"I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
When God says that He is a "jealous God," He is not speaking from insecurity. He is speaking out of concern for people who ignore Him, or worship other "gods." In the USA we are not overrun with "graven images," but we have surely come up with some good substitutes. Today, we have secularism. The strategy of secularists is to take all spiritual, or religious, things out of our society and put our Christian witness into a church ghetto. Secularists are doing a good job of helping destroy our country and God is not pleased, because "He will not give His glory to another." Closely tied to secularism is atheism. It appears to me that the national religion is becoming atheism. Say what you want, atheism is a religion today. Atheists have put their faith in the hope that there is no God. Then there is materialism. To a certain extent, we are all guilty of this. We are as guilty as the atheists and the secularists. We are enamored with "things" to the extent that we run up credit card debts that we cannot pay back. Now I'm really going to meddle. "Churchanity" is a "graven image." What is churchanity? Notice that this replaces Christianity. In churchanity we put buildings and programs ahead of Christ. Buildings and programs are important, but they are not our main focus. We are to focus on Christ and put Him at the head of our churches. (Read Colossians 1:16-18) He still means it. It is worth mentioning again that God is not insecure because of the things that we put into His place. God knows that we need Him and that no one can love us and give us security like He can. There is really nothing that can effectively take the place of God in our lives. We need the Lord above anything or anyone else in the world. Meditate on your life and where your loyalty lies, and if you have what could be called a graven image, discard it and concentrate on the Lord – Who alone can be your savior. Bro. Joe
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Some times when I get a case of “writer’s block,” I will write down a word and try to make an acrostic of it. This time I wrote the name of Jesus, and what follows is the acrostic that I came up with to describe Jesus, our Savior.
J- Justification – It is through Jesus we can be saved and justified in spite of the fact that we are sinners. Here is what Paul wrote about justification in Romans 3:23-24: “For all have sinned and short of the glory of God; 24. Being justified freely by His grace thorough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” In spite of the fact that we are sinners, we can be justified before God almighty through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a matter of confessing your sins and asking Jesus to come into your life and save you. This justification is available to all people – even you! E- Eternal life – Eternal life in heaven is made possible through Jesus Christ. I want to quote from Paul’s Roman letter, chapter 6:22-23: “But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23. for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The mortality rate on earth is 100%. We will all die, but by faith in Jesus Christ we can have eternal life in heaven when we invite Him into our lives. This eternal life is available to all people – even you! S - Soul Satisfaction – It is true that soul satisfaction is given us through faith in Jesus Christ. What was written in Psalm 107:8-9 is true about Jesus: “On that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men. 9. For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry with goodness.” This is what Jesus does for those who put their faith in Him. Eternal life is available for all – even you. U - Understanding – There are a lot of things that we will never understand. It is difficult sometimes to understand the ways of the Lord. But Jesus gives us understanding of the greatest truth. I will let 1 John 5:20 explain what I mean. Read it carefully: “And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” This understanding is available for all – even you! S - Surety – Perhaps you are unsure about what is written above. I want to share Hebrews 7:22 and 25 – 22. “By so much more was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 25. Wherefore He (Jesus) is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” This assurance is available to all people – even you. Well, that ends my acrostic, but I hope that this does not end your interest in what I have written. Read it and share J-E-S-U-S with the world. Bro. Joe "“Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. 26. But now is made manifest (revealed), and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations by obedience of faith: 27. To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."
The three verses above are the closing of the Book of Romans. They disclose things that are of historical, theological and biblical importance. I want to attempt to explain the meaning of these verses to the best of my knowledge. (Okay, my knowledge is not great, but it is best I can give you. Lol) It was apparent that Paul was happy that he could be alive to share the mystery of God: “Which was kept secret since the world began.” Let’s look at the revelation of this mystery: The mystery was God’s revelation of His plan of salvation, “made known to all nations.” This is a revelation of the good news of Jesus Christ, not only to Jews, but to Gentiles as well. Paul preached salvation to all who would hear of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 26 tells us that the mystery was “made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” Paul explained this mystery in this way in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” All who are saved, are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. That is the explanation of the mystery, “made known to all nations.” Paul wanted his readers to be sure that this revelation was not from him, but from God. Vs. 25a: “Now to Him that is of power establish you.” It was God who made this gospel of faith possible. Paul preached it but it came from God. Paul referred to the gospel as “my gospel,” but he preached Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We still announce this secret every time we share it with someone, but their salvation comes through the Holy Spirit. Paul gave God the credit for any results of his witness, and so should we. We need to always remember that God should always receive the glory for people who are saved by our witness. Paul expressed it for us in verse 27: “To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen” For myself, I am thankful that God allows me to share His word with people. This mystery was expressed in Old Testament scripture, especially through the prophets: “But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God.” All of the preaching and witnessing in the New Testament was done through interpretations of Old Testament prophecies. (The New Testament was being lived out as John, Peter, Paul, and others shared the revelation of the mystery.) Today, we share the revelation of the mystery through both the Old and New Testaments. We should praise God for the revelation of salvation by faith through Christ to all who will receive it. I sincerely pray that I have cleared the water for you instead of muddying it. Bro. Joe "But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Jesus. 4. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him.”
A “primary source” is a source in research that goes back to the date of the incident, or the closest date, that is being written about. I was a history major in college and I used to love to go back to magazine articles that were about the subject that I happened to be researching. Primary resources are generally considered the most viable. Well, there is a primary resource for Jesus, and that is the New Testament. It is the only primary source. I think that it was by God’s design that nothing authoritative outside of the New Testament was written about Jesus. That’s why these movies and books about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene, and other outlandish things, are ridiculous. Where did they get their information? Some of it came from apocryphal writings that are patently false.* What we know about Jesus is revealed in the four gospels and in other New Testament documents, e.g., Paul’s letters. You can see from our text, that preaching of “another Jesus” was a problem in the early church. It was something that the apostles had to combat all of the time. Satan knows that if he can distort who Christ is and make Him into something other than how He is portrayed to be in the New Testament, he can hinder the gospel message. The New Testament portrays Christ as the long-awaited Messiah, who came to earth, born of a virgin, and lived a perfect life. He died on the cross in order that people might be saved. He arose on the third day, ministered to His disciples for forty days and ascended to the Father. One day He will return to claim His people. That is who and what Christ is – the Savior of the world. There is no such thing as a “cosmic Christ” that I read about some time ago. This “cosmic Christ” is really whatever anyone wants him to be. If one wants him to be a roving revolutionary that is what he will become. If one wants him to be a libertine who says that anything and everything goes, that is what he will be. This is the “New Age” take on who and what Christ is. These philosophies usually take all of the power out of the hands of Jesus, and put it into the hands of humanity. (That’s a scary thought, given the history of humanity.) This “New Age” Christ smiles on everything. He would certainly never have cleansed the temple, because he would not have wanted to offend those who bought and sold there. He would certainly never have condemned the self-righteous Pharisees, lest he offend them. He would not have claimed to be “the way, the truth and the life.” He would not have claimed to be the only way to the Father, because he wouldn’t have wanted to offend the sensibilities of other religions. This “cosmic Christ” would be good friends with Buddha, Allah and all of the other assorted gods out there. In fact, he would just be “one of the guys,” lumped in with whatever people wanted to worship. Needless to say, this is not the New Testament view of Christ. We need to be aware that this “other Christ” which Paul had to deal with is still being preached today, and people are still buying it. They are buying it because it gives them a savior with no claim on their lives. A savior who would make no demands, have no will and who would have no moral compass. We need to choose the Christ who claimed the authority of Yahweh, and was able to say: “Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This is the Christ who is “the way, the truth and the life.” This is the Christ who has “gone to prepare a place for us.” Claim Him! Embrace Him! Believe Him! Bro. Joe *I refer you to The Real Jesus, written by Lee Strobel “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.”
Isaiah’s prophetic ministry was during a very difficult time in Judah and Israel. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was about to be overtaken by Assyria, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah was on the brink of destruction as well. (Except for Hezekiah's righteous reign, Judah would have joined Israel in destruction.) The problem was an age-old problem – people thought that they were smarter than God and thought that they knew better than God. This is not unlike the time in which we live. We have never been better informed, nor have we been more deceived than we are now. Part of the problem was that people thought they knew better about what was good and what was evil than God did. After all, God’s people had the Ten Commandments to guide them, but they were beyond that. The seed of Israel and Judah’s destruction was that they thought they could determine what was good and what was evil, regardless of what God’s word said. We see this happening today. It is happening in obvious ways, for example, in relation to sexual sins of all kinds. God’s word makes plain what is right and what is wrong in this area, yet we think we know better than God. We say that, after all, this is 2014 and the old ways are no longer applicable. The “old ways” are applicable, not because they are old but because they are true. But this is also true in more subtle ways in what we would call “little sins.” For example, the Bible teaches us, particularly in the New Testament, that we are to be careful what we say about people, yet gossip is rampant –even in churches! People today are bent on turning biblical morality on its side and casting it away all together. We can’t do this with impunity and not pay a price for it. I want to be careful in my own life and in my own thinking, for if I’m not careful I will find myself calling good evil and evil good. This is wrong even in subtle, less obvious ways. Another part of the problem was that people thought they were smarter than God. Isaiah wrote: “Woe unto those that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.” We need to be careful lest our brains run away with our wisdom. We think that we know so much, and compared to other generations, we do know more than people have ever known. We have knowledge at our fingertips on the internet. If I want to know something, I just look it up on the internet. The problem is that when we are wise in our own eyes, we seem to think that just because we tnow something it must be right. We think that the more we know, the smarter we are. This is not necessarily so. When our self wisdom drives us away from God and what He wants with and for us, we have been deceived. The solution to the two problems above is found in Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. 6. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 7. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.” When we trust God, we trust His wisdom and His directions for our lives. When we acknowledge Him and depend on His understanding, we will not call good evil and evil good, nor will be wise in our own eyes. We need to realize that there is wisdom greater than human wisdom, and that the Wisest One wants to give us our understanding and our knowledge. This is what I need to do and what you need to do! Do it! Bro. Joe “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. 2. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.”
Nadab and Abihu are names that live in infamy in the Bible, Why? As sons of Aaron they had been given the priestly duty of offering sacrifices at the tabernacle, where God came among His people. They were playing around with their censers and offered sacrifices that had not been commanded by God, and they paid with their lives. I am using this text to show you that it does matter what we believe and what we do. They found out that God was serious about what He wanted them to do – being a priest for the people of God was not a game. It still matters what we believe about God and what we do for God. Let me give some examples. It matters what we believe about Jesus. The Old Testament in prophecy and the New Testament in prospect give us the picture of whom and what Jesus Christ was and is. We can’t make a picture of Jesus and decide that he will be “our Jesus” apart from what the Bible says about Him. It is clear from scripture that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that He is the One chosen by God to save people from their sins. This was made known from the beginning when the angel announced to Joseph about Mary’s pregnancy: “And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.”(Matthew 1:21) Jesus Himself declared: “I am the way, the truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) We can’t blithely call Jesus “just a good man,” because this is not how He is depicted in scripture. He is no less than the Son of God, God incarnate according to John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” There are many more biblical proofs about whom and what Jesus is, but what I have written should illustrate that according to the Bible, it does matter what we believe about Jesus. It matters what we believe about the Bible. Many today see the Bible as an ancient book of myths Ironically, they dismiss it as being too old to be relevant. Why, then, will the same people believe in accounts of dinosaurs. Shoot, that was a long time ago, and it shouldn’t matter to us. The Bible is ever old and ever new. I think that it was Karl Barth who said that you can have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other and see what God is doing in the world. The Bible is the accurate, perfect revelation of God and of His plans for the world. We can’t neglect the Bible and lead the kind of lives that God wants us to lead. It is apparent that there is vast ignorance of the Bible in our world today. I have read many accounts of people who started reading the Bible to prove that it was a book of myths and came away from it firmly convinced of the Bible’s reality. That’s not true of everyone who read it, of course, but if it is true about one person that is enough to declare the Bible the word of God. We can’t go through the bible as if it is a buffet and pick and choose what we want. The Bible has a clear message of God’s love for us demonstrated in Jesus Christ. It has a clear message of God’s hatred of sin, and of His judgment. We can’t have only a God of love, or only a God of judgment. According the Bible, God is all that He is, and we should believe it. Bro. Joe “God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Unbelievers have no idea why Paul would write such a thing. After all, the cross was the most inhumane method of capital punishment that man ever devised. They also wonder why we would glory in the cross. This point is that to glory in the cross, you have to believe biblical prophecy in the Old Testament and in the message of the New Testament. There are some very good reasons why all Christians can glory in the cross. I will list three of them. It was on the cross that salvation was made possible. Jesus is referred to as the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) Isaiah prophesied about the suffering servant in Isaiah 53:6-7: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before her shearers is dumb, so openeth He not His mouth.” Paul wrote about this in Ephesians 2:15-19: “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of two one new man, so making peace. 16. that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were near. 18. For through Him we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow cititzens with the saints, and of the household of God.” There is much more about the cross in the New Testament, but these should suffice to prove the point. It was on the cross that God’s great love for human beings was revealed in all of its glory. In John 3:16, Jesus told of the extent of the love of God for us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus knew that the cross was in His future, even as He said these loving words. In His earthly ministry, Jesus revealed the love of the Father by His love for people. The New Testament portrays Jesus as One who loved everyone, the rich and the poor. He saved the wealthy Zacchaeus and bragged on the widow who gave all that she had at the temple. Matthew 9:36 reveals the great love and compassion of Jesus: “But when (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Jesus revealed great love when He healed the sick, raised the dead, calmed the sea and fed two multitudes of five thousand and four thousand with just a few loaves and fishes. Then when Jesus died on the cross, He gave proof of the love portrayed in John 3:16. I once heard Billy Graham say that Jesus was saying from the cross: “I love you! I love you! I love you!” It was on the cross that Satan’s eternal fate was sealed. He did everything that he could to keep Jesus from the cross. In the temptations given in the gospels, the devil tried to get Jesus to short-circuit his destiny on the cross by proving Himself without dying on the cross. Jesus would not succumb to this. I think that it was the devil who tempted the people to try to make Jesus a king. Jesus would not allow that to happen. 1 John 3:8 says: “He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested (revealed) that He might destroy the works of the devil.” John also pointed out in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" That is why Paul could write that he gloried in the cross and that is why we do as well. Bro. Joe “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
“Judge not” is one of the most confusing concepts written in the New Testament. On one hand it makes sense that one human being cannot judge another, on the other hand it seems to be in order that to “judge not” we will have to ignore sin. I will try to make sense of this for myself and for you. “Judge not” does not mean that we cannot recognize sin. Sin is a reality that was brought into the world by our first parents, and it has been with us since. The whole Bible deals with the reality of sin. Why was there a flood that destroyed the whole world? Sin! Why were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed? Sin! Why did David write Psalm 51? He wrote it because he had sinned and he knew that he needed to be forgiven for those sins. Why did Jesus come into the world, to live a perfect life and die on the cross? It was because of sin. Sin is real and it is the reason for all of the things that happen in this fallen world. We do not have to judge sin, because God has already judged it and it is always wrong. “Judge not” does not mean that we can’t warn people about sin in their lives . If we know that someone is headed in the wrong direction and that this direction could ruin their lives, we are negligent in our Christian witness if we do not give a word of warning. It is not “ugly and mean” to warn people about how certain sins can ruin their lives. We are, however, to approach people in an attitude of compassion and love. I know that I have been helped by loving and compassionate Christians reminding me of the reality of sin in my life. This was especially true in the years that I was growing up and experimenting with what the world had to offer. I did not always heed the warnings, but I surely needed the warnings and I think that my life is better because of intervention of fellow Christians. We are not doing anyone a favor when we ignore sin in their lives. “Judge not” does mean that we need to be careful when we are warning other people about their sins, that we are not doing the same things, or maybe even worse. Jesus made this plain in Matthew 7:3: “And why behold thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but do not consider the beam (or log) that is in your own eye?” Paul gave a warning about this in Romans 2:1: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judges: for wherein you judge another you do not consider yourself, for you that judge are doing the same things.” It is much easier for us to recognize sin in someone else’s life than it is to recognize it in our own lives. We need to remember that our sins are being judged by someone much higher than ourselves, and that He knows what is in our lives. “Judge not” does mean that we are not to be pharisaical and condescending ("holier than thou") when we are warning others about their sins. We need to remember that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and that this verse applies to us as well. Paul wrote about this in Ephesians 4:15: “But speaking the truth in love may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” We are not qualified to be condescending before any person, no matter how bad they seem to be. Remember that Jesus was not impressed by the Pharisee who went to pray and in his prayer condemned the tax collector who was praying at the same time. (Read Luke 18:10-14.) “Judge not” means that there is only one real judge, and He is not us! (I know that is bad grammar.) It is certainly not wrong to be concerned about sin in other people’s lives, but it is wrong when we think that we are qualified to look down on them. If anyone has ever been qualified to look down on people it was Jesus, and that is not how he treated sinners. When we look down on people, we are committing the sin of false pride, which is certainly condemned in the Bible. We are not to ignore sin, and this means that we are not to ignore our own sins. Bro. Joe “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
We have all probably wished at some time or other that we could inherit a fortune. We probably did not think about the fact that someone would have to die for us to be inheritors. Be that as it may, we do not have to wait to be rich heirs. The Bible tells us that through Christ we are heirs of God. Why? Because when we accepted Jesus as our Savior we became sons and daughters of God through our faith in Christ. If we are heirs, what have we inherited? Paul gave us a hint of the extent of our inheritance in Philippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Think about all of the riches of God. The Bible tells us that everything belongs to God, in heaven and on earth; therefore, we have an extensive inheritance. What are some of these riches that we have inherited? The first thing that comes to my mind is that we have inherited the richness of God’s love, mercy, and grace. How thankful we should be that God did not continue to treat us as slaves, but in His love He accepted us into His kingdom and made us His children. We do not ever need to feel unloved, because we can be assured that God loves us all of the time. Just as our salvation is based on His grace, His love is also based on His grace. He loves us in spite of ourselves. The second thing that comes to my mind is that we have inherited His forgiveness. Guilt is a big part of being human, but God forgives us so that we do not have to be consumed by guilt. We have the Bible’s promise that if we will “confess our sins (Jesus) will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” Not only that but He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Keep in mind that we cannot earn the forgiveness of God, but He gives it to us freely out of His “riches in glory.” The third thing that comes to my mind is that we have inherited His peace. In John 16:33, Jesus gave a promise concerning His peace: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (trouble); but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul gave us a promise concerning the peace that Christ gives us. He promised that if we take all things to God in prayer: “the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” We cannot earn the peace of God that “passes all understanding,” but we can claim it by grace as part of the inheritance of “His riches in glory.” This peace is beyond our understanding because it is eternal peace that abides in our hearts, even as in the world we have troubles. The fourth thing that comes to my mind is that we have inherited Joy. In Galatians 5, Joy is listed as part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Besides that, Jesus promised us His joy in John 15:11...These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” We do not have to conjure up joy, because we have it as part of our inheritance from“His riches in glory.” The fifth thing that comes to mind is that as heirs of God through Christ, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit who leads and guides us through life. Jesus made a promise about this in John 14:26: “But the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things in remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.” These are all great reasons to rejoice in our inheritance, but the greatest of all is eternal life in heaven forever and forever. We are heirs of God and we need to remember it and rejoice in it. Bro. Joe “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels in heaven, but my Father only.”
When is Jesus coming again? This is a question that has been asked since Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. As early as New Testament days, Christians were looking for the coming of Jesus. Be sure of this, there is no New Testament doctrine more sure than the fact that Jesus is coming again. His coming back is stated by Jesus and by all writers throughout the New Testament, but we are not given a date. I know that I do not know, but I don't feel ignorant because I am in good company. In Matthew 25:36 Jesus said: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." All of the events of the end-time are in the mind and heart of God and will unfold as He deems necessary. Jesus added in Matthew 25:44: "Therefore be ye ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." The point is that we are to be ready for His coming. As I've often said: "I'm not on the time and place committee, but I am on the preparation committee." However, I am among those who say that Jesus could come at any time. We just need to be prepared and ready. There is another aspect to this matter of preparation that I picked up on in Acts 1, where Jesus was about to ascend to the Father. His disciples asked Him a question: "Lord, wilt thou restore again the kingdom to Israel.?" Here is Jesus' answer, and it introduces the other aspect of preparing for His coming that I mentioned above. Jesus said: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8) Jesus told them not to spend their time speculating but serving, because the Father is perfectly capable of taking care of His end of the bargain. As the angel said to Jesus' disciples in Acts 1:11: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." It's almost as if the angel is saying, "Didn't you hear what He said? Stop gazing and go witness as He told you." In this matter we are not speculators or spectators; we are servants who are to "occupy 'til He comes." Instead of spending our time speculating, we are to spend our time being His witnesses to the world. I am not proposing that you should not study prophecy, or that you should not wonder about when Jesus is coming again. There are a lot of good studies on prophecy, but none of them ever try to tell us when Jesus is coming. David Jeremiah has done a lot of preaching and teaching on end-time prophecies, but he has not tried to declare a date. In 1988 a man, whose name I do not remember, wrote a book entitled: “88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Come In 1988.” I did not read it, but a lot of people did, and probably believed it until 1988 ended and Jesus had not yet come. He gave up –right? Wrong! He wrote a book in 1989 entitled: “89 Reasons Why Jesus will Come In 1989.” Well, we are still here – he missed again. Those who try to set a date always miss it and leave a lot of disillusioned people in their wake. Jesus told His disciples, and us, in Acts 1:8 what we are to do until He comes: “But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” It is not our business to tell people when Jesus is returning, because we don’t know, but it is our business to help make sure that the good news about Jesus Christ is heard about around the world – and we need to start in our own “Jerusalem.” Jesus is coming again. That is a sure biblical promise. Until then let us be about the Lord’s business of witnessing to the world. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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