04-14-13 FAITHBOOK PRAISE

Psalm 100

       Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 34:3   Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

The old city of Jerusalem to this day has the archways called gates.  The city was created as a fortress to keep unwanted invaders out.  This was particularly true just out side the temple.  Each progression closer to the holy of holies (the seat of God) had a gate to go through to enter the next court (court of the gentiles, the women, Israel/men, Priests).  You can still see this separation today at the Wailing Wall 3/4 men 1/4 women.

Do you pray when you are in the presence of God or do you send him tweets, posts, texts, emails, or leave voice messages?  What do I mean?  You can get right into the holy of holies if you are a disciple of Jesus – but there is a prescribed way to get through the gates found in Psalm 100 vs 4 - Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

We don’t come to God like a whinny ungrateful self centered child – we come as mature Christ followers who first recognize the one to whom we are approaching – The living God.  We begin by reminding ourselves that he alone is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving.  We begin by offering him the gift of our praise and thanksgiving.  We begin at the beginning – giving him the praise and thanksgiving he is due.

The only time to deviate from Psalm 100 praising is in our SOS prayers – during an emergency 911 situation where we need God to act NOW.  What about when I am in a non-emergency situation but I am down in the dumps and life looks bleak – then remember Rom 8:28-29   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  This doesn’t mean all things are good but that in all things God is working for our good.  Even in the most tragic times, God is still present working on our behalf.  That is reason to give thanks – not for the tragic thing happening but for the God who is carrying you through that circumstance.

          Look at Phil 4:4-7  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Thess 5:18   give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  “In all circumstances” not FOR all circumstances.

          Ps 43:5   Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

RETELL the story of the Philippian Jail Praise   Acts 16:16-34

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.

23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family.

 

What words of praise do we use?

Ex 15:2  The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Isa 25:1   O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

KINDLE BOOK: 99c To him who sits on the throne: Praising God with the scriptures

 

HALLELUJAH! YES, PRAISE THE LORD!

Based on Psalm 150 Liv Bib: song written by Jeff Cooper 1988

Praise Him in his temple

and in the heavens He made with His mighty power,

His mighty power.

 

Praise Him for his mighty works,

and His unequaled greatness.

Praise the Lord!

**********

Praise Him with the trumpet,

And with the lute and the harp,

Lute and the harp.

 

Praise Him with the tambourines,

And with the processional.

Praise the Lord!

**********

Praise Him with stringed instruments,

And with the horns,

With the horns.

 

Praise Him with the cymbals,

Yes, loud clanging cymbals.

Praise the Lord!

**********

Let everything alive

Give praise to the Lord,

To the Lord.

 

You---praise---Him.  Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord!

 

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.      Your love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods.      Your love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:      Your love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders,      Your love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens,      Your love endures forever.

who spread out the earth upon the waters,      Your love endures forever.

who made the great lights —       Your love endures forever.

the sun to govern the day,      Your love endures forever.

the moon and stars to govern the night;      Your love endures forever.

to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt    Your love endures forever.

and brought Israel out from among them    Your love endures forever.

with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;      Your love endures forever.

to him who divided the Red Sea asunder    Your love endures forever.

and brought Israel through the midst of it,      Your love endures forever.

but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;      Your love endures forever.

to him who led his people through the desert,      Your love endures forever.

who struck down great kings,      Your love endures forever.

and killed mighty kings —       Your love endures forever.

Sihon king of the Amorites    Your love endures forever.

and Og king of Bashan —       Your love endures forever.

and gave their land as an inheritance,      Your love endures forever.

an inheritance to his servant Israel;      Your love endures forever.

to the One who remembered us in our low estate    Your love endures forever.

and freed us from our enemies,      Your love endures forever.

and who gives food to every creature.      Your love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven.      Your love endures forever.

Rev 22:12-16   "Behold Jesus! You am coming soon! Your reward is with you, and you will give to everyone according to what he has done. You am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. "You, Jesus, have sent your angel to give us this testimony for the churches. You are the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

04-07-13 PRAYING THE FAITHBOOK

Scripture    Jeremiah 1:9-12

          How many of you remember 10 years ago learning about the prayer of Jabez?  Bruse Wilkinson sates that he prays the prayer of Jabez every day and he wrote a book about it.  The rayer of Jabea is a perfect example of a principle I want us to learn today: Praying the FAITHBOOK or praying the scriptures or praying the bible.

          1 Chronicles 4:3-10

These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash. Their sister was named Hazzelelponi.  Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah.  These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and father of Bethlehem.  Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.  Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni and Haahashtari. These were the descendants of Naarah.  The sons of Helah: Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, and Koz, who was the father of Anub and Hazzobebah and of the clans of Aharhel son of Harum.

          9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

         

Are you a self-centered pragmatic pray-er — a believer who thinks of God more as a Santa Clause than the sovereign Father. Does your praying have more in common with programming a heavenly computer than surrendering to a loving Master. Do you claim God’s promises for your own ease rather than being claimed by God’s purposes for His kingdom.

Praying through the Bible will yield a mind informed by the will of God, a heart enflamed with the love of God, and hands extended in the service of God. All three of these are central to life in Christ, and all three flow out of our communion with Christ.

So, what’s involved in praying the Scriptures? Praying the Scriptures requires us first to be in the Scriptures regularly. We can’t hide the Word in our hearts if we’re not lingering in the Bible’s pages. As Martin Luther said, we need the gospel every day because we forget the gospel every day.

Read the bible but also let the bible read you. If we aren’t careful, we can read the Scriptures for information and inspiration while playing dodgeball with our calling to transformation. Having the Scriptures “read us” deepens our prayer life.

Praying the Scriptures, therefore, calls us to look for Jesus in every part of the Bible.  “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets” (Luke 24:27), we want to discover everything prophesied and promised about Jesus as He is progressively revealed in the history of redemption from Genesis through Revelation.

Minds informed by the will of God and hearts enflamed with the love of God will be authenticated by hands extended in the service of God. The more we pray through the Scriptures wearing the lens of the gospel, the less we’ll find ourselves giving God bit parts in our story and the more we’ll think about finding our place in His story. The central and operative question in life is not “What can I do for Jesus?” while He’s away in heaven. Rather, it’s “What can I do with Jesus?” since He’s right here, right now.

Jer 1:9-12

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." 11 The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"  "I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied. 12 The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."

 

Praying God's Word

.         Would you like your prayers to be more powerful? Pray the Scriptures. Hebrews 4:12 says Heb 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  When we speak and pray the Scriptures, we are coming into agreement with God, and His power is released to answer our prayers.

Maybe you feel like God doesn't hear your prayers? Or maybe you don't know what to pray for in certain situations.  1 John 5:14-15

 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.

1John 5:14, which tells us we can have confidence in God. Not only does He hear our prayers, but He also promises to answer them when we pray in line with His will. He hastens to perform His Word.

Benefits of Praying the Scriptures

Praying the Scriptures will increase your spiritual growth. You actually learn what God says about certain situations, and by praying His Word you will see His results.

Many people have testified that just by praying the healing scriptures they have been healed, physically as well as mentally.

You can live a stress free life if you will only just pray because when you pray, you are turning the situation over to God. You're taking the situation out of your hands, and putting it in His hands. You're releasing it to God. These Scripture Prayers are very easy to read, and if you'll read them every day, even within a week, you will have memorized Scripture and won't even realize it until a situation arises, or until someone asks you to pray for them.

 

Jeremiah 29:11-14  HOPE

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

 

Matt 19:26  POSSIBILITES

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

 

Philippians 4:13   STRENGTH

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

 

Matthew 6:9-13  FORGIVENESS

"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   Give us today our daily bread.   Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.   And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

 

JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS PRAYED THE FAITHBOOK

Matthew 4 the 3 temptations – “it is written…”

 

COMMUNION

 

RESPONSE:  WE FALL DOWN

Rev 4:9-11

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." Holy, Hoy, Holy!

PRAYER TIME

One way to pray the scriptures is to take the prayers in scripture and pray them. You have to make them personal.  The prayer of Jabez needs no alteration. Here is a prayer of affirmation that I need only to alter slightly:  Col 1:3-7  I always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when I pray for you firstb congregation, because I know of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Andy Boetcher, Ken Gould, Sally Molyneux, Bob Holloway, the pastors and teachers before them, all these dear fellow servants, who have been faithful ministers of Christ on our behalf, and who also told me of your love in the Spirit.

 

Prayer Promises

Jer 1:12........ "I am ready to perform My Word."

Jn 16:24....... "Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

Mt 21:22........."...whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Jer 33:3......... "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things..."

Jn 14:14........ "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."

Jn 16:23........ "...whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you."

Jas 5:16........ "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."

Job 22:27...... "You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you..."

1Jn 5:14........ "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."

1Jn 5:15........ "And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

Jn 14:13........ "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Isa 55:11....... "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Jn 15:7.......... "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."

Mt 18:18........ "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Mt 18:19........ "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."

Jn 15:16........ "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."

Jer 29:12........ "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you."

Isa 65:24........ "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are speaking I will hear."

Ps 91:15........ "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him."

Ps 141:2......... "Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice."

03-31-13 Don’t be a Doubting Didymus

READER’S THEATER:  WORDS PAST THE TOMB

VIDEO:

http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/jesus/i-am-with-you

v Thomas stole the body – would become unclean

v Romans stole the body – why not present him later to prove he is not risen?

v Swoon theory – he wasn’t really dead, just nearly dead- if the cross didn’t kill him the spear did.

v Risen from the dead like Lazarus – to die again.

v Risen from the dead – to a totally NEW kind of life.

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS LITTERALLY BODILY RAISED FROM THE DEAD?  1 Cor 15:14-16  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

 John 20:19-29

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples (minus Didymus) were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them (Rom 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.) and said, "Peace be with you!" (John 14:25-27  "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.) (Peace I leave with you =  The Jewish form of salutation and benediction. May you prosper in body and soul, and enjoy every earthly and heavenly good! Such tranquillity of soul, such uninterrupted happiness of mind, such everlasting friendship with God as I enjoy, may you enjoy! And such blessedness I bequeath to you: it is my last, my best, my dying legacy. Not as the world gives - Not as the Jews, in empty wishes: not as the people of the world, in empty compliments. Their salutations and benedictions are generally matters of custom and polite ceremony, given without desire or design; but I mean what I say; what I wish you, that I will give you. To his followers Jesus gives peace, procures it, preserves it, and establishes it. He is the author, prince, promoter, and keeper of peace.  20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  (He gave them a proof, not to create faith, but to confirm their faith. Because Didymus was not there he missed out and therefore his faith was not confirmed.  This is why I emphasize regular attendance and participation in worship – you never know when Jesus is going to bestow a special blessing) 21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."  22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 2:7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.)  23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"  But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."  26 A week later (Sunday – the new sabbath) his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"  27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."  28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"  29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (Jesus had us in mind – we are blessed by not seeing and yet believing.)

 

The convincing proof of Jesus resurrection is that he showed himself to people after he died and rose again: Acts 1:3-4   After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

          His proof that it was really the earthly Jesus that had been risen was for 40 days and beyond to retain his wounds from the cross - Rev 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.

 

John 14:16-17     And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 

 

First an angel announces to the women that he is risen.  Peter and John see his empty tomb and grave clothes.  Mary Magdalene first sees him, thinking he is a gardener till he says her name.  She reports to the disciples.  Ten of the disciples plus others are gathered the day his tomb went empty.  Judas is not there – who else?  Doubting Didymus (Thomas = the twin) Why is he not there?  Should he have been there?  Jesus does not want us to neglect meeting together and so Didymus is going to have what will become a harsh encounter.  He missed the blessing of seeing the son of God resurrected.  Should you be at every church event so you don’t miss something important like that?  YES! As much as you are able. Ask Rosemary Lancaster when she returns from her winter home. Morning, noon or night, if the church is having an event, she wants to be with Jesus and his people.  Ask the people who checked yo name last year and attended worship at a minimum 3 out of 4 Sundays.  Ask Jesus who weekly went to the synagogue or worship and proclamation of the word.

 

YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS:

Acts 1:21-22      Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. (THE most important aspect for a new disciple/apostle) For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

03-24-13 Caught in the thicket

                                       Hebrews 9:23-28
       It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

 

Genesis 18 – Sarah laughed in her tent.

Genesis 22 – Abraham tested with Isaac as the sacrifice.

Gen 22:1-19

Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

          Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.  He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

          Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"  "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. 

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

          When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"  "Here I am," he replied.  "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

          Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."

          The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

          Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba.

 

Who was closer to Jesus than anyone?  His disciples – they fell asleep in the garden when he needed their support.  Judas – he betrayed him turning him over to the authorities so they could arrest him. Peter, who watched the trial and not only remained silent in his defense but 3 times denied even knowing him.  And we thought it was bad that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son – with the fate of the entire world in the balance – Jesus’ disciples were as good as bringing him to be sacrificed.

 

Before the sacrifice, the lamb is slaughtered.  Jesus was beaten, spat upon, had thorns crushed into his head and was forced to carry his own cross even as Isaac was forced to carry the wood for the altar.  Instead of being tied to the wood altar, Jesus was nailed to it and lifted vertically making it excruciatingly difficult to breathe.  There was no substitute lamb nearby for Jesus.  This death would not be stopped. But wait – this death is not meant for Jesus –it is meant for us Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, We are the ones to be crucified and Jesus is our ram or lamb caught in the thicket – nailed to the cross – he cannot run away, his Father has put him there in our place - but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This death is the true eternal replacement for Isaac – the true eternal replacement for you and me.

Do you understand what Jesus has done for you – what his death means?  How the Father must have anguished just like Abraham except the weight and pain of this death is multiplied by our sin and will be carried out.

 

READER’S THEATER: Words from the Cross

03-03-13 Pass over the bread and the wine

OT Passover

This is the moment that God becomes God to the Hebrew people.  It happens when they have been living in slavery and God brings them out of that life and leads them to the Promised Land. Most people come to God at a moment of crisis.

 

Review the story: Abraham is called by God to leave the land of Ur and settle the land of Canaan. Abraham has a son, Isaac who has a son Jacob who has 12 sons, one whose name is Joseph, Jacob’s favored son who the 11 others seek to kill but instead send him into slavery in Egypt.  By the power of God, Joseph interprets a dream for the king of Egypt – the Pharaoh that there will be 7 years of bountiful crop followed by 7 years of famine.  Pharaoh raises Joseph to 2^nd in command in all of Egypt.  In Caanan, there was no fore warning of the famine and Jacob sends his sons to Egypt for food, Joseph reveals himself to and forgives his brothers and Jacob and all their family move to Egypt.

After several years, the Pharaoh’s forgot about Joseph, the Hebrew people began to multiply and prosper so Pharaoh turned them all into slaves of Egypt making bricks and after 350 years ordered all Hebrew male babies born were to be killed.  The parents of Moses did not turn him over but put him in a basket and set him in the Nile River where Pharaoh’s daughter would find him and raise him as her own.  40 years pass and Moses runs from his Egyptian life and 40 years after that, God calls to him from a burning bush to set all the Hebrew people free from Egyptian slavery and take them back to the land of Canaan – the Promised Land. Through Moses, God sends 9 plagues on Egypt.  Now pick up the story in the bible:

Ex 11:4-8     So Moses said, "This is what the Lord says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.  Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.  There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt — worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.  But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.  All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, 'Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave."

 

Ex 12:3, 5-13     Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect. 6 Take care of them until

the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover. 12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn — both men and animals — and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

 

Ex 12:17-20

"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

 

Ex 12:31-34

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.  Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."  The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!" So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing.

 

Ex 12:46     Further instructions on the lamb:

It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.  The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

 

PASSOVER in the NT

NT Communion                                                  (Judas dipped his bread in the sauce)

This is the moment that God becomes God to the Christian people.  It happens when they have been living in slavery and God brings them out of that life and leads them to the Promised Land.

Matt 26:1

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,  "As you know, the Passover is two days away — and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

Luke 22:14-20

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.  And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."  After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

1 Corinthians 5:7

Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

 

INSTITUTING THE LORD’S SUPPER

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."   In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."   For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.   Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.  For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

 

Notice the theme of BREAD carried from Passover/Exodus to Communion

          After the feeding of the 5000 the next day they tracked Jesus down on the other side of the lake and Jesus was upset that they wanted more miracles like that and he tried telling them that the real miracle was that God had given them bread from heaven – speaking about himself.  Finally, he tells them straight.

John 6:48-59

“I am the bread of life.  Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."  Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.  Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

Acts 2:42-43

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

COMMUNITY

1 Cor 10:16-17

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?  Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

Let’s review:

          Take the spotless Passover lamb, kill it without breaking its bones, eat it, and take the blood and cover the entrance to your home so that when God comes to bring death to the first born in all the land, he will pass over you.

Take the spotless Passover lamb - Jesus, kill him without breaking his bones, eat his flesh, and take the blood and cover the entrance to your home – your heart - so that when God comes to bring death in all the world, he will pass over you.

Hebrews 10:19-22

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

02-24-13 Adam 1 and Adam 2

Scripture                    1 Corinthians 15:44b-49

Genesis 2:8-9

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

Genesis 2:15-18, 21-25

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Things are going well so far)

          18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. (I am not so sure that it was so bad for man to be alone.) I will make a helper suitable for him."

ILLUS: Chip and Shady (two dogs) would dig when together – NEVER when alone.

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; (first surgery – first anesthesia - why sleep? Because Adam would have wanted in on the design plan) and while he was sleeping, Dr. God took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, (Wow – you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen – knowing that sounded like a line:      When Adam stayed  out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset. “You’re running around with other women,” she charged.           “You’re being unreasonable,” Adam responded. “You’re the only woman on earth.” The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve.  “What do you think you’re doing mother of all living?” Adam demanded.         “Counting your ribs,” said Eve.) "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." (The first marriage) 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (There is something immensely important about the two becoming one flesh) 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (There was no sin – no shame between them and between each of them and God.  They didn’t need to hide from each other or from God.  They were sinless.  How awesome would that be if we felt we could stand spiritually naked in front of one another and in front of God.  Sin causes us to cover ourselves up and hide and then blame someone else.

 

Genesis 3

Now the serpent (Rev 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Isa 14:12  How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth…)  Satan, the devil, the serpent…was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. (think about how a snake moves – more subtle than other animals – the tempter doesn’t come in brash and bold but quietly and with great care and craftiness.) He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (How would you like to live knowing only good?)

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  (DunDunDun - enter shame & guilt) 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."  11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" 12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." (SIN, then cover up, hide, blame others) 14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he said,

"Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 22 And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

What Makes a Man?

Some young men visiting Washington went into the National Museum. On one of the cabinets was a label with these words: "The body of a man, weighing one hundred and fifty-four pounds." "Where is the man?" asked one of the young men. No one answered him. In the cabinet were two jars of water and other jars in which were phosphate of lime, carbonate of lime, potassium, sodium, and other chemicals. Another section held a row of clear glass jars filled with gasses—hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The materials in those cabinets were given in exact proportion as combined in an ordinary man. After looking at the assortment for some time in silence, one of the young men said: "And that is what I am made of? That is all that goes to make me?"

"That is all," said a bystander as he smiled and walked on.

But the young man did not smile. "If that is all that is needed," said one, "so much lime, so much gas, so much water, we should be exactly alike. There is something more which they cannot put into cabinets."

"Yes," said another under his breath, "that which is added by God, who puts into these senseless elements that which makes a living soul." They passed on in silence, their souls and their God suddenly becoming real before those cabinets filled with all the material essentials for the making of a man.

Adam 1 creates the problem – Adam 2 provides the solution

1 Corinthians 15:44-57

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam (JESUS), a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

          50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is pointing out the difference between two kinds of bodies, i.e., the natural and the spiritual. Adam was made from the dust of the ground and given the breath of life from God. Every human being since that time shares the same characteristics. However, the last Adam or the “Adam 2”—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. Just as Adam was the first of the human race, so Christ is the first of those who will be raised from the dead to eternal life. Because Christ rose from the dead, He is “a life-giving spirit” who entered into a new form of existence. He is the source of the spiritual life that will result in believers' resurrection. Christ's new glorified human body now suits His new, glorified, spiritual life—just as Adam's human body was suitable to his natural life. When believers are resurrected, God will give them transformed, eternal bodies suited to eternal life.

In verse 46 the natural came first and after that the spiritual. People have natural life first; that is, they are born into this earth and live here. While it is true that Christ has existed from eternity past, He is here called the second man or second Adam because He came from heaven to earth many years after Adam. Christ came as a human baby with a body like all other humans, but He did not originate from the dust of the earth as had Adam. He “came from heaven.”

Then Paul goes on: “As was the earthly man [Adam], so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven [Christ], so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven”.  Earthly bodies are fitted for life on this earth, yet they are limited by death, disease, and weakness because of sin which we’ve seen was first brought into the world by Adam.

However, the good news is that believers can know with certainty that their heavenly bodies will be just like Christ's—imperishable, eternal, glorious, and filled with power. At this time, all are like Adam; one day, all believers will be like Christ (Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.).

The Apostle John wrote to the believers, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

          How does this happen?  We cannot get to heaven because the way to the tree of life is strongly guarded.

 

The trees of life may be accessed again

Rev 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Rev 22:1-2

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life.

          How do we get to this tree of life, look at the tree on the hill called Calvary – see the man hanging there – our disobedience – our Adam 1 sin and all its penalty pressed into him.  Jesus, arms stretched out of that tree of death, breathes his last breath – at that moment there is a physical earthquake and the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom and we are given access into the holy of holies – to the tree of life through the shed blood of Jesus – the spotless, sinless lamb.

Rev 22:18-19

 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.