Come Let Us Magnify the Lord Together

Come Let Us Magnify the Lord Together 

Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

·        I’ve read this verse or heard it possibly hundreds of times, but now it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time “all over again with my heart.” I must connect my heart to this truth! Please listen with your heart today!

·        The great question for all of us is; who is this God that created everything?  Can I personally know Him?

·        This is a question that demands an answer because the “God of creation” created everything with a purpose. I will never understand my own purpose, until I know Him who is behind this.

·        Let your heart attach to this: our God is like a fountain from which all things flow. Without Him there is nothing; no time, no space, no stars, no galaxies…no life. Yes, even all life comes from Him. He is the life-giver.

·        He is infinitely powerful, infinitely present, infinitely knowing, infinitely merciful, loving, kind, and infinitely filled with grace, and He is good, all the time.

·        My perception of who God is will determine my fellowship with Him, and determine the destiny of my life.

Romans 1:20-21: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

·        Our society has left the research of creation to scientists.  

·        The evidence should lead us directly to God; His fingerprints are all over creation.  But unfortunately most scientists don’t want to know God. Therefore they ignore the truth that is clearly seen.

·        Here’s why: if they acknowledged God as the Creator, they would have to glorify Him as God, repent…and be thankful!

·        The result is a darkened heart that cannot see God, even in nature. They cannot look up at the Milky Way and see the majesty and the splendor that leads us to the truth of Him who is described for us in His Word.

·        They can never find their true purpose, they cannot see the Light. Therefore they will wander in the dark… into oblivion.

Colossians 1:15-17: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

·        There is nothing that exists, that was not created by Him. This is not only too big for my mind, but it’s too wonderful, too. I can be like a child and delight these truths without analyzing them in my mind.

·        These verses tell us that in Him all things consist. He is holding all things together, even at the sub-atomic level!

·        He is before all things; He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is Creator, He is not the created.

·        Unfortunately, our only perspective comes from being a creature, or a created thing. He is the Uncreated One.

·        The creatures cannot understand how something always was, is, and always will be. Since we are time bound, we have difficulty understanding that which is not. We ask questions like, “Who created God?” because our minds are so limited!

·        I am so thankful that God put skin on and dwelt among us so that we could touch Him, see Him, and know Him. We have Jesus, who created all things, and from whom all things were created, and for whom all things were created.

·        There it is: I was created for Him! My heart attaches to this wonderful news.

Revelation 4:11(KJV) Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

·        Why did God create us? We were “created” for His pleasure!  There is my purpose… that is why I was created.

·        When He made the universe, He did what pleased Himself, and since God is perfect, His actions were perfect. He does things that are good…because He is good!

·        God didn’t create us because He needed us. Our infinite God needs nothing, He’s lacking nothing. He wasn’t lonely, so He wasn’t looking for a “friend.” He loves us, but this is not the same as needing us.

·        Being made in the image and likeness of God, He created us for His pleasure and so that we, as His creation, would have the pleasure of knowing Him and fellowshipping with Him! It’s His pleasure to fellowship with you! 

·        Let your heart attach to that!

Psalm 34:1-3: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

·        David had a sweet fellowship with the Lord and he has many things to teach us. The Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart; therefore David’s heart was pleasing to God. Our hearts should also be pleasing to God.

·        David begins this Psalm by saying he will bless the Lord all the time, and praising the Lord with His mouth.

·        The Lord knows our thoughts, but our thankfulness is not to be a silent thing. We praise the Lord with our lips not just for our benefit but for others also.

·        David is a “boaster,” but not about himself, David boasted about His God. Others heard it and it was contagious!

·        We must understand this about our nature…we can ignite what we’re focused on in others, good or bad!

·        David encourages the people to “magnify” the Lord with him! And they did!

To “magnify” is to make something bigger, whether in size or in significance.

·        We cannot make God bigger than He is, but we are to make Him bigger in our perception of Him.

·        If my God is someone that I can understand, He is too small for me to worship. Too many people have a small perception of Him.  They have a small God because their hearts are attached to other things.

·        The more I magnify Him…the more my heart attaches to Him and my fellowship increases!

·        We began our service with magnifying the Lord with music and praise. All speaking from our mouths!

·        I am magnifying the Lord with this message from my mouth.

·        We should be hearing messages that are larger than the messenger. Let’s see this play out practically.

Acts 19:11-20: Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,  so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”  Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

·        Paul knew Jesus, His relationship was intimate. Miracles are the natural result of having our hearts attached to God in fellowship.

·        Paul magnified the Lord in his thoughts, words, and deeds. Paul was “connected” to the Lord. Paul knew His God was good and called on His God to do great things and the result was that many people magnified the Lord.

·        These Jewish priests didn’t know Jesus. They only knew about Jesus. Their information was second hand. In court this would be called hearsay, and would be inadmissible evidence.

·        Therefore when these Jewish priests tried to cast out an evil spirit with the name they didn’t know, it was a disaster for them.

·        I believe we are all in debt to Paul… his faith and his life not only affected the people of Ephesus, but our lives as well.

·        Paul also shows me that if I am consistently magnifying the Lord in His majesty, glory, honor and power… I will believe the Lord will do great exploits in my life and through my life.

·        If I am magnifying the Lord in my life I am able to believe for impossible things and the result will be that my life will have meaning when it’s all finished, and I will hear, “God job, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”

Luke 1:46-49: And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.

·        Mary understood it, she was just a “lowly maidservant” but her God was great. She magnified the Lord.

·        The more I magnify the Lord, the more I minimize myself and His grace flows in my life. God was the biggest thing in her life and all nations would call her blessed.

·        Mary magnified the Lord, and after she died, her actions changed the lives of countless people… and they are in her debt today.

·        David magnified the Lord and served his generation of his people and fell asleep. We are still blessed by his psalms and the stories of his life. Our lives are better because of his life.

·        John and Charles Wesley were in debt to their mother and father, and their nurse; all people of strong faith.

·        They went on to change the world. You can hardly attend a church service without singing one of their hymns. I believe the church today is in great debt to the Wesley brothers, but they just magnified the Lord.

Hebrews 11:32-35: And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

Hebrews 11:36-38: Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

Hebrews 11:39-40:  And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

·        These saints in the “great hall of faith” didn’t have the promise of the Holy Spirit as we have… yet they changed their world.

·        These people were “servants of the Lord,” because they had a proper perception of who their Lord is. Maybe they couldn’t fully comprehend their God any more than we can, but they magnified Him in their circumstances.

·        Too many Christians today are just religious sponges, they only absorb without giving back. However the Lord wants us to serve, to do things for others, to put others in our debt!

·         As we magnify the Lord we minimize ourselves, this is a good picture of being crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I, but Christ living in me… all for His glory. Oh, come magnify the Lord with me! Let us exalt His name together.

The Everlasting Way

The Everlasting Way 

Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

·        David had decided he wanted to be led by God in His ways, and he was willing to make some changes in his life. He knew his issues were “heart issues,” so David asked God to reveal any areas of his heart that were not pleasing to Him.

·        There are things in our lives that we have attached our hearts to and we need to let go of them, we must detach our hearts from worldly things if we want a “relationship with God.”

·        Living in the world we use our minds/heads, but to be in relationship with the Lord we need to learn to use our hearts.

·        He is not hiding from us! He wants to lead us deep into this relationship… but we have to do things His way!

·        We do not need to complicate it. You do not need a self-help book, the Bible tells us everything we need to know.

·        His grace towards us is greater than we can ever imagine.  It’s amazing.

·        So how do we have this “fellowship” with God? Where does it begin? 

2 Corinthians 5:20-21: Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

·        First things first, it begins with us reconciled back to God. We were rebellious sinners, we were enemies of God, we were at war with God in our rebellion, and we needed to surrender our lives to Him in reconciliation…on His terms!

·        We do not set the terms; He does not meet us halfway. It’s His way or there is no way.

·        And this reconciliation can only happen through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is truth.

·        First our sins need to be atoned for. Payment needed to be made, restitution… so forgiveness for sin could be made. This is what Jesus did for us on the cross, since there’s no forgiveness of sin without the “payment” of blood.

·        Second There needs to be justification. Our God is a Holy God, and our God is a “Just God.” After we have been cleansed in the blood, legally… in spiritual terms, we need to be made “righteous” to come into His presence.

·        Therefore through the finished work of the cross, we were given the “gift of righteousness.”

·        Third There needs to be “regeneration.” Everything that Jesus did on the cross would be of no use in our relationship with God unless our “nature” was changed. This is our “born again” moment. We need a “new birth” from the Holy Spirit-- in our spirit-- so we can become “partakers of His divine nature.”

·        Paul uses the term, “metamorphosis.” The same term used when a caterpillar become a butterfly. The worm’s nature has changed; it can never go back to being a worm. It is no longer earthbound, but can soar above the world…heavenward bound.

·        It’s important that we understand this can only happen through His grace:

Romans 5:19-21: For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

·        What God is… He is without limit. If you are thinking of a limit, you are not thinking about our God. No human can comprehend infinity; you must use your faith, and believe it with your heart.

·        If you have a medicine that has no limit to cure a disease, which has a limit, then you know that disease will be cured. When the limitless grace of God attacks the limits of sin in a man, you know that sin has no chance. This is what happened to your sin and this is what happened to my sin.

·        When God says, “much more” and adds the word “abound,” its infinite, its beyond our ability to imagine, so the only thing we can do is believe it in our heart and magnify this truth in your life and your heart will follow!

·        Now that we have been reconciled to Him… we may come into fellowship with Him. And this must also be done on His terms! 

1 John 4:12-13: No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

·        This truth is important to our relationship with our God. We can have fellowship with Him because He is with us; in us.

·        I’ve often heard in prayer meetings or church services, “Oh Lord come into our presence, come near to us Lord.” Unfortunately many Christians still think He is far away. Maybe if we pray hard enough, or get a prayer chain going, we can get His attention.

·        God is as close to you right now as He will ever be. His is “omnipresent.”

·        In His infinite attributes He is present everywhere. God has no limitations, and this is hard for us to understand with the limitations of our minds. No matter what you are doing or where you are…God is there.

·        Unfortunately many Christians want to “feel” their connection with God; therefore they do not believe that He is near so they are often trying to get His attention. Maybe it’s His day off, or He’s off helping someone else.

·        Elijah, had the same issues. Only after all the other noises were gone was he able to hear the “still small voice.” Our trouble is we don’t get still enough to hear that “still small voice.” The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

1 John 1:2-6: The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

·        In order to have fellowship with Him-- none of His terms are negotiable.

·        Too many Christians are trying to have a relationship with Him like they have with one another, and it will never work. My relationship with others is based on me being physically there, but His manifest Presence is different.

·        My problem is I’m using my mind and my experiences with other people… to try to have a relationship with my God, and it is not really based on what He has revealed to us in His word.

·        We may have head knowledge… but we have no heart knowledge. Only our heart can experience Him.  This is where our joy becomes full!

·        John tells us something important: If we walk in darkness we will not be in fellowship with Him. This spoils the relationship. If there’s sin in our lives, let go of it so your joy may become full! 

John 6:63,66-68:  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

·        I have discovered that when I am in the Word of God, I will experience the Living Word… if I learn to read with my heart.

·        If I have not experienced the Living Word then I have not really read the Bible… I’ve only read it with my head.

·        The Bible is not like any other book, when I read it I am entering into a place where God desires to reveal Himself to me. As I get into the Word of God… the Light of the Holy Spirit begins to reveal God to me in my heart.

·        The great secret of the Christian life is to begin experiencing God as he has led me to experience Him… in everlasting ways.

·        It is His great pleasure to reveal Himself to me in His Word.

·        As I get to know Him, I begin to recognize and experience Him within me.

·        My desire for more of Him is kindled like a flame of fire, and I experience Him in fellowship that goes beyond head knowledge, it is something that becomes difficult to explain with ordinary words. He is more than we can ever explain. 

Colossians 3:1-3: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

·        We should not be seeking the things of this world, but set our hearts and our desires on the things above. Otherwise my heart is divided, and I cannot have the world and the Lord, too. And Once again I will not hear that still small voice in my heart.

·        Worship is not about singing a few songs on Sunday, but reproducing that worship throughout the week so that our worship becomes everyday experience, or it’s not true worship and we do not understand who God really is.

·        When our heart worship becomes daily (magnifying Him throughout our day), our fellowship with God grows day by day, and the Holy Spirit unfolds the true joy that is available to us when we worship in spirit and in truth…daily.

·        And we are transformed, more and more into His image.

·        The more I become like Jesus the more I become “intimate with Him.”

·        Those things that are not like Him in my life need to be crucified… they need to die, or they will come back again.

·        There’s nothing in the “world” that can help us find a deeper relationship with our God. Therefore we must turn our backs on the world and walk in the way of the cross. Whatever it costs is worth the fellowship on this side of glory.

·        It’s this simple; I must magnify everything of God in my life… and minimize everything of the world. 

Matthew 16:24: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

A young man came to an old saint and asked, “What does it mean to be crucified with Christ?” After thinking a moment the old saint said, “To be crucified with Christ means three things:

1.     The man who is crucified is facing only one direction. You cannot turn around and see what’s going on behind you. You stopped looking back, and forget about those things that lay behind… and look straight ahead, and that is the direction of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the direction of sanctification and the Spirit filled life.

2.     One more thing about the crucified man is he’s not going back. He doesn’t say to his wife, “Goodbye, honey, I’ll see you after 5:00.” He’s not coming back. When you die on a cross, you say goodbye to the things of this world, we are to longer make accommodation with the things and people we used to abide with.

3.     Another thing about the man who picks up his cross, he no longer has plans of his own. Someone has made his plans for him. On his way to the top of the hill, he doesn’t see John along the way and say, “See you next Saturday John, and we’ll go hunting together. He’s finished; he’s going out to die.

·         It’s a beautiful thing to say, “Lord, not my will, but yours be done. What would you have me to do, Lord?”

Sermon Notes: The Glory of the Lord

The Glory of the Lord 

Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

·        If you want to see God, you must use your heart, your mind cannot help you.

·        All of us that are seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord come to the point where we say, like Moses, “Lord, please show me your glory.”

·        We all long for the day that we will see Him face to face… but we should also desire more of His Presence now. 

·        There are truths that can help us enter into to His Presence more effectively.

·        Isaiah had such an experience:

Isaiah 6:1-3: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

·        There is a throne in heaven, and the LORD God sits upon it as the ruler of the universe! The throne was exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple with glory and majesty.

·        Surrounding the throne of God are angels known here as seraphim, literally means “burning ones.”

·        The seraphim are not even speaking to the LORD God here. They are proclaiming His glorious nature and character to “one another,” in the presence of the LORD.

·        Their existence was to give praise and worship and honor of the LORD God who is enthroned in heaven.

·        What could we possibly do that is a higher calling than that?

·        Shouldn’t we sing with the same passion, the same heart, the same intensity?

·        Do those angels have more to thank and praise God for than we do? To say, holy, holy, holy is the LORD is to praise His holiness in the highest possible truth. The whole earth is full of His glory.

·        They sang so powerfully the doorposts were shaken!

Isaiah 6:4-5: And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!

Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King,

The Lord of hosts.”

·        When Isaiah saw the angels praising God, he realized not only that he was unlike the Lord GOD; he was also unlike the angels… he knew what kind of man he was.

·        Isaiah saw his sinfulness primarily from what comes from his mouth, his lips.  “I am undone” is not a bad place to be.

·        I need to be undone so I can be put together again by the Lord, so I can praise Him with my mouth and my lips the way I should.

·        Now let’s see the earthly Temple in Jerusalem, shortly before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.

Ezekiel 11:21-23: But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. 22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.

·        The glory of the Lord left the Temple in Jerusalem.

·        The people were doing detestable and disgusting things, and the Presence of the Spirit of the Lord departed. First to the Mount of Olives, and then up into heaven.

·        The Shekinah Glory of the Lord had been the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day through the desert for the Jewish people… but now had left them because of their desire for detestable things and their abominations.

·        I wonder if the people even knew He had departed?

·        Did they ever sense His presence at all? Or were they just going along with their religious duties, content with their church going, their traditions, and their holidays.

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.”

·        We have a different New Covenant reality, than those who were under the Old Covenant, “He will never leave us or forsake us.”

·        We will always have His Presence as our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

·        He doesn’t come and go as we make mistakes. Hallelujah!

·        However, it is essential here to recognize that our “perception of Him and of His Presence” should be the defining characteristic in the lives of the New Covenant Christian, yet so many do not “know” this Presence of God as their reality…partly because their concept of our God… is not worthy of our God.

·        In many ways we can be similar to those religious Jews who did not even know that the Glory of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, had even left the Temple because they had no “experience with the Presence.”

Ephesians 4:29-30: Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

·        Paul echoes the unclean lips. Here, Paul tells us do not “grieve the Holy Spirit.”

·        I believe that one of the characteristics of the modern American Church, is the lack of the “fear of the Lord” and the casualness of our relationship to the Lord.

·        I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lord showed up, that someone would slap Him on the back and call Him, “Bud.” His Presence is not the defining characteristic of their lives, or they would not be so casual.

·        They come to church and are in a hurry to get back to their worldly lives, so therefore their God is just a caricature of their own lives…and that God is not worthy of our worship. We should refuse to worship anything of our own making.

v Everything we do in some ways reflects our perception of our God, therefore our perception should be worthy of our God and that perception should reflect the truth revealed to us about our God in the Word.

·        But if our perception of our God is based on the truth of the Word… we will worship Him in truth.

·        Even though He is far above my ability to conceive of His glory and majesty, the Word tells me that I can know Him by faith, not by my intellect.

·        Your intellect can help you know about God, but it cannot bring you into a personal relationship with God. Only faith can bring us into a personal “encounter” with God, and can lift us above our “clouds of unknowing.”

John 4:22-24: You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

·        I believe that only “worship in truth” for who He truly is, can lead us into an authentic relationship with our Lord…because worship keeps us in proper perspective to our Lord. He’s God, I’m not!

·        Jesus is speaking to a gentile woman, a non-Jew, by Jacob’s well. He says, “You worship what you do not know.”  

·        The Islamists, the Hindus, and all the other pagans worship their idols with a complete reverence, but the Christians in America today seem to lack the kind of worship that the Father is seeking, and I believe that it grieves the Holy Spirit… and keeps us from really “knowing and experiencing our God.”

·        Not actually knowing our God will lead us into “misunderstanding our existence” and we will inevitably seek purpose from the world…outside of God.

·        Knowing Him transcends all human reasoning, and it will illuminate your way and cause you to walk in His glorious light. Let’s learn more from Jesus:

John 14:6-10:   “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

·        Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me: This means that Philip had been close to Jesus yet still did not understand Him. The same is possible and true for many today.

·        It’s difficult for us to “know God.” So God came down as a man so we could know Him, because He wants to be known on a deeply personal basis. This is fundamental to our faith.

·        But I don’t know where I’m going or my purpose, or even how to get to the Father. Jesus is the way.

·        If I get confused along the way and I don’t know what to think. Jesus is the truth.

·        If I wonder about life and death.  Jesus is the life.

·        Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. We can know God because Jesus is God…and through the cross He invites us in. Everything else is a deception.

John 1:14:  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

·        This is the truth we celebrate at Christmas; let us come to Him and adore Him and worship Him in spirit and truth. This is truly Joy to the world, our Emmanuel (God with us) has come!

Sermon Notes: Rest From Our Burdens

 Rest From Our Burdens

Matthew 5:3-5: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

·        The greatest sermon ever given was Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus describes what the new “kingdom of heaven dwellers” would look like…we still need to know these things today. Jesus begins with the beatitudes.

·        This is should “be our attitudes” …if we are kingdom dwellers.

·        If you took the beatitudes and turned them “upside down and inside out”, you would have a perfect description of the human race, because the “sons of Adam” are the exact opposite of the beatitudes.

·        Instead of poverty of spirit we find pride.  

·        Instead of mourners for sin, we find pleasure seekers.

·        Instead of meekness, we find arrogance.  

·        Instead of hunger after righteousness, we find hunger after money and power.

·        Instead of mercy, we find cruelty.

·        Instead of purity of heart we find corrupt imaginations of worldly lusts.

·        Instead of rejoicing in mistreatment, we find infighting and character assassination.

·        The culture, education, literature, entertainment, and atmosphere of this world are filled with “all kinds of evils” that make life worse for all of us.

·        Our imaginations, greed, pride and arrogance are the sources of more human pain than all the diseases of the world. All of our heartaches and many of our physical ills come directly the sins that so easily affect us.

·        When Jesus spoke these things to us…they were wonderful and strange.

·        There had never been any words like them because they were words from above. He is not offering an opinion; His words were direct from the Godhead. His words are truth.

·        He could only say, ‘blessed’ with complete authority, because He is the Blessed One come from above… He is the blessing to mankind.

·        As is so often true with Jesus…He used the word “meek” in the beatitudes but didn’t explain it until later on. He tells us more about it and explains how it applies to our lives.

Matthew 11:28-30: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle (meek) and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

·        We have two things here that are in contrast with each other; burden and rest.

·        The whole human race bears its “burdens.” Even with extreme wealth we cannot escape our burdens. Burdens are felt by rich as well as the poor.

·        The burdens borne by mankind are heavy and crushing in weight, they are exhausting.

·        Rest is simply “release from our burdens.” Rest is not something “we do” but what we receive when we cease to “do.” His “meekness” is that rest… it is the opposite of “pride or self-trust.”

·        We have the burden of pride or the labor of self-love. It’s a heavy one.

·        Think of when someone speaks ill of you, as long as you set yourself up as your own little god, you must defend yourself and protect yourself from the bad opinions, criticisms, and attacks from friends, acquaintances, and enemies.

·        This burden is not necessary to bear.

·        Jesus calls us to His rest, and “meekness” is His method.

·        The meek man doesn’t care who is greater than him, or what others say; he decided long ago that personal self-esteem and esteem of the world is not worth the effort.

·        This “meekness” is not being like a little mouse concerned with his own inferiority, but instead is not fooled about himself and has accepted God’s decisions about his life.

·        He knows that in himself he is nothing; but in God he has everything.

·        He knows the world will never see him as God sees him so he has stopped caring, stopped defending himself.

·        He has found peace with meekness.

·        He knows that someday, His Lord will sort everything out, and is willing to wait for that day.

Matthew 18:2-4: Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

·        Little children don’t compare, they get enjoyment from what they have without relating it to someone else. Later on… sin stirs jealousy and envy and they are unable to enjoy things if someone has something bigger or better. This then never leaves them until Jesus sets them free.

·        I don’t believe children pretend to be someone else unless adults teach them this game. This continues in our lives because we’ve learned how to pretend to be someone else other than who they are.

·        There is the burden of pretending…or pretense

·        This is not being a hypocrite, it’s trying to put our best foot forward.

·        We try to lipstick on for a first impression. It’s the fear of being found out for who we really are. We try to keep up with the Joneses. We so often want to one-up someone else, whether its our appearance, job, or education.

·        We are afraid that people will see into the poverty of our soul.  Advertising is based on things we can buy that will shine us up on the outside, but protect us on the inside.

·        In a very real way, we are still a captive to sin’s nature. We are constantly trying to please men or please our “self,” this is deeply implanted within us… its natural to us!

Exodus 3:8; 8:1: So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”

·        God never leads us out of something without leading us into something new, something better.

·        He wants a full deliverance for sin’s captives, never a partial deliverance.

·        We His need supernatural power for deliverance.

·        Our God, who in His gospel, proclaims men to be free, by the power of the gospel makes them free!

·        To accept less than this is to know the gospel in word only and but not in its power.

·        He leads us from slavery to freedom so that our life’s motives are changed and inwardly we are made new.

·        The little taskmasters in Egypt oppressing the Jews were nothing in comparison to the taskmaster of self, (our selfish nature) and its constant desire for approval.

·        The ways of this world and its desires are constantly bringing “self” back to being a friend of this world.

·        But we must see it for what it really is: its being a collaborator with evil and the enemy of God.

Galatians 5:24-25:  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

·        Paul had come to the conclusion, that in him (that is his flesh) no good dwells. He distrusts self.

·        He found that to the extent that someone trusts himself he will distrust God.

·        Paul saw himself clearly and came to the only conclusion… his selfish nature would never set him free.

·        Self loves itself, the world, and the things in it bring it pleasure. Self is never content but always wants more. Self will always want to compromise with the world. (just a little bit won’t hurt)

·        Only a supernatural act from God could ever set him free.

·        As we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, asking Him for sanctification and consecration, He will lead us to the cross. All things in your life will begin to work for your good, but dying to self is never easy.

·        Paul is telling us to the key to the crucified life, turn away from self and turn towards Jesus, and let the Spirit do the rest. We can turn from the world and turn to Jesus all in one act.

·        We must have the revelation, that our pleasure source must be God… not self.

Philippians 4:11-13: Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

·        Here’s what the crucified life looks like, always content…because it does not seek fulfillment in worldly things but only finds contentment in Jesus.

·        It’s been said that the wealthiest man in the world is he who is content with what he has.

John 15:1-5: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 

·        Jesus says we have been made clean… being made clean is wonderful, but there’s so much more.

·        Now we’re going to need some pruning. Pruning is a cutting and breaking process.

·        It isn’t pleasant for the tree or vine.

·        It probably hurts, it bleeds some sap… but is necessary for the vine to be fruitful. The tree would probably prefer to grow without the process of pruning. But it would become unfruitful for the tree’s owner.

·        Maybe its like surgery, there need to be some pain to remove the tumor, does that mean we should shy away from the process? Not if we want to become fruitful to our owner.

·        Jesus says I got nothing in myself unless I’m attached to the vine, stay attached, live attached… rest attached.

·        This is wonderful, just stay attached… and He does the work.

·        Are you ready for some pruning?

Sermon Notes: Crucified with Love

Crucified with Love 

Galatians 2:20:  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

·        We have been on a journey to go deeper into our walk with Jesus. The goal is to become a follower of the Lord and be more like Him. I believe that there are steps we can take that will help along the way.

·        What use is it to the average Christian if he feels that following Jesus is too hard?

·        It’s been said that it’s impossible to follow Him! Well that is true in the sense that we cannot do it in our own strength, we must allow the Holy Spirit to do His work, this work… within us.

·        Paul gives us some critical information in his letter to the Galatians; he says he’s been crucified with Christ!

·        His old man and old ways of doing things are dead to him and this new “Christ life” is living inside of him. He’s put off the old and put on the new… he’s now living his new life fully. Unfortunately the “old man” does not go easily.

·        Hmmm, still very difficult to understand because it seems easier to say than to do! Ok, you’re right let’s look deeper into this verse because there’s more…there’s a key that we need. It’s right there!

·        “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

·        This new life is a “crucified life,” and I can only live it by “faith” knowing that Jesus loves me and gave Himself for me.

·        If I’m going to be crucified with Christ then there’s going to be some suffering to “self” in the process. But know that it is a “grace process.”

·        Self doesn’t want to be “denied” anything,

·        Self wants to be comfortable,

·        Self wants to be exalted and complimented,

·        Self wants to be strong, do things its way.

·        Self is selfish!

·        It’s important to understand that the cross in Christianity was not just for Jesus, it’s for us too.

·        Therefore this process is for me because the Holy Spirit is doing this in me because He loves me!

·        I was CREATED to be loved by Him-- I am empowered by His love!

Galatians 3:1-2: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

·        The “legalist Jews” telling the Christians in Galatia that under the Law of Moses for God, they were to “earn and deserve” God’s love and blessing.

·        Paul points to the cross of Christ, the cross is the evidence that they were loved, (don’t have to wonder about it), and it’s not because of the things they did…but for the things Christ did for them.

·        We begin our new life by grace; we need to continue our new life in grace. This is a New Covenant life in the Spirit, not an Old Covenant life under the Law of Moses.

·        The “old” was a life based on good deeds or works, it was a self-righteous life.

·        The “new” is a life based on His finished work and His love for us.

Galatians 5:4-6: You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

·        The letter to the Galatians is about Moses’ law (doing things in your own strength) versus grace (letting power of the Holy Spirit work within you).

·        Paul says that the only way to stop grace working in us is by trying to “earn blessings” in your own might…he calls this “falling from grace.” Grace is above the law!

·        You are not mighty or strong… so you “might as well” come to this conclusion!

·        BUT… He is mighty within you by faith when you focus on His love for you.

·        He loves you so much He died for you! He will never stop loving you for all eternity. His love is unconditional. His love is perfect love. His love empowers you!

·        He will never leave you or forsake you as others have done. His love is all you need. You were created to be loved…by Him. So quit looking for love in all the wrong places!

Galatians 5:16-18: I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

·        Paul calls this “crucified life,” walking in the Spirit.

·        The Holy Spirit’s job is applying the cross to our flesh (our selfish old man). He does this by allowing trials and storms in your life.

·        Our fleshly “self” will rebel against Spirit working in us… that’s why we need to stay in faith working through love! Storms are going to come, one way or the other…expect it!

·        The key to storms is finding Jesus in the boat with you! He never leaves you…because He loves you!

Luke 9:23-24:  Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

·        Jesus tells us the “only way,” if we want to follow Him we must do what he did.

·        Self is the leftover part of you from your sin nature…it’s got to go.

·        You aren’t called to  be nailed to a cross like He was…at least I hope not, but we are called to daily pick up our own cross to deny our lustful selves. If you really want to live this Christian life, there is no other way.

·        There’s no shortcut.  There’s no having the world and eternal life. There’s no such thing as the deeper crucified life, and the worldly selfish life mixed. It will just make you lukewarm. It will make you useless and miserable.

·        There are difficult times coming if you want to follow Jesus, so you better learn this before you whine and complain and wonder where God is in the middle of your trials.

·        Jesus is calling us to go all in! Let’s see this in Jesus’ life.

Matthew 4:16-17: When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

·        Jesus began His ministry by being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father expressing His love and approval for Him.

·        Jesus would soon be tempted by the devil and the devil would question Him.

·        “If you are the Son of God…” The enemy will always tempt us in this area of being a child of God, therefore, making us question if we are loved. He did the same to Jesus, so he’ll do the same to you, because faith works through love!

·        The world will always try to get you to settle for something other than the love of God… the love of men, the love of the crowd, or romantic love. These will always fall short, cause disappointment, and fade away.

·        These are the wrong places to look for the love that changes you from the inside out.

2 Peter 1:16-18: For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

·        Peter is writing from prison, about to be executed on a cross, upside down, and he describes what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration.

·        He saw the majesty and glory of the Lord. But he also heard the voice from heaven telling Jesus again, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

·        Jesus was going to descend from this mountain and go to His death on a cross and take the sin of the world upon Himself.

·        The Father told Him again, He was loved and He was pleasing to the Father. It’s what Jesus needed to know… to continue His journey to the cross… so you need to know it too. I believe Peter was reminding himself of the Father’s love, too!

·        So therefore, it’s what you need to constantly remind yourself as you pick up your cross to follow Him.

Ephesians 3:16-19: that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

·        Paul tells the Ephesians that his hope for them is that God would “grant them” (grace) to be strengthened with the might of the Spirit—to be bold and not lose heart—in their inner man (the new man) so they would not fall away when things get difficult.

·        He says that we can be “rooted and grounded.”

·        The picture is of a great tree with deep roots so when the storms come they will not easily be blown over. It’s His love that roots us and grounds us.

·        His love is so far beyond our ability to understand—that we can only comprehend it through experience. This is the “knowing” Paul is talking about.

·        I must move “from knowing about” Christ’s love for me to actually experiencing it.

·        I can read about it, I can hear about it, but that will not strengthen me with might in my inner man.

·        I must move into the “intimate knowledge,” because it is only there that I get filled up with ALL the fullness of God.

·        I must move beyond not feeling worthy of His love.

·        I must move beyond my failures in love.

·        I must move beyond the things that have been done to me.

·        I must move beyond looking for love everywhere else.

·        I can come to Him and He will grant this “knowing that surpasses knowledge” but I must set aside all my previous disappointments and look to the cross ONLY to have the evidence that can move me into “knowing.”

·        If I don’t come to this “knowing His love” I will never be able to love others with His love.

·        His love can so “fill me up” that my cup “runneth over” to everyone I meet.

·        Then I can let go of my bitterness and unforgiveness.

·        I can let go of all the toxic experiences and emotions that so easily bind me to them.

·         I can finally be free.

Bible Study: Revelation Timeline

Revelation Overview 

The Book of Revelation is about the revealing of Jesus Christ in His second coming…and is told from different perspectives, just as the four gospels are told from four perspectives of His first coming. Revelation is a timeline record of events from start to finish. Therefore, many traditional “timeline” commentaries of the Book make it difficult to understand. We must see Revelation differently, not as one timeline but as multiple timelines happening concurrently (same time). 

There are four sevens that are significant in Revelation; seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls (vials). Seven is the number of perfection or completion, and at the end of each of these sevens is the completion of the coming of Jesus again, the rapture of the Church, and the wrath of God in the battle of Armageddon. The message for us is this; He is coming again, and we are to be ready! 

Revelation 1-3: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” 

• Chapters 1-3 are the things that are and have been seen. These were messages to the seven churches that existed in John’s time in which he was the overseer after his release from the Island of Patmos. These messages were typically for John’s time. These churches no longer exist in western Turkey, there are just ruins today.

Revelation 4-5: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this. Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”

• This begins the prophetic portion where John is brought to heaven and shown “things which are still to come.” Some think that this the rapture of the church before the Tribulation period begins; let’s assume it’s not, but it’s where John is shown the fulfillment of the ends of the ages and the return of Jesus Christ to earth.

Revelation 6:1: Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.”

• This begins one of the timelines, before the Tribulation period when the seals are opened. The horsemen are released. Zechariah sees them as horses pulling chariots, and the angel tells him that these are spirits.

• This is the longest timeline that stretches from the dark ages 500-600 AD (future in John’s time) and ends with, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Armageddon) 

Revelation 7:3-4: “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.

• The 144,000 are sealed. Perhaps this is happening simultaneously when the Antichrist seals his with the mark in the beginning of Great Tribulation 

Revelation 8:2:  And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

• Just as we’ve seen that the seven seals are the “long” story… the seven trumpets are the “medium” story. Possibly beginning in WWI and ending in Armageddon in Chapter 11. 

Revelation 9:15: ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.”

• The Euphrates River war, or possibly WWIII. 

Revelation 10:1: I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 

• Revelation 10 is a “parenthetical” chapter much like seven, where we are given additional insight into what’s going on in heaven or on earth just before Armageddon. These are opportunities to zoom in for more info.

• A great angel, probably Michael (Daniel 12), prepares for the battle and the end. The focus turns directly to Israel.

• 10:7: but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. 

Revelation 11:1-3: Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

• This chapter focuses on the beginning of the Great Tribulation (1260 days) and ends with the last trumpet (seventh) and Armageddon. “And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.” 

Revelation 12:7:  And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon.

• The war in heaven looks to take place at the point of the abomination of desolation, where the Antichrist takes power. The devil is cast down and in His wrath he persecutes God’s elect. 

Revelation 13:1: Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 

• Chapter 13 focuses on the antichrist and his false prophet and the number of the beast. Both are “beasts” as pictured in this chapter. 

Revelation 14:9: Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God.

• The 144 thousand mentioned before are here with Jesus as the “first fruits” unto God. The first fruits are the fruits of a crop which become ripe early in the season and are gathered prior to the “main” harvest.

• The Lord reaps His harvest of His elect. Then there is another angel who thrusts in another sickle and casts the vine of the earth into the winepress of the wrath of God. 

Revelation 15-16:1: Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”

• The bowls are the final and shortest of our timelines and take place over a matter of days or months in the end of the Great Tribulation. We saw in Revelation 12 that the last 3.5 years are the wrath of Satan while he is confined to the earth is where he persecutes God's people.

• This is the wrath of God against those who hate God. The saints will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord in the air at the sound of the Seventh Trumpet (1 Thess 4:16-17, 1 Cor 15:52).

Revelation 17-18: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

• Chapters 17-18 are more parenthetical chapters, not in sequence of the timeline, giving us more information about the whore of Babylon, or the apostate church. 

Revelation 19:11: Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

• Jesus comes back to earth, after the marriage supper of the Lamb and the pouring of the bowls, destroys the armies of the nations at Armageddon, and throws the Antichrist and the False Prophet into the lake of fire. 

Revelation 20:4: And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years 

• The people who died during the tribulation were raised at the first resurrection.  This is one of the places that gives us explicit information on the timing of the Rapture. It's definitely at the end of the reign of the Antichrist.

• At the end of the Millenial Reign the devil is release for a short time, influences another battle and is defeated forever.

• Then the Great White Throne judgement 

Revelation 21:1 & 22: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

• God creates a new heaven and new earth and there will be no more sorrow or pain of any kind!  We will drink freely of the water of life and will dwell with God forever!

Bible Study: The Psalm 83 War

Psalm 83 War

Daniel 9:27: Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.

• Daniel tells us that the Tribulation period will begin with an Israeli peace agreement. The Antichrist will have be responsible for this agreement. Therefore there must be a war that Israel is involved in to bring a peace treaty.

• The peace treaty confirms the covenant that God made with Abraham giving the land to his descendants forever. Let’s look at the borders of the land that was promised to Abraham’s descendants. 

Genesis 15:18-21: On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—  the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,  the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

• The Promised Land includes part of Egypt from the Nile River to the Euphrates River in Syrai and Iraq. 

Deuteronomy 11:24:  Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. 

• The Land also includes what is now Lebanon and probably Jordan.

• Is this God’s plan for Israel to take the land that God promised to them before the Tribulation?

Matthew 24:6-8:  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

• Jesus tells us that these last days will be filled with war. He was speaking directly to His Jewish disciples therefore we can assume these wars will involve Israel among others.

• Israel is currently fighting a war with Hamas that is unlike its other wars. If this war spreads to include ten groups of Arab Islamists then this could be the Psalm 83 War. 

Psalms 83:1-8:

Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”  For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You:  The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites;  Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. (Ten peoples). 

Psalms 83:15-18: So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, that they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.

• If these things haven’t happened in history then these events are still to come!

• Many think that the Psalm 83 War has already happened in the 1967 Israeli War or the Israeli Yom Kippur War. However, all ten peoples were not involved in those wars and God’s word is very precise. It is never wrong or just “close” to being right. His prophecies are perfect. Therefore, this war will come to pass either in the near future or later.

Isaiah 17:1, 4-6, 7-9,13-14:  The burden against Damascus.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. 

“In that day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his flesh grow lean. 5 It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, and reaps the heads with his arm; It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. 6 Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in its most fruitful branches,” Says the Lord God of Israel. 

In that day a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; he will not respect what his fingers have made, nor the wooden images nor the incense altars. 9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel; and there will be desolation. 

The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.

• God’s word also tells us that the city of Damascus will be completely destroyed…overnight! Could this be an unfulfilled prophecy that takes place during the Psalm 83 War? 

Zephaniah 2:4-10: For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be uprooted. 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant.”6 The seacoast shall be pastures, With shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. 

7 The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall feed their flocks there; In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will intervene for them, And return their captives. 

8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the people of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people, and made arrogant threats against their borders. 9 Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—Overrun with weeds and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.” 10 This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the Lord of hosts.

• Zephaniah’s prophecy says that Gaza, the land of the Philistines (now the land of Hamas), will be leveled and the people of Judah will regain it as part of their possession.

• The Jordanian city of Ammon, and the southern region of Jordan where the Moabites once resided will also become part of Israel as God promised! 

Jeremiah 49:2: Against the Ammonites

Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war in Rabbah of the Ammonites; It shall be a desolate mound, and her villages shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance,” says the Lord.

• This is more confirmation from Jeremiah that Israel will possess Jordan, the land of the Ammonites. 

Jeremiah 49:37-42: Against Elam

For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, My fierce anger,’ says the Lord; ‘And I will send the sword after them. Until I have consumed them. 8 I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the Lord. 39 ‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.”

• The Elamites are the people of Western Iran, where the nuclear sites and military bases of Iran are. Iran uses Hamas as proxies to do battle with Israel. Someday the will pay the price and their hostages will be returned. Hallelujah!

Sermon: This is That

This is That 

Acts 2:14-18:  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

·        Peter is saying, “This is that.” He was saying that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the Promise from the Old Testament. This was the power that had been promised by Jesus.

·        It’s important for us to see that this Promise did come alive in the human experience. The Promise of the Father had left the pages of the scrolls and entered into the hearts of believing men and women.

·        Maybe we need to take a look at our “this” which is our present experience and compare it with “that,” which God promised we would have.

·        I think we are missing something wonderful in our lives.

·        Some think that this promise was only for their “time and not ours.” But history shows there have been multitudes of saints over the centuries for which “this was that.”

·        There were many even into the twentieth century such as Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Katherine Kuhlman.

·        Why the huge difference in our experience compared to theirs?

·        Now, nothing comes without cause. We’ve got the same words in our hands that the mightiest saints had. And most of us believe as the apostles believed… so what causes this lack of experience?

1.     Inward vs. outward:  The “outward” is my accepting the historic truths of what happened at the cross. And many believe that that’s enough without the inner experience.

·        Most haven’t learned how to make the word come alive in their inner experience and there’s “no expectation” of anything more…so we get nothing more.

·        It’s like looking in the window of a bakery without ever being able to eat. The window separates us. We sing songs about it, we read books about it… but the big chocolate donut is never within our reach. We need some reformers to teach us how get past the window and enter through the door to eat the good stuff!

2.     Loss of basic morality:  There has been enough “cheap grace” taught in churches that has led many to accept Christ as our Savior without any real changes in behavior.  Just attending church is enough to satisfy them… there’s no faith for more.

3.     Misunderstanding of the gospel: So many preach the good news of the gospel in order to get people to say a prayer of salvation, but there is very little discipleship after that. These are like poor sheep that have no one to shepherd them into the Promised Land… so they’re camped out on the outside looking in.

2 Timothy 2:14-15: Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

·        Part of our lack of New Testament Christian experience is the fault of leadership.

·        They have argued over their denominational differences so much that they’ve become little more than modern day, “scribes and Pharisees.”

·        We now rely more on commentaries and scribes than the inner voice of the Spirit.

·        “Textualism” assumes if we have scripture for something then we have that thing itself. If it is in the Bible, we already have the experience. In this new textualism, the written word is out of balance with the inner spoken word.  

·        But unfortunately textualism can never lead us into experience.

·        Many Christians are rebelling and seeking the real thing.

·        But so many have thrown out the baby with the bath water and became unhitched from the word. This has led to a new liberalism in the church which is unequal to anything since Israel made the “golden calf.”

·        The modern church has brought the world into the churches with musical entertainment like Hollywood, no fault divorces, prosperity, worldly toys, homosexuality, and earthly pleasures, in an effort to remain relevant to the culture.

·        Their churches got their bookstores, their swag, t-shirts, and their coffee shops; they’re merchandising the sheep: the devil must be laughing.

·        It’s not dangerous to be a Christian because we are not a threat to the world’s culture.

·        Christians were once revolutionaries—moral, but not political. But now Christians can have it all; heaven and the entire world too. Now let’s look at the sheep: 

Psalm 63:1-3: O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.

·        Why are Christians like other people when we should be ablaze with the God’s Spirit?

·        Perhaps it’s our lack of strong desire. David never reached the point where he could say that he had enough of God. His thirst for more was so intense that it affected him physically.

·        The “intensity of our experience” is directly related to the “intensity of our desire.”

v When there seems to be a difference between “what we have from God and what we want from God” perhaps there is a difference in desire in what we want from God and what we want from something else.

·        If you think there is a difference between your desire for God and other things…repent and take it to God.

·        Ask Him for the thirst, ask Him for the desire, and stay at it until the flame of desire begins to grow. It won’t take long; our God is faithful in these things.

Genesis 32: 24-26: Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

·        Jacob knew he was missing something with God. He had been lazy, he had been a schemer, he had relied on his own abilities, but it wasn’t working for him.

·        He was finally willing to face his failures… so he got alone with God, and would not leave until he got what he wanted. He was willing to repent!

·        Jacob cried out to the Lord until His Presence showed up, he hung on to the Lord and would not let go until he received the experience of the promise…blessing!  

·        We’re going to have to reject everything that hinders our progress, so we’re going to have to take an honest inventory of everything in our lives that does not line up with the truth of New Testament Christianity.

·        Those things become a veil separating us from experiencing the fullness of God.

·        We must pick up our cross and let go of everything that so easily binds us, we must reject all of those worldly things that are fleshly indulgences.

·        We must surrender many things to God. And turn to the life in the Holy Spirit.

·        It’s the only way that our “this may become that.” 

2 Corinthians 3:4-6: And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

·        The Word without the Spirit is dead and the Spirit without the Word leads to great error. Praise the Lord we have the Spirit, and we have the Word.

·        The “textualists” use their minds to teach and study the word. They are intellectuals that teach about the historical authenticity of the text, and maybe break it down in the Greek meaning, but it soon becomes apparent that they have not experienced… “this is that!”

·        It’s very similar to someone who has studied all about a city or country. They can give you a lot of facts and figures and may even know more facts about it than some of the locals. But it’s dry, not a living knowledge.  It’s without experience.

·        Now you compare that with someone who has just visited, spent some time there and got to know many of the locals… and they return all excited about the experience they had. One is a dead knowledge and the other is living. This is very similar to our Christian experience… which kind do you want?

·        It’s important for us to understand that the Word is living with the Holy Spirit, so we must approach the written Word in such a way that we can touch/experience the spoken Word.

·        We must see the Word as an entry point or a door to receive the Word from off of the page into our hearts…to have a “this is that” experience. 

John 6:56-64: He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” 61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.”

·        We must become eaters of the Bread of Life. This is not only speaking of receiving the “communion elements,” but Jesus takes it right down to His word. We can find life in His words and we can commune with Him in His word. This is where the rubber meets the road.

·        Paul give us a little insight in how to eat the Bread of Life:

Ephesians 6:17-19:  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.

·        The Spirit and the Word are One; therefore we must experience the Spirit when we read the Bible.

·        How do we take this Word? We must take it in and consume it deeply.

·        We are told here to take the Word of God "by means of all prayer and supplication in the Spirit."

·        This is pray-reading. We must not take the Word of God by merely reading, but by prayer. This opens the eyes of our heart to the Word… where it becomes a living thing. We pray in conversation with the Lord about the Word so that our experience is not just one way but both ways.

·        We have the Holy Spirit in our spirit, and we have the Holy Word (the Bible), in our hands. These should not be two things, but two ends of one thing.

• One end is within us… is the Spirit; the other end outside of us is the Word. When the outer end (Word) enters our spirit it becomes the Spirit, and when the inner end (Spirit) is expressed from our mouth it becomes the Word.

·        You see, the Spirit and the Word, the Word and the Spirit, are two ends of one thing.

·        Let me say it differently: when the Word comes within us with the Spirit, the Word will exit us with the Spirit. This is often called with the “anointing” or the power of the Spirit.

·        Christ today is the Spirit and is in the Word.

·        Forget about religion.

·        Forget about doctrine, teachings, forms, rituals, rules and regulations.

·        Contact Christ as the Spirit and in the Word, and take Him “all the way in” as you would eat a most delicious piece of bread, and your “this will become that!”

Sermon: The Cost of Following Jesus

The Cost of Following Jesus 

Luke 14:25-26: Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 

·        A multitude of people were following Jesus, but He knew they would be “fair weather” followers.

·        So many were following Him for the wrong reasons, some because He fed them loaves and fishes, others to get healed, and many would end up falling away when things get difficult.

·        In other words, they would live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Outsiders would look at them and not see anything different from those in the world.

·        They would be “sons of God” but would still look like “sons of Adam.”

·        The world mocks many of us as “hypocrites” because they see nothing about us that would make them want to be like us. For much of the “church” in America, we’ve lost our saltiness.

·        Church in America is more like a “social club” where Christians are supposed to pay their dues but very little other than that is required. Attend on Sunday and maybe a midweek Bible study or small group social meeting and you can call yourself a “good Christian.”

·        Let me say this: It’s good to go to church on Sundays, and it’s good to attend a midweek Bible study, but it’s the in between where the struggle is.

·        Jesus is not expecting us to “hate” our families; we are to love our families.

·        I’ve heard it said, that we love Him so much it like hating them in comparison…I’m not so sure that is what He meant.

·        Many are so caught up with family events, family matters, and worldly pursuits that we are very little use to the kingdom. In fact, most will never spend a day in the kingdom while here on earth because of the distractions that keep believers from keeping “first things first.”

·        I think He wants us to hate anything that keeps us from following Him and becoming a “full disciple,” consecrated and sanctified for his purposes.

·        He includes hating “our own life also.” This would include all worldly things that keep us distracted. 

Luke 14:27: And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

·        We have a part to play in our own development; we must pick up our own cross if we want to follow Him. In other words, we must follow Him to the cross and be crucified with Him… there’s a sacrifice required of each of us.

·        The “cross” was not an unknown method of execution in those days. It had become the Roman’s preferred method of execution and there were very many people hanging on crosses along the roads outside of cities as a warning to the Jews to obey Rome.

·        There will be “death” as a cost of following Jesus. It may be someday that your physical death is required. Someday, we are all going to die one way or another… but in this life death to your selfish ways is required.

·        If you chose to make Him “Lord” of your life… it means you can no longer be lord over your own life. There will be death to your “right” to do whatever you want with your life. It’s no longer all about you; your wants and your needs.

·        You will now be living for His purposes, not for your own. His will be done, instead of yours. This is following Him. 

Luke 14:28-33: For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

·        I’m so glad that Jesus speaks in such practical ways. I need practical.

·        Nobody asks what it costs for a person to become a great football player. Or what it would cost for someone to become a successful doctor or business man.

·        Everyone knows that the more something costs the more important it is. What costs you little or nothing is usually worth exactly that much.

·        The challenge before us is this: what are we willing to pay, sacrifice, or surrender to go deeper this life as a follower of Christ?

·        The grace that amazed our church forefathers caused them to come trembling with tears before the Lord on their knees in worship has been lost to the modern church.

·        Grace that is often taught to Christians is a cheap form of grace that costs them nothing.

·        Therefore, they are still more caught up in their worldly pleasures and their earthly pursuits than they are with moving the kingdom forward.

·        No wonder we rarely see revival in the church. We need a reformation, perhaps difficult times will be exactly what we need.

·        We are living in days where soon it will not be as easy to be a Christian, attend a church, study the Bible with other believers, and tell our friends and loved ones about the wonderful sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.

·        History is filled with saints that gave it all. The martyrs of the church form a long and glorious line through history. From the standpoint of the world, this looks like a huge waste. But when we look at it from God’s point of view… He sees it completely different. 

Mark 14:3-9: And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

·        Jesus came to the house of Simon the Leper, in Bethany. He may have been another brother of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, or even their father. He was obviously no longer sick with leprosy; Jesus must have healed him, as well as raising Lazarus from the dead.

·        The story tells us that this woman comes to Jesus with a costly bottle of perfume and breaks it and pours its contents on Jesus. This woman’s identity is not told to us here, but John’s gospel tells us its Mary…Martha and Lazarus’ sister.

·        Her name was no longer important to her; her identity had changed because she had put her faith in Jesus as her Messiah. Her identity no longer mattered because it was now all about Jesus and not about herself.

·        This glass bottle of perfume may have been her security, or her dowry. But now Jesus was her security, so she gave it all to Jesus! She let go, she surrendered it all. It was not the “safe thing to do” but it created a sweet smell unto the Lord… it was an act of love.

·        You see the beautiful glass bottle had to be broken for the fragrance to reach the Lord.

·        You could say that picking up our cross causes a “breaking in us” when we choose “not my will but thy will be done.”  

·        Ephesians 5:2: As Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

·        The world doesn’t get our dedicating our lives to Jesus; they will say it is a waste.

·        We could play it safe, and do things the world’s way! We could become something important, make lots of money, be respected, maybe even help some poor people to ease your conscience… and get respected while getting some glory here in this life!

·        I’m not knocking helping poor people. As you may have heard, I’ve helped a few poor people, but in so many cases found nothing but ingratitude and entitlement.  There will always be poor people with us.

·        Whatever we do, we must do it unto the Lord and that is a sweet incense to the Lord!

·        Some of the disciples, including Judas, attacked her actions, but she did not defend herself, she didn’t care about being popular with them…she let Jesus defend her. This is a sure sign of the “crucified life.”

·        Jesus told us, “that wherever the gospel is preached, what this woman has done will be told as a memorial to her.” It was not about the perfume that is part of the gospel… it is about her selflessness, it is about surrender, it is about the trust, it is about making Jesus “Lord” of your life.       Let’s see Paul on this: 

Philippians 3:7-9: But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish (dung), that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

·        Paul looks back over his life and looks at the things he once thought were important and finds they were nothing but trash, or in the KJV, “dung.”

·        He had moved everything that he once thought was a credit to him over to the debit column. It’s like you go to the bank and make a deposit and find that your bank account actually dropped by the amount you put in it.

·        Your losses become your gains and your gains become your losses.

·        It’s as if everything that was against us has been moved over to our side to help us. Every bad thing that happens is actually working for your good so you can welcome difficult things knowing that it’s working for you.

·        So why does it take us so long to see the things that are really important, and instead we are like little dung beetles chasing the perfect turd… to push it to nowhere?

·        I see so many people who are struggling in life. But do you want to know why they are really struggling? They are fighting God.

·        The problem is that we love ourselves too much, we struggle to keep up a good front.

·        Americans spend billions of dollars every year to keep up a good front. We spend money on clothes, cars, homes, make-up, etc., trying to impress others that are also “only thinking about themselves.”

·        If we could tear down the front of the average person we would find the poverty of his spirit, his mind and his heart.

·        We try to hide that inward poverty, we disguise it, put lipstick on it… trying to preserve our dignity and our reputation to keep some authority over our lives.

·        We want to rescue part of ourselves from the cost. We don’t really want to give it all up.

·        We tell God exactly how he should do things with us, and if we do something good we want to give God the majority of the glory, as long as we can keep a little for ourselves.

·        If some people make it to heaven at all, it will be by the grace of God alone.

·        But they will arrive empty handed. It’s by grace and mercy alone that any of us will make it… but our God wants us to arrive with precious stones, gold and silver tried in the fire. But most are not willing to pay the price. 

Philippians 3:10-11:  That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

·        Whatever worldly things that are holding you back is like a veil between you and God, and it is made of things that are just silly, things that have no real value… things that are worthless; things that you cannot take with you.

·        At some point you need to count the cost of following Jesus.

·        You will never be more than just a struggling Christian until you give up your safety, your popularity, your comfort, and your life.

·        You can let go of your own self-interest, because he has your best interest at heart.

·        You can stop trying to defend yourself and let Him defend you.

·        Paul is saying you can never really know Him and the power of His resurrection without experiencing the suffering of picking up your cross.

·        There’s nothing in this world worth knowing compared to knowing Him.

·        Without picking up your cross and paying the cost of discipleship, you will only know about Him, you will never be in the inner circle where you can really know Him.

Bible Study: Gog/Magog War

Gog and Magog War

If the war Israel is fighting with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon is the Psalm 83 war, it will spread to other countries neighboring Israel— Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. All the Arab Muslims countries are in this inner circle. Psalm 83 prophesies that Israel will defeat these countries and it possibly grows in size to include the land that was promised to Abraham.

Now we come to the second prophetic war — the War of Gog and Magog. This war includes Islamic nations beyond the ring of Arab nations of the Psalm 83 war. It is prophesied to “possibly” be led by Russia, the former Soviet Islamic states, Turkey, Iran and other Islamic nations across northern Africa.

Ezekiel 38:3-6: ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you. 

Ezekiel 38:8: After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

This happens in the latter years! 

Ezekiel 38:10-12: ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited.

·Perhaps Israel feels safe after defeating their Arab Islamic enemies in Psalm 83 war. 

Now we come to the second prophetic war — the War of Gog and Magog. This war includes Islamic nations beyond the ring of Arab nations of the Psalm 83 war. It is prophesied to “possibly” be led by Russia, the former Soviet Islamic states, Turkey, Iran and other Islamic nations across northern Africa.

Ezekiel 38:10-12: ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited.

·Perhaps Israel feels safe after defeating their Arab Islamic enemies in Psalm 83 war.

Ezekiel 38:16:  You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”

Ezekiel 38:21-23: I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God.

 “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.  And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” 

Ezekiel 39:4-5,8: You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God. “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 

Ezekiel 39:9,11-12: “It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley Hamon Gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.

Ezekiel 39:27-29: When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”

· Some think the Gog and Magog war is Armageddon, what do you think?

· Let’s see another reference to God and Magog after the Millennial reign of Christ.

Revelation 20:7-10: Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

· Gog and Magog are mentioned again after the thousand years of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.

· Does the use of the names of Gog and Magog again mean that some of the same peoples that came against Israel in Ezekiel 38 will come against our King after a thousand years or are they the same war?

· Does this mean that the Gog and Magog war doesn’t happen in pre-Tribulation?

· Or are these two separate wars?

· Why is Satan mentioned in Revelation and not in Ezekiel?

· The dead in Ezekiel are buried for seven months, what happens to the dead in Revelation?

· What’s God’s purpose for bringing the battle in Ezekiel compared to the battle in Revelation?

· Does the seven years to burn the weapons in Ezekiel have any significance to the comparison?