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Tag: Psalms

70 Years (or so)?
70 years (or so)…

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19 NKJV

Remember… you are dust

We’ve all heard it:

“Remember, you are dust” or some graveside equivalent from the Law of Moses or another ‘humble thyself before the Lord thy God’ quote from the Bible.

In the days of his trouble Job pleads to the LORD:

Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
Job 10:9 NKJV

‘Lord HELP ME,’ some of us have prayed;

‘God help me,’ ‘Help me Jesus!”

And we hear the executioner proclaim to the condemned man and all witnesses: “May God have mercy on your soul.”

You and I know deep down and ALL flesh knows in our heart of hearts — our days will end!

But the LORD abides forever;
He has established His throne for judgment,
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
Psalm 9:7-8

Why all this talk about the judgment?

… it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…
Hebrews 9:27b NASB

NOTE: Roger turned 70

Although my thoughts now gather more urgency, they tend to come to the page just a bit slower.

Change ahead in my Christian Social Witness to you and the world.

Yet as always, my thoughts will remain well-considered in light of scripture before you read it here. (Bear with me and help me by your comments, please.)

I do have a reflection or two on my three score and ten, which I will share with you more gradually than before.
Roger Harned – reflection on continued writing at 70 years old

How many score remain?

Those accustomed to the language of King James Bible may take account of their days by the same measure of years used by Lincoln.

Lincoln and Gettysburg Address

“For score and seven years ago,” Lincoln began on November 19, 1863. He looked back to the year of our Lord 1776 (as they used to say) just 87 years before.

You may also recall from Lincoln’s memorial to those killed:

… that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address

Lincoln could not have known then that an assassin’s bullet would soon end his own life five years short of just three score years, at age 54.

All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
Job 34:18

Abraham Lincoln and Job were both highly successful men of integrity in life who encountered tragedy. Lincoln no doubt had read in his own King James Bible of Job’s struggles.

If you’re keeping score

Only a few of you will know what I once chose as a ‘life verse’ and that it comes from Job.

{IF you want to know my life verse, just click the link to it above and it will open in a new tab or window.} It may help you to understand more about my purpose and gifts.

It just so happens that in this year of our Lord {Anno Domini} A.D. 2020, I have, by God’s grace, lived three score and ten years.

a bit of biography
- My mother, Marie Hall Harned, lived more than four score years, though her father lived only to three score and five and her mother, Vera Tyler Hall not even to three score.
- My father William E. Harned, his siblings and father William Alba all lived past four score years.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I praise God for good health of this aging flesh and might easily boast (and speculate) of more years to come.

Yet I remember well so many struggles of the lives of loved ones, their end which came upon us sooner or suddenly.

Therefore like Job I consider that my end will be dust and strive to live for the life of my saved soul — in worship and love of Christ Jesus, One with God our Father.

Take to heart your own possible suffering to come from Psalm 22. It precedes one we know so well about ‘the valley of the shadow of death‘:

Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help…
… you lay me in the dust of death.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
excerpt Psalm 22 ESV listen

Psalm 22 was part of our celebration of the wife of my youth, Becky Rice Harned. We considered our end — knowing how she had suffered to survive just her fiftieth birthday.

She went to the Lord in spirit in that same year of our Lord, 1999, on the 10th of February, her disintegrating frame now returned to dust.

Other beloved ones suffer in the flesh even now. Some endure pain known to us, while others, like Becky, suffer in silence.

This frail frame will fail. So will yours, yet be encouraged in the Lord.

Though our aging flesh contains the image and essence of our Holy God, our dust is not our living soul.

A few family and long-time friends know a partial history of my life in this world. And I suspect a handful know yours as well.

Most of you know my own failures and disappointments, as we all have in varying degrees at different times. Yet I do not expect to receive Job’s double blessing before I draw my last breath.

Job suffered much, as some we know — even as Jesus Christ suffered severely for our sins.

I am no righteous man – only in Christ’s righteousness – but like Job I have sought to live my life in integrity. I could not have lived through it all without the encouragement of the Holy Spirit through Christ Jesus, when finally I relented from my sins and sought the Lord for help for this helpless flesh.

Looking back & ahead

Reflecting back on my three-score and ten, as well as looking forward into the light of life given to my own spirit of hope, I continue in God’s grace.

I continue in purpose, perhaps more directed toward that which lives within reach of my limited mortal touch.

Leaving behind each dream and soul beyond my reach, I press on to preach to Gospel exclusively to those whom the Lord has chosen. (You may not be one of these.)

Those not saved by the grace of God have most likely scrolled past the Light of their salvation already.
Roger Harned – reflection on why most will never talk of Jesus Christ

Social Media is not the world

Based on technical data, talkofJesus.com has reached readers in many countries on at least four continents so far. My Christian Social Witness may yet by God’s grace reach some soul who has doubted the only Son of God as the Way and Truth of Scripture.

So often Jesus taught His followers, that is, believers who loved the Lord God and one another, and also preached to multitudes which included many who failed to have ears to hear or eyes to see.

Though in Christ, I am certainly not Christ Jesus. I can no longer preach the Gospel to those who refuse the Good News of Christ Jesus. They have no interest in a relationship with the God of love and life!

Therefore, Christ’s purpose for my witness of the Gospel to a 21st century church, wrought with ‘christians‘ who witness something other than Christ, pales by comparison. Never-the-less:

No soul has more need for the true Gospel of Christ Jesus than the 21st century christian.
Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com

Although we will soon return to my 2020 series on the Gospel of John, you, beloved reader, will be in for a new and more pointed relational look at scripture as we speak exclusively to the church.
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To be continued... Lord willing... 
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August 21, 2020
From This World to the Next – Truth
Jesus continues to pray for those the Father has given Him:
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
John 17:19 KJV

What is truth?

‘What is truth?’ Pilate will soon ask the Creator of all things who came to this world of His creation.

Yet prior to the tragic truth of the trial of His righteousness sacrificed for us, Jesus prays for those given to Him:

“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” [CSB]

Christ Jesus, sanctified for us, prayed about truth. So just as we previously defined sanctification [in our last post linked above] let’s define truth as used in scripture.

ἀλήθεια – truth
1. objectively
  1. what is true in any matter under consideration
    truly, in truth, according to truth
    of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly
  2. what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth
    in the greatest latitude
    the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention
  3. the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians
2. subjectively
  1. truth as a personal excellence
    that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit
The Truth of Eternal Life

All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
Romans 3:23 CEV

This includes you, fellow sinner.

Eternal God and Mortal Man
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A reflection of Psalm 90:
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3 You return mankind to the dust,
saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”

7 For we are consumed by your anger;
we are terrified by your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath;
we end our years like a sigh.

But what next?

‘The days of our years are threescore years and ten… OR perhaps eighty, the Psalm reminds us… (OR perhaps a score more, but maybe just 50 years… or a death more sudden).

‘… Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.” – Psalm 90:10b NASB

Returning to the night of Jesus’ betrayal

The Messiah Jesus came to man — living among us and teaching God’s way.

The Lord looks toward heaven on this night on which He was betrayed. From an upper room in Jerusalem Jesus prays to God our Father. This perfect High Priest stands before His own Altar of suffering and Sacrifice on behalf of those the LORD has chosen.

For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
John 17:19 NASB

You will die and I will die.

The Son of Man did die… for those whom He sacrificed for Himself.

The witness of Scripture and the Gospel confirm what happened next to the Messiah of God. What will be next for you?

Hebrews 9: excerpt:
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A New Covenant
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Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies… only the high priest enters…

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation..

.. through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

… sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh …

… “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.” …

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
Hebrews 9:24

… at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment
Hebrews 9:27 NASB

AND YES, fellow sinner, you know well from Scripture what is NEXT after DEATH.

28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Do You await HIM?

As Jesus our High Priest interceded for them, the Apostles only had hint of what would come next. Certain sacrifice of their Lord and ours! Probably persecution and death for each Disciple of Jesus, the only question being when.

Yet by the Lord’s prayer of protection He sent disciples into a world which hates Jesus, the Christ of GOD; a world which hates the very GOD it denies.

No question about it, ALL will die; but few await death with joyous expectation. Do you await the resurrection of our flesh and joining of your soul and the Spirit of the LORD GOD?

NONE want to face the Judgment of sin – an evil nature woven into our being which cannot face the Very Light of the Lord GOD.

Those who deny God or claim Christ falsely must, in time, face the judgment of having chosen darkness over the Light and Glory of God and of having refused God’s grace of a new choice to turn back to the path of righteousness which leads to life in paradise.

What is True of Christ Jesus?

The Good News of John about Jesus our Savior:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Truth from the Gospel of John 14:6
- The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
  - “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil…
    “But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”
- Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- “I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:19 KJV

Do you hear your Savior’s voice and open the door to Him?

Will you receive eternal life?

He has sanctified those He calls to eternal life.

How will you get to the paradise of God without the righteousness of Christ Jesus?

‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. – Revelation 3:22 KJV

Amen.
July 31, 2020
He will give you another Helper – the Holy Spirit
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:23-24 NASB

The Messiah Jesus has been with His Apostles for three years. Now only John and ten others remain in the room after Judas left to betray the Lord.

Are the very lives of the Disciples not also at great risk in the Jerusalem which hates righteousness? How will they survive once Jesus is killed?

The Apostles must have wondered, ‘where will we find HELP after our Lord goes to His mortal death?’ It would be literally the day after tomorrow.

The Three Helpers

He will give you another Helper sets the scene from John 12 of Jesus and the Disciples returning to Jerusalem for Jesus’ triumphal entry.

After Judas left

Only the eleven chosen remain in the room with Jesus as the Lord reassures them concerning what must now take place to fulfill all righteousness.

Perhaps the comfort of Psalm 38 came to mind as Jesus tells them He will no longer be with them.

Psalm 38:
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And those who repay evil for good,
They oppose me, because I follow what is good.
Do not forsake me, O LORD;
O my God, do not be far from me!
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!
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38:22 ח֥וּשָׁה לְעֶזְרָתִ֑י אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י תְּשׁוּעָתִֽי׃

The Lord God, from whom Jesus received all Authority and power is God the Father.

Because of the Lord Jesus, the Disciples now have a new relationship through their Master and Teacher to God the Father.

We continued with the scene of the Last Supper in He will give you another Helper – Jesus’ promise, observing how Jesus promised that He Himself, the Messiah of the Lord God, would return to HELP the Disciples.

Now we return to this same scene so full of promise. Listen closely as Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will help them.

John 13:

31 When he [Judas Iscariot] had left, Jesus said,

“Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35 CSB – In case you missed it, Church..

John 14:

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth.

The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit

John has already witnessed the Power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus previously taught teachers of Israel about spirit (of man and living things) versus flesh, as well as of the Holy Spirit of the LORD.

We touched on this from early in John’s Gospel in Life in the Holy Spirit.

Although we could explore many mysteries of the Trinity in more detail our only purpose here is to introduce a NEW relationship of the Holy Spirit. J

Prior to His crucifixion, resurrection and later return to the Father, Jesus now assures the Disciples:

¹⁸“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.

Do you feel like an orphan isolated from your brothers and sisters of your local church?

(I do. But Jesus assures His disciples of good counsel.)

25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

He will remind you

Even though Jesus returned to the Disciples in the flesh after His resurrection, He gave the Holy Spirit of God to those who loved Him in spirit and in truth.

The Holy Spirit, Who IS with us, reminds disciples of everything the Son of God has taught us.

Helper, Counselor, Comforter

26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me…

‘When the Helper comes’ or ‘When the Counselor comes,’ or from the KJV, “Comforter” — παράκλητος parakletos, the ‘summoned’ One, Jesus assures, will be called to your side to plead your case.

All point to the Holy Spirit, from the greek “πνεῦμα” pneuma – the Spirit of truth, defending you in truth.

Pilate will soon ask rhetorically, “What is truth?”

Jesus has already told them:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6 – the words of Christ Jesus

Now the Lord Jesus guarantees this same comforting truth through the Holy Spirit.

—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

16:1 “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.

1 John: Comfort to the Church

Later the Apostle John will confirm this in letters to the Church read by saints who like us had never seen Jesus in the flesh and Spirit.

4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (If true in the first century, certainly many more false prophets have gone into the world of the 21st century.)

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God;
1 John 2-3a

… this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

What comfort for Christians in the Spirit to have such help — discernment of truth to recognize antichrists and false prophets. By this the fellowship of believers lives in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

parakletos from the Father through the Lord Jesus.
παράκλητος, an intercessor, consoler:—advocate, comforter.

Help for the saints

John 16:

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
John 16:7 NASB

8 And He [the Holy Spirit], when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…

The saints of the church, having the Truth of the Spirit present, will know the Lord’s conviction of sin, failure to righteousness and judgment of transgression. (Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.)

9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.
John 16:13 CSB – the promise of Jesus to the believer

Behold, the hour cometh

One last encouragement from Jesus increasingly more comforting to a 21st century church.

32 Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home…

… each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone…

Think of it: Jesus tells the Eleven that they will be separated from each other in their own homes AND that his Disciples will leave their Lord and Master Jesus alone.

The Lord Jesus, alone at His trials; alone in His punishments by the world — yet what does Jesus assure us?

“… and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

Does it help to know by the Holy Spirit that the Father is in Him and He in the Father? Will the Holy Spirit sent to the one who believes not comfort, counsel and HELP you in your hour of need?

Jesus tells His disciples,

33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

Do you in Him?

You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous!

Do you suffer for Jesus

Courage, beloved brother; hold to your faith, dear sister.

OR do you just suffer?

“I have conquered the world,” Jesus assures the saint.

For the sinner in death has only suffering.

But the church joined to Jesus though separated to our own homes has eternal hope, eternal life and a Helper in Christ Jesus.

‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:3 to the messenger of the church of…
May 14, 2020