Tag: Jesus Christ

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Bible Teaching

Understanding the Depths of the Name

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 11/6/2022

Text: Exodus 3:13-15

(13)  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

(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.

(15)  And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Matthew 1:18-25

(18)  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

(19)  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

(20)  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

(21)  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

(22)  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

(23)  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

(24)  Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

(25)  And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

“To know” and “to understand” are different from one another.

Many know the name of Jesus,

But they don’t understand the greatness of the Name.

Name refers to the fame, authority, report, honor, character and record of God.

In the Hebrew the Name was known as far back as Moses.

It was not the articulation of the Name,

But what He who had the Name would do.

In this passage, the LORD established His eternal name as a record and a memorial with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Therefore, He was also their God as the children of those patriarchs.

The “I AM THAT I AM” is the progressive revelation of the name.

It simply means that Jehovah,

the Self-Existent One who exists all by Himself,

has no beginning or ending,

and needs no other to validate His existence.

He is to you what you let Him be to you.

So, when you understand that Name you find that the Lord is everything we need:

  • He is our Salvation
    • Genesis 49:18, “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.”
    • Psalm 3:8, “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.”
    • Isaiah 12:2-4, “(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. (3)  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. (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.”
  • He is our Redeemer
    • Isaiah 49:16, “…and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
    • Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
  • He is our Saviour
    • Isaiah 43:11,  “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
    • Isaiah 63:8, “For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.”
    • Luke 1:46-47, “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

This all deals with the work of God to deliver people from sin and harm by paying the price necessary for their deliverance.

This great salvation we have was bought with a price: 1 Peter 1:18-21

(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;

(19)  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

(20)  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

(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.

“…and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

for he shall save his people from their sins.”

“This is my name forever” refers to God’s record and fame, his authority and character,

But when Gabriel spoke to Mary the name he told her to name the child was a proper name.

That name, the name of Jesus, held within it all the fullness of the record, fame, authority, character and honor of the I AM.

Colossians 2:9-10, “(9)  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (10)  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”

You need to get a personal and continuing revelation of Jesus Christ.

His first responsibility was to “save His people from their sins.”

How? Immanuel = God with us.

The only way He can reveal to you the superiority of His name is through you daily experiences.

You will never understand how God works until you get to the place where you allow Him to work.

Then you will begin to understand His Name.

The name of Jesus is a continuous and increasing revelation of His greatness.

You may be struggling with you present circumstance and having a difficult time with the “why” of it.

It may be that this is what God wants for you right now so that He can reveal more of Himself to you.

God love you too much to allow you to stay static, stagnant, and motionless.

Now would be a good time to give Jesus the credit for all the good things in your life.

For example, “Thank you, Jesus, for keeping me free from sin all day long.”

The Lord has different ways that He reveals Himself to us continuously.

A prayer this morning: “Lord, I want a greater revelation about and of You.”

To say as Paul, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings…” (Philippians 3:10).

Salvation has come to this house

Luke 19:1-10

(1)  And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

(2)  And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

(3)  And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

(4)  And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

(5)  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

(6)  And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

(7)  And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

(8)  And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

(9)  And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

(10)  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Notice: Jesus is the salvation coming to Zacchaeus’ house

  • V. 5 – Jesus said, “To day I must abide at thy house.”
  • V. 9 – Jesus says, “This day is salvation come to this house…”

_______

Acts 4:12 – there is no other record, fame, authority whereby you must be saved.

You need a name change.

Your soul has not lived until you get a name change.

This can only take place when you are baptized in the only saving name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Moses changed Oshea’s name to Jehoshua.

Joshua had a job to do and his name was changed to fit his job.

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Bible Preaching

The Forgotten Message of Pentecost

Text: Acts 2:38

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

2 Corinthians 7:10

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

I am interested in the spirit of renewal and expectancy that has entered into the Body of Christ, and I’m thankful for the people who are rising up to say, “I see the Hand of God at work among us and want to be part of this end-time revival.”

To be renewed simply means to retrace our steps to the beginning of our walk with God making new those precious commitments we either let slip from us or that we forgot.

Paul wrote to us to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph 4:23). 

Tonight, I am fighting for your minds in order to re-establish a principle there, which if grasped will lead you to a fruitful life in Christ Jesus.

My subject:

“The Forgotten Commitment”

-OR-

“The Forgotten Message of Pentecost”

The first word that Jesus preached was not about the gifts of the Spirit, or how to receive your miracle, or seven steps to a prosperous life.

The first word of the Gospel preached by our Lord Jesus Christ is found in Mark 1:15 where He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

This is the first commitment our Lord requires of us – REPENT.

Repent = “to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider,”[1] and “to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.”[2]

When we initially came to repent we wept, or at least we should have had some sort of sorrow.  We sorrowed for the pain we had caused ourselves, others, and Jesus because of our sinful nature.

We were through with living lives of recklessness, and selfishness, and we abhorred the ways that we had treated others, and were appalled by the way our lifestyle had effected those around us.

We repented, we knelt, and we grieved.

Snot, sweat, and tears mixed at the altar as we searched our hearts for every sin and wrong deed we’d ever committed.

Then we made promises, and new commitments. We said, “Lord, I’ll never do that again.”

I look at this altar here in this church house.

I’ve come to ask you, “How many knees have bent at these altars to repent? How many tears have been shed in sincere grief and guilt for sin here on this floor? How many people have stood up and felt the overwhelming sense of joy that a clean conscience gives the repentant child of God?

John the Baptist preached loudly a message of repentance.  He said, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

The Apostle Paul gave his testimony to Agrippa and said, “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:  But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:19-20).

Repentance is accompanied by a certain conduct that people all around you can observe.  That is the fruit, that change of action and behavior is the “works meet for repentance” Paul was speaking about.

When you repented you changed. Your friends noticed it, your spouse noticed, your kids, parents, siblings, co-workers, employees, employers, and acquaintances all noticed the new you.

You didn’t talk like you use to talk, or go where you use to go, or do what you use to do.

You were modest in speech and in dress.

And sin, the very presence of it, sickened you to your stomach.

So, I look at these altars and thank God for the many conversions and repentant hearts that have knelt here over the years that this church has been in this city.  They’ve knelt by the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands.

What happened to them, where did they go? Why aren’t they here anymore?

Some have gone to their eternal reward and have become for us a great cloud of witnesses – Heroes of the Faith.

Others have walked away, fallen, died, or turned back to their former lives of sin.

It takes time for a person to walk away from God. Sometimes they become cold and indifferent to His Presence.  So much so that they are even unaware that they’re drifting away from Jesus and turning back to the world of sin and carnality.

How many times did those same knees bend at the same place to repent of the same sin at these very altars?

Repentance is not a one-time thing.  You cannot expect to live your entire life without living a lifestyle of repentance.

When you repented you made commitments.  Every time you are tempted that commitment is tested. Your response to that testing determines how much your commitment to God really means to you.

Some here have repented & sinned, repented & sinned, repented & sinned for so long over the same things that you don’t even think you can be delivered.

You’ve gotten yourself into a cycle of behavior that is difficult to break.

BUT—you can overcome this trap that you’ve fallen into.

You’ve got remember:

  • Repentance is not saying, “I’m sorry.” That’s an apology.
  • Repentance is not feeling bad that you got caught. That’s guilt.
  • Repentance is not feeling sorry for yourself. That’s egotistical; and self-absorbed.
  • Repentance is a grief that comes from God, which helps you to confess your sins, forsake your sins, and then commit to never sinning again. It’s a lifestyle.

Repentance becomes “The Forgotten Commitment” when we fail to keep our word.

Repentance becomes “The Forgotten Message of Pentecost” when we rush people through it just to pad our evangelistic numbers of souls filled with the Holy Ghost. 

It is time we stop leading people through some sort of Spiritless prayer where no conviction resides and allow God Almighty to once again convict the heart and lead people to repentance.

I long to see bent knees and bodies draped across altars racked with the heaving great sighs of tears, grief, and repentance.

You, sitting there thinking, “This message isn’t for me, you’re preaching to the choir.”

There’s an old Indian Proverb that says, “Whatever you are overflowing with will spill out when you’re bumped.”

What bumps produce incorrect responses from you?

Listen to Romans 2:1-11 tonight:

(1)  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.  (2)  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.  (3)  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?  (4)  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  (5)  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;  (6)  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  (7)  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  (8)  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,  (9)  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;  (10)  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  (11)  For there is no respect of persons with God.

Jesus is calling us tonight to renew our commitments of repentance we made at our conversion.

Remember what you told Him as you repented.  You cried out for mercy and He granted it. You made promises and vows that you need to keep…that you must keep.

Some of you have been living a repented life for 20, 30, 40, & 50 years.  I’m reminded of a prayer I read about a couple weeks ago: “Lord, let me not today ruin in anything what you have taken all these years to do in my heart and provide for my life”[3]

The late Apostolic preacher and Bible teacher, Bishop Morris E. Golder once said, “The badge of discipleship is a cross.”

This is a daily thing—this life of repentance.  Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31).

So, how can we make it? There are so many temptations and influences bombarding us from without and within.  How can I keep my commitment of repentance when I’m attacked externally and internally?

Grace is the answer.  Grace has always been the answer for the Body of Christ.

Repentance is a daily commitment one works at to maintain. Grace is the teacher helping us to maintain that commitment:

“(11)  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,  (12)  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;  (13)  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;  (14)  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

ESV, “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death”:

“(8)  For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.  (9)  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.  (10)  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.  (11)  For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2 Corinthians 7:8-11).

[1] Strong’s. G3340.

[2] Thayer’s. G3340.

[3] Billy Graham.

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The Fellowship of the Unashamed

Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? Will you stand for truth, or duck your head because it’s not popular to hold biblical principles and Christ-like convictions?

Recently, Calvin Robinson said that to virtue signal is “to appear good rather than to be good.” We use to call such people “posers.” They look like something they are not.

Charles Spurgeon said it another way, “Let me ask you, how many atheists are now in this house? Perhaps not a single one of you would accept the title, and yet, if you live from Monday morning to Saturday night in the same way as you would live if there were no God, you are practical atheists.”

A Christian is a true believer and follower of Christ and His Word. Anyone claiming to be such while holding, approving, committing and/or following non-Christian and unbiblical practices is not part of the fellowship of the unashamed.

A Christian is one who lives by conviction, not by preference. Because of this a Christian will also die for those convictions. You may not yet be at the point where you would have to lay your physical life down for your Christian convictions and biblical principles, but every time you stay silent, or disappear from the conversation when an increasingly hostile, godless, immoral and unbiblical foe attacks and intimidates you into silent shame you’ve already died a little inside.

You, Christian, require more than virtue signaling and posing. Your true Christian conviction will drive you to repeat the words of the martyred Rwandan Christian, who wrote the night before his death, “I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.”

Remember Paul’s encouragement to the Christians of Ephesus? He simply told them: “take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…”

Stand with The Fellowship of the Unashamed.

Bob Moorehead, who wrote the book Words Aptly Spoken (1995), wrote that the author of the following poem was a man from Rwanda who in 1980 was told by his tribe to either renounce Jesus Christ or he would be killed. He did not renounce His Lord, and he was killed. Bob Moorehead wrote that the night before his execution the Rwandan wrote this poem as a commitment to Jesus Christ and it was found in his room after he was martyred.

I am part of the “Fellowship of the Unashamed.” The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.

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Bible Preaching

The Agenda for the Ages

Apostolic Life Cathedral | The Agenda for the Ages | 3/16/2021

John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

There are competing agendas at work today, which have been at war before your birth, and your response to these plans determine not only your eternal destiny, but also your present and future.

Thieves come in to steal, seize, invade, and rob you away from Jesus Christ. How? By appealing to your heart of flesh, your desires, your lusts (longing for what is forbidden).

Your desire for power, position, material wealth, food, illicit relationships, are all part of a grand scheme, an agenda, formulated by the satan to deceive you and steal you away from God.

This devilish plan was put into action long before you were born:

There are some who have called this generation “The LAST, LOST, LUST Generation,” but I don’t believe that. I see this generation as:

·       The First Generation because God always saves the best for last and He planned for you to be alive in this time.

·       The Found Generation because you won’t stop searching until you have become exactly what Jesus designed the Church to be.

·       The Favored Generation because you to want and desire what is real and true and will pursue it without with all you have in you.

1 Corinthians 4:14-15, “(14)  I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. (15)  For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”

Listen to your pastor, read your Bible, pray every day, and carve out some time every day to praise Jesus.

1 Corinthians 14:10, “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.”

This is speaking specifically about the gift of tongues, and the fact that there are many languages in the world with each conveying definite meaning of thought, but unless verbally expressed it remains silent.

1 John 4:1-6

(1)  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Be careful of those who would pull you away from Jesus. False teachers, false christs, false men and women who influence you without you even knowing the seed of sin they sow into you.

You have no business watching or listening to anyone who displays actions in direct violation to the Word of God.

So, Disney has some good shows, but many are full of dialogue and scenes that disrespect the mother and father. Youtube and Instagram are full of “influencers” (hear that??) who in some way shape or form are working a plan to get you to buy what they are selling, or to desire (lust after) that which cannot satisfy.

And music, there are some good songs out there today, but many are full of words that either celebrate the accumulation of things, encourage violence, openly mock Jesus and His name, or they objectify the opposite and secretly plant in your mind the idea that premarital sex is ok with anyone of any sexual orientation.

2 Peter 2:1-2

(1)  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

(2)  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Anyone who tells you that repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, or receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues is not necessary is a false prophet secretly working an agenda placing seeds of doubt and destruction.

If the enemy can get you to doubt the very foundation of salvation he can invade territory that is not his and steal you away from Jesus.

(2)  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

(3)  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

(4)  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

(5)  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

(6)  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

We have an image in our mind of how things ought to be; the devil has a scheme of how he wants things to be (steal, kill, destroy); but, Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, has an agenda for your life that will last throughout all age and time and eternity.

Jesus has planned for you “life and that more abundantly” – the fullness of all that life has to offer.

He has added – superadded – blessings available for you, that the thief wants to snatch from you.

It would have been enough to have been born again – that is life; but He also gives us much more: Love, Joy, Peace, Grace, Adoption, Salvation, Eternal Life…

We need to lay our image of how we think things ought to be and tell Jesus, “I want the abundant life you have for me.”

Someone recently said to me, “I never want to control God, until I do.”

Most of your fear and anxiety (those butterflies or the stomachache you sometimes get) result from trying to forcefully control and shape your life into the way you think it should be, but if you’d allow Jesus to work His Agenda in your life you could have all the abundance this life has for you.

With Jesus, even when my day is rough, I have abundant life.

With Jesus, even if I’m picked on at school, I have abundant life.

With Jesus, even when my future seems uncertain – abundant life.

With Jesus, family troubles won’t stop His abundant life.

The Agenda for the Ages is Jesus’ plan for you that He outlined from the very foundation of the world to give you a more abundant life.

“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

–John the Baptist

Do you feel as if you’re the last one on God’s list tonight? He chose you of all the people who have ever lived to be alive at this crucial moment in time and is entrusting you with His message of Abundant Life – The Gospel

Do you feel lost tonight? Seek and call out to Jesus tonight and there’s no doubt you’ll find Him because He’s never far from you.

Do you have trouble with lust tonight? Give it to Jesus. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

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Siloam, Bethesda, Baptism and the Endtime

There is a possibility that the Pool of Siloam, and possibly the Bethesda Pool, were locations where 3,000 converts were baptized in Acts 2 following Peter’s answer to this question on that day of Pentecost:

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭37‬-‭39‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

Are the stones crying out? Are they revealing truth in a manner unthought of before in these days of the endtime?

“For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it” (‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

“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” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭58‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

If true, then the recent decision to finally excavate the Pool of Siloam may have far greater eschatological importance than what we may currently understand – https://m.jpost.com/archaeology/article-725901

Northern perimeter of the Pool of Siloam.
(photo credit: KOBI HARATI/CITY OF DAVID)

“And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke‬ ‭19‬:‭40‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

Consider also this article regarding the Pool of Bethesda – https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/the-bethesda-pool-site-of-one-of-jesus-miracles/

The Bethesda Pool, where Jesus heals the paralytic man in the Gospel of John, is a complex site. It appears to have been a mikveh, or ritual bath. As the spot of one of Jesus’ miracles, the Bethesda Pool was built over in subsequent periods with chapels and churches that are still visible today.

What if God, in these last days, is pulling out all the stops and allowing all disciplines of study to reveal the truth of His greatness and the necessity of obedience to the Gospel just prior to His return for the Church?

“Truth shall spring out of the earth; And righteousness shall look down from heaven” (Psalm‬ ‭85‬:‭11‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

If “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse,” (Romans 1:20) then what excuse is even possible when the visible is right before our eyes?

We are beneficiaries of God’s rebuilding project: “And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:15-18).

“…from the beginning…”

Jesus Christ has broken down walls of division between Jews and Gentiles to make of them one people, the Church, and reconciled us to Him making us recipients of His promises and members of the household of God with a foundation built upon the apostles, the prophets and the Chief Corner Stone – Jesus Christ, the Rock on whom the church is built (Matthew 16:18).

Ephesians 2:11-22, “(11) Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;  (12)  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:  (13)  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.  (14)  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;  (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;  (16)  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:  (17)  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.  (18)  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.  (19)  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;  (20)  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;  (21)  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:  (22)  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

SOURCE:
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-768cda173a5d349231610b674fc344d8-lq

The Pool of Siloam is thought to be less than a mile from the Temple, The Bethesda Pool is a little less than 2 miles from the Temple, and many think that the upper room mentioned in Acts 2 was in the outer court of said Temple. If true, can you see the 3,000 walking to those pools? They are rejoicing, dancing and speaking in unknown tongues “the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:1-11).

It is exciting to think that the excavation of these two places is happening in our day, and also that the Lord may be using these ruins to call people to Himself saying, “Surely I come quickly” (Revelation 22:20).

Source:

The painting of the blind man washes his eyes in the pool at Siloam is by Harold Copping

The picture of the ruins of the Pool of Bethesda: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/the-bethesda-pool-site-of-one-of-jesus-miracles/

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Knight of Bethlehem – William Barclay

“There was a Knight of Bethlehem,

Whose wealth was tears and sorrows,

His men-at-arms were little lambs,

His trumpeters were sparrows.

His castle was a wooden Cross

On which he hung so high;

His helmet was a crown of thorns,

Whose crest did touch the sky.”

    -William Barclay

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Slow This Buggy Down

If memory serves, I was eighteen, my sister was sixteen, my brother was fourteen, and my mother was thirty-eight. We were in Indianapolis for a weekend getaway while my father was working somewhere.

So, we four headed to Indy for some fun. It was a great weekend and filled with all the highs and lows that being with your siblings often exposes.

For example, my brother couldn’t swim, and I…unwisely…tried to help him get his head out of the water by swimming below him, grabbing his feet, and pushing him upward. Now, in my mind he was going to automatically stiffen his legs and would then get the air he needed, but in his mind I was trying to drown him.  In fact, to this day, he still believes I was out to kill him, and I’ve given up trying to convince him otherwise. The upshot – he learned to swim.

It was also on this trip that my mother let me drive around I-465 as we traveled to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus being held in old Market Square Arena. We were in my dad’s 1986 white Ford F-150 and I guess I thought that since I was in Indianapolis traveling a circular course (I-465) that this meant I could also drive like I was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So, I did.

To this day, I smile and sometimes even laugh out loud when I remember hearing my mother yell out, “Slow this buggy down!” It was funny then, and it’s funny now, but there’s a lesson to be had here.

It’s during the Christmas season when people become so busy that they forget to slow down and think about what it’s really all about, and we all just need to slow our collective buggies down and ponder, remember, reminisce, and give thanks for the Wonderful child who is the good news of this season.

Martin Luther referred to this kind of deliberate reflecting centuries ago when he wrote about the Christmas Gospel:

The Christmas Gospel is so clear that there is little need of learned interpretation. It is only necessary to ponder it well, to contemplate it, and to take it completely into your heart. None will derive more benefit from it than they whose hearts hold still and who divest themselves of material considerations and concentrate diligently on it. This lesson is just like [the reflection of] the sun: in a quiet and still pond it can be seen clearly and warms the water powerfully, but in a rushing current it cannot be seen as well nor can it warm up the water as much. So if you wish to be illumined and warmed here, to see God’s mercy and wondrous deeds, so that your heart is filled with fire and light and becomes reverent and joyous, then go to where you may be still and impress the picture deep into your heart. You will find no end of wondrous deeds.

It’s during this time of year when Christmas Carols and holiday songs are sung and played all over the place.  In fact, we sometimes get tired of hearing them. There’s a beautiful song sung by Tony Bennett and played by the late Bill Evans that I like to listen around Christmas time. It would not really be identified as a Christmas carol or a holiday song, but the words, when thought of in the context of the Christmas season really drive home the beauty of the Christmas Gospel.

So, with all we’re doing and all we’re trying to accomplish with just two more shopping days left until Christmas, take time to go somewhere quiet to think about Jesus Christ and what His birth really means to you, or to quote my mother, “Slow This Buggy Down!”

Originally posted on https://thepillarandgroundoftruth.blogspot.com/2012/12/slow-this-buggy-down.html

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Take Me Back: The Problem of Pain

 

I’m reminded of the Andre Crouch song “Take Me Back” (1975). So often in my life it’s been the older songs that I grew up hearing and singing, which resonate deep in my spirit. Here are the words that still speak to me:

Take Me Back
-Andre Crouch

Take me back,
Take me back, dear Lord,
To the place,
Where I first received You.
Take me back,
Take me back, dear Lord,
Where I first believed.

I feel that I’m so far from You Lord,
But still I hear You calling me.
Those simple things,
That I once knew,
The memories are drawing me.

I must confess, Lord, I’ve been blessed,
But yet, my soul’s not satisfied.
Renew my faith,
Restore my joy,
Then dry my weeping eyes.

I tried so hard
To make it all alone
I need Your help
Just to make it home.

Zion Tabernacle
Kokomo, IN

Today, and every day, we need to renew our relationship with God. He is looking for an authenticity from us based on a continuing renewal of the fervor we first had at our initial conversion. The simplicity of our faith and our humility combined with the simplicity of the Gospel resulted in an authentic conversion.

The words “renew my faith, renew my joy, then dry my weeping eyes” is a call get back to the place where we first gave our will to God.

What is it about us that having first come to Jesus with empty hands and totally dependent upon him we now, after being “in the Church” for some time, think we can somehow do it all on our own?

I think that there are many people, especially in their 20s and 30s, that received an initial conversion experience at a young age (6-10), but did not really get converted until later, when they were more mature. This may be why we have trouble as young adults. We “got” the Holy Ghost at a young age, but the Holy Ghost did not “get” get us until later.

It is amazing to me to witness the blessing of God on us and yet we are not satisfied in our relationship with Him because of our own self-sufficiency, pride, and vain living. It is a crutch – a trap of the enemy and the flesh to alienate us from intimacy with Jesus Christ, not a “Jesus is my boyfriend” type of intimacy that we are constantly barraged with in this self-absorbed culture we live in, but a closeness that comes from a genuine relationship with our Savior – a relationship that is deepened every day in the good and the bad that life throws at us.

Paul wrote of a desire to know our Lord Jesus Christ in every facet of life in order that he might one day be resurrected from the dead: “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10, NLT).

C. S. Lewis addressed the purpose of suffering in his book The Problem of Pain in this way:

My own experience is something like this. I am progressing along the path of life in an ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity to-day, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down.

At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys: I am even anxious, God forgive me, to banish from my mind the only thing that supported me under the threat because it is now associated with the misery of those few days. Thus the terrible necessity of tribulation is only too clear. God has had me for but forty-eight hours and then only by dint of taking everything else away from me.

Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over – I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed. And that is why tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us remade or sees that our remaking is now hopeless.

Our problem is that we become desensitized to those “Take Me Back” moments and even brush them aside when God calls us to some personal time with Him. Jesus wants us to give ourselves to Him and surrender our will to His will. One way we can do that is to take the time to go back to those simpler times when all we had was our faith in Him and all we wanted was His presence in our lives guiding, keeping, and sustaining us.

Originally posted on 7 June 2008 on https://thepillarandgroundoftruth.blogspot.com/2008/06/take-me-back.html

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Bible Teaching

Why Is Obed Called Naomi’s Son?

Why is Obed called Naomi’s son, and what did Boaz mean by this statement?

“Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day” (Ruth 4:10).  

He was actually stating here that part of his intention for marrying Ruth is to restore the family lineage of Mahlon who was the deceased son of Naomi.  Thus, when the child is born the people and elders of the city remember that they had made themselves witnesses to the intention of Boaz (Ruth 4:11). Acting as witnesses, the women neighbors name the child Obed, which means “a servant, to thee, to nourish, and comfort, and assist thee; which duty children owe to their progenitors.”[1]

            These same neighborly women also state, “There is a son born to Naomi” (Ruth 4:17). By this we deduce that these women knew of Naomi’s loss.  She had lost two sons and a husband and had nobody who would take their place as caretaker for her in her old age, continue her husband’s name, or receive her son’s inheritance.  Obed served in all three capacities and became a great joy to Naomi and one who would carry on the family name.  Thus, he became her son (grandson) by restoring Naomi’s family and their part in the lineage of King David and the Messiah.

According to the opinion of Mary Sisseck, “Naomi has now been given a child (a child is born) a grandchild from one of her dead sons! The law determined that Obed was Naomi’s child! Genealogy, under the law, determined that Obed was also her grandchild!”[2] The question then serves to teach us that Boaz, acting as the kinsman-redeemer, provided a miracle for Naomi, which is comparable to the miracle of salvation that Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, has given to us. Through Jesus Christ we have been given a new life through the miracle of restoration and He, like Obed was to Naomi, has become our nourishment, comfort, and assistance.

[1] Wesley, John. “Commentary on Ruth 4”. “John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible.” https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/wesleys-explanatory-notes/ruth/ruth-4.html.

[2] Sisseck, Mary. Ruth: the Hidden Pictures. Accessed: 9-23-2004

. .

NOTE: I wrote this as part of a homework assignment on September 23, 2004, for a Women of the Bible class taught at Parkersburg Bible College by Sis. Nelson.

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Stephen’s Defense (video)

Apostolic Life Cathedral | 8/14/2022, 10:00 AM