Posts

Palm Sunday and Holy Week*

      This is a very special week for those who believe in One God - both Jew and Gentile. The week starts with Palm Sunday, today, which memorializes Jesus Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to the praise and the waving of palm branches as the people welcomed their King. Passover also occurs this week as Jews and Gentiles remember the blood of the Passover Lamb which was spread upon the doorways of the houses of the Israelites to protect them from the plague of death. Scripture tells us that Jesus is our Passover. Finally, this week, we remember the suffering, crucifixion, death, burial and triumphant resurrection of Jesus. All of these events were written of beforehand by the LORD's servants the prophets, as we will see. These prophets also wrote of the troubles that we are seeing currently in the Middle East.      The prophet Zechariah wrote of judgments that would accompany the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. He wrote the Word of the LORD against Damascus, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Unveiling the Mystery of God*

      The LORD brought His Word of judgment to His prophet Amos against His whole family of Israel, saying in part: "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? Surely the LORD God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the LORD God hath spoken, who can but prophesy ?" (Amos 3:1-8, excerpt).      The LORD must deal with sin eventually, as He warned that He was about to do with His family of people. The LORD is often viewed as an angry God, but He is a God of grace and mercy to those who will heed His warning and seek Him. The purpose of the prophet is to receive the revelation of the secret thing that the LORD is doing or will do, as Amos wrote above. The Bible is the only Book in the world that is composed of prophecies as they are revealed at the proper time, as well as their subsequent fulf...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Name of the LORD*

      Moses encountered God as He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. God gave Moses the assignment to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses asked the God to tell him His name so he could tell the Israelites: "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM : and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Ex. 3:13-14). The name of God given to Moses is spelled with the Hebrew letters YHWH: yod, hey, vaw, hey ("Behold the hand, behold the nail"). It is from this name that we get the name Jehovah or LORD.      Regarding His name, the LORD said in The Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain ; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain ( meaning empty or falsely)." (Ex. 20:7). There is an event in scripture where a man of God, who was given a command from God, was deceived by a prophet who used the name of the LORD falsely, contradicting G...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Universal Individual Gospel*

      The Gospel of salvation is for both the individual person and for the whole world. Jesus spoke to a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus, and He told him of this truth about salvation: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God...Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit...And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (Jn. 3:1-16, excerpt).      Jesus spoke about how each person must be changed, or be born again by the Spirit of God, in order to enter into the kingdom of God, which is Spirit. Nicodemus pretended that he did not understand what Jesus was speaking about, but Jesus knew that he did.      In His discussion with Nicodemu...
1 comment
Read more

The Gospel to All Nations*

      God is the God of all, and the Gospel is for the whole world. This is especially true in these times of wickedness: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." (Mt. 24:12-13). Only by Christ in us will we be able to endure this time of abundant iniquity. The Bible has been translated into every language of the world, and many people of various nationalities and religions are having visions of Jesus.      The true Gospel of Jesus Christ, "who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this evil world," is so important to the whole world that the apostle Paul warned the church of other gospels that are false: "I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel: Which is...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Gospel Which We Preach*

      Considering what we are seeing on the world stage in this hour and the signs of the end times that are being fulfilled, the command of Jesus to His disciples and to us is to take and preach the Gospel unto all the world. It is called The Great Commission.      In his letter to Timothy, Paul clearly stated the mystery of the Gospel: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Tim. 3:16). Paul taught and explained the Gospel using the only scriptures that existed at that time: the Torah and the Prophets. The New Testament did not exist then. The Gospel of Salvation is not just a New Testament teaching. It was spoken of throughout the Hebrew scriptures as well. The importance of preaching the Gospel in these times was also prophesied by Paul: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that i n ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Order My Steps*

Image
       The Psalms will play a large role in this message. We should remember that the Psalms are songs, meant to be sung. Just as we are able to sing along with our favorite popular songs, we should also be that familiar with the Songs inspired by God. They are the soundtrack for our lives.      Psalm 119 says: "Order ( kun - prepare, establish, ready, set, direct, order, fashion, be securely determined, to direct toward, be enduring) my steps in thy word ( 'imra - word, speech, commandment, word of God, Torah): and let not any iniquity have dominion over me...Thy word ( dabar - speech, spoken word) is a lamp ( nir - candle, light, lamp, to glisten) unto my feet ( regel - foot, to endure, journey), and a light ( 'or - morning light, light of day, light) unto my path ( natib - way, path, footpath)." (v. 133, 105, also Ps. 85:12-13 ).      God's Word is the direction for our lives. It is like a user's manual written by the creator of...
Post a Comment
Read more