Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: salvation

  • Wisdom Cries Out

    Wisdom Cries Out

    Proverbs 8: NKJV Does not wisdom cry out,
    And understanding lift up her voice?
    2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
    Beside the way, where the paths meet.
    3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
    At the entrance of the doors:

    4 “To you, O men, I call,
    And my voice is to the sons of men.
    5 O you simple ones, understand prudence,
    And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

    Wisdom cries out! She calls out from the mountaintop. She echos the Truth of the Almighty from Mount Gerizim and Mount Moriah, from Mount Sinai and the Mount of Olives.

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

    From the echo of the Voice of Truth, through unclean lips of the Prophet; from the highest mountain of the Law to the lowest manger of the cattle and fields of sheep: Truth is born as a Son of Man and speaks softly to those who will hear. You without deafening distraction hear what the Truth of wisdom would say to your soul.

    Proverbs 8:6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
    And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
    7 For my mouth will speak truth;
    Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
    8 All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
    Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

    Yet we will not sit in silence before the Very Voice of wisdom and hear what Christ Jesus would instruct to our wayward and crooked paths. (Do YOU read His gospel truth before you begin your way in this day?)

    Hebrews 1: God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things…

     

    Proverbs 9:Wisdom has built her house,
    She has hewn out her seven pillars;
    2 She has slaughtered her meat,
    She has mixed her wine,
    She has also furnished her table.
    3 She has sent out her maidens,
    She cries out from the highest places of the city,
    4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

    You with ears to hear, hear the Voice of Truth.

    Or will you yet hear the distraction of the devil, the beguiler of your soul by the lies of his snare?

    Luke 22:“For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

    And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

     

    Matthew 13:Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way…

    …at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

    If Satan had asked to sift the soul of Simon Peter as chaff, will the snarer of souls not also seek to turn you from the wisdom of Truth?

    Do YOU read your Bible?

    Do YOU hear the invitation of Christ Jesus (with ears to hear) and do you continue with Jesus as your Lord, even in the trials of this life of distraction?

    OR have you missed the invitation of the Banquet; for Wisdom will not beg your repentance and obedience.

    Proverbs 9: 6 Forsake foolishness and live,
    And go in the way of understanding.

    7 “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
    And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
    8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
    Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
    9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
    Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

    10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

    Jesus IS and will return. He will judge all sin and unrighteousness with wisdom and truth. He will gather the chaff; neither will those who only claim Him while wandering the paths of wickedness be seated at the Table of His mercy and love.

    Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

    The persistent fool will not receive the cleansed robe of His righteousness.

     Matthew 22:

    The Parable of the Wedding Feast

    And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:

    2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.

    4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’

    5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business…

    8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy…

    11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

    14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

    Though wisdom and Truth have called sinners and fools to the feast, only the humble and repentant will receive the Lord’s robe of righteousness.

    The King, in His mercy, has demonstrated much patience; that you might now accept His invitation to come among the guests.

    Revelation 19: 

    5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both[c] small and great!”

    6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

    9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

     

    12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

     

    He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

    KING OF KINGS AND
    LORD OF LORDS.

    You with ears to hear, hear; for our Lord will not always contend with the dust of the earth and the chaff of the harvest.

     

  • GOD! Why have you forsaken me?

    My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!?

    The familiar words from Psalm 22 must have still been ringing in the ears of the mourners at the Cross.

    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
    2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

    The lament must have weighed as heavy on their hearts as Romans rolled the stone to seal a new tomb where Jesus’ body lay wrapped in blood-stained linens of embalmment.

    6 But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
    7 All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
    8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

    How they must have wept bitterly for our Lord from beyond the Tomb on this Holy Sabbath of the Passover.

    Jesus is dead! Crucified on a Cross. His broken body cursed by God.

    The Passover Seder

      “why is this night different from all other nights?” 

    Jews long ago escaped from the darkness of their slavery to Egypt, only to have Jerusalem enslaved to Rome.

    All are enslaved by sin, Jew and Roman alike… until this night.

    For the Passover Lamb of Sacrifice has been killed for our sins.

    The Body of Jesus Christ lay in a grave beyond an immovable stone and Roman Guards.

    The Body of Christ Jesus… wrapped in the linens of death, stained with the blood of our sins…

    My GOD! My GOD! Why have YOU forsaken me?

    For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

    To be continued…

    Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday

    EASTER!

    Worship Christ Jesus, who died for your sins.

  • Am I the One?

    Am I the One?

    The Plot to Kill Jesus

    ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’

    In the evening, Jesus arrived with his twelve disciples. [from the Gospel of Matthew]

    Jesus has cleansed the Temple, clearing its courts of the money-changers and sinners selling the sacrifice of God for a price of no heavenly value. Now Jesus will cleanse the disciples, in preparation for the sharing of the meal of the Passover.

    Jesus IS the servant. His Disciples are being prepared for their exodus from Jerusalem and journey into all the world to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. And like usual, they don’t even know it. Although they have been with Jesus for worship, prayer, meals, miracles and sermons for three years, they are clueless.  Aren’t we, who ‘go to church’ just like them sometimes?

    John 13:8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

    Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

    9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

    10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said,“You are not all clean.”

    Peter: quick to speak, quick to act, sometimes right, often clueless… like some of us who are bold in our faith, but don’t quite get it when we do not look to what the Lord wants for us to do (or to say or not say).

    Are YOU clean at the Table of our Lord?

    We will return to the scene of this First Holy Communion in a moment, but first, in keeping with our theme of the cluelessness of some followers of Christ (with no intention to betray our Lord), let’s look in on an after-dinner conversation.

    Luke 22:24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you.

    Does this sound familiar? Remember after their witness of Jesus transfiguration how James and John had asked to sit on Jesus’ right and left in His Kingdom? And how the other Disciples became angry at James and John for this? Yet Jesus rebuked them all and told them how this was not in His authority to grant.

    Jesus is with them, in a family meal. And here they are doing things like arguing and bickering. (If this was our table, they would probably ‘share’ their opinions with their ‘friends’ and ‘tweet’ their position to the world.)

    OH, JESUS?  Were You saying something?

    (Sorry, I got distracted.)

    It’s just a ‘family dinner,’ right? Just an ordinary every-day thing, right? I know Jesus and what He wants for me, right?

    OH, JESUS? What was that you said during the toast… that part before one of us is a devil who will betray you?

    (I would NEVER do that.)

     Mark 14:

    Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”

    19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”

    Have you ever been BETRAYED?

    I have…

    I think you have, too. Most of us have been betrayed by someone we love.

    And who betrays us? It is not those for whom we have no love, for they only betray their own.

    It is only the ones nearest to our love who can wound us mortally with the kiss of betrayal.

    Judas was a Disciple, a ‘follower.’ He was one Jesus loved, though the Lord knew who would betray Him. Yet the sin of Judas was against God our Father. This is why after David confessed his sin of adultery and came before God in complete repentance and acceptance of whatever punishment God our Father would impose on him that David said:

    Psalm 51:

    Against You, You only, have I sinned,
    And done this evil in Your sight—
    That You may be found just when You speak,
    And blameless when You judge.

    GOD will judge you! This is why you must be cleansed in the Blood of Christ Jesus. It is only by His grace that we are redeemed and saved from the Pit of Hell, the place of eternal darkness and the punishment we so justly deserve.

     John 1:16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

    Do you understand the seriousness of your adultery against the Bridegroom of the Church? Is your sin against the Blood of your Savior?

    If you have never fully understood the apostasy of Judas, look to how you who once walked with Jesus Christ (and called Him ‘Lord’) have turned away from the narrow path of His love, mercy and grace. Sometimes called ‘backsliding,’ often noted as ‘rebellion,’ apostasy is always a turning away from GOD as your Lord.

    Eleven Apostles at the Communion Table with Christ Jesus would betray their ‘Lord’ by word and deed, then later repent and witness forever to His faithfulness.

    One Apostle would turn against His ‘Lord,’ repent too late, hang himself after Jesus Crucifixion and be condemned for eternity to his just reward of Hell!

    Judas said he was a christian, but Judas had never given his soul to Jesus as his Lord.

    Mark 14 NKJV:

    20 He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

    Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

    22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said,

    “Take, eat; this is My body.”

    23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them,

     “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.

    25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

    26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

    You have been part of the family and followers of Christ Jesus.

    You have shared in Communion of the Broken Bread of His Body and drunk the Blood of Jesus shed for your sins on the Cross.

    Yet not every one who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Do you, dear believer, do the will of Jesus, our Lord and Savior?

    For He will he look at one who did not truly worship Him and say, “I never knew you.”

    IF you do not repent, while it is yet today; IF you continue to harden your heart against the Lord, Christ Jesus: what will be HIS answer to you when you ask:

    ‘Am I the one?’