The Great "THIS" of the Great "That"

"This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel...." (Acts 2:16, KJV)

 

This is theme of Biblical preaching, not just the great Pentecost sermon. "This is that...."  Everything in the Bible is, "This is that..," whether it is fulfilled prophecy or that which is yet to be fulfilled.  The Bible is always taking us on a journey.  People who try to limit the Bible to their personal devotional book are doing what Peter said.  They are, "untaught and unstable people [who] twist (the Scriptures) to their own destruction."  Victory, overcoming strength and joy are to those who walk in the prophetic, not the prophetic of "personal words," but the Prophetic Word of God which reveals that we are a People who have come from somewhere ("that") and are going somewhere ("This").

 

At least nine times in Matthew's Gospel we read the words, "that it might be fulfilled."  Jesus came to fulfill.  He is the Incarnation of, "This is that."  He stood in the Temple one day and asserted that He was the One about Whom Moses wrote.  During "The Last Supper" with His disciples, Jesus said, "The Son of man indeed goes just as it is written of Him...."  After His resurrection, it is written, "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." 

 

Jesus is the, "This is that," of the Universe, of philosophy, of religious, political and cultural longing.  When a person or nation comes to this truth, they will be a liberated people.  Only in Jesus Christ can all which Father has for us save us, deliver us, and bring us in to the, "that," of the Great, "THIS."

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, continually open My eyes to the, "this," and, "that," of Your Words.  Amen.

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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"From and After the Day and Hour Just Named" You Are Mine (Jesus)

"So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?'  He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.'  He said to him, 'Feed My lambs.'" (John 21:15)

In response to Peter's answer to Jesus' next two interrogatories, Jesus says, "Tend My Sheep," and, "Feed My sheep."  These Words of Jesus to Peter were not suggestions.  They were commands, as are all the Words of the Bible.  According to the Bible, ...."Man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD"--------- "everything."  Man dies when he decides he can live by what comes from himself.  When you and I received Jesus Christ into our very beings, that was the last "voluntary" decision we made.  From that moment on we were Christ's.  We became, "children of God," not of ourselves or anyone else, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.  The "God-Breathed" Word tells us that from the moment Jesus Christ came into our hearts, we were free from sin and bondage to Satan.  The Word then tells us, "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use is as bondslaves of God"---- yes, you read correctly, "bondslaves of God," yes, "bondslaves," no rights, no self appointed decisions, no vote, no arguing, no nothing, just total obedience to Master Jesus.

This is totally contrary to the way most Americans view life.  "No man's going to tell me what to do," or, "I guess I showed him," or, "We all have a free will to do as we please."  Profundo Americano, but all absolutely contrary in the, "Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ."
I cannot forget the wording on the WWI draft notice which I shared yesterday.  This is exactly what "went down" when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.  I take some liberty-- "You will, therefore, report to the local" playground for a Child Evangelism tent meeting, at 13:00hrs, on July 10, 1953.  "From and after the day and hour just named you will be a soldier in the military of the" Kingdom of God.
Any questions?

Father, in Jesus' Name, I will probably never know a, Why? to Your choosing, but I do give you my life.  Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

A Personal Testimony of Our Ever-Rising Savior and King

"'For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,' says the LORD; I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.'" (Psalm 12:5)

 

"It was a dark and stormy night"-------- literally.  I was walking/jogging along a dike just about a mile outside Dinteloord, Holland.  There was a drizzly rain; it was quite cool, very normal Holland weather.  I was preparing to leave the next day to head deep into Romania with Bibles and a new "system" which only one team had tried before.  As I passed a house which had smoke coming from its chimney, I saw a family around the fireplace, kids playing games, mom sewing, dad reading a paper.  I had a deep longing to be home with my own family (I had already been in Morocco and Czechoslovakia for a month).  In those days, we knew of the terrible pressure under which the Believers in Jesus Christ lived in Eastern Europe, one out of three citizens, for instance, spying on their neighbors for the Securitate (secret police) in Romania.  Earlier that day I had read a report of a Romanian Follower of Jesus Christ who had been put in prison for delivering Christian literature to other Believers for an "underground" seminary (When the leaders in Vienna realized that it had become too dangerous for the Romanians themselves to do such work, they set up teams from the West to do the work of distribution within the country.  The next year I would be a part of a two man team going into Romania to participate in that endeavor).  But now, the Bibles were "packed," and armed with our text, the other guy and I were ready.

 

I tell this little story as a testimony.  That morning, just after reading today's text, I read of the Romanian Believer to whom I referred earlier, of the day when his wife and brother came to visit him, how when they entered the room, he was standing facing the wall with his hands over his eyes.  When he turned around, his family saw that he had been crying.  He had been humiliated and beaten; he had been threatened with a long prison term, even the possibility of death, never to see his wife and children again.  Our text today was a great encouragement, an incentive, if you will.  "Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise,' says the LORD." (NASB).  Yes, I was missing my family; yes, I was tired; yes, I wanted to be home.  But remember the Word of Jesus?-- "....Where I am, there My servant will be also"-----------------------------------------  What else could one do?

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, You have arisen for Me more times than I can number.  Please help me to always, "arise," with You.  Amen.

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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

The Horse is Out-- Don't Close the Door-Get the Horse

"The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught."  (Psalm 9:15)

This is another way of stating the old adage, "You made your bed, now lie in it."  Or, the intent may be one thing, but the result is another.  Notice the words, "sunk down."  It is as though they got into something of their own choosing, but lost control.  The word for "sink" in English can also mean "to become absorbed."

Do you know why we lost the major denominations in America to the humanists?  We sank, "down in the pit which [we] made."  The "spiritual" people were too busy being "spiritual," while the humanists took over the bishoprics, superintendencies, conference committees, boards of missions, etc.  Evangelicals no longer have control of the "mainline" denominations----------------- and no longer have control of the nation.  Some say that control of the nation is not an objective of the Church.  No, it is not.  It's the only objective.  Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."

The regrets in life are due to the indifference of life.  We neglect a problem-------- then it grows----- then it controls.  This is the history of the Christian Church in the global community.  The only way to get out of, "the pit which they (we) made," is to cry out to King Jesus what the psalmist later cries, "Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail...."  But do not just "cry out."  Evangelicals have always loved to say, "Christianity is not just a list of dos and don'ts."  But we could also say, "Christianity is not so much what you stop doing, but what you start doing."  

Ulysses S. Grant, the great general of the American "War Between the States," once said, "The art of war is simple enough.  Find out where your enemy is.  Get at him as soon as you can.  Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on."  Or, for the more spiritual among us:
          "Rise up, O men of God!
          Have done with lesser things.
          Give heart and mind and soul and strength
          To serve the King of kings."
Or, consider this WW I draft notice:  "You will, therefore, report to the local board named below at (location), at (time), on the (date) for military duty.  From and after the day and hour just named you will be a soldier in the military of the United States."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I know there is so much I cannot change.  Show me what I can.  Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2