Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Christ

  • a 21st c. Tempest

    a 21st c. Tempest

    And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. – Mat. 8:24 KJV

    violent wind stormsIt seems the winds of change come upon us suddenly and violently.

    We resist the inevitable, either turning toward the strong winds of change or looking aimlessly askance at the onslaught of destruction.

    Where is the rudder of your soul in the tossing times of these last days?

    For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. – Jeremiah 4 excerpt KJV

    The LORD created the heavens and the earth! The LORD destroyed and created once more in the time of Noah.

    mosque and temple2The LORD gave a people Israel the Law and Kings, then destroyed country and Temples, even rebuilt Temples in a place yet disputed.

    Will the LORD not act for his own Name’s sake?

    A thousand years before Jesus was given to us for the salvation of not only the Jews, but also for mankind; the Son of Man sat in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee sleeping: unconcerned for the tempest of the sea or winds of change coming to Jerusalem and the preordained cross of calvary.

    Prophets had foretold the coming of a Messiah. And here Jesus lay in a boat sleeping, with only One rudder for His righteous soul: the Holy Spirit of Almighty God: the LORD Most High and Father of Christ Jesus, creator of mankind and ruler of the land, seas and heavens.

    21 centuries later:

    We are rich… especially here in the U.S., but also ruling leaders and land owners of every continent.

    Take some advice from Job:

    11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

    12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

    13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty…

    19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

    20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

    Do you fear Almighty God?

    Jesus asleep in boat Mat 8The peaceful Savior, asleep in the boat, unafraid of the tempest; Christ Jesus will become your rudder in the storm of these last days, if only you will follow Him.

    “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! – Matthew 8:27b KJV

    The Lord will return when the harvest of the righteous in Him is complete!

    Yet how long, O Lord?

    From the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John:

    Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. 6:11

    12 I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13 Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind.

    14 The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.

    Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” – 6:15-17

    Rev 22-20Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

    16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

  • Crushed

    Crushed

    Let’s get something straight:

    You are not good enough for Heaven. I am not even good enough for my church, my wife or my child.

    If we cannot do enough good works to earn our place with a Holy God, how will we ever pay what we owe for our many sins?chained to sin

    Answer:

    We can not.

    No work we can do is good enough to pay the high price of our sins.

    Five hundred years ago Martin Luther and many others sought to reform church leadership. Those protesting rejected sacramental penance of man for the true repentance of a man’s heart won back to God.

     

    For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

    Ephesians 2:8

     

    Why did the LORD send Jesus to the Cross for my sins?

    A most unattainable thing about goodness: We cannot attain it. We will always trespass. We will always sin.

     

    Romans 7:

    crushed by guilt15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

    18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

    19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

     

    The Scriptures foretold of the coming of the Christ, who IS in the Person of Jesus.

    Around 700 B.C., the Prophet Isaiah [in chapter 53] described the Savior of Israel, the Redeemer of the world:

    He was despised and rejected by men;
    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
    and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
    Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
    yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.

    But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
    upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

    All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
    and the LORD has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

    Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;

    when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
    the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

    Isaiah 53:10

    What good work will your soul offer for your guilt?

    Mark 10:

    17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone…

    “… come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

    “Then who can be saved?”

    27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

     

    Are we good enough for Heaven?

    NOT without the grace of God by faith in Christ Jesus, alone.

    The generous philanthropy of the greatest foundation for charity to all the causes of good can not buy Heaven and eternal life for even one unrepentant sinner without the grace of faith in Jesus Christ.

    GOD gave breath to your spirit, formed you in your mother’s womb and calls you to a life by faith in the Spirit.

    Fellow sinner, when will you repent of your many sins?

    Are you not crushed by your sins when your mind is convicted in guilt and no good work will lift the burden from you? Do you still consider that another good work will pay the price of the Lord’s piercing and death for you?

    Confess your sin before Almighty God! Bow down your selfish will before Christ Jesus. Repent once more, dear fellow sinner. Turn back to the righteousness of our loving Father.

    For God intends for your brief journey here beneath the immeasurable heavens and timeless creation to glorify your Lord. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

    Let us confess that we among many cannot do good without the grace of God.

    We are saved by faith alone: in Christ Jesus, the only Son, One with the Father.

    Humble your failing flesh to guidance of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus, eternal Judge of all mortal souls.

    crushed by guiltREPENT! Self-righteous sinner.

    Turn back to the LORD by faith in Christ Jesus,

    While it is yet today;

    Before you are crushed

    By sin and death,

    Before your good legacy becomes

    Another forgotten rotting vanity.

     

  • Israel’s First King – 3

    Israel’s First King – 3

    And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. – 1 Samuel 12:21

     

    Good advice for an aspiring politician (prospective leader of the people), is it not?

    A young Saul is anointed King of Israel and the heavy mantle of leadership soon burdens Saul’s shoulders.

    1 Samuel 13

    [Readers may view the entire chapter in another tab by clicking on the link above.]

    Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel.

    • King for one year
    • Raises an army of of 3000 in year two.
    • 2000 men with Saul in Michmash in hill country of Bethel [v.2]
    • 1000 men with  Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin

     

    3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

     

    • a garrison is troops stationed in a town to defend it, typically a small number of the entire army.

    Saul map gibeah-micmash

    5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

     

    Imagine that after a short time in office and you announcing a great victory (really, a small battle won by your son in a border town) that you discover that your neighboring enemy, Philistia, is bringing an army of 30,000 men and 6 thousand chariots against your army of 2000 men who are mostly shepherds. choice-of-saul

    What next? Saul is in danger of immediate defeat.

     

    6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

     

    God’s great nation of Israel is fleeing the heathen Philistines and Saul leads those who do not desert to temporary safety.

     

    8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.

     

    Can a dead King defend the towns of Israel from the caves of the hills of Benjamin?

    King Saul is practically impatient. Saul has had instructions from GOD through Samuel. What are they? WAIT! Wait seven days.

    Could the LORD who parted the waters of the sea and crumbled the walls of Jericho not defeat a mere army of men and horses?

    Yet Saul does not believe Samuel and the LORD are true to this time to redeem the threatened nation.

     

    … And he offered the burnt offering.

    10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?”

     

    Can a King, President, Premier or Prime Minister lead without God?

    Yes. Throughout recorded history it happens daily and in many places.

    Yet no nation can claim God without obedience to God’s will.

    Saul has forsaken the word of the Lord. Saul has rejected the promises he made before the Lord’s Prophet, Samuel, and the people of Israel who follow him as King. Saul seeks to intercede as Priest before the LORD, usurping Samuel’s lawful role and his sworn allegiance to the will of GOD.

     

    13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue.

     

    The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

    The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart,

    and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people.

    It is clear from history and scripture that Samuel speaks of the anointing of David, a servant in Saul’s household, yet more importantly, ‘a man after God’s own heart.’

     

    15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.

    And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

     

    • 30,000 Philistines on foot and
    • 6000 Philistine charioteers stand ready to attack
    • Samuel and his men left for Gilgal
    • King Saul now has only 600 men.
    • The small army of Saul departs for the battle at Gibeah
    • None of Saul’s men have spears or swords, only Saul and Jonathan! [v.22]

    What a predicament! Saul is surrounded. He is stripped of his kingdom. The King has few followers. AND GOD is NOT on his side.

    Yet in spite of all that, GOD wins the battle by the hand of Jonathan. You can read about it in 1 Samuel 14.

    The book of First Samuel is essentially the story of King Saul. David now enters in the later chapters. The timeline of Saul is approximately:

    • 1043 B.C. Saul becomes King
    • 1041 B.C. Saul’s War with the Philistines & Jonathan’s Miraculous Victory
    • 1028 B.C. Saul’s Disobedience and Samuel’s Rebuke [ch.15]
    • 1024 B.C. David anointed King [ch.16] & David kills Goliath [ch.17]
    • 1011 B.C. Saul Slays the Priests of Nob [ch.22], David flees Saul, Samuel dies
    • 1010 B.c. Saul consults a witch at Endor [ch.28]
    • 1010 B.C. David flees to the Philistines, is sent away & defeats the Amalikites
    • 1010 B.C. Saul & his sons killed in battle 1 Samuel 31

     

    A question of Legacy for Leaders

    What will be your legacy:

    O King or Premier,

    Honorable President, Prime Minister?

    What will be your legacy:

    Frail leader of men,

    Lowly servant of all?

    Compare King Saul to David, a man after God’s own heart:

     

    Psalm 18: KJV

    [[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,]]

    I will love thee,

    O LORD, my strength.

    The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

    my God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

    my buckler, and the horn of my salvation,

    and my high tower.

    I will call upon the LORD,

    who is worthy to be praised:

    so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

    A thousand years after Saul, a captive Jerusalem looked for a King like Saul to redeem them from Rome. Rather, a King of the Jews entered the gates humbly and redeemed our souls on a cross.

    Three thousand years since King Saul and war still looms large in the hills near to Jerusalem. The war of ungodly men still seeks to destroy both the power and the mercy of God.

    Christ Jesus has led the captives of sin right up to these last days.

    Our Lord and God has conquered death and calls us to an eternal New Jerusalem.

    Question to a Sinner Redeemed

    Fellow sinner redeemed,

    Will you bow down to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior?

    Blessed be God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;

    Who is and was and will be forever.

    Amen.