Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 17:14
Jul 4th, 2010
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

Verse 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."

 This is Armageddon. The scene includes all of the armies of the world arrayed against Israel. This last battle and last scene of the present age is the culmination of all of the attempts to destroy Israel. This is the mother of all battle against Israel.

The kings of the east, and the armies of what is left of Russia and the Mideast nations (after the battle of Ezekiel 38-39; 7 years earlier) are gathered together. The Lord draws the armies of the whole world into Israel to judge them. Antichrist has assembled his forces for the same purpose; he has been motivated to wipe the Jew off the face of the earth.

The world has trained their missiles on the sky where the Lord has appeared. Matthew seems to indicate that at the Lord’s second coming in glory that He pauses in the sky before He descends to the earth. “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.” Matthew 24:30.  Notice it says the tribes (nations) of the earth shall mourn, as they see the Son of man coming. Mourning takes a little time, it involves time, and it is not something that is done instantaneously.

Notice; “These shall make war with the Lamb,” Suddenly the world will train their guns and missiles on the Lord Jesus Christ. It sounds absurd! Remember it is a small step to being at war with Christ in your heart and turning your guns or missiles on Him!

“And the Lamb shall overcome them:"  We need to go to Revelation 19 to fill in the details.  “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” The scenario begins when we who are a part of the body of Christ return with Christ at His second coming. We will be also on white horses according to verse14, are they literal horses? I believe they are, but they will be heavenly horses, the horse was the instrument of war at the time of John’s writing, so in one sense it is a symbol of a victor.

The final act in this war of Armageddon is seen in 19:15, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

This is the final earthly judgment on the nations which have rebelled against God all through the ages. I don’t know about you, but I want to be on the winning side, I want to identify with Christ even though it may appear to some that He is not the victor at the moment.

Matthew 3:1-6 Pt 2
Jul 4th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation;Book Study

Matthew 3: 1-6, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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.  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.
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."

As we consider these verses, I want you to see six things. We have already looked at two, 1- The Man  2 - The Message.  Today we will look at .....

111 - THE  MOTIVE

Verse 2  "the kingdom of heaven is at hand"  John's motive was to establish the kingdom, to bring the King to the throne. "The kingdom of heaven", means the rule of the God of heaven over the earth. There are two aspects of the kingdom of heaven.

1 - There is the literal, earthly kingdom of heaven on earth. In Luke 1: 32 the angel told us about that future kingdom of heaven on earth. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:" This the literal earthly kingdom that we have yet to see. That kingdom is not in existence today! Today Satan is the ruler of this world, by the permissive will of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not...."

2 - There is a spiritual kingdom that is not visible to earthly eyes, but is in existence today. Colossians 1:13, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" There are those in the world today who have crowned Christ king in their hearts and have made Him Lord of their lives. They have been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, and that has happened in the here and now. This spiritual kingdom of heaven is the basis on which the literal earthly will ultimately rest.

For these folk Romans 14:17 is true, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

"The kingdom of heaven is at hand" Means that the King was present for the purpose of setting up the kingdom! Understand; the conditions for setting up the kingdom was repentance. Because the kingdom was to be a national kindgom, the repentance had to be national. The leaders of Israel along with many of the people did not repent, therefore the kingdom could not be set up at that time! The kingdom had to be postponed until a later day. That later day is prophecied in Zechariah 12 and 13.

The postponment of the kingdom did not mean that the offer of the kingdom was not a genuine offer. Today the offer of salvation to men and women is a sincere and genuine offer. Because men and women do not receive salvation they forfeit the offer. That does not mean the offer of salvation is not is not a sincere and genuine offer.

So the motivating force in John's life was the setting up of the kingdom.

IV - THE MISSION

Verse 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."

The mission  or task of the Herald of the king was to prepare the way before the king! Rocks were to be removed from the roadway. Potholes were to be filled in. Anything that might hinder the coming of the king must be removed.

As the herald of the great king, John did not clear the roads and highways of obstacles! He sought to clear the hearts of men of obstacles which would keep them from the king! The voice of John shouting to the people was a call to prepare their hearts to receive the Messiah as the Lord and king of their lives!

That will happen one day, Zechariah 13:8-9  "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."

V - THE MANNER

Verse 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." John's dress and manners were peculiar! Those who would be heralds of an earthly king, would stay in the best hotels and dress in the finest clothes. They would eat the most expensive foods,  contact the elite people, and visit the best places. No expense, no pomp, no fanfare would be too much!

That is not God's plan for heralding His Son. John's purpose was to call people away the corrupt, dead religious system of their day. Away from worldliness, ritualism and superficiality. Away from the world and all its wealth and pleasure and pride. 

The parallel today is the worldliness of the New Evangelical. The world has a way of deadening the spiritual interests of those who come under it's spell. John  brought them away from the business and din of life. Away from the distractions of life and the leaders who influenced them. John brought them away to the place where they could listen and think.

John's dress, diet and lifestyle were a rebuke to the comfortable, self indulgent and religiously smug people of Israel. How we are controlled and influenced by the life style of the worldly people around us!

John's purpose was not to turn people into hermits or ascetics. He called no one to live and dress the way he did. However his manner of living was a dramatic reminder of the many loves and pleasures that keep people from exchanging their own way for God's way. How we, who claim to be the people of God, have lost sight of who we are and what our focus and purpose is to be in this world! There is a fine line between the carnal christian and the counterfeit christian, if you are on the line you need to get off it. How tragic to think you are a christian and find out in the end that are not in Christ!

V1 - THE MINISTRY

Verses 5-6, "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." John didn't rent an arena or an auditorium, in fact he didn't come to town at all. The Spirit of God was upon him and the multitudes came from everywhere!

The effect of John's ministry was dramatic!  People confessed their sins and were baptised. They responded even baptism had never been a part of Jewish tradition.

We know from later events that some of John's converts were genuinely converted.

We also know that many who professed repentance and were baptised were insincere and not genuine. 

The interesting thing is that the same was true of our Lord's own ministry. Many followed Him initially but later forsook Him. Our Lord teaches us about such people in the parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13. He refered to four kinds of soil which were types of response to the gospel message. There was the hard ground, the stoney ground, and the thorny ground. These three types of soil were all insincere and represented unregenerate people.

There was the good ground which represented the sincere people who responded in faith and were regenerated.

My friend are you a part of the number who are genuine disciples of Christ.  As the heralds of the king sow the seed of the gospel there will be these two kinds of responses. We are to be utterly faithfull in our sowing and leave the hearts of men and women to the Lord of the harvest.

Matthew 3:1-6 Pt. 1
Jul 4th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation;Book Study

Matthew 3:1-6, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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.
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.
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."

After 400 years of silence God was speaking to Israel again through a prophet. Excitement was at a fever pitch! The last message was recorded in Malachi 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."

John had electrified Israel with the words, "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand". All Israel had anticipated that message! The king is coming! 

Alfred Edersheim says of Israel's anticipation of the kingdom. "The rule of heaven and the kingship of Jehovah was the very substance of the Old Testament; the object and mission of Israel; the meaning of all its ordinances whether civil or religious; the underlying idea of all its institutions.

Edersheim goes on to say that the Jewish concept of this kingdom had three basic ideas.

--It would be a universal kingdom.

--It would have a heavenly rule.

--It would be a permanent kingdom.

Inspite of all their anticipation, beyond those three things, they did not understand much more about the kingdom. Israel today is still looking for a Saviour King. Twenty years ago I stood on the main street of the town of Safad in Israel. I saw a huge billboard and on it were three words in large letters;    YESHUA  COME  NOW 

Similarily, in that day as John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, the multitudes surged into the barren countryside to hear him.

As we consider these verses, I want you to see six things.

1 The man.   2 The message.  3 The motive.  4 The mission.  5 The manner.  6 The ministry.

1 -- THE MAN

Verse 1 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of ,Judaea”

“In those days”, this phrase is a transition between chapters 2 & 3. Nearly thirty years had passed since Joseph brought Mary and Jesus home to Nazareth. Except for a brief account by Luke of Jesus going to the Temple in His early teens, we know nothing of the life of Jesus during those thirty years.

“Came John the Baptist”, we know nothing at all of the life of John the Baptist prior to this introduction.  We do know a little about his parents, they were humble people, they were righteous people, and they walked before God blamelessly.

We know John’s birth had been miraculous. No doubt he had been told the story many times. We also know that John had been promised a ministry by the Lord.

This we know - His conception was miraculous, his birth was miraculous, he was filled with the Holy Spirit before his birth, he was great in the sight of God, he was to herald the Messiah, he was to prepare the people for the Messiah. Jesus called him the greatest man that had lived to that time. Matthew 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.” Up to that time John was the greatest man that had ever lived. His greatness was directly related to his calling and ministry. He performed the most important ministry any man had performed by heralding the Messiah.

“Came”= the Greek word “kerusso”= not preaching as we know it, it refers to the duty of an official in announcing the arrival of the King. It implies a loud shouting!

“In the wilderness of Judea”, John’s ministry and teaching took place in the wilderness of Judea. Judea is a stretch of barren hilly wilderness that runs about 20 miles east along the Jerusalem and Bethlehem plateau down to the Dead sea and the Jordan river.

11--THE MESSAGE

Verse 2, “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

John’s message was “Repentance”. Repent is the heart and soul of John’s message. Greek word, “Metaneo” = more than regret or sorrow. It means to turn around, to change direction, to change the mind and will, a change from wrong to right, to turn from sin to righteousness.

True repentance involves a sorrow for sin that leads to a change of thinking, to a change of desires, to a change of conduct of life. 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

The bible teaches us that there is a genuine repentance that results in salvation. It also teaches that there is an incomplete repentance that is only sorry for the consequences of sin and does not bring salvation. John’s message was a call for a completely different life!

Philip Keller said, “Repentance is not a once for all experience that takes place only at the time of conversion. It is in fact a daily sacrifice, a daily experience, in which we see ourselves as we really are in the white, intense light of Christ’s character and His Word, so that we daily turn to Him for cleansing and forgiveness. It is the bold willingness to continually face our sins and to come to hate them with utter disdain and stern intensity because they are such a grief to Christ and such a corruption of our own character.”

We are reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:4. “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

True repentance is the key to the blessing of God on the life and the means of true salvation. Today, by and large, the church is powerless and the gospel seems to be lacking in power to change the lives of those who respond. The need of the hour is true, genuine repentance that involves the forsaking of sin, which will result in a transformed life.

Created for God's Glory
Jul 4th, 2010
Thought for the WeekA.W. Tozer - (1897-1963)
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational;Exhortation

Philosophers have noted the vast difference between men and beasts and have tried to find that difference in
one or another distinguishing characteristic. They have said, for instance, that man is the thinking animal, or
that he is the laughing animal, or that he is the only animal with a conscience. The one mark, however, which
forever distinguishes man from all other forms of life on earth is that he is a worshiper; he has a bent toward
and a capacity for worship. Apart from his position as a worshiper of God, man has no sure key to his own
being; he is but a higher animal, being born much as any other animal, going through the cycle of his life here
on earth and dying at last without knowing what the whole thing is about. If that is all for him, if he has no more
reason than the beast for living, then it is an odd thing indeed that he is the only one of the animals that worries
about himself, that wonders, that asks questions of the universe. The very fact that he does these things tells
the wise man that somewhere there is One to whom he owes allegiance, One before whom he should kneel and
do homage. The Christian revelation tells us that that One is God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth, who is to be worshiped in the Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord. That is enough for us. Without
trying to reason it out we may proceed from there. All our doubts we meet with faith?s wondering affirmation:
?O Lord God, thou knowest,? an utterance which Samuel Taylor Coleridge declared to be the profoundest in
human speech.