Tag: justice

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Psalm 89:14 KJV

  • Fully Trained – 7

    Fully Trained – 7

    My son died… my only son.

    He was still in the womb when we first heard Jesus teach in the hills of Galilee.

    The gospel of Luke carefully records truth from eyewitness accounts of numerous historical citizens of the first century.

    The following is a fictional representation continued from our previous episodes of eyewitness by one of Jesus’ first disciples.

    “Blessed are you who weep now,’ our Lord had taught. He said that we would laugh; even as Job, who had suffered much as a righteous man, had learned:

    “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
    nor take the hand of evildoers.

    He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
    and your lips with shouting.

    Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
    and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

    Job 8:20-22

    We suffered along with the other saints who heard Jesus in those early days. Our children were hungry and our aged died young. We were in the place where Jesus fed thousands of us disciples who were just beginning to hunger and suffer. In later times we would mourn for those who could not find food or make a living.

    Yet we remember our Lord’s teaching as well as our His resurrection. We retain joy, though our young son and several friends have died. We laugh thinking of Jesus’ return – that will be our greatest joy; and our weeping will be replaced with laughter knowing that these wicked ones will be accountable to the One they nailed to the cross, Christ who shed His holy blood of our redemption.

    Luke 6:

    “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.

    Yes, after these difficult years we weep. Yet as certainly as our Lord Jesus was raised from the grave and ascended into heaven, we will laugh.

    Yes, people all around us hate us because of Christ Jesus. Those who were once our close family – those who once called us their dear friends; because of Christ they not only exclude us, but revile us.  Those who are not Christians hardly know the meaning of another reviling you, by definition these anti-Christs criticize all of us who claim Jesus in an abusive or angrily insulting manner. Mention Jesus and they are no longer nice. Even though they claim to not believe in evil, per se, they call us evil not for what we do, but because we claim Christ Jesus.

    Yes, the sweetness of Jesus’ beatitudes brings lasting joy to our hearts; but the resonance of our Lord’s difficult sayings has taken root in our lives. It is not difficult for us to imagine the scene of our forefathers lowering the prophet Jeremiah into a well because they could not look into the face of the truth of Almighty God.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36108798We are poor. We are often hungry, even dying of thirst. We mourn and weep for our lost loved ones.

    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.

    We are poor, hungry and thirsty. Our families are dying. We mourn and weep. When we are not ignored people speak of us as if we are the lowest excess of human creation.

    But Jesus assures us that having become disciples who willingly take up our crosses to follow Him as our Lord, we will have our consolation, our treasure for all time. We will feast in the eternal House of the Lord. May God help those who have chosen not to follow Jesus our hope and Redeemer, for these are destined forever to thirst for refreshment they never found in the flesh of this measured mortality.

    To be continued…

     

     

  • Follow After Me -10 – Take Heed

    Psalm 2:

    Why do the nations rage
        and the peoples plot in vain?
    The kings of the earth set themselves,
        and the rulers take counsel together,
        against the Lord and against his Anointed…

    I will tell of the decree:
    The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
        today I have begotten you.
    Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
        and the ends of the earth your possession.
    You shall break them with a rod of iron
        and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

    10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
        be warned, O rulers of the earth.

    [ctt title=” Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” tweet=”Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Ps 2:11 ” coverup=”e5hT_”]

    12 Kiss the Son,
        lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
        for his wrath is quickly kindled.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.


    Have you considered the justice of Jehovah? For the LORD will judge the unrighteous who will not bow down to the SON, He who IS and for our sake was sacrificed on the Cross.

    The Son “בַּר bar, bar; borrowed (as a title) from H1247; the heir (apparent to the throne):—son.

    Christ Jesus is heir apparent to the Throne of the Father. Hear what Jesus tells us. Take heed to some of the cautions Jesus sets before Christians seeking the His Kingdom of heaven.

    Matthew 7:

    13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

    21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

    Luke 13:

    Repent or Perish

    There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish…

    23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”

    And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.


    Sobering isn’t it, to think that you might claim to be a ‘christian’ and not be accepted at the Throne of Jesus?

    “Follow me,” Jesus said; or by context you could translate the Lord’s calling into at expected action of a disciple, a true follower, into the words of the Master, Teacher and Rabbi, “Follow after me.”

    You must take up your cross. You must obey.

    You must trust the risen Christ with your eternal and present life!

    In Christ we are no longer bound to the Law, yet by His will we are obliged to adherence to the narrow path of righteousness. In Christ we are not excused to pursue false prophets nor covered by the sheep’s skin of cheap grace.

    Jesus IS a most high and perfect standard for those seeking to follow after Him. We are drawn to Christ by the Spirit of truth and the Way of love, redemption offered at no cost only to sinners like you… to sinners like me.

    Take heed, that you do not offend the Son of Man. The Biblical caution, ‘take heed‘ of the old covenant still applies here.

    to be on one’s guard, take heed, take care, beware
    to keep oneself, refrain, abstain
    to be kept, be guarded

    Jesus uses the expression, ‘take heed’ in many examples for our consideration. (Some versions of the Bible use other less impactful expressions than the KJV or NKJV which follows:)

    “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. – Mat. 6:1

    “Take heed that no one deceives you. – Mat. 24:4

    “Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. Luke 11:35

    Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” – Luke 12:15

    Are you following after Jesus? Every day? Unto eternity?

    [ctt title=”And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me – Mat. 10:38″ tweet=”Jesus said: “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Mat. 10:38″ coverup=”65FL0″]

    Luke 21  (NKJV)

    The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

    So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”

    And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.

    But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”

    10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven…


    The persecuted preacher, John Bunyan, probably summed it up best in “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” Through Evangelist he cautions Christian, who was briefly misled by false men of religion. Evangelist also offers the love of Jesus, the Son of Man for mankind, this same Anointed who will judge the world and every soul (living or dead).

    Thy sin is very great, for by it thou hast committed two evils: thou hast forsaken the way that is good, to tread in forbidden paths. Yet will the man at the gate receive thee, for he has good-will for men; only, said he,

    take heed

    that thou turn not aside again,

    lest thou “perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.”

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  • God’s Wrath & Our Unrighteousness

    “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also…  I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…

    Paul, to the saints (believers, mostly former pagans now Christians) in Rome.

    God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

    Romans 1:

    18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

    19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

    21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

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    Are you an unrighteous fool?

    Paul calls those of false religions, ‘fools.’ They worship cows and cats, ancestors departed and places on earth destined to destruction. They seek bearded sages or force upon the downtrodden ideology of glorious conquest.

    Consider the glory of the LORD, the heavens and the earth. NO big bang nor pain-stakingly slow sequence of unlikely perfect events could have created the earth upon which we walk or this miraculously intricate body which walks upon it.

    The vastness and perfection of the heavens is immeasurably beyond the comprehension of created man (adam).

    Think about those who are unrighteous. Think about the sins these inflict on you. Consider their sins against many, these sins of the ungodly, who will be called to account at the Judgment seat by the LORD who they refuse to worship. Paul describes these. You can likely put many faces to Paul’s long descriptive list of unrighteousness.

    28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

    29 They were filled with

    • all manner of unrighteousness,
    • evil, covetousness, malice.
    • They are full of envy,
    • murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.
    • They are gossips, [30] slanderers,
    • haters of God,
    • insolent, haughty, boastful,
    • inventors of evil,
    • disobedient to parents,
    • [31} foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

    32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

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    We see the faces of those who deserve God’s wrath. In all fairness, when will the LORD finally destroy the evil of the unrighteous?

    How long, O Lord, until Your Holy wrath consumes the evil which plagues us?

    A fair question. How long will God contend with their evil? … their evil … evil?

    Have I forgotten anything I should ask of God?

    To be continued…

    Third ‘Easter‘ message in Lenten Series, 2016