9_3_2013_pastor_dennis_mp3.mp3 |
We have our first sermon available for download. Click below to download and listen to the sermon recorded 9/3/2013.
1 Comment
We could be coming to the end of the biggest and longest drought in the last 70 years of New Zealand history. People in high places are coming up with all the theories why this is so, everything from global warming to bad management. But the one thing they have not and will not consider is what is going on in the house of our lawmakers and leaders, Government House. [Psalm 94:11]
In November last year our government voted against the State of Israel, deciding to stand with the Arab states in once more dividing up Israel. [Joel 3:2] They touched the Apple of God’s eye [Zechariah 2:8] they went against the Word of God and by doing this they have bought a battle with Himself. [Revelation 16:4] Genesis 12:3 states very clearly what will be the results of anybody going against the Jewish people. When you stand on the hilltops in Israel looking over the land, nearly every invading army has passed through this land at one time or another. You stand in Caesarea where Paul stood in front of Agrippa [Acts 26:1] where the Greeks, Romans, Crusaders and many other conquering armies camped, but where are they now? All gone and who remains? The very people they tried to rid the world of. There is a saying in Hebrew, ‘Am Israel Hai!’ (The people of Israel live) and live they do. New Zealand sold themselves for 30 pieces of silver, for the lamb sales to Arab states, which they have stated, and the oil supply to our Islands in the South Pacific. God is the God of Heaven and Earth [Genesis 24:3] He is all powerful [Job 36:22] and should be feared. [Joshua 24:14] History shows that He cannot be mocked. The Queen of England in her 60 years of reign has never visited Israel. England is no longer the power she once was. It was prophesied in 1911 when England ruled the waves and the sun never set on her empire, that England would lose all, and it has. God has stated in His Word that Israel will never cease to be a nation before Him. [Jeremiah 31:36-40] God said He would once more plant them in the Land and He has. [Amos 9:15] If you want to see that God is true to His Word, then go to Israel. Now we hear that oil and gas have been discovered and there is talk of Israel becoming a small super power. Are we surprised? No! Why not? Because the promises of God are true and everlasting. [Isaiah 40:8] God created this world and everything in it. He created you and me and put a spiritual longing within us. A longing to find more of Him, yes people look in the wrong direction, but that does not change Him or His Word. [1 Peter 1:23] The attack on God’s Word has never been greater, the attacks against Israel from within the Church and outside it, are increasing day by day. Now we have the equal marriage bill which will change the marriage of one man to one woman to anything you like. Another degrading of God’s Word and again many in the Church are supporting this move that is happening all over the world. [1 Peter 1:14] There has been no time in history like now when Christians are standing with the world to be able to take the Word of God out of Society. But just like it has been over the last 2,000 years with one army that has disappeared for trying to destroy Israel and the Word of God. The modern “armies” trying to do the same will be long gone, but the Word of God will remain. What be it if we gain the whole world but lose our souls? [Mark 8:36] The Word of God has proven itself to be the truth, prophecy after prophecy have come to pass regarding the Jewish people. What we have to ask ourselves is on what side of the line do we wish to stand, with God or against. Are we going to be Levites, [Exodus 32:25-26] a Kingdom of Priests serving our Lord and Saviour, standing with the Word and all the promises made to the faithful until we receive that prize. [Philippians 3:14] Israel is once more in danger of collapsing as they struggle to put together
a government after the recent elections. They seem to go from one crisis to another but through all this they survive. The intent to destroy Israel and the Word of God is never ending. It is either against Israel or the Word of God and comes in many cases with support from the Church. When the Disciples of Yeshua, who were Jewish, took the Gospel to the people of the world their base was Hebraic. This means they knew the meanings behind the sayings of Yeshua and they knew the Word was truth as they had seen it in action and had lived it. [Mark 6:1] The Gentiles took control and the so-called Church Fathers immediately started to change things to their way of thinking and teachings. This thinking was not Hebraic but Greek and this created a massive shift in the teachings from those of our Lord. It created a mind set more based on Plato than Yeshua. [2 Corinthians 11:14] This meant that anything seen to belong to the Jews was to be removed and removed it was, even in many cases by force and death. For the next thousand years Church Leader after Church Leader brought in more and more anti-Semitic teachings. [Matthew 7:15] None of these teachings were Biblical because they advocated murder, a strong word I know but Yeshua said, “If you hate your brother you have already committed murder”. [Matthew 5:22] The teachings of the Church have for many centuries advocated the hatred of the Jewish people, from Augustine to Luther, from Church to Church, no Church throughout history has been immune from this, the longest running family feud in history. Now the Pope has resigned and the election of the new Pope has got under way; there is much speculation of who the new pope will be. You say you are not a Catholic so why should it bother you? Well put it this way: because of the persecution of the Jewish people over the last 15 hundred years, from expulsions from Spain and England to the pogroms throughout Russia and the near destruction of their chances to return to their promised Land by Christian Nations. [Joel 3:2] Is it any wonder that the people of Israel group all Christians under one roof? You might say this is unfair but we do the same, we group all Jewish Religious groups as being the same when they are not. So whatever the Pope does it reflects on all Christians. During the time of the last two Popes there have been apologies and many bridges built repairing the damage caused over centuries of Church hatred towards the Jewish People, but it must be noted that one of the front runners could destroy all this good work if elected. A Cardinal from Central America is on record for his very anti-Semitic words to the point of blaming the sex scandals that have occurred in the Church on Israel. If this man is elected all the good work done by the previous two Popes and the standing of Christians in the world towards the Jewish People could be destroyed. Anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout the world and if it is not this trying to destroy the Church it is the Church trying to shoot itself in the foot. The early Church did away with the Gospel and replaced it with their version, which was based on the leaders power. [Mark 10:42] Today it is changing the Gospel for what will attract people to Church. Entertainment has replaced salvation, enjoyment has replace repentance and paganism has replaced truth. The reverence of God has been removed and the Holy Spirit is being abused when we are told we do not need Him to understand the scriptures, [John 16:7] and as for Yeshua, many Churches are now teaching that He is not the only way to salvation. [John 4:12] If He is not the only way, millions of people have been deceived and are teaching a deception. But then the Lord Himself warned us this would happen, to beware of the wolf in sheep clothing. [John 10:13] His Word is Truth with a capital T, and beware of false teachers. Many will wander from the truth and the list goes on. I for one, refuse to replace the Gospel for entertainment, I refuse to replace the Gospel with feel good experiences. [2 Timothy 4:3] God sent His Son as The One not just another one, He came to be our sacrifice to set us free from the things of the world, not to sink us further into it. [John 17] Israel is in danger but so are we if it goes down, as the truth of the Word is Israel because it is the modern miracle that shows God’s Word is truth. Nothing can separate us from God, but many people and teachings are trying very hard to do just that. The Word tells us to take every thought captive [2 Corinthians 10:5] and stand dressed ready in Salvation, Righteousness and Truth [Ephesians 6:14] and to be overcomers [Revelation 3:5] ready for His return. God is not a democrat He is a King with overall authority. He is not into
debating His rules and regulations. He is not into debating whether He exists or not. In the Words He spoke to Moses when he asked God the question, “Who are you?” God’s answer was simple and to the point, “I am who I am”. [Exodus 3:14] What more needed to be said? He existed before time began [Genesis 1:1] and He will exist after time ends. [Hebrews 13:8]. We, with our limited minds cannot full understand this and we continue to debate who He is and where did He come from and is He who he said He was and is and will always be. [Psalm 48:14] We debate His word as they have done from the time of Moses, [Psalm 42] but this does not change God as nothing changes His Word or Him. Men and women have been killed by the thousands down through the centuries for just believing God is, was and will always be, and the only way we are saved is by the grace of God. [Ephesians 2:8] Someone once asked the question of a person speaking about creation – “Why did you not put the case for God’s existence?” His reply was, “To argue there is a God is like telling fish there is water.” It is time for the Church to recognise and teach and believe that God not only exists, He is bigger than all the debates that were ever put together over His Word and over Yeshua. Psalm 46:10 says to “Be still for I am God.” In other words not to worry ourselves sick over this word or that, not to worry if He is truth and not to worry about whether He will return one day. The simple truth is, His Word is truth, [2Timothy 2:15] and one day He will return. [Acts 1:11] There is nothing in this world we will encounter that is not covered in His Word. From the smallest to the greatest question we would ask or problem we encounter there is an answer in His Word. [1John 3:20] God rules a Kingdom and He is sovereign, but He is also our Father, a Father who loves His subjects and this goes without question, as people struggle with problems and say “Where are you God?” The answer of course is He is in the same place as He was when He watched His Son Yeshua dying in great pain on the Cross. He is in the same place as when they dragged Yeshua through the streets of Jerusalem and nailed Him to the Cross and He is in the same place as when they tied Yeshua to a pole and beat Him. He is in the same place as He always was before then and since. We can question Him and we can discuss with Him but in the end He is still God and we are still the servants whether we like the answer or not. We pray and get an answer, an answer we do not like but the truth is it is the right answer from God’s point of view. [Numbers 23:19] God is God, He is above all other gods, many gods have eyes and legs and ears but they are nothing but blind eyes, deaf ears and legs made of wood. [Psalm 115:5] However the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is alive and is there for us in every situation if only we would let Him be. He is who He is and nothing we can do can change Him and His plans or His purposes. He is never changing. [Titus 1:2] So we can debate about Him, we can question Him, we can even wonder what His plans are, but in the finish there are some things that remain secret to us. [Deuteronomy 29:29] But one thing I do know He is 100% faithful to His Word and if His Word says it then I believe it. [John 14:6]. You sit and wonder what more can be said about our Lord and Saviour and what more
can be taken out of the message of salvation. However it was once said if we do not learn from our mistakes they are sure to be repeated. Yeshua came to change things back to God’s way of thinking and doing things. [Proverbs 3:5] All of mankind have gone astray and try to change things to suit themselves. [Isaiah 53:6] It is said in a marriage that each partner tries to change the other to his or her way of thinking. That may be fine on earth but is it fine in heaven? Things down here should be done God’s way. As we know, a lot of marriages have trouble because of this push for change. However the good news is God does not change, He is the same yesterday today and forever and that is very good news. [Hebrews 13:8] It is time for us to realise that it is we who must change to live as God commands not as we want. No, God is not a tyrant but someone who knows our every need and knows what the end is from the beginning. [Isaiah 46:10] He knows our going out and our coming in. He knows all and wants only the best for His “Bride”. The real fact is, it is us who need to change for us to be the person He wants us to be as His Bride. [Revelation 19:7] The question is what have we been doing about this since we bowed our knee to Him and said ‘Yeshua is Lord’? I have often asked the question are we the same person today as we were 12 months ago? Has there been any change in our thinking towards God? Has there been any change to our relationship with people? Has there been a greater desire to see change in oneself? Or are we happy just floating along as we have always done? Remember the saying: If we always do what we always did we will always have what we have always got. We start our walk with the Lord with great enthusiasm and we are full of excitement for the future, but things happen along the way and we get tired. God never gets tired and is always there to build up and strengthen us to ensure we continue to the end, [Psalm 62:2] to claim the prize. [1 Corinthians 9:24] All we have to do is keep our eyes firmly fixed on Him and not the things of the world. One day these things will pass away and Yeshua told us to build up treasure in Heaven and not on earth where it can be destroyed. [Matthew 6:19] This life is learning to have faith in God and the future He has promised. In the words of C. S. Lewis, faith is like diving off a high board into a pool; you know that the water is going to catch you. It is faith in an unchanging God that brings growth, a growth that is needed if we are to please God. [Hebrews 11:6] I am reminded of the vision of General Booth the founder of the Salvation Army. He saw the man bring all his wealth to the foot of the Lord and when he presented it to the Lord, it was touched by fire and was burnt up with nothing left. This is not to say people with money will suffer the same fate but it does say what will happen if we put our faith in the wealth we have or have not got instead of faith in the Lord. [1 Timothy 6:10] It is the little things that show the Lord that we have changed, the things that make a change in this world to show the Kingdom to come to this world. Is it change for changes sake? Definitely not! It is change for our sake to come fully into the presence of God. As I have said before, it is said that God loves you where you are but He does not want to you stay in such a state. He wants His future bride to be ready and waiting for His return. We can have all the words, we can have all the songs, we can even have the right prayers but if our heart is not right then we need to do something. [Ezekiel 36:26] How do we know if our heart is wrong? How do we know whether we have the right thinking? There is of course only one way and that is put our heart and thoughts up against the Word of God and they will be shown to be either treasure or chaff. [Deuteronomy 32:2] It is time to get serious with our actions towards God the Father who sent His Son to show us the way to change in this life in preparation for the next. [1 Timothy 4:8] What are you remembered for?
King David anointed by God and a mighty warrior, a man whose praises were sung very loudly. [1 Samuel 18:7] He was a man of humble beginnings as he watched the flocks by night to keep them safe from the enemies who would try to destroy them. [1 Samuel 16:11] He wrote many Psalms such as ‘I walk through the valley of death,’ [Psalm 23] and ‘Against you only have I sinned Lord’. [Psalm 51:4] He was a great King of Israel and he walked in the ways of God. He brought the Tabernacle to Jerusalem [1 Chronicles 23:25] and through him God said He would establish his Kingdom forever. [2 Samuel 7:16] He showed weakness when he ran from his enemies [2 Samuel 15:14] and he stepped outside of God’s anointing from time to time, [2 Samuel 24:10] he even committed adultery and killed to hide it. [2 Samuel 11:17] But he was also prepared to listen to rebuke and repent of those sins. [2 Samuel 12:1] He gave God the glory for his success to the point that he wanted to build a “House” for God. Many people have no problem in recognising this man as a great leader of Israel, there are many statues of him in many museums that remind us he did exist and is part of history. There is the point he is part of history, his time is gone and will never return. In the words of Job we are here for such a short time and then we are gone never to return. [Job 14:2] Listening to my Grandchildren I hear much confirmation that you may be famous, you may have conquered great things, but one day and in a very short time you will be forgotten by most of the population. However there is one who will never forget you, God the Father, as you were made in His image [Genesis 1:27] and wonderfully made. [Psalm 139:13-14] David spoke of Him, the prophets spoke of Him coming to earth. Because He lived the whole world has been changed by Him -. Yes Yeshua lived then as He lives today. Unlike David He was not a great warrior, He did not sin, He never showed weakness and never went outside God’s will no matter how bad things looked. [Matthew 26:42] Many people deny He exists today and say that He never walked on the earth in the form of mankind and yet they enjoy a lifestyle that could never have happened without Him. Islam denies Him, Buddhists deny Him, Hindus deny Him and their lifestyles are one of continuous struggle to find salvation without Him. People of the West have Him all around them but are blinded from Him by the world. They seek peace in money they seek peace in a form of spirituality that only leads to darkness. [John 3:19] They seek peace in eastern religions by which the people of the east are continually trying find peace through chants, flags and meditation. However when they learn of The Prince of Peace, Yeshua, the one who came from Heaven [John 6:51] to set the captives free, [Luke 4:18] died for their sins [1 Corinthians 15:3] and has returned to sit at the right hand of the Father [Acts 2:33] and will one day return for His Bride [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17] they are attacked by those who have no peace. Yeshua Jesus born of a virgin who grew in wisdom and stature, who walked the earth doing many miracles and who was without sin, [Hebrews 4:15] who died a sinners death and rose on the third day [1 Peter 3:18] conquering death for all time for those who would believe. [Revelation 20:6] And who will return one day with a great trumpet blast proclaiming His Kingdom. [1 Corinthians 15:52] All we have to do is believe, stop the struggling through works and meditation and objects and just surrender to Him, the one who saves simply by us confessing Him Lord of our lives. You say you have done this, but when was that? Today or 20 years ago? This is a daily requirement to be able to walk in His ways as through this confession of continuous faith He will hear your cry and come in to sit with you daily. [Revelation 3:20] He lives! He lives! Messiah Yeshua lives today and forever. At the height of
the new age teachings that started to swamp the Church it was common for people to say that God is changing to meet the needs of the world. As I pointed out to these people the Word of God says He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. [Hebrews 13:8] In fact when I pointed it out to a man high up in the Church that God never changes he accused me of saying God was dead. The new age and society has been trying to kill off God for many years but He is and will forever be very much alive. It is us who were dead, dead in our sins and He came to earth to bring life, life in all its fullness. [Ephesians 2:5] He is life itself, a life so full of life it makes you wonder at the life you see around you and in you, once you accept Yeshua as Lord and Saviour. The things of the world grow dim and the things of God glow like the morning star. [2 Peter 1:19] On the darkest days there is a light that can shine through, bringing joy and rejoicing. A life like that of the new born lamb as it dances and skips around the rocks. God is alive and very much alive; the life around us is proof of this. God creates life not death, mankind causes the death but God brings life. [1 John 5:12] To those who are sick God brings healing, those who are hurting God brings repair, to those who are lost God brings them a map and shows them the way home. [2 Kings 20:5] There is life in knowing the God who brings joy to the heart not sadness and that life can be seen in the eyes of the Believer. [Psalm 24:4] There is not just a hope for what is to come. It surpasses hope, there is an assurance and a certainty in what is to come. [Hebrews 10:22] Life is just that, it is about life and life is demonstrated in how we act and who we are and how we respond to the promises of God. For example do we enjoy life even with all of the problems it can bring? Are we walking in the fruits of the Spirit which put the laugh in laughter – the joy in joyful – the happy into happiness – smile into smiling and rejoice into rejoicing. This is life the way it is meant to be and not the way we make it when the things of the world start to weigh us down. I remember the PD days, that is pre-depression days - those are the days when people were happy being people. But today we have changed God into our image and ended up in a situation which pulls people down not build them up. God sent His Son into the World to save it not to pull it down. [[]] It is what we have done to God over the last 50 years that has caused the people of the World to wander from the truth; because if there is no truth in God why should people seek the truth they are looking for in Him? The Church has thrown out the truth of God that He is the only way to salvation. [[]] When we do this we also throw out happiness and laughter and joy. All the things that help the life of the Messiah to show through in all His strength in our lives are removed. God is alive, He came to earth for such a short time in His history, they killed Him on the cross and then He rose so that He could say: “I Am the Alpha and the Omega I was dead but now I am alive and hold the keys to all things.” [Revelation 1:18] He is the beginning of our lives, He is the middle and He is the end. He is our every breath, He is our every heartbeat and He is every second that we live. He is song in our voice and the spring in our step as we dance and sing towards Glory. God is alive and well and His Word is alive teaching and reproaching all. [2 Timothy 3:16] We can rejoice in a never changing and a forever living and forgiving God whose love surpasses all we can throw at it. He is alive forever more. Halleluyah! And the Angels sung from on High today the King has been born [Luke 2:10].
Twenty-four elders will fall down and worship Him [Revelation 5:8] who was and is and is to come. [Revelation 4:8] He is our life, the reason we live is to worship Him in all His glory. [Colossians 3:4] Yeshua came once and the wise men fell at His feet but when He returns all will do so. [Isaiah 45:23] We will cry Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty! [Revelation 4:8] the one who came from Heaven to earth so that the things on the Earth will be done on here as they are in heaven [Matthew 6:10]. From the time Adam and Eve sinned our Heavenly Father has been trying to get the message through that His love and power will overcome all hurts, all sorrows and bring healing to all situations, because one day there will be no more tears, no more pain. [Matthew 21:4] These things exist now but there is a time coming when these will be removed once and for all time. Yeshua’s pain on the cross was the pain that we should have endured, the pain of seeing Him die in our place should be enough for any person to fall on their face and cry out “Holy is the Lamb who was slain [Revelation 5:9] the one who took my place and my pain. Holy is His name the One who came from Paradise to a fallen earth, who came from a place of peace to a place of war and strife. The one who came to die in our place”. [1 Peter 3:18] This is the One to whom we bow before and worship; it is God Himself because who else could go 40 days and 40 nights without food and water in the Deserts of Israel? [Mark 1:13] Who else could touch the down and out and lift them from the pit to a place of glory? [Luke 7:40-50] Who else can stand in all the glory of Heaven, [Hebrews 1:3] who can control the wind and the rain [Matthew 8:26] and the demons. [Mark 9:25] He who is all things, controls the demons that try to attack us all with just a word from His mouth, the word that is a two-edge sword cutting through to the truth of all things. [Hebrews 4:12] This is the One that we bow before, The Messiah the Son of God, who came to prepare the way for us to the Father’s House, ready for when He comes to collect His Bride to take her to His Father’s House, [John 14:2] the Holy of Holies. It has been 2000 years and the time is short for this generation to prepare itself. [Isaiah 40:3] Yeshua stood and looked over Jerusalem and wept [Luke 19:41] because of what they had done to the Prophets, how much more will He be weeping over the earth today for what we have done to His Word? The Word that was brought forth to prepare His Bride for that great and marvelous day when He will appear on the clouds with a great Trumpet blast and the all the Saints rise up to meet Him in the clouds. [1 Thessalonians 4:17] Will we have time to think of the Birth? Will we have time to think of His teachings? Will we have time to think of what they did to Him at Calvary? Or will we have time to think of how they went to the tomb and found Him risen and ready to present Himself to the Father as all had been accomplished? No! He will come in the twinkling of an eye like a thief in the night [1 Thessalonians 5:2] and with all that has gone before we will be ready because if we are not we will be left outside. [Matthew 25:4] He is knocking on the door of the hearts of all mankind. Some will respond and some will not because some will be too busy taking care of earthly things while God Himself is crying out for all to respond to the message given on the Cross. The message of Salvation, to be saved so that we can be with Him in Paradise. [Luke 23:43] There will no more weeping, no more tears only joy and happiness, as we will be looking upon the Throne of God our Creator. As I prepare this weeks message in prayer I keep getting King David in my
mind and I was wondering what more can be said about this powerful king of Israel. David conquered all before him, he was true to God most of the time, so that God would reward him. [2 Samuel 7:12] One Israeli leader really upset the Jewish orthodox by calling him a murderer and an adulterer, which he was. [2 Samuel 12:1-9] He achieved many things in his life of 70 years but what did this matter in the end, because he could not do the one thing he wanted to and that was build a Temple for God. The reason is very clear in scripture and that was because he had too much blood on his hands. [1 Chronicles 22:8] God had forgiven him but that did not extend to the point of putting his hands to the Holy Temple, this was to be left to his son Solomon. [1 Kings 8:19] David conquered all including the city of Jebus (Jerusalem), [1 Chronicles 11:4] sung the praises of the Lord for his victories, [2 Samuel 6:14] was 100% loyal to his earthly leader [1 Samuel 26:9] and wrote such lines as, “Against you Lord only have I sinned”. [Psalm 51:4] But in the end fell short of the mark in his ultimate goal to build an earthly House for God, the maker of heaven and earth. I spoke a few weeks ago on what will be remembered by those who we leave behind. The question also extends to our Father in Heaven, what will He remember us by when we stand in front of the Judgment Seat? The problem with David was he sinned and sinned badly on many occasions; and then he repented time and again but then he just sinned again. He really did stretch the patience of God on more than one occasion. However, in one generation the greatest kingdom Israel has ever known was gone. Once more because of sin, as his son did not learn from his father’s mistakes and also sinned, turning from the one true God to following many foreign gods of his many wives. Judah did not see the sins of Israel and did they did and was exiled in the same way as Israel. [Jeremiah 3:8] The question remains are we any different in our attitude towards the warnings that the Lord gives us through His Word? All the blessings and curses are written down for us to read, all the promises are written for us to observe and yet we still go our own way. [Romans 3:23] God’s patience was fully demonstrated through David but in the end he did not quite achieve his ultimate goal. Are we going to be like him, sing the praises, glorify our Father in Heaven, repent before Him, but fall short of the final goal? [Hebrew 12:1] Life is just a breath in time, a fleeting moment, here today, gone tomorrow and when it ends will we have achieved our goal? Not one of riches, not one of fame in the world’s eyes [Matthew 6:33] but one of absolute surrender to our Lord and Saviour. [Psalm 41:2] This does not require people to become monks or nuns but it does require us to say, “May only your will Father be done in my life”. [Matthew 26:42] We celebrate Passover/Easter but do we celebrate the Crucifixion or just the event? We celebrate Pentecost but are we prepared to pay the cost of the full surrender that is required to really know the author of our faith? [Hebrews 12:2] I see many people celebrating Christmas but are we celebrating the King of kings, are we glorifying the One who sent Him, are we crying out, Thank you Father for sending the Your Son the One who came to set the captives free? Or are we being like King David, looking but never seeing the real truth behind the message, nor living a life pleasing to the One who gave it, yet forever reaching out for the prize to come. We have been given the invitation via the Cross, now it’s up to us to respond There has been much speculation over the years Yeshua spent growing from the Baby in the Manger to when He stepped on to the World stage. One thing we do know, He grew in stature and wisdom, [Luke 2:52] and He must have shown some of what was to come when Mary said, “Do whatever He says”. [John 2:5] When He stepped up to John the Baptist, John knew exactly whom He was, standing before him. [John 1:29] There was a power about Him that people responded to either in a good way or bad. But one thing we do know He was God incarnate, God on Earth, [John 8:56-58] walking and talking and ministering to His created ones to teach and guide them home to be with Him in His Kingdom. From that moment when the wise men said: “Where is the one born King of the Jews”, [Matthew 2:2] until Pilate wrote: “Here is the King of the Jews,” [John 19:19] people knew there was someone special in their midst. Yes, God Himself had come to tabernacle with His people. A confirmation that it was God Himself walking and talking was the way people bowed to Him then as they bow to Him today, Philippians 2:10 says that one day every knee will bow to Him and call Him Lord. The reading of the first three commandments of the Ten Commandments confirms that it was God walking amongst the people. You shall have no other god besides Me, [Exodus 20:12] as God would never allow the glory to go to a foreign god, Yeshua has to have been God in man’s form. [Romans 8:3]
I believe people forget this very important fact and give the glory to God the man instead of God Incarnate, the one who came down from heaven as foretold by the Prophets to set the captives free. [Luke 4:18] the one who stood on the Mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee and said, [Matthew 5] Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger after the Word. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure of heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the persecuted. Blessed are they who are reviled. Only God could Bless in such a way, only God can forgive sins. [Mark 2:7] Only God could say “This has been fulfilled in your hearing at this time”. [Luke 4:21] The Religious Leaders of the time had interpreted scripture to suit what they could get from it and to have control over the people, as is being done today. But Yeshua said, “‘You say’, but truly, truly I say” and for someone to say today that you are all wrong and He alone is correct would be called a cult. The leaders of the time knew one of two things, Yeshua was right or He was a madman. If He were a madman they would have to remove Him. If He was right then they would lose their status within the society, so they were willing to take the risk He was wrong, and just a madman, and have Him crucified hoping that would be the end of the problem. But as history shows it was just the beginning of their problems as there is not a lot said about the leaders after Yeshua rose from the grave. Now today 2000 years after the resurrection those Words spoken by our Lord still ring true. The teachings of ‘love your brother and your sister and your neighbour and your parents and your friends and your friends within the Church as yourself’ will never fade away. [Isaiah 40:8] Yeshua returned to where He came from so that the one to come would enable all to understand those famous Words spoken by Yeshua so long ago and would continue down through the ages. [John 16:7] The power in those Words stays as strong today as when they were first spoken. [1 Peter 1:25] These Words are now written on our hearts, hearts of flesh, open to the Word of God to understand the statements of the Fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [Galatians 5:22] The gifts of the Spirit are wisdom, faith, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues. All these by the Holy Spirit. [1 Corinthians 12:8-11] All this because God decided to personally intervene on that day so long ago because He was and is and is to come, again. He will return one day and find us ready and waiting as a Bride awaits her groom, or will He? |