Saturday, March 31, 2018

"So What?"





“Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”              Matthew 27:3,4  NKJV

Something often overlooked in the narrative of the events that led to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is this response by the chief priests when Judas tried to return the thirty pieces of silver he was paid to betray our Lord.  While Judas felt guilty because he knew that Jesus was innocent of any crime, notice what the chief priests said when Judas said so.  “What is that to us?"  Or another way of saying, “So what?”  You see, they knew as well that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death yet they could care less that an innocent man had been condemned.  Their hatred of Jesus was such that they had no qualms at all with what they had done, and in fact, by this statement, admitted they knew He was innocent.

As opposed to Jesus, we are the guilty sinners deserving of death, but thanks to His sacrifice by dying in our place, we have the opportunity to join Him in heaven for all eternity.   We simply need to accept that sacrifice and believe that He rose again on the third day proving once and for all that He has the power to conquer death and to save us from our sins.  By the power of His shed blood, we are made sinless in His image and have His promise of spending eternity with Him.

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.” Matthew 28:1-9 NKJV

Rejoice indeed. Because of the resurrection, we all have the opportunity to share in His power over death. It is a gift, freely given to anyone who chooses to believe. Have you ever considered the fact that as a believer in Christ, you are immortal? Death has no hold over us for we have the promise of eternal life, and to prove it, Jesus rose from the dead to show us He alone has the power.

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
John 11:25-26 NKJV

“Persistent unbelief in light of contrary evidence is willful ignorance!”

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.”   Mark 16:9-11  NKJV

“After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.”   Mark 16:12-13  NKJV

In the above passage from Mark we find that the disciples were presented with the testimony of at least three witnesses to the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead in Mary, and then two of their own.  Yet for some reason they still chose not to believe what was being told to them.  Now maybe, just maybe I could understand how difficult the fact of the resurrection might be to believe if it were not for the fact that Jesus Himself had told them that this was exactly what was going to occur before it ever happened!

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”                         Luke 9:20-22  NKJV

So what would your reaction be to someone who refused to believe even though the evidence presented to support a position met all the criteria necessary by established legal principles?  I daresay your thoughts would be less than kind, and truthfully mine would refer back to all of the passages in Proverbs which describe fools.  Does that seem harsh?  Maybe it would help to look at Jesus’ reaction to the disciples and their stubborn refusal to believe the evidence.

“Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.”   Mark 16:14  NKJV

Do you believe?  This is the most important question that anyone will ever be asked.  If you can answer yes, your place in eternity in the presence of our Lord and Savior is guaranteed.   We can know this because God has promised us that all who believe will have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16 NKJV

“And it shall come to pass [That] whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.”   Acts 2:21 NKJV

“And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."  Acts 16:30-31 NKJV

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”   John 10:9 NKJV

My prayer is that if you have never made the decision to believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again for you, you would decide to do it today. Invite Jesus to come into your life and forgive your sins, and begin to experience the joy that comes from having a relationship with a living God, and the knowledge that He has promised us eternal life with Him in Heaven if we only believe.

Have you made the decision in your own life to know the power of His resurrection? If not, you can right now by praying this prayer and accepting the gift of eternal life God has offered you by the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen.

He lives!

Keep watching.



Sunday, March 25, 2018

Is Spring the Season of the Rapture?


“Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son."  Genesis 18:14  RSV

Do you have a favorite season?  I somehow manage to enjoy all of them for one reason or another, but if I had to pick one for my favorite, it would be the spring.  Just now, I can see a little bit of snow left on the mountain tops, my tulips are blooming, and quail, songbirds, robins and doves are eating out of my feeder. I like to call spring the time of new beginnings, because so much happens in so short of a time. I can watch buds appearing on my apple tree, the robins have returned from wherever it is they go in the winter, the ground is turning green, and of course, it’s about time to start mowing the lawn again.

As I have studied over the years, I have found that God ordained many events to occur in the spring as well. It is especially interesting to see how many of those events could be identified with the idea of a new beginning. In the passage above, God has visited Abraham and Sarah and told them that Sarah was to have a son. He also tells them that He will return to see them when that happens, and even tells them that it will be in the spring! If you look closely at the Hebrew you will find that in this particular case, the RSV translates it best, because if you take the two words mowed and chay together in the same phrase, you understand spring is identified as the season this event will occur.

mow`ed : 1) appointed place, appointed time, meeting

chay : 1) living, alive, a) green (of vegetation), b) flowing, fresh (of water), c) lively, active (of man), d) reviving (of the springtime)

Since Abraham is told he would become the father of the nation of Israel, the birth of Isaac began the fulfillment of that prophecy and as we see, it began in the spring. We also find in the book of Exodus that the deliverance of the nation of Israel from bondage in Egypt occurred in the spring. The first three feasts of Israel, Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits all occur in the first month on the Jewish calendar which normally begins around the end of March or the beginning of April on our calendar, and is called Nisan or Abib.

“And Moses said to the people: "Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. "On this day you are going out, in the month Abib.”    Exodus 13:3-4   NKJV

Of course, of greater interest to us as believers is the fact that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ occurred at the time of these three feasts as well. If you recall, Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples, was then arrested, crucified and rose again on the third day which was the Feast of Firstfruits.

“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."   Matthew 26:1-2     NKJV

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.”   Matthew 28:1-2    NKJV

Now you talk about the idea of spring being a time of new beginnings, how important could the fact be that our deliverance occurred in the spring? Do you really think so many events happening in this particular season are just coincidence? Do you begin to see what I mean about the spring being the most interesting season? The Bible is full of “new beginning” type events which occur in the spring. Is it possible then that the rapture of the church could occur in the spring season? If it did, it would certainly fit in with the idea of a new beginning type event happening the same time as so many others have. 

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”     1 Corinthians 15:22-23   NKJV

What is the possibility that Jesus could rapture the Church and present it to God on the Feast of Firstfruits?  I think it’s very plausible, but again, there are other days to consider as well.  Let’s return to the story of the Exodus for a moment. The thought occurred to me that we are told of deliverance along with a new beginning in the story of the children of Israel and their escape from Egypt. Not only were they delivered out of bondage in the spring, notice if you will when they entered the Promised Land.

“And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.”    Joshua 4:18-19   NKJV

Here we are again, back to the first month, the spring, the time of new beginnings. God delivered the children of Israel into the Promised Land on the tenth day of the first month. Is it possible this is also a picture of when the Church will enter her “promised land”? Could spring be the season of the rapture?  Although I believe our deliverance could occur at any time, considering the fact that so many events have happened in the spring certainly makes me wonder if we as believers should be especially watchful in the spring.  All of which brings us to this next passage which might be the most compelling argument of all.

“Woe is me!  For I am like those who gather summer fruits, Like those who glean vintage grapes; There is no cluster to eat Of the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.”      Micah 7:1-2   NKJV

This passage from the prophet Micah describes the period of time we call the Tribulation.  Notice he tells us that all the faithful have disappeared from the earth, every man is against each other, and looking for upright faithful people is like looking for the first grapes of the harvest and finding none.  So when does the grape harvest begin in Israel?  The first ripe fruit is gathered at the beginning of summer.  My thought is that if all the faithful are gone at the beginning of summer, they must have disappeared in the spring.

Today we find ourselves in the spring season, and many are looking at the condition of the world around us and asking the question why are we still here? My question to you today is this.  Just how close do you believe the rapture of the Church is on God’s calendar?  If you believe like many others, it could be right around the corner. That nearness, however, also prompts me to ask you this question. If you have come to this point in your life and not made a decision to accept the free gift of salvation offered to you by our Savior Jesus Christ, don't you think it would be a good idea to do it now?

Keep watching.

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Passover Thoughts


“And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. “And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”    Luke 19:29-38  NKJV

We have arrived again at the beginning of the Jewish religious new year, celebrated this weekend upon the arrival of the first of Nisan.  This first month has played a major part in Old testament as well as New testament history as it contains the first three feast days appointed by God for the Jewish people. Something I noticed rather early on in my life as a believer was the fact that a good many teachers of the Word concentrate solely on the New Testament and seem to avoid attempting to teach from the Old Testament.  When I thought about that, it seemed strange to me considering virtually all of the stories I learned in Sunday School came from the Old Testament!  Adam and Eve, Noah, Joseph and his coat of many colors, Moses and the Exodus, David and Goliath, and so many others I can recall were what became what I could call the equivalent of Bible 101 in my personal growth as a believer.

Something I came to appreciate even more, however, was the fact that there was much more to discover there than just the stories themselves.  As I began to look closer, it was amazing to find that there were many examples of the stories I knew actually being a prophetic picture of events to come.  Now the formal name for this is called typology, and if you are interested there are many resources to help you do that, and since you are reading this, it follows you have a computer so just search typology and see what you can find.  As for now, I simply want to share one example which, considering the proximity to Easter for the Church, seems rather appropriate.

When you begin to study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, it soon becomes clear that although there were times when the people attempted to promote Him as King, He avoided it. A good example is right after the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

“Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”   John 6:14-15  NKJV

Yet there did come a day when He did choose to present Himself as King, and we find it revealed in the passage from Luke, which occurred on the tenth of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish religious calendar which was also the beginning of what we now call the Passion Week.  It follows that if Jesus arranged it, there must have been a reason for it, so if we look a little closer we discover that indeed there was.   Jesus was in fact following a script laid out in the Old Testament that we find in the book of Exodus where the first Passover was ordained and observed by the children of Israel while in bondage in Egypt.

“Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. ‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ‘Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”    Exodus 12:1-7  NKJV

In hindsight, we see that while presenting Himself as Israel’s King, He also was presenting Himself as our Passover Lamb on the tenth of Nisan with the foreknowledge that the Jews would reject Him, and then crucify Him on the cross.  As I read this passage from Exodus with the Passion Week in mind, it becomes so very obvious what Jesus was doing for us, the Church, in regards to fulfilling the Law as He said that He did.  Because we choose to believe in His sacrifice and atonement for our sins, He becomes our Passover Lamb and it is His blood which saves us from an eternity separate from Him. 

A few days after His presentation, Jesus celebrated the Passover dinner with His disciples.  If you read the account in Matthew, you will find something Jesus said which seems to be prophetic to the Church as well.

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”       Matthew 26:26-29  NKJV

According to the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish oral laws and traditions, Jesus is waiting for the marriage feast before He drinks from this cup.  (Mishnah, Pesahim 7:13)  Since we know that the marriage feast takes place after the rapture, is it possible that Jesus’ statement is actually His way of telling us that we will drink this cup with Him on a future Feast of Passover?  I personally can’t help but wonder could this be a clue to the season of the rapture of the Church that we are so eagerly looking forward to? Considering all of the other signs which seem to be occurring right now, it would not surprise me at all if this will prove to be true.

If you have never made the decision to accept the sacrifice Jesus made for you by dying on the cross for your sins, there is no better time than right now to do so.  Simply pray to the Father and ask Him to forgive you for your sins and tell Him you believe that Jesus died for you.  Accept the gift of salvation He has offered you and you too will drink of this cup of along with Jesus on that future day when He will invite all of His believers to join Him.  Jesus Christ is the Passover lamb who died for us, delivering us from our sin to spend eternity with Him.

Keep watching.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Groaning and Anticipating



For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.    2 Corinthians 5:1-4  NKJV

Since confession is good for the soul, let me confess; I have been doing a lot of groaning lately.  You see, although it appeared I would make it through this flu season unscathed, I made the mistake of traveling to Southern California for a week and as you might expect, caught the bug from someone.  I am one of those who rarely if ever get sick, so when I do, I tend to groan a lot.  Like many, I find that as I grow older I spend considerable time reflecting on just how nice it will be to finally get my heavenly body and leave this old bag of bones behind, and with that in mind I couldn’t help this week dreaming about hearing the call to come home.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.      1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

This is a subject I have talked about before, but seeing what is happening right now, and thinking about the seventieth anniversary of Israel’s independence approaching, I thought I would share some thoughts with you again that I have discussed before concerning what we might experience when that blessed hope finally occurs.  As I studied the question of the rapture, I was surprised to find that some of the teachers I highly respect do not necessarily agree with some of my thoughts.  Although I suppose that should not come as a surprise, it still was a disappointment to me because I believe that the Bible is pretty clear on the events surrounding our deliverance.  So enjoy reading today and decide for yourself if those who choose to believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins will in fact, know when we go.

One of the things I enjoyed most when teaching young people were the questions I often got from them concerning the things we were studying in the scriptures. One of my favorites, and one I got repeatedly when teaching the rapture of the Church is if we will know or be aware that we are being raptured, or do we simply find ourselves suddenly in heaven without a clue that it was about to happen? That really is a great question and one I think many of us have thought about at one time or another, so I thought we might take a little time this morning to look closer at the event we call the rapture.

This verse in Thessalonians is probably the best one we can use in describing exactly what God says will happen on that day. If we look closely at what it says, we find that we are told there are actually three distinct things which will occur in sequence when Jesus returns for His Church. These are a shout by the Lord Himself, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God. So let's look closer at each of these three and see if there is a clue to the answer to our question “will we know”?

The Shout. In this verse we are told this shout is from the Lord Jesus Himself. Now at first, it would seem understandable that Jesus might want to shout since He has been waiting over two thousand years to come get His bride, yet there may be more to it than that. We are also told here that “the dead in Christ will rise first”. So there is a sequence of events, and the first is the resurrection of the bodies of those believers who have already died to be reunited with their souls which went to be with Lord at the time of their death.

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.                 2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV

When a believer dies, his soul goes to be with the Lord in Heaven while his body is left behind. At the time of the rapture, the Lord apparently commands their bodies to rise from the grave just as He did with Lazarus.

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" John 11:43 NKJV

So the first thing to happen at the time of the rapture is the resurrection of the dead in Christ.  While teaching this during Sunday School, one of my students said “dude, wouldn’t it be cool to be in a cemetery when that happens?”  We laugh, but I just wonder if he is right?  Everybody present saw Lazarus arise, so I wonder if it’s possible we will see the dead in Christ rise?

The Voice. The only angel in the Bible to receive the title of archangel is the angel Michael, so I think it is safe to assume that this is who is being talked about here. As opposed to the Lord's “shout”, we are told that we only hear the “voice” of Michael, so we are left to wonder exactly what his role here is. If you have studied this passage in the past, or study it further, you will find there are a few opinions as to what might be going on. Although any of them might be right, I am going to go as far as to suggest a new one which may or may not be accurate, but feels the most comfortable to me. As I sat and thought about why Michael might be involved, I decided to look at the other occasions where he is mentioned in the Bible. A very interesting place I found is in the book of Jude where we are told this;

Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"     Jude 1:9 NKJV

Now I certainly found it curious that here we find a situation involving Michael that, along with the account of the rapture, is concerned with a body belonging to a believer. In this account in Jude, the only explanation that makes any sense is that Satan was disputing “possession” of the dead body of Moses. We can find an account of this in the non-canonical Book of Enoch, of which Jude is obviously referring to. In that account Satan laid claim to the body for two reasons. The first was that Moses was a murderer because he took the life of an Egyptian, and the second was that Moses body was buried on earth, and he, Satan, is the lord over the things of this world. So my thoughts are these; if Satan has in the past disputed over the ownership of the body of one believer, just what will his reaction to the resurrection of all dead believers bodies be? If in fact this is what happens, doesn't it make sense that the same scenario will repeat itself and the voice of the archangel is Michael again saying “The Lord rebuke you” to Satan? As I said, there are other ideas concerning this portion of the verse, but since both of these accounts of Michael concern the ownership of believers bodies, to me this seems to be a reasonable conclusion.

The Trumpet. Actually, we are told here that what we hear is the "trumpet of God". Just what exactly is this trumpet sound and what if anything makes it special? In another account of the rapture, Paul tells us this;

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.           1 Corinthians 15:52 NKJV

Here Paul refers to this trumpet as the "last trump". This helps us identify it for from studying rabbinical sources we see that this use of the term "last trump" means it is the shofar, or ram's horn which is being used. The shofar is related to the account of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and rabbinical tradition regards the left horn as the "first trump" and the right horn as the "last trump". There are two ways to blow the shofar, with the first being a series of short blasts which signify an alarm or bad news, and the second being one long blast which is meant to signal victory or good news. It is this last long blast which is identified as the "last trump". According to rabbinical sources the "last trump" or "tekiah gedolah" lasts as long as the blower has the lung capacity to blow. In this case, where the "trumpet of God" is being blown, one has to wonder just how long the blast will be. My personal opinion is very, very long.

The shout of Jesus calling for the resurrection of all dead believers bodies to rise, Michael rebuking Satan in the Lord's name for possession of the bodies, and the tekiah gedolah which lasts as long as the blower has breath, certainly gives rise to the thought that the answer to our original question might well be; yes! Yes we will know that the rapture is occurring because there is a sequence of three events which must take place before we go. I suspect the last trump will last long enough for all believers to know and understand that the time has come for the bride to go with the bridegroom and to rise and meet Him in the air.

If you have never accepted the free gift of God’s grace, and the forgiveness of your sin, you can do it today.  Just pray a simple prayer like this and believe that He will do as He has said He will, and you too will go to be with Him for eternity and receive a new, incorruptible body which will never get sick, and never grow old.  Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen.

Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Keep watching, (and listening).