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Tag: Christ

The House You Build

Isaiah 66:1-2

Thus says the LORD:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD.

But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.

5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
and cast you out for my name’s sake
have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified,
that we may see your joy’;
but it is they who shall be put to shame.

15 “For behold, the Lord will come in fire,
and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

Our Lord is a consuming fire.

He will burn away into flames of fire the chaff of our sins.

He will send away into the darkness of Hades the souls who refuse His refining Word.

What does the Lord require?

Matthew 13
English Standard Version (ESV)

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables…

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart…

… one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

… one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Is your heart the good soil of your soul? What is the fruit of your receiving the Gospel of Christ Jesus?

The Parable of the Weeds

24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also…

Satan has been sowing seeds of wickedness among the good seed of the Gospel for two millennia beyond the Cross and Resurrection.

Is the time of harvest not certainly near?

30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

“… what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?

But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple…

1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

May 23, 2014
The Gospel: Preached by John

Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed! – Psalm 84:9

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Speak: and your tongue does witness the word of your soul.

I have a ‘word’ for you: “logos.”

John uses Logos for the Person of Jesus as God’s Very Word spoken in the Holy Flesh of Christ Jesus.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

Jesus IS the ‘I AM‘ in the flesh!

Exodus 3:13-14 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

John’s Gospel preaches that God the Father sent God the Son to the people of Israel (and to gentiles of the nations as well). When they ask, “What is his name?” the reply is that of Jesus.

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Acts 2:37

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John:

… His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

But he laid his right hand on me, saying,

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one.

I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

May 20, 2014
Stronger in the LORD

They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.

– Psalm 84:7 NLT

What made weak followers of Jesus stronger after his resurrection and ascension?

How is it that the faith of eleven remaining Disciples and a few former followers grew into a boldness in Christ that could not be silenced even by threat of death?

Acts 2:

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…

Acts 3: Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour…

Acts 4:4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

[They are referring to a lame man present healed by a miracle of God.]

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

It is one thing to have been with Jesus. It is quite another to have the power of Jesus with you.

And for you and me, even now, it is one thing to know about Jesus. It is quite another to have the boldness of the Spirit with you.

These humble followers of Jesus, weak vessels of flesh who would even deny Jesus as they crucified Him, now seem fitted for the battle; and the battle is the LORD’s.

“REPENT! and be baptized,” is the battle cry of the believer.

Turn from your sinful ways and receive the permanent change of the Spirit of God. This is the invitation of the Lord to sinners everywhere and in every time… this mortal time of our sinful flesh and perishing souls.

It would seem that these Disciples were now well suited in an armor even more threatening to a chosen nation of conquered men.

A letter to the church at Ephesus from a soon-to-be converted Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle Paul):

The Whole Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

May 19, 2014