O you who love the LORD, hate evil! – Psalm 97:10
My heart breaks when I see Christians excited about Halloween or when I see a child carrying a Harry Potter book with them in a church. Many Christians feel comfortable with things like Halloween or Harry Potter and the like. I know this is often ignorance. When I see these things, I want to call on God like Elijah did for his servant, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” But we don’t have to have our eyes opened in that way to see the destruction that these things cause. When we look at these things through the lens of the scripture, the evil of these things are evident. Witchcraft, sorcery, familiar spirits are not a mild harmless thing. They are an abomination. God shared his heart with his people, “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord . And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). God calls these things an abomination. I think we must understand that when we participate in these things we are participating in the very things Hell was made for. "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of Hosts.” (Malachi 3:5) "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Revelation 22:8). God’s heart is broken over the destruction of witchcraft and sorcery; He hates it. And when we participate in these things we are participating in the very things God hates.
Some would say that I am binding men’s consciences. No, we are bondservants of Christ and our consciences are bound to love the things He loves and to hate the things He hates. Beloved, Christ has set us free from the evil and sin to which we once gave ourselves as slaves and were in bondage to. We are to no longer be bound by them. Listen to Acts 19:18-20. You can hear bonds crashing to the ground in an uproar of joy, “Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Christ went to the cross to set us free from the bondage of sin. True freedom is coming close enough to Christ to hear His heartbeat, to know the things He loves and the things He hates, and to embrace righteousness. We don’t hate evil because we are legalistic or in bondage, we hate evil because we are in love with Christ and we are enamored by the things he loves. This is freedom. Below are some scriptures that talk about God’s feelings toward witchcraft and sorcery, there are more, but those below should suffice. Read them and get close to the heart of your God.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:19-21
"Do not practice divination or sorcery.” – Leviticus 19:26
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. - - Leviticus 20:6
"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." – Revelation 22:8
Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. –Revelation 22:15
“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord . And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.” –Deuteronomy 18:9-12
Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. -- Acts 19:18-20
“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.” - - Leviticus 19:31
"A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them." - - Leviticus 20:27
You shall not allow a sorceress to live. Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death. -- Exodus 22:18,19
Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:31
For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. I Samuel 15:23
And when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the wizards who whisper and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? Isaiah 8:19
"Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of Hosts. Malachi 3:5
Showing posts with label Revalation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revalation. Show all posts
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
To Him alone be the glory
V. To Him alone be the glory
Day 10:
Revelation 4
"9And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11" Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
This is a beautiful picture. The scripture talks about us being given crowns. Here we see the twenty-four elders casting their crowns before the throne and saying “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” They cast their crowns before the Lord, because only He gets the glory. They understand what 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’” Don’t miss this, they cast their crowns because they know those crowns are the work of Christ and He alone gets the glory for them. But Christ has also given them the crowns and Christ declares them to be kings and priest and this is very real as well. By His grace and by His word, this who they are. Those crowns are not just for show, they are real and they really belong to the twenty-four elders.
When the day comes, and I am before the throne, I will be overwhelmed by how God has lavished His love on me. I will be clothed with the righteousness and honor of Christ. I will fall down before the throne and cry out, “Oh God you have lavished your love on us. How can I deserve all this, What have I done to deserve even the smallest of your favors? There is nothing good that I can bring to you. Oh to you be the glory, and honor, and power!” And He will say, “My beloved, my good and faithful servant, the one in whom I delight. You have been faithful. . . . This is yours.” How great is our God!
Additional readings:
Video - Sweetly Broken
Video – I can only imagine
Zechariah 3:2-4
1 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. 2The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. 4He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him " Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes."
Day 10:
Revelation 4
"9And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11" Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
This is a beautiful picture. The scripture talks about us being given crowns. Here we see the twenty-four elders casting their crowns before the throne and saying “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” They cast their crowns before the Lord, because only He gets the glory. They understand what 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’” Don’t miss this, they cast their crowns because they know those crowns are the work of Christ and He alone gets the glory for them. But Christ has also given them the crowns and Christ declares them to be kings and priest and this is very real as well. By His grace and by His word, this who they are. Those crowns are not just for show, they are real and they really belong to the twenty-four elders.
When the day comes, and I am before the throne, I will be overwhelmed by how God has lavished His love on me. I will be clothed with the righteousness and honor of Christ. I will fall down before the throne and cry out, “Oh God you have lavished your love on us. How can I deserve all this, What have I done to deserve even the smallest of your favors? There is nothing good that I can bring to you. Oh to you be the glory, and honor, and power!” And He will say, “My beloved, my good and faithful servant, the one in whom I delight. You have been faithful. . . . This is yours.” How great is our God!
Additional readings:
Video - Sweetly Broken
Video – I can only imagine
Zechariah 3:2-4
1 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. 2The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. 4He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him " Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes."
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
the trembling
Letter written in 2006
-----I am still learning about this, so I do not know if I can explain this well and I do not have much time to write, so it will be choppy, but I think the Lord will show you more than I can write. I was talking about one aspect of the fear of the Lord and one aspect of what it means to be close and in His presence. You were talking about how you would read the writings of Jonathan Edwards and how his concept on predestination was hard and challenged you. I think there many things about God like that, things that cause us to tremble. The scripture says, “our God is a consuming fire.” And Christ is both the lion and the lamb and both in fullness and truth. He is Holy. And He is loving. I was talking to you about John on Patmos, when he saw Christ. I got the order backwards, but the point is the same.
-----On the isle of Patmos John had an encounter with the beauty of Christ: “ 12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Jesus revealed to John His beauty. And John’s response to the beauty of Christ was to fall at his feet as though dead. He was in the presence of the beauty of Christ and it was more than he could handle, but by grace, Jesus touched him and said, “Fear not”.
-----Isaiah had a similar experience before God: “1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"”
-----In the fullness of the beauty of God, man trembles and becomes undone. But His beauty is good because He is good.
-----Often the beauty of God can be difficult for man because they do not want to experience a God that will cause them to tremble and be undone. In John we see men forsaking Christ, because the things Christ said were too hard.
"25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" 26Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." 28Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" 29Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 30So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."
35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
41So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- 46not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
66After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." 70Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." 71He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. "
-----Paul when dealing with a difficult subject of the beauty of God in Roman’s 9, responds to the questions of men who did not like what they heard, because it shook them. They found the beauty of the Lord to difficult. Paul responds to these men by saying, “Who are you O man, who answers back to God?” He does not explain or defend God, God is who he is, and who are we, O man, to question His goodness and beauty even if it makes us tremble at the very essence of who we are? Later in Ephesians when Paul is dealing with the same difficult subject as in Romans, states that the purpose of God in this was “according to the kind intention of His will”. It was because of His goodness. And it stirs up praise within Paul that pours out in his letter and the letter becomes doxology. What man finds difficult, God does because He is kind and good and beautiful.
Here is another verse: “1Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD.But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” It is good and sweet to tremble before the Lord.
-----There is a church here and as a part of their statements of belief they state this:
"God's Word is like a lion: powerful, living and active. We believe the lion is 'caged' when it is used improperly as a pragmatic guidebook, platform for politics, for perpetual therapy, or for phony experience. The Church is responsible to uncage this lion and watch it run and triumph. And it will triumph, for it is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice."
-----I would be negligent if I left you with just trembling before the Lord, for it is not all that happens in His presence, for we are not the only one that responds. What is good is the response of Christ, But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Jesus cries out to us, “Fear not, I am” “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” By His grace alone, we stand. And, Oh!, how that grace is lavished on us by His kind intention. And by this, His love, we run into His presence as a child runs to a Father.
“14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
“28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."”
-----I am still learning about this, so I do not know if I can explain this well and I do not have much time to write, so it will be choppy, but I think the Lord will show you more than I can write. I was talking about one aspect of the fear of the Lord and one aspect of what it means to be close and in His presence. You were talking about how you would read the writings of Jonathan Edwards and how his concept on predestination was hard and challenged you. I think there many things about God like that, things that cause us to tremble. The scripture says, “our God is a consuming fire.” And Christ is both the lion and the lamb and both in fullness and truth. He is Holy. And He is loving. I was talking to you about John on Patmos, when he saw Christ. I got the order backwards, but the point is the same.
-----On the isle of Patmos John had an encounter with the beauty of Christ: “ 12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Jesus revealed to John His beauty. And John’s response to the beauty of Christ was to fall at his feet as though dead. He was in the presence of the beauty of Christ and it was more than he could handle, but by grace, Jesus touched him and said, “Fear not”.
-----Isaiah had a similar experience before God: “1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"”
-----In the fullness of the beauty of God, man trembles and becomes undone. But His beauty is good because He is good.
-----Often the beauty of God can be difficult for man because they do not want to experience a God that will cause them to tremble and be undone. In John we see men forsaking Christ, because the things Christ said were too hard.
"25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" 26Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." 28Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" 29Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 30So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."
35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
41So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- 46not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
66After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." 70Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." 71He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. "
-----Paul when dealing with a difficult subject of the beauty of God in Roman’s 9, responds to the questions of men who did not like what they heard, because it shook them. They found the beauty of the Lord to difficult. Paul responds to these men by saying, “Who are you O man, who answers back to God?” He does not explain or defend God, God is who he is, and who are we, O man, to question His goodness and beauty even if it makes us tremble at the very essence of who we are? Later in Ephesians when Paul is dealing with the same difficult subject as in Romans, states that the purpose of God in this was “according to the kind intention of His will”. It was because of His goodness. And it stirs up praise within Paul that pours out in his letter and the letter becomes doxology. What man finds difficult, God does because He is kind and good and beautiful.
Here is another verse: “1Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD.But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” It is good and sweet to tremble before the Lord.
-----There is a church here and as a part of their statements of belief they state this:
"God's Word is like a lion: powerful, living and active. We believe the lion is 'caged' when it is used improperly as a pragmatic guidebook, platform for politics, for perpetual therapy, or for phony experience. The Church is responsible to uncage this lion and watch it run and triumph. And it will triumph, for it is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice."
-----I would be negligent if I left you with just trembling before the Lord, for it is not all that happens in His presence, for we are not the only one that responds. What is good is the response of Christ, But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Jesus cries out to us, “Fear not, I am” “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” By His grace alone, we stand. And, Oh!, how that grace is lavished on us by His kind intention. And by this, His love, we run into His presence as a child runs to a Father.
“14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
“28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)