Mel used to say to me, “I wish I had met you when I was younger.” We had a special kinship born out of knowing we were both life-long singles. Mel would often let me know he thought I’d make a great wife.
Little did I know at the Wednesday night service two weeks ago at Shorewood, when Mel suddenly blurted out just before the service, “Lisa, why don’t you sing for us,” he was on the very edge of finally going home to be with the Lord (something he was yearning for).
As the song request got carried out by the crowd, an agreement was made that I would sing a song of my choosing from the pulpit for Mel (and everyone else in attendance) at the following Wednesday service.
That same rainy, cold evening, as I was approaching my car in the middle of the parking lot, Mel yelled out at me from the front sidewalk of the church: “Sing, ‘He Hideth My Soul.’ ” I laughed, yelling back, ‘Well, I’ll definitely give it some thought.’ We both yelled out goodnight and that was it.
Just the other day, I was told there was a running joke about Mel BEFITTING the song, “Little Is Much When God Is In It.”
According to the internet, “This old hymn was written circa 1924 by Kittie Suffield, wife of Frederick W. Suffield. This couple committed their lives to God at a church in Ottawa, where A. J. Shea was the pastor. The couple later went into evangelism and they sometimes worked with their former pastor’s son, George Beverly Shea.”
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend tomorrow night’s Wednesday service due to a tri-annual work meeting with the college students I manage. I imagine it would have been very sad walking in. knowing Mel wouldn’t be there to greet me as he was always so anxious to do with the utmost affection (even giving me a special name he came up with for some reason-- Cindy).
Anyway, here’s the Kittie Suffield song:
1. In the harvest field now ripened
There's a work for all to do;
Hark! the voice of God is calling
To the harvest calling you.
2. In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus' love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.
3. Does the place you're called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He'll not forget His own.
4. Are you laid aside from service,
Body worn from toil and care?
You can still be in the battle,
In the sacred place of prayer.
5. When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
"Welcome home, My child well done!"
Chorus:
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus' Name.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
belly to tanned shoulder
“It will go largely unnoticed but Obama did something that’s never been done before—he embraced the 1967 borders for the nation Israel. That’s never been the official policy of the U.S. until now. That’s sort of like saying the U.S. should go back to its borders in 1958 before the Mexican American War. Give back Arizona, California and New Mexico. Why? Because we took those territories by way of a conflict with another nation and it’s that kind of mentality, not applied to yourself, but to someone else.
“This is a strategic shift toward a future holocaust for the nation Israel and not just Israel but the world because this is a prophetically strategic in U.S. foreign policy.
“In prophecy, in the ‘last days’ before the Lord comes to set up His kingdom, before the real Judgment Day, every nation in the earth is going to be anti-Israel.
Jeremiah 33:23.
“There’s going to come a point in world history, and the strategies of the nations, where all nations are going to look at Israel and say, ‘You’ve got no right to exist as a nation.’
“Psalm 83 is a cry, a prayer, of a member of the nation Israel—the believer in Israel during that time when the nations of the earth have turned on them.
“There are ten nations gathered together against the nation Israel in the Promised Land, gathered there to say Israel has no right to exist. The believers in Israel are hidden among the rocks from the persecution, crying out, saying, ‘They have taken crafty counsel together to destroy us.’
Zechariah 12. One of the most remarkable prophecies you’d ever want to see in the Bible. Five hundred B.C. Zechariah’s writing. Israel’s been in Babylonian captivity.
The 70 years are over, a remnant of them have gone back to the land.
“The city’s been destroyed, the walls are broken down, the temple’s gone, and this little remnant comes back to reestablish itself in its homeland. Here’s something the Lord looks at and says, ‘Here’s something that weighs my heart down for Israel.’
“Here’s God, the Creator of all things, saying, ‘Behold.’ “
“This is a strategic shift toward a future holocaust for the nation Israel and not just Israel but the world because this is a prophetically strategic in U.S. foreign policy.
“In prophecy, in the ‘last days’ before the Lord comes to set up His kingdom, before the real Judgment Day, every nation in the earth is going to be anti-Israel.
Jeremiah 33:23.
“There’s going to come a point in world history, and the strategies of the nations, where all nations are going to look at Israel and say, ‘You’ve got no right to exist as a nation.’
“Psalm 83 is a cry, a prayer, of a member of the nation Israel—the believer in Israel during that time when the nations of the earth have turned on them.
“There are ten nations gathered together against the nation Israel in the Promised Land, gathered there to say Israel has no right to exist. The believers in Israel are hidden among the rocks from the persecution, crying out, saying, ‘They have taken crafty counsel together to destroy us.’
Zechariah 12. One of the most remarkable prophecies you’d ever want to see in the Bible. Five hundred B.C. Zechariah’s writing. Israel’s been in Babylonian captivity.
The 70 years are over, a remnant of them have gone back to the land.
“The city’s been destroyed, the walls are broken down, the temple’s gone, and this little remnant comes back to reestablish itself in its homeland. Here’s something the Lord looks at and says, ‘Here’s something that weighs my heart down for Israel.’
“Here’s God, the Creator of all things, saying, ‘Behold.’ “
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Fellowlabourers
Bethany is a little town down in the southeast corner of the Mount of Olives less than two miles from the city of Jerusalem. It’s a town of very little consequence; the only real claim to fame is that Mary, Martha and Lazarus live there. Otherwise it’s just sort of a place that nobody knows much about; a little suburb of Jerusalem.
“It’s fascinating that this is the place that Jesus goes to perform the hallmark miracle of His ministry—the resurrection of Lazarus. No greater miracle did He do than that one and He doesn’t do it in Jerusalem.
"You remember back in chapter 7 His brothers wanted to go to Jerusalem and show all His glory and do all this stuff—
‘Well, that’s where the crowd is. That’s where the fame is.’ You want to get a Pulitzer Prize, you want to get your name on a marquee, go to Jerusalem.
“You know, the Bible doesn’t mention any of the great cities of the New Testament era. There were great wonderful cities in existence at the time of Christ and the apostles and you don’t read about hardly any of them in the Bible.
“You read about Ephesus and ‘great is Diana of Ephesus.’ That temple in Acts 19 about Ephesus that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It’s just sort of a side note in Acts about a more important story.
“The Bible’s a strange book of history. It’s a book of history but it focuses on the odd things. It’s not focusing on the big marquis places; it’s focusing on places like Bethany because Jesus goes there to that seemingly insignificant place to perform the hallmark miracle of His whole life. I think about that and that’s a tremendous example of how He glorifies Himself not in the glory of man, but in the insignificance of man.
“He picks this little nothing of a place, as it were, as the place of the final, conclusive proof of His identity as He’s preparing to surrender Himself to death. This is a moment of great import in the life of Christ. But He doesn’t do it on the stage of human history where the cameras are rolling.
“Bethany is the town of the sisters Mary and Martha. In Luke 10, you get introduced to them for the first time. This is a wonderful home. 10:38 -39 reads: ‘Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
[39] And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
“It’s always good to receive Christ but when you think about in the context of Luke 10, he’s being rejected everywhere He goes. Here’s a home that receives Him. This is a home of Believers interested in hearing what Jesus is teaching.
“Notice in John 11 how that John assumes that the people he’s writing to know who Mary is. That’s the reason, by the way, that Mary is first in verse 11. Every time Martha, Mary and Lazarus are mentioned in the Bible, Martha is mentioned first every time except here. The reason obviously is because people knew who she was. She’s the one who anointed Him and wiped His feet with her hair.
“You can go to Mark 14 and read about it. One of the things Christ said about her was that what she did would make her famous among the Believers forever and obviously she was quite well-known. The passage reads:
[6] And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
[7] For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
[8] She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
[9] Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
“So this woman that does this is going to be well-known everywhere. And that’s why in John 11:2 he says this is the Mary that did that. It’s her home.
“But you notice that this account in mark, and the parallel account in Matthew 26, her name doesn’t appear. She’s sort of like that thing in Philippians 4:3 when Paul says, ‘And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.’
“He doesn’t identify who his yokefellow is. He does talk about Clement and Euodias and Syntyche but the true yokefellow, the one who was the dearest to him; he doesn’t even mention his name, obviously because everybody would know who that was.
“Matthew and Mark don’t put the name, but John does. That’s sort of the way the Book of John works. Look at John 18:10. It’s fascinating the little details he adds that others leave out. The verse says, ‘Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.’
“You can go over to Matthew 26 and Mark 14 and Luke 22 and you won’t read about the servants name Malchus but here.
“It’s in John that you learn the woman who anointed Jesus was Martha and Lazarus’ sister, Mary. The Book of John is talking about the light of the world has come and little things like that kind of come out in the light in that book. It’s sort of the characteristic of the way the Book of John operates.
“Something else interesting about 11:2. John assumed his readers knew the account in Mark 14 and Matthew 26. This is the woman you already knew about. If that’s true, that means Matthew and Mark, at least, were written before the Book of John because he assumes they know all about Mary.
“Well, if the Book of John was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and Matthew and Mark are assumed to be written before John, that puts all of them much earlier than what tradition wants to put them.”
“It’s fascinating that this is the place that Jesus goes to perform the hallmark miracle of His ministry—the resurrection of Lazarus. No greater miracle did He do than that one and He doesn’t do it in Jerusalem.
"You remember back in chapter 7 His brothers wanted to go to Jerusalem and show all His glory and do all this stuff—
‘Well, that’s where the crowd is. That’s where the fame is.’ You want to get a Pulitzer Prize, you want to get your name on a marquee, go to Jerusalem.
“You know, the Bible doesn’t mention any of the great cities of the New Testament era. There were great wonderful cities in existence at the time of Christ and the apostles and you don’t read about hardly any of them in the Bible.
“You read about Ephesus and ‘great is Diana of Ephesus.’ That temple in Acts 19 about Ephesus that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It’s just sort of a side note in Acts about a more important story.
“The Bible’s a strange book of history. It’s a book of history but it focuses on the odd things. It’s not focusing on the big marquis places; it’s focusing on places like Bethany because Jesus goes there to that seemingly insignificant place to perform the hallmark miracle of His whole life. I think about that and that’s a tremendous example of how He glorifies Himself not in the glory of man, but in the insignificance of man.
“He picks this little nothing of a place, as it were, as the place of the final, conclusive proof of His identity as He’s preparing to surrender Himself to death. This is a moment of great import in the life of Christ. But He doesn’t do it on the stage of human history where the cameras are rolling.
“Bethany is the town of the sisters Mary and Martha. In Luke 10, you get introduced to them for the first time. This is a wonderful home. 10:38 -39 reads: ‘Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
[39] And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
“It’s always good to receive Christ but when you think about in the context of Luke 10, he’s being rejected everywhere He goes. Here’s a home that receives Him. This is a home of Believers interested in hearing what Jesus is teaching.
“Notice in John 11 how that John assumes that the people he’s writing to know who Mary is. That’s the reason, by the way, that Mary is first in verse 11. Every time Martha, Mary and Lazarus are mentioned in the Bible, Martha is mentioned first every time except here. The reason obviously is because people knew who she was. She’s the one who anointed Him and wiped His feet with her hair.
“You can go to Mark 14 and read about it. One of the things Christ said about her was that what she did would make her famous among the Believers forever and obviously she was quite well-known. The passage reads:
[6] And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
[7] For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
[8] She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
[9] Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
“So this woman that does this is going to be well-known everywhere. And that’s why in John 11:2 he says this is the Mary that did that. It’s her home.
“But you notice that this account in mark, and the parallel account in Matthew 26, her name doesn’t appear. She’s sort of like that thing in Philippians 4:3 when Paul says, ‘And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.’
“He doesn’t identify who his yokefellow is. He does talk about Clement and Euodias and Syntyche but the true yokefellow, the one who was the dearest to him; he doesn’t even mention his name, obviously because everybody would know who that was.
“Matthew and Mark don’t put the name, but John does. That’s sort of the way the Book of John works. Look at John 18:10. It’s fascinating the little details he adds that others leave out. The verse says, ‘Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.’
“You can go over to Matthew 26 and Mark 14 and Luke 22 and you won’t read about the servants name Malchus but here.
“It’s in John that you learn the woman who anointed Jesus was Martha and Lazarus’ sister, Mary. The Book of John is talking about the light of the world has come and little things like that kind of come out in the light in that book. It’s sort of the characteristic of the way the Book of John operates.
“Something else interesting about 11:2. John assumed his readers knew the account in Mark 14 and Matthew 26. This is the woman you already knew about. If that’s true, that means Matthew and Mark, at least, were written before the Book of John because he assumes they know all about Mary.
“Well, if the Book of John was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and Matthew and Mark are assumed to be written before John, that puts all of them much earlier than what tradition wants to put them.”
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Route 66
Paul writes in Col. 2:16, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”
Jordan says, “The law is a shadow of what God’s going to do for and with the nation Israel in her kingdom (Hebrews 10:1). What you have in the law is a picture of the redemption God’s going to provide for the nation Israel in her kingdom when the Messiah comes; how He’s going to do it and what it’s going to mean for them. He’s teaching them doctrine back here in times past about what He’s going to do with them in the ages to come over here.
“So technically and scripturally, the typology in the tabernacle teaches Israel doctrine about what God’s going to do with them. The materials the tabernacle’s made of, the colors of the material, the fabrics, the woods involved, the oils and the spices, and the stones, and the measurements, and the pans and the shovels, and the basins and the flesh hooks, and the fire pans and the erection of the tabernacle and the furniture.
“Everything about this thing has significance and it points in some way to the redemption that is going to be provided to Israel and, of course, you and I understand now that you and I have redemption in Christ, too. So there are things for us to learn from it, but it talks about the program God has for the nation Israel.
*****
“Now the tabernacle is set up—there is an outer court to it. There’s a gate, a doorway into that little walled off area there. That doorway is important. There’s a way to get in. North is up here, west is over there, south is down and east is over there. When they set it up they had to set this thing up facing the east over here. So to approach to God, which way would you be going? East to west.
“When Horace Greeley said, ‘Go west, young man, go west,’ you thought nothing of it but the history of your Bible goes from the east to the west. It’s a fascinating thing.
“You go in through the gate and the first thing you come to is the brazen altar. The next thing is a water laver of washing. And then inside here is another little tent. And that tent is divided into two sections—one is called the ‘holy place’ and then there’s one called the ‘holy of holies.’ That’s the second.
“In the holy place there’s a candlestick on one side, and a table of shewbread on that side, and an altar of incense. No place to sit down, just these places. Then in the Most Holy separated off by the veil, is the Arc of the Covenant. This is where the glory of God’s presence, the Shekinah glory, appears over the mercy seat. Inside that Arc is where the Ten Commandments are kept and some other things are added in there.
“Then there’s the mercy seat, overlaid with gold, and God’s presence resides on that mercy seat. He sits between the cherubim on the mercy seat. The blood on the Day of Atonement is spread over that mercy seat and the cover is the broken law and thus provides atonement for Israel. So there’s doctrine being taught to Israel on how they approach to God and how they maintain fellowship with God.
“The gate, the way of introduction, the brazen altar where the means of reconciliation is provided, where the blood is shed and poured out. The laver of cleansing, the baptismal laver where they have the cleansing procedure and the separation from defilement.
“Then you go in here into the fellowship where the priests work and there’s the golden candlestick, a type of Christ as the light of the world and illumination. The oil is a type of the Holy Spirit; it sheds light on the table of shewbread. It has 12 loaves of bread on it, six on one side and six on the other. Does 66 remind you of something connected with bread? How many books are in your Bible? 66. It’s interesting, it’s not 7 and 5 and it’s not 4 and 8; it’s 6 and 6.”
*****
The peace of God is not simply about a cessation of hostility; it’s a complete settlement of the issue. The result is quietness, confidence and assurance.
As Paul says in Romans 5:2, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Jordan explains, “We have a pathway, a road, an entrance way. We have free admission into this grace wherein we stand.
“Do you remember in the Temple? How many times did somebody get in there behind the veil and offer the blood on that mercy seat and then come right out again? Once a year. That’s where God’s Shekinah glory was manifested.
“The veil was there for the purpose of stopping their access and restricting their access into where God’s presence was because had they gone in there they would have died. The glory of God would have slew them; killed ’em, bumped ’em off, made a greasy spot out of ’em.
“They feared God and stood away because of who He was. They came to that Temple and brought sacrifices there and prayed. When the Jew wanted to pray, he was supposed to look toward that Temple and pray three times a day—morning, noon and afternoon.
“In Acts 3, they go up there at ‘the hour of prayer’ to pray. When that Old Testament saint went up there to that Temple he still didn’t have access; he just came up in relative proximity.
“Do you know what Daniel in Daniel 6 does? He opens up the windows of his house toward that temple in Jerusalem and that thing’s been destroyed and yet he knows to look that way and offer his prayers.
“Do you have to wait ’til the hour of prayer to pray? Paul says be instant; pray without ceasing. That’s a dispensational term and command. You have instant, continuous availability. Something they didn’t have back there.
“I know we got a song about, ‘Sweet hour of prayer, may I thy consolation share,’
and all that business, but songwriters write songs about things that sometimes don’t make a lot of sense and sure don’t make good doctrine.”
Jordan says, “The law is a shadow of what God’s going to do for and with the nation Israel in her kingdom (Hebrews 10:1). What you have in the law is a picture of the redemption God’s going to provide for the nation Israel in her kingdom when the Messiah comes; how He’s going to do it and what it’s going to mean for them. He’s teaching them doctrine back here in times past about what He’s going to do with them in the ages to come over here.
“So technically and scripturally, the typology in the tabernacle teaches Israel doctrine about what God’s going to do with them. The materials the tabernacle’s made of, the colors of the material, the fabrics, the woods involved, the oils and the spices, and the stones, and the measurements, and the pans and the shovels, and the basins and the flesh hooks, and the fire pans and the erection of the tabernacle and the furniture.
“Everything about this thing has significance and it points in some way to the redemption that is going to be provided to Israel and, of course, you and I understand now that you and I have redemption in Christ, too. So there are things for us to learn from it, but it talks about the program God has for the nation Israel.
*****
“Now the tabernacle is set up—there is an outer court to it. There’s a gate, a doorway into that little walled off area there. That doorway is important. There’s a way to get in. North is up here, west is over there, south is down and east is over there. When they set it up they had to set this thing up facing the east over here. So to approach to God, which way would you be going? East to west.
“When Horace Greeley said, ‘Go west, young man, go west,’ you thought nothing of it but the history of your Bible goes from the east to the west. It’s a fascinating thing.
“You go in through the gate and the first thing you come to is the brazen altar. The next thing is a water laver of washing. And then inside here is another little tent. And that tent is divided into two sections—one is called the ‘holy place’ and then there’s one called the ‘holy of holies.’ That’s the second.
“In the holy place there’s a candlestick on one side, and a table of shewbread on that side, and an altar of incense. No place to sit down, just these places. Then in the Most Holy separated off by the veil, is the Arc of the Covenant. This is where the glory of God’s presence, the Shekinah glory, appears over the mercy seat. Inside that Arc is where the Ten Commandments are kept and some other things are added in there.
“Then there’s the mercy seat, overlaid with gold, and God’s presence resides on that mercy seat. He sits between the cherubim on the mercy seat. The blood on the Day of Atonement is spread over that mercy seat and the cover is the broken law and thus provides atonement for Israel. So there’s doctrine being taught to Israel on how they approach to God and how they maintain fellowship with God.
“The gate, the way of introduction, the brazen altar where the means of reconciliation is provided, where the blood is shed and poured out. The laver of cleansing, the baptismal laver where they have the cleansing procedure and the separation from defilement.
“Then you go in here into the fellowship where the priests work and there’s the golden candlestick, a type of Christ as the light of the world and illumination. The oil is a type of the Holy Spirit; it sheds light on the table of shewbread. It has 12 loaves of bread on it, six on one side and six on the other. Does 66 remind you of something connected with bread? How many books are in your Bible? 66. It’s interesting, it’s not 7 and 5 and it’s not 4 and 8; it’s 6 and 6.”
*****
The peace of God is not simply about a cessation of hostility; it’s a complete settlement of the issue. The result is quietness, confidence and assurance.
As Paul says in Romans 5:2, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Jordan explains, “We have a pathway, a road, an entrance way. We have free admission into this grace wherein we stand.
“Do you remember in the Temple? How many times did somebody get in there behind the veil and offer the blood on that mercy seat and then come right out again? Once a year. That’s where God’s Shekinah glory was manifested.
“The veil was there for the purpose of stopping their access and restricting their access into where God’s presence was because had they gone in there they would have died. The glory of God would have slew them; killed ’em, bumped ’em off, made a greasy spot out of ’em.
“They feared God and stood away because of who He was. They came to that Temple and brought sacrifices there and prayed. When the Jew wanted to pray, he was supposed to look toward that Temple and pray three times a day—morning, noon and afternoon.
“In Acts 3, they go up there at ‘the hour of prayer’ to pray. When that Old Testament saint went up there to that Temple he still didn’t have access; he just came up in relative proximity.
“Do you know what Daniel in Daniel 6 does? He opens up the windows of his house toward that temple in Jerusalem and that thing’s been destroyed and yet he knows to look that way and offer his prayers.
“Do you have to wait ’til the hour of prayer to pray? Paul says be instant; pray without ceasing. That’s a dispensational term and command. You have instant, continuous availability. Something they didn’t have back there.
“I know we got a song about, ‘Sweet hour of prayer, may I thy consolation share,’
and all that business, but songwriters write songs about things that sometimes don’t make a lot of sense and sure don’t make good doctrine.”
Monday, May 16, 2011
Moving on up
If you live in the South you hear people sometime call somebody a Jehu and they pretty much mean somebody who’s kind of scatter-brained and runs around real fast and doesn’t get much accomplished.
II Kings 9: 19-20 reports, “Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.
[20] And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.”
In I Kings 19 we learn that Elijah, before his ministry was over, had promised Jehu that God would make him king in Israel. “Elijah anoints Jehu to be king and you see him execute the wrath of God on those who despise the Lord and those who disobey God’s word,” explains Jordan. “Jehu is going to be the instrument of vengeance in the Lord’s hands against those who have persecuted his prophets and rebelled against him. He goes out and kills all these Baal worshippers. He uses all kinds of means and executes judgment and Ahab dies and Jezebel is killed and so forth and the vengeance of God is executed.
“His zeal for the Lord was zeal in killing people. He’s a bloody guy. So they made him ride in his chariot and when he came to Samaria he slew all that remaineth.
“He feigns like he’s going to worship Baal, using that to gather all the Baalites together and then destroys him. That’s what verse 28 is about.
“Jehu had a taste for blood and his heart wasn’t really in it. I mean, God gave him permission to go out and whip up on some people and he went out and he’s getting it done but notice chapter 10: 28-31:
[28] Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
[29] Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.
[30] And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
[31] But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.
Jordan explains, “Though he was used of the Lord and did some things that God wanted him to do and God gave him a promise there about his five generations being on the throne, as a whole Jehu was negative. He had a great opportunity but he went after Baal. You see a lot of that through (this part of the Old Testament).
“You think, ‘How can somebody see what they saw and go out and destroy these people, like they did, and then still worship Baal?!’ Well, it tells you one thing—the reason he was destroying them wasn’t because he hated their religion. It’s just that he liked to shed blood. And it wasn’t that he was so dedicated to God; it’s just that he saw an opportunity to get the upper hand over somebody.”
*****
Jordan says, “It’s wonderful to know that you’re going to have a body that can move from one place to the other. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the tomb and He walks right through the wall and gets out. Doesn’t need anybody to open the door. The disciples are all in the Upper Room, locked in with the doors nailed shut and the windows pried down and they’re trying to figure out what to do next because everybody’s mad at them and their Lord’s been killed and their hearts are full of fear and they’re having a meeting and they look up and see a guy at the end of the table who wasn’t there a minute ago.
“They checked the door and counted the numbers and said, ‘How’d he get in? He just walked through the wall, that’s how he got in. did you ever want to just be here on the earth and say, ‘I think I’m gonna move; beam me up, Scotty,’ and be heaven? You know, seven hundred and fifty billion light years across the universe.
“And then say, ‘I think I’ll go back down now,' and beam yourself back down and do all of that in less than two hours’ time? Do the business up there and come back? You think, ‘That wouldn’t be too bad. Let me try this body out a little bit.’
“You look at the exciting things God’s going to do with your glorified body and the things you’re going to be able to do and say, ‘Man, that’s all wonderful!’ But there’s something more than that. There’s even going to be something better than knowing you’re going to be able to eat anything you want to and never have to worry about getting fat . . . ”
II Kings 9: 19-20 reports, “Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.
[20] And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.”
In I Kings 19 we learn that Elijah, before his ministry was over, had promised Jehu that God would make him king in Israel. “Elijah anoints Jehu to be king and you see him execute the wrath of God on those who despise the Lord and those who disobey God’s word,” explains Jordan. “Jehu is going to be the instrument of vengeance in the Lord’s hands against those who have persecuted his prophets and rebelled against him. He goes out and kills all these Baal worshippers. He uses all kinds of means and executes judgment and Ahab dies and Jezebel is killed and so forth and the vengeance of God is executed.
“His zeal for the Lord was zeal in killing people. He’s a bloody guy. So they made him ride in his chariot and when he came to Samaria he slew all that remaineth.
“He feigns like he’s going to worship Baal, using that to gather all the Baalites together and then destroys him. That’s what verse 28 is about.
“Jehu had a taste for blood and his heart wasn’t really in it. I mean, God gave him permission to go out and whip up on some people and he went out and he’s getting it done but notice chapter 10: 28-31:
[28] Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
[29] Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.
[30] And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
[31] But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.
Jordan explains, “Though he was used of the Lord and did some things that God wanted him to do and God gave him a promise there about his five generations being on the throne, as a whole Jehu was negative. He had a great opportunity but he went after Baal. You see a lot of that through (this part of the Old Testament).
“You think, ‘How can somebody see what they saw and go out and destroy these people, like they did, and then still worship Baal?!’ Well, it tells you one thing—the reason he was destroying them wasn’t because he hated their religion. It’s just that he liked to shed blood. And it wasn’t that he was so dedicated to God; it’s just that he saw an opportunity to get the upper hand over somebody.”
*****
Jordan says, “It’s wonderful to know that you’re going to have a body that can move from one place to the other. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the tomb and He walks right through the wall and gets out. Doesn’t need anybody to open the door. The disciples are all in the Upper Room, locked in with the doors nailed shut and the windows pried down and they’re trying to figure out what to do next because everybody’s mad at them and their Lord’s been killed and their hearts are full of fear and they’re having a meeting and they look up and see a guy at the end of the table who wasn’t there a minute ago.
“They checked the door and counted the numbers and said, ‘How’d he get in? He just walked through the wall, that’s how he got in. did you ever want to just be here on the earth and say, ‘I think I’m gonna move; beam me up, Scotty,’ and be heaven? You know, seven hundred and fifty billion light years across the universe.
“And then say, ‘I think I’ll go back down now,' and beam yourself back down and do all of that in less than two hours’ time? Do the business up there and come back? You think, ‘That wouldn’t be too bad. Let me try this body out a little bit.’
“You look at the exciting things God’s going to do with your glorified body and the things you’re going to be able to do and say, ‘Man, that’s all wonderful!’ But there’s something more than that. There’s even going to be something better than knowing you’re going to be able to eat anything you want to and never have to worry about getting fat . . . ”
Friday, May 13, 2011
This little light of mine...
If you want to see glorified humanity in the Bible, it’s summed up in Matthew 17: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
Likewise, Luke reports in Luke 9, “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.
[29] And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.”
Jordan explains, “The glory of God was in the Lord Jesus Christ and was manifested through Him. Altered means transformed. There He is and His body inside of His clothes is transformed and the glory of God begins to shine out of it as the sun and it made His raiment that He had on glisten; kind of sparkle.
“You understand folks, you know what the difference is between that spotlight up there shining down on my face and reflecting out? My face is shining like the moon shines--reflected light. To shine like the sun is to shine like a light bulb shines. It’s to have the light inside of you and the light shines out.
“Did you ever notice that verse over there in Isaiah where God says, ‘I created the light and I created darkness?’ You know, God had to create darkness. What do you and I have to create? Light.
“You ever had any trouble creating darkness? No, you have to dispel darkness, don’t you? You don’t get along so good in the dark. If you’re in the dark it debilitates you. Before the light bulb we had kerosene lamps and different kind of torches and before that you went to bed before the sun went down because you couldn’t see much and it forced restricted activity. You and I don’t have to create darkness; it’s natural in our world.
“We need a light source that creates light, but God’s the other way. God is naturally in the light. ‘God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.’ And He had to literally create places where he wasn’t so there would be some darkness.
“Well, in the passage it’s talking about His glory coming to reside in us so there’s no darkness in us anymore. Literally, our future body’s going to be the repository of the glory of God and that glory is going to shine out through you. It’s going to be inherently and innately present inside of you because of who He is and you’re going to share in His glorification and it’s going to shine through you. That’s going to be some day!”
[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
Likewise, Luke reports in Luke 9, “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.
[29] And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.”
Jordan explains, “The glory of God was in the Lord Jesus Christ and was manifested through Him. Altered means transformed. There He is and His body inside of His clothes is transformed and the glory of God begins to shine out of it as the sun and it made His raiment that He had on glisten; kind of sparkle.
“You understand folks, you know what the difference is between that spotlight up there shining down on my face and reflecting out? My face is shining like the moon shines--reflected light. To shine like the sun is to shine like a light bulb shines. It’s to have the light inside of you and the light shines out.
“Did you ever notice that verse over there in Isaiah where God says, ‘I created the light and I created darkness?’ You know, God had to create darkness. What do you and I have to create? Light.
“You ever had any trouble creating darkness? No, you have to dispel darkness, don’t you? You don’t get along so good in the dark. If you’re in the dark it debilitates you. Before the light bulb we had kerosene lamps and different kind of torches and before that you went to bed before the sun went down because you couldn’t see much and it forced restricted activity. You and I don’t have to create darkness; it’s natural in our world.
“We need a light source that creates light, but God’s the other way. God is naturally in the light. ‘God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.’ And He had to literally create places where he wasn’t so there would be some darkness.
“Well, in the passage it’s talking about His glory coming to reside in us so there’s no darkness in us anymore. Literally, our future body’s going to be the repository of the glory of God and that glory is going to shine out through you. It’s going to be inherently and innately present inside of you because of who He is and you’re going to share in His glorification and it’s going to shine through you. That’s going to be some day!”
Monday, May 9, 2011
Peace like a river
When Jesus Christ says, ‘I am the good shepherd,’ He is saying, ‘I am Jehovah God and I am the Messiah.’ In the Old Testament, it says ‘the Lord is my shepherd.’ In Psalm 90 He’s the shepherd of Israel who sits between the cherubim; that’s Jehovah.
Jordan says, “That’s another one these great statements in the Book of John about His deity. When people say Jesus never claimed to be God in John it’s because they don’t understand who God is and who the claims and statements in Scripture are and how often the Lord Jesus Christ did assert Himself to be just who He was—God in human flesh.
“He’s saying, ‘I’m the right one. I’m the shepherd who does what he ought to do for the sheep and I know my sheep and am known of mine. I have fellowship with them, they know me and we have an intercourse with one another. There’s this communion we have as the Father knoweth me, even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep.’
“In other words, ‘The Father and I are in unison together. We know what each other thinks, we know what each other is desiring and doing and we’re in agreement.’ He’s not just saying we’re one in essence and being, but we have the same mind. The Father knows everything I’m thinking and I know His mind and I lay down my life for the sheep.
“Be careful for nothing. Take the thing and live in it and through it. We sing the song, ‘Take it to the Lord in prayer.’ That’s what the verse says. The term prayer is a general term about talking. Everything in life you ought to be talking to the Lord about. When you get in the habit of talking to God instead of talking to yourself you’ll have made a big step in this regard.
“When you become conscious as a Believer that the only person who hears that self-talk outside of you is God Himself because you’ve been called into this intimate fellowship with God. You’ve been placed into an in dissolvable union with the Godhead.
“His life became your life. His righteousness became your righteousness. His access to the Father, His communion with the Father became yours when He had the privilege of looking at His Father and crying, ‘Abba Father!’ The same access, the same privilege, the same boldness, the same confidence to come into the presence of the God of heaven and earth that Jesus Christ, God the Son, has. Wooo!
“Listen, there’s no greater privilege and God has no greater desire for you than just your fellowship. That’s what the Cross is all about. He wanted you. He longed for you. And He wanted to live right there where you are.
“It’s through the peace of God that I have access to the Father. I got into God’s presence and bring God’s word into my life, then I have the peace OF God. That’s that heart attitude that belongs to God Himself. The peace OF God is that heart attitude of not being anxious, fretting, worrying, careful about the problems of life.
“God’s got a plan. He’s got a purpose, He’s got something He’s doing and you He’s not worried whether it’s going to come out okay or not. He knows it is. He just relaxes and says, ‘I know the end of the story, bud.’ He’s got confidence in His plan, and in His Word and in Himself. And He takes that confidence that He has in his ownself and puts it in you.
The peace of God, that attitude from God that is absolutely confident that what he's doing will work. He said 'I'll put that in your heart.' And that will be what will tranquilize your anxieties Why because you talked to me about the details of your life in light of my Word, took my Word and focused it on the problems and made you suppilcations, your petitions to me about what's going on and what my Word said about how to apply and they you took it and made the application and by faith stood on my Word in your life and my Word became the issue right down to the details and that meant you have my attitude about it.' "
Jordan says, “That’s another one these great statements in the Book of John about His deity. When people say Jesus never claimed to be God in John it’s because they don’t understand who God is and who the claims and statements in Scripture are and how often the Lord Jesus Christ did assert Himself to be just who He was—God in human flesh.
“He’s saying, ‘I’m the right one. I’m the shepherd who does what he ought to do for the sheep and I know my sheep and am known of mine. I have fellowship with them, they know me and we have an intercourse with one another. There’s this communion we have as the Father knoweth me, even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep.’
“In other words, ‘The Father and I are in unison together. We know what each other thinks, we know what each other is desiring and doing and we’re in agreement.’ He’s not just saying we’re one in essence and being, but we have the same mind. The Father knows everything I’m thinking and I know His mind and I lay down my life for the sheep.
“Be careful for nothing. Take the thing and live in it and through it. We sing the song, ‘Take it to the Lord in prayer.’ That’s what the verse says. The term prayer is a general term about talking. Everything in life you ought to be talking to the Lord about. When you get in the habit of talking to God instead of talking to yourself you’ll have made a big step in this regard.
“When you become conscious as a Believer that the only person who hears that self-talk outside of you is God Himself because you’ve been called into this intimate fellowship with God. You’ve been placed into an in dissolvable union with the Godhead.
“His life became your life. His righteousness became your righteousness. His access to the Father, His communion with the Father became yours when He had the privilege of looking at His Father and crying, ‘Abba Father!’ The same access, the same privilege, the same boldness, the same confidence to come into the presence of the God of heaven and earth that Jesus Christ, God the Son, has. Wooo!
“Listen, there’s no greater privilege and God has no greater desire for you than just your fellowship. That’s what the Cross is all about. He wanted you. He longed for you. And He wanted to live right there where you are.
“It’s through the peace of God that I have access to the Father. I got into God’s presence and bring God’s word into my life, then I have the peace OF God. That’s that heart attitude that belongs to God Himself. The peace OF God is that heart attitude of not being anxious, fretting, worrying, careful about the problems of life.
“God’s got a plan. He’s got a purpose, He’s got something He’s doing and you He’s not worried whether it’s going to come out okay or not. He knows it is. He just relaxes and says, ‘I know the end of the story, bud.’ He’s got confidence in His plan, and in His Word and in Himself. And He takes that confidence that He has in his ownself and puts it in you.
The peace of God, that attitude from God that is absolutely confident that what he's doing will work. He said 'I'll put that in your heart.' And that will be what will tranquilize your anxieties Why because you talked to me about the details of your life in light of my Word, took my Word and focused it on the problems and made you suppilcations, your petitions to me about what's going on and what my Word said about how to apply and they you took it and made the application and by faith stood on my Word in your life and my Word became the issue right down to the details and that meant you have my attitude about it.' "
Monday, May 2, 2011
Bema me up
When you get to the Judgment Seat of Christ your service isn’t going to be a light thing to God.
“That word judgment there—the Greek word is bema--that’s the athletic contest, not the courtroom scene,” says Jordan. “The courtroom was taken care of in Romans 3. The judicial scene and the justice of God is satisfied there.
“In Romans 8 you’re before the bema. You go into an athletic contest and everybody runs. Think of the Olympics. Three people –gold, silver, bronze—win. Is everybody that runs honored? Sure they are. But there are those special ones that run and get the crown. And they’re specially honored. That’s the picture of the bema seat—the Judgment Seat of Christ.
“You’ve got to take your service down here seriously because when you get up there God’s going to review it and there are going to be special honors. It’s a reward that goes hand in hand with that inheritance.
“Paul’s aware of that and he’s talking about that and what he’s saying, in essence, to the Corinthians, ‘Hey, it’s worthwhile to serve the Lord down here because it’s going to be profitable for us up there. And not profitable just for us but for His glory up there.’ ”
*****
II Corinthians 5: 11 says, ‘Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.’
“You see there were a bunch of people there glorying in appearance, in who’s who, and who they were, and what they could get people to do and that kind of thing,” says Jordan. “‘Glorying in your flesh,’ Paul said over there in Galatians 6. ‘Making a fair show,’ and that kind of stuff instead of glorying in the heart and service for God.”
“That word judgment there—the Greek word is bema--that’s the athletic contest, not the courtroom scene,” says Jordan. “The courtroom was taken care of in Romans 3. The judicial scene and the justice of God is satisfied there.
“In Romans 8 you’re before the bema. You go into an athletic contest and everybody runs. Think of the Olympics. Three people –gold, silver, bronze—win. Is everybody that runs honored? Sure they are. But there are those special ones that run and get the crown. And they’re specially honored. That’s the picture of the bema seat—the Judgment Seat of Christ.
“You’ve got to take your service down here seriously because when you get up there God’s going to review it and there are going to be special honors. It’s a reward that goes hand in hand with that inheritance.
“Paul’s aware of that and he’s talking about that and what he’s saying, in essence, to the Corinthians, ‘Hey, it’s worthwhile to serve the Lord down here because it’s going to be profitable for us up there. And not profitable just for us but for His glory up there.’ ”
*****
II Corinthians 5: 11 says, ‘Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.’
“You see there were a bunch of people there glorying in appearance, in who’s who, and who they were, and what they could get people to do and that kind of thing,” says Jordan. “‘Glorying in your flesh,’ Paul said over there in Galatians 6. ‘Making a fair show,’ and that kind of stuff instead of glorying in the heart and service for God.”
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