Sunday, July 19, 2015

The Good Shepherd That Died For Us




When blood from a victim must flow,
This Shepherd by pity was led
To stand between us and the foe,
And willingly died in our stead.

Our song,  then, for ever shall be
Of the Shepherd who gave Himself thus;
No subject's so glorious as He,
No theme so affecting to us.



      Jesus said:

"I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep... I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep...  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." 
John 10:11,14-15,17-18.

     
     Because of a love that God the Father, and Jesus, His Son, had for us, which is greater than our human minds can ever understand, Jesus willingly came down to earth from Heaven, and shed His blood and died for our sins, to save us from an etenity in Hell.

     If you have not received this free gift of salvation, by believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ, if you are still dead in your sins and on your way to Hell, I beg of you, consider your latter end, turn from your sins, and run to the open arms of Jesus! He loves you and does not want you to perish!

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved... For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." 
Romans 10:9,11-13.


     

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Monday, July 13, 2015

Christ, Our Passover Lamb!




                      Image result for jesus the paschal lamb

Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sins were on Thee laid;
By almighty love anointed,
Thou hast full atonement made.
All Thy people are forgiven
Through the virtue of Thy blood;
Opened is the gate of Heaven,
Peace is made for us with God.



    When the children of Isreal were under bondage to the Egyptians in the land of Egypt, God told Moses that He was going to deliver the children of Isreal out of Egypt, and bring them into the promised land of Canaan. God hardened the heart of Pharoah, who was the King of Egypt at that time. Even after God smote the Egyptians with many terrible plagues, Pharoah would still not let the children of Isreal leave Egypt. Then, in Exodus chapter 12, we have the story of what God was going to do to the Egyptians next, so they would indeed let the children of Isreal go.

     Each family of the children of Isreal were told to offer up a lamb, without blemish, as a sacrifice to the Lord God on a certain night. Because on that one certain night, God was going to pass through the land of Egypt and kill the firstborn son of every Egyptian household. But the children of Isreal were told that after they killed the sacrificial lamb, they were to smear the blood from the lamb on the sides and the top of the doorframes of their homes, and when God passed through that night to execute judgement on the people of Egypt, He would pass over every home where He saw the blood, and they would be kept safe.

 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 
Exodus 12:13,14.


     The paschal (or, passover) lamb that had to be sacrificed when the first Passover was initiated, was an illustration of the TRUE Passover Lamb that was going to come in the future! As we read above, the blood of a lamb, had to be shed, and applied to the door posts of the homes, for the family within to be spared from death.
      

Image result for christ our passover lamb

     The paschal (or, passover) lamb that had to be sacrificed when the first Passover was initiated, was an illustration of the TRUE Passover Lamb that was going to come in the future! As scripture says, the blood of a lamb, had to be shed, and then applied to the door posts of the homes, for the family within to be spared from death. The death of Jesus was foretold in Isaiah chapter 53.


But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all... He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 
Isaiah 53:5-6,11.

     How this applies to us today is that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This is speaking of eternal death in Hell. And, just as the children of Isreal, we can do nothing of ourselves to save us from this death. But God showed His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus, to shed His blood and die for us (Romans 5:8)!

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness). Hebrews 9:22.

     As the Passover lamb was sacrificed, and it's blood displayed on the door posts of the homes, Jesus, our Passover Lamb, was sacrificed, and His shed blood pays the sin debt that we could never pay on our own!

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1:18,19.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace. Ephesians 2:13,14.


                                             Image result for christ our passover lamb

     How can we apply the blood of our Passover Lamb to our lives today? By acknowledging to God that you are a guilty sinner in need of a Savior. That you want to turn (repent) from the life you have been living, and trust in the shed blood of Jesus as being the only way to cleanse you of your sin.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:9,13.

Image result for christ our passover lamb


For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.
1 Corinthians 5:7.



                               



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Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Foolish To Shame The Wise

    

     One of my favorite verses is Acts 4:13: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,  they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

     This verse is very encouraging to me. Peter and John were simple, ordinary men with no special training in the scriptures, yet it pleased the Lord to call them out and use them mightily to proclaim the gospel, and to help establish the early Christians in the faith, and their writings are a large part of the New Testament scriptures that we love and treasure today!

     Our measure of spiritual understanding, and our usefullness to Christ stems from our abiding in Him, and allowing His Holy Spirit to teach and instruct us. 


And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you... the Comfortor, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:16-17,26.

But the anointing (the pouring out of the Holy Spirit) which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. 1 John 2:27.

And they of the circumcision (the Jewish believers) which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 10:45.



    
     Dear brother and sister in Christ, do not think that if you haven't had seminary schooling, or if you are not an eloquent speaker, or are not considered wise and successful in the eyes of the world, take heart and be encouraged, because the Lord can use you mightily to bring glory to His Name!


For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The Foolish to Shame the Wise

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

     

Image result for acts 4 13



     Thank you for taking the time to read this. I pray it will be a blessing and encouragement to you. I invite you to scroll down and read some of the other posts as well.


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