Day of Pentecost

Mathew 19: 27 – 28  27) Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?  28) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.   

Shortly before Christ was crucified, he told Peter and the other eleven that the ones that followed him would sit on twelve thrones over the twelve tribes of Israel during the Kingdom age.  After Christ was crucified, he showed himself unto the twelve, and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit.  And the twelve asked him if he was now going to set up his Kingdom.

Acts 1: 4 – 11  4) And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me.  5) For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.  6) When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?  7) And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hat put in his own power.  8)  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  9)  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.  1) And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel;  11)  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?  This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

These men expected Christ to return and set up his kingdom during their life time, including going through the 7 year tribulation, as Peter explains to the Jews after these followers of Christ had been filled with the Holy Spirit and were speaking different languages.  The Jews that heard them thought they were drunk.

Acts 2: 12 – 20  12) And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?  13) Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.  14) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my word:  15) For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.  16)  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;  17) And it shall come to pass in the last day, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:  18) And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19) And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke;  20) The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

This is talking about the 7 years of tribulation, when the Lord comes with his wrath to destroy a unbelieving world.

The Resurrection of the Dead

I Corinthians 15: 21–30   21) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  22)  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  23) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.  24)  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  26)  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.  27)  For he hath put all things under his feet.  But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.  28)  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.  29) Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?  Why are they then baptized for the dead?  30) And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

There is no death for those who are in Christ

I Corinthians 15: 12-19   12) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that here is no resurrection of the dead?  13) But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  14) And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain (futile), and your faith is also vain.   15) Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.  16) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:  17) and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  18) Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Without natural affection

II Timothy 3:1 – 7  1) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2) For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. 3) Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. 4) Traitors, reckless, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: 5) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6) For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with different lust, 7) Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Sound familiar?  I want to go over the first phrase in verse three.  Without natural affection.  This is one of the biggest problems facing us every day.  We constantly hear of children being abused by parents, guardians or other family members.  Our natural affection is to love our children and protect them at all cost.  We are loosing this natural affection.  That’s why over a million babies will be aborted this year alone.  Mothers don’t have that natural affection.  I constantly hear on the news where somebody just got busted for viewing and trading child porn on the internet.  This should not be.  All of this is becoming so common place, most people just shrug it off.

Our divorce rate would drastically decrease if husbands loved their wives and wives loved their husbands with a natural affection.  One would always put the other first.  Husband wouldn’t abuse their wives, but treat them lovingly and cherish them. Husbands don’t own their wives, God owns them.  Treat them like they are Gods property and you will have to answer to God on your actions toward them.  All things are Gods.  God just grants us the privilege of being with them. 

As Christians we are to love and show love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.  No where does God give his consent to lust after each other.  There is a big difference, and we need to learn to separate the two.  Paul constantly warns us against adultery and fornication, and the church is not a safe haven from it. 

Parents don’t want to take care of their children, and children don’t want to be bothered with their parents.  It’s so much easier to just let someone else deal with them.  Godly natural affection will bring a family together and keep it together.

If you don’t have a natural Godly affection, just pray and ask the Lord for it.  Not only for yourself, but your entire family. 

If you don’t usually pray to God daily, because you just don’t have anything to say.  Then start praying daily about this.  Every pray that goes up to God is worthwhile.  Thank you and God bless.

Remember Christ this Easter Sunday

Dear Friends.  On this week, one thousand, nine hundred and eighty-four years ago, our Lord ate his last meal before his death.  He was betrayed by one that walked with him during his ministry on earth.  He gave himself willingly to be tortured, mocked, humiliated, spit upon, and ridiculed by lesser men.  His beard was yanked out by the roots.  There was a crown of thorns shoved down on his head. Most the flesh on his back was torn off through beatings.  Last of all, he had to carry his own cross.  Even our Lord, after he spent the entire night and most of the next morning being tortured, was so weak in his body, that he couldn’t endure the weight of the cross, and fell in the street a bloody mess.  He allowed himself to be nailed to that cross, and hung up to die one of the most excruciatingly painful death ever devised. 

Isaiah 52: 14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:  The word astonied comes from the Hebrew word shamem.  It means to stun: grow numb; stupefy; be shocked; make amazed; be astonished; wonder.

He did all of this willingly, for you.  The God of glory, the creator of heaven and earth himself, took on the body of man, and willingly gave up his life, to redeem us from the curse Adam put us under.  And believe me, his pain was every bit as severe as ours would have been under the same circumstances.  He was God, but also just as human as we are.

All he asked of us is one simple thing.  Believe in him.  Paul explains it as we give our lives to him and allow him to live through us.  We put away our old ways, and become a new creation.

I Corinthians 11:23 – 26  23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.  That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:  24) And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.”  25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”  26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Notice this scripture ends with ‘till he come.’  That tells us he will come again.  But if we die before his return, we can have confidence that we shall be with him.  Give him thanks this weekend, and give thanks to the Father God for allowing his Son to endure this for us.  There are none of us that deserve the price paid for our chance to have eternal life.  The Lord gave himself for us, so please accept his gift.  You will be eternally grateful.

The Armour of God

Ephesians 6: 11 -18  11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13) Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  14) Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15) And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16) Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17) And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The first five are all defensive: Truth, righteousness, preparation of the gospel of peace, faith & salvation.  The last two are offensive: the word of God and prayer.   Ending up with "supplication for all saints" which shows God our love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Make your request known to God

Psalms 34: 18  The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed) spirit.