THANK YOU, JOHN BURTON

Posted on November 13, 2015 by ez3728

I personally don’t know John Burton, but I sincerely appreciate his humble, godly, sober and biblically accurate response to Kris Valloton’s recent post: “My 8 Eschatological Core Values”.
http://krisvallotton.com/my-8-eschatological-core-values/

Kris a good man and a man with a voice in the Christian community. It is therefore important for that community to respond to one another’s differing opinions in a godly and biblical manner. And I believe John Burton has done so:
http://www.johnburton.net/2014/07/01/eschatological-core-values-a-response-to-kris-vallotton/

Without rehashing what John has said so succinctly, I do feel it would be good to add just a little.

SOME TENT PEGS OF OUR FAITH:
God is good, and that goodness is centered around holiness. Ps 73:1
He is not willing that any should perish, and yet people perish. 2 Peter 3:9
He has always been a righteous Judge. 1 Kings 8:32, 2 Timothy 4:8
God was not a raving maniac in the OT who was calmed down by the work on the cross. In fact, it is in Malachi that we are told God never changes, and because of His constancy, we are not destroyed. Still, we remain most accountable to Him. Mal 3:6, Ps 78:38, 2 Pet 2:12

Believers are invited to tremble at the word of God and to never dig our heels in to any position that cannot be fully supported by the fullness of the biblical text. That goes for post-trib, pre-trib, no-trib, dominionism, progressive troubles up to the return of our Lord, smooth-sailing til the wedding party, etc.

TREMBLING
Isaiah 66:1-2
1 Thus says the Lord:
“ Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

It is important for us to understand that the OT was written for the NT saint:
1 Peter 1:10-12
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things which angels desire to look into.

And it would be wise to appreciate what our Lord declared regarding the fulfillment of all things written in the law (Paul uses the word “the law” in 1 Corinthians 14:21 when he quotes Isaiah – so this statement ought not be limited to the sin-propitiation requirements of the Mosaic law being fulfilled by the work on the cross).

1 Corinthians 10:6-12
6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty- three thousand fell;
9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;
10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

PLEASE NOTE – Our Lord, in telling us WHAT NOT to think is making a preemptive strike against easy doctrines that He knew would be propagated in an attempt to drive the NT saints away from and out of the everlasting truths of the OT.
Matthew 5:17-19
17 “ Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Besides the warning, above, of diminished reward for those who would teach in that manner, it ought to be noted that both testaments confirm it has never gone well for anyone to declare what they refuse to embrace or won’t allow, when such “unacceptable” positions happen to be in alignment with biblical text.

AN OT EXAMPLE:
NOTE: THIS IS A “FOREVER AND FOREVER” DECLARATION, so we might always understand the ramifications of desiring easier things than the Lord might be saying:
Isaiah 30:8-10
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

AN NT EXAMPLE – here we see a warning that NT saints can even twist things to their own destruction – even in this age of grace:
2 Peter 3:14-18
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Exemplary of what I would consider as being inaccurate eschatology is where Kris writes:
“4. I will not allow any interpretation of the scriptures that destroys hope for the nations and undermines our command to restore ruined cities.”

We undoubtedly are called to actively evangelize the entire world, to preach to all nations, to warn every man. That said, and without contradiction, the word of God tells us there are nations and regions that will defy God up until the flaming-fire return of Messiah, and those nations are destined for destruction. The word of God says the following – concluding with the sovereign challenge: “who will turn it back?”.

Will anyone’s refusal to embrace this prophetic word stop this prophetic word?

Isaiah 14:24-27
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
25 That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”

Even as we hear (and pray for) the salvation of Muslims in the Middle East, of some having open visions of Yeshua the Jewish Messiah and converting, we still understand that sadly most of the enemies of Israel will remain the enemies of Israel.

The Assyrians will be broken, by a sovereign work of God, in God’s land.
I don’t think anyone would argue that land is Israel. To that point and supporting Isaiah’s word:
Zechariah 14:2-4
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go forth
And fight against those nations,
As He fights in the day of battle.
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.

Further to that point, Psalm 110, mentioned more times in the NT than the birth of Christ, confirms the following – the return of our Lord will be marked by violence and judgment:
Psalms 110:5-6
5 The Lord is at Your right hand;
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath
6 He shall judge among the nations,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
He shall execute the heads of many countries.

The word of God is what it is. The word of God is what it is.
We can argue. We can take issue. We can refuse to embrace it. We can even try to soften it. Or we can tremble at the word in its entirety, respecting its validity, recognizing what has been fulfilled and what has yet to be fulfilled by a loving God who has declared war on injustice and evil and everything else that stands in the way of holy love.

Thanks again, John Burton.

(All Scripture NKJV)

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The Destiny of Babylon: For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?

Posted on November 7, 2015 by ez3728

The great prophet Isaiah, writing for us (1 Pet 1:12) things which will all be fulfilled (Matt 5:18) tells us this:

Isaiah 14:22-27
22 “For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant,
And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
25 That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.

QUESTION: WHERE will God break the Assyrian?
ANSWER: In His land.
Ezekiel 38:16-17
16 You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”
17 Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?

BACK TO ISAIAH 14:
26 This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”

QUESTION: Who would try to annul ANY of God’s plans?
2 ANSWERS:
1. Folks who don’t know God.
2. Folks who know God but sadly don’t know the fullness of the word of God, who might prefer to embrace or even craft their own humanistic “mercy plan” that defies scripture. It will never work. Never has. In fact, Matthew 5:19 warns us of the jeopardy of going down that path.

The glorious New Testament, being completely in line with the glorious Old Testament. confirms the fulfillment of this prophecy, yet to occur in its completeness, at the end of this age.

Revelation 14:8
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
PLEASE DON’T MISS THIS: “…all nations…”

Revelation 18:1-8
1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’
8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

If you care to read further in Revelation 18 and 19, you’ll see the world bemoaning the destruction of Babylon and all it stands for/stood for, and the saints rejoicing over the holy intent and purposes of God’s plans. The magnitude of this prophecy is not fully comprehensible at this point, but someday it will make even more sense to us all.

The God of all mercy is, without contradiction, the righteous Judge, the King of the universe and the Commander of the armies of heaven. He is holy, and at war against all unholiness.

We are invited to press into the word to understand the plans of heaven.
We’re even invited to pray those plans into effect.
And we’re warned against ignoring them, or worse yet attempting to annul them by word or teaching or by embracing the philosophy of man.

For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?

All scripture NKJV

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In A Little While

Posted on October 18, 2015 by ez3728

John, looking forward to the events surrounding the imminent return of Messiah, sees and tells us this:

Revelation 11:16-19
16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God 
17 saying:
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

(Here’s the biblical presentation of the state of the nations prior to His return, and our Lord’s warranted response)
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,

(Here’s our great hope in His equitable judgment)
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,

(Here’s all things getting straightened out, conservation, and much more)
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

(No still small voice here)
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

That’s the group we want to be in: those who fear Your name, small and great.

I don’t see the scriptures presenting God as our buddy.
Our friend, indeed.
Lover of our soul, our Counselor, of course.

Mighty and awesome, always.
Reigning in power and majesty.

Luke 21:28
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

All scripture NKJV

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“Give You Anything I Got For A Little Peace Of Mind”

Posted on September 17, 2015 by ez3728

“Give you anything I got for a little peace of mind….”

Pitiful John Lennon. He sang that song, but missed out on the peace.

Meanwhile Paul, from a prison cell, admonishes the saints on what to meditate:

Philippians 4:8-9
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.
9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

He ends the admonishment with the assurance that the God of peace will be with you when you are in that place.

In Colossians, Paul tells us this what to seek and on what to set our minds:
Colossians 3:1-4
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

There’s more than a theme here. This has much to say about our success and stability during trying times, when wickedness roars loudly in an effort to terrorize us, to generate anger and rage, even to motivate us to respond to evil with evil. In our composure in God is our peace and our success. The resting place. What you choose to dwell on, focus on, live in will determine your “peace index”.

We are not yet at a point where the world is deceived into thinking peace peace when there is no peace. That’s coming, but not quite yet. Stay tuned.

Right now there’s little or no peace and most people know it, admitting it or not. But there will come a time when a false peace will be over the world, and even in that deceptive “peaceful” season, our focus must not be on the false and temporary world peace, but instead upon the elements of righteousness. In fact, I believe that the season of false peace will be a trap for some well-intended saints who will want to prematurely beat their swords into plowshares, before the actual battle is over.

There is and will continue to be warfare for our minds and our spirits in all times prior to the return of our Lord, and He is training us up so that we can be victorious in all seasons, as things escalate.

David modeled the concept of intentional turning away from even dwelling on mastering an understanding of evil, and instead focusing his mind, heart and spirit on the things of God, when he received a timeless revelation regarding the wicked.

Fast Forward to 2015 – I believe we are already being shown the deeper workings of the wicked, and we, like David, would do best to not dwell too long on those revelations, even when they are accurate. Here’s the exemplary text. Note that it is Psalm 36. That would be 6×6 – the square of the number of man. The fullness of man at his worst.

I picture David, on his knees, crying out to God: “WHAT MAKES THEM TICK?”
(David understood falling into wickedness in times of his own weakness. He paid the price for those actions, but he also understood the forgiveness of God to the repentant)

This (assumed) cry of David was not about the run-of-the-mill sinner. It was about the truly wicked.

So imagine with me, as David cries to God: “WHAT MAKES THEM TICK?” and then writes this psalm after receiving this revelation (oracle).

Psalm 36:1-10
1 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:

(the doorway to wickedness is the absence of any fear of God, including the complete absence of trembling at His word, or appreciating His authority and command for our holiness)

There is no fear of God before his eyes.

(The self-justification)
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.

(The wicked can often sound OK)
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;

(This “wicked man model” appears to have been wise at one time, wisdom always beginning with the fear of the Lord)
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

4 He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself in a way that is not good;
He does not abhor evil.

NOW, HERE’S THE EXAMPLE FOR US TO FOLLOW: Remember, we’re only at verse 4, yet David, having received this revelation of wickedness chooses to go no further into its depths. Instead of dwelling in that dark place, he turns and purposely sets his mind and heart on the things above. He goes to the place of worship and proclamation of the goodness and holiness of God.

5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

I believe the scriptures point to the days becoming darker and more troubling prior to the imminent return of our Lord.

A. In our understanding; AND
B. As a result of our intentional focus upon the things of righteousness,
…will be the true peace reserved only for the redeemed.

all scripture NKJV

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When These Things BEGIN To Happen…..

Posted on September 4, 2015 by ez3728

Attached are two 1-page writings from this month’s Charisma magazine.

I had been praying and thinking for a few days about writing something titled Convergence. And then this month’s issue arrived. Cover title is The Great Convergence.

Regardless as to your personal thoughts re end times matters – post/pre/mid, all that stuff, it would require someone to be deaf dumb and blind to not see, or worse yet ignore what is going on around us right now. Literally, right now. Sept/Oct 2015, and stretching into the next 12 months, things promise to be highly active, and then increase. Within the next month (and forward) way too many events, prophecies, financial, geo-political, military, legislative, etc events are coming together with uncanny coordinated timing. As our Lord said – those who have ears to hear let them hear.

I would suggest you go out of your way to obtain and read the entire September issue of Charisma. It is enlightening. To honor godly opinions re some yet-to-be-clear topics, the magazine fairly cites opinions that in some ways contradict other cited opinions. The point is not necessarily looking for the contradictions, but rather looking at the obvious trend. We appear to be in a season that God has spoken about in His Word, and ignoring it will not cause it to go away. It promises to be challenging, but still good for those who are in Him and understand at least a little about what is happening.

Called to be a teacher, I have some strong personal opinions re these topics. Many of you know how I am leaning. And you can read some of my thoughts on this website.

SOME POINTS:
NEWTON’S RIDDLE: I am not necessarily in full agreement that Sir Isaac Newton’s Riddle culminates w the actual appearance of Christ. It might culminate w the exposure of the Man of Sin. The point however, is the critical timing. Either way, Newton nailed it – a clock has been ticking and will tick louder, in these timed days, towards the return of Messiah. Years ago I began reading Isaac Newton’s writings on Daniel and Revelation. Heavy and thick stuff. He spoke of the re-establishment of Israel, and the return of Jesus. He grabbed hold of the 70 weeks prophecy. So far he has been proven accurate.

HEBREW CALENDAR: Sept/Oct (Elul/Tishri) have always been regarded by the Jewish rabbis as the Days Of Awe. Lots has occurred in the past – Yom Kippur War (reestablishment of Jerusalem as the capital), 9/11, the stock market collapse of 2008. Now we’re another 7 years forward – “7” itself implying covenant, completion, etc. This is the year of Jubilee. In Hebrew “jubilee” comes from yubel/jubal. It means shofar. The blowing of the loud horn – not only for celebration but for warfare, and judgment and warning.

Once again, only the Word of God is forever. Website opinions will come and go. Some are accurate. Many not. You are invited by God to search Him, and His truth, out.

WHAT TO DO: The answer of course is intimacy w our Lord. In prayer and in His Word. We are safe in Him. Ignorance or ignoring is not a safe place. The Lord knows those who are His.

28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.
(Luke 21:28 NKJVS)
Newton’s Riddle – Charisma Mag – 9.2015Troy Anderson – Charisma Mag – 9.2015

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He Knows Us Individually

Posted on September 2, 2015 by ez3728

It’s amazing how amazing our God is. He knows each of us individually. It’s demonstrated clearly in His very strong letter to the church in Thyatira, normally entitled (via paragraph heading) “The Corrupt Church”. Further amazing is how the policies of heaven are revealed throughout all of Scripture.

Revelation 1:10-11
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
11 saying, “ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “ What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Remember – all seven letters were written to those seven churches in particular and then told to be sent out, as one book, to all seven. They were specific, but public, letters. And those letters are also pointed to anyone, throughout the age, who would have ears to ear. We cannot wisely latch onto the promises without addressing the admonitions. We all rightly hope for the reward of verse 26. Eat the whole scroll.

Those with “ears to hear” therefore ought to include us. All of the scripture for all of the people all of the time.

Revelation 2:18-29
18 “ And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
‘ These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:
19 “ I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.
Things start off good. The church is not inactive. It’s a busy place, with good works, and faith, and service, and even acts of love.

20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

God being perfect, He will affirm our good works, but has never turned a blind eye to sin. There’s plenty of symbolism in the book of Revelation (“eyes LIKE a flame of fire”, etc.), but this does not appear to be symbolic. This woman Jezebel is presented as a real woman in the church. She is representing herself, and apparently being received as, a prophetess. Leadership is likely lacking discernment and knowledge. Jude tells us false teachers, prophets, etc. will continue throughout the age. Spots in our love feasts. They’d be in the church, speaking things that many would like to hear, affirming and promoting sin as being OK with God.

21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.

Patient God deals with His people, and gives them time. He apparently had already dealt with this woman. Repentance does wonders to get things straight. Ignoring sin, and God’s correction, is a lose-lose. God will escalate how He deals with unconfessed sin, but eventually it will destroy. Prov 29:1.

22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
“Indeed” means “don’t think otherwise”, “for sure, this will happen”. I believe this is a prophetic pre-emptive strike, by God, against the false doctrines of hyper-grace that both ravaged the Old Testament people, and continue to pervert the New Testament believer. Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. (I Cor 5:9 and 10, Gal 5:20 and 21).

23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
Would our good God actually do that? Did He do that in the Old Testament? Meanwhile, this is New Testament writing, so if you need to adjust your paradigm of how God might deal with unrepentant saints in this age, that would be profitable.

And now here’s the amazing glory of our God. In the midst of so corrupt an atmosphere and environment, our God knows who is His. We’re assured of that several times in Scripture.
24 “ Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.
25 But hold fast what you have till I come.

All the way to the end of the age, the saints will be here, admonished and encouraged to hold fast. I might add our Lord did not say “hold fast til I lift you out of here years before I come”. There will be ones with ears to hear that will be needing to hold fast till He comes in the clouds.

(And here’s a promise to us all)
26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations —

Jesus is pointing to Psalm 2. That which was ordained for Him is now promised to the ones who will overcome to reign with Him. Remember, this is in the letter to the “Corrupt Church”, and God has it loaded with a promise of ruling-reward for His faithful. How encouraging is that?

27 “He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels ’ — as I also have received from My Father;
28 and I will give him the morning star.
29 “ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’

What a great God we serve.
Clarifier – If you find yourself in a corrupt church, perhaps with false prophets offering bad doctrines making room for sinful living, this letter does not automatically tell you to stay there. Back in the days of Thyatira in Asia Minor, this corrupt church may have been to only church in town. We’re not living in Thyatira. You might want to pray about coming out and not touching the unclean thing. But if our Lord clearly calls you to stay there, have great hope – He sees us individually, and even the church-sin around you need not take you down. And He knows it is a burden to righteous saints, and to these good folks He promised no additional burden (verse 24).

Each and every one of us has sufficient grace to rise above sin. To overcome. To receive our reward.

All scripture NKJV

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All The Tough Stuff Did NOT Happen In 70AD

Posted on August 14, 2015 by ez3728

A very popular doctrine in the church these days is generally titled, as per a best-selling book: “Victorious Eschatology”. The book was written by Harold Eberle. Well written, I contend it nonetheless fails to embrace and address too many clearly expressed elements of prophetic scripture. And in that error, I contend that teaching fails the test of scripture.

The DOCTRINE called Victorious Eschatology (I will refer to it, for convenience as VE in this writing) asserts that the destruction of the temple by the armies of Titus in 70AD fulfilled pretty much all of the hard prophetic announcements of the Old Testament, thereby ushering us (the New Testament church), into a new era of overwhelming grace in which we will pretty much be insulated from troubles, and thereby free to progressively extend the kingdom of God in preparation for the coming rule and reign of the worthy King, our Lord Jesus.

I fully agree that our King will be Jesus, and that He is coming to rule and reign. THAT is the true victorious eschatology of the word of God. The error to VE is in checking off the “tough stuff” as being fulfilled by the horrendous events surrounding the destruction of the temple, and Jerusalem in 70AD.

First of all, I would remind us that our beloved brethren in other parts of the earth would experientially disagree that these are days of grace without persecution and increasing trouble. Our beloved brethren are being beheaded, crucified, and burnt alive, in most cases by the same enemies of the people of God that have been written about for thousands of years.

More important than even visual evidence, however, is the eternal Word of God.

Jesus told us clearly what NOT to think, as a pre-emptive strike against the false teachings He knew would be propagated in the church – teachings that would attempt to disarm and distract the saints from the end-times warfare (and glorious victories of that warfare). It is not yet time to beat our swords into plowshares:
(Matthew 5:17-20 NKJVS)
17 “ Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

EVERYTHING Jesus told us is “for assuredly”. The wording of verse 18 is for emphasis, so that we would not miss this absolute and un-negotiable truth. The smallest punctuation mark will by no means pass away till ALL is fulfilled. FULLY FILLED, to its absolute completeness.

The destruction of the temple, and Jerusalem, in 70 AD fails to meet the criteria of “all” being fulfilled. For example, Daniel 12:1 and 2 were not fully filled. Please note that “AT THAT TIME” in Dan 12:1 speaks of the time pertaining to an anti-christ who will be active in kingdoms both to the north and to the south of Jerusalem. This did happen IN PART during the pre-NT days of Antiochus Epiphanes, but those days failed to see the fulfillment of Dan 12:2. The people of Daniel were not delivered. And there are no reports of the arch-angel Michael having stood up to war on behalf of Israel:

(Daniel 12:1-2 NKJVS)
1 “At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.

Fast forward into the New Testament – If these verses apply to the destruction of the temple in 70AD, how could Daniel’s people, the Jews, be considered as having been “delivered” – unless it means delivered to slaughter or to dispersion?.

And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.

That book is opened at the end of the age, not in 70 AD:

(Revelation 20:11-15 NKJVS)
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

In support of the more historic interpretation of the verses in Daniel 12, we were told WHEN this would occur, verse 1 above said: “AT THAT TIME” meaning, at about the same time as the never-paralleled troubles.

This next verse in Daniel 12 clearly speaks to us of a resurrection of the dead. Did that occur in 70AD?

2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Verse 2, above, sounds remarkably similar to this end-times-return-of-Jesus prophecy:

(1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 NKJVS)
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 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.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

It is interesting that these tough words are actually given to the saints as a comfort. The comfort is not in their ease. The comfort is in knowing it is the plan of God. There is, by the way, false comfort in saying “peace, peace, when there is no peace”.

Daniel 12, therefore cannot soberly be checked off as done. It is yet-to-be-done.

There are countless more scriptures, pertaining to end-of-age violence, destruction, and trouble, that cannot be checked off as fulfilled by the destruction of 70AD.

For example – Psalm 110 (recited more times in the NT than the birth of Jesus), concludes with these yet to be fulfilled verses:
(Psalms 110:5-7 NKJVS)
5 The Lord is at Your right hand;
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.
6 He shall judge among the nations,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
He shall execute the heads of many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He shall lift up the head.

ESCHATOLOGICAL CHATTER, OR IS THIS REALLY IMPORTANT?
So what is the big deal about whether the tough stuff is done, or has yet to occur?

HERE’S WHY:
(Luke 21:25-28 NKJVS)
25 “ And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

When the tough stuff, which will happen at the end of this age, does happen, the saints that have bought into the 70AD end-all-be-all-of-trying-events will be in huge jeopardy of failing hearts. Those verse 26 (above) men will likely be saints, since that is the group with the expectations of the return of Messiah. The rest of the world will be oblivious to it all, eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.

God has not called us to hunker down and do nothing, waiting for the tough stuff. At the same time, He has encouraged and admonished us to never deny the clarity and accuracy of every word of God. Every jot, every tittle. All must and will come to pass, in God’s time. It does not matter what anyone else tells you. Nor does it matter what might be the most popular doctrine of the day.

I might suggest one reads Ezekiel or Jeremiah or Isaiah. The popular prophets were typically those prophesying smooth things. These three great men of God were unpopular, yet their truthful writings, in obedience to the Spirit, have withstood every test of time, all scrutiny of man, every onslaught of religious, false, easy teaching.

WHAT? Suggesting a New Testament saint study Isaiah, or Ezekiel, or Jeremiah? (Hint: Jesus and the New Testament writers quoted those guys countless times).
A huge deception of our enemy is to drive the New Testament saints out of the Old Testament.
And yet here is what Peter tells us: The Old Testament was in fact prophetically written for the New Testament saint, and that being the case, Peter asks us what kind of people we ought to be:

(1 Peter 1:10-17 NKJVS)
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things which angels desire to look into.
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, “ Be holy, for I am holy.”
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;

Peter then goes on to reveal more and also to ask us another question that remains vital:
(2 Peter 3:10-13 NKJVS)
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Dialing down what the scriptures tell us needs to happen, in order to either “inspire” church growth or offset any concerns to make our lives easier, is silly gospel, and in reality no gospel at all.

As the Lord said to His prophets of old: Eat the whole scroll.

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Hey, Has Anyone Seen My Salvation?

Posted on May 7, 2015 by ez3728

Can Someone LOSE Their Salvation?

I don’t believe anyone can LOSE their salvation – as long as LOSE means misplacing it. Picture your car keys slipping between couch pillows. “Hey, where’s my salvation? Anybody see my salvation?” In that light, your salvation can’t be lost. I do not believe that the scriptures support so fragile a context for our eternal position in God. After all, God Himself has valued it so precious that He will watch out for that, and in fact do all that He can or must do for us to finish well.

I do however believe the scriptures support a position whereby someone can intentionally turn from God so that they break covenant and destroy their salvation experience. An analogy I might put forth would be LOSING your salvation in like manner to LOSING your driver’s license because you repeatedly drove recklessly and purposely undermined and destroyed the blessing of the privilege, perhaps because you exalted drunken pleasure over responsibility. But let’s look into the Word, because worldly analogy only goes so far.

As always, scripture is best and most safely interpreted by scripture.

Here’s the banner verse for folks who contend: “Once saved, always saved” – no matter what you do or don’t do. Sadly that is a popular albeit faulty belief that, extended to full measure, requires the faulty conclusion that if/when someone might go off the deep end of faith and remain in that place, they were never saved in the first place. Oh my. Where would that leave us if this happened to someone who had ministered in a healing anointing, and then walked into a lifestyle of ongoing sin? “Gee. They prayed over me and I was healed. But they fell, so they probably were never saved. Bummer. Do I have to give back my healing?” Sounds silly, does it not?

The once-saved-always-saved banner verse is this:

Hebrews 13:5-6
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU”. That sounds about as firm as it gets. Thank You Lord.

Meanwhile, and as always, we would do well to honor God and His Word by reading that particular scripture within its context. That is always safe.

The writer of Hebrews, in fact writing to Jewish believers who knew their Tanach (Old Testament), was quoting Deuteronomy. In Deut 31, Israel was about to enter the Promised Land and engage their foes in fierce battle, in the will and purpose of God. Prior to that scheduled conflict, Moses their great leader would himself be leaving them and going to his final resting place. He was assuring the people that GOD HIMSELF would not be leaving them alone.

Deuteronomy 31:6-8
6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
8 And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

Wow – “will not leave you” is recited not once, but TWO TIMES.

We do wisely to read further into the text of Deuteronomy. although for blog-economy as well as to stay on point, we skip to verse 16:16, where the Lord looks forward to the corporate actions of the children of the covenant, to their future rebellion.

Deuteronomy 31:16-17
16 And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.
17 Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Do we see something else in Deuteronomy 31, besides God’s promise that He would not forsake us? In fact, we do. We see that our great God not only reveals His faithfulness in promising not to INITIATE forsaking us, we also see the correct context of that promise, which is clearly supported by other biblical accounts.

God’s people, exercising their free will, are always and at all times remain free to turn from God and His ways, to go after evil, and to forsake HIM – at which time His response, (thankfully proven throughout history to occur only after their ongoing refusal to turn back to Him) will eventually be His forsaking the ones who had so forsaken Him.

And that is not a warning reserved exclusively for the Jewish people of either the Old or New Testament:

Romans 11:21-22
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

If you continue in His goodness. Great words.

Colossians 1:21-23
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

If INDEED you continue. Your call. Our call. We have grace to obey.

Earlier in Hebrews we have the warning to brethren – “brethren” being ones in fellowship with God and one another, and we also thankfully have a remedy:

Hebrews 3:12-13
THE WARNING
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
A REMEDY
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
ANOTHER “IF”.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

How clear and concise is the word of God?

Verse 27 of Psalm 73 might well be interpreted as describing two groups: the group LIVING in a constant state of distance from God and His ways, and a second group who had known better, had tasted of the goodness of the Lord, and then had deserted Him. Logically, one cannot desert a place to which they had never been. They had been saved:

Psalm 73:27
For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.

Doesn’t verse 27 sound strikingly similar to the following New Testament admonition to saints (beloved) against their departing from God and thereby eventually finding themselves in the camp of people whose lifestyles of rebellion had set them up for eventual destruction?

2 Peter 3:17
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;

Are we walking on eggshells in our salvation experience?
Absolutely not.
Matthew, in describing our precious and gentle Lord, determined for none to perish, quoted Isaiah 42 in assuring us of God’s tender hand upon even the weakest of the weak, at the same time assuring the Gentiles of their salvation potential:

Matthew 12:20
20 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;

The psalmist puts it this way (I love this clear description of purpose – those who seek You):

Psalms 9:10
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

That is both our assurance of true eternal security – as well as our invitation to a lifestyle of actively seeking Him:
“For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

THAT fits so beautifully into the context of all scripture.

Phil 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

What a great and fair gospel. Thank You, Lord.

All scripture NKJV

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Learning From Asa

Posted on April 22, 2015 by ez3728

One of the great joys of scripture is that, in study, we are invited to discover not only the issues and events of the story or dialogue, but also the personality and operational characteristics of our amazing God, who, happily for us, tells us He never changes.

Malachi 3:6
6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

It is notable that Malachi, the last book of the Christian Old Testament, would have that revelation handed down to us – sort of like a pre-emptive strike against the saints, down the road, falling into the misconception that God has changed/softened up/been successfully medicated away from His anger issues, since the work on the cross – as if He was no longer requiring righteousness, no longer judging people and nations for their sin, etc. First of all, we would do well to understand that God’s abundant mercy and patience is evident throughout both testaments. It is not part of the “new” of “New Testament”. And secondly, God’s holiness, and His command for man to strive for holiness, remains very much alive and well.

Sadly, many of the doctrines floating around today would want to defy this biblical truth, and imply that it all changed with Jesus. Happily MUCH changed – in the way of abundant grace and a new availability of intimacy with God, but the writer of Hebrews would actually (correctly) want us to realize that the bar of accountability was elevated along with the availability of greater intimacy:

Hebrews 12:25-29
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven
26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “ Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”
27 Now this, “ Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

ALL THAT SAID – thanks to the account of King Asa there is so much to learn re:
A. God’s great and proactive work in seeking out and supporting those who are His;
B. The accountability of remaining in the will of God and never defaulting to the ways of this world;
C. The plans of God extending way beyond our own somewhat myopic perspective as to what is happening and what needs to be done; AND
D. Finishing well by determining to remain faithful at all times, even down the road in our successful walks.

1 Kings 15 presents a briefer picture of the story of Asa, but for our purposes let’s look at
2Ch 14:1-16:14

Chapter 14
1 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

So far so good. Ten years of quiet after he ascends the throne.
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God,

(and here’s the good that he did – he purged the place of false religion and idolatry)
3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images.
4 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.

(and we can see a correlation between obedience, holiness, and peace in this season)
6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.

(meanwhile, Asa was not basking in peace – he was soberly understanding the ways of this world, and wisely using the time to fortify the country)
7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

(please note here that it does not look like Asa eliminated the draft into the military. He was smarter than that)
8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.

(and sure enough, the army was going to be activated, because the lands around Judah were evil)
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.

10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

(Asa was wise enough to understand that an army was a good thing, but it was all about God and His providence and protection. Being outnumbered surely helped Asa to cry out to the Lord).

11 And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “ Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

(“SO THE LORD” – as a result of the cry of His people. Note to self: Cry out to God when you need to.)
12 So the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much spoil.

14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them.
15 They also attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

(Great stuff here. The attack of the enemy resulted in God’s intervention, and Judah came away with a victory, God was glorified and the fear of the Lord came upon the enemy nations, and there was spoils of war to carry away. Yea, God!)

Chapter 15
(Asa is on a roll, and the prophet of God, Azariah speaks to Asa to encourage him, and also to admonish and instruct the king as to how God works)

1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him:“ Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

(Wow that’s a tough word. BUT IF YOU FORSAKE HIM, HE WILL FORSAKE YOU. Didn’t Azariah read Hebrews 13:5 – ….”I will never leave you nor forsake you”? Of course not! – the New Testament was not yet written. Duh. But wait – we’d do quite well in honoring the scriptures to see what the writer of Hebrews was quoting: Deut 31:6-17. Please read that – it will surely bless you and it will reveal the context of the promise by unchanging God – He will never INITIATE forsaking His people, but we would do well to understand Deut 31:17 in particular – God has never been a chump. Jude confirms that).

BACK TO ASA – Azariah is still speaking – relaying some history so Asa can learn and move forward successfully:
3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; 4 but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.
5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands.
6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.

(Now Azariah personalizes the message to the king, encouraging him)
7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord.

(Wow – revival and growth! The leader’s obedience and zeal had things on the right path)
9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered to the Lord at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought.
12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

(They were pretty intense in their determination that folks did need to be all about serving God. We are blessed to be on this side of Calvary in that light).

13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14 Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams ‘horns.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

(Asa went further, even doing some house-cleaning in his own home. Righteousness costs something)
16 Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.

(Asa wasn’t perfectly perfect)
17 But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.

18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
19 And there was no war until the thirty- fifth year of the reign of Asa.

(If we were to give Asa a report card, it would likely be an A or A- at this time. This guy was pretty OK. But his reign was not over, and until anyone’s last breath, we will be tested and refined, by our great God who has great plans, always bigger than us)

Chapter 16
(Note that there appears to be no mention of anything Asa did wrong to inspire or cause the attack by the northern kingdom of Israel. It simply happened, while Asa was doing good).
1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

(Here’s where things “go south” as Asa actually looks to the northeast for help – he looks to Syria)
2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’ s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,
3 “ Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

(Asa was bribing Ben-Hadad, who ended up playing the war-whore here, so that Ben-Hadad would break his allegiance with Israel and join forces with Judah)
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

(At first blush, it looked like Asa had made a good move. Israel was defeated and even the seigeworks materials ended up as spoils of war. There was a season where Asa likely rejoiced in his international diplomacy)

5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.

6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

(God, meanwhile, was not pleased with Asa and instead of sending the prophet Azariah, sends Hanani)
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.

(WHAT???? What does “escaped from your hand mean”? We will never know. What we do know is that even today there are issues between the people of God and Syria. And what we surely do see through these verses is that God had a different/greater plan than the one initiated by Asa’s international diplomacy. Can we learn from the mess of Asa not to make our own?)

(The call to remembrance by Hanani to Asa)
8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.

(DRUM-ROLL PLEASE – 2 Chron 16:9. The great promise-verse that we all love so much and want to quote all the time. And it is wonderfully true – but the whole verse is true, not simply 9A, but 9B as well – just like the whole book. Peter mentions folks twisting the scriptures to their own destruction. We can do that if we start slicing and dicing the word of God. So let’s read of God’s proactive movement on behalf of His loyal ones – 9A, and also let’s read of the problems brought upon Judah because of Asa’s plans to do things his way – 9B)

9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

(Asa, instead of repenting, models the “shoot the messenger” adage. He gets angry with Hanani, persecutes him, and then continues in his despotic activity, oppressing others. This should have been a time for repentance for Asa, but instead it was a marker-event for his life and future. This formerly great king had the bit between his teeth, and was going to do things his own way)

10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

(Meanwhile God, in His righteous mercy, continues to move upon Asa, this time afflicting him in his body. He has always worked to get the attention, and the return, of His people – ref: Leviticus 26, Amos 4)

11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
12 And in the thirty- ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty- first year of his reign.

14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.

That’s sort of a sad end for a pretty great man. Like Sinatra, Asa could say “I did it my way”.

There is much to learn here. And I believe as the clock continues to tick toward the end of this age, more and more we will be invited into complete and absolute submission to the will of God, at all times and in all things. The creation groans awaiting for a revelation of the spirit-led sons of God (Romans 8). That leading is demonstrated to the world by our responsive obedience.

1 Corinthians 10:11-12
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

All scriptures NKJV.

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Worship In These Days

Posted on March 9, 2015 by ez3728

WORSHIP IN THESE DAYS

These are my notes from a recent ministry opportunity. You’ll need to read them as speaking notes, please.

I’ve been busy speaking and teaching, and therefore a little behind in getting things posted here, particularly for you out-of-towners that are not in my neck of the woods.

God has an end-times plan that heavily involves worship – it is obvious throughout scripture. And because of that obviousness, several things come into play:

1. We are invited and called to dig into understanding worship and participation in worship. It is big on God’s heart.

  1. Like anything Kingdom-related, we are accountable to learn what the Word tells us about worship.
  2. We are wise to understand that there are JEOPARDIES as well as BENEFITS directly associated w worship.
  3. We have an enemy who fears and despises worship – and will do all he can to try to undermine it.
  4. We win, in good part, because of our participation in worship.

FIRST – WORSHIP is NOT only music and song, although both of those elements are KEY COMPONENTS to worship. The BIBLICAL MODEL points us to Worship w SONG and MUSIC, but also points us to a LIFESTYLE appropriate for worshippers of God. Worship ain’t no gig.

Our LIFESTYLE needs to be consciously dedicated to worshipping God.
My prayer is that this message will bless you and enlighten you and challenge you, but I think it will raise questions in our minds and hearts as to how we can do this successfully. We have to find our way in this – but because I believe this is clearly of God, we can rest in the fact that HE will be leading us by His Spirit as we turn to Him, in understanding and in lifestyle.

My prayer, BEYOND INFORMATION, is for an IMPARTATION OF REVELATION OF YOUR CALLING INTO WORSHIP. There is WAY MORE on this topic than I can cover in one message, so if you yourself have received revelation re WORSHIP and I don’t go there, it is only because this is where we are going this AM. Any revelation you might have, biblically based, and from the Lord, is for you to ponder, chew on, and heed. GOD LOVES talking to us individually!

SUFFICE TO SAY – TRUE SUCCESS AND EFFECTIVENESS in worship ONLY comes from the place of intimacy, and often comes over time, and typically comes w a huge dose of brokenness. Several anointed friends, a well-known worship team, were at an intimate worship-leaders-only gathering a while back. Early in the meeting, someone came up to them and said there was something different about them, something from the Lord. Towards the end of the gathering that same person came up and said the Lord had revealed to him the reason for their profound anointing and effectiveness: brokenness.

To that point: The world won’t use anything broken, and God won’t use anything that isn’t. In large part, we have to present ourselves to God for the breaking-of-self-will, and also the breaking of anything else that would interfere w His presence infilling us. You cannot fill a full vessel. We want to be emptied of SELF.

When someone tells you “You are full of it” – you want them to be right. Full of the Presence of the Lord. When you are, you can anticipate changes in the atmosphere when YOU are in the room, because He is IN YOU. That changes everything. It is SUPPOSED to be that way. That is the result of worship-lifestyle.

Smith Wigglesworth said: “we have to come to our end before God can truly begin”.
Part of our ‘Your will be done” daily prayer is our willingness to be trained, corrected and, yes, broken by God, so that we might walk in the humility and intimacy required of us. I am still learning, as are we all.

Here is the PRIORITY OF WORSHIP – set forth by GOD, clearly expressed:

(To the Samaritan woman)

John 4:23-24

23        “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

24        “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

This runs right into John’s revelation of end times:

Rev 15:1, 3-4

1          Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

3          They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

4          Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.”

AND BEFORE THAT (EARLIER in the eschatological time-clock) – IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO HIS RETURN AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS – the evangelism outreach being intended to draw people to the Lord:

Rev 14:6-8

6          Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth– to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–

7          saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

8          And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

So we see the saints IN THOSE DAYS are called into a place of WORSHIP. I believe part of it is the worship-warfare revealed in Isaiah 30.

But before we get to Isa 30 – remember Rev 14:8 again: a MARKER-EVENT re: the end-times victory: BABYLON is fallen

AND WHAT IS REVEALED TO US, thousands of years earlier, by Isaiah, looking forward into the plans of heaven?

Isa 30:27-33

27        Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire.

28        His breath is like an overflowing stream, which reaches up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of futility; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.

29        You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel.

I think v27 sets the stage and 29 points to our PROPHETIC PARTICIPATION – not unlike what occurred at Jericho – when the worshippers went first – prior to the walls coming down:

GOING FURTHER:

30        The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones.

31        For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod.

32        And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the LORD lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps; and in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.

33        For Tophet was established of old, yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.

There is something reserved for response to WORSHIP – a particularly effective weapon of the Lord. Tambourines and Harps (representative of musical worship) accomplishes something critical, and unique.

Paul tells us in Corinthians we do not wrestle against FLESH AND BLOOD – but against principalities and powers in heavenly realms. WE ARE DEFINITELY WRESTLING – against them. Our battle HAS to begin as an AIRSTRIKE. It involves SPIRITUAL WARFARE, and that involves WORSHIP – by God’s design and intent.

WORSHIP plays a KEY ROLE in the overturning of the nations.
WORSHIP fills the Rev 5 bowls that will then be poured out on earth, initiating God’s righteous end-times activity.

This is the TRIGGER EVENT of the book of Revelation Scenario:

Rev 5:8-10

8          Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

9          And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10        And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
THIS IS OUR PARTICIPATION, OUR CALLING, AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY. HARP AND BOWL.

Do you see WHY our enemy, about whom the scriptures reveal as AT ONE TIME, PRIOR TO HIS REBELLION AND FALL, was likely the WORSHIP LEADER OF HEAVEN – do you see why he hates and fears anointed worship?
These verses are spoken about in reference to the ancient city of Tyre, but its revelation goes deeper – back to the days of CREATION. It hints at satanic influence in the CITY of TYRE – and POINTS to some of the creation blueprint in the heavenly realms:

Ezek 28:13-15

13        You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.

14        “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

15        You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

Can you imagine SATAN’S DREAD about an ARMY of CONSECRATED WORSHIP-WARRIORS who are participating in the culminating events of this AGE???

It is within this context that we need to understand and embrace and steward worship.
In that place of prophetic worship we will usher in the manifold presence of God.

OUR REFERENCE – the temple dedication:

2 Chr 5:11-14

11        And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions),

12        and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets–

13        indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,

14        so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory (CHABAD) of the LORD filled the house of God.

God (WHO KNOWS WHAT TIME IT IS) is purposely bringing us into a season of PROPHETIC WORSHIP – and by that I mean worship where SANCTIFIED, GOD-FEARING SAINTS PRAY THE PROMISES AND WORD OF GOD INTO ACTION – declaring INTO THE ATMOSPHERE that which the Lord has already told, and will continue to reveal to us.

Do you see the POTENTIAL? I hope so.
Do you see the JEOPARDY of screwing this up? I hope so.

The stakes are rising in these times, and we need to understand what we are coming into.

I believe Woodstock – sloppy and wild and messy and timely was the active womb our Lord utilized to birth last days worship – the dead womb of the church at that time not being the place for life to be brought about. Our Lord hates sin, but has never been intimated by it. The city in which the Woodstock Festival took place was NOT Woodstock NY as originally planned. The Lord had other plans. The small town of the Woodstock Festival was Bethel, NY. Beth-el. House of God.

My wife and I have enjoyed decades of relationship w, and involvement in, the lives of some of the great worship leaders – us – w little/no musical capability, or agenda….

So what is God doing NOW?

I contend He is sovereignly going about restoring the tabernacle of David – which was a place of intense and ongoing worship – providing an atmosphere for the manifest presence of God:

Here is the REVELATORY VERSE – which speaks to end times in that it points to the restoration of the people of Israel.

Amos 9:9-15

9          “For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.

10        All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

11        “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old;

12        That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the LORD who does this thing.

13        “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

14        I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

15        I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

VERSE 15 THIS COORDINATES W EZEK – which is CLEARLY about END-OF-AGE drama, so we would do well to associate the Tabernacle of David prophecy within that time period context.

Ezek 36:7-11

7          ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I have raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame.

8          “But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.

9          “For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.

10        “I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

11        “I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. (this is the end-of-age revelation to the Jews)

BACK TO THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID – moving into the NT to see the call to the Gentiles INTO this worship tabernacle, PRIOR to the return of the Lord, and FOR the salvation of souls

Acts 15:14-17

14        “Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.

15        “And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

16        ‘After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;

17        So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.’

This is the CRITICAL NATURE and PROPHETIC CALLING TO THE SAINTS IN OUR TIME.
We have to respond to this. It is part of our victory.

SO HOW DO WE RESPOND????

IN HOLINESS. This is not about a concert to God. The worshippers have to be holy.
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Worship is not about “getting into worship-mode”, it is about dying to self and making a lifestyle commitment to dwell in a spirit of worship. We have a long way to go. I’m w ya, pressing in..

Here’s the warning about unsanctified worship – the Christian “gig” – just like the Jewish gig:

Amos 5:21-24

21        “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.

22        Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

23        Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

24        But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

 

DOING IT HIS WAY – Never in FAMILIARITY – Backstory – the ark was taken by the Philistines, then returned to Israel and it stayed in Abinadab’s HOUSE for 20 years.

The ark of the covenant represented the glory of God.

1 Sam 7:1

1          Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

And that RESTING PLACE in a man’s home, may have bred familiarity.

Then they determined to bring the ark into Jerusalem. They desired the PRESENCE OF GOD, but wanted to bring it in by their own good intent:

2 Sam 6:3

3          So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

2 Sam 6:5-7 – worthless worship .

5          Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

6          And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah (a son of Abinadab) put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.

7          Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.

WORSHIP, out of the order of God, even w good intent, will fail.

THEN THEY GOT IT RIGHT:

1 Chr 15:13-16 and 25-28 (after some biblical research, David tells them)

13        “For because you did not do it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.”

14        So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

15        And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.

16        Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy.

 

25        So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom with joy.

27        David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

28        Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

We are ACCOUNTABLE TO KNOW what has gone on before us, so that we can avoid the same pitfalls and failures. WE NEED TO BE WORSHIPPING ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLANS AND METHODS.

Fortunately, for us, we are under great Grace – but that Grace is to allow us ACCESS to a holy God, it is was never intended to LOWER the BAR on HOLINESS, nor on doing things right:
1 Cor 10:11

11        Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

WHEN the Presence of God comes into a place, the ACCOUNTABILITY INDEX elevates.
Ask Ananias and Sapphira. The early church was marked by the presence of God. The ACCOUNTABILITY INDEX was high. I am confident that ACCOUNTABILITY INDEX is rising again – as the Lord prepares His people.

It will be that way in as we get closer to the return of the Lord. God is training us NOW so that we will be ready and prepared for the PROMISED OUTPOURING.

THIS IS NEW TESTAMENT ADMONITION – the bar has been raised, along w the intimacy-index:

Heb 12:25-26

25        See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,

26        whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”

We are talking OUR DAYS.
If the foundation of the nation of Israel has ANYTHING to do w the end-times clock ticking, WE are in the generation of that season.

God’s end-time plan clearly involves Israel. CNN and FOXNEWS testifies to that.

Jesus is returning to Jerusalem. He is dealing heavily w the Jewish people. Even in their current state of national blindness, what is going on IN and AROUND Israel is proclaiming the news of the soon and coming King. The eyes of the world are rightly on the Middle East.

We HAVE to be people to understand what God is doing, what He is calling us into, and what He expects of us.

We would do well to not miss out on the fullness of what God is doing.
But if we get sidetracked or hung-up and worse, I humbly contend we can even be destroyed by His presence.

As I mentioned earlier, my wife and I are not very musical, but we have been called into the place of worship, TO WORSHIP OURSELVES, to be speaking into the lives of worship folks, covering them, challenging them.

By His grace, to some degree, we “get” worship. So I am speaking re this subject as an INVOLVED OBSERVER and non-singer/non-musician PARTICIPANT, and as one who has some experience in a few outpourings, revivals, gatherings where the Presence of God showed up powerfully, AND ALSO we’ve seen other situations where people were goofy, or controlling, or immature and simply did not know how to STEWARD the PRESENCE of God, and folks missed the DEEPER COMMUNION OF WORSHIP FELLOWSHIP.

We need to understand what God is doing. We need to LEARN TO STEWARD THE PRESENCE OF GOD. We want the SUSTAINED PRESENCE OF GOD.

THAT IS EMMANUEL – God with us.

PSALM 24 presents the Lord w His warrior title – LORD OF HOSTS – King of the Universe – Commander of the Armies of Heaven – this is huge in the end-times plan of worship:

Ps 24:6-10

6          This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah

7          Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

8          Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

9          Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

10        Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah

Worship, by its nature, is a place of intimacy. Intimacy involves exposure.
If you are not ready to be naked before God, you will not enter that place.
Ps 26:2-8

2          Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.

3          For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.

4          I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites.

5          I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.

6          I will wash my hands in innocence; so I will go about Your altar, O LORD,

7          That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works.

8          LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.

If there is something hidden inside us, it will HINDER us, DESTROY us, or at very lease CHASE WAY the presence of the Holy God.

AMOS, AGAIN:

Amos 5:23

21        “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.

22        Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

23        Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

One thing I have seen, too often, is the spirit of CONTROL OF MAN over worship.
It is always disastrous. Be warned. New Levels, New Devils.
We are ALL called into the place of worship; but some are particularly called into the place of singers and musicians, and I want to speak into that.

BE CAREFUL of your motives.
BE CAREFUL of your own agenda.
BE CAREFUL of your ego.
BE CAREFUL of the intimacy and all that that entails – some have fallen because of THAT.

(Solomon was anointed and wired for intimacy – but in the flesh it caused his downfall. 1000 women). Stay holy in all things.

BE TEACHABLE by the Spirit – we need to mature in our understanding of what God is doing.

BE CAREFUL.

Cry out for a greater understanding of what God is doing, and what God wants, BY THE MINUTE.

As a teacher, I can say that my well-prepared notes, and my gifting to teach, can sometimes become my two greatest enemies.
For my teaching to be effective, I MUST remain submitted BEFORE DURING and AFTER ministry. Anything else will rob ME and rob my audience, and rob GOD of that which is rightfully His.
BE CAREFUL when it comes to how you direct or lead others. Fear God.
Allow people to move as God would have them move, and learn to be FLEXIBLE, so that God’s DIVING INTERRUPTIONS are not hindered by our SPIRITUAL CONSTIPATION.
Our plans have to remain on the altar.

When we read the word of God and see things intensifying, THAT is a GOOD THING.
The church that is on earth prior to His return will be walking in a ELIYAHU HANAVI anointing:
ELIJAH who is to come.
And that anointing is the JOHN THE BAPTIST anointing – preparing the way of the Lord.
That anointing HAS TO BE MARKED by our DECREASE.
The JEOPARDY of anointing can be our pride and ownership, and that will destroy it all. (Ahithophel 2 Sam 15-17 – the anointed seer who sold out, preferring his calling and his mantle over God’s will and righteousness, being the poster0child for failure)
The POTENTIAL of anointing is our participation in the greatest event to ever come upon the earth – the return of the righteous King to rule and reign over the nations.

Let’s prepare the way of the Lord.

Let me end w this great psalm – Ps 63.
I want to say that ALL OF US are called into worship – not simply the musicians and singers.

That is a deception to believe that – it is a dumb-down of the call of God on the life of every saint.

And let me say that RESPONDING TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD during worship is a GOOD THING – but there’s something better than RESPONSE.

It is called INVITATION BY US, to God.

Ps 63 reveals that model:

Ps 63:1-5

1          O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

2          So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.

3          Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.

4          Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

5          My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

Can we worship? Will you lift up your hands? Bow your knees? Open your mouth in praise, NOT because you might ALREADY feel His presence, but because HE IS WORTHY – and in that place of your surrendered mind, body and spirit, He delights?

 

all scripture NKJV

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Posted in Everything, Movement of God, Personal Relationship, Worship | 1 Comment