Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: forgiveness

  • The Multitudes He Did Not Serve

    The Multitudes He Did Not Serve

    Sometimes we just don’t get it. We only want to see the nice things Jesus did. We only want to hear the nice things Jesus had say and even now speaks through Scripture and the Spirit.

    In case you missed the beginning of this series, we are following the early days of Jesus’ public ministry. We have looked at His early calling of the people to repentance and followed Jesus to his rejection (and near murder) by the people of Nazareth.

    Doctor Luke records in chapters 5 and 6 a list of some of Jesus’ early miracles. (How we use these all-too-frequently to attract the multitudes to our church buildings! The bigger the blessings for the multitudes, the bigger the building we need.)

    I related an often used part of a favorite teaching of Jesus in an Advent preparation series on The Beatitudes. Oh how we love to point out the miracles of His feeding the 5000 and the feeding the 4000; while we forget that Jesus’ message is to REPENT! Turn back to God, our Father. He sends us the bread from Heaven. Jesus is the Bread of Heaven. His Word is what we MUST digest.

    “Blessed are you… Happy are you: This we want to hear. 🙂

    We turn now to Luke 6.

    Jesus has been preaching repentance. He has performed many miracles. He has shown compassion for many individuals and even compassion for the hungry crowds.

    People will follow Jesus anywhere, IF only He will keep performing miracles for them. (You remember, his own neighbors and friends in Nazareth were angry enough at Jesus to want to throw Jesus off the cliff to His death.) Why? We want to be entertained. We want blessings and not curses. We want proof.  (Forget faith!) He would NOT perform for the multitudes of for even his hometown neighbors and family.

    Jesus of Nazareth - Tyre to the N. - Israel, Judea map
    Jesus of Nazareth – Tyre to the N. – Israel, Judea map

     

    Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

    17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

    [Here is the nice part we all love:]

    The Beatitudes

    20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

    “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

    21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

    “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

    22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

    Amen! Yes, we need this Jesus.

    (Lord bring us a miracle and bring us your reward. Prove you Power to us and we will follow You.)

    Ah, but you with ears to hear, hear what Jesus says next:

    Jesus Pronounces Woes

    24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

    25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

    “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

    26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

    So you want to be rich, do you? You want Jesus to bless your house with plenty and laughter and good reputation for you and your family… Are you sure? Do you really want it all NOW?

    Dear brothers and sisters of His church, of the multitudes of christians;

    Hear what you do not recall (and I will shorten it for our short memories; but read it all, if you will:)

    Love Your Enemies

    27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

    Have you been abused? Sexually? Physically?  Verbally? Financially? Emotionally?

    Do some hate you? (Certainly a fellow believer or sister who claims Christ ought not?)

    LOVE THEM.

    Though they are your enemies, love them. That is what Christ Jesus commands. (Are you still with us, christian of the crowds and multitudes?)

    What is this ‘love’ to which Jesus (IF He IS our Lord) calls us?

    • Welcome them (perhaps into your homes, but certainly into your life. (How else will they see Christ in you?)
    • Entertain them. No, not like TV or a sport or your cell phone; just do not ignore your enemies as if they are not real people created by God, perhaps for a later winning into His Kingdom.
    • Be fond of them. Admit it; you know people who are enemies of Christ Jesus whom you admire and like. Are they not also deserving as you of His love as shown through you?
    • Love them dearly. Yes, your enemy; that the love of Christ Jesus may shine into the darkness of their life.

    Not only, “love them,” do good to them.

    Sure, we all remember the story of the good Samaritan; but Jesus’ point was not so much that a hated man did good for a man, but that men (and women) who claim to be “good” do not often do the good act of mercy, as had the Samaritan unbeliever. Therefore Jesus continues in Luke 6:32

    32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 

    33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same…  35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 

    36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

    Jesus’ personal love is also personal love for the unbeliever and for the unsaved, as you and I were once unsaved and an enemy of God (though our profession may have been false and our faith rebellious).

    REPENT! Show mercy, as our Heavenly Father has shown us mercy.

    and LOVE, as Christ Jesus has loved us.

    For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. – Romans 5:10 KJV

    No, repentance is not such a bad message for each of us; therefore, be reconciled to your brother in Christ. Be reconciled to your sister in Christ. Be reconciled even to your enemy! Love them.

    And just two additional things (from Luke 6:27) added next in v. 28:

    28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

    Abuse (of all kinds and of varying degrees) is a terrible thing, an offense between two human beings, both created by God. The word often translated ‘abused’ by this and other versions of the Bible in the KJV reads: “them which spitefully use (you).” It is a better translation (unencumbered by the world’s spin on the meaning). Listen to the meaning from Jesus’ words:

    Outline of Biblical Usage

    1. to insult

    2. to treat abusively, use despitefully

    3. to revile

    4. in a forensic sense, to accuse falsely

    5. to threaten

    ALL of these are abuses of the enemy; and the enemy is Satan. Do you use these spitefully in retaliation against those who spitefully use you? Do you respond to your enemies (or even a brother or sister in Christ) in a spiteful way?

    Stop it! Jesus commands us: LOVE them. DO good to them. BLESS them. (and here is the hard one for us:) PRAY for them.
    –
    Oh how I pray for enemies who have spitefully used me. One of them may be you… or your loved one.
    –
    I pray that they will repent.
    I pray that they might confess their sin and turn back to God (that’s what repent means, you know; turn back).
    I pray that they might be that lost sheep.
    I pray that they might be that one you never believed would REPENT and hear the word of Jesus over the hatred and ways of the world and the sin of who we also once were before He also saved us.
    Oh, dear one, REPENT of your sin. I pray for you.
    Pray also for me.
    Forgive us our trespasses,
    As we forgive those who trespass against us.
    Are our enemies not our worst offenders?
    Forgive us, for the many times we, too have been an enemy of our Lord, Christ Jesus who teaches us:
    Pray for our enemies.
    +
  • I was in the spirit

    I was in the spirit

    I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. – Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John [1:10]

    We interrupt our series on Psalm 119 for a message about prayer, the Holy Spirit and hearing from God.  God willing we will continue tomorrow, 28 January, in the year of our Lord 2014.

    Life in the Spirit

    8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

    26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

    Luke 12:12 “… for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

    John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

    IF you attended church on Sunday, good for you; yet consider that not all who attend church are part of Christ’s church. Some are not yet saved (in our mortal timetable) and others will turn back to their hearts of stone forever until Judgment. We must consider the witness of our corporate worship and our prayer in church.

    Lord, I want to thank you and praise you for your salvation: for saving me, for Your own sacrifice for my own sinfulness. I thank you for the Cross of Christ Jesus and the Spirit of your Presence, which does comfort me from time to time (for I do not always listen, as I ought).

    IF I pray the prayer I have just prayed in private, it is my prayer to God – my part of a conversation in the Spirit with the Living God. IF I utter this same prayer in the company of believers (church), it becomes my corporate prayer of witness.

    Is it the same prayer?

    It is the same words, but not the same prayer; for my own life and soul stand before my brothers and sisters in the Lord and also non-believers among us as witness of the sincerity of my words (known only to God) or the motive of my proclaiming loudly in the company of believers the same.

    Personal prayer is an intimate conversation between you and God. Corporate prayer is a public proclamation to God before witnesses.

    Jesus tells a story of two men who went up to the church to pray. One prayed most publicly, as if his prayer thanked God that he was not like those who were not saved. His teachings were that he showed concern for others and for God, but his witness was that his only concern was to be seen at church. Another prayed so humbly he would not even look up to God from the holy place where he worshiped.

    Paul often prays for individuals both individually and corporately as a specific church (a named group of real people with real and specific needs for prayer and supplication). Paul’s corporate prayers have no hint of self-aggrandizement like the Pharisees.  (‘See how I pray as I should and how you likely do not pray?) Paul frequently asks for prayer for himself and his companions, but for the sake of Christ and for the Church. You can read more of Paul’s heart and example by guidance in almost any of his letters to the churches (the epistles). 

    Paul gives further instruction to the church as to corporate worship and corporate prayer. Some of our 21st century worldly ways have accepted as proper that which is non-scriptural and causes controversies unhelpful in building up each church and body of believers. Some christians will stand firmly on the shaky foundation of just a single verse of scripture (or two). I will not do that. Let the Spirit instruct you as to what is right for you and for your particular church.

    Some often heard in church ought to keep silent and others not heard in church ought to be heard from.

    I speak of the gibberish of prayer in tongues without interpretation, prayer for the stranger rather than for the near brother or sister in the Lord, and prayer for proud example of your personal witness (as if evangelizing the faithful in the place of worship). Again, I will leave it to you and the instruction of the Holy Spirit to help you in this (excerpted below).

    Pray for All People

    First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…

    1 Timothy 2:1 alone is worthy of much more of your consideration and that of the worship leaders of our churches.

    8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling…

    11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

    The proper culture of the centuries has been that a man is the head of the woman. Some use this to oppose women preaching and some to oppose women speaking in church or being part of church leadership. My observation is that too many wives are the heads of their christian husbands; some because they insist, but most because their husbands with not step up to bold witness in Christ as we ought. For Jesus said:  “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” [Luke 19:40]

    I, myself, have been guilty of both not speaking when I ought and more often guilty of speaking when I ought not. I have done what I ought not to have done and said what I ought not to have said. (Who is not guilty in these things?) I am poor example to any of one led always by the Spirit, failing in humility to Christ Jesus as our Lord (even IF I lift up my hands as if I am humble unto the Lord). Even now I find I must leave my gift at the altar because of unforgiveness, because I am not humble enough before the Lord to ask a sister for forgiveness seven times seven. [Matthew 5:23-24]

    Yet if I am led by the Spirit to pray or to speak or to sing or to raise hands or to kneel or to exhort or to teach or to preach, I will by the grace of Christ Jesus do what God would have over the will of every man or woman, mostly over my own will in obedience to His.

    • Let us not say, “Thus says the Lord,” when it is not the Lord who has said it.
    • Let us not presume to pray for unknown others as if we are priests and intercessors for the church; as if all do not have the intimacy of the Spirit near at hand and within the body of the Church.
    • And let us not cry out of our own need so much as we plea for it in private and as a church we plead for our beloved brothers and sisters near to us, drawing all nearer to the Lord God by prayer.

    I do not know, but the Spirit knows, what will build you up and what scripture may lift higher your corporate worship of Christ Jesus, our Lord. I leave it between you and the Lord.

    Prophecy and Tongues

    14 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit…

    4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church…

    9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

    13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

    I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. – 1 Cor. 14:15b

    19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

    Therefore, beloved fellow believers and worshipers, let up worship the Lord in holiness. Let us pray and sing and worship corporately as just one stone next to others of the same Temple, singing and praying in thankfulness for the Cornerstone of our faith. Let us build up one another in Christ’s abiding love, faithful to those who will wait upon Him, praying without ceasing, and loving one another in the certain hope of our community of living faith to the witness of all the Lord leads into the church and all who gaze upon Christ’s Temple of His Church from the darkness of this world.

    I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and so I was grieved over our many sins and especially my own. But thanks be to Christ Jesus for His righteousness and for the Holy Spirit of the Living God, Who comforts and guides. He hears our heartfelt prayers.

    Pray also for me, that the Lord would lift me up in the Spirit in loving witness to His way, His truth, and His most holy Life, given for us by His Blood of the Cross.

     

  • He is one of us

    He is one of us

    Psalm 10:17-18 KJV  

    LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: 

    To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

     Gospel of the Birth of Christ Jesus

    John the Baptist Prepares the Way

    1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

    2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

    “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
    3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

    Before John the messenger of the Messiah, prior to Isaiah and the Prophets calling us to repentance and announcing the coming of the Lord;

    Before David and the Kingdom of Israel, before Moses and the exodus of God’s chosen from captivity;

    Before Moses and the Law and Commandments;

    Before Jacob and Isaac and Abraham (for Jesus said: Before Abraham was, I AM.

    Before Adam, before man and before woman, before earth and before the heavens:

    GOD IS.

    Thus, God IS and did send unto mankind Himself His only Son, a babe in a humble manger, born of a humble woman betrothed of a humble man, for the work of our redemption, a sheep of sacrifice on the Cross for our salvation. He IS the resurrection and the life.

    Are we not prisoners of our many sins?  Do our hearts not suffer in the dungeons of our darkness. Is God not distant from our difficulties and silent in our sufferings?

    It was no different 2013 years ago. Yet the beginning of the story of the babe in the manger begins before the beginning.

    He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives – Luke 4:18

    In the beginning, the Holy Spirit was with God. The Holy Spirit descended on Christ Jesus, Son of God and He, a man with us, taught us once more the surpassing love and grace of God our Father in heaven.

    Before Jesus’ ministry and teaching in the Holy Spirit, before the Son of Man was born in a manger in Bethlehem, He IS God in creation. Now a savior is come. He IS God with man: like every man, a babe, a child, a youth, a young man, and finally a mature man teaching the very word of God. He IS the very word of God! Jesus’ teaching IS the only truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yet by His own love and the great grace of God our Father, He IS the Lamb of sacrifice for our sins.

    manger cross shadow

    Think of Jesus descended into the womb of Mary and born to be worshiped in a lowly manger in this way:

    The Word Became Flesh

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

    Jesus, Son of Man, born of Mary, the Incarnate spoken Word of God the Father. He was with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in the beginning.

    3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    Genesis 1: 

    And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

    3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

    The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    Jesus speaks to creation as the Word taught us.

    4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

    Genesis 1: 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

    In the image and likeness of Jesus we were made. In the beginning, adam (man) was without sin, as Jesus, as God: Holy and separated from sin, like the darkness is divided from the light.

    5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    SeeingShepherdsHere is revealed the identity of the babe in the manger: Jesus, heralded by angels and worshiped by shepherds and wise kings; Jesus, the babe smuggled into Egypt by Joseph to escape the sword of Herod; Jesus who would return to Nazareth of Galilee announced by John the Baptist, greatest of all Prophets.

    9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

    11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

    By His Light and the cloud of His glory He led His own people from the slavery of Egypt to His land of promise. By His own Word He proclaimed His Law of holiness and light for the people of His promise.

    God’s own rejected God as a people of God; therefore God came unto His own and also to those who were not His own as a light to the gentiles, to all nations and all peoples.

    All who will believe in the only Son of God and truly follow the will of God have become  sons and daughters of God, adopted into the household and heart of His eternal life and overflowing love.

    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.

    Unto us a child is born, a son of man, the Son of God. His glory was again witnessed by His Apostles and His righteousness seen by all.

    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.’”)

    The-Sacrificial-Lamb-Josefa-de-Ayala-ca-167016 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.

     

    The Birth of Jesus Christ

    6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths andlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

    The Shepherds and the Angels

    8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

    11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

    13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

    14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

    15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

    Thirty-three years later near Golgotha, then departed from Jerusalem:

    Luke 24: 

    But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

    4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen.

    empty tomb12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

    13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

    Acts 1: 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

    John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    Christ Jesus, from the beginning to the manger, to the cross, to the tomb, to the resurrection, to walking and witness with men fifty more days, to His ascension, to the heavens above, to return on the clouds.

    Do you have a relationship with the greatest love of all, that of God our Father in Heaven, Christ Jesus the Lamb of sacrifice for our sins, and the Holy Spirit counselor of the Most High?

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

    Bow down and worship the Lord our God, Who IS and was and will be: God With Us; Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

    May the peace of God’s love dwell in your hearts through the grace of our Lord Christ Jesus, who came to a lowly manger that we might bow even lower to worship His Holy Name in this Holy time: Christ Mass, 2013

    Amen.