Personal attention by 'the Lord himself'

When the blinding light of God’s countenance shone on Paul on the road to Damascus and he heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest me?” Paul responded by asking, “Who art thou, Lord?” but he knew it was God.

“It was the first time in his whole life that he’d ever really encountered God,” says Richard Jordan. “He’d had all of this religion but it never got him to God. Now God showed up and he says, ‘Who are you?’

“Now, I don’t know about you, but in the back of my mind I have the idea that he’s thinking, ‘Who are you?! PLEASE don’t say Jesus!’

“Paul didn’t say, ‘What new regulation do I need to follow?’ He said, ‘Who art thou, Lord?’ You know what Paul wanted? He wanted to know the Lord. He wanted to know who He was. He had a desire to know Him."

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Just as the dispensation of grace began with this very personal appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to Paul, the dispensation of grace will end with the appearing of Christ to the Body of Christ as He takes us out of here.

“It was an unprophesied appearing over there; it’s an unprophesied appearing here (at the Rapture),” says Jordan. “By the way, it was a personal appearing there; it will be a personal appearing here.

“I Thessalonians 4:16 says, 16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

“Go through I and II Thessalonians sometime and notice that four times in those two books Paul says ‘the Lord himself.’ It’s a fascinating little Bible study. Personal attention by the Lord Himself. Paul emphasizes that. One of the things is He’s going to come and get us.

“But the Lord Himself reveals . . . When Paul says there’s a reward laid up, a crown for all those ‘that love his appearing,’ if you know about this first one, it tells you about that one.

“So the motivation is to understand what God’s doing today and to value and esteem above all other things God’s program today that He’s made us a part of, according to His own purpose and grace which is given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, and as that’s the thing that captivates your heart . . . Paul says when you love that, when the value and esteem you have . . .

“That love is not the l-u-v stuff. It’s wonderful to have a heart blessing time and hug necks and pat each other and say, ‘Good to see you,’ that kind of stuff. You know, whether you mean it or not, it’s nice that you do it. Makes everybody feel better. But it’s not that ‘there’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place.’

“Ever been to a football game and they’re singing the ‘Rah! Rah!’? Go down to the pub and they’re doing the karaoke.

“When we talk about love, Philippians 1:9 says, [9] And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
[10] That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

“It’s not an emotion; it’s a mental attitude. A love that abounds in knowledge. It’s an ability to evaluate and esteem something, think about it the way God thinks about it. That produces judgment, discernment, the ability to look at the details of your life and say, ‘Here’s what God’s will in that is.’

“God the Father believes if you see the value He sees in God the Son, you can’t do anything but love Him the way He does. And so He’s devised this plan, and set forth this system whereby He’s going to exalt His Son in the heavens and in the earth and bring everything to work together as one unit that honors and expresses the wisdom of the Father as it’s revealed in His Son. This is the fantastic plan He has for us.”

(new article tomorrow)