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Tag: Christian

  • Who IS God? Who IS Jesus?

    Who IS God? Who IS Jesus?

    Alistair Begg – Truth for Life – Who is Jesus? part 1 of 6

    God sent Jesus to us. God makes the Holy Spirit available to us. No person, no prophet, no preacher has exclusive access to the Holy Spirit.

    I began this month’s series is on worship – bowing down to God – with a fitting sermon of David Jeremiah and now include one of Alistair Begg. (You will need to bookmark & listen Saturdays for the rest of this series.)

    Test what I have told you. Test what you hear from the pulpit. (Especially test what you hear on T.V. or radio.) Is it Biblical? Is it from God and Christ Jesus? Is it truly of the Holy Spirit?

    (And don’t forget: SUNDAY: Worship the Lord.)

     

  • The Trumpet of the King

    The Trumpet of the King

    Isaiah 18:3

    All you inhabitants of the world,
    you who dwell on the earth,
    when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
    When a trumpet is blown, hear!

    From the futility of our earthly existence the inhabitants of the world look to our own devices and forget the God of Heaven above.

    We forget that we are of dust and to dust we will return. We forget to give thanks and worship to the Lord God for the very breath of life He as breathed into our lifeless flesh. We fail to bow down to the King of the Highest Heaven above, our God Who came down to His own and laid down His Holy Life on a lowly Cross for your sins and for mine.

    He IS the King of Creation, the God of all creatures, the first born ‘adam of sinlessness.

    Jesus Christ IS risen into the place of His former glory.

    He has promised His faithful the eternal salvation of His Heavenly Home.

    Further, He will awaken all souls from the dust of our demise. He will call up the souls of all the inhabitants of the world to justice and judgment for every past sin, every unaccounted transgression. He will burn away the iniquity of the dead in the pit of eternal torment, as the forgotten faithful receive our full reward forever more.

    He IS the Lamb of God, His Blood the Sacrifice of the Cross for the victory over sin and death!

    Revelation 6

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Seven Seals

    6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

    You, O earth, have not given the Lord His glory.

    You have not bowed down in worship to the Lord your God.

    You have not acknowledged the Sacrifice of His only Son for your sake.

    You do not look to the Highest Heaven and bow down to the Throne of His glory.

    The people and the church do not hearken to the signs of the trumpet soon to sound.

    Repent!

    O you peoples, you who claim His Holy Name!

    Matthew 24:

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Coming of the Son of Man

    29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

    Raise ear to the sound of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords!

    From on High a trumpet will sound.

    Where, O sinner, will you put your trust?

    Where, O sinner, will you hide from His wrath?

    Shofar

    Revelation 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

    Revelation 8:8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

    Revelation 8:10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

    Revelation 8:12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

    Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

    Revelation 9:13-14 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

    Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

    Let those with ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

     

     

  • A Higher Presence, a lower self

    A Higher Presence, a lower self

    I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. – 2 Corinthians 12:2

    I have let the scripture speak for the most part in this series of posts. In one brief summary from an earlier post:

    Worship requires the creature to bow down to it’s Creator.  The Apostle John records the worship of the living creatures. Man must also bow down to the Lord our God.

    Man ‘adam is that creature.

    Man: created by God in His own Image, the very Image of the Son of Man sent to us in Christ Jesus, the very Spirit given to whom He does choose created by Him, the One God Who sits on the Highest Throne of Heaven — man, you and I, must WORSHIP GOD.

    The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God – Joseph Hayden

    Psalm 19:

    The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.earth from moon

    2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
    3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.

    4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.

    What is the point of worship?

    God created.

    He created the heavens and the earth and the creatures of the earth.

    God created man ‘adam.

    Man must bow down to God.

    He created us to worship Him and love one another.

    Again, look to the true meaning of worship – shachah – 

     to bow down to God or before superior in homage

     

    Jesus also speaks of worship – proskyneō – in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank

    1. to the Jewish high priests

    2. to God

    3. to Christ

    4. to heavenly beings

    5. to demons

    Jesus said: John 4:23 

    But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

    Are you willing to bow down to God Almighty as a true worshiper?

    NOTHING you can do is worthy of ANY relationship with God.

    Yet the Cross of Christ is sufficient for you to be called into the Higher Place and eternal relationship of Perfect Love with God our Father in Heaven.

    Daniel and Ezekiel also gave words to the wordless and imagery to the indescribable place of Heaven and the Almighty God of creation. The Apostle John reveals an experience of being brought up to the Throne of the Living God, where the Apostle is given revelation of the completion of the days and the fulfillment of all scripture.

    It is a fearful place and awesome Revelation of what is to come!

    If you can image beyond the imagery of the describable, Paul’s attempt to describe the third heaven is something like this:

    1. We see through the first heaven of the blue atmosphere of this earth.
    2. We look into the endless and timeless black heavens at the stars and galaxies of creation.
    3. Higher than even this, God IS in a Third Heaven, a dimension beyond time and space and the created mind of man. He IS and was and will always be.

    God can and does show certain created men what man cannot know or comprehend.

    We are dust. We are a speck of sand on a vast sea of an incomprehensible creation.

    Whether from true Prophet or true Apostle, description of our lowly position, requiring worship of God and description of heaven is worth noting.

    What does it mean to ‘bow down?’ Paul describes it in relation to other men of God and to God our Father.

    2 Corinthians 10

    I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!

    7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.

    13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you.

    17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

    2 Corinthians 11: 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

    2 Corinthians 12

    ESVEnglish Standard Version (ESV)

    Paul’s Visions and His Thorn

    12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

    11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you…

    And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

    It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.

    2 Corinthians 13

    He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

    5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

    No, Paul’s description is not of the Higher third heaven, but of the lower self. The Apostle describes a Power in Christ to which we have claim, and a humility of the Cross to which our Lord submitted even Himself, as He sacrificed His mortal life for the Immortality from which He descended to those He loved.

    The love of God our Father in the Place of the Highest Heaven is high above and well beyond the heights of our imagination and the depths of the understanding of our created mind.

    That God would die on a lowly cross for His created ones is a grace well worthy of our worship.

    Worship and bow down to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.