convictions.

But Jonah would not die, because Jesus had something He wanted Jonah to do!

Jonah 1:15-17 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jesus was ready with the Great Fish! Did you read that? “The Lord HAD PREPARED a great fish to swallow up Jonah”. When God gives you something to do, there are two great truths that follow:

  • God will prepare the way so that you can do what He said.
  • You WILL do what God said!

The Belly Of The Fish Is A Blessing
If It Leads You To Walk With Jesus

When Jonah was called to go to Nineveh, he ran. He did not pray. He did not seek God’s direction. He ran in the opposite direction. But now, Jonah is in the Belly of Hell! He is in a bad spot because of disobedience. But this trial is a blessing, for it causes him to pray.

Jonah 2:1-9 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly, 2 and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

Do you know why – many times – we find ourselves in the belly of hell? It is because we did not do as Jesus said. God uses trials as a mother who loves her child uses a switch. Jonah now prays “out of the belly of hell”. This is a great fish, the BELLY of a great fish. Stomach acids are churning around him. As a fisherman, I have enjoyed the smell of dead fish before. Imagine being locked up with that smell! Jonah prays. He said:

vs 2 I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me

As Jonah prays, he is actually quoting scripture. His words are from …

Psalms 120:1 … In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

Jonah prayed the Scripture back to God. Jonah quotes Psalm 18:4-6; Psalm 116:3-4, 18; Psalm 31:6; and Psalm 116:18. As a son of God Jonah prayed the Word of God back to it’s Author.

The exhale of prayer is most sweet when it is based on the daily inhale of the Word of God!

Jonah stopped running. Jonah repents. He promised the Lord that he would “pay that I have vowed”. If you are a child of God you owe Him allegiance. Jonah also is given a great truth, a truth that he ends his prayer with.

“Salvation Is Of The Lord Jesus”

Jonah 2:9 … Salvation is of the Lord.

It is our Lord Jesus Who makes salvation possible. It is the Holy Spirit of God that must move the heart. It is the Kingdom of the Father that our Lord strives to fill. Salvation is of the Lord!

Jonah 3:1-4 … the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Thank God for second chances! God gave Jonah a second chance. He tells Jonah, preach unto Nineveh the preaching that I bid thee. Jonah, you go and be My representative. You go and tell them what I tell you. Jonah is not responsible for the results. Jonah is just to share the message that God gives him. His words?

Jonah 3:4 …Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

This is no feel good, soothing message, but God’s Word often isn’t. It was a simple message, delivered by a reluctant messenger. Yet it is God Who changes people. God takes the text, and moves the heart with it.

This sermon that Jonah preaches would have earned a FAIL in seminary or Bible college.

Here we see the miracle of the Book of Jonah. The miracle is not the big fish swallowing Jonah. The miracle is not that Jonah survived the swallowing of the great fish. The miracle is God moving the hearts of people. God, through Jonah’s simple message, worked in the hearts of the people. The Scripture says:

Jonah 3:5-10 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

What would happen in our fallen country if as Christians we began to share Jesus – not our political party but JESUS – with others. Wouldn’t that be a blessing? Wouldn’t God move the hearts of Americans?

Beloved, The Hope Of The Nation Is Jesus Christ

In chapter one Jonah ran from God lest Nineveh be saved.

In chapter two Jonah ran to God in prayer, gaining release from the great fish.

In chapter three Jonah ran for God, telling Nineveh what God said.

But now in chapter four Jonah is upset with God.

Jonah 4:1-4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?

How foolish this is! If you are saved, you ought to want others to experience the joy of salvation. What hatred it is to withhold Divine Salvation from any person! The Apostle said:

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

The Bible says that “Jesus died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

The Bible says that “Jesus tasted death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).

The Bible says that “Jesus is the satisfactory payment for sin” (1 John 2:2). The Bible says that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16).

The Bible says Jesus “gave Himself a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:3-6).

The heart right with God rejoices when others are saved. Jonah is foolish! God illustrates Joshua’s foolishness with a gourd. He causes a gourd to grow up to shade Jonah – then allows the gourd to be killed by a worm. When Jonah is angry over this the Lord tells him:

Jonah 4:10-11 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

God wanted to save Nineveh because there were 120,000 children in that place (a child does not know their right hand from their left). God did not want to destroy the nation. When you do not witness, dear Christian, but instead focus on the gourds of life, you miss the bigger picture. That man that you do not tell about Jesus will not only die in his sins and go to hell, but his children may remain lost as well. That woman that you do not share Christ with may never be saved. If she is not saved, what of her children? What of the children? Let us not run from what God has called us to do, but to stand up for Him. The world needs Jesus. Everyone needs Jesus.

Let’s share Jesus with others as we enjoy the gift of life. Let’s tell them that Jesus Christ loves them so much, that He descended into the belly of hell for us. Oh what a great love this is! Oh, what a great love!

If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I beg you, come to Him believing this very day. Only by faith in Christ can anyone be saved. Oh Lord, bless this message to the saving and revival of our nation. Amen and Amen!

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Three Witnesses For God

Posted on November 30, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Romans 1:16-22 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools …

Word Study Several times in our focal text tonight the Apostle uses the word “FOR”, the Greek conjunction γάρ gar. We see the word in verses 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20. The conjunction gar is used by the Apostle as if he were a Lawyer defending God in a courtroom, presenting evidence to the jury. You can render the word “for”, though in a judicial context you could use it’s stronger definition of “truly therefore” or “verily, as the case stands”.

Ancient Rome had and prescribed worship of many gods and goddesses. To name just a few, they had Jupiter (aka Zeus), the King of the gods; Juno (aka Hera), the queen of the gods; Minerva (aka Athena), goddess of wisdom and arts; Neptune (aka Poseidon), god of the sea; Venus (aka Aphrodite), the goddess of love; Mars (aka Ares), the god of war; Apollo, the god of light and music … I could continue on and on. Rome was a melting pot, just as is America. As people were conquered and brought into the Roman Empire, they were allowed to bring their gods and goddesses with them.

In Rome, just as in America today, there were “gods many, and lords many” (1 Corinthians 8:5). As the Apostle opened his letter to Rome (America), he wanted the Church at Rome to know that it had to resist and stand against all other gods and goddesses – that there is only One God, the God of Scripture. There is only One Messiah, Jesus Christ.

God warned His Old Covenant Church, Israel, against idolatry. God told His people:

Jeremiah 10:1, 3-5 Learn not the way of the heathen …. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

The false gods and goddesses are but man made idols. They are fashioned by craftsmen, and shaped by imagination. These idols are “upright like a palm tree”, but cannot speak nor move. “They cannot do evil, nor can they do good”. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 115:3-8 … our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6 they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

The idols look like gods or goddesses, but are nothing but a figment of man’s (and woman’s) imagination. People might ask, “What’s the harm in following the false god or goddess, the idol?” The Psalmist says:

“They that make {idols} are like unto {idols}”

When you make and worship an idol, you waste your time, and your life. The idol has no power to stand with you in hard times. The idol has no power to lead you through the valleys. The most honest idolater I ever heard of was the mythical Conan the Barbarian, who believed in the god Crom, a god who did absolutely nothing for his followers. The God of the Bible is not imaginary, but real. He has left three witnesses that the Apostle focuses on for the Romans.

God Is Real, And Has Placed His First Witness
In Our Own Personal Creation

The Bible teaches us that God has made us in His image and in His likeness:

1 Corinthians 11:7 … a man indeed … is the image and glory of God:

Genesis 1:26-27 God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion… 27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them …

Every person is made in the image of God. We were created to love by a loving and eternal God. We are His workmanship. The Prophet said:

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

We did not make God. God made us. He is the First Cause of all life. As our Maker, He has left His fingerprints on us. Our focal text states:

Romans 1:18-19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

“That which may be KNOWN of God is MANIFEST (or REVEALED) in them”. God has left His mark on our souls. Every person, from the time they reach an age where they can reason, knows that there is a God, a Creator of all that we see. God has given us all an internal witness that we are created beings. That internal witness is what we call “the conscience”. Every person is born with a conscience. We are born intuitively knowing what is right, and what is wrong. A child, playing with other children in the sandbox, intuitively knows it is wrong when another child comes up and takes his toy. Why? Because the knowledge that theft is wrong is imparted to the conscience of a person by the loving God Who created us.

The conscience – our sense of right and wrong – can be hardened or over-ridden. We see evidence of this in American life, and the loss of morality in our nation. What has largely caused this hardening and confusion of the conscience? Technology. Mass media. There was a day when Americans knew, by their conscience, what was right and what was wrong. It was wrong to steal, wrong to kill, wrong to sexually abuse someone. But television has hardened our conscience. We have seen so much bloody and sexually charged television that we no longer blush. Gone are the days when television hinted at what went on in the bedroom. Now all is opened up to see. What is the problem with this?

When people no longer blush, but have hardened their conscience to where right is wrong and wrong is right, then that nation is not far from destruction.

When God caused Israel to fall under the armed might of ancient Assyria, they stayed in captivity for 70 years. When God allowed Ezra to lead Israel back home to Jerusalem, the people, rather than learning from their suffering, returned to following the old gods and goddesses of Canaan. When Ezra heard this, the Bible says of Ezra:

Ezra 9:3-10 when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonished. 4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat {astonished} until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, 6 and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. 7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments …

I wish I had time to preach all of this beautiful prayer that Ezra said, but I cannot right now. There are so many other things that God has placed upon my heart. I do want to note that Ezra used the word BLUSH in his prayer to God (see verse 6). The word BLUSH is only found three times in Scripture. Once in Ezra’s prayer – and twice in Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

Both verses in Jeremiah are nearly identical. God tells His nation that – because they have hardened their hearts, and calloused their conscience so much that they NO LONGER BLUSH AT ABOMINATIONS, that God shall cause the nation to fall. Beloved, when Rome fell, it did not fall because it was destroyed from without. Rome fell because it was destroyed from within. It fell because immorality and abomination increased. The people no longer blushed. That is what God warns of in our focal text. Read it with me again:

Romans 1:18-19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

People know what is right and wrong. Yet they have ignored their conscience, and hardened their hearts to do that which God has said is destructive. Oh, that God would raise up national leaders who would return our nation to it’s moral foundation! God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel on written tablets because they had so far drifted from Biblical morality while in Egyptian captivity. Yet these commandments are actually written in our hearts from our creation. We know what is right and what is wrong, but have allowed peer pressure and mass media to infiltrate our souls, hardening us to the right and wrong.

We need to turn off the television and computer, and put away the social media. We need to open the Bible, and return to the God Who lovingly made us.

The early Church wrestled with the false prophets and false gods. The Apostle prescribed to the Pastor Titus to resist the false gods and their narratives, and any who might bring false beliefs into the body of Christ:

Titus 1:13-15 … rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; 14 not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

No one is blessed when we harden our conscience against God (see 1 Timothy 4:1-2). What each citizen does will eventually determine the state of our nation. We must seek out the God Who lovingly made us. He has said:

Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early, shall find Me

Creation Itself Is A Witness That A Loving God IS

The Apostle speaks of the CONSCIENCE of a person testifying to the Biblical God, and now speaks of CREATION as a witness to our God.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Word Study The invisible God Who is, is clearly seen from the creation of the world. For those who will look at creation, it is impossible not to understand that there must be a Chief Architect, a Chief Creator of all that we see. I like the King James phrase “by the things that are made”. This phrase is actually just one word in the Greek, the word ποίημα poíēma, {pronounced poy’-ay-mah}. Poíēma means “the workmanship of”.

The creation you see around you is no random act of chance – the interaction and balance of nature is so precise that it cannot be accidental, but architectural.

Mark Yakich, a professor of creative writing at Loyola University New Orleans, and editor of the New Orleans Review notes:

“ {the word} ‘Poem’ comes from the Greek poíēma, meaning a “thing made,” and a poet is defined in ancient terms as ‘a maker of things.’”

The Apostle uses the word poíēma – or “poem” – to describe the creation that is around us, and of which we are a part. In a poem words work together to bring out a grand idea. In creation, all of creation works together to bring out a grand idea. What is this idea? It is that a loving God made us. We are not accidents, not even what the late Bob Ross would have called “happy accidents”.

The creation you see around you was deliberately made by a Loving God, the God of the Scripture. When we look at creation, we often see horrible things that cloak the poem that God originally wrote. You see, when God made Adam and Eve, He placed them in a perfect Paradise. The weather was so perfect that they had no need even of clothing. Food hung in abundance from trees and vines. This was the poem God originally wrote. But man decided to put his hand to the pen. The Bible tells us that:

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Adam was given the authority – along with Eve – to dominate the earth for God. Adam chose instead to follow the serpent’s (the devil’s) lead. A loving pen created the poem of creation. Man got hold of the pen, and marred the picture. Our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln said:

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”

Man often brings damage to the ruin of God’s poem. It is God Who creates life, Who gives the mother the joy and responsibility of bringing forth that wonderful creation we call “baby”. The Psalmist, when looking at his own body, said:

Psalm 139:13-14 For Thou {O Lord}, {have created my innermost parts}: Thou hast {wove} me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

I could point to many fascinating things in nature that are surely the works of God – from honey bee to humming bird to a huge elephant. Yet nothing is as fascinating as the human creation. Did you know that:

  • The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime. Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.
  • In one square inch of skin there are 65 hairs, 9.5 million cells, 19 yards of blood vessels, 650 sweat glands, 78 yards of nerves with 19.5 thousand sensory cells at the ends of the nerve fibers.
  • Even the simplest human action – a smile or a frown – are very complex. You use around 43 muscles to frown, but only 17 muscles to smile.
  • Have you ever noticed your eyelids will shut when you sneeze? Try to keep your eyes on the road when you’re driving and sneeze. It’s impossible.
  • The human body is fascinating. In his book “Where Is God When It Hurts?” (page 15), Dr. Philip Yancey wrote: “The fingertip … can detect a mere 3 grams of pressure, but not until that pressure exceeds 300 grams will I be able to feel pain there! Why? … Fingertips must be incredibly sensitive to the slightest differences in touch.”

Evolutionary theory has been pushed through mass media and houses of education all around the world. Macro-evolution has been taught for years as settled science. Macro-evolution (not micro-evolution) teaches that mankind evolved from some primordial soup billions of years ago, through numerous stages, such as from cell, to fish, to land creature, to ape, to man. In the article “A World-famous Chemist Tells The Truth: There’s No Scientist Alive Today Who Understands Macro-evolution” we read:

“Professor James M. Tour is one of the ten most cited chemists in the world. … He has authored or co-authored 489 scientific publications and his name is on 36 patents. Although he does not regard himself as an Intelligent Design theorist, Professor Tour, along with over 700 other scientists, took the courageous step back in 2001 of signing the Discovery Institute’s “A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism”, which read: “We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”

God’s response to those who question His creation of all that we see is very simple. He says:

Job 38:4-6 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

I do not doubt the sincerity of the scientists who declare Darwinism to be true. But you can be sincere, and yet wrong. Creation is very clearly not an accident, but an intentional action by a loving Creator.

We have looked at the Conscience and Creation as witnesses to God. Creation and conscience are marred because of sin, because of mankind’s interference with God’s “Poem”.

The Clear & Final Witness Of God Is Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Man can harden his conscience against God. The sin that is in nature because of Adam often gives a distorted view of the Creator. But there is One Clear Witness to the reality of God, and that Witness is Jesus Christ our Lord. God the Father sent His Son into this world for a specific reason.

John 3:16-17 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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Jesus Christ came into the world – eternal God become perfect Man – to bring us to the God Who made us all. The Bible declares:

Galatians 4:4-5 but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

God sent His Son into the world to bring us to His side. He wants to restore us to what we lost through Adam. Jesus Christ came to make us right in the eyes of God. The blessed Scripture says:

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

God gave His Son as His Witness – and His Messiah. When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, believing that He is the Messiah that we must receive as Lord of our lives, then we come into union with the God Who is, the God Who created us. The Apostle says:

1 John 5:9-12 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

God made us in His image to walk with Him, to be with Him daily, hourly. Oh Beloved, what joy there is when a soul comes to God by faith in Christ! Life begins to make sense when Jesus Christ comes into your life. In our focal text the Apostle said clearly:

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

When a person surrenders his or her life to Jesus, believing in Him for salvation, then God enters the framework of your daily life. Salvation is all of faith in Jesus Christ. Believe that He gave Himself for you, and bids you to come to Him this very day. The thief comes to kill and steal and destroy. Jesus Christ came so that we might have life, and have life more abundantly (John 10:10).

May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen.

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You’re Only Valuable When You’re Where You’re Supposed To Be

Posted on November 28, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash

I want to start this sermon tonight with a title God has put on my heart. The title explains the sermon, and the teaching you’ll hear and, I hope, respond to. The title of this sermon is:

You’re Only Valuable When You’re Where You’re Supposed To Be

Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 15. When you study the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), it is helpful to have a Gospel Parallel. You can usually find them online. The Gospel Parallel will show what is in each Gospel compared to the other Gospels. For instance, in Luke 15 my Gospel Parallel shows me that – of the three parables Jesus uses in Luke – only one of these parables is found in the other Gospels. This is the Parable of the Lost Sheep. The Parable of the Lost Sheep is found in Matthew 18:12-14 and in our text of Luke 15:4-7. But Matthew doesn’t tell us WHY Jesus spoke the parable. Luke does. In Matthew Jesus introduces the parable this way:

Matthew 18:11-14 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

But Luke adds more to this event. Are you at Luke 15 yet? Read with me:

Luke 15:1-2 Then drew near unto {Jesus} all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

Luke tells us that what caused Jesus to give the parable of the lost sheep was the murmuring complaint of the Pharisees and Scribes. Their complaint was simple. They were saying:

“Jesus, You’re not where You’re supposed to be”

This was a problem throughout Christ’s ministry on the earth. When Jesus came into this world, Eternal God become mortal but Perfect Man – as the Angel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 … The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

The Eternal Son of God would step into the creation He made. He would do so because this is where Jesus was suppose to be.

Satan would move King Herod to kill Jesus at the very start by “killing all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). Yet Herod would fail in his evil plot. Why? Because an angel would warn Joseph to take his family to Egypt, and stay there until told to return (Matthew 2:13-15).

Joseph moved his family to Egypt just as God said.

Joseph was where he was supposed to be.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth. At one point Mary and Joseph, joining a caravan, took the young Jesus to Jerusalem for a holy feast. At the end of the feast the caravan returned to Nazareth. It was then that Joseph and Mary realized Jesus was not with them. Hurriedly going back to Jerusalem they found Jesus in the Temple, teaching the Biblical Scholars the Law of God. When Mary chastised Jesus, the twelve year old replied:

Luke 2:49 … How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

Jesus was where He was supposed to be.

When Jesus started His ministry at the age of 30 years old, He went to John the Baptist to be baptized in water. John initially refused to baptize Jesus, saying:

Matthew 3:14 … I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

Jesus replied simply, “{Do it now}: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Jesus was where He was supposed to be.

Now Jesus is ministering, and the publicans and sinners DRAW NEAR to HIM.

Jesus is where He is suppose to be.

The publicans (tax collectors) are where they are suppose to be.

The sinners are where they are suppose to be.

Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Jesus came to save the lost. The best place for lost people is to draw near to Jesus. Everyone needs Jesus. We need to draw near to Jesus. The best place to be is near Jesus.

But the Pharisees are murmuring, complaining. The Scribes are murmuring, complaining. Have you ever noticed that those who think themselves something and others as nothing are never where they are suppose to be. The Scribes and Pharisees are in a dangerous place. Self righteousness and a superior self esteem will always lead you AWAY from Christ instead of NEAR Him. The Bible says:

Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

The Bible tells us that, in God’s eyes, all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Everyone needs to draw near to Jesus. Yet self righteousness pushes us away, to a place we ought not be. God said of the self righteous:

Isaiah 65:5 These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.

They are not where they are supposed to be. We need Jesus.

The Sheep Apart From The Shepherd Has No Value

Luke 15:3-7 And {Jesus} spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

The place for the sheep to be is near the Shepherd. A sheep has no value if it is in the wrong place. A sheep has no natural defenses. It can only graze, and grow wool. By itself it has no value whatsoever. Yet God made every person with the potential for value. The Bible tells us that God made us all in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 9:6). You all were made in the image of God. You were not made gods, but like God. God made you like Him so that you could draw near to Him, to be with Him. The Publicans and Sinners drew near to Jesus, and listened to what He had to say. The Scribes and Pharisee, though in the same room, pushed Jesus away and would not hear His words.

The sheep without the Shepherd has no value.

The sheep cannot shear itself.

The sheep cannot protect itself.

The sheep needs the Shepherd. When it cries, the Shepherd comes to it.

The Shepherd brings the sheep into the fold where there is blessing & safety.

As Jesus speaks this parable, He notices that the Pharisees and Scribes just don’t get it. They are busy comparing themselves against the “sinners” and “publicans”. They are wondering why Jesus would spend time with those people rather than be with them. God cannot help those who refuse to draw near to Christ. Oh, how God loves you and I! The Scripture commends us:

Hebrews 10:18-23 Now where {God’s} remission of {sins} is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest {place} by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 and having an high priest over the house of God; 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised😉

Oh, that every person would realize you’re only valuable when you’re where you’re supposed to be. You, dear lamb, belong in the arms of Jesus! But the Pharisees and Scribes would not hear, so Jesus told another parable – one only found in Luke:

The Coin Apart From The Consumer Has No Value

Luke 15:8-10 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

A woman has ten pieces of silver. Each piece has value, but only when it is in the hand of the woman. A lost coin is worth absolutely nothing of itself. When the woman loses the coin, she begins to seek for it. God seeks for us. When Adam and Eve fell away from God in the Garden of Eden the Bible says:

Genesis 3:7-9 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Adam was given a command and a commission, but wandered away from both. Bringing sin into their lives I find it interesting that …

God did not hide Himself from Adam and his wife. Adam and his wife hid themselves from God.

They were not where they were supposed to be. Adam was made to walk with God. Eve was made to walk with God. They were made in God’s image. But now – like the coin – they hide themselves from where they are suppose to be. They try to fix themselves with fig leaves. Beloved, we cannot fix ourselves. The place we belong is in the Master’s hand!

Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost coin, the lost soul (Luke 19:10). God does not want any to perish, but wants all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He wants us to draw near to Jesus. Yet so many hide themselves from God. They believe themselves to be perfectly fine without God or His Church. So they draw away from God, just like the Pharisees and Scribes did. And they never find their value.

The Son Apart From The Father Has No Value

Still the Pharisees and Scribes do not get it. So now Jesus tells a final parable, a parable in two parts. Let’s look at part 1:

Luke 15:11-24 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

The first part of the parable deals with the younger son. The younger son comes to the Father and says:

Luke 15:12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me..

What the younger son is asking for is his inheritance. Now an inheritance is not usually given until the parents die. What the young man is doing is telling his Father, “I wish you were dead”. He didn’t want to wait for his blessing. But I want you to notice that the Father does not argue with His son. Without a harsh word or the slightest rebuke we read:

Luke 15:12 {the Father} divided unto THEM his living.

The Father did not just give the younger son his inheritance, but also gave the older son his inheritance. In the ancient world the firstborn child was given a double portion (see Deuteronomy 21:17). The younger son was given a third of the estate, whereas the older was given the double portion.

This is so much like God our Father. The Bible speaks of God’s Grace in two ways: His SAVING grace, and His COMMON grace. Common grace is what the Father gives to everyone, regardless as to whether they honor Him or not. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:45 … your Father which is in heaven … maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

God our Father gives good and blessings to all on this earth – even if He is not acknowledged, and even if He is cursed. This is because God has made a covenant with the earth:

Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

God gives blessing to all, because He wants all to be where they are supposed to be – near Jesus.

In the Ligonier Ministries Devotional entitled “Providence and Common Grace”, we read:

“{Common} grace is what leaves all people without an excuse. No one can stand before the Lord on the last day and claim that they do not owe Him thanks, for God has given even the basest sinner the gift of life. That human beings made in His image ignore and reject Him even after being shown common grace shows us just how desperate our condition is apart from His special grace.”

The Father gives the younger a single portion, but the older a double portion. Why? Because when we stay close to Jesus, we are where we are suppose to be. We are doubly blessed!

The younger son takes his inheritance, and begins to squander all that he has.

Luke 15:13-16 … the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

When we are not where we need to be, our lives fall into ruin. So many people have drifted away from God, squandering the talents and the blessings that God gave them. When I think of people like the late Michael Jackson, Robin Williams, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley … I could name many more … who wandered far away from where they were suppose to be. Given great talent and abilities by God our Father they squandered what they had. Sadly, unlike the younger son in this story, they ended their journey on this earth in a bad place. It breaks my heart, but it more importantly, breaks the heart of God.

The young son, suffering in famine, and slaving in a miserable job that paid very little, finally came to himself.

Luke 15:17-19 … when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Do you see what is different in this parable compared to the other two?

The Shepherd went to find the lost sheep.
The woman went to find the lost coin.

But the son must return to where he is supposed to be.

The child must go home.

The child realized his error. “I am no more worthy to be called Your son”. He has no value apart from his Father. He has lost everything – but is now in the best place he could be.

If God allows you to get into a desperate place, then praise God for it! If you realize that you’re only valuable when you are where you are supposed to be, then you will live life to the fullest. So many of you are in the wrong place. Like King David with Bathsheba, you are on a crash course. You must repent, and run to the arms of the Father.

Part 1 of the story has a happy ending. We read:

Luke 15:20-24 {The younger son} arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

What a beautiful ending! Had the story ended here, we would be greatly blessed. The younger son came back to his Father, and the Father decreed a celebration. As Jesus said earlier,

Luke 15:7 … joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth …

The younger son repented. He has value once more, for he is where he is suppose to be. But the story doesn’t end at this point. Jesus looks up, and sees that the Pharisees and Scribes still do not get it. It is because of the hardness of their hearts that Jesus does not pronounce “the end” at this point. Jesus now addresses the older son, the one who stayed with His Father.

Luke 15:25-28 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.

The elder son was given the double portion of the inheritance. He came home, and heard music and dancing. Now, if you came home to your house and heard “music and dancing”, wouldn’t you go where the noise was and find out what was going on? But the older son didn’t do this. Why? Because he thought what made him valuable was HIMSELF. The older son is like the Pharisees and the Scribes. He stayed home with his Father. He kept working in the fields, maintaining His Father’s estate, because it ultimately would be HIS estate.

How DARE THEY have a party without ME?
Doesn’t the Father know HOW VALUABLE I AM?

Beloved, when we are where we are supposed to be, we will not be what the scripture calls “high minded”. The Kingdom of God does not stand because of me. The Kingdom of God stands because of God my Father. I have worth, and you have worth, but only when we draw both physically and spiritually close to Jesus. The Apostle warns:

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

What we have, we have of God. The mind we have, we have of God. The Bible warns us:

Proverbs 16:18-19 Pride goeth before destruction, and an {lifted up} spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

The sheep is only valuable under the eye of the Shepherd. The coin is only valuable in the hand of the Master. The son is only valuable under the embrace of the Father. When we walk apart from God through licentious liberality or self righteous conservatism, we are in the wrong place.

You only have value when you are where you are supposed to be!

Luke 15:29-32 {the older son} said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The older son robbed himself of the blessings of the fatted calf. If you are where you are supposed to be – in the presence of God in Christ – every day should be a celebration of life! No matter what valley we may go through, if we stay where we are supposed to be, then life is good. For the Christian who is indeed a Christian, each day is not a day spent of life. No! Each day is another step toward glory. Each day is another opportunity to walk alongside Jesus Christ, to be empowered in life through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus would later tell the Pharisees:

Luke 17:20-21 … The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The Pharisees and Scribes are, like the older son, living in the home of the Father, but their hearts are far from Him. Though they stayed in the Temple, they were just as far away from God as was the younger son before he came home.

Beloved, where is your heart? Are you where you are suppose to be? If not, today would be a great day to get there. Little sheep, cry out to God until the Great Shepherd comes. Little coin, if you feel the Master’s hand, go with Him. Your value is in His hand, not hidden. Lost son, the Father awaits you to return to His side. There is joy only in the Family of God. The Psalmist rightly said:

Psalm 16:7-11 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: … 8 I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:

my flesh also shall rest in hope. … 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:

in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Do not be like the Scribes and Pharisees. Draw near to Jesus. You’re only valuable when you’re where you are supposed to be. Amen and Amen!

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Jesus Is Known In The Breaking Of Bread (A Communion Message)

Posted on November 23, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

On the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Luke 24, the blessed physician tells us what happened “on the first day, very early in the morning” (Luke 24:1), on the third day following Jesus’ death and burial. The women did not find the soldiers who were guarding the Tomb of Jesus – they were not there. The women found “the stone rolled away from the grave” (Luke 24:2). Two shining Witnesses at the Tomb speak to the women:

Luke 24:5-7 Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

Luke tells us that the women run back to where the disciples are, and tell them what the Witnesses said. Then we come to verse 13.

Two Witnesses told the women to tell the disciples that Jesus was risen from the grave. But two other witnesses to our Lord’s death – they do not believe what they hear. So they head back to their home in Emmaus. Let’s read:

Luke 24:13-14 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

Unbelief Blinds Us To Jesus

These two do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. We know this before we read any farther. In a moment one of the two, Cleopas, will tell us that he and his companion heard the testimony of the women who came from the empty tomb (see verse 23). Had Cleopas and his companion believed the testimony of the women, had they believed that Jesus was risen from the grave, they nonetheless would have lingered in Jerusalem. But they do not linger. The Passover has ended. They are going home.

Luke 24:15-16 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

As Cleopas and his companion head the threescore (60) furlongs – about a seven mile journey back to Emmaus, Jesus joins them on the journey. Yet the Bible says in verse 16,

their eyes were holden that they should not know him

Word Study The word translated “HOLDEN” is the Greek κρατέω kratéō, {pronounced krat-eh’-o}. The word means “to be ruled over, to be mastered by, to gain possession of”. The same word is used in Matthew 14:3 when King Herod SEIZED John the Baptist, and cast him into prison. Their eyes were imprisoned, held hostage, or mastered by something. What was that something?

It was unbelief.

The devil uses unbelief to keep us from seeing Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us that the devil, “ the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Cleopas and his companion had hoped that Jesus would overthrow Rome. But He died on that Cross. How does Cleopas know Jesus died? From his companion.

I was studying on who this unnamed companion was who with Cleopas, when I came across a study by Dr. James M. Boice, who used to do “The Bible Study Hour” on the radio. Dr. Boice noted:

“… one of the disciples was called Cleopas. Moreover, if you will then use any good concordance of the words occurring in the New Testament and look up the word “Cleopas,” you will find a second mention of his name in another account of the Resurrection. The reference is John 19:25. There we read, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene.” It is true that John spells the name a bit differently. But the spelling of names often varied in antiquity, and here the two names undoubtedly refer to the same person.”

Cleopas’ companion is his wife. She was at the foot of the Cross with Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Jesus. She saw Jesus suffering. She saw Jesus as His heart was pierced with a soldier’s spear, and blood and water poured out (John 19:34). She was probably there when Joseph of Arimathæa and Nicodemus took the body of our Lord down from the Cross (John 19:38). She may have been one who helped prepare our Lord’s body. She saw the slashes, the exposed bone, the white, bloodless corpse. Cleopas’ wife tells him all about what she saw. Though both have heard the message of the Two Shining Witnesses, they do not believe.

Unbelief blinds their eyes.
Unbelief robs them of joy.
Unbelief is a thief!

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Jesus did not come to free Israel from Rome. He came to free Israel from satan and sin and destructive ways. Jesus Christ came to give us the abundant life that God created us for. He did not come to give us temporary blessings. He came to fix our brokenness, our hurt, our suffering forever. He came to bring us to God.

1 Peter 3:18 … Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Jesus Is Near When We Are Low

We live in world filled with suffering. We need God in our lives. When we suffer, Christ comes to us. He came to Cleopas and his wife as they mourned the death of Jesus, walking on the Emmaus Road.

Luke 24:17 {Jesus} said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

Jesus knows why they are sad. Jesus knows your hearts. He knows what you think, what you feel. He knows why you are sad. “Jesus knew what was in man” (John 2:25). Jesus always knows what we are thinking (Luke 6:8). He asks so that they will voice their disbelief to God. Jesus Christ is God, God in the flesh.

Luke 24:18-21 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

Cleopas and his wife thought that Jesus was only a PROPHET mighty in deed (vs 19). Though Cleopas had followed the life of Jesus, to Him Jesus was but “Jesus of Nazareth”. The title “Jesus of Nazareth” is used only 17 times in the Scripture, and in each use it focuses on our Lord’s humanity. When Jesus died on Calvary, the Titular or Sign that Pilate ordered hung over Jesus’ head was:

John 19:19 … JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS

I have searched the Scriptures, and have only found one instance when Jesus called Himself “Jesus of Nazareth”, and that was when He knocked Paul down on the Damascus Road (Acts 22:8). Cleopas saw Jesus as the son of man, but not as the Son of God. He goes on to say:

Luke 24:22-24 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulcher; 23 and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

Cleopas and his wife did not believe the witness of the women who went to the Tomb. Jesus chastises them both, saying:

Luke 24:25-27 O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Word Study Jesus called Cleopas and his wife “FOOLS”, the Greek ἀνόητος anóētos, {pronounced an-o’-ay-tos}, which is better translated “UNWISE”. The word “FOOL” is usually the Greek μωρός mōros, and speaks of an unbeliever (see Matthew 5:22). Jesus tells them “The Messiah had to suffer these things”. Jesus then takes the Scripture – at this time the Old Testament text – and shows how His first Coming is found all throughout the Bible.

Jesus is the Seed of the Woman in Genesis 3:15, the One Who will crush satan’s head. In Exodus, Jesus is the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), and the Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Cloud in Exodus 13:21-22. In Numbers, Jesus is the Rock in the wilderness by which God’s people were refreshed (1 Corinthians 10:4). In Deuteronomy Jesus is the Righteous God, the Definer of God’s Law and God’s Truth. In Joshua, Jesus is the King of Kings, the Leader of Heaven’s Host. Jesus is, in some way, in every Book of Scripture.

It takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes for a healthy person to walk 7 miles. During that walk, Jesus opened the Scriptures for Cleopas and his wife. “Jesus expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself”. What a fantastic Bible class that must have been! Oh Beloved, when God opens the Scripture to us, He opens our eyes and opens our understanding. Let’s read on:

Hold On To Jesus

Luke 24:28-29 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and {Jesus} made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

Word Study Cleopas and his wife “CONSTRAINED” Jesus, the Greek παραβιάζομαι parabiázomai, {pronounced par-ab-ee-ad’-zom-ahee}. This is a very strong word which means “to compel by employing force”. They grabbed hold of Jesus and would not let Him go. This is a beautiful picture of genuine faith. Genuine faith reaches out in desperation, seizing God. Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 11:12 … from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

When life begins to tear you down, when it seems as if there is no respite from the darkness, reach out and seize Jesus by faith. Cleopas and his wife did not truly understand that this is Jesus just yet, but as He share the Scripture with them, they felt the power of God.

Beloved, you will find Jesus in the Scripture. When you open the Book and seek the Lord, you will find Him – or He will find you. Jesus stands ready to enter your homes, to bless you, to be a part of your churches. Has He not said:

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Too many Churches – like the Church at Laodicea – have locked Jesus out of the services. Let’s invite Him in. No, let’s COMPEL Him to come in. Let us seize Him by faith, and never let Him go. Let us, as Jacob did, wrestle the Lord beyond the pain (Genesis 32:22-32; Hosea 12:4). Let us not wander about, sad and scared, but let us hold on to Jesus. Let us be as bold as Jacob was when he grabbed the Lord, saying:

“I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26)

Luke 24:30-32 And it came to pass, as {Jesus} sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

James M. Boice said:

“the opening of the scriptures, the opening of the eyes, and the opening of the understanding, are three great blessings that we should all desire of the resurrected Lord. Because when the Bible is opened and we see the Lord Jesus Christ as He is interpreted to us by the divine operation of the Spirit, we will never be the same again”.

The end of the story we read today is so sweet. We read:

Luke 22:33-35 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Believers know Jesus in the breaking of bread. As we come to the Lord’s Table I ask, Do YOU know Him? Do you know Jesus as both Savior and Lord? Not just as Jesus of Nazareth, but as Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. May God open your eyes and open your hearts to Jesus this very day. Through His Word and His Spirit, Amen and Amen!

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An “I” Exam

Posted on November 20, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by mari lezhava on Unsplash

Romans 1:13-17 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The Apostle Paul wanted to go and share his faith with the Church at Rome. His reason for coming was that he might “have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles”. What defined Paul’s life was not his wants, desires, or feelings. What defined his life was how he should please the Lord Who saved him.

Paul was not always this way. There was a time when Paul was Saul, and his life revolved around pleasing himself and others. This is not to pick at Paul – we are all born this way. Why? Because it is part and parcel of the original sin, the sin that plunged humanity into the darkness of wasted life. The Bible tells us that God created man, and then God created the animals. Man is not an animal. This is the dialogue that satan has taught the world. Humanity is a higher creation than animals. The Bible says:

Genesis 1:26-27 … God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Humanity is not an animal. Darwinian Evolutionary Theory (Charles Darwin was a failed minister of the Gospel) teaches that humans are “primates”, descendants of the apes. The Bible says that humans are distinct creations of God. We are made in the “image” צֶלֶם {tselem} and “likeness” דְּמוּת {demuwth} of “God” אֱלֹהִים {‘elohiym}. We are modeled after our Creator. The animals are not. We were made representative figures of God. He made us like Him to rule the earth and the animal kingdom. We were made to draw near to God, and to please God in how we were stewards of what He gave us. Yet Adam failed. He bought into satan’s lie, and instead of pleasing God, pleased himself. Adam ate of the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he bought into the lie:

“God is keeping you from a blessing. When you eat this fruit you will be just like Elohiym. You will then be able to determine both good and evil” (my paraphrase of Genesis 3:5)

Since that day humanity has bought into the lie that “we can be gods”. The idols that we worship are ourselves. I was watching a commercial the other day that said, “Do you have HIV? Just keep being YOU, and take ___”. The ___ was the name of a medicine that helps combat HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Do you know what guarantees you will NEVER get a sexually transmitted disease? Listen to God. Heed His warnings against sexual sin. Wait until you are ready to commit to marriage before you enjoy yourself sexually.

American secular society is overwhelmingly “I” driven. People no longer go to Church to study God (called “Theology”), but pack into Churches to study Meology. How can “I” be blessed? How can “I” prosper? How can “I” be relieved from suffering? Everything is “I” oriented. When I was a child, we determined the “gender” of a person by the sexual organs they were born with. Today we determine “gender” by “how I feel”. If I feel like a woman, then what I think trumps what anyone else thinks. I am my own god. If I want to be married, I can marry whoever agrees to marry me regardless of genitalia. I am my own god. I must be me!

Lawlessness is flaunted. Why? Because I matter more than anyone else. If I do not like who was elected President, then I can go around saying “Not my President!” This is not a thing ties to just one party in our country, but to every political party. Law as well as respect have gone out the door to the trash heap, because we each are our own gods and goddesses.

Yet, it seems, no one is happy!

Suicide rates are up, even among Christians. Following the god of I is slowly killing our country. Beloved, we all need to get back to God. We don’t need to follow Adam’s path. We are made in the image of God, but we are not gods, and never will be.

I was reading an article by Jennifer Duncan called “What Paul Never Prayed For”. She made this very insightful remark:

“The churches Paul planted immediately became counter-cultural, and each young church he writes to was going through difficult times. Ephesus was surrounded by witchcraft; Philippi faced daily persecution; Galatia was full of false teachers who were enforcing a legalistic doctrine; and the church in Corinth was dealing with members who were steeped in sexual immorality. Each congregation faced major issues, but the apostle never prays that God would change their circumstances. He never prays that God would rescue them out of their hardships. ”

When Adam was given a choice, rather than do his job (cultivating the Garden) he sought to improve his lot. Making Eden about himself, he lost Eden and a wonderful relationship with God. In contrast, the Apostle Paul kept focusing on how he might please the God Who saved him. Where we are in life is where God has allowed us to be.

In our focal text today we will study three I AM statements of the Apostle Paul. These statements not only apply to Paul’s life, but should apply to every believer’s life.

Christians Are Created And Given A Stewardship,
An Obligation

God created Adam to tend the Garden. He failed. God creates Christians to tends His Garden, that is, to build His Kingdom. Read with me:

Romans 1:14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

Word Study The Apostle considered himself to be an οφειλετης, opheiletes, (pronounced of-i-let’-ace), an ower or someone who is indebted to another, a steward. His stewardship was to the Greeks {the wise}, and to the Barbarians {the unwise}.

Every Christian, saved by the Grace of God, has been given a stewardship from God. As we were added to the Kingdom through the sharing of the Gospel, we are to share the good news of salvation by faith in Christ to others.

We are not responsible for the Growing WEEDS,
but we are responsible to plant the SEEDS.

We were saved heeding the same message that the Philippian Jailer heard. It was at Philippi that Paul and Silas were sharing the Gospel of Christ, when the devil started to attack their ministry. The devil will always attack you if you serve Jesus. Serve yourself, he will give you more opportunities to do so. Serve Jesus, and he will plague you like a tick on a dog. The Apostle Paul and Silas withstood the attacks for several days, until Paul invoked the name of Christ to rebuke that devil. What happened? Paul and Silas were falsely accused, and cast into prison at Philippi.

Did Paul and Silas grumble? Did they allow their circumstances to blind them to the Presence of God? Absolutely not! Their feet in stocks, and bloody stripes from the whip on their backs (Acts 16:23-24), Paul and Silas PRAYED and SANG PRAISES UNTO GOD (Acts 16:25). They did not pray to be released, but praised God for where they were. They saw this jailing as an opportunity to plant more Gospel seed for Jesus Christ our Lord. They praised and prayed until midnight (Acts 16:25), when the jail was shaken, and everyone was loosed from their bands and chains. When the warden came and found the prison broken so that the prisoners could escape, he:

Acts 16:27-31 … drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

What would you have done if unjustly jailed, after being beaten? Probably most of us would have ran away, becoming fugitives rather than stay one more minute in that horrible prison. Yet this would not please God! We who believe were saved on purpose, and given purpose. Jesus told His disciples after rising from the grave:

Luke 24:46-47 {it was necessary for} Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

There were men (and perhaps women) in that jail that needed to hear about Jesus Christ. The warden himself needed to hear about Christ. Paul and Silas did not see their jailing as an inconvenience or a hindering of their ministry. No, they saw it as an OPPORTUNITY. Our God saves us, then tells us as He tells the Church of Philadelphia:

Revelation 3:8 behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Christians are STEWARDS of the Gospel. We are DEBTORS. We are not to modify the Gospel, but to present it as it is, and trust God for the results. The Gospel is always REPENT and BELIEVE. That is what Jesus preached.

Mark 1:14-15 Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

The Messiah has come. Stop being your own god. Reject that, and follow the God of the Scripture. Follow Jesus Christ.

The Gospel proclaimed never excuses or normalizes Meology, but says “Turn from Meology to God, Theology. Come follow Jesus!”

The legendary C.H. Spurgeon stated: ““… let me tell you that if you have a peace to-day which enables you to be at peace with your sins as well as with God, that peace is a false peace. Unless you hate sin of every sort, with all your heart, you are not a child of God, you are not reconciled to God by the death of his Son. You will not be perfect; I cannot expect you will live without sin, but if you are a Christian you will hate the very sin into which you have been betrayed, and hate yourself because you should have grieved your Savior thus. But if you love sin, the love of the Father is not in you. Be you who you may, or what you may, — minister, deacon, elder, professor, or non-professor — the love of sin is utterly inconsistent with the love of Christ. Take that home, and remember it.”

I am not saying – repeat NOT SAYING – that you need to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. The word “Repent” means to look Christ-ward rather than self-ward. If you come to Christ, then Christ will change your heart. Listen to me:

You do not go to hell for sexual sin.
You do not go to hell for murder.
You do not go to hell for rape.
You do not go to hell for greed.
You do not go to hell for ____.

You go to hell for refusing to come to Jesus, refusing to acknowledge Him as your Lord and rest in Him as your Savior. That which the Great Fisherman, Jesus Christ, catches, He also CLEANS. The Lord is able to save ALL people, to cleanse ALL people who believe in Him. Praise the Lord, the Bible promises:

Romans 5:5 and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.

Dr. Charles Stanley noted that there are four questions every believer should ask the Lord daily:

What Do YOU Want Me To Do, Lord?
How Do YOU Want Me To Act?
When Do You Want Me To Act?
How Can I Best Represent You?

Beloved, if you are saved by faith in Christ, you are obligated to serve Christ. Not the world, not your friends, but Christ!

Every Christian, Like Paul, Must Be Ready

Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

Though Paul was imprisoned, and it did not seem like he was going to get an opportunity to preach in Rome, he nonetheless was prepared to do so. He did not allow his circumstances to keep him from preparing to sow the Gospel seed.

In my devotions this morning I was reading from Dr. David Jeremiah. He quoted:

2 Timothy 4:3-6 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

The world does not want to hear the Gospel, but has “itching ears” that wants to be tickled with light and airy preaching. Paul warned Timothy against doing that. Dr. Jeremiah went on to relay the story of a South Korean Christian, Jae Kang Im. While Jae was getting his hair cut:

“his stylist, Sun-ah, started talking about her troubles in life, especially the pain of growing up in an alcoholic and abusive home. Im wanted to share the Gospel with her, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain to his ear. The stylist had sliced into it, and the blood flowed in streams. The staff wanted to call paramedics, but Im reassured them he’d be fine. He told the stylist the pain with his ear was nothing compared to what she had experienced in her life, and she began to weep. Im left and tended to his ear, but that evening he returned just before the shop closed. He found Sun-ah and shared his testimony. He told her about Jesus, and the woman was wonderfully saved. “I thank God for using my ear to save one soul,” he said.”

Many people, even Christians, if cut while in the Barber’s seat would complain bitterly and fuss at the offender. Many people, even Christians, would have complained if they were unjustly jailed. Yet the Apostle Paul stayed ready to tell others about Jesus.

Why are so many Christians anxious about telling others of Christ? Could it be because we have one foot in the world, and one foot in Christ’s Kingdom? As Christians, we are to live out a daily reality that we are to be connected to Christ. We must start our day, acknowledging Jesus. Jesus must have as much of us as possible this day. We must abide in Him. Jesus said:

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the Vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in ME.

The secret of power with God is the surrendered life. The Apostle said, as much as in me is. Give God as much of you as you can give every day. This was the secret of Billy Graham’s success in ministry. Adrian Rogers quoted Billy Graham, who said:

“I surrendered my will to the living God revealed in the Scripture. I knelt before the opened Bible and said, ‘Lord, many things in this Book I do not understand, but Thou hast said the just shall live by faith. All I have, I have received by faith. Here and now by faith, I accept the Bible as Thy Word. I take it all. I take it without reservations. Where there are things I cannot understand, I will reserve judgment until I receive more light. If this pleases Thee, give me authority as I proclaim Thy Word, and through that authority convict me of sin and turn sinners to the Savior.”

When Billy preached, his favorite statement was “the Bible says”. Billy gave Jesus all of his life, not the leftovers. We must, as believers, strive to give the Lord all of us. He must occupy as much of our attention and service as possible. We must reject the word of the world, and turn fully to the Word of God! Remember, it was the word of the serpent that said “You will not die if you eat of it, but you will become gods and goddesses!” But it was the Word of God that spoke the truth. The Bible, the Word of God, always speaks the truth. To be blessed of God the Christian is called to uphold what God has said, not what man has said. Remember:

2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

God is watching us. Are you ready?

Every Christian, Like Paul, Must Be Unashamed

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Word Study The word translated “POWER” in our above text is the Greek δύναμις dýnamis, {pronounced doo’-nam-is}, which means “mighty work, miraculous, power residing in a thing by virtue of it’s nature”.

The Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life. The day that you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, the day you said “I believe” to His promises, on that very day you were saved. A Christian is not a worldling, not the same as an unbeliever. We no longer walk in darkness, but have the “light of life” (John 8:12). The Bible says:

1 John 1:5-7 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

We cannot compromise with the world and expect to live a life pleasing to the Lord. We as Christians are saved from lives of helpless servitude to sin. God indwells us. The whole world lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19), for it has been deceived by Satan (Revelation 12:9). Nevertheless, Jesus is …

1 John 2:2 … the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

As we were saved, dear Christians, God can save others. The Gospel, the Good News of Christ has POWER, saving POWER. Do not mock the Word of God by thinking that other things are more important than this Gospel.

People need the Lord.

I will end with this quote from Church father Jonathan Edwards:

“The enjoyment of [God] is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean.”

Let us rest in Him. Let us be faithful in serving Him. Let us not be as Adam, but as Paul. Those who do not stand with Christ and His Word are not genuinely Christian. Has not the Lord said:

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

May God through His Holy Spirit and His Word touch our hearts today, making us more Christ driven. Amen and Amen.

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Why Is Baptism Such A Big Deal?

Posted on November 16, 2020 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Elisey Vavulin on Unsplash

1 Peter 3:18-22 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22 who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

We were going to do a baptism this week, but because the candidate is under self-quarantine until his Covid-19 test comes back, we will attempt to do it next Sunday. But since baptism is on my heart, I thought I’d address why we baptize believers in Christ the way we do.

Let’s Define Baptism

The word “baptism” (along with its variant baptize, baptized, baptisms) occurs some 98 times in the King James text. The Greek word for “baptism” is

βάπτισμα báptisma, {pronounced bap’-tis-mah} as seen in our focal text. Other variants are βαπτισμός baptismós, {pronounced bap-tis-mos’} and βαπτίζω baptízō, {pronounced bap-tid’-zo}. In every case of it’s use, the word “baptize” when used as the Christian ordinance means “to immerse, to submerge, to wash”. When “baptize” is used of a trial, it’s meaning is “to completely immerse in trouble”. Jesus used this form when He discussed His “Cup”, something we studied just a few weeks ago. Do you remember this sermon?

Matthew 20:20-22 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshiping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. 21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His earthly ministry by John the Baptist, but this is not the baptism he is speaking of in Matthew’s text. The baptism Jesus speaks of with James and John was His baptism in our sin while He hung on Calvary. As He hung there, bleeding, dying, He would drink the Cup of suffering, and bear the baptism of our sins. He would be so immersed in our judgment that, at one point, Our Lord will cry out:

Matthew 27:46 Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

The baptism He suffered on Calvary would make payment for your sins and mine. This is why we can be saved. We are not saved by our works, but by believing in Jesus, by trusting Him and His finished work on the Cross. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast.

And in Titus 3:5-6 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior;

Because Jesus underwent the baptism of God’s judgment on sin, when we believe on Him, His righteousness is placed on us. The Apostle declared:

Galatians 2:16 … a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

No animal sacrifice, no good deed, no action will make us right with God. Jesus Christ as both our High Priest and our Sacrifice for sin “offered up Himself for us” (Hebrews 7:27). Jesus Christ promises those who believe on Him a unique standing with God, a standing that cannot be purchased and cannot be earned. The Apostle tells us in another place:

1 Peter 1:18-19 ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The Baptism of the Cross brings every believer in Christ to God.

1 Peter 3:18-22 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Jesus Christ, Who was and has always been “just” or “right before God”, for Jesus Christ IS GOD
(see Revelation 1:5-8).

The “Just” Jesus suffered for the sins of the Unjust you and I. Why? So that He might bring us to God. We are Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). Our status is changed,

from LOST to FOUND
from DARKNESS to LIGHT
from children of Adam to Children of God
from strangers with God to Saints in Christ

We talked about Jesus’ baptism in the punishment of God, but let’s talk about our Lord’s water baptism. Jesus Christ Himself was baptized in water before He ever began His earthly ministry. When Jesus first went to John the Baptist (so called because he immersed people in the river Jordan) to be baptized we read:

Matthew 3:13-17 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John {refused} him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, {allow} it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus – right after being tested of the devil in the wilderness – goes to John the Baptist to be baptized. John initially refuses, because, he said “I am not worthy to tie Jesus’ shoes” (see Mark 1:7). But Jesus said “Do it now. We must FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS”. Baptism is a ceremonial washing that can be traced back to the Old Covenant Priesthood. When the Priests in Israel were consecrated, the Scripture says:

Leviticus 8:5-6 … Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done. 6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.

The Jewish Priests were ceremonially baptized or immersed in water when they were consecrated to God. I found on the “Jews For Jesus” site this quote:

“The Soncino Talmud states: “As your forefathers entered into the Covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood, so shall they [the proselytes] enter the Covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood” (Keritot 9a).”

Why was Jesus baptized in water? It was because He is our High Priest, and was being consecrated as our High Priest (see Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 4:14). Why are we baptized in water? It is because we are priests unto God, dear Christian. We are baptized to consecrate us, just as Jesus was consecrated. The Christian as a priest before God is clearly marked in Scripture. For instance:

Revelation 1:5-6 … Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 and hath made us kings and priests unto God

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

How was Jesus baptized? By immersion.

Matthew 3:16-17 … Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased

In another place we read:

Mark 1:9-11 Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Immersion in water did not “save” Jesus, any more than immersion in water “saves” us. Baptism does not save a person – only faith in Christ does this. But if you are saved, then you will obediently “fulfill all righteousness” just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did. Peter tells us of water baptism:

1 Peter 3:20-22 …. God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22 who is gone into heaven…

Peter ties water baptism into Noah’s Ark. “Eight souls were saved by water”. Noah and his family were obedient to God. For 120 years they worked on building an Ark. At the end of the 120 years they got on the Ark, and as water (a symbol of God’s judgment) began to fill and flood the land, Noah and his family floated above the water. Baptism as a symbolic ordinance (an order from God) makes water a symbol of judgment, and of death. When the candidate (a saved believer in Christ) goes down into the water, this symbolizes we died with Christ. We are lowered into the grave! But the candidate does not stay in the water. We are resurrected with Christ – the grave cannot hold Him or us. We COME UP out of the water. Death has no hold on us.

Coming up out of the water, we are symbolizing that we are believer priests, with Jesus Christ as our High Priest. We are re-born, children of God by faith in Christ!

Baptism Is The First Work The Christian Does For God

Though no Christian is saved by works, once a Christian is saved they are called of God to work. Works do not save you, but if you’re saved, you’ll work. When Jesus was baptized, only then did the Holy Spirit descend on Him, and the Father say “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased”. Baptism is the very first act of obedience that a Christian is called to do. Our Lord Jesus commanded baptism for all believers:

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When Peter preached his first message on the Day of Pentecost (a sermon that led 3000 people to Christ), he told them:

Acts 2:38 … Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Peter preached faith in Christ and repentance unto salvation – but also commanded water baptism, just as Jesus commanded. Water baptism does not save you, but if you are saved, you should be baptized.

When Philip the Evangelist found “a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians” reading in the Book of Isaiah, Philip told him about Jesus Christ as they rode together. The Bible says:

Acts 8:36-39 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Did you notice that it was the Eunuch that suggested he be baptized, not Philip? Philip would not baptize the Eunuch until he professed his faith in Jesus Christ. Once the Eunuch professed Christ as his Savior, they went DOWN INTO THE WATER where he was baptized. When they came UP OUT OF THE WATER Philip was led to other areas of ministry – but the Eunuch returned to Ethiopia with the joy of his salvation. And who can forget the man named Cornelius, a Gentile Centurion to whom Peter preached?

Acts 10:44-48 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

The Centurion and his household believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and were saved. The Holy Spirit fell on them. And right after their salvation, Peter had them baptized in water.

Baptism does not save you. But once you are saved, believer, you should be baptized. Baptism is …

1 Peter 3:21 … the answer of a good conscience toward God …

In another place, the Apostle tells us that:

Baptism Identifies Us With Christ Jesus

The Apostle writes in Romans 6:1-11 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Water Baptism is an outward expression of an inward truth. Some people have always taught (wrongly, I might add) that “we are saved by grace, so we can freely live any way we want to”. Many do not use these exact words, but their lives show it. They call themselves “Christian” on Sunday, but walk as Children of Adam on Monday. Beloved, this is not scriptural. Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid! The Christian is a saved creature. As Jesus died for our sins and went into the grave, we go down into the water, symbolizing the old “me” died with Christ. Our “old man” is placed in the grave. As Jesus Christ rose from the grave, we are brought out of the water, rising from the grave. We now are to walk in newness of life. Our “body of sin was destroyed”. We now walk with Jesus. We come up out of the grave. Death has no dominion over Jesus. We come out of the water, showing that the grave has no hold on us. We are immortal because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us.

A believer is generally only baptized once. We died with Jesus once, and live with Him now forever. There have been times when I have baptized people who had been baptized before. They were baptized the first time not as believers in Christ, but because their friends, or their parents, or someone other than God called them to do it. It happens. I try to emphasize to all that I baptize that, “If you believe with all your heart on Jesus, you may be baptized”. If you are lost and without Christ, all water baptism does is make you a wet unbeliever. Baptism will not save you. Faith in Christ will save you.

Illustrate I read a book one time where a warrior asked that the pastor baptize all of him but his right hand. When asked why, the warrior stated, “Because I want to be able to kill my enemy with my sword hand. It can go to hell – but I want the rest of me to go to Heaven. Beloved, it doesn’t work that way. Baptism is an act of obedience to Christ’s commands (Matthew 28:19-20; John 14:15, 21). But if you have not received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by faith, then the act means nothing to God. Baptism is important only to the genuine Christ follower because it is a public profession of your faith in Him:

Matthew 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptists summarizes baptism this way:

Scripture reveals that baptism involves four things.

  1. The right person: a believer
  2. The right reasons: obedience and declaration of your faith
  3. The right method: immersion
  4. The right authority: a local New Testament Church (Acts 2:41-47)

The essentials of baptism are:

  1. Believe in Jesus for salvation
  2. Make your commitment public
  3. Request to be baptized by immersion

May God touch your hearts with His Spirit and His Word. May others read this, and come to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Amen and Amen!

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