Lift up Your Heads
Posted onLift Up Your Heads because Your Redemption is Drawing Near
Catastrophe
The Holy Spirit persistently warns that catastrophic events are about to come upon the whole earth
Category: OBEDIENCE
Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Just as Jesus listened to and obeyed His Father so we must listen to the Holy Spirit and obey His every prompt to speak and to act.
The Precious Produce of the Soil
Posted onActs 1:13-14. When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
James 5:7-8. Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.
Luke 10:2. And He said to them, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few; therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest.” Recovery Version.
The Lord is utterly consistent in all His ways, in the types that represent His truth and in the patterns He has established for mankind to follow. If we examine an event or process that God has set in motion, it will reveal something significant about how He works. Such is the case when we read the account concerning the clothing with power of the around a hundred and twenty on that long ago day of Pentecost. The pattern of Pentecost is a defining one.
Those gathered together, awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, had been born again when Jesus had breathed into them and said, ‘receive the Holy Spirit’. Prior to that, the faith of each one of them had failed during the time of Jesus’ greatest trial. However, it was through their experiences of failure that they had been prepared and approved by God to receive the outpoured Holy Spirit. They no longer put trust in themselves, and the key was that ‘These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer‘. On the great day of Pentecost, after they had been clothed with power from on high, there was the beginning of a great harvest and the church, the body of Christ came into being.
The Days of Noah and Lot
Posted onStage 1.
I was on my way to lead a Bible study which would be focusing on the church in Philadelphia described in Revelation 3 verses 7 to 13 when the Lord brought to my mind ‘the days of Noah and the days of Lot’. The Lord showed me that Noah and his family and Lot and his family represent two contrasting categories of Christians. Noah with the support of his family was engaged in constructing an ark designed by God, while Lot and his family were enduring a life of compromise and frustration in a wicked city.
Here are some of the characteristics of Noah as described in the Scriptures
Fixing Your Eyes on Jesus
Posted onMatthew 22:36-38. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment.”
1 John 4:16-19. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.
1 John 2:3-6. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ” I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected . By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
John 14:21,23. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”….”If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
Why would the Lord God give to fallen mankind ‘the great and foremost commandment’ that He knew no one would be able to keep? Surely it is that He desires above all else from those He created in His own image, that He would receive from them, in like measure, what He freely and unrestrictedly gives to them – love.
It is instructive to note that, had Adam entered into this love relationship with his Creator, neither he nor his wife Eve would have, or could have, disobeyed Him. In a perfect environment the first rule of love is that in everything you will seek to please the one whom you love ‘with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’, by doing what is pleasing to them. Had Adam and Eve chosen to eat the fruit of the tree of life they would have been filled with the love of God, they would have gladly and willingly obeyed His every word and they would have lived forever.
My Presence shall go with You
Posted onExodus 33:14-15. And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”
Exodus 13:21-22. The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Deuteronomy 2:7. “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.”‘
Numbers 33:1-2. These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the command of the Lord….
Numbers 33:53. ….and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
It is the Lord’s intention to lead His people ‘out of the darkness’, symbolized by Egypt, ‘into His glorious light’, symbolized by Canaan. This promised land is the ultimate place of peace and rest where all human effort has faded away and all is rightfully brought under the mighty power and authority of God.
The Lord desires that the journey of each one of His own be enjoyed in ‘the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension’. Philippians 4:7. This state of peace may only be entered into however as we acknowledge Jesus as Lord within us and among us and as we choose to live in His presence. Moses said to the Lord “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”
God is Love
Posted on1 John 4:16-19. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.
Romans 5:5. ….the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
God is the very nature and substance of love. This real and unique quality of ‘agape’ love contains within it no self-interest whatsoever. Self-interest is the antithesis of the love that is expressed by God. Everything that God is and does is that which perfect love demands.
In contrast, the constant demands of our ‘self’ are expressions of enmity towards God, for self-love is not, nor could it ever be, in harmony with God. It was self-love that caused Satan forever to become the adversary and opponent of God. It was self love that drove Eve and then her husband Adam to disobey God and for sin to afflict all mankind thereafter.
Fresh Thoughts on the Parable of the Sower
Posted on“Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:3-9.
In His explanation of this parable to His disciples Jesus tells them that ‘the seed is the word’. In John 1:1-3 we are informed that Jesus is the word. So we understand from this that it is Jesus who desires to sow Himself into us us as the living word of God. There are four conditions where this precious seed is sown which represent the response of those who hear the word. The serious question is, “Into which category do we as individuals fit right now”?
- Beside the road? These ones don’t understand the gospel.
- Rocky places? These ones are fair weather believers.
- Among the thorns? These ones are caught up in worldly worries and concerns.
- The good soil? These ones are grafted into the true vine which is Jesus.
In categories 1, 2, and 3 it is the ‘self-life’ (wanting our own way) that leads to fruitlessness.
Work Out Your Salvation
Posted onRomans 5:1-2. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Philippians 2:12-13. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
John 16:13-14. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Believers in the Lord Jesus look back with great joy and appreciation to the date or the time when they first encountered the resurrected Christ as their real and personal Saviour. Many will affirm that it was the greatest day of their life and no wonder. The verses in Romans 5 capture the essence of this life transforming experience so aptly, ‘having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ….and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Yet so many, through lack of understanding, have camped out on those two verses without comprehending the words ‘we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand’ which informs us that our life transforming event was the entry point into a lifelong journey of faith.
The Eyes of the Lord
Posted on2 Chronicles 16:9. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support
- Those who are doing their very best to live a good Christian life?
- Those who have experienced visions and spiritual manifestations?
- Those who are ordained to be reverends, pastors or priests?
- Those whose heart is completely His?
How easy it is to look at the outward appearance or spiritual gifts of those who profess and call themselves Christians. God looks not at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart and He strongly supports ‘Those whose heart is completely His’. This is the Lord’s one and only requirement; a completely surrendered life.
Jesus made this quite plain to all who have ears to hear. He told the rich young ruler, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 19:21. NKJV. The young man chose his ‘great possessions’ rather than parting with them in order to follow Jesus.
It is God Who is at Work in You
Posted onPhilippians 2:12-13. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
James 2:18-20. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
2 Corinthians 5:9-10. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Hebrews 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
The instant an individual turns to the Lord in repentance and faith then that one is born again of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit comes into our human spirit and the two are joined as one forever. John 3:6. However, whether the Holy Spirit is Lord will be demonstrated by the willingness of each individual to allow Him to be in complete control. The apostle Paul reminds us of what the Lord expects of every one of us. He states, ‘work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure’.
The third member of the Holy Trinity has become resident in us to perform the perfecting work of God. The part that each believer in the Lord Jesus must play is to assent to the work of the Holy Spirit to transform the soul into the exact likeness of Jesus. This is accomplished through a day by day and hour by hour conscious yielding of our will to the will of God. “Thy will be done, not mine!” It is God’s good pleasure that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
My Mother and My Brothers
Posted onMatthew 12:47-50. Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
John 7:3-5. Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
Luke 14:26-27. “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
‘Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” The pressure of family to be given first consideration by individuals in our western society is particularly evident at Christmas time. It seems to be a cultural imperative. The homes of believers are often invaded at this season of the year by an odd assortment of voices, opinions and beliefs – all waiting to be heard.
The matter of first importance is who is the focal point inside our home? Even if we are the one who invited this company of family members, whose authority and significance will be evident? Human or divine?
If I be Lifted Up
Posted onJohn 12:31-32. “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
John 3:14-16. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Romans 4:25-5:1.He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Ephesians 2:4-6. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
2 Corinthians 5:10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. The central purpose of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus was that, through His death, all that Satan had brought about to mar the perfect works of God might be undone; that all be brought back to the perfection that God purposed in the beginning. Because of Adam’s sin and disobedience judgment came upon this world and upon all living things. All must be brought back to God. For this specific purpose Jesus was ‘lifted up from the earth’.
Jesus was lifted up from the earth in three stages. Firstly, Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cruel cross of Calvary. There, as the sinless Lamb of God He willingly took upon Him the sin of the whole world, so that newness of life might be available to all who will trust in Him as Saviour. Secondly, Jesus was lifted up through resurrection from the dead because death had no power over Him. ‘God has made Him both Lord and Christ’, Acts 2:36. Thirdly, Jesus was lifted up from the earth into the heavens to be seated with the Father. From thence He shall return as King of kings and Lord of lords at His promised coming again to the earth to reign forever and ever.
Seated Us with Him
Posted onLuke 11:1-2. It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, ” When you pray, say: ‘ Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.”
Matthew 6:10. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
Hebrews 5:8-9. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation…
Romans 8:16-17. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Ephesians 2:4-6. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus….
One of Jesus’ disciples, who had been with Him while He was praying to His Father, requested of Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray….” His response was ” When you pray, say: ‘ Father….” Within this one word ‘Father’ lies the assurance of our reconciliation to God through faith in the atoning death of His Son and the recognition that we are members of one family in eternal unbreakable unity. Our God is at once the awesome being before whom we bow and our loving Father whom we may love with all our heart and soul and mind. Now, in the power of the Spirit, we may also forever love and live in unity with all the other members of God’s eternal family.
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.” This statement holds the entire meaning and purpose of our life here upon earth. For, when God’s kingdom came into us in the blessed person of the Holy Spirit, from then on our life is to be wholly devoted to express the person of Jesus and the will and purpose of our Father upon this earth. To affirm in our fleshly weakness that this is not possible would surely be to deny the power of the One who now and forever lives within us. The Holy Spirit is God. His power is infinite.
As it is in Heaven
Posted onMatthew 6:9-13. “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ ”
Hebrews 5:8. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
In eternity past our Father’s will was unquestioningly obeyed and performed by every member of the heavenly host. His will was done in heaven and all His created beings performed it, and they worshipped their Creator. That is, until the rebellion of Lucifer the light bearer, the archangel of God. As soon as that insurrection occurred, heaven set in motion a plan that would return the conditions of unquestioned obedience to the Father by all His created beings.
All those who participated in that rebellion were under judgment. In God’s time they will be cast forever into the flaming fires of Hell. They will be without the capacity to exercise their will to do anything. When Lucifer became God’s adversary, Satan (for such is the meaning of his name) it became his role to oppose God. In Hell he has lost this role forever for he has no way to exercise it. Existence in Hell is completely pointless and purposeless, for the capacity to will and to purpose lies alone with God. Those who are judged and found guilty before God will be cast into Hell with Satan. They will be there because it was their deliberate and irrevocable choice to serve their self and thus oppose God.
The One Who Loves Me
Posted onMatthew 22:36-38. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment.”
1 John 4:16-19. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.
1 John 2:3-6. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ” I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected . By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
John 14:21,23. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”….”If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
Why would the Lord God give to fallen mankind ‘the great and foremost commandment’ that He knew no one would be able to keep? Surely it was that He desires above all else from those He created in His own image, that He would receive from them, in like measure, what He freely and unrestrictedly gives to them – love.
It is instructive to note that, had Adam entered into this love relationship with his Creator, neither he nor his wife Eve would have, or could have, disobeyed Him. In a perfect environment the first rule of love is that in everything you will seek to please the ones whom you love ‘with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’, by doing their will. Had the disobedient pair chosen to eat the fruit of the tree of life they would have been filled with the love of God, they would have gladly obeyed His every word and they would have lived forever.
I AM, Stop Being Afraid
Posted onMatthew 14:22-33. Then He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent away the crowds. And after He had dismissed the multitudes, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone. But the boat was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs [a furlong is one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch [between 3:00 — 6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright. But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid! [Exodus 3:14.] And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus. But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]! Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God! AMP
John 8:56-59. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them,” Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
As Jesus had instructed them, His disciples had taken a boat to cross the Lake of Galilee, ‘And in the fourth watch [between 3:00 — 6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea’. No doubt Jesus had to cover ‘many furlongs’ too, yet He did so ‘walking on the sea’. The reaction of the disciples when they saw Him was that ‘they were terrified’.
The response of Jesus to their fears was no gentle “It is I, be not afraid” as is the most usual translation, but as the Amplified Version has it “I AM! Stop being afraid!” This is both an affirmation of Jesus’ divinity and a command. “I am God. Trust Me and stop being fearful!”
What is Your Life
Posted onJames 4:13-15. Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” NKJV.
Psalms 90:12. So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
2 Corinthians 5:10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Colossians 3:1-3. Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
At the centre of the short passage from James is a question that every believer in the Lord Jesus needs to answer. For what is your life? As we attempt to provide an answer to this all important question we must not delude ourselves or others. This is a very personal and direct question and it is a question that demands an answer from every human being. If we asked it of five people we might receive five different answers. However, the real answer to this question is provided by what we spend the greatest amount of our time doing and who most benefits from our activities and actions.
“Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. God has given every one of us a will to decide how we shall live our life. How easy it can be to simply weigh our choices, try to make good decisions and hope that they will receive God’s blessing. Yet the message of these verses is very clear. Our response to all our choices and decisions ought to be “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
One Flock with One Shepherd
Posted onJohn 11:49-52. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”
Ephesians 2:14-16 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Can the high priest Caiaphas have known the real significance of the words he was given to prophesy? Almost certainly he did not. His prophecy was incomplete however, for the Holy Spirit through the apostle John added these words, ‘and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
There exist countless divisions within the Christian church on earth today. Will it then be impossible for those who have believed unto salvation to ‘become one flock with one shepherd’ until eternity future, or is this Satan’s gigantic lie?
Narrow is the Way
Posted onMatthew 7:13-14. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
This well-known parable of Jesus is so short in length yet so significant in substance. Perhaps the most striking aspect of it is to be found in the last few words which concern the small constricted gate and the narrow way. Jesus told His hearers, ‘there are few who find it’.
Matthew chapters 5 through 7 contain the longest recorded unbroken discourse of Jesus in the Bible. Those gathered immediately around Him at the time were His dear disciples, yet there were many others also there who also listened to His words with amazement. In these three chapters there are many revelations of heavenly wisdom from which countless numbers have received great benefit since His words were spoken. Almost hidden among these many treasures of wisdom are verses 13 and 14 of chapter 7. This short parable stands unique. There is no other like it. Though brief, it possesses a profound and vital message to all who seek Jesus with all their heart and choose to follow Him fully.
According to the Pattern
Posted onHebrews 8:5. ‘Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.’”
Exodus 39:32. Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did.
1 John 3:2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him….
God is absolutely precise in all He does and in all that is worthy to represent Him. Near enough is never good enough with God. All who love the Lord Jesus have been given the supreme gift of the Holy Spirit to live forever within each one, that He may enable us to live our life in accordance with God’s standard. God’s pattern for each one of us is Jesus. 1 John 3:2 assures us that ‘we will be like Him’.
On Mount Sinai Moses was given by God an exact design of a tabernacle in which His presence would reside in the central place among His people. This tabernacle was, in its design and in all its organization and operation, full of expressions of God’s nature, plans and purposes. Moses, in absolute faithfulness, oversaw that the tabernacle was constructed and that it operated in accordance with God’s intentions.
Your Will be Done
Posted onLuke 11:1-4. It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, ” When you pray, say: ‘ Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ‘Give us each day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'”
Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done , On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’”
“Lord, teach us to pray….” One of His disciples requested of Jesus that He provide guidance as to how he and his fellow disciples should pray. The prayer Jesus gave them was not only for them, but for all who will become His disciples, right up to the present.
Respect for ‘our Father who is in heaven’ is to be shown by reverencing His holy name. To use the name of God, or Jesus, emptily or casually is to dishonour He who is the giver of everything and the great creator. The second commandment given to Moses puts it this way. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”