Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Christ

  • The Time Is Near for our Church – Prologue

    The Time Is Near for our Church – Prologue

    1 The revelation [apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

    He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

    TIME’S UP!

    Has anyone ever announced that to you?

    Were you ready?  Was it a test? Did you know that the end of your time was coming?

    What would happen IF you got up one morning and God sent an Angel to you with an announcement:

    TIME’S UP! I’m taking you up from this earth today.

    What would you think? How would you react?

    You might think: HOW? Will it be an accident? A heart attack? Will someone murder me unexpectedly?

    You might wonder: How soon?  Do I have time to finally write a will? Can I call a loved one, first?

    You might remember that sin: the person you could NOT forgive, that action you never confessed. You might recall how little you had given to your church and how often you had found better things to do than worship God and thank Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the Cross for you.

    You might even think to ask: Am I going to HEAVEN or HELL?

    You might even be in AWE that an angel would show up to bring a message to you.

    Admit it: you’re finally fearful of the end of your TIME. All of a sudden, DEATH and Eternal Life have a personal relevance.

    The Apostle John, or course, was a better witness of Christ than you or me. He had  actual first-hand witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Yet even John may not have expected the revelation Christ gave to him, which John wrote for us as the final book of the Bible.

    (You should read ALL of Revelation on your own.)

    8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

    I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

    Of course we know that the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ IS GOOD NEWS. Although Revelation sounds more and more like NOT so good news.

    IF the CHURCH will heed the warnings of Christ through the angel to John to the seven churches to OUR 21st c. church: there is still TIME remaining in the hourglass of these last days.

    The King James Version states: Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

    John saw what was, what was then, what was to come soon for the first century church, AND John saw what would happen well beyond the day of the death of his earthly flesh in the first century. John saw the hereafter: an AWESOME vision of Eternity.

    Are YOU ready? Is your church ready?

    Haven’t we had just about enough of this Kingdom of the evil one?

    The TIME of the hereafter is NEAR.

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    READ the cautions for our Church. NEXT: Ephesus

  • An Excellent Wife Who Can Find?

    An Excellent Wife Who Can Find?

    Proverbs 31:

    10 An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
    11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
    12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.

    A rare jewel is a wife faithful to Christ Jesus.  A reward more precious than gold is a wife faithful to her husband.

    An excellent wife who can find?

    The vows of commitment of our Christian marriage speak of unbreakable relationship:

    • unbreakable relationship of a man to a woman (We sure need them in our lives.)
    • unbreakable relationship of a woman to a man
    • and life-long relationship to our God as perfect example of love to both.

     “In the name of God, I, ______, take you, ______, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

    The vow and the word of a Christian is witness to our trust in Christ Jesus as our Lord.

    A Christian wife is trusted by her husband as he must also trust in Christ our Lord to keep His promise of eternal Life.

    When we are joined as one in the name of God, we are also one with the witness of our vows: our God and Lord, Christ Jesus. A Christian wife would no more betray her husband than an Apostle would betray his Lord. She is a woman of faith and integrity in the Lord.

    The Bible makes clear that Christian marriage is the best example of the intimacy of the Bride, Christ’s Church, being joined as One with the returning Bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Lord, who IS and will return for His faithful Bride.

    “She does Him good and not harm all the days of her life.”

    Is this not the witness every Christian (man or woman) ought to have for Christ our Lord?

    The Bible offers many examples of advice for men and about the counsel and company of other godly men; but the one place in the Bible offering some of the best advice for women is Proverbs 31.

    Proverbs 31 opens with a reference to King Lemuel.

    I never knew anything of this wise husband.  I can offer no better insight than that of John MacArthur, a faithful authority on scripture.

    I would offer my sisters in the Lord one additional resource to the scripture. (Some may be familiar with their radio broadcasts, which I too find encouraging.) Proverbs 31 Ministries.

    Like a faithful husband in the Lord, a good wife needs encouragement of other Christians, women to offer her encouragement in scripture and prayer.

    Please pray for my wife.  Pray also for me.

    Beloved sister in the Lord,

    Seek the Lord and you will find Him. He is faithful to His bride.

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    I love my wife, my blessing.

    (“Love” includes many loves for me. {See 1 Corinthians 13 & Song of Songs})

    I love Jesus Christ as my Lord. Let no one doubt this First love of mine.

    I will pray also for your Christian marriage.

    (Just add a comment.)

  • “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom

    “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom

    Disclaimer: Before you move on, this message is NOT about the US (only). It is about the Christian CHURCH: Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox throughout the world of these last days of the 21st century. It is about governments “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It is about Nations once “under God.”

    Specifically, this is a warning to the Nations and to the Churches from history. The Prophesy still rings true from the Book of Hosea.

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    God spoke to a man. God’s message was to take a fallen woman as his wife.

    If God has spoken something so unlikely, He will use His spoken Command as warning, prophesy, and an opportunity for repentance.  God will accomplish His purpose of saving the souls of His beloved.

    The earlier scene (the Nations would do well not to repeat) takes place in the eighth century Before Christ. Hosea’s ministry paralleled in part the ministries of the Prophets: Amos, Jonah, Isaiah and Micah.

    Introduction to Hosea: Historical Context

    * Hosea was God’s man for a difficult era spiritually. “Prosperity had brought an unprecedented degree of cultural corruption. The much-sought-after political power had opened Israel to foreign cultural influence…

    * https://bible.org/seriespage/introduction-hosea-historical-context

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    Hosea

    1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

    Hosea’s Wife and Children

    2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea,

    “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 

    The Lord’s prophesy though Hosea continues:

    • 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
    • 10b And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”

     

    Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished

    2:1 Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”

    2 “Plead with your mother, plead—
    for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband—
    that she put away her whoring from her face,
    and her adultery from between her breasts;
    3 lest I strip her naked
    and make her as in the day she was born…

    • 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness
      in the sight of her lovers,
      and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.

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    The Nations are adulterers, forsaking the Lord their God, our Creator.  
    The Nations who have claimed:
    • God as Father,
    • Jesus Christ as Redeemer,
    • and the Holy Spirit as Counselor.

    These many nations have rejected God and Christ as LORD.

    These many nations will be rejected and shamed for our whoredom.
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    Yet the Lord speaks hope to the one who will return:
    • 14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
      and bring her into the wilderness,
      and speak tenderly to her.
    • 16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband’…
    •  And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever.

    I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.

    20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

    Hosea 3

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Hosea Redeems His Wife

    3 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”

    2 So I bought her …

    3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days.

    You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”

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    IF God IS, IF Christ Jesus IS; should the Nations NOT play the whore or belong to other gods and false prophets?

    Is sin to be tolerated, without repentance and return to purity?

    Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. – Leviticus 20:7 KJV

     

    Deary beloved wife of the Lord,

    Will you return to the Lord?  Will you accept His love?

    Or will you continue in your whoredom?

     

    We long for your repentance and return to faithfulness.  [To be continued…]

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