Category: Weekly Devotional

THE CHAMP

by Charles (Chuck) Busby

How do you define greatness? What are the qualities of the men and women that do extraordinary things and achieve greatness? I can’t tell you! I have none of the qualities needed. However, by the grace of God, I have had the privilege to know very few people that I consider great. One of them is Lex Luger!

During the 1980s and 1990s professional wrestling was a craze. Its popularity was with a very large and diverse number of people. Many of the wrestling stars became celebrities that were famous worldwide. The most famous of those wrestlers was known as Lex Luger. I sincerely believe that Lex Luger was perhaps the most famous man in the whole world during his glory years.

Lex played collegiate football at The University of Miami and then professionally for the Green Bay Packers.  The Green Bay Packers were so proud of Lex’s great success and fame via the professional wrestling rink that they enshrined him in their Hall of Fame.  Lex’s physical frame and physique was extraordinary.  Lex had an internal drive to excel and compete that propelled Lex into professional wrestling and demanded that he was great! Lex became a wrestling mega superstar. For years, he would dominate the sport and become a world champion on three different occasions. He competed against only the greatest of the other professional wrestlers.  Lex Luger’s appeal was so broad and expanse that Mattel made action figure toys of him for children. Millions of people cheered for him each and every time he stepped into the wrestling rink.

Lex would go on to chronicle his life and the battles he fought along with the storms he endured during his life in his book “Wrestling with the Devil”. Lex goes into great detail while describing the actions, deeds, and events which turned him from being the greatest physique and best body in the world into a C5-C6 quadriplegic hospitalized at The Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta, Georgia in 2007.

In October 2007 Lex flew into San Francisco for a conference. While there he had a type of seizure or stroke that would paralyze him. After several weeks in a Bay Area hospital in the Bay Lex was transported to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta for treatment.  This was the best option and venue for Lex to find any type of recovery.  The Shepherd Center was also in Atlanta where Lex made his home. This was an act of God providing help and grace to Lex.

My pastor (Steve Baskin) was the person most instrumental in the conversion of Lex into becoming a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Steve had kept the church body appraised of Lex’s condition throughout his time in the Bay Area and continually sought the prayers of the members of the church on behalf of Lex.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving I asked Pastor Baskin if my wife and I could visit with Lex. I had no thought of being able to provide Lex with any great, profound, or inspiring words. I simply felt like I needed to go see him and do what I could to encourage a man very young in The Lord. I have some very good memories of Lex and his early days as a Christian. I remember him once coming into church a little late and the sermon had already started. Lex had walked down to the pew I was sitting on. I was sitting on the end of the pew and was resting my arm on the end of the pew.  I felt a presence near the right side of my face and turned toward it. Frankly, I was shocked to look 12 inches away into the face of a giant man staring at me. All he said was “Move over!” At that moment I had instantly already made peace with God and made sure that all my sins had been forgiven! There was no need to finish the sermon or to give an invitation on my behalf. I was right with God at that moment for sure. Later I had the privilege of seeing Lex be baptized. I can also recall watching Lex in a televised wrestling match along with my sons and praying that Lex would someday become a believer and then a witness for Jesus Christ.

Those memories and thoughts were crowding my mind as I walked down the hall of the Shepherd Center toward Lex’s hospital room while holding my wife’s hand. As we walked, I prayed for help and direction on what to say to Lex. I was humbled just to be able to visit with this man that was in many ways so much bigger than life. I was stricken with the realization that I knew that there were absolutely no words available to me that would make his life better. I began to question the sanity of me saying anything at all to a man in the nightmarish situation that Lex was living in.

When Val and I knocked on the door we were acknowledged with a “come in”.  Lex was in a hospital bed on the far side of the room. Several people were there from a Christian magazine talking with Lex. They very graciously stepped aside and allowed Val and I to come to Lex’s bedside. Lex looked up and smiled. I was amazed at that smile. Here was a man that only had slight movement from the neck up, but he produced a smile. I noticed that the little finger on his left hand was twitching slightly. His left foot was sticking out of the covers and you could see the toes also twitching. Lex was already working on his rehab diligently even though it was one twitch at a time. Every journey begins with the first step regardless of how far the trip will take you. These were very slight movements but very difficult for anyone in the condition that Lex was in.

Lex was literally rehabbing himself one toe, one finger, one anything, at a time. He was not giving up and was already working with everything that he had within himself to regain any strength that he once had. I was in awe!

Lex was physically paralyzed. He had already gone through many great storms and dealt with numerous disasters in his life.  He had been wealthy but was now financially dependent on others. He had probably been the most physically admired man in the world for nearly a decade and had been known worldwide as “The Total Package”. But at that moment Lex was a very frail man physically. He now required another person’s help in order to dress, feed and clean himself. His fame was now a memory and his future held no promise of a better tomorrow.

I struggled for the words that I had prayed so hard to know and find before getting to Lex’s hospital room.  I probably then asked the most stupid question anyone has ever asked someone in that condition. I said, “Champ, how are you doing?” … Immediately I wanted to take all the air out of the room so that I could catch my ridiculous words before anyone heard them. How can anyone ask a paralyzed man lying prostrate in a hospital bed that question?  It was obvious to anyone that could see that Lex was not doing well physically. Everyone in that condition is being challenged mentally and spiritually to the absolute limits of endurance. Lex’s condition was far more serious than I can adequately describe.

Then the Lord took over. Lex looked up at me and gave an incredible smile and said, “Chuck, I am doing great!”. I was taken aback. I thought for a moment. I deserved a rebuttal answer for my stupid, stupid question. But to my amazement, Lex was being sincere. I clumsily apologized for my question. But Lex looked directly into my eyes and said, “Chuck, God put me here for a reason. This is a good thing that I am here and God is good. This is a blessing!”. I braced myself and tried to gain some sibilance of poise. I then responded with, “Champ, I need for you to please explain that to me. How is it a blessing for you to be paralyzed and in this hospital bed?”

Lex looked up and explained that the events and mistakes in his life had left him estranged from his children and ex-wife. He was divorced and his children had decided that they did not want him in their lives. Lex had been praying for a way to reconnect and possibly reconcile with his children. He then told me that because of his past the director of the Shepherd Center had initially resisted letting him come there for treatments. However, she relented and allowed Lex to come to the Shepherd Center. When Lex arrived, he was able to demonstrate to everyone that the person he had been, was no longer the man that he now was. Lex had become a new creation in Christ and was now a different man.  Lex then said something that rang all the chimes.  He told me that after he had been admitted into the hospital the director’s husband had been talking with him about various things. That man just happened to also be a coach on one of the teams that Lex’s son played on. That gentleman had expressed a desire to assist in some way to help Lex reconnect with his son. Lex then said this, “God is so good. God put me here to help me get back with my son! Isn’t that great?!?”

Lex had been humbled in every way that I think a man can be.  Yet he was still persevering through his enormous anguish with a competitive drive that cannot and will not quit, surrender or retreat.

I don’t know if Lex and his son ever reconciled. However, what I do know for a fact is that only a great, great champion can experience such pain, heartache, and disappointment and then still realize and profess the mercy and love of God! That type of courage and resolve requires qualities far beyond what it took for Lex to become one of the most famous and admired celebrities in the world.

For most of his adult life, Lex has been surrounded by groupies and other people that just hung on. They were people that would cling to him because of his success, fame, and money. They never achieved much for themselves, but they would mooch off of Lex and his celebrity. Please understand that I do not claim to be a close friend of Lex. However, he taught me so much that evening. Lex Luger gave me a completely new perspective on what it takes to be special for God. So many wants to do great things but only a few are willing to pay the price and endure the pain to achieve greatness. Everyone wants acclaim. Only a very few are willing to produce the sweat, shed the tears, or exert the effort required to earn all the things necessary to attain it.

 

Lex taught me that victory is not always won with a clenched fist raised over and above an opponent. Sometimes a great victory is won in a hospital bed. I learned that a strong belief and dependence on God is far superior to any championship belt or ring. Faith in God is eternal and all material things are temporary. A man or woman with an indomitable spirit such as the one that Lex has cannot be conquered.

Before Christ came into Lex’s life, he was a world-champion wrestler. Now Lex has a greater title — A Man of God! He now lives his life fervently serving his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus has never lost a battle. The Lord Jesus will remain undefeated all through eternity. Lex will forever be a member of the family of God which is comprised by the believers in Jesus Christ.  Lex now is winning souls for Christ. Those victories make an eternal difference with the souls of men and women. Those victories are not temporary. They will last forever!  The glory of any conquests Lex had on a football field or in a wrestling rink lasted only until the next game or next match. The victories that Lex has, are now for Christ, and they are going to last for all eternity. Lex competes now for the souls of men on behalf of Jesus Christ. Those wins will yield eternal consequences and blessings for each soul of those men and women.  Any soul won for Christ is trillions of times more valuable than any title, trophy, belt, or money Lex has ever won playing football or competing in the rink!

Lex Luger is and will forever be a member of the only undefeated team in the universe. He is a first-teamer on God’s team. Lex Luger is and will always be a Champion for The Lord Jesus Christ!

Selah

Charles J. (Chuck) Busby

Making the Most of Your Walk With God

 

Our Daily Bread, June 12, 1994;

Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.

 

We spoke about Making the Most of the Time We Have and the Benefits of being a Christian.

Time is precious. We really are not here on this earth for very long. We are like when you go to turn the light switch on, and the bulb is shot. One day it will eventually happen. So, how can we make the most of the time we have?

We can make the most of the time we have left on earth by making the most of our walk with God. Many people live carelessly not giving much thought about their relationship with God. One day we will all have to stand before the Creator of this universe.

The question that demands an answer is this: Will this God be your Heavenly Father who will receive you as a forgiven child? Or will this God be your Judge who will expel you to eternal punishment?

To make the most of your walk with God, it is essential that you know Christ as your Lord and Savior. Apart from Christ, there is no walk with God. Apart from Christ, there is no saving relationship with God. To the person who is outside of God’s saving grace, I urge you to go to Jesus. He is ready to receive you. I pray you will find Jesus to be your Savior this very day.

To the child of God, I urge you to make the most of your walk with the Lord! Do not be a careless Christian who lives day by day with no thought of a deeper walk with Christ. Do not settle for a “I know-nothing; I feel-nothing; I want-nothing; I desire-nothing.”

I would seriously question whether I was a believer if I did not want to know more about Christ. I would seriously question my salvation if I did not feel and sense God’s presence from time to time. It is not that our faith is based on feelings, but I should have some sense of God at work in my life. I would seriously question my salvation if I did not want anything at all from the Lord. I would seriously question where I stand with God if I did not desire anything of the Lord.

Psalm 1:1-6 (NKJV)
¹ Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
⁴ The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

In Psalm 1 we have a plea for a deeper, more solid, more productive walk with God.

The person who has a close walk with God is called Blessed!

So, how can we make the most of our walk with God? How can it become a blessed Walk?

To make the most of our walk with God, we will need to look carefully in three directions and answer three important questions.

 

1. LOOK AROUND. How are you being influenced? (vv.1,2)

There are only two possible ways we can be influenced. Either we are influenced by godly influence, or with ungodly influence. We need to look around and ask ourselves the question: How are we being influenced? We are surrounded by all kinds of influence. What are we allowing to influence us? To shape us? To mold us?

¹ Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

(a) The Ungodly Influence v.1 You don’t have to teach kids to be bad. They learn that quite well. We were by nature the children of wrath. We must be delivered from wrath. Thank God, in Christ, He has rescued us and made us a child of God. Yet, we must beware of ungodly influences. It gets worse and worse. Note the stages of ungodliness:

(1) Walking in the counsel of the ungodly. Walk speaks of the direction we are going. Turn from ungodly counsel. Don’t go in that direction. Some folks start each day by reading their horoscope. That’s the counsel they get each day. It’s ungodly counsel. Some people will consult some psychic they heard on TV. Some folks will listen to a “talk show” and get counsel on how to deal with everyday life. Some folks will buy a magazine just to read some ungodly counsel that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.

When we go in the direction of worldly wisdom, and forsaking godly wisdom, we are under ungodly influences. The next step is…

(2) Standing in the way of sinners. After we go in the direction of seeking advice from the ungodly, we move from consulting the ungodly to identifying with the ungodly. Standing speaks of how we are now identifying with the way of sinners.

We are not opposing their viewpoint; we are embracing what they say. At first, we walk to the ungodly to listen to what they say, now we don’t walk back to where we should be, we stand where they stand. We identify with their position. There’s only one position that’s worth having—-that’s God’s position. There’s only one viewpoint that’s worth having—that’s God’s viewpoint. Everything else must go to the TRASH CAN!!!

(3) Sitting in the seat of the scornful. Sitting speaks of a resting place. We have landed on a position that we feel very comfortable with. We first just walked around some ungodly counsel, then we began to stand around in ungodly counsel, and finally, we adopt it for our very own. We now sit down and take our seats.

We sit in the seat of the scornful. SCOFFERS! MOCKERS! We now embrace ungodliness and scoff and mock everything that is holy and godly.

We need to look around us and ask this question, how are we being influenced? Television has helped to make a nation of scoffers! Oh, but preacher, TV doesn’t influence me. Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn’t…. I do know this…. there are millions and millions of dollars spent on advertisements. Why? Advertising has an influence on what kind of cereal you eat, what kind of toothpaste you buy, and what kind of truck you will drive. We are influenced by what we see on television.

Look around…How are you being influenced?

 ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

(b) Godly Influence v.2

The Blessed Man…the Person who makes much of His Walk with God will surround himself with godly influence. He does that by…

1- Delighting in the Word of God. How do you come to delight in God’s Word? It is because there was a time when you found delight in Jesus. See 1 Peter 2:2,3 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” Your appetite for the Lord and His Word will become dull when you have tasted too much of this world. Get back in God’s Word and keep on allowing the Word of God to speak to you. Pray and ask the Lord to give you a hunger for His Word.

If we are to be exposed to godly influence, it will be found in the Bible.

2- Meditating on God’s Word.

It’s not enough to just read words from the Bible, there must be some passages that we allow to get into our thinking and shape our thoughts into the mind of Christ. I think of a verse in Romans…. Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect, will of God.” This is more than just reading casually through the Bible.

There are truths that must be internalized. There are some verses that must be memorized, or at least become so familiar that we know where they are in the Bible and we can say the verse almost word by word.

How can we stay clean while in a world that influences us in the wrong way? Meditate on this verse…. Psalm 119:9 “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

Meditate on this verse John 15:3 “Now are you clean through the word which I have spoken unto you”

John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth”

 

WE CAN MAKE THE MOST OF OUR WALK WITH GOD BY MAKING MUCH OF HIS WORD!

 

2. LOOK INSIDE. What are you becoming? Vv.3,4

³ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

How we are influenced will reflect in what we become in character.

Look Inside your heart. Look inside where you really live. Ask yourself, “What kind of person am I becoming?”

The person who delights in God’s Word, and He, or She meditates on God’s Word will become like a tree planted by the rivers of water. You have found the source of true happiness. You are refreshed and nourished. It shows. It shows in three ways:

 

1- Fruitful. Bringeth forth his fruit in his season. You will be a fruitful person. What is a fruitful person? John Piper describes them this way, “They are refreshing and nourishing to be around. You go away from them fed. You go away strengthened. You go away with your taste for spiritual things awakened. Their words are healing and convicting and encouraging and deepening and enlightening. Being around them is like a meal.”

2- Durable. His leaf also shall not wither. The hot winds may blow, and the rain does not fall, this person is planted by the rivers of water. He is planted in God’s Word and while other people are withering away, he remains nourished, strong, and vibrant in faith. Regardless of which way the winds blow, he is planted in the Word. He delights and meditates in the Word day and night. He is durable.

3—Prosperous. Whatsoever he does shall prosper.

Does that mean if you delight in God’s Word and meditate in God’s Word you will be like a tree….and you will prosper? Yes.

What about Psalm 34:19 many are the afflictions of the righteous…

You’ve got to see this one…Psalm 73:3 “for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked”

Psalm 73:12 “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.”

It looks like the wicked are the ones who are filthy rich. A good person is the one suffering.

But don’t forget Psalm 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

God gave the writer some insight. You haven’t seen their end.

Psalm 1:4 the ungodly are not so…the wind drives them away…. last 4 words of Psalm say the ungodly shall perish

In this world…. For the Believer…this is the only Hell you will see and experience. For the unbeliever. This is the only Heaven they will ever know…

⁴ The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

v.4 The ungodly are not so….

LOOK INSIDE…. WHAT ARE YOU BECOMING? Are you like a tree planted? Are you like the chaff that the wind blows away? You might fool people, but what’s inside will be revealed in a given time.

 

3. LOOK AHEAD. How will you be judged? Vv. 5,6

There is a destiny we will all be a part of. Up ahead…. judgment day is coming!

⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

(a) Will you be judged among the ungodly? The ungodly will not be able to stand on judgment day. V.5 The ungodly shall not stand They will not have a leg to stand on. They will not have an excuse to stand on. They have made all kinds of excuses why they can’t come to church; why they can’t be saved today; Excuses…Excuses…but on that day they will not be able to stand on any excuse. They won’t be able to stand on their own self-righteousness. They won’t be able to stand and look God in the eye.

In Heaven, there will only be one congregation. V.5 “The congregation of the righteous” There will be no sinners in that congregation. Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. There will be one pure, holy, godly congregation. The congregation of the redeemed; the congregation of those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb! A Holy Congregation! If I wasn’t in that congregation…I would do business today with the Lord!

Look Ahead——-How will you be judged?

⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

Jesus knows the way of the righteous. He knows His own. He knows their ways. It is the way of the cross. It is the way of repentance and faith in Christ. It is the ONLY way!

The ungodly have their own way. The way of their own. The way of doing as you please. The way of the world. The way of self-righteousness. The way of works. The way of man-made religion.

Look ahead…. how will you be judged?

Making the most of your walk with God….it begins with godly influences. Godly influence will result in what you become on the inside…godly character. Godly character is what God is looking for…He’s looking for His own. Ungodly ways will not stand on judgment day.

 

A certain courthouse in Ohio stands in a unique location. Raindrops that fall on the north side of the building go into Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while those falling on the south side go into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. At precisely the point of the peak of the roof, just a gentle puff of wind can determine the destiny of many raindrops. It will make a difference of more than 2,000 miles to their final destination. The spiritual application is clear. By the smallest deed or choice of words, we might set in motion influences that could change the course of others’ lives here and now and could also affect their eternal destiny.

 

– Charles Reade

In a British cemetery:

Pause my friend, as you walk by

As you are now, so once was I

As I am now so you will be

Prepare my friend, to follow me.

A visitor added,

To follow you is not my intent

Until I know which way you went!

Destiny is determined not by chances but by choices.

Making the Most of Your Benefits

Psalm 103

How can you make the most of the benefits God has given you?
1. Bless the Lord because of His benefits. (vv. 1-2a)
2. Remember and recount all His benefits. (vv.2b-5)
3. Meet the qualifications for God’s benefits (vv. 6-18)

How can you make the most of the benefits God has given you?

Psalm 103:1-22 (NKJV)
¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

1. Bless the Lord. (v.1) We can receive more of God’s blessings if we would learn to “Bless the Lord.”

Blessing the Lord means we bow the knee and give Him respect, the deepest of reverence, and utmost worship. We “bless the Lord.” Often, we read bumper stickers, “God Bless America”. God has certainly blessed America and continues day by day. We pray as we sing that patriotic song, “God Bless America.” The emphasis should be “America Bless God.”

The Psalm writer does not say, “Bless the nation, Oh my Lord.” But rather, “Bless the Lord, O my soul;” We can make the most of the benefits from the Lord when we make much of blessing the Lord.

1. Blessing the Lord begins with you personally. O, my soul. (v.1) If you are going to wait on the crowd to get all excited about blessing the Lord, you will be waiting a long time. We give God praise because of what He has done for us personally. Of course, we should be thankful for all the benefits God bestows upon others. It has greater meaning when we are personal recipients of God’s benefits.
2. Blessing the Lord demands whole-heart participation. (v.1) All that is within me. The Lord has provided us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. We are not short one blessing. We are not short one benefit. In Jesus God did not hold back His blessings. God gave us His All. Jesus suffered the full extent for the penalty of our sins. Jesus cried on the cross, It is finished! A full salvation, a full pardon was granted, a full atonement for sin. God did not hold back. This demands that we hold not back in giving praise to Christ. All that is within me, bless his holy name.
3. Blessing the Lord is done on holy ground. Bless his holy name. (v.1) There is no other One like our God. No one can equal His character, His person, and His ways. The angels mentioned in v.20 are the same holy beings who cry daily, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” from Isaiah 6:3

 

The angels in Revelation 15:4 “Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy.

The cherubim in Revelation 4:8 They do not rest day or night saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God, Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

His name speaks of His character. It speaks of all that He is. He alone is Omnipotent, which means all-powerful. He alone is Omniscient, which means, all-knowing. He alone is Omnipresent, which means all present. There is no one like the LORD JESUS CHRIST! HE ALONE IS HOLY.

We appropriately bless His holy name when we recognize His holiness. We are on holy ground. God told Moses at the fiery bush…the bush on fire, but it did not burn us. God spoke in an audible voice to Moses.

God said, “Moses, take off your shoes, the ground you walk is holy ground.” To make the most of our spiritual benefits, we are to Bless the Lord. A second way to make the most of God’s benefits is to remember what those benefits are.

² Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:

2. Remember All His Benefits. (v.2) We can make the most of God’s benefits when we recount what they are.

Jesus passed by a blind man and gave him sight. Jesus passed by a lame man and gave him feet to walk again. Jesus passed by the sick and gave them healing. Jesus passed by the hungry and gave them food. Jesus passes our way each day.

Do we take knowledge of the many benefits He provides?

We are guilty of forgetting the benefits as well as forgetting the One who sent them our way. The prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s people forgetting Who it was that has blessed them.

Isaiah 1:2-3 (NKJV) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: ” I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”

Hear, O heavens, and give ear O earth! For the Lord has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” We are guilty of forgetting the wonderful ways God has blessed us. God help us to not forget. What are some of His benefits?

³ Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,

a. Forgiveness (v.3) He forgives all your iniquities. Not just some of them, or many of them, but ALL of THEM!

This is at the top of the list. You can’t enjoy other benefits until you have known Christ. Who has forgiven you? In Jesus according to His Grace.

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace….

Who heals all your diseases,

b. Healing (v.3) With sin comes disease. There are many kinds of sicknesses. There is a sickness of the soul. When God forgives you, and saves you. He grants healing of the soul. God takes the sin-sick sinner and forgives, cleans, and heals his inner being.

What about the body? Jesus did not save our present body. He saved the person who lives in that body. The body we now have will be changed. Permanent Healing for the body will come when Jesus comes.

However, we can pray and ask for temporary healing in this life. In God’s wisdom and sovereignty, He will grant healing according to His purpose.

Some folks have tried to take this verse to force God to heal our bodies in every situation. If God did that, we would never die. There is healing for the body. In this life, its only temporary, but eternal healing of the body comes when we get our new, glorified body. When we leave this sin-sick world with all its corruption and all its diseases, you can say in that way, the Lord heals all your diseases.

⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

1. Redemption. (V.4) redeems your life from destruction (pit)

Redeems us. This speaks of a slave market. To set a slave free, you had to go to the slave market, and on the auction, block stood the slave. You pay the price. You redeem. You buy back his freedom. You redeem them and set them free.

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1Peter 1:18-19

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

d. we are crowned. (v.4) With lovingkindness and tender mercies. Jesus did not just set us free and leave us. He did not forgive us, and forget us. He favored us. He adorned us with His love and with His tender mercies. After the cross, Jesus was buried and then exalted and He has crowns to pass out. The crown of lovingkindness.

⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

e. He feeds us. (v.5) Satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

When Jesus suffered on the cross and gave all His blood and died such a cruel death, that was not the end. He came back. On that third day—Easter,

He came back to fellowship with His disciples.

After Easter, it was later that we read of Peter going fishing along with the other disciples and they spent the whole night casting their nets.

They caught nothing. The next day Jesus was on the shore, “Children, have you any food?” They answered him, “NO.” Jesus said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat.” They caught fish after fish…Peter counted 153 fish. Not small ones. They were large ones. Jesus had a fire on the shore. He said to bring the fish and then He said, “Come and Dine” NKJV “Come and eat breakfast. The most important meal of the day. They were about the miss the most important meal of the day, breakfast.

Early in the morning…Jesus FEEDS them. He fed them. He satisfies our mouths with good things. One of the great benefits is to get the DAILY BREAD of God’s Word and allow Jesus to feed us. That food is fuel for the soul. We are ready to fly like an eagle. We are ready to soar.

Let us review. Jesus died on the cross to provide us with forgiveness. In Christ we are forgiven, we experience healing because of Calvary.

Sin did its damage, but Jesus, the Great Physician, is our Healer. He redeems us. He does not forgive us and just leaves us in the pit. He picks us up. He redeems us. He buys us back to Himself. After Jesus paid all of this on the cross and after He was buried…God raised Him up and exalted Him back to the right hand of the Heavenly Father. Jesus is now Exalted. On His throne, He has many crowns. He now crowns us with the crown of lovingkindness and the crown of tender mercies. Because Jesus is on the throne, He sends back the Comforter the Holy Spirit. We are not left empty-handed. He feeds us with His Spirit. He feeds us with His Word. What Jesus feeds…is good things. So good, it gives us the energy to fly like an eagle. These are not all the benefits, but it sure is a good start.

What are the qualifications?

⁷ He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

A. You need to learn about God and His ways. You do that by reading scriptures. Hearing the truth of God’s Word. (v. 7) he made known His ways to Moses, and His acts to the children of Israel…) God responds to faith, but faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The Bible says, “How shall they believe in Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” We need to know something about this God who made planet Earth and all the universe.

⁶ The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.

We need to know according to v.6 God will execute righteousness…. One day He will make all things right. He will not forget those who are oppressed. God will not forget. The millions and millions of babies slaughter for convenience—God will not forget.

⁸ The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

We need to know according to v.8 God is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger, and when you are His forgiven child, He will not deal with you according to your sins.

⁹ He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

¹² As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Your sins were nailed to the Cross of Jesus. He took the punishment for your sins. (as far as the east is from the west)

You can go east forever, and you can go west forever, so that is how far He has removed our sins!!!

¹³ As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.

1. You need to come to personally trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Look at v.11 his mercy is for those who fear him. Look at v.13 His pity is for those who fear him.

 Your sins are gone, if you have trusted Jesus Christ. He deals with us as children.

¹⁴ For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.

He knows our weaknesses and our short time here on earth. (vv. 14-16)

¹⁷ But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,

Look at v.17 Mercy is for those who fear him. It is everlasting mercy.

When you come to Christ, you forsake all…and you submit to the Lord. You give Him your life. He is the One you serve.

You reverence Him. You fear him. Not the kind of fear where you are afraid to talk to God, …but it is a holy reverence. This comes into the heart of the child of God by the working of the Holy Spirit. It is the bowing of the knee.

Many people will not bow their heads and bow their knees to Christ, but one day the Bible says, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord… The evidence that a person is trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is obedience.

¹⁷ But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

They will want to do what the Lord says to do. See v.17-18 and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.

We will never be perfect in our obedience until Jesus comes and takes us to glory. But there will be a pattern of obedience that will be obvious. We stumble and sin, but we get on our faces because we fear him, we claim His forgiveness, and we get up and walk in obedience.

We keep his commandments. Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments. We are not saved by keeping commandments. We are saved by His mercy. The evidence that we are saved will be a life of obedience. The people of God receive God’s benefits.

How can you make the most of the benefits God has given you?

Once we have been saved, and we have met the qualifications for God’s benefits in our lives, we are not satisfied until all of God’s creation is under the umbrella of God’s blessings.

4. Spread the News of God’s benefits. (vv.19-22)

¹⁹ The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.

The Lord is on His throne. His kingdom rules over all. All His angels are under His rule. They do His Word. They Heed the voice of His Word. His angelic host are ministering servants.

²¹ Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.

They are called in v.21 “ministers of His.” They do His pleasure.

²² Bless the LORD, all His works, In all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!

In v.22 Bless the Lord, all His works. (All His creation) All God’s angels, All of the heavenly host day and night bless the Lord. They cry holy, holy, holy.

All of creation gives praise and say “Bless the Lord.”

Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people were saying, “Hosanna” hallelujah to Jesus. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

The religious leaders told Jesus that he should command his followers to be quiet. Jesus said, “If they don’t give praise, the rocks will cry out and give praise.” The mountains move at God’s presence.

To make the most of God’s benefits, we desire to see God’s dominion recognized all over the world.

We are happy to say “Bless the Lord.” We are happier when we see other folks say, “Bless the Lord.” When you see an entire family come to know God’s benefit of salvation, you will begin to hear “Bless the Lord.” The Lord is Great! The Lord is Good! Blessed be the name of the Lord.

I love to hear the name of the Lord blessed, don’t you? I am tired of hearing His name cursed! One day we will see as we pray the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come,” We pray for the coming of His kingdom.

What about you? Are you in His kingdom? Are you ready for His coming?

Why not give your life to Christ? Turn from your sins, and find forgiveness and then you will know all the wonderful benefits of the Lord.

 

Making the Most… Part 1

Making the Most of the Time We Have

Introduction to Psalm 90

This is the oldest Psalm, and it was the only one written by Moses.

Psalm 90 is Moses’ prayer to God asking for wisdom to make the most of his time on earth. A key verse might be verse 12. “So, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Moses lived to be 120 years old. It wasn’t until he was 80 years old, that God called him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses knew the value of making the most of his time left on earth. Moses valued God more than the riches of Egypt.

Hebrews 11:23-29 (NKJV)
²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

 

Moses prays this prayer “Lord, teach us to number our days, value our days, value the time we have left.”

 

Someone has illustrated time in this way. Suppose every day there was deposited in your bank account the amount of $86,400. There is this catch to it, what you do not use during the day, you lose. There is no forwarding balance carried to the next day. Each day you begin with $86,400. What would you do with it? Go on a spending spree every day?

We are given 86,400 seconds each day. Once the day is up, it is history. You cannot save it, it’s forever gone. It is foolish to squander and waste $86,400, and it is much more foolish to squander and waste 86,400 seconds. Not everyone would agree. Many people would say, money is more important than time. Many would say wasting money is foolish, but wasting time doesn’t matter. How about if you were given just a few months to live? What amount of money would a person give to have more time to live?

 

The Bible says, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37

 

When the twin towers were engulfed in flames on September 11th, money was not a major issue, the stock market was not a major issue. The major issue was time. Time meant everything. Time to get out of the building. Time to rescue as many as possible. When many were trapped and death was inevitable, then time to use a cell phone to say final words to loved ones.

 

Moses’ prayer is “God, teach us to make the most of our time remaining. Give us a heart of wisdom to do the right thing.”

 

We have a certain amount of time, so let’s make the most of the time we have. How can we do that? How can we make the most of time when it seems we don’t have enough time? How can we make the most of time when it seems useless because our time is taken up by other things beyond our control?

To help us learn how to make the most of our time I want to give you 3 things that we must remember, and then there are 2 ways to make the most of your time.

I. 3 Things That We Must Remember

1. Remember God is God, and We’re Not. (vv. 1-2)

Psalm 90:(NKJV)
¹ LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

He is our sanctuary. God has been that for all generations. People foolishly waste their time seeking for security, when God alone is our security. He is our protection and stability. Mountains are a favorite vacation spot for a lot of folks. They are really impressive. Mountains give an impression of strength, stability, and something that will last for a long time. In the Bible, we know there will be a day when all the mountains will be removed from their place. In the last days, men will run from the face of the Lord. They will run into the caves of mountains looking for protection.

² Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

We read that God was before the mountains. He created the mountains. True security is in God. God is more stable than a mountain. He will never change.

One Friday evening on the news was a story about a man in Sparta, TN who was cutting the grass with a riding mower. Suddenly, he along with the mower took about a 15-foot drop. A sinkhole suddenly appeared. There was water up to his head. He screamed for help, and thankfully neighbors helped to get him out of the hole. The ground we stand on is not that stable. We would be wise to find a place where the ground never shakes and gives way. God is our sanctuary. He is our dwelling place. To make the most of our time here on earth, we would be wise to find God to be our dwelling place. Jesus is our Rock. And upon that rock, even the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it.

2. Remember God is ETERNAL, and We’re Not. (vv.3-6)

³ You turn man to destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men.”
⁴ For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

We will be turned to dust or “destruction”.  Our bodies will be destroyed by decay. Our bodies are not eternal. Our earthly bodies have been decreed by God to return. Return to the ground from which it came.

A thousand years is but yesterday in God’s mind. A thousand years is like a few hours in the night.

A “watch in the night” is 4 hours. The night begins at 6 pm. And morning begins at 6 am. A total of 3 watches during the night.

2 Peter 3:8 “But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

God is not confined to time. He supersedes time. God is eternal.

⁵ You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
⁶ In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.

According to v.5, we eventually are swept away like a flood. It reminds me of the recent tsunami. In a matter of seconds, people were swept away out to sea. Our days are like a dream. We sleep and the dream is over. We are like grass that grows but soon it withers and is cut down.

APPLICATION: We can make the most of our days on earth if we will keep in mind that we are not eternal. We are not here forever. We have an expiration date. When that time comes, there’s nothing you can do to prolong it. You can’t dodge it. You can’t escape it. One day we will be cut down. One day we will wither away. The Bible says, It’s appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment…”

The old gospel songs says;

Life’s sinking sun, is sinking low, A few more days, and I must go.

God is ETERNAL, AND WE’RE NOT. MAKE THE MOST OF THE DAYS WE HAVE.

3. Remember God is Holy, and We’re not. (vv.7-12)

⁷ For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified.

V.7 speaks of the judgment on all humanity because of sin. God’s anger and wrath on sin is the reason we die. God told Adam “In the day that you eat of the forbidden fruit…will be the day you will die” Adam began to die physically. The Bible says;

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Bible says be sure of this, your sins will find you out…..finds us in death…

V.8 There is no sin hidden from God. We are sinfully and opposed to God’s holiness.

⁸ You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

V.9 NIV “All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.”

⁹ For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh.

¹⁰ The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

V.10 It doesn’t matter how strong you are, how positive you are, how determined you are because of sin we will die. God may give us 70 yrs. And if He gives more strength, we may reach beyond 80. There are more and more people living today to see even 100yrs old. Yet our days are of labor, and sorrow, and soon we are cut off and we will fly away.

¹¹ Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

V.11 We would make most of our time if we would see that sin is the reason for all the sorrow, suffering, and death in the world. We are wasting our time if we try to explain away all of life’s curses. To make the most of our time, we should recognize that God is a Holy God. Our response should be to fear Him, that is reverence Him, Respect Him, and Give Him the Respect and honor that Only He Deserves. Our days our spent foolishly if we ignore His Holiness.

 

¹² So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

V.12 We ask God to teach us to number our days. Teach us God to make the most of our days since we are only here for a brief time.

1. 2 Ways To Make The Most Of Your Time.

2. Since God is God, God is Eternal, and God is Holy, we must make the most of our Time for the rest of our lives.

(1) It must begin with a personal relationship with our Lord. (vv. 13-15)

¹³ Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants.
¹⁴ Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

V.13-14 we pray for His mercy. Where do you find God’s mercy?

There is one place. Jesus is our merciful, High Priest.

In Christ, we come to know the God of mercy. We come to know the God of all grace. Oh satisfy us early…that we may be glad all our days’ Time spent in this world will only bring grief and utter disappointment. People spend frivolous time on things that will perish. Time spent with Jesus will bring true satisfaction and gladness into our souls. In Christ, we find mercy, grace, and true satisfaction.

¹⁵ Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil.

Vv.15 God can make us glad. Chorus…He has made me glad, yes, he has made me glad….. Even though we will have days of sorrow…there will be sad days, there will be troublesome days, and there will be discouraging days, but our God will give gladness to those who know His mercy. Where do you find mercy? At the foot of the Cross! In Jesus we find mercy! You say it’s too late for me. I’ve spent up all my days, I’ve nothing to give to God.

Remember the thief on the cross. “Remember me, Lord, when you come in your kingdom…” Jesus said, “Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

A man was dying…and Jesus gave Him mercy.

Jesus gave Him eternal life beyond the grave. A bad man dying for his wicked deeds. Yet, he found mercy, he found forgiveness. God gave him gladness down in his soul.

2. To make the most of our Time for the rest of our lives.
(1) We must have a personal relationship with our Lord.

¹⁶ Let Your work appears to Your servants, And Your glory to their children.

(2) We must live for something big, something that will count for eternity.

Look at v.16 Thy work There is nothing bigger, or greater than God’s work!
Live for God’s Work!

Live for God’s glory!
Many people are living only for their own glory. What a waste! There is nothing bigger, nothing greater than God’s glory!

• · Nothing bigger than God’s work
  · Nothing bigger than God’s glory
  · Nothing bigger than God’s approval.

¹⁷ And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” Beauty of the Lord = God’s approval, delight, and favor You might get favorable approval from people, but that comes and goes. The main thing…is your life approved of God.

 

Live for HIS APPROVAL.

Live for something big! There is nothing bigger than God’s Work.

If we will line up with God’s work and get on with what God is doing then His work will also be our work. v.17 establish the work of our hands upon us.

Life is so meaningless, when we live only for our work, or for our glory, seeking the approval of others.

To make the most of your time.

Live for God!

For God’s glory, for God’s approval, and let His work become your work!!!!

Luke 12:16-21 (NKJV) ¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ ²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

What about you?

Are you making the most of your time for the Lord?

And as my Grandmother said every time we would part company;

“Live for Jesus.”

Next week Making the Most of Your Benefits, Psalm 103

 

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?

 

Intro: Though the word “rapture” is often used in theological discussions, it is never used in the Bible.

 

This does not mean, however that it is an unscriptural term, or that it should not be used.

 

In verse seventeen of our text, we find the words “caught up,” which mean “to snatch or catch away”

(W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, Vol. I, published by Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, New Jersey; pg. 174).

 

NT:726 harpazo (har-pad’-zo); from a derivative of NT:138; to sieze (in various applications):

KJV – catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

 

This is essentially the idea found in the Latin word “RAPTO,” from which we get our English word “rapture.”

 

The Latin word meant “to seize, to carry off”

(Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Ready, published by Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 89).

The Rapture may be a rather mysterious or vague event to many people.

However, the Scriptures conclusively points out the certainty of this event and those that follow it.

 

Though we are not told the exact time of the Rapture, we do know that it is the next great event on the eschatological agenda.

 

As certainly as you are sitting here this morning, the events which I have just read to you in First Thessalonians 4: 13-18 will take place.

 

My question and concern this morning, however, is not the certainty of the Rapture, but, “Are you ready for the Rapture?” and find comfort in the Rapture???

 

Saints and sinners alike must address this question.

 

I want to discuss some reasons why everyone needs to seriously consider this question today.

 

Theme: You must be ready for the Rapture because of:

 

1. THE SUDDENNESS OF THE RAPTURE

 

It Will Happen Without Signs.

 

“We’re not looking for signs were looking for a savior”

 

It will be without warning.

 

I Thess.5: 1 “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

 

NOTE: “The Day of the Lord” begins immediately at the Rapture of the Church.

 

This term is used to refer to that period of time beginning after the Rapture of the Church and ending with the creation of the new heavens and new earth after the Millennial Kingdom.

 

Its occurrence cannot be specifically fixed due to the fact that it follows the Rapture, which also cannot be specifically fixed as to its time of occurrence.

 

The signs of Matthew 24 are often applied wrongly.

 

1. The appearance of false Christs (Matt.24: 4-5).
2. Wars and rumors of wars (Matt.24: 6).
3. Famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in diverse places (Matt.24: 7).
4. The gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the world (Matt.24: 14).
5. The budding of the fig tree (Matt.24: 32).
6. The sign of the days of Noah (Matt.24: 37-41).

 

NOTE: [1] If you will carefully read Matthew 24: 3-35, you will find it describes the conditions during the Tribulation period. Matthew 24: 36-51 speaks of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.

[2] The gospel of Matthew was written primarily to the Jews so that they might understand that Jesus Christ was their promised Messiah and coming King.

All of the signs mentioned in Matthew 24 were given so the Jews would know when Messiah’s kingdom was about to be set up.

[3] There are no signs given in scripture concerning the Rapture of the Church. We are merely told to watch and wait for Jesus.

 

Heb.9: 28b So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.  KJV

 

I Thess.1: 10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

 

It Will Happen Speedily.

 

I Cor.15: 51 “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

 

NOTE: [1] Jesus could come today. He could come before you finish this message.

But the question is, “Are you ready for the Rapture?”

 

The Rapture will take place quickly and unexpectedly.

We need to be ready.

 

There’s a man in yonder glory I have loved for many years,

He has cleared my guilty conscience and has banished all my fears.

He is coming in a moment in the twinkling of an eye,

And no time will be allotted for you to utter one goodbye.

No time to kiss the husband or embrace the loving wife,

If they are but united in the bonds of holy life.

Are you ready, Christian, ready, for shout and trump and voice?

Will His coming make you tremble or cause you to rejoice?

Are you walking, talking with Him daily, taking Him your care,

Do you live so close to heaven that a breath would waft you there?

Quoted in Fairest of All, Herbert Lockyer, Eerdmans, 1936, p. 71.

 

THE SUBJECTS OF THE RAPTURE

The Believers In Christ Will Be Raptured.

v 15-17

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

The most grand and glorious moment in the life of a child of God is when he sees Jesus Christ. our last day on this earth shall be our greatest day- the day when we see our savior

 

1 Cor 15:51-58 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.  KJV

 

 

NOTE: Only believers, those who have given their hearts to Christ by faith, will be rapture. Here’s what I’m talking about:

 

Saving faith may thus be defined as a voluntary turning from all hope and grounds based on self merit, and assuming an attitude of expectancy toward God, trusting Him to do a perfect saving work based only on the merit of Christ.

L.S. Chafer, True Evangelism, p. 55-6.

 

1. The Believers In Christ Will Be Raptured.
2. The Bride Of Christ Will Be Raptured.

 

1. Paul likened the church at Corinth to a virgin engaged to her Lord.

 

II Cor.11: 2 “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

 

2. The Church will enjoy the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rev.19: 7 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”

 

In Ephesians, 5  Paul illustrates the relationship between Christ and the Church with the marital relationship between a husband and his wife.

 

[2] The book of Revelation places the Marriage of the Lamb between the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Millennial Kingdom.

 

3. The Church will not go through the Tribulation’s languishing.

 

I Thess.5: 9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rev.3: 10 “Because thou (church at Philadelphia) hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

 

 

III. THE SITUATION AFTER THE RAPTURE

1. The Judgment Of Saints Will Take Place.

 

The saints will be judged according to their works immediately after the Rapture.

II Cor.5: 10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, whether it be good or bad.”

 

2. This judgment will not determine salvation, but reward.

I Cor.3: 13 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.  14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”

 

3. Awareness of the coming Rapture should inspire Christians to live right.

I Thess.5: 6 “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”

 

NOTE: Knowing that the Rapture could take place at any moment is not cause to sit and wait, but to remain faithful to Christ.

 

During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives:

On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand.

Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said,

“The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment.

If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.”

Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we’re to be lights as we watch and wait.

Harry Heintz.

 

1. The Judgment Of Sinners Will Take Place.

 

Zeph.1: 14 “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”

 

Matt.24: 21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

 

NOTE: [1] Revelation 6-19 tells of the many horrors that will come upon the earth during the Tribulation.

 

Among those horrors mentioned are wars, famine, pestilence, persecution, and catastrophic convulsions of the earth. Tim LaHaye notes:

 

Considering together the Rapture, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the many judgments of God, and the martyrdom of the saints during the second half of the Tribulation, it is unlikely that half a billion people will still be living on the planet when Jesus Christ returns.

 

Probably billions will die of the plagues.

Others will die from wars, earthquakes, changes in nature, and the other judgments of God.

Unsanitary conditions will be everywhere during that time, doubtlessly exacerbating the many infectious diseases that already will be out of control.

Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Are We Living In The End Times?, published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 179.

 

[2] One of the specific purposes of the Tribulation period is the judgment of the nation of Israel.

 

The Old Testament refers to this period as a time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer.30:7).

Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. KJV

 

Before Christ returns to earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom at the end of the Tribulation,

Israel will finally realize that Jesus Christ was and is their Messiah.

The lost, Jews and Gentiles, will be forced to endure the Tribulation. Many will be saved during that time.

But countless millions will die in their sins without Christ.

Theme: You must be ready for the Rapture because of:

 

We have THE SUDDENNESS OF THE RAPTURE

and then THE SUBJECTS OF THE RAPTURE

and now;

III. THE SITUATION AFTER THE RAPTURE

 The Preparation for His Coming

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.   KJV

Comfort 18 NT:3870parakaleo (par-ak-al-eh’-o); from NT:3844 and NT:2564; to call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation):

KJV – beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort (-ation), intreat, pray.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

 

Rev 22:20-21  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. KJV

How Jesus Died for You

Yesterday we celebrated the Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ!

Below are facts on How Jesus Died for You. I do not think that we really understand how much Jesus did for us. Please share this post to spread the Good News of Jesus.

 

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300 BC, and perfected by the Romans in 100 BC.

 

1. It is the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term “excruciating.”

 

2. It was reserved primarily for the most vicious of male criminals.

 

3. Jesus was stripped naked and His clothing was divided by the Roman guards. This was in fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, “They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”

 

4. The Crucifixion of Jesus guaranteed a horrific, slow, painful death.

 

5. Jesus’ knees were flexed at about 45 degrees, and He was forced to bear His weight with the muscles of His thigh, which is not an anatomical position that is possible to maintain for more than a few minutes without a severe cramp in the muscles of the thigh and calf.

 

6. Jesus’ weight was borne on His feet, with nails driven through them. As the strength of the muscles of Jesus’ lower limbs tired, the weight of His body had to be transferred to His wrists, His arms, and His shoulders.

 

7. Within a few minutes of being placed on the Cross, Jesus’ shoulders were dislocated. Minutes later Jesus’ elbows and wrists became dislocated.

 

8. The result of these upper limb dislocations is that His arms were 9 inches longer than normal, as clearly shown on the Shroud.

 

9. In addition, prophecy was fulfilled in Psalm 22:14, “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint.”

 

10. After Jesus’ wrists, elbows, and shoulders were dislocated, the weight of His body on his upper limbs caused traction forces on the Pectoralis Major muscles of His chest wall.

 

11. These traction forces caused His rib cage to be pulled upwards and outwards, in a most unnatural state. His chest wall was permanently in a position of maximal respiratory inspiration. In order to exhale, Jesus was physiologically required to force His body.

 

12. In order to breathe out, Jesus had to push down on the nails in His feet to raise His body and allow His rib cage to move downwards and inwards to expire air from His lungs.

 

13. His lungs were in a resting position of constant maximum inspiration. Crucifixion is a medical catastrophe.

 

14. The problem was that Jesus could not easily push down on the nails in His feet because the muscles of His legs, bent at 45 degrees, were extremely fatigued, in the severe cramps, and in an anatomically compromised position.

 

15. Unlike all Hollywood movies about the Crucifixion, the victim was extremely active. The crucified victim was physiologically forced to move up and down the cross, a distance of about 12 inches, in order to breathe.

 

16. The process of respiration caused excruciating pain, mixed with the absolute terror of asphyxiation.

 

17. As the six hours of the Crucifixion wore on, Jesus was less and less able to bear His weight on His legs, as His thigh and calf muscles became increasingly exhausted. There was increasing dislocation of His wrists, elbows, and shoulders, and further elevation of His chest wall, making His breathing more and more difficult. Within minutes of crucifixion, Jesus became severely dyspneic (short of breath).

 

18. His movements up and down the Cross to breathe caused excruciating pain in His wrist, His feet, and His dislocated elbows and shoulders.

 

19. The movements became less frequent as Jesus became increasingly exhausted, but the terror of imminent death by asphyxiation forced Him to continue in His efforts to breathe.

 

20. Jesus’ lower limb muscles developed excruciating cramps from the effort of pushing down on His legs, to raise His body, so that He could breathe out, in their anatomically compromised position.

 

21. The pain from His two shattered median nerves in His wrists exploded with every movement.

 

22. Jesus was covered in blood and sweat.

 

23. The blood was a result of the Scourging that nearly killed Him, and the sweat was a result of His violent involuntary attempts effort to expire air from His lungs. Throughout all this, He was completely naked, and the leaders of the Jews, the crowds, and the thieves on both sides of Him were jeering, swearing, and laughing at Him. In addition, Jesus’ own mother was watching.

 

24. Physiologically, Jesus’ body was undergoing a series of catastrophic and terminal events.

 

25. Because Jesus could not maintain adequate ventilation of His lungs, He was now in a state of hypo-ventilation (inadequate ventilation).

 

26. His blood oxygen level began to fall, and He developed Hypoxia (low blood oxygen). In addition, because of His restricted respiratory movements, His blood carbon dioxide (CO2) level began to rise, a condition known as Hypercritical.

 

27. This rising CO2 level stimulated His heart to beat faster in order to increase the delivery of oxygen and the removal of CO2.

 

28. The Respiratory Center in Jesus’ brain sent urgent messages to his lungs to breathe faster, and Jesus began to pant.

 

29. Jesus’ physiological reflexes demanded that He took deeper breaths, and He involuntarily moved up and down the Cross much faster, despite the excruciating pain. The agonizing movements spontaneously started several times a minute, to the delight of the crowd who jeered Him, the Roman soldiers, and the Sanhedrin.

 

30. However, due to the nailing of Jesus to the Cross and His increasing exhaustion, He was unable to provide more oxygen to His oxygen-starved body.

 

31. The twin forces of Hypoxia (too little oxygen) and Hypercapnia (too much CO2) caused His heart to beat faster and faster, and Jesus developed Tachycardia.

 

32. Jesus’ heart beat faster and faster, and His pulse rate was probably about 220 beats/minute, the maximum normally sustainable.

 

33. Jesus had drunk nothing for 15 hours, since 6 pm the previous evening. Jesus had endured a scourging that nearly killed Him.

 

34. He was bleeding from all over His body following the Scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails in His wrists and feet, and the lacerations following His beatings and falls.

 

35. Jesus was already very dehydrated, and His blood pressure fell alarmingly.

 

36. His blood pressure was probably about 80/50.

 

37. He was in First Degree Shock, with Hypovolemia (low blood volume), Tachycardia (excessively fast Heart Rate), Tachypnoea (excessively fast Respiratory Rate), and Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

 

38. By about noon Jesus’ heart probably began to fail.
39. Jesus’ lungs probably began to fill up with Pulmonary Oedema.

 

40. This only served to exacerbate His breathing, which was already severely compromised.

 

41. Jesus was in Heart Failure and Respiratory Failure.

 

42. Jesus said, “I thirst” because His body was crying out for fluids.

 

43. Jesus was in desperate need of an intravenous infusion of blood and plasma to save His life

 

44. Jesus could not breathe properly and was slowly suffocating to death.

 

45. At this stage, Jesus probably developed a Hemopericardium.

 

46. Plasma and blood gathered in the space around His heart called the Pericardium.

 

47. This fluid around His heart caused Cardiac Tamponade (fluid around His heart, which prevented Jesus’ heart from beating properly).

 

48. Because of the increasing physiological demands on Jesus’ heart, and the advanced state of Hemopericardium, Jesus probably eventually sustained Cardiac Rupture. His heart literally burst. This was probably the cause of His death.

 

49. To slow the process of death the soldiers put a small wooden seat on the Cross, which would allow Jesus the “privilege” of bearing His weight on his sacrum.

 

50. The effect of this was that it could take up to nine days to die on a Cross.

 

51. When the Romans wanted to expedite death, they would simply break the legs of the victim, causing the victim to suffocate in a matter of minutes. This was called Crurifragium.

 

52. At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus said, “Tetelastai,” meaning, “It is finished.” At that moment, He gave up His Spirit, and He died.

 

53. When the soldiers came to Jesus to break His legs, He was already dead. Not a bone of His body was broken, in fulfillment of prophecy (above).

 

54. Jesus died after six hours of the most excruciating and terrifying torture ever invented.

 

55. Jesus died so that ordinary people like you and me could go to Heaven.

All He Asks You is to Love Him, Your Lord, Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind!! Can’t you even do this for Him?

The Last Words

The ending of Chapter 23 of “Something to Ponder” This day after Palm Sunday and as we go into Holy Week of the Passion of Christ, I what to take a look at the words of Jesus from the cross.

 

Please if you will just let me have the freedom to put what I see as what our Savior was saying from the cross in my words, I am not trying to put words in His mouth or to take away from the scripture in any way, I just want you to Ponder, please and just look through my eyes for a moment.

 

One:

Luke 23:33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” NKJV

Forgive who? The ones that put Him on the cross? The criminals on either side of Him?

Luke 23:32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.  NKJV

I believe that he was talking about all of us, I think he was saying “Abba, Daddy please forgive them for all their sins for this is the reason You sent Me for “not to condemn the world, but that the world through Me might be saved” for I am now taking their place.”

And at that moment all sin was paid for ALL everyone, from Adam to the last person to ever be born on this earth of ours, ALL. We just have to accept that Forgiveness.

 

Two:

Luke 23:39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”  NKJV

I now see Jesus looking at the lowest of low, they didn’t like to just crucify anyone, he had to be beyond forgiveness from a man because they would at that time just make slaves out of them, but this one man, this sorry good for nothing sinner in his last hours ask for, and accepted the forgiveness of Jesus, and as a result, I believe we all should hear the same words of Jesus say at the moment of our conversion, “No need to worry I assure you that one day you will be with me in Heaven”.

It does not matter how bad we think we are Christ will and has forgiven you.

 

Three:

John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”  27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.  NKJV

I now see Jesus looking down at his Mother and his young disciple John standing, and I am sure they were crying and in pain at what they are witnessing. And I am sure Mary did as we all do at those moments when we are losing someone to death, we remember times in the past. We see in Luke:

Luke 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

We see the angel say “highly favored one,” and “blessed are you among women!”

This is “highly favored and blessed”? Having to now see her son face Calvary’s Cross. And the story goes on:

 

29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  NKJV

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. NKJV

She knew that this child of hers is of God, and she knew that this was in some way Him doing His “Father’s business.”

As we see also in Luke:

Luke 2:41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; 44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”  50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. NKJV

Did you see that “His mother kept all these things in her heart”? She kept all this, that Jesus was the son of God, and He was about His Father’s business.

And then His disciple John, over and over said that he was the one that Jesus loved:

John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved…NKJV

John 20:2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved…NKJV

John 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” NKJV

John 21:20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following…NKJV

 

Remember he was one of “His favorites”. And if you will allow me to tell you what I hear in the verses of Jesus saying it is:

“Mother, look at John, (this student of mine that I know loves me, and that I love,) he will be taking care of you from now on”.

“John, look after Mother for me, (I know you love me, so take care of Mother)”. And then the Bible says “And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home”.

John took care of Her as if She was his own Mother.

 

Four:

Mark 15:33Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  NKJV

Every Easter I hear preachers preach and say how God turned His back on Jesus while on the cross because He is Holy and cannot look upon all that sin that He had to bear. I’m sorry but I can’t even a little except that. Yes, God is Holy, look with me back at the sinners in the Old Testament that God Himself promised He would never leave or Forsake.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” NKJV

Joshua 1:5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. NKJV

1 Samuel 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people. NKJV

1 Chronicles 28:20 And David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God — my God — will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD. NKJV

Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed. NKJV

Psalms 37:28 For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. NKJV

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ NKJV

Isaiah 41:17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. NKJV

And then the New Testament in Hebrews:

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” NKJV

Are you seeing this, that God looked at all these sinners and all the sin ever since Eve took that first bite of that fruit, until the last sin that will ever be committed? So, what makes people think that God will turn his back on His “Only Begotten Son”? Because of sin, again I just don’t buy it. The first thing Jesus said on the cross was “Father, forgive them” “Father” He is there with him, and the last thing He said was “Father, into Your hands” Again, “Father” are you understanding this, at what point did God leave, and at what point did God return? I believe that this was in reference to Psalms 22, at this time if you wanted someone to look at a Psalm, they would say the first few words of that Psalm. Like “Make a joyful noise” you would look up Psalms 100 so look with me if you will and notice the parts I underline:

The Suffering, Praise, and Posterity of the Messiah

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Deer of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David.

Psalms 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. 5 They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

6 But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. 10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God. 11 Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.

12 Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. 13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.

16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

19 But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!

20 Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.

21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen!  You have answered Me.

 

And now we see the Praise for delivering and rescuing Him did you catch that last part of verse 21 “You have answered Me”

and the chapter goes on.

 

22 I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. 23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.

25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. 26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!

27 All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.  28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s, And He rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

30 A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, 31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this. NKJV

 

Do you see all the references here to the crucifixion?  I believe that our Savior was just saying look up Psalms 22, a Psalm that was written a thousand years ago when David prophesied what I am going through right now.

 

Five:

John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”  29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

We look back at the first time Jesus asked for something to drink,

John 4:7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” …NKJV and then:

John 4:10 …you would have asked Him, (talking about Himself) and He would have given you living water.”  NKJV and He has Living Water:

John 4:14 …but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” NKJV

 

All through the crucifixion we see the humanity of Jesus. At any time, He could have claimed His Deity of the very Son of God. I remember a song that was sung a lot when I was growing up:

“He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels” by Ray Overholt:

 

They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he prayed

They led him thru the streets in shame

They spat upon the savior so pure and free from sin

They said, “crucify him: he’s to blame

He could have called ten thousand angels

To destroy the world and set him free

He could have called ten thousand angels

But he died alone, for you and me

Upon his precious head, they placed a crown of thorns

They laughed and said, “Behold the king”

They struck him, and they cursed him and mocked his holy name

All alone he suffered everything

When they nailed him to the cross, his mother stood nearby,

He said, “Woman, behold thy son!”

He cried, “I thirst for water,” but they gave him none to drink

Then the sinful work of man was done.

He was all Human and all God. So, then He had to come as a human because you cannot kill God. I love a quote I heard from Major Ian Thomas and it goes something like this “Jesus being God never ever acted more than being a man, and man being man never ever acts less than being God.” So yes, as the song says “He could have called ten thousand angels, to destroy the world and set him free He could have called ten thousand angels,” and I truly don’t want you to miss this “But he died alone, for you and me”.

 

Six:

John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.  NKJV

 

Back to “He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels” last verse:

To the howling mob he yielded: he did not for mercy cry

The cross of shame he took alone

And when he cried, “It’s finished,” he gave himself to die

Salvation’s wondrous plan was done.

 

Yes, “Salvation’s wondrous plan was done”. Jesus had completed all the prophecies in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before His birth.

The Prophecy: Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

The Fulfillment: John 1:10-11 says, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

The Prophecy: Psalm 41:9 says, “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”

The Fulfillment: Mark 14:10 says, “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.”

The Prophecy: Zechariah 11:12 says, “I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.”

The Fulfillment: Matthew 26:14-16 says, “Then one of the Twelve – the one called Judas Iscariot – went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.”

The Prophecy: Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

The Fulfillment: Mark 15:5 says, “But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.”

The Prophecy: Psalm 22:1-2 says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.”

The Fulfillment: Matthew 27:46 says, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ – which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'”

The Prophecy: Psalm 22:7-8 says, “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.'”

The Fulfillment: Matthew 27:41-44 says, “In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, I am the Son of God.’ In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.”

The Prophecy: Psalm 22:15 says, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”

The Fulfillment: Matthew 27:48 says, “Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.”

The Prophecy: Psalm 22:17-18 says, “I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

The Fulfillment: John 19:23 says, “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.”

When He said, “It is finished!” It was like an artist signing his portrait, it was finished and accomplished, but it was and is far from over.

Seven

Luke 23:44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.'” Having said this, He breathed His last. NKJV

I got this from an email Rethinking Jesus’ Words from The Hebrew Original

By Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg – February 1, 2018

“It makes perfect sense that Jesus would quote this particular psalm while hanging on a Roman cross.

We read these fitting words in Psalm 31:1-5

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

Turn your ear to me,

come quickly to my rescue;

Be my rock of refuge,

a strong fortress to save me.

Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,

for you are my refuge.

Into your hands I commit my spirit; (בְּיָדְךָ, אַפְקִיד רוּחִי)

deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

The Hebrew word translated, “I commit,” is “אַפְקִיד” (pronounced afkid). This word has a meaning that is much closer to “I deposit” – which necessarily signifies a future “reclaiming” of the thing deposited. A vivid image might be that of checking in a coat at theater or restaurant, or even money into the bank, with the definite intention of getting it back. While the English word “commit” can also be used to describe giving something with the purpose of claiming it back at some point in the future, it might just as well mean the giving of something without stating any clear intentions for the future. In Hebrew, on the other hand, the unequivocal meaning of this verse is the temporary submission of one’s spirit into the hands of God – giving it into “His custody,” with the definite intention of receiving it back.

This shows that if we take the time to compare the original verse Jesus was reciting from Hebrew, a simple, but significant insight into the words of Jesus on the cross will emerge. The words Jesus uttered were nothing less than a declaration of his great Israelite faith.  He was confident that as he deposited his soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father, he will surely get it back at his resurrection. What happened three days later proved that Jesus did not hope in vain”.

I think maybe, just maybe; God had His mighty hands out the whole time and then Jesus said “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.'” And then just maybe God said something like this “I’m right here I haven’t gone anywhere, I’m not going to leave you, I love you”, and into The Fathers hands he accepted His Spirit and then

“Having said this, He breathed His last”.

But thank God it was not over;

Luke 24:2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them,

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen!

 Remember how He spoke to you when He was still 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.'” NKJV    

Are You Really Living?

 

Jesus as an example of how to live the abundant Christian life.

 

John 17:1-26 (NKJV)

He prayed for Himself:

¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

 

He prayed for His disciples:

 

⁹ I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. ¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Then He prayed for Us.

 

²⁰  “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

 

INTRODUCTION: I would like to begin today by asking you a question. Are you living or existing?

You see there is a difference.

The vast majority of people on earth today are existing.

They are waking up in the morning, going to work or school, keeping house, whatever the case may be.

They are going about their business but they have no real sense of purpose in their lives.

Their happiness and fulfilment in life depends largely on their circumstances or their achievements.

If they were completely honest with themselves, they would have to admit that inside they are empty.

That is existing.

Christ came however that we might have life and have it more abundant. If we are going to experience this kind of real life, we must look to Jesus the source of life.

 

In John 17 Jesus is at the end of his life. He is facing the cross. He uttered these words on his way to Gethsemane. This chapter is known as the High Priestly prayer of Jesus. In this first verse Jesus begins to look to God as he faces his hour of darkness. In this text we see how Jesus lived.

 

READ v1

John 17 ¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  

 

I asked the question, “are you living or just existing?” The answer to that question can be determined by three questions based on our text.

 

1. ARE YOU LIVING WITH A DEPENDENCE ON THE FATHER

As Jesus entered his hour of trial the bible says, “He lifted up his eyes to Heaven and said, “Father”. Jesus didn’t look at his outward circumstances and try to figure a way out. He didn’t even look inward for answers, even though he was the Son of God. He looked upward to Heaven, to the one He knew as His Father.

 

Jesus lived with complete dependence, not on his own person, or his own humanity, but complete trust and dependence on the Father.

 

One of the most eye-opening verses I have ever read is John 5:30

 

John 5:30 (NKJV) I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

 

There Jesus says, “I can of myself do nothing”.

Every person Jesus ever healed when he was on the earth,

every sermon he ever preached,

every temptation he ever overcame,

he did it not by trusting in who he was as the Son of God,

but by depending on the Fathers strength and guidance.

 

If Jesus who is God’s Son could “Of himself do nothing” how much more can we of ourselves do nothing”.

 

The problem with many Christians today and churches is that we are depending primarily on our own natural abilities, our reasoning abilities, our talents, our education, our financial resources to accomplish God’s work.

 

And we of ourselves are doing nothing.

We are existing by and large completely in the natural. But when we live with this dependence upon God that Jesus lived with, the natural begins to give way to the supernatural and God begins to work.

 

John 17 ¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  

 

I read all of the texts where the bible says Jesus “lifted up his eyes”.

One time he lifted up his eyes to God and he stuck his fingers in a deaf man’s ears and the man received his hearing.

 

On another occasion he lifted up his eyes in dependence upon God and thanked God and called Lazarus forth from the grave.

On another occasion he lifted up his eyes to God and took two small fishes and five loaves and fed thousands of people.

The life that is lived in dependence upon God experiences the supernatural power of God.

 

Can you say this about your life.

I’m not asking if you have healed anyone lately or turned water into wine.

I am asking if you can look at your life and say God gave me victory over this temptation,

Only God could have done it,

God had his hand upon me and touched the lives of others and I know it was God that did it.

Can we say this about our church.

We forfeit God’s power when we substitute dependence upon Him with dependence upon ourselves, other people, or other resources.

 

One of the Popes invited a theologian to the Vatican. Sitting amongst all the treasures of the church the Pope said, “the church can no longer say silver and gold have I none”. To that the theologian replied sadly, “yes but neither can she say in the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise and walk.”

We must take our eyes off of the natural, off of that which can be seen, and lift our eyes in faith to Heaven.

Jesus lived with a dependence upon the Father. The second question we might ask to ascertain whether or not we are Living is:

II. DO YOU LIVE WITH A SENSE OF DIVINE DESTINY

 

John 17 ¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  

Jesus said, “the hour is come”.

This is an interesting phrase that Jesus uses in this gospel. At the beginning of his ministry at a wedding feast his mother wanted him to show himself as the Messiah and he said, “my hour has not yet come”.

 

On another occasion his brothers urged him to go to the feast of tabernacles if he was really who he thought he was and show himself as messiah.

 

He said then, “my time is not yet come.”

What was Jesus’ time, his hour?

It was his hour to be glorified and to glorify God.

 

What Mary and Jesus’ brothers did not know was that Jesus would be glorified and would glorify God through a bloody cross and the resurrection.

 

But Jesus knew.

He knew that he had come for the purpose of dying for the sins of the world. He had a sense of purpose of destiny, and everything that he did and said led to that moment, that hour.

And now the hour had come. Jesus’ life was one of direction, and purpose, and divine destiny.

One of the most miserable ways to live is to live aimlessly without real ultimate purpose, not really knowing ultimately why we are here.

 

One of the greatest things that happened to me when God really began to move in my life in my early twenties was that all of a sudden, I began to have purpose in my life.

Before life was just about getting a good job, trying to achieve, to feel good about myself, just existing, drifting.

God wants all of us to live with a sense of divine destiny.

Why are you here?

Why are you a member of your Church?

Because your family belongs here, great.

But God has a greater purpose for you in the body of Christ.

He wants to use you.

He has a niche for you in His body. He has given you a gift, a divine ability to carry out the purpose that He has for your life.

I have talked to many who do not believe they have a spiritual gift, but that’s not what the bible says. “Each one has been given a manifestation of the Spirit”.

 

Romans 12:1-21 (NKJV)
¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy (dissimulation KJV). Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

dissimulation = hide something by pretense: to disguise or hide true feelings, thoughts, or intentions
¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

²¹  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

I believe that if a person will honestly ask God to show him or her what His purpose is for him or her in the body of Christ, and how He’s gifted them,

 

He will be faithful to reveal that to them. It may require you to step out in faith and try something you’ve never done before. It may stretch you, it may cause you to risk failure. But God will be faithful. He will show you. The truth is, He is more interested in revealing your purpose in His body than you and I are in knowing it.

I’ll never forget my first preaching experience….  I was told “Do you have butterflies they will turn to crocodiles.” And they did.

I dreaded it for weeks.

It was terrifying.

When I got up and began to preach, and I knew.

I felt I was born for it.

I wanted to stay there, to live in that experience.

God confirmed to me what his plan was for my life and he will for you as well if you do not already know.

Jesus lived with a sense of divine destiny. Do you? The third and final question we might ask to determine whether or not we are really living is:

III. ARE YOU LIVING WITH A DESIRE TO GLORIFY GOD

John 17 ¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  

As he faced the cross Jesus prayed, “glorify Your Son that Your Son also may glorify You.” Jesus’ overarching desire in life and in death was to glorify the Father.

 

The word glory has two primary meanings that are inter related.

First it refers to a manifestation of God’s presence.

Second, it means to give praise or honor.

Jesus experienced both. In his life he revealed the presence of God.

He was the image of the unseen God.

When people saw Him, they saw the Father.

But his desire was that through the glory the Father gave to Him,

He might use it to bring praise and honor to the Father. Even in death he sought the glory of the Father, or shall I say especially through death.

Look at what is going on around the world…  The clerk in jail… ISIS killing Christians.

The desire to glorify God can be costly but it is very liberating. The opposite of the desire to glorify God is selfishness.

The selfish life is a miserable life.

Things won’t always go our way, circumstances of life will assuredly change, people don’t always treat us as we think we should be treated and this make us miserable if we are primarily living for self.

But when we can honestly say, “Lord no matter what happens to me, whether I live or die, whether I am treated fairly or unfairly, whether I endure affliction or comfort, Lord you be glorified in it”, when this is our desire, we are free of the misery of selfishness.

Job 13:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵ Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
¹⁶ He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him.

This is what Jesus means when he says, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Conclusion.

Are you living or existing?

Are you living with a dependence on the Father?

Are you Living with a Sense of destiny?

Are you living with a desire to glorify the Lord?

Wait Training Part 2

Psalm 27:1-14 (NKJV)
¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
² When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.
⁵ For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹² Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

 

 

1. We saw His Desperate Condition, in part 1 and now we see:
2. His Determined Choice
   Notice David’s conclusion ¹⁴Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

It’s like David is saying, “Try this…it worked for me when I was in a desperate situation and it will work for you.”

Notice the process by which David came to this conclusion: we will approach the verse in reverse order.

A. Seeing
¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

1. Seeing is believing…. believing is seeing.
   2. David’s faith helped him to see past his present situation and look to his powerful Savior.

Michael Youssef:

Faith is not believing in spite of the evidence

Faith is obeying in spite of the consequence.

3. To wait upon God means to expect from God. A real “waiting meeting” according to Scripture is an expectation meeting. It implies dependence.
   4. “I would have quit if not for my faith…I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
   5. “Heaven is a long way off…. I need some help from God now.”
   6. Psalms 62:5 – My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

expectation = literally, a cord (as an attachment – expectation = hope,  thing that I long for.

1. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   ⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
   ⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
   
   What to do when waiting? You pray, He Prayed for three things:
   1.) Presence of God
   ⁹Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
   ¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
   
   2.) Path Of God
   ¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
   
   3.) Protection Of God
   ¹²Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
   
   Proverbs 20:22 (NKJV) Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

Psalm 37:34 (NKJV) Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

He prayed for the Presence of God, The Path of God, and the Protection of God.

Lamentations 3:24-26 (NKJV) “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
²⁶ It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

1. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   C. Singing
   ⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Acts 16:25-26 (NKJV) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Praise + Prayer = POWER

1. Our attitude is important as we wait on God.
   2. As we see His promised help and we seek His powerful hand…it should inspire us to sing praises to His holiness!

   D. Silence
   ⁵For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

2. It is as if in some great trial or pressure he had found great comfort in prayer and had encouraged his heart in the hope of God’s help; then in quiet faith casts himself upon God.
   2. Prayer has been made and now the soul is hushed and, bowing in silence (in faith) it waits before God.
   3. Prayers are needed. They are the winged messengers to carry the need to God. But it is in the silent hour before Him, quietly waiting in His presence that the miracle is wrought.
   4. When you are hiding, you do not make any noise…you are completely silent.
   5. We do the praying but not the waiting. Let us not be afraid to be silent before Him thinking it is wasted time. He does not want us to be all the time talking–telling Him so many things about which He already knows more than we do. Time is needed today for proper adjustment to Him, our vision properly focused, our hearts hushed, and minds subdued.

Lamentations 3:26 (NKJV) It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

1. Seeing
   B. Supplication
   C. Singing
   D. Silence
   E. Serving

⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.

1. Another meaning of wait, is to serve, or minister…
2. As we wait on God, He puts a desire in our hearts to serve Him.
3. David’s desire was to just be in the house of God and serve the Lord.

F. Success
1. His Triumph
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

2. His Testimony
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

“Wait”
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said,
“Child, you must wait.”
“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened?
Or have You not heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and
YOU tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ’yes’,
A go-ahead sign,
Or even a ’no’ to which I can resign.
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
“I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!”
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate. As my Master replied once again,
“You must wait.”
So, I slumped in my chair,
Defeated and taut and grumbled to God,
“So, I’m waiting… for what?”
He seemed, then, to kneel,
And His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said,
“I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens,
And darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, And
Cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want –
But you would never know Me.
You would not know the depth of My love for a Saint;
You’d not know the power that I give to the Faint;
You’d not learn to see through the clouds of Despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m There;
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could See.
You’d never experience that fullness of Love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a Dove;
You’d know that I give and I save… for a Start
But You’d not know the depth of the beat of My Heart.
The glow of My comfort late into the Night,
The faith that I give when you walk without Sight,
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you Asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
You’d never know should your pain quickly Flee,
What it means that ’My Grace is sufficient for Thee.’
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come True,
But, Oh the loss! If I lost what I’m doing in You!
So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will See
The greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly Late,
My most precious answer of all is still, ’Wait’.”

Such wonderful blessings hang upon this one condition–to wait. Do we wait?
Are we willing to trust God to work out our troubles or will we continue to trust ourselves and make a mess?

Tony Evans “storms in the night thru the valley of death when we get in his presence the circumstances do not change but we do.

Perhaps today you find yourself Waiting for God …ready to throw in the towel…do not give up now!

Job 42:1-6 (NKJV) Then Job answered the LORD and said:
² “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
⁴ Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
⁵ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
⁶ Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

When you wait on The Lord, you will see Him as never before and it is well worth it. God Bless and have a great week in the Lord’s presences.

Wait Training Part 1

Psalms 27 A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

PRAY God lead you through this sermon.

Title Of Message – Waiting for God

How are you with patience? Is patience difficult for you? We must learn the art of patience if we truly want to enjoy life. It seems that there is always something we are waiting for:
Is your prayer Lord I need patience and I need them now?

We wait on traffic and we wait in lines at stores, restaurants, and even to go to the restroom.

We wait to hear about a job.
We wait while an automated voice goes through 1,000 options on the phone.
We wait to complete school then we wait to retire.
We wait to grow up.
We wait for a decision to be made.
Wait…wait…wait!
We cannot escape the web of waiting!

Because of this, Patience is an essential quality of a happy life.

Patience is a virtue,
Possess it if you can.
Found seldom in a woman,
Never in a man.

Every day presents plenty of opportunities for this.

Many of can relate with the great New England preacher Phillips Brooks. He was noted for his poise and quiet manner. At times, however, even he suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One day a friend saw him feverishly pacing the floor like a caged lion. “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked. “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

The Bible speaks often about the importance of waiting on God:

Psalms 25:5 – Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Psalms 37:7 – Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
9 – For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Psalms 40:1 – I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

Psalms 62:1 – Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Psalms 123:2 – Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

Psalms 130:5 – I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
or Ps 55:6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.

Micah 7:7 – Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 – And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

What does it mean to wait on God?
G. Campbell Morgan
“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means

First, be active under command;

Second, be ready for any new command that may come;

Third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.

The Hebrew word translated “waiting” . . . has likeness with a word that means “to entrench.” God works for him that entrenches himself in Him. The idea of waiting for God here is that of digging ourselves in to God.

Waiting for God, then, means power to do nothing save under command. This is not lack of power to do anything.

Waiting for God needs strength rather than weakness. It is the power to do nothing. It is the strength that holds strength in check. It is the strength that prevents the blundering activity which is entirely false and will make the true activity impossible when the definite command comes.

Waiting is far more difficult than working. . .. Waiting requires strength. It demands absolute surrender of the life to God, the confession that we are at the end of our own understanding of things, the confession that we really do not see our way and do not know the way. The waiting that says: “Until God shall speak, we dare not move and will not move, we will not be seduced from our resolution to wait”; requires strength” (The Westminster Pulpit, vol. ix, pp. 318-323).

There are times when the only hope we have, the only solution to our situation, the only cure for our condition…is to wait on God.

In Psalm 27, David was facing a situation that we can identify with:

I. His Desperation Condition

1. 
   Fear

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

1. Foes

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

1. Fight

3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

1. Failure

9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

1. Forsaken

10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

[When my father and my mother forsake me] Or, more literally, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me; but the Lord hath gathered me up.” My parents were my protectors for a time; but the Lord has been my Protector always. There is no time in which I do not fall under his merciful regards.

1. False Statements

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

 

1. Faint 13 I had fainted…

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

We find here a man at the end of his rope…he is give out and almost ready to give up.