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Tag: Psalms

  • Seeing the Invisible Spirit

    Seeing the Invisible Spirit

    How does the LORD use the Bible? How do we use the Bible to show others the Lord Jesus?

    All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

    – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

    Peter’s powerful sermon of Pentecost is perhaps among the best preaching in the Bible after Jesus is raised from the grave. Yet if you or I had been in Peter’s sandals and new position of leadership, what would we have to say?

    Let’s take a look at the context and application of events confronting this ‘preacher’ and ask of our situation, ‘What do I do with this?’

    Acts 2:

    When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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    Let’s be clear of the place and condition of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the LORD GOD, promised by Christ Jesus, Son of the Living God:  “they were all together in one place.” Peter and the Apostles were worshiping.

    Peter and the Apostles were worshiping in Jerusalem where Christ Jesus had been crucified on the Cross outside the gates for our sins; in Jerusalem where Christ Jesus our Lord had risen from the grave to appear to Peter, the Twelve and many (and in many places for fifty days) Pentecost is a celebration of worship, like the Passover, which brought many of the faithful to the city of Jerusalem to worship the LORD.

    5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together…

    The sound of Almighty God draws worshipers to the place where worshipers dwell. Inexplicable, all-powerful Spirit of the Living God, here-present; NOT in the Temple of God (re-built by Herod), nor before only a High Priest behind a veil which separates the Holiness of the LORD from the sinners of God’s choosing. NO! The Holy Spirit of the Living God fell on the Apostles of Jesus and the Twelve began to preach with the Power of the Living GOD.

    “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?

    Some things only God can do. Perhaps a High Priest might witness the Holy Presence of the LORD.

    Centuries before the great silence of God in defeated Israel and defeated Judah, on occasion the Voice of God would be heard out of the mouth of the LORD’s Prophet. It is one of these great Prophets this uneducated Galilean fisherman taught from and rebuked the unbelieving people who had witnessed the Crucifixion less than two months ago. It is a fisherman speaking in languages of gentiles and of Jews who all amazingly understand the Apostles. It is the Spirit of the LORD instructing Jews and gentiles through faithful worshipers, rather than by educated Pharisees like a Saul of Tarsus, who would later witness the risen Christ.

    What was it the Apostle Peter reiterates in Jerusalem of Judea from the Prophet Joel of 800 years before Christ?

    [Joel (meaning “one to whom Jehovah is God,” that is, worshiper of Jehovah) seems to have belonged to Judah. – Commentary by A. R. Faussett ]

    What had worshipers in Jerusalem forgotten in the short weeks since a dramatic blood moon at the Crucifixion of Jesus and the tearing of the veil of the Temple?

    What have some of us forgotten since the worshipful festival of Easter just a few Sundays ago?

    Joel 1:

    1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: 2 Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days?…

    8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.

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    Was Israel not the Chosen Bride of the Living God?

    Was the Bridegroom not crucified by those rejecting God’s promised grace of Perfect forgiveness?

    The Spirit of the LORD poured forth from Peter and the Apostles. Worshipers of GOD were drawn to the Invisible Word spoken through these servants of Christ Jesus.

    Acts 2:

    17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
        and your young men shall see visions,
        and your old men shall dream dreams;
    18 even on my male servants and female servants
        in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
    19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
        and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
    20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
        and the moon to blood,
        before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
    21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

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    Peter is not reading from a scroll in the Temple. This uneducated fisherman is reminding Jerusalem of not only infrequently heard words of the Prophet Joel, but of the dramatic events of just two months earlier when the sun turned to darkness and the Bridegroom of Righteousness cried out from a cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

    Peter now preaches by the Spirit of what Joel had foretold of these very last days, begun on a Cross just weeks before.

    22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

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    The bold fisherman of Galilee again quotes scripture from the hymnal of the Jews, the words of Psalm 16 :

    25 For David says concerning him,

    “‘I saw the Lord always before me,
        for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
    26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
        my flesh also will dwell in hope.
    27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
        or let your Holy One see corruption.
    28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
        you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

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    The Spirit then gives Peter not only more scripture to speak to the souls before him, but application to their salvation. Speaking of King David, a man after God’s own heart, Peters says:

    31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

    Speaking of what some in the crowd surely had witnessed in Jerusalem at the previous feast of Pentecost, Peter proclaims:

    32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

    33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,

    he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

    God’s chosen worshipers are once again witnessing the invisible and inexplicable signs and wonders in the Apostles, signs and wonders not unlike those many had also witnessed personally in Christ Jesus of Nazareth.

    The Spirit and Peter confront their souls with the evidence of the Messiah, sacrificed and risen. Jesus is not a King like David; Jesus is more than a King of the Jews and of Jerusalem.

    34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

    “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
    “Sit at my right hand,
    35     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

    36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

    Peter, by the power of the Spirit and the convicting words of scripture has applied the Word of God to the very moment of salvation for those with ears to hear.

    The Bridegroom of the church speaks by the Spirit to those with ears to hear:

    • Will you hear the conviction of the Savior you crucified in the words of Peter?
    • Will you turn from your sinful ways to take up your cross and follow Christ Jesus?
    • Has Jesus’s love drawn your soul to the wedding feast which will come on the clouds of these last days?
    • Will this Spirit-filled sermon make any difference in your days?
    • Will the Lord Jesus be your Lord?

     

    God IS in Person, Christ Jesus!

    The Spirit of the I AM, the LORD, calls out to you.

    • What must you do?

    Acts 2:37-47

     

  • And you, who once were alienated

    And you, who once were alienated

    Colossians 1: NKJV 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

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    Jesus Christ! Friend or foe?

    No other Name evokes such controversy and alienation: not Muhammad, not Buddha, not Obama, not Putin. The world, your workplace, our government: all oppose any suggestion that Christ Jesus IS Lord; that the Lord will judge sinners, that we are created once to die once, to be raised to the judgment and accountability for our sins against our fellow man and enmity against God.

    Wicked works of our daily lives, evil ideas conceived for our advantage over others, evil efforts to bring pleasure at the expense of others – all are rebellious against ANY man or ANY god being Lord over us.

    We must be in charge of our own destiny.  And so we are; for we have choice between the passions of these evil days, with eternal punishment after death, or accepting Jesus Christ as Lord to serve God in exchange for His righteousness leading to eternal life by His grace.

    Before the Lord mercifully called you to peace of your soul and invitation to worship in the body of believers, were you not indignant that Jesus could command you to NOT do those things you have always done, that Jesus could command you to action of love when you would easily ignore the need of another?

    How wicked are our works and deceitful our hearts. Yet by grace we are saved to His love, the love of Christ Jesus in place of the things of this perishing world and pursuits of this decaying flesh.

    Psalm 36

    How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love

    To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.

     Transgression [rebellion] speaks to the wicked
        deep in his heart;
    there is no fear of God
        before his eyes.
    2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes
        that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
    3 The words of his mouth are trouble [iniquity] and deceit;
        he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
    4 He plots trouble while on his bed;
        he sets himself in a way that is not good;
        he does not reject evil.

    5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
        your faithfulness to the clouds.

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    By contrast to our evil, sinful nature, the Lord is good, full of steadfast love. The Lord is faithful, but we are not.

    The NKJV [v.4] says of the wicked: He does not abhor evil. Christians know this to be true of all who surround us in our workplace, where we dine, shop, and are entertained in spectator sports or even casual observation of those all around us. Do you abhor evil? Or has the world convinced you to ‘tolerate’ evil, even in the holy worship place and communion of our Lord?

    Do not hate evil with hatred, but abhor evil with the love of Jesus which also called you to repentance for your sins.

    And lest we paint ourselves into a sanctuary of perceived righteousness apart from Christ, let us recall with humility the mercy God has already shown us, miserable sinners in His sight.

    Romans 2

    Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

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    Do you rant and rail against abortion, bold christian, while condoning your teens having intercourse before marriage?

    Do you shout out about marriage between one man and one woman, while divorcing your Christian husband or wife to whom you have made your vows before God?

    Our righteousness is only in Christ Jesus. If He is our Lord, our Lord commands us to be merciful to others, as He has shown us much mercy. Surly our Lord requires continued patience with you and with me, grace for the reshaping of our repentant hearts into the clay of His love.

    The witness of Christ, passed on in truth and in love by His Apostles continues in all the generations until the Lord returns again. Paul and Timothy write in their letter to the church at Colossae:

    Colossians 1: ESV [NKJV]

    3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven…

    13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

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    Paul writes to the church of the transformation which takes place that makes believers in Christ Jesus different from the world. The Apostle Paul cautions continued faithfulness in believers, that we might not fall back into our former sinful and wicked ways so evident in those worldly enemies of Christ around us.

    [NKJV] 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

    For how did Paul precede this caution? With the contrast of our redeemed life in Christ Jesus.

    21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

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    Do not fail to show mercy to others nor to remember the grace by which we were saved.

  • You are my Son

    You are my Son

    Acts 13:

    “‘You are my Son,
        today I have begotten you.’

    34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

    “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

    35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

    “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

    What do you think: When you run to the place where the body should be, do you have faith in the resurrection?

    The dramatic events and turn of expectations at that last celebration of the Passover in Jerusalem must have been traumatic for the Apostles, dear friends and followers of Jesus of Nazareth. The turn of the triumphal entrance with crowds of believers and followers digressing into the stealth of an arrest in the night, trial away from the crowds and manipulative sentence of cruel punishment and humiliation of bloody death on a cross must have terrorized the hearts of all who believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the King promised by scripture.

    What had happened? (No disciple could have imagined that it would have turned out like this.) He said so many things during those three years, but it is inconceivable to even the faithful mind that the Son of God would not now win back the Kingdom promised by God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What happened?

    “You will surely die,” says scripture.

    Yes. We will all surely die and so did Jesus! Even Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead and the young daughter of Jairus and son of the widow at Nain – those Christ raised from death – even they will die once again. The disciples of Jesus all knew this; yet in considering the resurrection they never considered the consequence of death which precedes. Eternal life! (What will it be like?) Yet first, death – even death on a Cross.

    The women had seen His tomb empty. The Apostles had raced to the empty tomb only to find the wrappings of death left in the darkness, as if removed like a change of clothes. Then Jesus appeared, alive, in many forms and at many times! He IS risen and the Lord sends us to witness to the world this great love of God our Father. The Kingdom has come.

    Turkey 1st c Roman provencesEven a once skeptical unbelieving leading teacher of Scripture met Jesus on a road to Damascus. In fact, Saul of Tarsus not only teaches Jews of the dispersion throughout the Roman Empire some thought Jesus would overthrow; Paul (his new God-given name) is an Apostle to the gentiles.

    Paul, who travels at great risk even of his own death if caught by those who pursue him, comes to city after city preaching the gospel of the love of Christ Jesus for Jew, Greek and Roman. Paul, confirmed by the Apostles and Barnabas in Pisidia, the town of Antioch, later preached what the Apostles did not understand until after the risen Christ opened up the scriptures for them.

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     Acts 13

    And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

    “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

    21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

    24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

    26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death,they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

    30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

    32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

    “‘You are my Son,
        today I have begotten you.’

    34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

    “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

    35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

    “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

    36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.

    38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers,that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

    41 “‘Look, you scoffers,
        be astounded and perish;
    for I am doing a work in your days,
        a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

    42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

    43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

    44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

    “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
        that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

    48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

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    It’s all there in the Bible. The disciples of Jesus knew these scriptures. Yet like us, they wanted to understand God’s word applied in their lives in a way less painful and more victorious.

    “Son of David,” they shouted. Surely God would establish a Kingdom even more glorious than that of David and Solomon. And imagine: a Son of God who would rule forever – a Son of Man like us. (Could He die?) God the Father will put the Son in charge. All will be resurrected to the Kingdom of the Son of God! He will be judge of all souls and rule with the righteousness of the Father.

    We will surely die. Even the Apostles died. Paul died. All died. Your loved ones and your ancestors have died. You will die. I will die. Yet, finally we see a light from the darkness of death – a resurrection of the soul and a redemption for our sin.

    This is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that all who believe in him will be forgiven our sins. By grace we are given life eternal, which we do not deserve. Yet because of God’s love for us, the victory of the Cross changes everything.

    Has your faith in the Son changed your life, knowing your hope after death?

    John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

    The risen Christ; Jesus, their crucified friend, had to explain scripture and the victory of His resurrection over sin and death to His beloved and amazed Apostles. (It’s all there in the Bible for you to read even to this day.)

    Do you believe it? While it is yet today, why not live for Christ? For to die is gain.