Born To Be King

March 14, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Jesus Was Presented as a King

Book of Matthew Chapter 3

We should understand that the Gospels are not intended to give us a day by day, account of the life of Jesus.

The intent of the Gospels are to teach us how the Church was to begin.

The intent of the Gospels are to teach us God’s plan of salvation.

The intent of the Gospels are to teach the Jews the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

We will find a thirtyyear gap between chapter 2 and chapter 3 of Matthew’s Gospel.

This chapter begins with the forerunner, John the Baptist.

A fulfillment of prophecy.

Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Chapter 3 Verse 1

*Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

“In those days” means the days the Lord Jesus Christ walked upon this earth.

This wilderness was a true wilderness. It was a wild, barren and desolate place and it was in this same area where we will find that the Lord was tempted of Satan.

In general, when the Bible speaks of a wilderness in the New Testament it means a less cultivated place opposed to pastureland that is plowed regularly.

John lived in the true wilderness.

John was the forerunner for Jesus Christ, and he had begun his own ministry.

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

God had sent many prophets and many true priests and many messengers to the Jews and yet they had rebelled against them all, killing many of them.

We know that John the Baptist would also be murdered for taking a stand against a wicked government but not before his ministry was complete and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ had begun.

What was his message?

Repent, for the kingdom of God was at hand.

To repent is not just to feel sorrow and regret but it is a complete change in lifestyle, a complete change in your heart, and a complete change in your way of thinking!

Daniel best describes the kingdom of God:

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

The Lord’s kingdom is not of this earth.

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Though the Lord will rule this earth as King for 1000 years, His true Kingdom will be in the New Jerusalem where all the saints of God will join Him to be with Him forever and forever.

*Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

We already have seen this prophecy but let us see it again.

What is “make His paths straight”?

The image of making His paths straight is as building a highway leveling the mountains, filling in the valleys making a sure path to God’s future kingdom, even though that road would be a narrow one.

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The Lord Jesus Christ provides that only pathway to God’s rebuilt Heaven. Not many ways but one way and that way by the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is the job of every Christian to prepare the way of the Lord to the lost!

The ways of John remind us of that Old Testament prophet Elijah.

*Mat 3:4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

You cannot be a prophet of God without spending a lot of time alone with God!

John chose the wilderness of Judah.

2Ki 1:7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
2Ki 1:8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

The raiment of Elijah was made of camel’s hair or the skin of a hairy animal.

That raiment sounds like it would be rough but in fact camel’s hair was a good material for clothing, keeping out the heat, the cold, and the rain.

A prophet of God would never wear clothing that could deceive a person.

The Christian is told to wear modest clothing:

1Ti_2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

Jesus asked the religious leaders this question:

Mat 11:7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
Mat 11:8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
Mat 11:9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
Mat 11:10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Jesus loves and respects all those who prepare the way before Him:

Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John the Baptist brought baptism by immersion to a reality.

*Mat 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Mat 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

The preaching of John was real.
The preaching of John was about the truth.
The preaching of John was about repentance.

John had the same message to the poor, the rich, to the religious elders, and to the government!

There was no baptism without first confessing your sins and confessing repentance.

What is our first confession? We must confess we are a sinner.

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Our next confession is the need of a Savior, and there is only One Savior.

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Next comes baptism:

Baptism was not new because baptism was practiced in all ancient religions.

For John, baptism was an outward sign or repentance and a changed life. To be baptized was also to promise the Lord we would have that faith in His cleansing of our sins.

The full immersion baptism must represent the death the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The full immersion baptism must be done in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost!

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Baptism cannot save, it is only an admission that Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved from a Devil’s Hell!

If you cannot believe all these things, then you are only taking a bath and a hundred baptisms will never get you closer to the Lord and a sprinkling can only get you wet!

John preached hard against religious deceivers:

Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Mat 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

If we refuse to repent, then we cannot receive the Holy Spirit.

If we do not show the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then we are not saved.

What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit?

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

These Pharisee and Sadducee were not going to repent, and they did not bear the fruit of the Spirit.

We should understand the meaning of being called a “viper”.

A viper is full of deadly poison and venom. The doctrine of false religion is full of malice against the truth and is deadly in that it will separate you from the love and the presence of God!

We live in a world today where the truth is rejected, and the poison is received.

Notice John was a true preacher and not afraid of organize religion.

Both John and the Lord Jesus Christ would not be welcome in the Church of today!

It is not baptism with water that saves!

It is being washed in the blood of Jesus and then baptized with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will not live in a false house.

*Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

You see until you accept that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and the only way to remain in the presence of God, then you cannot be a home for the Holy Spirit.

1Co_3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Co_6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

You cannot be a Living Temple of God until you are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.

1Co_6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Heb_9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Do not be fooled by organized religion!

Jesus will thoroughly cleanse this earth from all sin, and none will be allowed in Heaven!

We are not as worthy as John and though he was the forerunner, a great prophet, who even made Herod tremble, said he was unworthy to be even a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must be washed with the water of the Holy Spirit which means surrounded, immersed, inside and outside by and with the Holy Spirit.

It means a new birth!

Joh_3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh_3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

The fan of Christ Jesus is the “Gospel”!
His floor is the “Church” which is covered in a mixture of wheat and chaff.

Jesus will gather the wheat, those who are washed in the Spirit, to take to Heaven, and He will purge all who reject Him for a lifetime of torment!

Even Jesus was baptized to show us all that repentance is real even though He had no sin to repent of.

*Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Mat 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Jesus teaches us that we must set our life apart unto our Heavenly Father in a renewed spirit of dedication.

Jesus always did the will of our Heavenly Father and we must do our best to do the same!

Joh_5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

The One and Only Living Example we have is the Lord Jesus Christ who teaches us by example.

Being 100% man but truly 100% God, Jesus made sure his human side did never exalt Himself above other humans.

He was and is higher than the highest but showed himself as a humble human being who lived in the will of His Heavenly Father.

Jesus needed to be baptized but he needed to be baptized by John specifically.

Jesus had traveled by foot from Nazareth of Galilee to where John was on the River Jordan which was a long walk.

It is on this day of His baptism that the Lord Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry!

It was John who had been preparing the way for Him.

The Lord Jesus identified Himself with the ministry of John the Baptist.

What was John’s message? “Repent and be baptized for the Kingdom of God was at hand”.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the door, not the doorway, but the door to the Kingdom of Heaven!

He is the founder of Christianity.
He is the Head of the Church, which is the Body of Christ.
He is the purchaser of all Righteousness, which He did on the Cross.
He is the Ideal Man our true Example!

John already had stated that the Messiah was much greater than he and said to the Lord “I need to be baptized of thee”.

John was not one to humble himself before anyone. He boldly preached the truth of God, but we must all humble ourselves before our righteous God!

All manner of people had come to John to be baptized but John knew he was nothing compared to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Neither are any of us!

There is no disgrace in humbling yourself before the Master!

**Jesus came to fulfill every law written by Moses and He did, He was the perfect man, to become the perfect High Priest.

Exo 29:4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.
Exo 29:5 And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod:
Exo 29:6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.
Exo 29:7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

** Jesus came to pay “every man’s” penalty for breaking those same laws, there 613 laws given by Moses.

** Jesus demonstrated to the fullest extent His humiliation in becoming a man.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

**Jesus identified Himself with all those He came to save!

**Jesus became the pattern for every human being!

**Jesus began His ministry, as the High Priest always entered his ministry in such a ceremony.

When Jesus came up out of the water, our Heavenly Father recognized His Only Begotten Son.

*Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The Heavens opened. We will get to see this one day soon.
The Holy Spirit descended like a dove.

Remember this was a sign given to John the Baptist to verify the Messiah.

Joh 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Joh 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

The voice of a Holy God spoke about His Son.

“Noticed God said, “my beloved Son”.

One day when we get to Heaven our Heavenly Father will say welcome home son or welcome home daughter.

Amen

Jesus Recognized as King of the Jews

March 7, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Jesus Was Recognized as a King

Book of Matthew Chapter 2

It will become clearer to us as we study the life and times of Jesus Christ, that we will see a great number of prophecies that were directly fulfilled in His birth, in His life, in His ministry, and in His death.

This cannot be said of any human being in all of time! Remembering the Jesus the Christ was 100% human and 100% God.

We will see some events in this chapter of Matthew that are not recorded in any of the other Gospels, considering the Gospels to be the first four books of the New Testament.

The Devil had been waiting for the Messiah to be proclaimed and He had finally come, and we will see where Satan did do all he could to kill Christ Jesus while He was still a baby.

God would not allow this to take place!

We must understand Joseph did not flee with the child of the virgin Mary to keep him from being killed, God would not have allowed this to happen.

The prophecies must be fulfilled in order for us to trust the Word of God!

God will do according to His Word and God does not have to change His plan according to what the world does!

God already knows what will happen in this world in any given moment!
God is not sitting in Heaven wondering what He will have to change today!

All the power of God was packaged inside this Babe born in Bethlehem!

Just as the “Wise Men” found out, if you are seeking Jesus for salvation you will always be able to find Him, at least during the Church Age, which may soon come to an end.

The coming of the Magi.

Magi were high priests or wise men, maybe even kings themselves, who probably lived amongst the Persians.
Some would say magicians, and medicine men, and astrologers and the occult.
Others would say they were interpreters of dreams and omens, necromancers and such people who deal with falseness of Satan.

Many of them were seekers of the truth but not able to accept the truth of God!

Even today such people exist and thrive in this lost world.

Seeking the truth is one thing but ignoring the truth is dangerous to your soul! The Word of God is 100% true!

2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

What we should think on, is the fact that the occult world knew of the Messiah while He was ignored in Jerusalem by so-called high priests of Judaism.

*Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

King Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as prophesied!

Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

There was more than one Bethlehem so the prophet many years before Jesus was born called the right one at Ephratah.

Bethlehem Ephratah was the city where most all the sacrificial lambs were raised for the services at the Temple in Jerusalem.

This Bethlehem was only six miles from Jerusalem.

It was the birth home of King David:

1Sa 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

It was prophesied to be the birth site of the Messiah: Micah 5:2

Joh 7:42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?

All Jews knew these facts.
All Scribes knew these facts.
All Pharisees knew these facts.
All Jewish scholars knew these facts.

This Herod was also known as Herod the Great.

Herod was not a Jew but an Idumaean and appointed King by Rome.
Herod was not Jewish by birth, but he was Jewish in his faith.
Herod made Judaism to be the state religion to keep out Greek mythology.

These wise men were from the East, probably Persia.

We cannot claim to be wise if we are not seeking the truth!

They were probably influential men of learning and authority and most probably the skilled scientist of their day.

It is thought they were some priestly order of Persia, the ministers and advisors to the Persian rulers.

At this time Persia would be the remnants of Iraq and Iran that great empire had fallen to Alexander the Great and then Rome.

They were seeking King Jesus!

*Mat 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Notice they had seen “His Star”. The star of the King who was born of the Jews.

The Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew in His flesh.

We should not believe that these Magi did not know the politics of the world at this time, they had witnessed the Greek Empire how it had destroyed the Persian rule and how Rome now ruled the world.

We could say that they were more familiar with the prophecies of Daniel than were the rulers of Jerusalem.

They knew this star had nothing to do with Herod and Herod nor his family were Jews.

King Jesus would not be born in Jerusalem but only according to the prophecies of God! The Prophecies of God are the Promises of God!

It is evident that they had lost track of the star that they had seen.

The city of Jerusalem at that time had many religious institutions and also the Temple which Herod was trying to showcase to the world.

There was the priesthood of Aaron that had also been taken over by outsiders by the politics of Rome so that government could interfere with religion.

This is what governments do, they interfere when that religion is Christianity!

There was no room for Jesus in Jerusalem alive or dead! By God’s providence it was not yet time for Jesus to be King!

Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Any mention of a Jewish King did cause Herod sleepless nights.

*Mat 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Herod was never born to be king. Herod was appointed to be king and he was a puppet king under the control of Rome.

Herod was always in fear for his throne and the news of a Jew who was born to be the King of the Jews did not set very well with him.

Any uprising by the Jewish people could certainly cost him his puppet throne!

The Jewish people also knew that any fear Herod had, meant more cruelty, more bloodshed, and more rebellion and more suffering for them.

A suffering people under a corrupt government is not good for anyone, but especially the innocent as we are beginning to see under the government we now have.

I hope those who put this government in office will feel the full force of corrupt leaders. It is the only way things will change!

Those Jews who did know the truth were praying for the Messiah who would be as King David and set Israel free, but this was not God’s plan at this time.

They were only a few in number.

These Magi were not Jews, not Israelites, but were Gentiles and we get to see the beginning of Gentiles who will accept the truth of God.

We should understand that this Herod had already slain five of the Maccabean princes and princesses including his favorite wife Mariamne eliminating any claim they had to the throne and then also two sons of Mariamne which were his own sons.

This Herod was a wicked man, and the people of Jerusalem did not want to see any more of his cruelty.

This Herod was also without the knowledge of the Scriptures.

Sounds like those in power in America today.

*Mat 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

This foolish and corrupt and wicked puppet king could not have ruled this religious people for he did not care to learn anything about Judaism.

He believed the only way he could control this people was by tyranny, when it would have been far better to get to know the way they think.

He had to gather together, he had to find some Bible (Scriptural) scholars, who good search out the truth for him.

It was these same people who hated the truth of the Messiah and would hate the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

The religious leaders of that day hated the Lord Jesus just as they do today.

Herod called only those religious leaders who were on his side. This is the same thing our own government does today, most of them being false.

Herod then demanded an answer to his question and notice that even the false religious leaders know about the Messiah who they hated.

All of them so afraid they would lose the prestige of their position and the riches they exploited from the people.

*Mat 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
Mat 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

They all understood the details of the “Coming of the Messiah” as if they had been researching because of the prophecies of Daniel.

Notice they had head knowledge, but they were not moved by the truth of this Scriptural Prophecy.

We will see that none of these so-called religious leaders were interested enough to go to Bethlehem to see if these things were true.

We could believe that this star that led these wise men from the east to Christ had been burning brightly for at least a year and had gone unnoticed by all religious circles.

God’s plan does not ever take a day off, but continues to move toward its climax!

The one thing we can see is that the words of the prophets had been preserved even though this may have a been Chaldean version of the Scriptures.

Look what Isaiah wrote by the Holy Spirit:

Isa 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
Isa 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isa 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

These priests and scholars were only five miles from Bethlehem, and they would not even take the time to go see if the Messiah had been born even though some men from the East had traveled many hundreds of miles to see if the true King of the Jews had been born!

That sneaky, crafty, murderous Herod put his own plan together.

*Mat 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

This question was only important to Herod and not anyone else!

What we have learned over the many years is that wicked and corrupt leaders try to cloak their evil designs, and this will be one the greatest traits of the Antichrist.

The new stimulus packaged is open for viewing but it has almost 600 pages of twisted and turned words to camouflage what is hidden in it.

At least one man is trying to force it to be read. Try to read it and you will see what I mean, as these corrupt politicians try to deceive those who are trying to do good.

Herod put his plan together in an attempt to deceive these men from the East, wise or not wise.

I do not trust that wicked Pelosi no more that these wise men should have trusted Herod.

The truth is God cannot be deceived, whether you believe on Him or not!

God will not be mocked!

We sometimes believe that these wise men arrived at the birth of Christ, but this is not true.

These wise men did not realize they would have to search for baby Jesus, thinking all of Israel would be happy at this event.

Jesus had been born in Bethlehem according to the Scriptures, and now his parents, Joseph and Mary had found a place to live in Bethlehem.

They had found a house and lived there.

The message that the wise men gave to Herod was that the Star of Jesus had appeared as much as one year but no more than two years before their arrival in Jerusalem.

How do we relate this today?

For instance we would love to find Jesus in all of our government rulers, but search as we can and He is not found but in a few though most all of them claim salvation, including our President and most all Senators and Congress. They are liars because the Bible says we will know them by their works and their works go against the Word of God.

It is the same for many a so-called Churches today. You can go seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and you will not be able to find Him. Not in the building and not in the church members.

If there is no proof of the Holy Spirit working in the church members, then you will not find the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Why do the Democrats hate Christians? 1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? “Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous”.

Because the platform of the Democrats is wicked and corrupt, and the “TRUE” church is “Righteous”!

It was the same with Herod. He was determined to kill the Lord Jesus Christ!

He told these travelers from the East to seek out this babe born to be King and send him word of his location.

*Mat 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Mat 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

This is the same message that needs to be preached today.

We all need to be diligently seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and He is not hard to find!

Notice now the Star of Jesus reappears and leads them to the home of Joseph and Mary and Jesus who will one day be King of kings and Lord of lords.

1Ti_6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

Rev_17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Rev_19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

These wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem and not Nazareth, but he would not be there for very long as other prophecies had to be fulfilled.

Again we see that only these wise men went in search for Jesus, the religious leaders in Jerusalem did not have faith in the Word of God.

There is a whole lot of typology here about the Gentiles.

Act_9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

These wise men were Gentiles seeking diligently the Lord Jesus Christ and God led them to Him with a Star.

What do we know?

We God know will meet the need of anyone who faithfully searches for Jesus.
We know that God will bless those who continue to seek the Lord Jesus without quitting.

Not many are seeking the Lord today and time is running out in the Church Age!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

When they saw that God was leading them, they rejoiced.

*Mat 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

Today we have allowed a plague to cause us to stop seeking the Lord.
Today we have allowed a plague to take our Christian joy away from us.
Today we have allowed a plague to come between us and our God.

This makes this plague an “idol”!

We should be more like these wise men!

Rom 15:9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
Rom 15:10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
Rom 15:11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
Rom 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

And then they finally found who they were seeking.

*Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Is obvious that some time had passed since baby Jesus was laid in a manger.

We will learn that Jesus was at least one year old but not more than two years old.

Joseph had found a house where Mary could recover, and Jesus could grow to be well enough to travel.

This the place that the star had led these visitors from the East.

Notice as soon as they saw Jesus, they fell down to worship Him.

If you ever meet Jesus, you will know you have met the Savior who will soon be King of this world.

All the power of God was in that toddler!

It was customary to bring gifts when meeting eminent persons who were visited.

**Gold for a King

Gold is obvious. It has been the store of value for thousands of years. It is rare and difficult to accumulate. It is easy to work into shapes or very thin sheets. And it does not rust or corrode. All of these recommend it as a store of value and its use is all over the Old Testament books of the Bible, especially in the description given for building the temple and the Ark of the Covenant.

Solomon’s vast wealth is described in the amount of gold he accumulated. If you want a real eye-opener, here is a little research on just how much wealth Solomon collected each year in gold: $1.2 billion dollars!

It is no wonder that gold was the Old Testament symbol of kings. Thus, when the magi brought gold to honor Jesus, they were proclaiming him king.

More, they were proclaiming him to be the ultimate king, in their eastern tradition, the “King of kings.”

It could have been used by Joseph and Mary to buy their escape into Egypt? Perhaps Jesus gave it to the poor. We simply do not know.

**Frankincense for a High Priest

The high priest of Israel burned incense in the Temple on the Day of Atonement.

The smoke of the incense was intended to fill the Holy of Holies and hide God who dwelt on the mercy seat between the cherubim in order that the high priest might be there in the presence of God without dying.

To see God was to die. The incense was intended to save the high priest from death. Even the formulation of the incense had to be exact (Exodus 30:34). To burn anything else or to use a proscribed source of flame was “strange fire” and was punishable by death (Leviticus 10:1).

Therefore, when the magi brought frankincense to Jesus, they proclaimed him to be their high priest. The importance of this second gift is difficult to overstate. In the Old Testament tradition, the kings came from the tribe of Judah, while the priests came from the tribe of Levi. Thus, the two powers were to be kept separate.

Yet, in the birth of Jesus, the two powers were combined and the presence of the two gifts together foreshadows Jesus’s role as both king and priest for the people.

This is explained more fully in the New Testament book of Hebrews when the author claims that Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek, who was both priest and king to his people.

**Myrrh for a Sacrifice

The last gift of the magi, myrrh, is the most solemn, but no less prophetic. An embalming oil, Myrrh symbolized the Christ’s mortality as a man. Imagine bringing a gift to the Messiah proclaiming his suffering and death.

It would seem unethical to bring the gift myrrh to the reigning King and High Priest of all creation!?

There are two interesting connections to myrrh to be found within the New Testament. The first is that the name Mary has myrrh as its root.

Her name also turns out to be prophetic. When she presented Jesus at the temple, Simeon prophesies over Jesus and tells Mary that a sword will pierce her own heart as well.

A second use of the word myrrh is found in the Book of Revelation. When John is given the seven letters to seven churches, there is one church whose letter tells of suffering and persecution even to the point of death. The church is Smyrna, whose name comes from the root word myrrh.

With this last gift, the magi proclaimed that all three powers God had ordained in the Old Testament had come together in the birth and person of Jesus Christ and would be fulfilled.

1) Gold proclaimed Him to be our king, the one who would rule over his people, and indeed the whole of creation, forever and ever.
2) Frankincense announced that He would be our high priest, intervening with God, Himself, on our behalf, offering prayers and intercessions for us.
3) Myrrh reveals to us that our King and Priest, God forever, was somehow a mortal man would also serve as our prophet, a man who would die in the place of his people.

We all need to take the time to study of the gifts of the magi, it is a study without end! (Much of this borrowed from a short study)

God first warns these men from the East who may have been kings themselves.

*Mat 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

We should understand that no one upon this earth had or has the power to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a babe.

For our Heavenly Father, the Scriptures and the Prophecies of the Bible had to all come to be true just as they are written in order for us to trust all the Bible.

We must also understand that Satan, the prince of this world who guides all wicked and corrupt governments and all leaders in high places, did everything he could to kill Jesus all the days of His life!

God would not let this happen because the Lord Jesus came to die, but He came to die of His own will and by His own circumstances.

There was a cross waiting for our Savior, and He would be there when the time was right.

Herod had been plotting to find and kill Jesus since he had first met with these “wise men” from the East.

Herod would not allow anyone to make any attempt, to take his throne.

He would try to add the Lord Jesus to the names of all those he had already murdered.

It is a terrible thing when governments will do anything to try to keep what they believe is power.

We see this in the USA today as the Democrats write laws and do all they can, to try to remain in power whether it be legal or not, whether it brings harm to others or not. We know Satan is behind it because they also insist on stopping the Church from speaking the Word of God.

These things are so obvious, yet they do not try to hide it. They have become very bold!

These so-called wise were wise enough not to defy the warnings of God, but they did defy the words of Herod and Herod was not a happy ruler.

1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

It was time also to warn Joseph.

*Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

God would not allow Herod to kill Jesus so it was best for Joseph to take his family and flee and because of prophecy Egypt would be the place to flee to.

God always does according to His written word!

We know that our God knows the thoughts of all people and He certainly knows the thoughts of wicked and corrupt leaders such as this Herod.

God knew this Herod would not give up his search for Jesus so Joseph would keep his family hidden until this Herod was dead.

Many Jews had fled from tyranny and Joseph would have found help in Egypt and carpenters could always find work.

We should remember many Jews had been scattered around the world since before the time of Nebuchadnezzar.

The sad part of this is that this Herod sent his army to Bethlehem and slew all the children from two years and under according to the information he had gotten from those visitors from the East, which fulfilled still yet another prophecy.

Jer 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

We should be amazed by the accuracy of the written Word of God.

When Herod was dead, an angel came to Joseph and told it was time to leave Egypt.

Joseph still afraid for the life of his adopted son Jesus instead of going back home, He went to Nazareth.

The Lord Jesus Christ grew from babe to manhood in Nazareth.

We should be able to see the great love Joseph had for his family and his adopted son.

We should also know the Jesus was a Nazarene not because of some vow but because He came from Nazareth even though from a babe in a manger till the day of His cross, the Lord Jesus Christ had no sin in His life.

Jesus did not have to make a vow to have no sin, Jesus just refused to allow sin in His life.

Those wise men recognized the Lord Jesus as King.

Herod was afraid the Lord Jesus would become King and sought to kill Him.

The Lord Jesus Christ is King of kings and the entire world will one day see the truth of King Jesus!

Amen

The Lord Speaks to His Church

February 23, 2020 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Message to the Lord’s Churches

Book of the Revelation Chapter 1 verses 1 through 11

The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ was written by John the Apostle close to the end of the first century according to the Roman Calendar.

The Book of Revelation is the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ!

It is not about John the revelator!

Many call this book the Book of the Apocalypse, but we have just studied the Books of Ezekiel, and Daniel, and Zechariah which books give us much information about the apocalypse.

The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is written to the Church, and is about the future and not about the past!

In particular, this book was written to seven churches in Asia which are the church in Ephesus, the church in Pergamos, the church in Smyrna, the church in Sardis, the church in Thyatira, the church in Philadelphia, and the church in Laodicea.

These churches represent not only seven type of churches, but also seven periods, or seven ages of the Church of Christ.

The Number seven will also be a key number as we study this great book of the Bible.

The number seven represents the number of completeness.

Though many people refuse to read the Book of Revelation, this book is intended to be an encouragement to the Church.

We must remember God has a purpose for every piece of Scripture in the Bible!

God has some things to say about our future and the future of the Church, and He wants us to know them!

God wants us to keep our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Savior, and our Redeemer, and the soon coming King of the Jews.

King to the Jews and Redeemer to the Church. The Church has never needed a King, we have always needed a Savior!

It is God’s purpose to lead “whosoever will” to repentance and salvation, and on to a glorious inheritance and redemption given to all the true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we will see, the Book of Revelation is a book of interpretation of the Old Testament.

The Book of Revelation is a book of final things. We could say a book of destiny.

The Book of Revelation is also God’s last words to this world!

Jehovah and His Son now speak to us through a preacher, by the Holy Spirit, and by His written words!

There are no lost books of the Bible, and there will never be a new book added to the Bible!

The Book of Revelation is not just a book of prophecy.

It is a not just a book history.

The Book of Revelation is not just a tiny look into our future, because only Jehovah God knows all our future!

The fact remains that the Book of Revelation can only be understood if we can take the words of the Old Testament Prophets, and the Book of Psalms, and the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the truth.

The Book of the Revelation is to be studied!

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

So this what we will attempt to do on certain portions of this Blessed Book of the Revealing of Christ Jesus.

*****Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Immediately we see again that God the Holy Spirit has given these words to the Apostle John, with most of these words coming from Jesus Christ Himself.

We should know that this great Book is given to the Church for a special blessing and certain things that God the Father wants the Church to know!

What is the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ? He spoke only the words that His Father gave to Him to say!

Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

All of us would be much better off if we would just speak the Words that He has given to us in the Scriptures!

We should keep in mind that the Apostle John got a view of all the things that happened in the Book of Revelation, but he saw things that he did not understand, and he described them as best he could.

Besides being with Jesus and spending a lifetime preaching the Word of God, John was still just a fisherman saved by the power of God’s Grace.

We have already seen verse three, but let’s talk more about it.

*****Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

People are always talking about how to get a blessing from God and here we see how to get some of those blessings.

That word read means a little more than just reading, it means to know which means to study also.

We have it in our power to make our lives better, if we will just read the Word of God and study those Scriptures and then apply them to our lives daily!

We do not need some great institution of learning to teach us, but we do need the Holy Spirit to teach us!

In John’s time, the Church was in its beginning stages and the Lord wants us to know the same things that had their beginning in John’s day, are still going on today and are much worse, so much of God’s wisdom will teach us that the Lord could return at any moment.

Many things had to come to past.

The Church had begun to have a firm foot in the world of that day.

These seven churches were established and are models, good and bad how the Church had begun to influence the entire world.

The Age of the Church was beginning to move around the world, everywhere where people gathered.

These seven churches that will be mentioned, gives all churches the opportunity to change to be a better church and those guidelines come from the Lord Jesus Christ who is the foundation of all the Church.

1Co_3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

It is really without understanding how there can be so many denominations and so many differences between Bible believing Churches.

I understand the many churches that will not accept all the truth of God, but I do not understand all those who say they believe all the Bible.

We can narrow all the Bible believing Churches down to these seven churches mentioned in these Scriptures.

We can also see that every church member has this time to decide just which church group they want to be in, after they hear what Jesus has to say.

*****Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

We begin to see the number seven and this is the number for completeness.
The number seven is also a symbol of blessedness.
A symbol of Holiness.
A symbol of Rest and a symbol of perfection!

What does the Lord wish for every church? He wants them all to remember they are all established by His “Grace”.

We sometimes forget just what “Grace” means!

Grace is the undeserved favor of God!

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

What comes with the “Grace” of God? Peace

Our salvation originates by the “Grace of God”!

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The very first benefit of God’s Grace is “peace”!

What does that word “peace”, as written in the Scriptures, really mean?

It does mean quietness and tranquility, but it also means happiness in life and prosperity.

These are the things God wishes for each one of us, if we lay our heart to the truth of the Scriptures.

Most everyone of us will settle on the word prosperity and associate it with money, but this just takes away from what God means.

When God uses the word prosperity, He means to patiently wait on the riches that come to all those who make the Lord first in our lives.

If not, then prosperity becomes no more than an idol!

Who is that which is, which was, and which is to come?

Isa 41:4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

He is the Great “I AM”!

Exo 3:14 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.

And His Son is exactly like Him!

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

1) In the past, the Lord Jesus is the one person who led a perfect life. He was the only One who could pay our sin debt.
He is the One who conquered sin and death!

2) In the present, our Lord and Savior is the spiritual leader of the Church. He sits at the right hand of God because God the Father has given to Him all power. He rules in Heaven and He controls all of nature here on earth. He walks in the midst of seven golden candlesticks holding the seven stars in His right hand.

3) In the future, as true Christians we must never doubt our future because it is Christ Jesus who holds our future in His hands. He promises that we will meet Him face to face and live with Him forever and it is He whose will for us is to be His family.
Jesus likes it up close and personal!

What are those seven Spirits before the throne of God? Let’s just look at what God says.

1) Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

There are seven Spirits before the throne.

2) Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has those seven Spirits.

3) Rev 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Those seven Spirits are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.

4) Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Those seven Spirits are seven horns and seven eyes.

So these are the things we know about those seven Spirits. The only thing we can say is, these are seven Spirits God uses in the work of His church on this earth.

And Jesus Himself is the “faithful witness”!

*****Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus Christ is our Savior, our only Savior, and the only Savior for this entire world!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

I know that this causes many in the world problems, but it does not change the truth!

There will never be another Savior in any age!

1) Jesus Christ is that “faithful witness” sent by our Heavenly Father! He is the one person we can all depend upon! We can trust everything that Jesus tells us and that He teaches us. He will never lead us astray! He came down from Heaven!

Joh 8:14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
Joh 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

2) Jesus Christ is the only person who arose from the dead and will never ever die again. The Bible speaks of others who were risen from the dead, but they also died again. Only the Church will be like our Lord and will one day rise from the dead so that those bodies can be glorified as that one of the Lord!

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

3) Jesus Christ is the Prince that is over all the rulers of this earth! When Jesus arose and went back to Heaven, He was exalted to be the right hand of God. He is the prince who holds all the power of God in His hands!

Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

We must not fear what any man says, it is Jesus Christ who has Supreme Power over this earth, and He will return when He is ready!

Psa 24:1 The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Jesus is delaying His return to give everyone at least one opportunity to be saved by faith!

4) Jesus Christ is our Redeemer! He loves us! He washed away our sins with His own blood! We have been washed in the sinless, perfect, blood of our Savior!

We cannot make Jesus love us any less than He loves us now!

We cannot make Jesus love us any more than He loves us now because His love is a perfect love!

We have been “loosed” from sin!

The chains and bondage of sin have been broken and we can never be trapped by our sin ever again!

We will one day stand before God in sinless perfection because of what His Son has done for us!

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

5) He hath made us to be kings and priests to our God! During the Millennial Reign of Christ, some in the Church will be kings. Some will be priests. All of us will be used in some manner and it will be a wonderful time to serve the Lord!

In fact we may do these things with Christ throughout eternity!

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

We will have open access to our Heavenly Father not only now, but forever!

*****Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

What is the theme of the Book of Revelation? The return of Jesus Christ! The entire Bible is about the first and the second coming of our Lord and Savior!

1) The Lord Jesus will first come with the clouds to “Redeem” those that He has purchased with His blood.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

2) Next, every eye will see Him. It will not matter where you are located upon this earth, you will see the Lord Jesus when He returns!

The glory of the Lord is so bright that even the sun will be as a candle to His brightness! His glory will surround this earth and His Church will be with Him also in glorified bodies but not as bright as our Savior and, we will never be as bright as our Savior!

All the angels of Heaven will also be with Him and the Angels will be in their full glory!

Every eye that remains upon this earth will witness the glory of our Savior!

All those who have rebelled against the Lord Jesus will wail at His coming!

They will then know that all the things said about Jesus in the Scriptures, by His witnesses, by His true preachers, will all have been the truth!

Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Who is this regal Redeemer and Judge?

*****Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

It is the “Almighty God” who returns to this little speck of dust called earth, just before foolish humans attempt to destroy the Jews and in doing so would have destroyed the entire earth.

It is a fact that, all the major powers upon this planet have weapons aimed at each other just waiting on someone to be the first to fire weapons of mass destruction! How foolish!

It just takes one accident and the world would be at war and destroy this planet we call earth.

Just recently the Air Force found certain men who smoke marijuana who also were in control of missile silos containing nuclear warheads.

It takes one accident by any one person and these weapons could be fired and war would begin!

Jesus Christ is the “Alpha”. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet.

Jesus is the beginning because He is the very One who caused the beginning of all creation!

Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

All things find their purpose, their meaning, and their significance in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ is the “Omega”. Omega is the very last letter of the Greek alphabet.

Jesus Christ began all things and He is the only One who can end all things!

No matter how chaotic our world seems to be, all things are still under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is not the cause of our problems, but He is certainly the answer to all our problems!

We are a foolish people to not place all our trust in the Lord!

Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Jesus Christ is the glue that binds all His creation together to Him!

Jesus Christ is the Lord of all creation!

He is the Lord who is, and came to die.
He is the Lord who was, and He died and then He arose.
He is the Lord, who will return and to restore all things.

He is God eternal!
He is God unchangeable!

If Jesus came today, He would be the same person He has always been!
He will always be that person described to us in the Holy Ghost inspired Word of Jehovah God!

Isa 41:4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
Isa 41:5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.

Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Isa 43:12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isa 44:7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
Isa 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

The Apostle John, A Christian, a “Born Again” child of God, a man chosen by Jesus Christ to be an Apostle, and also chosen to be a live witness of all the things in the Book of the Reveling of the Lord Jesus Christ.

*****Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The first vision of the Apostle John is a vision of Christ Jesus.

It is this first vision that proclaims that that this message is for the Church, beginning with those seven churches in Asia.

Jesus the Christ wants all the Church to know that this message comes directly from Him!

John was on the Isle of Patmos.

It is said that it was the Emperor Domitian that banned John to this tiny island where there would be no one to preach the Gospel.

This Island is only about 40 miles from the City of Ephesus but an old man like John would never have made that distance alone.

Patmos is just a rocky, barren, isolated island about 10 miles long and six miles wide.

John was banished simply because he would not quit being a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is said that John was liberated only when Domitian died.

The truth is that, in our darkest hours, it is then that we realize that we are not alone at all.

John was the last of the Apostles and the only one who God called home only after he had lived to a ripe old age.

All the other Apostles were murdered and all for the same reason, they would never reject the Lord Jesus Christ!

John says he was our brother in Christ and our companion to all believers.

The Apostle John was a believer just we are believers today, but he was a far better witness than all of us are.
John was a witness seven days of the week. The only time he was not speaking of Jesus was when he was eating and sleeping, and he asked the Lord always to bless His food!

We are brothers to each other, and we are brothers and sisters to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are no in-betweens. There can be no true queer nor any lesbian Christians!

Of what tribulation does John speak?

The Apostle Paul writes that this tribulation, is the things that cause us trouble as we live for the Lord. Not the seven years of tribulation!

Act 14:21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

It was while John was upon the Isle of Patmos that John witnessed and wrote the Book of Revelation.

We might say that John would not slow down enough to write this Great book of the Bible, so John needed a place of solitude.

John was never alone, but it was a special day that Sunday when Jesus came calling in the Spirit.

*****Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Many still question why we worship on Sunday rather that Saturday. The Apostle Paul and the Apostle John make it very clear that we observe and gather on the Lord’s Day and it was on Sunday when the Lord walk out of the tomb risen from the dead.

We would be wrong to assemble on any other day, but the truth is we are to worship the Lord every day!

What was John to write? The things that he saw.

We must remember, John lived in the First Century. The things John saw would be from our time or on into the future, and he could only describe them from his historical point of view.

What did John hear on this day? A voice but a voice as of a great speaker. A speaker that spoke with authority.

In fact it was the Lord Jesus Christ. The Alpha and the Omega and the First and the Last!

We have today our English translation of everything that John saw on this vision into the future and into our future.

We should understand that these seven churches in the First Century give us a picture of entire group of churches in that period.

We should understand that this is the same picture we have of the Church today. There are still those seven images of the Church.

Another thing we can understand is that there are seven Church Periods or Church Ages and it is easy to see we are in that Laodicean Age today.

The Church Age is coming to an end!

The Church must continuously discipline itself, to remain a Church built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ!

Some say there are two Bibles.

One is the Bible that is written on paper and the other is the Bible written upon our heart and these two must match!

But the truth is Christianity in human life is far better than cold ink!

Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

This is the beginning of lute-warmness, when we do not walk the language of God in our hearts!

When we walk in our own thoughts and ways and not according to the Word of God, we begin to place ourselves into one of these church groups and we then need to hear what the Lord has to say here in the Book of Revelation, the Revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is not in our lesson plan but verse 12 says the Church is like a candle stick and a bright and shining candlestick is worthy of the Lord but one that is dim, or is flickering, or is partially out, or is out, is not worthy of the Lord!

Mat_5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Your light will not shine unless you are in a steady walk with the Lord according to His Word and His Ways!

Let’s remember these things as we get started in this great Book of the Bible.

It is in this Book where we find those wonderful words of our Savior, It Is Done!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

God’s Message Is For All Nations

May 28, 2017 / Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

Good News for All Nations

Isaiah 40

The Book of Isaiah is divided into 66 chapters and we know this was done by man. As we begin our study in chapter 40 we will see a great transition in the prophecies of Isaiah.

We could say that the Book of Isaiah is divided into two divisions. The first division we studied last quarter. If we remember Isaiah spent a lot of time on the coming of the Messiah and Israel’s past.

In this second division, we will see Isaiah prophesy of Israel’s deliverance.

The Bible has 66 books and is divided into the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament.

We will see that the Book of Isaiah is roughly divided the same, with 39 chapters teaching the coming of Christ, the Messiah and 27 chapters dealing with the deliverance of Christ and the promise of eternal freedom.

As we begin we will see it has been many years since the time of Hezekiah. Israel returned to idol worship and God allowed the Babylonians to capture Israel, even Jerusalem but as Jeremiah prophesied they would only be in captivity for 70 years.

This was not only the time of Isaiah but also of Jeremiah and Daniel and some others.

Even while Israel was in captivity, Isaiah was preaching of comfort and freedom that was coming to this nation!

Again, the truth is God’s redeeming power is clearly pictured in these words of Isaiah!

These things still called for repentance and a return to the Lord!

Let’s Begin:

*****Isa 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

God’s instructions to His prophet was to comfort the Jews in this terrible situation that they were in!

Isaiah was not speaking to the inhabitants of Jerusalem nor of Judah in this day, he was speaking to the Jewish exiles in Babylonia.
Jerusalem and the Temple lay in ruins which will be referred to as the “old waste places”.

Isa_58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.

Notice this also refers to the Second Coming of Christ and His work on Mount Zion.

At this time, it is Babylon that is the dominating power in the world but even that would not last very long. Babylon over thru Nineveh and the Assyrians in about 606 BC and Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus in 538 BC, only 68 years. It would be Cyrus who would allow the Jews to go home and even finance the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Of course, Isaiah could not have known these things but he did know what God said would be the truth and he knew God would deliver his people from this captivity.

It is the voice of God that now directs His prophet to comfort His people.

God as a tender Father, will always reach out to His people and as His people suffer the Lord also feels that suffering Himself!

The people needed comfort and they needed a double amount.

Isaiah would have to change the way he delivered his message from the time of Hezekiah, which was a bold message of repentance and now be gentle in his message as these Jews had been humbled and were being humbled by captivity again.

It was time to reach into the hearts of these people with the love that God had for them, even when they had rejected His message.

They were in Babylon because of sin and they were beginning to realize this truth.

*****Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

The first need of every soul, is forgiveness!

Our soul can endure suffering when that suffering comes from our own mistakes but being unforgiven is a life of misery!

Before God can repair our mistakes and allow us to learn from them, we must be assured of forgiveness!

The Promise to the Church:

The Promise to the Jews:

Mic 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

We must also realize that even when we are forgiven and God has issued His pardon, we must still reap what we have sown.

It was now Isaiah’s job to convey this message to those Jews in captivity!

According to the prophet Jeremiah, these Jews would have to serve 70 years in captivity and the Lord would also honor this prophecy.

Jer_29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

When these Jews were made aware of the promises of God, they then had great hope that their suffering would end but it did still required repentance.

Repentance is always required before forgiveness can come!

And then another great prophecy.

*****Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah prophesied that before the Lord would come He would send some human to prepare the way.

The message to these Jews was that Jehovah had already put the necessary forces in motion to bring about the return of these captives.

There would be a revelation of Divine Glory for all the world to see!

1) First, we see that this relates to the deliverance of these Jews out of Babylon.

They would have to repent and straighten out their lives and remove all crooked, and unrighteous behavior.

We do know that after this time in Babylon the Jews never became idol worshipers again even in our day.

2) Second, we should know that this applies to John the Baptist.

Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Before the Lord Jesus would reveal His ministry, His way must first be prepared for Him!

The way of the Lord is by the way of “Holiness”.

Today this seems to be forgotten!

Again, the message of John was to repent.

What was John’s job?

Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Luk 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

And why was John to be in the power of Elias (Elijah)?

Because this prophecy has a third meaning.

3) Third the return of the Messiah.

Isa 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Isa 35:9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
Isa 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Why was John the Baptist in the power of Elijah?

Mat 17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Mat 17:12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Mat 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Here the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking of His Own Second Coming.

Elijah will also return in person to make way for the return of the Messiah.

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

One of these two witnesses are Elijah and though there is great debate, the other would be Enoch because according to the Word of God every man must see death and Elijah and Enoch are the only two in the Bible who have not yet seen death.

Even the Lord Jesus Christ saw death!

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

It is when the Lord Jesus Christ returns that He will make everything straight, every valley will be exalted, every hill made low, the crooked will be made straight, and the rough places plain!

Therefore, these words came from the mouth of the Lord to His prophet!

When all the preparations are made, then there will be a complete revelation of the “Glory and the Might” of the Lord!

Why do we know this refers to the end times of the Tribulation Period? Because “all flesh will see it together”!

Rev_1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

This still has nothing to do with the calling out of the Church that was formed by His first coming!

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

There would not be much comfort of the Saints, knowing we would have to go through the Tribulation and see the wrath of God which He said we would not see.

1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

The thing that we should see clearly is that when we repent and return to the Lord, we can level out the paths of our lives and when we are faithful and consistent in our Christian life, we will ride smoothly when we are on the mountain top and when we pass through the valleys of life with confidence.

We can fill secure knowing that we will see the Lord in all His glory and He will welcome us with open arms!

Getting back to these Jews, we can be sure that by no longer having a home, being a stranger in a foreign country, ruled by a ruthless and unmerciful king, their future did not look very promising. They knew that no one on this earth now had the power to save them.

Isaiah’s message was that no matter what they thought, there is a God, the One true God who can do all things.

*****Isa 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isa 40:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isa 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

When we focus on this world, nothing in this life seems very promising. The voice of reason teaches us that we have only a few years to live and in fact we do not know what tomorrow will bring!

God says if we would just awaken to His truth, we could rest in our spirit and life would be tolerable knowing that there is really a life after the death of this flesh!

Compared to the glory of God, the glory of the human(flesh), a creation of God, is no more than common grass!

Like the grass, we are subject to all the tragedies that happen to grass. The glory of the grass is short lived until it withers away and is gone. Even when a blade of grass is at its full strength it can be trampled upon, or parched by the Sun, plucked by some other flesh, or even mowed down to nothingness.

If the grass has any glory at all, it is when it is flowering which may be the only time that it is noticeable as no one really pays attention to common grass!

Unlike the grasses, the Word of God has a life that compares to the God who gave it, it is eternal!

The doctrines of the Word of God abide forever. They are not just theories as those of philosophers but are eternal truths!

The promises of God are sure! The punishments and the rewards are real!

To those who are “Born Again” into the family of God, all things have changed!

1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

The Word of God does not contain the “Gospel”, the Word of God is the “Gospel”!

Any false doctrine of man will fade, as will the grasses of all flesh, that have not been “Born” into the family of God!

All corruptible seed will perish!

When we trust the truth of the Word of God then hopelessness disappears. The knowledge of a great future is enduring because God will fulfill His promises, because every promise is God’s guarantee!

The Word of God is incorruptible because it was given by the Holy Spirit!

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

We serve a Great Big God who is also Mightier than any power on this earth!

*****Isa 40:9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

This Scripture may be from Isaiah to all the prophets of his time to go to Zion and proclaim the “good tidings” of God but in truth this is a command for not just all Pastors, and all Missionaries, but to all the children (the Saints) of God to proclaim the “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

God says go to the highest mountain and proclaim the salvation of God with all the strength we possess!

The message of salvation is so important that it must be declared to everyone.

Luk 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

1Ti 3:16 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.

Salvation is no longer a mystery to the Church but most of this world still live believing salvation is only a mystery that cannot be solved and it is our only job to see that these who are lost get the opportunity to know the Lord and His salvation plan!

We must not be cowardly by shrinking back from proclaiming the “Good News” of the Gospel!
We must not fear rejection and we must not fear persecution!
We must not tone down the message of God, it still requires true “faith” and real “repentance” to be rescued!

The “Good News” must not be twisted into a lie, making everyone acceptable by their own beliefs or their own works.

The “Good News” is not to be treated like it is some secret that the world does not need to know.

The Word of God will always do what it was intended to do!

Isa_55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

There is still only one truth and only one way to reach the glory world of Heaven and have eternal life!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The truth is, the Lord is coming in a marvelous way just as He came the first time in the virgin birth.

1) He is first coming, as a thief to remove His Church so that the Church will not see His wrath upon this earth full of unbelievers!

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

2) Then He is coming to show His wrath to all unbelievers and then to fulfill the promises made to King David.

1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Notice that God says, without a doubt, that He will return as the Messiah!

*****Isa 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Behold our God will come with all His Might and all His Majesty, His Beauty!

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the arm of God.

Psa 80:17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

His reward is with Him and His work is before Him:

Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Joh 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

God promised to rescue His people from Satan, Jesus did that on the cross on Mount Calvary. That work is finished:

Joh_19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

When the Lord returns, He will complete all the remaining work that needs to be done:

Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

What is the Lord doing right now?

1) Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

2) Rom_8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

The Lord will not stop His work until He has redeemed every believer and brought justice to this world by striking down all His enemies!

Then all the redeemed will see a side of God that we have only read about and only dreamed about!

*****Isa 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

The Lord who will show no pity in His destruction of all unbelievers and His enemies, will become a tender Shepherd to those who love Him.

Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

All those from the time of Adam until the day the Lord calls out His Church and those that are saved during the Tribulation years and that remnant of Israel, who have answered the call of God, are all the flock of the Lord, and will have eternal life through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.

As always, those who are weak will be carried in the bosom of the Lord, and the Lord will lead His flock at the pace of those who are young!

It is true that the remnant of the Jews had this picture of the Lord, which was a true picture but it will also be true for that remnant of the Jews during the time of Jacob’s trouble.

And the Lord our King will also be the Shepherd who calls His Church home.

The picture we should all see is that the Lord holds each of His flock close to His heart!

The Lord will never forsake His children!

Where ever our Shepherd leads, we are content to follow!

How great is our God? Here is just an example:

*****Isa 40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Notice the reference to the hand which in fact only the human has and it is wonderfully constructed as is every part of our bodies.

It is the hand of God that refers to God power and authority!
It is the arm of God that gives leverage to God’s hand!

We read in another place where the heavens are the work of God’s fingers.

We know that Jehovah spoke our world into existence but we would be fools to not see that we are all shaped by the hand of our Mighty God!

This hand is so powerful that once we are in His hand there is no power on earth or in Heaven that can take us out of God’s hand!

Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Who can do such things but our God, Jehovah?

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Fall of Nineveh

May 21, 2017 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Fall of Nineveh

Book of Nahum Chapter 1

We have been seeing that the armies of Sennacherib, the King of Assyria had become the dominate power in the known world now until God clipped their wings.

We should understand that Nineveh was the capitol of Assyria now and God had also prophesied of the downfall of Nineveh.

This is another thing that the people of Judah should have understood.

While Isaiah was speaking to King Hezekiah of the victory to those who trusted in the Lord.

The prophet Nahum was speaking of the destruction of Nineveh.

We must also remember the Prophet Jonah had preached in Nineveh and the whole city had turn to the Lord but by this time they had reverted to their old ways and were led there by their own government.

Far too often, when people talk about God, they ignore His “justice” and His “judgment” and speak only of His love.

This is a dangerous thing to do because, God is not only a “loving” God, God is also a “just” God!

The truth is, it is God’s love for all believers and those who trust in Him and His Word, that will cause the “Judgment” of God to fall on those who do not believe in His existence and who reject the Word of God.

And they seem to forget that God loves His Holy name and everything His name stands for, which is love, joy, peace, righteousness, and holiness.

God will therefore execute vengeance on all those who reject, ignore, neglect and curse His Holy Name!

As we go through this lesson, we can be sure that in “typology”, Nineveh is a type of all those who rebel against Jehovah, our God.

Let’s begin:

*****Nah 1:1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

We know that God spoke to His prophets in many ways, to Nahum, God used visions.

That word burden in this passage means, these Scriptures are a message of doom to Nineveh and as I said this message is also intended for all those who rebel against the Lord.

Now, Nineveh was the capitol city of Assyria and remember Assyria is oppressing Judah as Nahum receives these visions from the Lord.

So, Nahum is saying, this Book of Nahum is a Book of Visions given to him by the Lord.

We already know, the words of God’s prophets were as God speaking Himself!

An Elkoshite was anyone who came from Elkosh and not much is known of this place or it’s true location.

So, let’s witness the visions God gave to Nahum.

*****Nah 1:2 God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

It is a fact that our God is a jealous God!

In our relationships with the opposite sex, we find that “jealousy” is one is one of the strongest passions of our nature!

When we see, these things written of the Lord, this word is used as an illustration, rather than expressing the emotions His divine mind.

The Lord presents Himself as the Husband of the Church and the Church as the “Bride of Christ”.

We can see, it is the Lord’s desire to maintain the purity of the relationship between Himself and His Church.

The emotions of “Love” can make us all selfish in keeping that one we love, for ourselves.

The “jealousy” of the Lord is in fact a Godly jealousy.

The “jealousy” of God is awakened by the long-continued injuries inflicted of the people of God!

The fact is, God is love but God is also just and those that God has already justified are His as His children and God will avenge any harm to His children!

There can be no “true love” without “justice” and God is always ready to defend His honor and His family!

We can be sure God is working behind the scenes to stop those causing harms to His people but for the most part God may withhold His hand of vengeance for a time, as He does now, until He returns to settle all things. He reserves His wrath for His enemies! Which means He is watching and waiting until He has had enough of this abuse of His children and no one else will repent of their sin.

We all know, to withhold anger will only it to grow and grow until it must be released.

We should clearly understand that the destruction of Assyria was God’s doing and Assyria no longer exist as a nation.

Nineveh was established by Nimrod and then became the capitol of Assyria in the time of Sennacherib and Assyria ruled the Near East for more than 65 years until about 612 BC when until Babylon destroyed it and later the Medes and the Persians.

The Assyrians were a cruel, and oppressing and a murderous people, whose leaders were greedy and ambitious to expand their kingdom.

Countless multitudes of other evil people were slaughtered and mutilated by the Assyrians and any survivors were made slaves.

In our lesson, we will see that God had reached a point where He could no longer tolerate this evil nation, as He did the Canaanite and we should see this as an example of the return of Christ when God has had enough of this evil world.

The people of Nineveh were far beyond repentance and returning to the Lord and the Lord always know these things!

We should also see that the prophet Nahum had the message of God’s last warning to these people and their last chance to repent.

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

This is a great burden to the Lord God because He has no pleasure in having to do these things,

Eze 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

The jealousy of God is not built on envy, God cherishes who He is and protects His possessions as any good husband and father should do.

God demands worship, praise, and service by His people but they must willingly offer these things, not out of fear but out of love and God will not accept any rivals for this affection to Him!

Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Common sense should tell us all, that God will have to carry out His vengeance and justice to all those who reject Him!

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

God must obey all His Written Word or we would not be able to trust any of His Word and He has no problem in doing this!

Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

God shows great patience now but that patience will come to an end one day soon and God’s wrath will be seen!

*****Nah 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

It is a fact that God’s patience is the only reason evil people and evil nations can continue in their evil ways and why is God like this?

2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Longsuffering is the same as patience!

God delays His judgment but the truth is God will never (not at all) acquit the wicked!
Notice how God’s lips move quickly when He promises but move more slowly when He is warning.
When God warns, He is very slow to sentence, allowing every possible moment for repentance.
We all know the sentence against every sinner, is death.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is slow to carry out this sentence even though sin is an abominable thing to God. God hates sin!

God is right to do anything He pleases at any time He so desires!

Remember when all those that have refused to repent and return to the Lord, stand at the White Throne of Judgment, they will be without an excuse and they can in no way blame the Lord for their demise!

The Lord has great power and this includes great power over Himself to carry out that sentence of death. It takes much power to restrain the Almighty God and only He has that power within Himself.

None of us should forget, that God has never, even one time, pardoned an unrepented sin!

The greatest exercise of God’s patience is found in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross!

Notice God will warn before He strikes and He warns so that maybe He will not have to strike!

Now God does not travel around using these powerful storms as a vehicle of travel. Nor are these storms created by His presence.

BUT the earth is God’s footstool to do with as He pleases. We are all in fact, God’s creation!

We have a great example of these things in the time of Noah.

1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Are the clouds the dust of God’s feet?

We know that the earth is God’s footstool and the Earth is made of dust, the same dust the we are made of. Scientific discovery has confirmed that the clouds owe their glory and their beauty and even their existence to the presence of dust particles in the atmosphere. The liquid vapor condenses on the particles and then become visible. So yes, the clouds are certainly the dust of God’s feet!

What did Jesus Christ say?

Mat 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

And again, in the Book of Revelation

Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

And of course, that is not all as Nahum describes the return of Christ.

*****Nah 1:4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

We should clearly understand, God’s power is absolute, limitless and inexhaustible and works everywhere within His created world!

No one and nothing else, will be able to stop the wrath of God, when He decides it is time!

We know of God’s works in the air and now we see God’s works in the sea. We can see that God says look what He has already done to the Red Sea and the River Jordan for examples.

Amo 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

In the time of Nahum, Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon were the most fruitful places in all of Palestine but their growth depended entirely on the results of God’s power over the rain.

We must understand, nature is alive but not by any power of its own. All the forces of nature are by the personal energies of the Lord!
And that’s not all:

*****Nah 1:5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

God is not the cause when that tornado destroys your home.
God is not the cause when that earthquake destroys a city.
God is not the cause when those bad things happen in nature.

BUT, we should be aware that God has absolute control over nature and nature will be used when God brings His wrath on the disobedient of this world. To be honest, nature has no choice in this matter, “the earth will melt in the presence of God” because of His Glory.

2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

So, in truth, who on this earth has the power to stop the wrath of God?

*****Nah 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Those that reject God and reject the Word of God live by one option, they reject the existence of God, so they are not concerned about His return.

But those who know there is a God because the works of creation prove it, are truly foolish if they do not repent and return to the Lord.

The Word of God is the truth and God’s warnings are real!

God’s fury will be poured out like fire! We already have the example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or like the molten lava from a volcano.

Jer 7:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

And notice, those rocks and those mountains are thrown down by God Himself or we should say in His presence.

Assyria resisted the truth of God with a 200,000-man army and God dispatched one Angel who could have destroyed them all, but then there would have been no witnesses to tell others of the Mighty God of Israel, Jehovah God so, only 185,000 were destroyed and 15,000 witnesses to tell the truth of the Holy One of Israel!

When the Lord is our protection, we are safe and God knows all those that belong to Him and who have answered His call!

*****Nah 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

Repeatedly we see that the wrath of God will not fall upon those that have repented and returned to the Lord.

2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

There are many reasons to repent and return to the Lord better than this one, because there are too many benefits of being a child of God to mention here, but this one must be counted also.

We can draw much comfort knowing that Christians will not go through the seven years of tribulation on this earth but God will remove His Church before this period begins!

It is certain that God will offer more help to the poor and oppressed than He does the rich but rich or poor. God will only offer His shelter and protection to those that trust in His name and in His Word!

It is that same presence of God that causes utter destruction that protects those that love Him. Just as in the Jews escape from Egypt, “we are covered by the blood and not just any blood but the blood of the Lamb of God.

Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

True believers walk with the Lord and just like Enoch, before the wrath of God we, in a sense, will all just walk on up to Heaven in His Glory, when God calls out His church.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Just after the time when God removes His Church, this world will see the wrath of God!

*****Nah 1:8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
Nah 1:9 What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
Nah 1:10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

As God affords His protection to the max for those who love Him, those that remain will see God’s wrath to the max!

Eze 7:8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.
Eze 7:9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.
Eze 7:10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.

We know that God put an end to Nineveh and God will do the same to this world we live in!

God’s goodness demands that He carry out a perfect “Judgment” upon those who have rejected Him!

God’s people must be vindicated or God would not be the God that He claims to be!

There are great plots to destroy the message of God and the messengers of God throughout this world and even in America.

BUT, any attack of God’s people is a direct attack on God Himself!

**God will put an end to all plots against Him, when the Lord Jesus returns to establish God’s Kingdom!

Many Christians suffer persecution and are refused many things, while if they refuse an unbeliever, they are punished.

**God will put an end to all those who cause trouble for God’s people when the Lord Jesus returns, He will rule with a rod of iron!

God will put an end to the pain God’s people suffer in this world!

We may not have the thorns such as grow in Palestine but when you are walking through the brush and a thorn bush grabs your clothing it takes a few moments to get yourself free and move on.

God said His enemies will be as drunkards caught up in a thorn bush, unable to free themselves. They and the thorns are like worthless brush fit only for burning.

Mal 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Yes, it’s true that great thorn hedges were planted in such a way to protect the sheep from predators and the King of Assyria felt like his great city walls offered that same protection from his enemies and Nineveh was considered impenetrable. So, the soldiers would have drunken feasts when attacks came rather than prepare for defense, since no army have ever entered Nineveh.

Babylon seized upon this foolishness and after Nineveh became Babylon, Cyrus and the Medes proved this to be the downfall of Babylon which was Nineveh. In typology, this is what the Lord is describing for those who reject His warnings and think they can protect themselves from the wrath of God!

Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

In truth God cannot build His Kingdom until all the brush has been removed!

There are always those who plot against the Lord!

*****Nah 1:11 There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.

It is probable that Nahum was referring to Sennacherib that imagined such evil against the Lord but the fact remains that whoever is considered by the prophet, is a picture of Satan.

In the end, those who have followed Satan will find Him to be a worthless counselor!

We can see an example here of how foolish it will be for anyone to enter a conflict with the Lord!

Rom_1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

The Lord put a stop to Sennacherib.
The Lord has put a stop to many wicked rulers.
The Lord will put a stop to Satan! Satan is not God’s equal, he is only a tool in the hands of God!

*****Nah 1:12 Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.

Corrupt rulers most often bring ruin to their own nations.

In Hebrew, that word “quiet” means complete. No doubt the military of Assyria was well trained and battle hardened and they were complete in their ability for warfare. They were organized. They were disciplined. They had the proper equipment. That had many, they were an overwhelming force for any nation to overcome.

The Lord says even though this military was all these things, they would be cut down, they would be destroyed.

The Lord warns all those who rebel against Him, including all so-called powerful nations, they will cut down and destroyed when the Lord returns.

When that “one” Angel passed through the Assyrian army 185,000 were cut down.

Though the Lord had allowed these Jews to be afflicted by these Assyrians, He would not allow it to continue anymore!

*****Nah 1:13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

We should know that the affliction on God’s people was due to God’s discipline for rebellion!

God used this wicked king and his nation Assyria, to be the agent of this discipline.

We see this repeatedly in the Old Testament, and we can be sure God does the same today, not only to Israel but to other nations as well! “Wake up America”

Judah had paid tribute to Assyria from the time of King Ahab and sent presents to the king since the time of Kind Ahaz and were in bondage by the Assyrian army, the most powerful military of that day.

God is saying that He would remove this yoke of Assyria from Israel forever and we know that Assyria no longer exist as a nation!

In “typology” this should remind us that the Lord Jesus Christ has set each believer free from the bondage of Satan forever and after God is through using Satan for His agent of discipline, Satan will be put away, so we can consider that he will no longer exist. “This time gets closer with every passing day”!

Those Ninevite, by seeking to destroy Israel, would only cause their own destruction.

Again in “typology” we can see this happening in our world today, as the wicked followers of Satan try to destroy Christianity and Israel, they are only hastening their own destruction!

We must understand that the discipline of the Lord is used to cause rebellion to cease from His people. When we seek the Lord, we are very aware that we must put away all sin in our lives or the Lord will not hear our prayer.

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

God will use whatever agent it takes to correct us and in most cases, it will be sinful people, but it can also be disease, or finances or sadly He may take away someone we love.

We can see that it is our own sin that can destroy our families and others we love!

God only disciplines us because He loves us!

Pro 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

In our discipline, God is fulfilling a promise He has made to us.

The Lord has promised to deliver us from the things that bring us into bondage in this life!

These include alcohol, drugs, foul language, even gluttony, and we must include all manner of sexual sin. Not only fornication and adultery, but also homosexuality. Sin is sin and God must deal with all sin that becomes a yoke of bondage in our life!

Through Jesus Christ the power of sin can be conquered along with the power of death!

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

“wake up world”

What did God promise Israel?

*****Nah 1:14 And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
Nah 1:15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

God first addresses the Assyrians:

1) The Assyrian people would become extinct and we know that this has happened.

In “typology” we must understand that one day God will remove all unbelievers from this world.

2) In the middle of his house of worship, even among all the false gods of Sennacherib, God would take his life.

We know that two of the sons of Sennacherib murdered him as he worshipped in the place of his idols.

We see that sin destroys families!

3) We see that Sennacherib was certainly a type of the Antichrist because God said he was vile.

God said this man was useless, “he was weighed in the balances and found wanting”.

Dan 5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

The truth is, all those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will face the “judgment” of God and because they are “vile” their names will be removed from ever existing, their names will not appear in the Lamb’s Book of life!

God guarantees the destruction of all evil in this world and none will be allowed in the New World to come!

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

God then turns His attention to Judah.

The purpose of God’s vengeance is to bring freedom and freedom of worship to His children!

God gives us the picture of a messenger racing over the hills to bring the good news that the enemy has been destroyed.

Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

It is time for Judah to get back to the worship of their Savior. To perform the vows, they had made to the Lord. They could enjoy the peace that the Lord had provided. They had been delivered once again!

God promises each of us peace and He will deliver!
That peace of God can come only through Jesus Christ!
When we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Deliverer and our Savior we are to become faithful and consistent worshippers!
When we make a vow to the Lord, God expects us to keep it!

After we all we should all have the same understanding and the same goal!

Psa 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psa 27:2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Psa 27:3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Psa 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Kingdom of the Messiah

April 2, 2017 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Kingdom of the Coming Messiah

Book of Isaiah Chapter 11

We have seen Isaiah prophesy of the sign of the Messiah, the Virgin Birth of our Savior.

We next have seen Isaiah prophesy of the Deliverance brought forth by the Messiah.

We next see Isaiah prophesy of the Kingdom of the Messiah.

Notice it is easy to forget about the First Coming of the Messiah and go straight to the Second Coming of the Messiah and this was a great problem for the Jews after the birth of Jesus Christ. They were looking forward to the Kingdom and could not see the Savior who stood before them.

Moses had written of the First Coming of the Messiah:

Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

The Jews had rejected the Messiah and His message, because they demanded the work first, of what Isaiah had written in these Scriptures.

Isaiah not only dealt with the “reigning” Messiah but he also dealt with the “suffering” Messiah but it was the “suffering” Messiah who was rejected by the Jews but accepted by the Church!

There was only one way for the Jews to enjoy the kingdom blessings:

Jer 30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Jer 30:4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
Jer 30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Jer 30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

The Jews had missed the prophecy of the “time of Jacob’s Trouble”! Still in the future.

They had also missed the prophecy of the New Covenant of the Lord. Which is also still in their future.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

They had certainly missed the truth of the Messiah’s First Coming.

Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, “which is shed for many for the remission of sins”.
Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

What did Isaiah prophesy?

*****Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Who was Jesse?

Rth 4:18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
Rth 4:19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
Rth 4:20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
Rth 4:21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
Rth 4:22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Jesse was the grandson of Ruth the “Gentile Bride” of Boaz and the father of David the second King of Israel!

1Sa 17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

All of these were already dead and buried at the time of Isaiah and at this time Hezekiah had already been born(about ten years old) and Hezekiah would rule after his father, evil King Ahaz.

The term “Branch” is a symbol for a king descended from royal ancestors but here it is also written of the Messiah.

Jeremiah says he would be a righteous “Branch”:

Zechariah says this righteous branch would build a Temple:

Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

We know the Lord has yet to build a physical Temple on this earth but every believer becomes a spiritual “living temple” of the Lord upon accepting the Lord Jesus as our Savior.

Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Notice the Messiah would come from the roots of Jesse, because even the stump of David and all the kings of this line would be cut off by foreign powers as the legitimate rulers of Israel.

The Lord Jesus was adopted by Joseph, of the line of David but it was Rome who ruled the world at the first coming of the Messiah because the Messiah first came as the Redeemer!

Here again we see the Holy Trinity involved in the coming of the Messiah.

Notice also that the word translated “Branch” is in Hebrew “nester” or “netzer” or we would say (Natsoreth=Nazareth). This Messiah would be a Nazarene!

Mat 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

The Jews also missed this important point!

Joh 7:52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

The scholars of that time should have known all these things!

No one can get all the Scriptures right all the time but God does say for us all to search the Scriptures.

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

The Word of God must be important enough to us, to spend some time in it!

*****Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isa 11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

How could Israel know the Messiah?

1) The Messiah would be filled with fullness of God’s Holy Spirit!

Remember the Messiah first came to destroy the power of Satan, and He began His ministry repeating this Scripture from the Prophet Isaiah.

Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

How could the Messiah do all these things?

2) The Holy Spirit would supply “God’s wisdom” to God’s Messiah, God’s Son. The Holy Trinity would be involved in everything that the Messiah was sent to accomplish.

The Messiah would need the complete understanding of God’s salvation plan and who better than God Himself?
The Messiah would need the complete understanding of the mind of mankind and who better than the Creator?

The Messiah had the answers to false religion because He is the answer!
The Messiah had the answers for difficulties and doubts in His disciples.
The Messiah had the answers for the Church of the New Covenant.
The Messiah knew the value of the soul to God and how to win those souls to the Lord!

When we have a question we can be sure that the Messiah has the answer and that answer is Jesus the Christ, the Messiah!

3) The Holy Spirit would supply “God’s understanding” to God’s Messiah!

The Messiah would be quick to understand the fear of the Lord!

The Messiah could discern between “glory” and “dishonor”.
The Messiah could discern between “truth” and “disobedience”.
The Messiah was well aware of “sin” and what pleased His Father.
The Messiah was well advised on pride and corruption and hypocrisy.
The Messiah understood all the work of Satan and his lies and his deceit and his twisting of the Scriptures.

AND, Satan knew that he had met his Master! ”

Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

3) The Holy Spirit would supply all the counsel that was needed by the Messiah.

Isaiah said He would be the “Wonderful Counsellor”.

The Messiah would give the wisest counsel in the kindest manner and His advice would suit every case.
The Messiah would counsel the sinner.
The Messiah would counsel the Church.
The Messiah would counsel the Christian warrior on how to preserve the “faith”.

4) Though a “Lamb” in meekness, the Messiah is still the “Lion” of the tribe of Judah.
The Messiah would never tremble or fear at the task that He had.
The Messiah had all the Spirit of the Almighty God and all the understanding of God’s might!

5) In the Messiah dwells “all” knowledge!
The knowledge of Jehovah, the knowledge of His heavenly Father.
The knowledge of the complete “Will of God”.
The knowledge of righteousness.
The knowledge of blessedness.
The knowledge “Mercy and Grace”!

6) In the Messiah was the “fear of the Lord” which is the beginning of all “wisdom”!

Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Pro 9:11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Psa 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Some say these are the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit and they are certainly great gifts but the Holy Spirit is also much more than these things in the truth the Messiah, The Lord Jesus Christ was indwelled by all the Godhead, the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit!

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

The Lord will never “Judge” after the sight of His eyes because He can only “Judge” with all the knowledge of God!
The Lord will never “reprove”(blame) us of our sin by what someone else says about us, “but only by His own righteousness”!

*****Isa 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

What will it be like to live under the government of the Lord Jesus Christ?

1) The Kingdom of Christ will be a righteous kingdom!

All things will be done right.
All things will be done morally.
All things will be done legally and according to the Word of God we already have in our possession!

Jesus is perfect, so there will be perfect justice and a perfect government!

To the Jews, a king provided leadership in war and the administration of justice in times of peace.
We already know that in Christ’s Kingdom there will be no more war so His leadership will be at the forefront!

2) We should notice that there will be no more abuse of the meek and the poor of this world.

3) We see that any and all transgression will be met with a rod of iron and any who do wickedness will be destroyed.

“Righteousness” and “faithfulness” will be the strength of the Messiah’s government!

Isa 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

Isa 25:1 O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

How is the Messiah’s Kingdom described? Like the reign of a small child in the midst of animals, who would rather devour one another than be at peace with one another, but a child who has the power of God combined with the innocence of a small child.

What does a personal relationship with the Lord accomplish, it causes us to change!

*****Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

Not only will the wild creatures become tame but all animals will agree with each other and will agree with all living things including humans.

And all living creatures will become vegetarian as at the beginning!

Isa 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Eze 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Hos 2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

It should be clear that the human race is much like the wild animals but by God’s “Grace” all humans will also become tame, mild, meek, and humble just as the animals will become!

The ravenous wolves will have worried God’s sheep for the last time!

Jesus had said:

Luk 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

This will all be over! Why?

*****Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

It is amazing that when God changes the way we think, it also changes our entire outlook on life!

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

You see all God’s creation is yearning for all the humans to return to God in a close personal relationship as it was in the days before the sin of Adam where they would walk together in the cool of the day!

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

In the time of Noah, this entire earth was covered with water and it was a time of great death and life remained only in 8 humans and most sea creatures.

2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

This time, after the destruction by fire, then will this earth be covered by the knowledge of the Lord and life will replace death!

First the Lord will return a Second Time!

Second the government of the Lord will be put in place again!

Third the entire planet will become God’s garden again!

Fourth the hostility of the animal kingdom and mankind will be replaced with peace!

Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
Job 5:24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

After the “rapture” of the church, which will return with the Lord, After the 7 year Tribulation period, There will be those who are alive and can reproduce and much will required.

Psa 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Psa 22:28 For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations.
Psa 22:29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
Psa 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
Psa 22:31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Now it is impossible for me to have all these things right but we should know that when the ungodly world can only see the devastation of our world, God has much bigger plans!

And for those who reject a First Coming and then a Second Coming of the Lord, then they need to read the Book of Isaiah along with all the Scriptures and just believe!

*****Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Notice we have seen the Messiah as the “Rod” that will come forth out of the stem of Jesse.
We have seen the Messiah as the “Branch” that will grow from the roots of Jesse.
Here in this Scripture we see that the Messiah is the “Root” of Jesse.

Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

It is in this office that the Messiah “Shall Stand For An Ensign Of The People”

All people that remain on this earth, will see the Messiah for who He truly is.

Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

This time there will be no cross! There will be the “Majesty of God”!

All those who can even say the word “Religion” will see that “Christianity” being “Christ-Like”, has always been the only truth and the Messiah will be chosen even over all the governments of this world!

Mal 3:12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

The Messiah will be the only “Authority” in this world! His resting place will be in His Glory!

Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

The Lord had rescued the Jews from the hand of Pharaoh to form the nation of Israel but it took “faith”.

The Lord had rescued us all from the hands of Satan, the “First Time” He came as a babe born in Bethlehem, but it took “faith” and He was rejected by Israel.

The Lord, the Messiah, has set His hand this “Second Time” to recover the “Remnant” that remain of the Jews and this time they have “faith” in the truth of Jehovah!

No nation upon this earth has had a history as the history of Israel and one more time, still in our future, they will be restored to serve the Lord as promised to Abraham, and as promised to David!

*****Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

It is a fool, who cannot see that the Jews are visibly separated from all other nations! This is prophecy that is being fulfilled.
It is also the fool, who cannot see that God’s wrath is becoming less and less severe on this people who God has always loved, the nation He formed with His own hands when He pulled Abraham out of Ur and chose Jacob over Esau.

Since they were scattered all over this world they have never claimed any one place to be their home! They have always remained a working people and when in 1948 they were again given back their homeland, “they have been able to purchase again the land that was taken from them”.

It is the nations of this world that try their best to hinder the re-establishment of the Jews in Palestine, when it is really in their best interest to promote the home going of the Jew!

We live in a foolish world!

God has always fought for these people and when you choose to fight against them, you have chosen to lose, because God cannot be defeated by any people, any government nor any military!

God will assemble the outcast of His people, He has already started, it is evident!
God is beginning to gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of this earth, and it is obvious!

Psa 147:2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Psa 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

God is going to do exactly what He said He would do!

We must be more like James and less like the world.

Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, “greeting”.

We need to welcome the progress of the true Jew and help them in any way we can!

When the Jews recognize the true Messiah, they will all want to go home!

As the Church, as we see these things develop, we should realize it will not be long before we too will be going home, it’s called having the faith of Abraham.

Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

God will then remove all obstacles that caused the divided kingdom!

*****Isa 11:13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

It is obvious that it was “envy” and “vexation” that had separated these people. (vex)

The truth of envy is that it will most always lead to strife, division, hatred, and even murder!

Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

To “vex” someone is to cause them to be angry, to provoke, to torment, and to afflict.

It is obvious that two such people, no matter who they are, would never be able to get along.

It is the Messiah who will cause these things to change:

Hos 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

The day of Jezreel is the day that God gathered the children of Israel again into one people.

Jer 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Jer 32:42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

Amo 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

God will keep every promise He has ever made.
Sadly He will keep the promises He has made to unbelievers.
God will keep every promise He has made to the Church.
God will keep every promise He has ever made to Israel and the Jew!

*****Isa 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Isa 11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
Isa 11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

It should be clear that a united Israel with all the power of God will defeat all her enemies!

The Philistines were and still are the perpetual enemies of the Jews.
We know them now as the Palestinians. The Philistines are called Pulsata or Pulista on the old Egyptian monuments, or Palestinians.

Israel will swoop down like a mighty bird of prey and expel these trouble making foreigners from Israel. This is what the Bible says.
Israel will spoil the efforts of the east altogether. These are all the Arab countries in the eastern desert.
Israel will take control of all that is called the West Bank today and Jordan (Ammon=Jordan) shall obey them.

The world may hate these things now, but that does not mean the world can stop these things from happening and the world does not have to agree for these things to be the truth!

In fact the world needs to stay out of this conflict!

As we have already said, God will remove every obstacle that hinders the return of His people.

The tongue of the Egyptian Sea (The Red Sea) is the Gulf of Suez.

Psa 136:13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:

God will make a highway for His people to return to the Promised Land!

AND, This highway will have a name:

Isa 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called “The way of holiness”; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Isa 35:9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
Isa 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The bottom line is no fools will be allowed to walk on God’s highway, the unclean shall not pass over it!

It is a foolish world that ignores the Word of God!

We should notice that nothing mentioned in this entire chapter occurred at First Coming of Christ!

Israel was dispersed after Christ died on Calvary’s cross!

Jesus Christ the Messiah was rejected by His people!

This new earthly kingdom will be set up when Christ Jesus returns for the Second time in all His glory!

This will be a great day for all those who believe the Word of God!

Isa 12:1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
Isa 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Isa 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Isa 12:4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
Isa 12:5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
Isa 12:6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Amen!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Jesus Christ The Fulfillment Of Bible Prophecy

July 3, 2016 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Certainty Of Christ’s Fulfillment Of Prophecy

Book of Luke 18-19

Focus Luke 19:28-44

Prophecy simply means the foretelling of future events.

It can be said that prophecy is the writing of history before it happens.

The truth is only God can write true prophecy:

Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

We are to accept the prophecies in the Scriptures as they came from God, because they did:

There are some others who make predictions of future events and it is true that some of those things may even come about but all, every last one of the prophecies of God will be fulfilled just as they are written.

A true prophet will never be wrong!

The greatest event of prophecy in the Old Testament was fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah and the use of prophecy to tell of His coming by preparing the world for this event.

Today we find Jesus returning to Jerusalem for the last time.

You can search the Scriptures but on this day as Jesus began His last week of His life we find Jesus riding a donkey rather than walking.

This is the day known as Palm Sunday.

We can be sure that in this act of the Lord, He was claiming to be King but not the type of King that the Jews expected.

On this day the Lord Jesus Christ was claiming to be the King of Peace, the King whose Kingdom is not of this Earth.

*****Luk 19:28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

Jesus had come to this earth to die on a cross and it was now time to do so.

In all the Bible we will see that God is not so much concerned with time as He is with the timing of events.

One day to the Lord is as a 1000 days to us.

It was now the fullness of times and the Lord Jesus took the lead of this multitude to make sure they moved at His pace.

Jesus was on a mission to suffer and to die, not for Himself but because of us, all mankind.

This was also was a fulfillment of prophecy:

Isa 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

It was the will of His Father that Jesus do all these things and He was not about to fail.

Psa 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psa 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Psa 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Psa 40:13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.

There was also another thing that must take place.

Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

*****Luk 19:29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
Luk 19:30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
Luk 19:31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.

We must clearly understand that prophecy will be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ in every minute detail!

Those that have already taken place are examples of those that have not yet taken place!

Even this ride into Jerusalem had a specific meaning!

The instructions Jesus gave to His disciples had to be followed precisely.

Notice there are no small task when proclaiming Christ as King!

The disciples knew what Jesus was doing even though they could not understand what His death had to do with anything.

Bethphage or (House of figs) was a suburb of Jerusalem even at that time.

In this city was home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, friends who shared their home with Jesus when He was in town.

Jesus had no home of His own at this time because except for His mother Mary, none of the family of Jesus believed on Him at this time.

In those days the donkey and the mule were noble animals.

A donkey was the animal that would carry the burdens of men but this animal was also used by kings and their emissaries when they were entering a city in peace.

King David had a great warhorse but his prize animal was the King’s mule which even Solomon rode as he was crowned King.

A conquering King would ride into any city on a war horse.

The Lord Jesus Christ when He returns for a second time will ride in on a powerful white stallion.

Jesus was about to show the people of Jerusalem that He was certainly the promised King, the Messiah.

Jesus was also about to show those same people He was not coming as they expected Him to come.

Even the government of Rome should have understood these things which I believe Pilate did.

**That young colt was a sure sign of peace!
**That young colt also symbolized service, as service to mankind and to carry man’s burdens. Jesus came to carry the burdens of sin for all mankind.
**That young colt also symbolized sacredness. This colt had never been ridden before. Animals used for religious purposes must not have ever been used for any other purpose or they were not acceptable in the ministry.

Deu 21:3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

Everything Jesus did that day and that last week, had a specific purpose!

AND, The two disciples that went after the colt found things were just as Jesus had said.

*****Luk 19:32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.
Luk 19:33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
Luk 19:34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.

Here we have a prime example of the providence of God.

The Lord had a need for this colt that far surpassed what the owner of that colt had.

We may not understand why God seems to take some on home to Heaven in their prime but that answer is we must not question God but realize that God had a specific need for them far beyond our own needs of them to be here with us.

It is only the Lord that we worship as God, that has these powers!

We should clearly understand that if God is so careful to fulfill even the smallest detail in prophecy then just how wonderful will be that home that He has gone to prepare for us, down to the most minute detail for our home-going.

And If God is so careful to count the hairs on our head would He ever miss a bruise or a cut or a laceration, or a heart problem or a cancer?

If God is so minded of the birds in the air would God ever be careless with the lives of those He has redeemed by the blood of His own Son?

There is a purpose for all those names that are written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life and the Lord has a need for each and everyone of them!

*****Luk 19:35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
Luk 19:36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
Luk 19:37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
Luk 19:38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

Christ’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem is one of the most noted scenes in the “Gospel”.

In typology, it is but fore-gleam of that soon coming day when Jesus will be enthroned to sit as King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s, that will also take place in Jerusalem.

**We first see enthusiasm to serve Christ. We are only at our best when we are enthusiastic.

What the Church lacks today is that enthusiasm to serve the Lord!

Christians should be excited about serving the Lord!

These people praised God. In our day we would say, they rolled out the red carpet as they cast their cloaks down to to cushion the Lord’s pathway.

They had just witnessed many miracles including the blind man Bartemaus and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Excitement was in the air, for they knew that Jesus had the power to do anything He chose to do.

What were Jesus’ credentials? He had come in the name of the Lord.

What are the blessings that will come with our King Jesus? “Peace” in Heaven and “Glory” in the Highest.

Jesus had come to bring the Kingdom of God to this earth but not in the way that these people had expected.

**They thought that Jesus had come to free all nations from Roman domination.

This thing is still in our future!

Jesus had first come to free all nations from the bondage of sin.

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil”;

1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil”.

**They thought that Jesus had come to set His throne in Jerusalem from which a reign of righteousness would be executed.

But Jesus had first come to rule and reign in our hearts and restore our broken relationship with God.

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

**They thought that Jesus had come to establish Israel as the leading nation of this earth as He removed the domination of Rome.

Mar 11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
Mar 11:10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

Hosanna means to “save now”.

Psa 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psa 118:25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

They had failed to see that Jesus was riding a donkey colt which meant He was coming in peace.

Luk 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
Luk 1:79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

They failed to see that Jesus was riding an animal of burdens, coming as the Savior and Redeemer who would carry the burdens of all mankind.

Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

They failed to see that Jesus was riding a young colt that had never been ridden which symbolized sacredness, as Jesus came to save souls and not bodies.

Eph 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

This was the hour to “save” there will be another hour for “wrath”.

Joh 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

They failed to see the Jesus was riding an animal that symbolized meekness as Jesus is King of meekness.

Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

They had not taken a good look at Jesus because they could only think of their own personal problems, in which they could only see Jesus as the means to allow them to live as they wanted to, which has never been what God has commanded.

God did not save any of us so we could do what we wanted to do!

But there are always those who see the enthusiasm of Christians to serve the Lord as a threat to their own world view.

*****Luk 19:39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
Luk 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

The majority of those that followed Jesus that day could only see the end of the rule of Rome and a new world ruled by the Messiah.

They wanted Jesus to rule as King of Israel and put a stop to the tyranny of Rome and we should not be confused, Rome ruled as tyrants.

The truth is, that the religious rulers of Israel such as the Pharisees were rewarded by Rome if they could maintain the control of the people.

They had already given their word that they would hunt Jesus down and arrest Him but that would be impossible with such a great multitude surrounding Him at this time.

And,We should be very clear God will never rebuke any one that is offering Him true praise.

The Bible says “clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph”

The Bible says that “everything that has breath should praise the Lord”.

In other words if you cannot praise the Lord then die because you are breathing God’s air.

God will never go against His own Word and the praise of God should never be a solemn event.

After all, if the people will not praise the Lord, then God would get the rocks and the stones to call out His name.

To all those that say Jesus was not courageous and was not a pure Preacher of the Word of God, they certainly do not read the Word of God.

Jesus stepped on more toes than any preacher I know!

Jesus only humbled to the religious leaders when it came time for the cross and He had no fear even at that time.

Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Jesus had to be willing to lay down His life, to fulfill the will of His Father in Heaven or our sin debt could never have been paid.

No man on this earth could have taken the life of Jesus if He so wished not to give it!

Jesus explained to these Pharisees that it was not they that were in control of this situation and that it was He who ruled His own creation.

The Word of God does tell us that nature did cry out loudly when Jesus said “it is finished”.

Mat 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Jesus came to seek and to save, and that mission is still ongoing today through the true Church but that also will soon end and the day of salvation will be over with the Church Age ending.

It was all these things that caused the Lord Jesus to weep as the city of Jerusalem came into His sight.

*****Luk 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Luk 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Who is the greatest Prophet in this world, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Who is also the Lord of Compassion, it is the Lord Jesus Christ!

It should be very clear, Jesus has a great love for all people but He also has a great love for the city of Jerusalem and it is a foolish world that does not acknowledge that fact!

Jesus prophesied the doom of that people in that day because they had rejected Him.

Jesus’ answer to all that refuse to believe was on full display May 14, 1948 when Israel once again became a nation and in the 6 day war when Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jews.

Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem that day.

This weeping was in full view of all those that were with Him that day.

To weep means He burst into tears, He wept out loud, He sobbed, He wailed, and He mourned.

The Lord Jesus Christ was truly heart broken for what would soon happen to Jerusalem.

Jesus could obviously see the city as it existed that day but Jesus could also see the coming destruction and this is what caused Him to weep so much knowing He could stop it but He could not break His own Word.

On that day the city of Jerusalem was the most festive city in all the world, as Jerusalem was prepared for the Passover Feast. But while these people were celebrating the reason they were celebrating, The Lord Jesus that saved them then and could save them now, was on the adjacent hillside weeping and mourning for them all and the city.

On this day, no one in the city of Jerusalem realized, the only thing that would bring everlasting peace to this great city was weeping because they would reject Him.

They had lost their opportunity!

Our president of today had a prime opportunity to bring peace to America and to this world but He has squandered his opportunity for foolish reasons that only he knows the truth of.

It is only the “Gospel Blessings” that are conducive to true peace!

The blessings of “Grace”.
The deliverance from the bondage of sin.
The deliverance from condemnation.
The deliverance from the fears of guilt.
All the blessings of “Glory”!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And then came the terrible prophecy of Jerusalem out of the mouth of God.

Jerusalem by it’s name is to be the city of “Peace”.

Up unto this day we live, the city of Jerusalem has never known true peace.

Peace means free from troubles.

Peace means experiencing things that are good.

Peace means enjoying the very best in life.

Peace is more an internal feeling than an external reality.

There is the “Peace of God” which is a deep peace from within.

It is peace of mind that is more than feelings. More than attitude and more than thought.

Then there is the “peace of the world” which is refusing to face reality!

True peace is always hidden from the eyes of those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ!

There is no peace of assurance to those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ and the world continues to come up with it’s own methods and methods that will always fail.

*****Luk 19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
Luk 19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Jesus Christ Himself prophesied that Jerusalem would not be at peace until He returned again.

The Jerusalem of the time of Jesus would soon be destroyed!

Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar but a greater destruction than that lay ahead.

There would be a trench dug around the entire city. The trench and the dirt that was piled on the side of it would provide safety for the Roman army of Titus.

Jerusalem would feel the full might and power of the Roman army, which was relentless in war.

Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed, completely demolished not one stone was to be left upon another.

The people within the walls of Jerusalem would be personally judged by Rome.

“And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee”.

The city of Jerusalem would be judged but it was the people who were at fault.

America will one day be judged and part of that may be happening now but it is the people who are at fault.

History teaches us that Titus brought his army to Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and this prophecy of Jerusalem was fulfilled.

History teaches us that over 1 million people died within the walls of Jerusalem with another 97,000 taken captive.

Josephus the Jewish historian describes the many horrors that took place.

Josephus wrote that nothing from the beginning of creation even resembled what was done to these Jews.

This is a picture of all the nations that reject the Lord Jesus Christ but nations never learn from history.

Earthly leaders in their quest for power never look back at the past and learn from the things that lead to war.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

We can be sure, God does not make idle threats. God simply warns us that the decisions we make have consequences!

Rejecting the Messiah brings tragic results.

It is true that God has more love than He does wrath but we cannot ignore that just a moment of the wrath of God brings devastation like we have never seen!

Joh 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
Joh 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

God had always visited Jerusalem but they had rejected a very personal visit from the Messiah, God in human flesh.

There was no excuse for what these Jews did and they had understood the Scriptures.

The day of Israel’s salvation had come and they preferred to take their chances with the world and they lost.

Israel will get one more opportunity but God does not make this promise to any other nation that rejects Him.

Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

If we believe all the Scriptures of salvation and the love of God, then we certainly cannot deny that God has a side of wrath that we simply do not want to see!

This truth is just as true as all the Word of God and cannot be denied!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

The Fulfillment of prophecy

Born To Be King

Jesus Recognized as King of the Jews

The Lord Speaks to His Church

God’s Message Is For All Nations

The Fall of Nineveh

The Kingdom of the Messiah

Jesus Christ The Fulfillment Of Bible Prophecy

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