Ephesians 1:3-8
Scripture says that Jesus chose to become poor--leaving heaven and everything that belonged to Him as God's Son--so we might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Those riches of grace are described in Ephesians 1. We are . . .
• Chosen by God. Since we belong to the Lord, life has purpose, and we are eternally secure.
• Liberated. Every one of us was in slavery to sin and unable to free ourself. "The flesh" permeated our thinking, attitudes, and behavior. We know this to be true because we formerly kept doing the wrong we didn't want to do instead of the good we had intended. But Jesus broke the power of the old sinful nature so that we might be able to obey God.
Redeemed. Jesus' death satisfied divine justice because His perfect life met every biblical requirement (Deut. 17:1; Rom. 6:23). When we place our trust in the Savior, God considers our sin-debt "paid in full," and we are at peace with Him.
United with Him. At salvation, we enter into a personal relationship with God. He becomes our heavenly Father, and we are His adopted children.
Citizens of heaven. We have been given permanent citizenship in God's kingdom and an inheritance that won't perish (1 Peter 1:4).
Many of us don't realize that we are rich, because we think in earthly terms--bank accounts and material possessions--instead of spiritual ones. While these temporal items provide us with comfort and pleasure, they have no eternal value. Our real wealth is found in the spiritual blessings we've been given through Christ.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Sunday, 18 January 2009
The Ministry of Silence
"Be still, and know that I am God." Psa_46:10
There are certain voices which we never hear except when everything is silent. They reach us as a revelation of the stillness. Sometimes on a summer afternoon one gets away from the city or the village and climbs up the grassy hillside till all the noise of human life is lost, and it is often then that there breaks upon the ear a certain indistinguishable murmur as of the moving of innumerable wings.
Travelers tell us that there are rivers flowing beneath the streets of the ancient city of Shechem. During the hours of the day you cannot hear them for the noise of the narrow streets and the bazaars. But when evening comes and the clamor dies away and the dew falls on the city, then quite audibly, in the hush of night, you may hear the music of the buried streams.
There are many voices like those hidden waters. You can only hear them when things are still. There are whisperings of conscience in the heart which take only a very little to drown. There are tidings from the eternal Spirit who is not far away from any one of us; tidings that will come and go unnoticed unless we have learned the grace of being still.
The Art of Being Still
And yet the very element of stillness is one which is conspicuously lacking now. We have been taught the art of exercise, and we have lost the art of being still. A recent writer, in a brilliant essay on the music of today, tells us that we are living nowadays under "the dominion of din." And whether or not that is true of music, of which I am not qualified to speak, it is certainly true of ordinary life. Our forefathers may have had very imperfect ideals of Christian service. They may have tolerated social abuses which we would never tolerate today. But they had one element in their Christian life in more abundant measure than we have it, and that was the blessed element of silence. What peace there was in the old-fashioned Sabbath—what a reverent stillness in the house of God—what a quiet and peaceful solemnity in worship at the family altar! And if today we cannot but be conscious that something of that old spirit has departed, we know that something precious has been lost. It is gain to be immersed in service. It is a high ambition to be energetic. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." And yet the Bible never says to us, "Be energetic, and know that I am God." It says, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Indeed, we are so in love with noise today that stillness is commonly looked upon as weakness. And it is well to remind ourselves occasionally that often the very opposite is true. When the rain beats against the window pane, we are awakened by its noise. But the snow falls so silently, that never an infant stirs within its cradle. And yet the snow may block up every road quite as effectually as a landslide and dislocate the traffic of a kingdom. Set a thousand digging shovels to work, and you produce a certain effect upon the soil. But when the frost comes with her silent fingers and lightly touches field and meadow with them, in a single night that silent frost will work more effectually than a thousand shovels.
God does not work in this strange world by hustling. God works in the world far more often by hush. In all the mightiest powers which surround us, there is a certain element of stillness. And if I did not find in Jesus Christ something of that divine inaudibility, I confess I should be tempted to despair. When Epictetus had had his arm broken by the savage cruelty of his master, he turned round without one trace of anger, and said to him quietly, "I told you so." And when a heathen satirist taunted the Christians, asking what nobler thing their Master did, one of them answered, "He kept silence." There is a silence that may speak of weakness. There is another silence that is full of power. It is the empty husk that rattles in the breeze. It is the brook and not the river that makes the noise. And it is good that we should remember that when we are tempted to associate quietness with weakness, as perhaps we are all tempted nowadays.
The Stillness of Absorption
There is, of course, a certain kind of silence which is only the outward sign of self-absorption. It does not indicate that a man is hearing anything; it just means that he is withdrawn into himself. I have heard runners say that in long races they have been oblivious of every sound. There may have been a thousand voices cheering them on, and yet they seemed to run in a great silence. Perhaps all of us have had hours such as that—hours of suffering or of intense activity—when we felt ourselves alone in a deep solitude. That is the stillness of absorption. It is not the stillness to which our text refers. It is of another quietness that it speaks; the quietness which is the basis of communion. For there are times when we never speak so eloquently, and times when we never hear so finely, as when the tongue is silent and the lips are closed and the spirit is the one interpreter. A love that has no silence has no depth. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." There are people whose love we instinctively distrust because they are always telling us about it. And perhaps it is simply because God is love, in all the glorious fullness of that word, that we have to be still if we would know Him.
Indeed, there is often no surer sign than silence that the heart has been reached and the depths been broken up. In their greatest hours men are seldom noisy. I have watched sometimes an audience at a concert—for to me the audience is more interesting than the music—and 1 have watched the listless attention which they gave to music that reached no farther than the ear. And then perhaps there was some perfect melody, some chord which had the insistence of a message, and it was as if a voice had cried out loud, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Charles Reade, in one of the best of his novels, tells a story of some Australian miners. He tells how they traveled through a long summer Sunday to hear the singing of a captive thrush. And they were reckless men familiar with riot, but when they heard it, there fell a hush upon them, for it brought back memories of childhood again and of England where they had been boys. In a greater fashion that is true of God. We do not clamber to Him by the steps of logic; we reach Him by the feelings of the heart. And it is just because, when the heart is moved profoundly, there falls upon it a silence and a stillness, that we are bidden in our text to be still and know that He is God.
Probably that is the reason, too, why great silences have a divine suggestion. Great silent spaces speak to us of God. I remember a year or two ago visiting the cathedral at Cologne. I suppose it is the most magnificent example of Gothic architecture in the world. And I recall vividly, as though it had happened yesterday, how, passing in from the crowded city streets, the thought of the presence of God was overwhelming. I knew He was present in the teeming city. I knew He was present in the crowded street. I knew that where the stir and traffic were, the infinite Spirit was not far away. And yet it is one thing to know, and it is quite another thing to feel; and in the calm and solemn quiet of the cathedral I felt that God was there. That is what spiritual men have always felt under the silence of the starry sky. That is why they have always thought of God when they lifted up their eyes unto the hills.
Our noisy, talkative life is like the surge breaking on the edge of the shore, and away beyond it is the silent ocean carrying the message of infinity. We lose our sense of God in a big city far more readily than lonely dwellers do. And we lay the blame of that upon a score of things—on the strain of business, on our abundant pleasures. Perhaps there is a deeper reason than all these; it is the loss of the ministry of silence: of the field and the meadow and the hill; of the solitude's which are quivering with God. Spare your compassion for the Highland dweller. The man may be far richer than you think. It may be he has kept what we have lost in the keen and eager zest of city life. It may be he has kept, in all his poverty, those intimations of a present God which are given where a great silence is, as of the lonely field or meadow.
Why God Makes Silences
I close by suggesting that this is the reason why God makes silences in every life; the silence of sleep, the silences of sorrow, and then the last great silence at the end. One of the hardest things in the world, as you all know, is to get little children to keep still. They are in a state of perpetual activity, restless, eager, questioning, alert. And just as a mother says to her child, "Be still," and hushes it to sleep that it may rest, so God does sooner or later with us all. What a quiet, still place the sickroom is! What a silence there is over a house of mourning! How the voices are hushed, and every footstep soft, when someone is lying within the coffin. Had we the choosing of our own affairs we should never have chosen such an hour as that; and yet how often it is rich in blessing. All the activities of eager years may not have taught us quite so much as that. There are things which we never learn when we are active. There are things which we only learn when we are passive. And so God comes, in His resistless way, which never ceases to be a way of love, and says, "Be still, and know that I am God." If that is so with the passive hours of life, may it not be so with the passive hour of death? What is death but the Almighty Father saying to our talking lips, "Be still"? And I for one believe that in that stillness we shall awaken to know that He is God, in such a love and power as will be heaven.
There are certain voices which we never hear except when everything is silent. They reach us as a revelation of the stillness. Sometimes on a summer afternoon one gets away from the city or the village and climbs up the grassy hillside till all the noise of human life is lost, and it is often then that there breaks upon the ear a certain indistinguishable murmur as of the moving of innumerable wings.
Travelers tell us that there are rivers flowing beneath the streets of the ancient city of Shechem. During the hours of the day you cannot hear them for the noise of the narrow streets and the bazaars. But when evening comes and the clamor dies away and the dew falls on the city, then quite audibly, in the hush of night, you may hear the music of the buried streams.
There are many voices like those hidden waters. You can only hear them when things are still. There are whisperings of conscience in the heart which take only a very little to drown. There are tidings from the eternal Spirit who is not far away from any one of us; tidings that will come and go unnoticed unless we have learned the grace of being still.
The Art of Being Still
And yet the very element of stillness is one which is conspicuously lacking now. We have been taught the art of exercise, and we have lost the art of being still. A recent writer, in a brilliant essay on the music of today, tells us that we are living nowadays under "the dominion of din." And whether or not that is true of music, of which I am not qualified to speak, it is certainly true of ordinary life. Our forefathers may have had very imperfect ideals of Christian service. They may have tolerated social abuses which we would never tolerate today. But they had one element in their Christian life in more abundant measure than we have it, and that was the blessed element of silence. What peace there was in the old-fashioned Sabbath—what a reverent stillness in the house of God—what a quiet and peaceful solemnity in worship at the family altar! And if today we cannot but be conscious that something of that old spirit has departed, we know that something precious has been lost. It is gain to be immersed in service. It is a high ambition to be energetic. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." And yet the Bible never says to us, "Be energetic, and know that I am God." It says, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Indeed, we are so in love with noise today that stillness is commonly looked upon as weakness. And it is well to remind ourselves occasionally that often the very opposite is true. When the rain beats against the window pane, we are awakened by its noise. But the snow falls so silently, that never an infant stirs within its cradle. And yet the snow may block up every road quite as effectually as a landslide and dislocate the traffic of a kingdom. Set a thousand digging shovels to work, and you produce a certain effect upon the soil. But when the frost comes with her silent fingers and lightly touches field and meadow with them, in a single night that silent frost will work more effectually than a thousand shovels.
God does not work in this strange world by hustling. God works in the world far more often by hush. In all the mightiest powers which surround us, there is a certain element of stillness. And if I did not find in Jesus Christ something of that divine inaudibility, I confess I should be tempted to despair. When Epictetus had had his arm broken by the savage cruelty of his master, he turned round without one trace of anger, and said to him quietly, "I told you so." And when a heathen satirist taunted the Christians, asking what nobler thing their Master did, one of them answered, "He kept silence." There is a silence that may speak of weakness. There is another silence that is full of power. It is the empty husk that rattles in the breeze. It is the brook and not the river that makes the noise. And it is good that we should remember that when we are tempted to associate quietness with weakness, as perhaps we are all tempted nowadays.
The Stillness of Absorption
There is, of course, a certain kind of silence which is only the outward sign of self-absorption. It does not indicate that a man is hearing anything; it just means that he is withdrawn into himself. I have heard runners say that in long races they have been oblivious of every sound. There may have been a thousand voices cheering them on, and yet they seemed to run in a great silence. Perhaps all of us have had hours such as that—hours of suffering or of intense activity—when we felt ourselves alone in a deep solitude. That is the stillness of absorption. It is not the stillness to which our text refers. It is of another quietness that it speaks; the quietness which is the basis of communion. For there are times when we never speak so eloquently, and times when we never hear so finely, as when the tongue is silent and the lips are closed and the spirit is the one interpreter. A love that has no silence has no depth. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." There are people whose love we instinctively distrust because they are always telling us about it. And perhaps it is simply because God is love, in all the glorious fullness of that word, that we have to be still if we would know Him.
Indeed, there is often no surer sign than silence that the heart has been reached and the depths been broken up. In their greatest hours men are seldom noisy. I have watched sometimes an audience at a concert—for to me the audience is more interesting than the music—and 1 have watched the listless attention which they gave to music that reached no farther than the ear. And then perhaps there was some perfect melody, some chord which had the insistence of a message, and it was as if a voice had cried out loud, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Charles Reade, in one of the best of his novels, tells a story of some Australian miners. He tells how they traveled through a long summer Sunday to hear the singing of a captive thrush. And they were reckless men familiar with riot, but when they heard it, there fell a hush upon them, for it brought back memories of childhood again and of England where they had been boys. In a greater fashion that is true of God. We do not clamber to Him by the steps of logic; we reach Him by the feelings of the heart. And it is just because, when the heart is moved profoundly, there falls upon it a silence and a stillness, that we are bidden in our text to be still and know that He is God.
Probably that is the reason, too, why great silences have a divine suggestion. Great silent spaces speak to us of God. I remember a year or two ago visiting the cathedral at Cologne. I suppose it is the most magnificent example of Gothic architecture in the world. And I recall vividly, as though it had happened yesterday, how, passing in from the crowded city streets, the thought of the presence of God was overwhelming. I knew He was present in the teeming city. I knew He was present in the crowded street. I knew that where the stir and traffic were, the infinite Spirit was not far away. And yet it is one thing to know, and it is quite another thing to feel; and in the calm and solemn quiet of the cathedral I felt that God was there. That is what spiritual men have always felt under the silence of the starry sky. That is why they have always thought of God when they lifted up their eyes unto the hills.
Our noisy, talkative life is like the surge breaking on the edge of the shore, and away beyond it is the silent ocean carrying the message of infinity. We lose our sense of God in a big city far more readily than lonely dwellers do. And we lay the blame of that upon a score of things—on the strain of business, on our abundant pleasures. Perhaps there is a deeper reason than all these; it is the loss of the ministry of silence: of the field and the meadow and the hill; of the solitude's which are quivering with God. Spare your compassion for the Highland dweller. The man may be far richer than you think. It may be he has kept what we have lost in the keen and eager zest of city life. It may be he has kept, in all his poverty, those intimations of a present God which are given where a great silence is, as of the lonely field or meadow.
Why God Makes Silences
I close by suggesting that this is the reason why God makes silences in every life; the silence of sleep, the silences of sorrow, and then the last great silence at the end. One of the hardest things in the world, as you all know, is to get little children to keep still. They are in a state of perpetual activity, restless, eager, questioning, alert. And just as a mother says to her child, "Be still," and hushes it to sleep that it may rest, so God does sooner or later with us all. What a quiet, still place the sickroom is! What a silence there is over a house of mourning! How the voices are hushed, and every footstep soft, when someone is lying within the coffin. Had we the choosing of our own affairs we should never have chosen such an hour as that; and yet how often it is rich in blessing. All the activities of eager years may not have taught us quite so much as that. There are things which we never learn when we are active. There are things which we only learn when we are passive. And so God comes, in His resistless way, which never ceases to be a way of love, and says, "Be still, and know that I am God." If that is so with the passive hours of life, may it not be so with the passive hour of death? What is death but the Almighty Father saying to our talking lips, "Be still"? And I for one believe that in that stillness we shall awaken to know that He is God, in such a love and power as will be heaven.
Saturday, 10 January 2009
renew and be sure of your faith
Being Sure of Your Faith
There is a story about a boy flying a kite. The kite was so high that it had disappeared into the clouds. A man came by and asked, "What are you doing, son, holding on to that string?" The boy answered, "I've got a kite up there." The man looked up and said, "I don't see it." The boy replied, "Well, I know it's there because I can feel the tug."
That's like the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. We may not always see the evidence, but we feel a tug in our hearts constantly, letting us know that we are in touch with God. That is the witness of the Holy Spirit.
John's first Epistle is an examination book written so that we might have assurance and not doubt. Besides the witness of the Holy Spirit, five other points are brought out in 1 John that must characterize us if we are to be sure that we belong to God.
First, we must believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Someone asked Sundar Singh, the great Indian Christian, why he was a Christian and what he found in Christianity that he couldn't find in the other religions of India. He answered with these two words: "Jesus Christ." There is no other One who died for the sins of the world. There is no other One who rose from the dead. There is no other One who gives the hope that He is going to return and set up His Kingdom.
The Scripture says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," (Hebrews 11:1, NASB). Faith carries with it the idea of accompanying assurance. If we have faith, God gives us the assurance, the certainty, the knowledge, that we have passed from death unto life.
Believe
Do you believe? That word "believe" carries with it the idea of total surrender, putting total assurance in what Christ did for us on the cross-not trusting our good works, not trusting our money, not trusting anything, not even church membership, but trusting in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Second, we must have a changed attitude toward sin. What does that mean? Well, 1 John 5:18 says, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not," (KJV). "Oh, but," you say, "certainly Christians sin." Do you know what "sinneth not" means? It means "does not practice sin." We don't practice sin. Sin is no longer a habit in our lives.
Confess
But suppose we do sin. Suppose we slip and fall. Suppose we yield to temptation for a moment. What happens? We have to confess that sin. Name it to the Lord and say, "Lord, I have sinned." The Scripture says, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin," (1 John 1:7, KJV) and "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins," (1 John 1:9, KJV).
Not only are we to confess, but we are to forsake. There's no use repenting of sin and saying, "I'm sorry, Lord, I've sinned," and then going back and repeating it. That's not repentance. Repentance carries with it the idea that we do not repeat it. In other words, sin is no longer a practice in our lives. We may slip and fall from time to time, but it's not a practice. We don't deliberately do it.
That's the reason the Bible teaches that the Christian life is a daily life. The Scripture says we are to "exhort one another daily," (Hebrews 3:13, KJV). We are to take up our cross daily. We search the Scriptures daily. And we must renew our fellowship daily. The Scripture says deny self daily. It's hard. We are living in an age when the pressures on us are greater, perhaps, than in any other generation in history.
Third, we must have a desire to obey God. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments," (1 John 2:3, KJV). That doesn't mean that we can keep them all the time, but we have a desire to keep them. We want to. We try to, with God's help. We do good, we feed the poor, we visit people in prison. "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you," (John 10:21, KJV).
Jesus commanded, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel," (Mark 16:15, KJV). Our Team has been going to every continent, to the nations of the world, declaring that Christ is the Answer, that Christ died to save us, that Christ rose again, that He's coming back. And on every continent, in every culture with every ethnic background and every political ideology, we've seen people by the hundreds say "yes" to Christ.
Partake
Fourth, we must try to be separated from the world. First John 2:15 says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world," (KJV). What does "the world" mean? That word in Greek is "cosmos," and it means the world system that is dominated by evil. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world," (1 John 2:15-16, KJV). That means the order, the behavior, the fashion, the entertainment, whatever is dominated by evil. Satan is called "the god of this world" and "the prince of this world." The Bible teaches we are to live in the world, but we are not to partake of the evils of the world.
We are to be separated from the world of evil. "Touch not the unclean thing," says the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17, KJV). When I face something in the world, I ask, does it violate any principle of Scripture? Does it take the keen edge off my Christian life? Can I ask God's blessing on it? Will it be a stumbling block to others? Would I like to be there, or be reading that, or be watching that, if Christ should return at that time?
Worldliness does not fall like an avalanche upon a person and sweep him or her away. It is the steady drip, drip, drip of the water that wears away the stone. And the world is always exerting a steady pressure on us every day. Most of us would go down under it if it weren't for the Holy Spirit who lives inside us and holds us up and keeps us.
Fifth, we must be filled with the Spirit. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death," (1 John 3:14, KJV). Do you love? Does love dominate your life?
Belong
I'm asking you to make a commitment and be sure that you belong to Christ. You see, Christ took your sins on the cross, those sins are behind God's back. He has forgotten them because of Christ. That is what happens when you come to Christ. He doesn't see your sins, He sees the blood of Christ.
God offers you the greatest and most expensive gift in the whole world, eternal life, but you must receive that gift. God gave His Son. His Son rose from the dead. You can be sure of it. If you truly receive Him, you will be sure.
There is a story about a boy flying a kite. The kite was so high that it had disappeared into the clouds. A man came by and asked, "What are you doing, son, holding on to that string?" The boy answered, "I've got a kite up there." The man looked up and said, "I don't see it." The boy replied, "Well, I know it's there because I can feel the tug."
That's like the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. We may not always see the evidence, but we feel a tug in our hearts constantly, letting us know that we are in touch with God. That is the witness of the Holy Spirit.
John's first Epistle is an examination book written so that we might have assurance and not doubt. Besides the witness of the Holy Spirit, five other points are brought out in 1 John that must characterize us if we are to be sure that we belong to God.
First, we must believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Someone asked Sundar Singh, the great Indian Christian, why he was a Christian and what he found in Christianity that he couldn't find in the other religions of India. He answered with these two words: "Jesus Christ." There is no other One who died for the sins of the world. There is no other One who rose from the dead. There is no other One who gives the hope that He is going to return and set up His Kingdom.
The Scripture says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," (Hebrews 11:1, NASB). Faith carries with it the idea of accompanying assurance. If we have faith, God gives us the assurance, the certainty, the knowledge, that we have passed from death unto life.
Believe
Do you believe? That word "believe" carries with it the idea of total surrender, putting total assurance in what Christ did for us on the cross-not trusting our good works, not trusting our money, not trusting anything, not even church membership, but trusting in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Second, we must have a changed attitude toward sin. What does that mean? Well, 1 John 5:18 says, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not," (KJV). "Oh, but," you say, "certainly Christians sin." Do you know what "sinneth not" means? It means "does not practice sin." We don't practice sin. Sin is no longer a habit in our lives.
Confess
But suppose we do sin. Suppose we slip and fall. Suppose we yield to temptation for a moment. What happens? We have to confess that sin. Name it to the Lord and say, "Lord, I have sinned." The Scripture says, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin," (1 John 1:7, KJV) and "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins," (1 John 1:9, KJV).
Not only are we to confess, but we are to forsake. There's no use repenting of sin and saying, "I'm sorry, Lord, I've sinned," and then going back and repeating it. That's not repentance. Repentance carries with it the idea that we do not repeat it. In other words, sin is no longer a practice in our lives. We may slip and fall from time to time, but it's not a practice. We don't deliberately do it.
That's the reason the Bible teaches that the Christian life is a daily life. The Scripture says we are to "exhort one another daily," (Hebrews 3:13, KJV). We are to take up our cross daily. We search the Scriptures daily. And we must renew our fellowship daily. The Scripture says deny self daily. It's hard. We are living in an age when the pressures on us are greater, perhaps, than in any other generation in history.
Third, we must have a desire to obey God. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments," (1 John 2:3, KJV). That doesn't mean that we can keep them all the time, but we have a desire to keep them. We want to. We try to, with God's help. We do good, we feed the poor, we visit people in prison. "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you," (John 10:21, KJV).
Jesus commanded, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel," (Mark 16:15, KJV). Our Team has been going to every continent, to the nations of the world, declaring that Christ is the Answer, that Christ died to save us, that Christ rose again, that He's coming back. And on every continent, in every culture with every ethnic background and every political ideology, we've seen people by the hundreds say "yes" to Christ.
Partake
Fourth, we must try to be separated from the world. First John 2:15 says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world," (KJV). What does "the world" mean? That word in Greek is "cosmos," and it means the world system that is dominated by evil. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world," (1 John 2:15-16, KJV). That means the order, the behavior, the fashion, the entertainment, whatever is dominated by evil. Satan is called "the god of this world" and "the prince of this world." The Bible teaches we are to live in the world, but we are not to partake of the evils of the world.
We are to be separated from the world of evil. "Touch not the unclean thing," says the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17, KJV). When I face something in the world, I ask, does it violate any principle of Scripture? Does it take the keen edge off my Christian life? Can I ask God's blessing on it? Will it be a stumbling block to others? Would I like to be there, or be reading that, or be watching that, if Christ should return at that time?
Worldliness does not fall like an avalanche upon a person and sweep him or her away. It is the steady drip, drip, drip of the water that wears away the stone. And the world is always exerting a steady pressure on us every day. Most of us would go down under it if it weren't for the Holy Spirit who lives inside us and holds us up and keeps us.
Fifth, we must be filled with the Spirit. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death," (1 John 3:14, KJV). Do you love? Does love dominate your life?
Belong
I'm asking you to make a commitment and be sure that you belong to Christ. You see, Christ took your sins on the cross, those sins are behind God's back. He has forgotten them because of Christ. That is what happens when you come to Christ. He doesn't see your sins, He sees the blood of Christ.
God offers you the greatest and most expensive gift in the whole world, eternal life, but you must receive that gift. God gave His Son. His Son rose from the dead. You can be sure of it. If you truly receive Him, you will be sure.
How to Renew Your Faith
Many people slowly drift apart from their faith and religion. Soon they start to lose their personal contact with God. This is a good thing. God the Father, is the reason why we are all here, and even though some things are hard to believe, there is a way to slowly come back to your faith. Read on, and be nourished by the word of God.
Build Your Faith
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God"
You build your faith by reading and speaking God's word. The Bible tells you that as you renew your mind, you will be transformed.
You renew your mind with the word of God
If you're feeling defeated, it could be because you've been listening to the lies of the enemy.
"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"
Let God's word tell you who you are and what you have. Don't give any attention to anything that tells you differently. God's word is true.
Acknowledge, agree with, recognise, confess and speak, the word of God
Choose to see yourself as God sees you
Speak out these truths even when you don't yet see the reality
When God called Gideon a mighty warrior there was no evidence to suggest that it was true. God saw and spoke what Gideon would become.
Learn what God says about you and accept God's opinion of you. Believe what God says about who you are in Christ and you will become what you are in Him. By faith, believe the truth and act on what you believe.
You will build your faith as you constantly remind yourself of who you are in Christ.
Biblical Confessions To Build Your Faith
Apart from Jesus, I can do nothing; but in Jesus I can do all things. I choose to see myself as He sees me according to His living Word. My life is hid with Christ in God. I will say the same things that God says in His Word. How can two walk together if they don't agree?
I choose to trust God. His Word will be the final authority in my life. I base my entire life upon God and His living Word. Because I meditate upon His Word day and night and carefully do all that is written in it, I will prosper.
I'm not just an ordinary person; I'm a child of the living God. I'm not just a person; I'm an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. I'm not just a sinner; I'm a new creation in Jesus. I'm part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. I'm one of God's chosen people.
Jesus has declared me not guilty. I refuse to be discouraged. God is the God of all encouragement. There is no condemnation for me because I'm in Christ Jesus.
Satan is the father of lies. I won't listen to his accusations. I am cleansed by Jesus' blood. No weapon formed against me will succeed. I will disprove every tongue that rises against me in judgment.
My mind is being renewed by the word of God. I will pull down strongholds and cast down imaginations. I will bring every thought captive to the will of Christ.
I am accepted by God. If God is for me, who can be against me? Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world. Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ. As the Father loves Jesus, so Jesus loves me. I have the righteousness of God through Christ. I am not a slave of sin, I'm a slave of God and a slave of righteousness.
I will continue in God's word. I know the truth and the truth has set me free. I am free indeed because Jesus has set me free. I have been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness. I'm now part of the kingdom of God.
I will submit to God. When I resist the devil, he has to flee. No temptation will overcome me which is not common to man. God is faithful. He will not let me be tempted beyond my strength. With any temptation He will also provide me with a way of escape, so that I can endure.
Jesus always causes me to triumph. I'll reign as a king in life through Christ Jesus. The Word of God lives in me. I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me. I am an overcomer. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God gives me the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord.
I am a success to the glory of God. All His blessings will come upon me and overtake me because I obey the voice of the Lord, my God. I am confident that those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing.
I will not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Speak God's word daily. Believe it. Allow the living and active Word of God to build your faith, renew your mind and transform your life.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Be Prepared
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. . . .
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,
and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4.13-18
In our study one of the things we learned is that often times Jesus uses analogies and metaphors in his stories that may or may not be real clear to us, because we aren't living at the time Jesus told these stories and aren't real familiar with the context of the times.
Today's parable is one that can be somewhat confusing unless we understand the meaning of the analogy Jesus is using, which is how the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding, at least like the kind of wedding that took place about 2000 years ago.
The parable of the Ten Bridesmaids is about a wedding, a special wedding. In the time of Jesus the wedding day was a big deal, much like today. On the wedding day the bridegroom went to the bride's house for the ceremony; then the bride and groom, along with a great procession, returned to the groom's house where a feast took place, often lasting a full week.
At the particular wedding Jesus is talking about, ten virgins, which is more accurately translated from the original Greek as bridesmaids, were waiting to join in the procession, and they hoped to take part in the wedding banquet.
But when the groom didn't come at the expected time, five of them ran out of lamp oil. And by the time they had purchased extra oil, it was too late to join in the feast.
Now let's look at the parable with an understanding of the characters involved. The bridegroom is Jesus. The bridesmaids represent the church, which is all of us. The lamp is our Christian witness. The lamp oil represents our spiritual preparedness.
So let me re-read the parable with our understanding of the characters involved and let's see if we better understand the point Jesus is making.
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. The church folks thought they were ready to meet Jesus. 2 Half of them were foolish, and half were wise. 3 When the foolish shared their Christian witness, it was clear they were not fully prepared for Jesus return; 4 but the wise were prepared. 5 As Jesus was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is Jesus! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then the folks of the church got up and waited to share their witness.
8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Help us prepare, because our Christian witness is not strong.' 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! We can't prepare you; you had better go some place else to get ready.' 10 And while they were preparing, Jesus came, and those who were ready went with him into the heavenly kingdom; and the door was shut. 11 Later on, the other half of the church came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open the door to us.' 12 But the Lord replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' 13 Keep awake and be prepared, for you know neither the day nor the hour I will return." Jesus told this parable about the ten bridesmaids to clarify what it means to be ready for his return. When Jesus returns will we be spiritually ready, will we be prepared?
This parable teaches that everyone is responsible for his or her own spiritual condition and Christian witness. This means that no matter how much we may want to, we cannot project our faith or give our faith to another person.
However, what we can do is share our testimony, live as an example, and share the Gospel with passion; hoping people will claim Jesus Christ.
Nor can we take someone else's faith and claim it as our own. At the end of the day each person needs to make his or her own decision about Jesus. Each person has to accept or reject grace for themselves.
Preparation, we spend many hours of our lives preparing for things: Begin a new day For work To get the kids off to school Marching band competition last night A meal A date Conversation or perhaps a meeting Coming to church Retirement
There is no doubt we spend a great deal of time preparing for things, all of which is important. But in the midst of all this preparation do we take the necessary amount of time to prepare for the return of Jesus?
Right at the beginning of the parable Jesus says there are ten bridesmaids, five of them are foolish and five were wise. He tells us this because on the surface they all looked the same. All have come to the wedding; all ten have their lamps aglow with expectation; all ten presumably have on their bridesmaids gowns, there wearing color coordinated shoes, and carrying the same style lamp. We would never guess from their appearance, five were foolish and five were wise. Now it's not how the bridesmaids looked, the lamps, or the long dresses that sets the wise apart from the foolish – it's their readiness. Five of the bridesmaids are ready for the bridegroom to be delayed, but the other five are not.
The wise have enough oil for the feast to start whenever the bridegroom arrives; the foolish have only enough oil for their own time table. Five are prepared and ready, even for a delay; five are not.
Readiness means living the life of the kingdom, living the quality of life described in the scriptures, living a life of faithful Christian witness. Now many folks can do this for a short while; but it's when the kingdom is delayed, problems arise.
Being a peacemaker for a day or two isn't as demanding as being a peacemaker year after year, when hostility continues to break out time and time again, when Jesus is delayed.
Being understanding and merciful for an evening can be alright; however, being understanding and merciful for a lifetime, when the bridegroom is delayed, requires preparedness.
Feeding the hungry and providing a shelter for those with no housing might be ok over a couple of months; however providing for others for a lifetime, when Jesus is delayed, requires perseverance.
Being prepared for the return of Jesus is hard work, it requires patience, perseverance, persistence, and a daily choice to live as Christ prescribed, by loving God, loving others, and serving in the name of Jesus.
At the beginning of a life of faith, we can't really tell the followers of Jesus apart. We all look the same. We're all excited and eager to be good disciples. We read our Bibles, attend worship, and are excited about helping others in the name of Christ. Using the words of the parable we all have lamps; we're all excited about the coming wedding; we all know how to sing praises to our Lord. But as time goes by we soon spot some persons, or perhaps we see ourselves, attempting in vain to fan a dying flame back to life, our lamps begin to go dim, our passion wasn't what it once was, our Christian witness fades behind a veil of cultural influences. And as we observe others or look hard at ourselves we begin to distinguish wisdom from foolishness.
So the question we are challenged with today, is are we like the wise bridesmaids or are we like the foolish. Are we peacemakers, or problem makers? Are we understanding and merciful, or do we just not give a hoot? Are we focused on the kingdom of God, or are we focused on ourselves?
Are we prepared to meet Jesus when he comes, and are we prepared for his delay, meaning are we willing to be faithful over the long haul until he does come, or are we happy being nominal Christians, what John Wesley calls "almost Christians?"
Are we prepared to keep the faith through good times and bad, the up times and down times, through the desert times and mountain top times? We have a choice and it's not too late to make the choice to accept God's grace, to accept Jesus, to begin a new life, and to begin preparing for the coming of Christ.
The years we lived without Christ are gone, the years we lived as nominal Christians are gone, they can't be recaptured, we can't have a mulligan or a redo. We can't rewind our life and try again. The past is the past, and what's done is done.
But this doesn't mean it's too late. We can still get prepared and be ready for the coming wedding feast. What matters most is what we do from this moment forward. Do we take the time to prepare, or do we wing it hoping we can fool God?
So how do we get prepared? Do we have to do some ritualistic thing; do we have to say some special words?
No, what we need to do is accept the saving grace of Jesus, recognize that he is the Son of God, and follow his teachings. We need to live the Gospel in a wise and persuasive way, not foolishly or hypocritically.
We need to take the time every day to take that next step on our faith journey, to grow in our understanding of God and his call on our lives. We need to read scripture every day even if it's just a verse or two and pray to God to help us apply it to our lives. We need to seek to understand better our faith and what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and we need to serve others with our whole heart.
This is what it means to prepare and if we're to busy to prepare, then we're just too busy, and something needs to change with how we prioritize the things we do in our lives. Preparing for the coming of Christ is eternally wise; blowing Jesus off is eternally foolish!
So be prepared, stay faithful to your Christian witness, keep the lamp of hope burning, and be ready, because when Christ comes, he comes for the wise not the foolish. Amen!
Saturday, 27 December 2008
A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
1Peter 2:1-12
Key Verse 2:9
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
Each one of us has an identity in the world. Someone has an identity as a public officer, someone has an identity as a business man, and someone has an identity as a student. But through today's message, we should learn what our spiritual identity is. I pray that we may newly accept our spiritual identity as royal priests and take up the cross of prayer as high priests for the campus souls of this generation.
I. JESUS THE LIVING STONE (4-8)
Verses 1-3 are the concluding part about the lifestyle of Christians. Firstly, in a passive aspect, what are the things that we should get rid of? Look at verse 1. 'Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.' This verse tells us that those born again as children of God should throw away anything that is inappropriate to them.
And then, what should the newborn children of God actively strive for? Look at verse 2. 'Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,'
All a newborn baby does is craving for milk. Likewise newborn believers should crave for the milk of God's word. Newborn babies are breast-fed and start to grow. They start to roll over, sit down, crawl, and walk. But if a baby only takes milk and only rolls over and over again without further growth for 5 or10 years, the parents will think their baby is seriously ill and will take him to a pediatrician. The doctor will declare the baby as handicapped. It is the same with our spiritual growth. At one point we were born again, yet we must continue to grow throughout our life.
In order to grow normally, we must sincerely crave for God's word like a newborn baby craves for milk. In most cases, a person grows for the first five or seven years after he becomes a believer. Then he thinks that he is mature enough and stops struggling to grow and as a result he stops growing. We can imagine as a five year old spiritual baby who thinks and behaves as if he is an adult. When a man grows, it proves that he is living and his faith can become in order. Like a newborn baby craves for milk once tasting it, those who tasted the Word of God must continue to crave for it
What was the situation of the believers, who are the recipients of this letter? 1Peter 1:1 tells us that Apostle Peter is sending the letter to God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia'" In those days, all the Christians left their beloved hometown and scattered around Asia Minor and lived in caves deep forests in order to survive from the persecution of the Roman Emperor. They were going through unbearable trials of faith and persecution (1:6,7). They must have suffered enormously due to poverty, hunger, and fear of death. But in order to keep their faith, they left their homes and relatives, and lived as scattered strangers. When they had to leave, they left only by faith. Yet, how would they have felt when they actually became strangers in the foreign land? Tears continued following from their eyes, and they kept sighing. What they desperately needed seemed to be human comfort, food for survival, perhaps a box of Ramyun.
But what does Apostle Peter say to them? Look at verse 4a. 'As you come to him, the living Stone.' He urges them to come to Jesus. Then who is Jesus, whom we should come to? Look at verse 4. "As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him." Jesus was rejected by many men. From his birth he was rejected by men and had to be born in a stable. He was rejected and humiliated by the Jews and the religious leaders. He was even forsaken by his own beloved disciples. Finally, he was nailed on the cross like a criminal and thrown out of the city gates.
When we follow Jesus absolutely, we will also be rejected from this world. Missionaries and shepherds who preach the word of God are rejected and persecuted directly or indirectly. In America, missionaries who invite students to Bible study in private universities were arrested and handcuffed by police and had to stand before judge. In America, when we obey Jesus' command to make disciples we are often sued as lawbreakers. In Korea, the shepherdesses who teach the Bible on campus are often misunderstood as strange women and are rejected. In such circumstances, when we are rejected and go through hardships, we must come to Jesus. When we are distressed, because we are rejected and persecuted by preaching the gospel in the frontline of mission field, we must also come to Jesus. Whenever we come to Jesus, he comforts us, gives us conviction of victory, and a new strength. Peter who had received the name "Rock" from Jesus, describes Jesus with all kinds of stones - 'the chosen Stone, the precious living Stone, the cornerstone, and the stumbling Stone.' He gathered all the stones from the scripture. Why did Peter like stones so much? Was it because he was a stone collector? No. It was because Jesus gives life to those who believe. Through His death on the cross and resurrected by the power of God from the dead, Jesus became the living Stone. He gives eternal life to those who believe in him.
What spiritual blessing is given those who come to Jesus? Look at verse 5. "'you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. If we come to Jesus we also become living stones like him. We were dead stones separated from God because of our sins. Some people were like sharp stones and wounded others. Some were like granite stones, stubborn and full of greed. Some were like abandoned stones and suffered from fatalism and inferiority complex. A piece of iron becomes magnetic, when it is stuck to a stronger magnet. Likewise, if we come to Jesus and stick onto him, our sinful nature disappears and we become small living stones in the image of Jesus. In this way, God uses us as spiritual bricks to build God's universal church preciously. Additionally, what is the mission of believers? Look at verse 5b. "to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." It is to be a holy priesthood. The idea that "Every Believer is a Priest" came from this verse. This means that not only the pastors and priests, but even ordinary believers can be priests.
Verses 6-8 teach us about the blessing and warning for those who believe in Jesus and for those who do not. "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." To those who believe, the stone is precious, but to those who do not believe, the stone is the capstone even though it was rejected by the builders, and is the stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. The reason why they stumble is because they disobey the Word--which is also what they were destined for. This verse is actually a quote from Isaiah 28:16. This verse compares Jesus to a cornerstone and shows us double sided aspect of Christ. To those who believe he is precious, but to those who do not believe, he is a persecuted, rejected stone and a stone that causes them to stumble, which will eventually judge them (Dan 2:34).
II. A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
What then does Peter say about the spiritual identity of the scattered believers? Look at verse 9a. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" Apostle Peter tells us the spiritual identity and privilege of the humble looking believers in a multi-dimensional way. Even though they were scattered, despised, and lowly strangers living in the bottom of the society in foreign countries, they were a royal priesthood to God, and a chosen people, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God in the world.
What are the four kinds of identity that Peter mentioned in a multi-dimensional way?
First, a chosen people
This was quoted from Isaiah 43:20. In the times of Apostle Peter, it was very difficult for the people of colonies to acquire Roman citizenship. Unless they paid a large amount of money or contributed a great deal for the empire, becoming a Roman citizen was almost impossible (Acts 22:28). Furthermore, it was not easy for the Gentiles to convert to Jews. Only through strict rules and procedures could they be recognized as Jews. But we do not need to pay a lot of money, give great contributions, and go through rigorous procedures in order to become God's people. It was solely done by the redemption of Jesus' death on the cross and by God's graceful choice. The believers were chosen by God, who is far greater than the Roman emperor, and became the citizens in the kingdom of God, which is far more glorious than the Roman Empire. Today, those who escaped from North Korea consider becoming an American citizen as the greatest hope for their life. How much greater and glorious it is to become citizens of the kingdom of God!
Second, a holy nation (9c, Ex 19:6b)
Look at verse 9c. 'a holy nation.' In any country of the world, each one of them has its ethnic character and national idea. The people of God's kingdom also have its unique nature and character. They are holiness and purity. God's people are cleansed from their sins by the blood of Christ. They live holy and pure, differentiated from the people of the world. Even though, the believers are scattered around the world, the reason why they demonstrate the same image, transcending time and space, is because of the character of the kingdom of God. There are some believers who are not entirely free from their sense of guilt because they have not overcome the temptation of sin. This is because they do not live up to the privilege as the people of God. Believers should overcome sense of guilt, the temptation of sin, and live as holy people in the kingdom of God.
Third, a people belonging to God (9d)
Look at verse 9d. 'a people belonging to God.' This is a quote from Exodus 19:5b. The people of God were purchased by the blood of Jesus and became God's possession (1:18,19). It is like a merchant who sold all his possession to buy the pearl of a great value (Mt 13:45,16). Therefore, each of one of us is precious to God. No merchant will just neglect the pearl that he had purchased in exchange of all his possession. Likewise God is never indifferent to any of the believers. He even cares for and looks after a young and lowly sheep with his great love. He even counts the number of our hair and cares for us as the apple in His eye.
Fourth, a royal priesthood (9b)
Look at verse 9a. 'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.' This tells us that our identity is a royal priest like Melchizedek who was the king of Salem (Gen 14:18). Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the highest priest. A high priest enters the temple, offers sacrifices, and prays to God for the sin of the people. Likewise, the identity of a believer is a high priest. He has to come to God every day and pray to God for the forgiveness of his own sin and for the sin of the intellectuals of this generation. Apostle Peter said that being a royal priesthood is the spiritual identity of the rejected and scattered believers. Look at verse 9a again. 'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood' At first, I accepted this Word with my own head. And I was very happy. But I had to repent sincerely realizing that I did not live as a royal priest in my daily life. 'You are a royal priesthood.' When we accepted this word deeply in our hearts we felt befuddled because our identity was suddenly upgraded. Yet this Word is not just an empty word to make us feel good. It is the certification of anointment of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Every morning, we should renew our calling as a royal priesthood and carry out our mission as royal priests.
What then is the duty of a priest? Firstly, it is to teach the Word of God (Lev 10:11). In order to fulfill the duty of a priest we must diligently teach the Word to intellectuals. Secondly, it is to carry out intercession prayer (Num 6:23-27). As priests, we must persistently pray for the young people of our campuses and of our generation. By doing this we can carry out the work of redemption as shepherds for many souls like Apostle Peter. In this way, the priestly duty in the New Testament is slightly different from that of the Old Testament. Apostle Paul also says, 'Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship (Ro 12:1). In order to carry out his duty as a royal priest, Apostle Paul went to foreign lands, earnestly prayed for the Gentiles, taught them the word of God, and shepherded them bearing the pain of a childbirth. Therefore offering the Gentiles as living sacrifice became acceptable to God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Ro 15:6). Apostle Paul gladly accepted God's grace of calling to be a royal priest and took up the cross of changing the Gentiles through the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit and offering them as a living sacrifice.
Like Paul, our missionaries should accept God's calling to be a royal priesthood for the Gentiles as great grace of God. Like Apostle Paul, we should carry out our holy duties as a royal priesthood by raising up foreign students as God's holy people and disciples of Jesus and offering them to God through teaching the Word of God, praying for them, and bearing the childbirth pain to shepherd them.
Why did God choose the believers as a royal priesthood? Look at verse 9e. "'that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.' The reason why God chose the believers as a royal priesthood is for them to declare the praises of God. This is a duty followed by a privilege. 'The praises of God' refer to God's amazing love, righteousness, and power. It is God's grace of salvation given to each of us. People appreciate the grace and love of their parents and grateful children always praise the grace and love of their parents. They thank to their parents and praise their parents to their neighbors, brothers and their children without ceasing. Likewise, those who received God's great love and grace must declare the praises of God to many people. Furthermore, they must put God's will prior to their own will. It is inhuman to acknowledge a grace but do nothing in return. The way to pay back the grace of God is to declare the love and saving grace of God to many campus students and to make them into God's people. Therefore, by words and action, we must declare the wonderful praises of God who saved us.
In conclusion, God gives us the certification of anointment, 'you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.' Let us renew God's calling for us as a royal priesthood every morning. Let us begin each day with a conviction and pride that we are a royal priesthood. Furthermore, let us diligently fulfill the mission of a royal priesthood by serving the salvation work. Let us pray for God's flock and all the campus students everyday. Let us teach the word of God to intellectuals with all our hearts and strength.
'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.'
I wish you all a prosperous new year. Let us all. take a new stand with the lord this year. Let us all grow in Jesus.
Jesus is coming soon, time is short, let us all get ready in faith to welcome our lord, when he comes from the clouds
Sunday, 21 December 2008
My Christmas Message to you
Well it’s Christmas season again! The very word reminds us of Carols,new dresses, nice things to eat and a time to sing, go around caroling,decorating our homes, Christmas trees, feeding kids in some orphanage and after Christmas the whole stuff is carefully packed for the next year. The same old Christmas! At times I feel so tired of the same run of the mill Christmas season. I sat thinking what Christmas personally means to me. Is it celebration or the joy of Jesus’ birth? Well Jesus was born 2000 years ago. It is good we celebrate His birthday but does it stop with just that party.
Is Jesus really born in our hearts? This question is so often asked that the real punch is lost. Hear how Paul feels for his flock in the Galatian church. He agonizes for their souls and he cries, “MY DEAR CHILDREN FOR WHOM IAM AGAIN IN THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH UNTIL CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU.”(4, 19)
And my question to myself is, “Have I allowed Christ to be born
inside my heart.” It is still possible to lead a good Christian life without
letting Christ be born in us, like the congregation in Galatia. We can
sing, praise, serve, help others but still not allow Christ in us. Many of
us are really scared to take that ultimate step for it demands a lifelong
commitment. Because once we ask Jesus inside our hearts, He should
grow in us. Our life, slowly step by step becomes the imprint of Jesus
Himself. We need to shut up before people who falsely accuse us, we
need to forgive those who laugh at us, we need to touch the leper no
matter what society thinks, we need to put our arms around the
shoulders of the rejected people of this land. Our hands, feet, thoughts
and all that I think I own becomes completely Jesus Christ’s.
Though it looks so impossible for me, it is exactly what God
expects of us. For in our weakness His strength is made perfect.
(IICor12, 9) With man it is impossible, but with God it is POSSIBLE. All
we need is a willing and an open heart. Can you hear the Lord
knocking? (Rev 3, 20) Just open up your heart. WE NEED TO OPEN
FULLY THE DOOR OF OUR HEART. The decision to fully open or to
partially open or to let Jesus stay out, is completely ours. The choice is
always ours. We can let Him stay out, whenever we want something we
can run out get it from Him and get inside and bang the door on Him.
It is time we start a meaningful personal walk with Jesus. Let this
Christmas be real as we invite Jesus to be born in us and walk with
Him, grow with Him and mature with Him. Then just as Paul declares
someday we could also say, “yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me.”Galatians2, 20. Hallelujah!
Dear Jesus
Lord I open up my heart to you, be born in me , grow in me , walk with
me and may you increase in my life and may I decrease. Live in me
Lord Jesus so that it is no longer I but You who live in me.
Amen.
I WISH YOU ALL A BLESSED CHRISTMAS. INTRODUCE CHRIST TO WHOM YOU CAN. THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT. GOD BLESS YOU ALL ABUNDANTLY.LET HIM OPEN UP THE HEAVENS AND
BLESS YOU. BE A BLESSING…
MAY YOU SHINE LIKE STARS HOLDING OUT THE WORD OF GOD IN
THIS CROOKED AND DEPRAVED GENERATION SO THAT YOU BECOME
BLAMELESS AND PURE CHILDREN OF GOD. Phillippians2,15.
About Christmas
Christmas is celebrated across most of the countries around the world on 25th December every year to mark the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is preceded by Christmas Eve on December 24. In many countries, the day following Christmas Day is called 'Boxing Day'. This word derived from the traditional custom which started long time back in the Middle Ages around 800 years ago. That was the time when churches would open
Every year, in the month of December, people start with the preparations for the grand fiesta. Christmas lights gleam in the streets; Christmas carols fill the air with melody and rhythm, sweet smell of Christmas cakes and sweets is felt everywhere. Yes! It is that time of the year again…a time to sing carols! A time to dance to Christmas tunes! A time to make merry with friends and family! A time for fun and frolic! Gather knowledge and know all about Christmas with Christmas Carnivals.
Christmas in literally terms means the Mass (celebration) of Christ. "Christ" is a Greek word and title, meaning "anointed" or one set apart by God for a special purpose. "Christ" is equivalent to the Hebrew word "Messiah." Based on the words of ancient prophets, the first century Jewish people expected the arrival of the Messiah promised by God as a great deliver of the people.
According to the history of Christmas, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born to his mother Mary, in a humble manger in the small town of Bethlehem in modern day Israel. A shining star appeared in the sky over Bethlehem and guided Three Wise Men to the small manger where the Christ Child lay. The Three Kings brought gifts of Gold Frankincense and Myrrh for the Baby Jesus, because they recognized this child was going to be the savior or Messiah of his chosen people
Why is a Christmas tree always decorated? In the 7th century a monk from Crediton, Devonshire, went to Germany to teach the Word of God. He did a lot of good work there, and spent much time in Thuringia, a palce which was to go down in history as the cradle of the Christmas Decoration Industry.
Legend has it that he used the triangular shape of the Fir Tree to describe the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The converted people began to revere the Fir tree as God's Tree, as they had previously revered the Oak. By the 12th century it was being hung, upside-down, from ceilings at Christmastime in Central Europe, as a symbol of Christianity.
It has been an age old and standing tradition for people to gather around a crèche or a Christmas tree with family and friends and sing songs about Christmas, Santa Claus, and the birth of Christ.
There is reference to England and a possible beginning of the tradition of carolers receiving hot meals or money in return for their performance, which would account for the hot apple cider and cookies that are often offered to those who have caroled at a doorstep.
In many countries around the world,groups of people known as carolers go around to their neighbors singing songs of the season. Many hold flashlights or candles and afterwards gather at a friend's house to drink hot cocoa and cider.
St. Francisis of Assisi is thought to have been the person who brought carols into formal worship during Christmas Eve Sermons.
“No matter where you’re reading in the Bible, faith is the first mystery you should recognize. Faith is not believing that the story you’re reading is true as written. That does nothing for anyone. Even unbelievers can believe this Bible story about Jesus’ birth is true. Faith is not a natural work apart from God’s grace, as the Scripture clearly teaches. Rather the right kind of faith, the kind that flows from grace and that God’s Word demands, is firmly believing that Christ was born for you. His birth is yours and occurred for your benefit.
For the gospel teaches that Christ was born for our benefit and that everything he did and suffered was for us. As the angel says here, “I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city.” With these words, you can clearly see that he was born for all of us.
He doesn’t say, “a Savior was born,” but rather, “your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born.” In the same way, he doesn’t say, “I have good news,” rather “I have good news for you.” For you! “I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy.” This joy is for everyone who has this kind of faith.”
References to Passover Reveals Jesus Christ
1. The entire story can be read in the book of Exodus
2. See Exodus chapter 12.
3. Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. (Exodus 12:21-23)
4. The Passover lamb was still sacrificed in the first century, as indicated in the New testament - Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. (Luke 22:7)
5. Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36)
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. (Revelation 12:11)
6. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. (Exodus 12:5)
7. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
8. "It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. (Exodus 12:46)
9. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalms 34:20)
10. The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs;... For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of Him shall be broken." (John 19:32, 33, 36)
11. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
12. On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, "Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel." (John 12:12-13)
And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. (Matthew 21:8)
13. saying, "BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Luke 19:38)
And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9)
14. And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9)
And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out, "Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:9-10)
15. Simon Maccabeus entered the Akra at Jerusalem after its capture, “with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel” (1 Maccabees 13:51) (see also 2 Maccabees 10:7).
16. And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, (Luke 19:41)
17. And about the ninth hour [3:00 p.m.] Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?"... And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. (Matthew 27:46, 50) (see also Mark 15:34-37, Luke 23:44-46)
18. When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)
19. And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, (Hebrews 9:3)
20. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split, (Matthew 27:51)
And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:38)
the sun being obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:45)
21. Acts chapter 2.
22. And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:23-24)
23. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20)
24. And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, "Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:24)
25. And so they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. (John 19:40)
26. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
27. For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. (Psalms 22:16)
28. "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. (Zechariah 12:10)
29. For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. (Psalms 16:10)
O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. (Psalms 30:3)
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me. Selah. (Psalms 49:15)
I shall not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. (Psalms 118:17)
30. And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; (Luke 22:15)
31. "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
"And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20)
"I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, (Isaiah 42:6)
32. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:26-28)
33. In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. (Luke 22:20)
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Jesus is the Passover
The Passover Lamb
The Israelites at the time of the Exodus were told to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and roast it without breaking any of its bones. They were to apply the blood to the doorpost of their homes. This blood on the doorpost was to protect them from the angel of death who would pass through Egypt and slay the firstborn son in every house. But anyone who believed God and obeyed him by putting the blood on the door would save their firstborn from death.
During his lifetime, Jesus claimed that he would die on a Roman cross and by his death provide life for his followers. Later, he was executed by the Romans. Three days after his crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and visited his disciples on numerous occasions. His death had been a sacrifice to bring eternal life to his followers.
John the Baptizer once referred to Jesus publicly as, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Just like the Lamb at Passover, Jesus had died to save lives. Like the Passover Lamb, Jesus was unblemished -- he led a sinless life. He was slain without breaking any of his bones, just like the Passover Lamb. And just as the Israelites had to apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to the doorpost of their home, so we must apply the blood of the Messiah to the doorpost of our hearts.
That is, it wasn’t enough for the Israelites to simply kill and eat a lamb. They had to apply the blood to the doorpost. In the same way, it isn’t enough that Jesus died. We must apply his death to our lives. He taught that we could do this by believing.
COMMUNION: THE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR MESSIAH THE THIRD CUP OF WINE AND THE MATZA AFTER THE MEAL
In the last Passover that Jesus celebrated with His Students (disciples), we see Jesus taking the matza and the cup or glass of wine and investing it with greater meaning. Both the matza and the cup already meant freedom from slavery because of the blood and the body of the lamb slain in Egypt. Now Yeshua would inject Himself into that already present meaning and amplify it
Paul goes on to speak about the Body and Blood of Yeshua:
1 Cor. 11:23: 'For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;'
(and of course, this bread that He injected Himself into had to be matza, unleavened bread, for it was the Passover and Feast of Matza when Yeshua gave it to the Apostles),
1 Cor. 11:24: 'and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is My Body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'
1 Cor. 11:25: 'In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'
1 Cor. 11:26: 'For as often as you eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Lord's Death until He comes.'
1 Cor. 11:27: 'Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord.'
1 Cor. 11:28: 'But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.'
1 Cor. 11:29: 'For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the Body rightly.'
1 Cor. 11:30: 'For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.'
1 Cor. 11:31: 'But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.'
1 Cor. 11:32: 'But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.'
1st Corinthians 11:23-32 tells us very little of what communion really is, but more that we should not be unworthy in taking it. 1st Corinthians 11:27-28 declare that we should not take it in an unworthy manner, which would make us guilty of not taking His Body and Blood for the reason that it was given: to cleanse us and make us like Him. Paul tells us to examine our self and in verse 31, he tells us to judge our self.
What he is saying is that before we take communion, if there is sin in our life, if we have trouble forgiving a brother or a sister, we are to tell Him about this, and ask Him to help us to walk in forgiveness. We need to confess it and ask Abba El (Papa-God), to forgive us. Then we may take communion, relying upon the Blood and the Body to free us from that sin. This is the 'negative side' of communion. We are to judge ourselves; where our walk is with Yeshua.
What does it mean to proclaim His Death every time we take communion (1 Cor. 11-24-26)? It means that we are to die to self. We are to enter into His Death, that we might die to ourselves and be alive unto Him. We 'proclaim His Death' by dying to self, and if we take communion thinking that we don't have to, that we can walk in our own carnality, we take it to our own condemnation. He did not die to sanctify my carnality.
A word about unworthiness or condemnation. If one feels unworthy and refuses to take communion because of it, they are spitting in the Face of Jesus; they are nullifying the Body and Blood which were given to us. No one is 'worthy' enough in their own, to take communion. It is only for those who know their lack of worth before a most Holy God. The attitude of 'unworthiness' is really one of inverted pride. It doesn't trust in the Sacrifice of Jesus, but in self. It says, 'I will make myself acceptable to God, my way.' We cannot get 'good enough' to take the Body and Blood of Yeshua in our own strength or 'holiness.'
The positive side of the Body and Blood of Yeshua has three major aspects to it which all stem from the original symbolism of the First Passover. They are remembrance, table fellowship, and the attitude with which God wants us to take communion.
REMEMBRANCE
1st Cor. 11:24 tells us that the bread equals His Body. As the Lord passed the unleavened bread (Matza), around that Passover night, Paul says that the meaning is to eat it in 'Remembrance of Him.' The very next verse, 11:25, says that the wine equals His Blood and that we are to drink it in 'Remembrance of Him' also. Remembrance of His Death. The Price of our Freedom.
The concept 'to remember' in Hebrew means, 'to go back to the event and be a living part of it.' Exodus 13:8 says,
'And on that day you will explain to your son, 'This is because of what Yahveh did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
Corporate Identity is a term that theologians use to express the Body of Christ: past, present and future, and we who believe in Yeshua, are all part of that Body. Hebrews 7:4-10 states that Malkizedek was a greater priest than the Levitical Priesthood (or the High Priest Aaron), for Levy was in the loins of his father Abram, when Abram gave a tithe to Malkizedek, and Malkizedek blessed Abram (Gen. 14:18-20).
When we Jews sit at our Passover Table, we envision ourselves at that First Passover in Egypt. This is seen from the above passage where God commands us to say that we (I), came out of Egypt (Ex. 13:8). As believers in Messiah, both Jew and Gentile, we come to see ourselves also at the Second Passover, with Jesus and all the Apostles and all the saints present. For this is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This is where the BrideGroom initiates the Covenant of Marriage for His Bride, the Body of Messiah.
His Death means that we enter into it, by dying to ourselves, which is what Passover is all about, and baptism also:
Romans 6:1: 'What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that Grace may increase?'
Rom. 6:2: 'May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?'
Rom. 6:3: 'Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His Death?'
Rom. 6:4: 'Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.'
Rom. 6:5: 'For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His Death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His Resurrection,'
Rom. 6:6: 'knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;'
Rom. 6:7: 'for he who has died is freed from sin.'
Death is the basic concept behind both Passover and Baptism. Baptism is done at the beginning of our walk with
FRIENDSHIP
When anyone in the ancient Middle East would break bread with anyone else, even an enemy, they were now bound to become like blood brothers. This is how powerful table fellowship, or eating together, was. It was a sign of the strongest possible friendship. Here, at the Passover Table, we have God and Israel at the Table, sitting down and becoming friends. We who were enemies of God, as Paul says, are now friends. We are seen as friends of God, because of the Blood and Body of the Lamb. Jesus makes it possible for God the Father, and us, to be friends, because of His Passover Sacrifice. This is a very powerful Reality and not something to be taken lightly. The God of Israel is our Friend. If we have any need, He will meet it. That's just the nature of friendship.
THE BIBLICAL ATTITUDE FOR COMMUNION
Exodus 12:14 has Yahveh explaining what the proper attitude for Passover must be:
'And this day will be for you, a day to remember (or enter in to), and you must celebrate it, a Feast (Celebration) to Yahveh for all your generations, an eternal decree. You must celebrate the Feast.'
The word celebrate means 'to dance, to reel about, to be giddy and to rejoice.' To rejoice mightily! The picture that best captures the emotional reality that God desires for us to have at communion, is seen on the face of the Israelites when they watch their enemies, the Egyptian Army and charioteers, who wanted to murder them, engulfed in the Red Sea. The Psalmist rejoices in Yahveh and tells us that Passover is one of the Great and Mighty Deeds of Yahveh (Psalm 77:12-20; 114, etc.). (Creation being the other Mighty Deed or Act; Psalm 115, etc.)
The Crucifixion though, is the Great and Mighty Deed of Yahveh, and He wants us to realize this when we have communion. It combines both Creation and Redemption. We have been set free from our enemies: Sin, Satan and Eternal Death, and given His Nature, and God wants us to rejoice, sing and dance unto Him, at the very least, in our hearts, and through our mouths. This is the biblical attitude for taking the Body and the Blood.
JESUS: THE MATZA (UNLEAVENED BREAD) OF LIFE
Isaiah 53:5 gives us an incredible Picture of our Messiah Jesus as the Crucified Matza (unleavened bread):
'Yet He was pierced through for our open rebellion, crushed for our perverse heart; on Yeshua lies a punishment that brings us Shalom (Peace) with Papa God, and through His stripes we are healed.'
We know that Yeshua was pierced through. Not only were His Hands and His Feet pierced through, but also His Side:
John 19:34: 'But one of the soldiers pierced His Side with a spear, and immediately Blood and Water came out.'
The Blood would be a reference to the blood of the lamb in the First Passover, slain for Israel's Salvation, and the Water would be a reference to the Water that was given to Israel from the Rock in the Wilderness, that Moses struck once:
Ex. 17:5: 'Then Yahveh said to Moses, 'Pass before the People and take with you some of the Elders of Israel; and take in your hand your Staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.'
Ex. 17:6: 'Behold, I will stand before you there on the Rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the Rock, and Water will come out of it, that the People may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the Elders of Israel.'
The striking of the Rock pictures the crucifixion of Yeshua and the Provision of Living Water that would be given to all who desire. This is especially evident when we see 40 years later, that Moses is told to speak to the Rock, for Water this time, but Moses, in his frustration, and separation from Israel ('...you rebels!' Numbers 20:10), as the mediator between God and Israel, strikes this Rock twice. In so doing, he incurs a very severe penalty for his sin of disobedience. He is told by Yahveh that he cannot enter the Promised Land that he has been leading Israel to, for the last 40 years (Numbers 20:12).
At first this might seem harsh of Yahveh to do this to Moses, but when we realize that even in Moses' sin, he is a picture of Messiah, we come to see the reason for this. Moses, because of his sin, would die before the Sons of Israel would enter the Promised Land. And we see that Yeshua the Messiah, must also die, before anyone Jew or Gentile can enter the Promised One.
The matza was once very hard kernels of wheat. It had to be crushed in order for it to be baked and made edible. The punishment we deserved is crucifixion, for we have all rebelled against God. This is where Yeshua was crushed for us, so that we might be able to eat of the Matza (Bread) that would give us Life, His Life.
The brown markings on the matza are known as stripes or bruises. They come from being placed on a rack. Jesus' back was lashed open by the Romans until His Flesh was torn in pieces. And by His Stripes we are healed.
The matza that we are to eat for communion, coming from the Passover Table, thus forms a perfect Picture of the Crucified Messiah, Yeshua and why Yahveh institutes matza for that First Passover.
Next we come to the wine. It comes from grapes. They too had to be crushed so we could drink it. This pictures His Blood that we can drink because of His being crushed. The Rabbis say that the wine for Passover must be red, for it has to reflect the sacrificial blood of the Passover lamb. And in so doing, it also represents the Blood of Yeshua.
Wine in the Bible is both a symbol of death (sacrifice) and life (the joy it brings), i.e. Psalm 104:15, 'And wine which make's man's heart glad...' Wine is not a part of the biblical commandment in Exodus, but Yeshua uses this Jewish tradition to form one half of Christian communion.
You see, everything was already there for Jesus when He came upon the scene 2000 years ago. The Stage had already been set by His Father 1400 years earlier in the First Passover. In Yeshua's time, as He came to the 3rd Passover Cup of wine, He injects Himself who is Freedom (Redemption) and Salvation, into the Matza and the Wine, which already pictured Freedom and Salvation from slavery, thus overlapping and intensifying the picture of the Passover matza and the wine.
The Next Time You Have Communion, Take These Realities
1.Remember His Death. Ask Him to help you to die to self that you might experience His Reality more in your life, and that you might truly be made into His Image. Dying to self is true freedom from sin.
2. Examine your self and be washed and cleansed: From John 13:5 we know that Jesus washed the feet of all His followers, including Judas. You are at the Table and Jesus is washing your feet. If you have any bitterness, resentment, emotional pain inside you, Jesus looks up into your face and asks you to give it to Him. He will heal you. His Body and Blood are your forgiveness for sin and wholeness. He came to set the captive free. This is the aspect of forgiveness and cleansing.
3. Yeshua and Papa God are your Friends. You are at the Table, He gives you His Body and His Blood and He calls you His Friend. Yeshua is pleased with you because you walk in His Blood Sacrifice and you rejoice in Him, trusting Him to cleanse you of your sin and provide Salvation for you. God has chosen to deal with sin by the Death of His Son and He wants us to rejoice before Him. Not only at the Passover Table in His Day, but the One in the Future! If you need anything: forgiveness, life, health, wisdom, we have it in Yeshua. He has committed to serve you! To make sure you make it!
He supplies our food; both physical and spiritual. He is the Matza of Life.
He provides our shelter; the homes we live in, and the fortress we go to when the storms of life batter us.
He gives us our clothing; and clothes us in His Righteousness.
Because we eat of Him, this makes us one with Him. This is the aspect of marriage, or union.
Celebrate! Meditate on what Yeshua is to you and what God has done for you and you'll find yourself wanting to sing and dance unto Him. This is the attitude of true thanksgiving and celebration and one in which communion should be taken. He has defeated all our enemies and we are to rejoice in our hearts. And He promises to make us like Himself.
The Afikomen and the Matza Tosh
On the Passover table, there is a special pouch which contains three layers of matza, or unleavened bread. During the service, the leader removes the middle layer of the matza. He sets one half aside and designates the other half as the “afikomen”, a Greek word which means, “that which comes later”.
He then wraps the afikomen in a white, linen cloth and hides it somewhere in the house. Later, the children search for the afikomen while the adults wait. When the afikomen is found, the leader removes it from the white linen cloth.
What is the meaning of these symbols? The origin of the matza tosh and the afikomen are shrouded in history. The rabbis have some explanations for their meaning, but cannot pinpoint their origin. The rabbis surmise that the matza tosh has three layers to represent the unity of the three patriarchs of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some other rabbis say that it represents to unity of the three divisions of the Israelite people, the priests, Levites, and common people.
But why is the middle layer of the matza broken, wrapped, buried, and brought back? How does that fit with the rabbinic explanation? The rabbis’ answer doesn’t seem so convincing.
Jewish believers in Jesus have their own answer. The three layers of the matza tosh could be seen to represent the unity of the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And why is the middle layer of matza broken, wrapped, buried, and brought back? Many believers see Jesus, who was broken for our sin, wrapped in white linen cloths for burial, buried by Joseph of Arimethea, and came back to life on the third day. Why is the middle layer of matza revealed while the other two remain hidden? Again, many believers see Jesus, the middle person of the Trinity who was revealed in a human body while the Father and Holy Spirit remained hidden.
THE 4th CUP OF WINE: THE CUP OF PRAISE
This Cup praises Yahveh for His completed work of Redemption, as seen in the Passover and Red Sea. The Hebrew People that came out of Egypt were completely saved from Egyptian slavery.
Just about everyone that I know, who believes in Jesus and does the Passover, drinks from this 4th Cup. There's a problem with this though. Jesus didn't! Matthew 26:29, which takes place immediately after Yeshua drank from the 3rd Cup that He said was His Blood, has Yeshua saying,
'I tell you, I will not drink this fruit of the vine again until the Day I drink New Wine with you in the Kingdom of My Father.'
Traditional Jews drink from the 4th Cup because the Work of Redemption (Salvation), from Egyptian slavery was complete at the First Passover and the Red Sea. We shouldn't, because our Redemption won't be complete until we stand before God on Judgment Day, and become like our Messiah, Glorified. This is Salvation for us. Before that Day, we have the Heavenly Promise, sealed by the Death of Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit within.
The 4th Cup symbolizes the completed work of Redemption for Israel. That's why Yeshua didn't drink that Fourth Cup that night, we are not yet like Him. This is the New Jerusalem, coming down from the New Heavens. Yeshua will drink it with us then, when we are glorified like Him. This is the Praise to Papa God, who has wrought this Great Redemption, the picture of the Fourth Cup, and why Yeshua didn't drink of it that night, on the Second Passover. But He will, with us, on the Third Passover.
God is still calling people to this Second Table! It's as though Time has stood still for 2,000 years and has allowed us who weren't literally at that Second Passover Table with Jesus, to sit down and eat of His Body and Blood, that we might be part of the Kingdom of God. This time period will end on the Day of Judgment, the Day of Yahveh, when all those who have really eaten of Him, will have the Wrath of God Pass-over them, but those who haven't, will spend eternity in Hell Fire.
HALLEL: THE PSALM SONG
In Matthew 26:30 it states, 'After singing the Hallel (hymns), they went out to the Mount of Olives.'
Hallel means praise in Hebrew.
Hallelu is 'you praise!' It's in the imperative or command mode, the 'you' understood.
Halleluyah is (you) Praise Yahveh! The 'yah' being a shortened form of Yahveh. (In Exodus 15:2, in the most ancient Hebrew poetry we have, the Song of the (Red) Sea, (in the Hebrew), it reads, 'Yah is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation!')
Psalms 113-118 and 145-150 are known as the Hallel and are traditionally sung or read at the Passover and that's what the reference of 'hymns' refers to. The Lord Yeshua and the Apostles sung those Psalms that night, lifting up the God of Israel as the Lord of Creation and Redemption.
The Lord Yeshua and the Apostles go out that night to Gethsemane and He desires that they pray with Him. Exodus 12:42 tells us that the Sons of Israel weren't to fall asleep on this night because Yahveh 'kept watch' for them that night:
'It is a night to be much observed unto Yahveh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of Yahveh to be observed of all the Sons of Israel in their generations.'
The word 'observed' means that the Apostles should have stayed up all night long, as the first generation of Hebrews did. Yahveh commands this because He 'kept' that night, to bring Israel out of the Kingdom of Pharaoh. All Israel was to stay awake, as it came around year after year, to also imitate Israel leaving Egypt. On the first Passover, no Hebrew slept that night: they had to be ready to leave the Kingdom of Pharaoh. Can you imagine falling asleep and waking up the next day and everybody gone?!
In Matthew 26:43, we read the account of the Apostle's falling asleep and breaking the Commandment, and also failing Jesus:
'Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.'
If the Apostles had known that this Passover would require the Death of Yeshua, they would have forced themselves to stay awake, as the Hebrew slaves did that night. But they thought this Passover would be like the all the other Passovers that they had observed before it.
Gethsemane means, 'oil press.' This is where the olives would be crushed by a massive stone rolling over them, to squeeze out the oil from the olive. It was here that Yeshua determined to do the Will of His Father:
'saying, 'Father, if You are willing, remove this Cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.' (Luke 22:42)
Because Yeshua was willing to surrender His Life and be crushed, the Oil of the Holy Spirit that was within Him, is available to those who call upon His Name.
There are really 'only' three Passovers: the First in Egypt. The Second in Jerusalem. And the third in the New Jerusalem. At each Passover, Yahveh moves in such a way that He never did before, or will again.
At the First, we see the death of the first born sons of Egypt and the sparing of Israel's first born, because of the blood of a lamb; and the freeing of Israel, God's People, from Pharaoh's slavery.
At the Second, we see the Death of the First Born Son of Yahveh, Yeshua, and the sparing of Israel's first born sons (which we all become in Yeshua), from Satan's Kingdom.
And at the Third Passover, because of the Blood of the Lamb, we have the Wrath of God Pass-over us and we are changed into Glory, to the Praise of Abba El (Papa God). He has brought this Great Redemption to His People Israel, at the Cost of His Son.
The Last Supper and the Passover
According to the Gospels, the Last Supper was a Passover seder (“seder” is the name of the service held in the home at Passover). During the meal, Jesus broke matza and said, “This is my body which is given for you.” He then took the third cup in the Passover seder, a cup which is known as the cup of redemption and said, “This is the new covenant in my blood.”
The bread already represented to the Jewish people purity and sinlessness, for it was unleavened bread. Leaven, a symbol of sin, is forbidden at Passover. The cup already represented to the Jewish people redemption by the blood, for it represented to blood of the Passover Lamb. Jesus applied and extended these meanings to himself. The bread represents his pure, sinless body and the cup of wine represents his redeeming blood. And so, the communion service so familiar to Christians around the world is really part of the Passover seder! The correlation between Jesus and the Passover may not convince you that he is the Messiah. The ultimate proof that Jesus is who he said he was is the resurrection. To see evidence for the resurrection, check out Why Should Anyone Believe in Jesus?. But the fact that the Passover points to Jesus only adds evidence to the case that he is the Messiah and helps to confirm the truth for those who already see it. Jesus is our Passover Lamb and he takes away the sin of the world!
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