If you take a Bible concordance and look up all the words related to the tongue - mouth, lips, speech, words and so on, you will be amazed how much the Bible has to say about this subject. In fact the total well-being of our personalities is directly related to our mouths and to our tongues. Let us search the Bible for passages of Scripture that emphasize the vital importance of the right use of our mouths and our tongues.
Relation between life and the fear of the Lord
David, the psalmist said, "Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies" (Ps. 34:11 - 13, NIV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. David implied that "life" and "many good days" go with the fear of the Lord. In other words, life in its fullness and the fear of the Lord are always associated together. The measure in which we have the fear of the Lord is the measure in which we enjoy true life.
2. The first area of our lives in which the fear of the Lord will be practically manifested is our tongues and our lips. If we can keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking lies, then we can move on into the fullness of the fear of the Lord.
3. We will not have good lives if we do not control our tongues and our lips.
The importance of guarding the tongue and mouth
Solomon said, "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin" (Prov. 13:3, NIV).
If you want to guard your life, you must guard your lips. But if you speak rashly, you will come to ruin. In other words, if you control your tongue, then you have protection, but if your tongue gets out of control then the end is destruction.
Solomon also said, "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity" (Prov. 21:23, NIV).
If you guard your mouth and tongue, then you guard your life - you are safe. But if you fail to do that, the alternative is "calamity" - a very strong word. The failure to guard our lips and our tongues will ultimately bring us calamity.
There are two more passages from Solomon that are of particularly significant in the book of Proverbs:
"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit" (Prov. 15:4, NKJV).
Notice again the close connection between life and the correct use of the tongue. Perverseness means "the wrong use of the tongue". And this will break the spirit - quenching the Holy Spirit.
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Prov. 18:21, NKJV).
The alternatives are very clear; it is either death or life. They are both in the power of the tongue. If we use our tongues properly, they will be trees of life. But if we use our tongues improperly, then the result will be death.
If you read the entire book of Proverb, you will find that it is full of the principles of the right use of our tongues.
The connection between the heart and the mouth
The Scripture establishes the principle that there is a direct connection between a person's heart and his mouth.
Jesus said to Pharisees, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt. 12:33 - 27, NKJV).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. Jesus used parabolic language to establish the direct connection between the heart and the mouth.
2. He referred to the heart as the tree and to the words that come out of the mouth as the fruit. And the kind of words that come out of your mouth will indicate the condition of your heart. If the heart is good, then out of the mouth will come words that are good. But if the heart is evil, then out of the mouth will come words that are evil.
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expressed the following in similar language:
"Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit" (Matt. 7:17, 18, NKJV).
There is an absolute, inescapable connection between the state of the heart and the state of the mouth.
Biblical pictures of the tongue
The Epistle of James presents many pictures of the tongue. To begin with, James said that if you don't control your tongue, your religion is worthless (James 1:26). God is going to judge from your tongue whether your religion is valid and acceptable or not.
James said, "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2, NKJV, emphasis added).
If you can control your tongue (does not stumble in word), you can control your whole life. In other words, you are perfect man if you can control your tongue.
Then he went on in the remainder of the passage (James 3:3 - 8) to give some illustrations (or pictures) of the untamable tongue from the natural world. He was bringing out the unique significance and influence of the tongue for the entire course of our lives.
The tongue is like the bit in the horse's mouth
"Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body" (Verse 3, NKJV).
The horse, in the Bible, is usually a type of physical strength. No matter how strong a horse is, if you can get control of its mouth with the bit, you can control the whole animal. The horse's strength is brought into subjection through the control of its mouth. The same is true with us. What controls our mouths controls the entire course of our lives.
The tongue is like the rudder of a ship
"Look also at the ships; although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires" (Verse 4).
A ship, though a big structure, is carried to and fro by the tremendously powerful forces of the winds and the waves. Yet, it is the use of a small rudder that determines the whole course of the ship. If the rudder is uses properly, the ship will arrive sagely in the harbor. If the rudder is not used properly, the ship is likely to be shipwrecked.
It is the same in our lives. The tongue is the rudder. Our tongue control the course of our lives. If the rudder of the tongue is used properly, we will make it safely to our appointed destinations. But if our tongues are not used properly, we will be shipwrecked.
The tongue is like a small spark
"Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire (a spark) kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell" (Verses 5, 6).
Like a small spark that can cause a forest fire of vast proportions, the tongue can also cause vast damages in the spiritual realm. Many Churches no longer exist because one tongue sets a spark (a slanderous gossip) that burned up the whole thing, which could never be restored!
The tongue is a source of deadly poison
"For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (Verses 7, 8).
The tongue is like a deadly element that can poison us by spreading infection through the entire system of our lives.
James' conclusion is that no man can tame the tongue. And since we can't control and tame our tongues we can't be perfect (Verse 2).
Diseases of the tongue
Let us now consider certain specific diseases that affect our tongue. These diseases that commonly infect our lives through the misuse of our tongues can, in some cases, be fatal if left unchecked.
Excessive talking
Solomon said, "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise" (Prov. 10:19, NIV).
In other words, if you say too much, you are bound to say something wrong. There is no alternative.
We are also warned in the Bible not to use too many words toward God Himself:
"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let you words be few (Eccl. 5:1, 2, NIV).
Idle or careless words
Jesus said, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment" (Matt. 12:36, NKJV).
One day, we are going to have to answer for every word we have spoken. We are going to have to answer for words that were idle, insincere, that we did not really mean and that we were not prepared to stand behind on what we said.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one" (Matt. 5:37).
If we say more than we mean, then the exaggeration (unnecessary emphasis or overdoing) in our speech comes from the Evil One!
Gossip
"Do not go about spreading slander among your people" (Lev. 19:16, NIV).
Going about spreading slander - idle, untrue, exaggerated, malicious talk - is gossip. The very title of Satan - "Devil" means "a slanderer" in Greek. If you gossip or tell tales, you are actually doing the Devil's work for him!
Not only must we be careful not to give out gossip, we have a responsibility not to receive gossip, also:
"The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts" (Prov. 18:8, NIV).
Lying
Solomon said, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight" (Prov. 12:22, NKJV).
The writer of Proverbs also said that a "lying tongue" is one of the seven things that the Lord hates (Prov. 6:16 - 19).
Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44, NKJV).
Jesus essentially said that every lie comes from the Devil and every time a lie passes through our lips, it comes form the Devil!
Flattery
Solomon said, "A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin" (Prov. 26:28, NKJV).
If we listen to and receive flattery, or if we become flatterers, the end is ruin. A flatterer is actually a person who traps you:
"A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet" (Prov. 29:5).
Hastiness of speech
Solomon said, "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Prov. 29:20, NKJV).
If we are hasty in our words, our condition is worse than that of a fool. That is a solemn statement because the Bible has nothing good to say about the fool!
Conclusion
The Bible clearly declares that - "No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8, NKJV). But Jesus said that - "With men it is impossible, but not with God" (Mark 10:27). In other words, with God's help we can tame our tongues.
And so the right thing to do is to accept our weakness, confess our sins, yield to God and ask Him to heal our powerful resttless tongues. Only one power can control our tongues for good - the power of God through the Holy Spirit!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Believer's Calling as a Priest
The theological and foundational basis for the New Testament believer's ministry of prayer and intercession is his calling as a priest unto God. The Bible clearly declares that believers are:
A holy priesthood:
"You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices accptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5, NKJV, emphasis added).
A royal priesthood:
"But you are a chosen generatio, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His Marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9, emphasis added).
A kingdom of priests:
"And (Jesus) has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (Rev. 1:6).
"And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:10).
The nature of the priest's ministry is essentially intercessory - a ministry on behalf of others.
The background of believers' calling
The background of believers' call to priestly intercession is found in the Old Testament example of the Levitical priesthood. Among the twelve tribes of Israel, the Levites were called to function as priests. They were the designated priestly tribe. However, the will of God was for the entire nation, whom God had chosen in Abraham and redeemed through Moses, to function as priests. The Lord said to Moses and to the Israelites:
"And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6).
It is therefore God's will that all Israelites in the Old Testament and all Christians (the redeemed people) in the New Testament should be serving as priests
The simplest terms possible to describe the priestly function is to say that the priest's responsibility was two-fold- to stand before and to stand between.
The priest stood before God
He was to stand before God to minister to Him with sacrifices and offerings. This was aptly illustrated when the high priest (Aaron) went beyond the Inner Veil of the Tabernacle of Moses to make atonement for his own sins and for the sins of the people.
The priest stood between God and the people
The priest stood between the Lord God and the rest of the people so as to bring together a Holy God and sinful men at the place of the blood sacrifice.
The Melchizedek priesthood
In the New Testament the Levitical priesthood is changed to the Melchizedek priesthood (please read Hebrews 7:11 - 19). The Levitical priesthood was passed on from generation to generation through the descendants of Levi was based upon a physical requirement and lineage. But the Melchizedek priesthood, in which the Lord Jesus is the High Priest, is based upon the power of an endless, indestructible life. It is a "Resurrection Priesthood"! The Lord Jesus, then, is the High Priest (from the tribe of Judah, not Levi) and the Church is the priesthood that functions under His direction. We, the Church, as New Testament believers, are to stand before the Lord, as a holy priesthood and minister to Him. At the same time we are to stand between the Lord and others (believers or non-believers), as royal priesthood, in the ministry of intercession.
A picture of the Inner Veil
In the tabernacle of Moses, the Inner Veil is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ before His crucifixion. There would be no access into God's Presence, beyond the Veil, until sin had been dealt with.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, shedding His Blood, as both Sin Sacrifice and High Priest, as both Offering and Offerer, God, by a miraculous act, rent the Veil in twain (Matt. 27:51; Luke 23:45). This was a Divine act of God, for the Veil was rent from top to bottom. This signifies the grace of God - God approaching man and not man approaching God. The rent Veil symbolizes the broken Body of the Son of God at Calvary. The Veil must be rent and Christ must die. The rent Veil points to His rent flesh through which the Way to the Father is restored. It was lost since Adam and Eve sinned.
Jesus said to Thomas, one of His disciples: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
So, as New Testament believers we have the privilege to come to the Throne of grace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and stand in the presence of God in our ministry of prayer and intercession.
Believers' priority in prayer and intercession
Here are some areas of concern we need to focus in on, as a royal priesthood exercising our God-given ministry of prayer and intercession.
Intercede for all men
Paul sid, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1 - 4, NKJV).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. Paul mentioned "first of all" which suggests that the first duty of Christians meeting together in a prayer meeting is to pray for all men.
2. The phrase, "Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks" covers all forms of prayer.
3. We are to pray and intercede for all men. it is the will of God for all men to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. While Scripture teaches elsewhere that not all men will be saved; it is nevertheless the will of God that all come to the knowledge of the truth. Praying for all men would include, of course, all the nations of the world. We need to pray for the fear of the Lord and a consciousness of God to become more evident and manifest among men.
4. The Chuch is to pray and intercede for rulers (kings, if any) and all those who ar in authority. This includes political, judicial, legislative, and local leaders. Good government is the will of God because good government provides a conducive environment for the spread of the Gospel. When the Church fulfills its priestly function of praying for the government, then we will see the release of righteousness in our land and the availability of divine wisdom for the problems we are facing now.
Intercede for spiritual leaders
Paul asked the Churches (Ephesians, Thessalonians) to pray for him:
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints - and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:18, 19, emphasis added).
Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him so that he would have a mouth of utterance to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel.
"Finally, brethren, pray for us (Paul, Silvanus and Timothy), that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and they we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith" (2 Thess. 3:1, 2, emphasis added).
Paul beseeched the Thessalonians to pray that the Word of the Lord through him would have a free course.
The writer of Hebrews (probably Paul) was deterred from visiting the Jewish believers by some adverse circumstances over which he had no control. This might be either imprisonment, sickness or the want of a convenient opportunity of visiting them.
One of the greatest areas of neglect in the Church today has been intercession for spiritual leaders. As a result of our prayerlessness, we havs seen a number of God's servants become morally and/or doctrinally disqualified to serve as leaders. it is imperative we pray for our leaders. They must function in their God-appointed ministries if the Church is to come to unity and maturity.
Paul said, "And He (Jesus) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11 - 13, NKJV, emphasis added).
The ministries concerned are those of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher - the so-called five-fold ministries of the Church.
Christians who are called to these ministries are constantly on the battlefront lines where the enemy's attacks are the most severe and damaging. They must be lifted up in intercession so that the Word of the Lord may come forth with power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. One of the common tactics the enemy uses to make a person's ministry ineffective is tho attack him, directly, physically, mentally, spiritually or through the members of his family. We need to cover our spiritual leaders with prayer and intercession - especially to intercede for their ministries, their families, and for their vision.
Pray for unity in the Body of Christ
In John 17, the Lord Jesus interceded for His disciples and prayed that they would be one as He and the Father are one. In our praying, we need to do likewise. As royal priests, believers at all times must continue to pray that the prayer of Jesus would soon be fulfilled. We must understand that the brokenness and fragmentation of the Church, the Body of Christ, being divided by denomination differences, not only grieves the heart of the Father but also seriously hinders our appeal and outreach to a lost world!
Pray for the suffering and persecuted Church
We need to intercede for our brothers and sisters who are living and serving the Lord in countries that are hostile to the Gospel. We must pray that they will be strengthened and encouraged to stand for their faith in the midst of persecution.
The writer of Hebrews said, "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the body also" (Heb. 13:3).
We are admonished to remember, in prayer, those who are imprisoned because of their faith. They are our fellow believers in the same Body of Christ.
In the Book of Acts, when Herod imprisoned Peter, the Church prayed for him:
"Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the Church" (Acts 12:5).
The verses following describe how Peter was set free by an angel.
Intercede for the cause of world missions
Jesus said, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2, KJV).
Not all of us are called to world missions but all of us are called by Jesus Himself to pray to the "Lord of the harvest" to send forth laborers into the harvest. The laborers are so few that some of the harvest is spoiling! In harvest time you do not sow seed, you thrust in the sickle! While there is, of course, a continual need to sow the seed of God's Word, the great need of this end time hour is to teach, train, equip, and inspire the laborers to reap the harvest. Pray especially for missionaries and workers and leaders as they lead the way in harvesting. Pray for the release of more funds to finance the Great Commission in every nation.
Jesus said that the field is the world and the havest is the end of the age (Matt. 13:38, 39)
Conclusion
Let us praise God for calling us to salvation and for calling us to participate in the redemptive process of those around us by serving as New Testament priests.
A holy priesthood:
"You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices accptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5, NKJV, emphasis added).
A royal priesthood:
"But you are a chosen generatio, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His Marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9, emphasis added).
A kingdom of priests:
"And (Jesus) has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (Rev. 1:6).
"And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:10).
The nature of the priest's ministry is essentially intercessory - a ministry on behalf of others.
The background of believers' calling
The background of believers' call to priestly intercession is found in the Old Testament example of the Levitical priesthood. Among the twelve tribes of Israel, the Levites were called to function as priests. They were the designated priestly tribe. However, the will of God was for the entire nation, whom God had chosen in Abraham and redeemed through Moses, to function as priests. The Lord said to Moses and to the Israelites:
"And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6).
It is therefore God's will that all Israelites in the Old Testament and all Christians (the redeemed people) in the New Testament should be serving as priests
The simplest terms possible to describe the priestly function is to say that the priest's responsibility was two-fold- to stand before and to stand between.
The priest stood before God
He was to stand before God to minister to Him with sacrifices and offerings. This was aptly illustrated when the high priest (Aaron) went beyond the Inner Veil of the Tabernacle of Moses to make atonement for his own sins and for the sins of the people.
The priest stood between God and the people
The priest stood between the Lord God and the rest of the people so as to bring together a Holy God and sinful men at the place of the blood sacrifice.
The Melchizedek priesthood
In the New Testament the Levitical priesthood is changed to the Melchizedek priesthood (please read Hebrews 7:11 - 19). The Levitical priesthood was passed on from generation to generation through the descendants of Levi was based upon a physical requirement and lineage. But the Melchizedek priesthood, in which the Lord Jesus is the High Priest, is based upon the power of an endless, indestructible life. It is a "Resurrection Priesthood"! The Lord Jesus, then, is the High Priest (from the tribe of Judah, not Levi) and the Church is the priesthood that functions under His direction. We, the Church, as New Testament believers, are to stand before the Lord, as a holy priesthood and minister to Him. At the same time we are to stand between the Lord and others (believers or non-believers), as royal priesthood, in the ministry of intercession.
A picture of the Inner Veil
In the tabernacle of Moses, the Inner Veil is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ before His crucifixion. There would be no access into God's Presence, beyond the Veil, until sin had been dealt with.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, shedding His Blood, as both Sin Sacrifice and High Priest, as both Offering and Offerer, God, by a miraculous act, rent the Veil in twain (Matt. 27:51; Luke 23:45). This was a Divine act of God, for the Veil was rent from top to bottom. This signifies the grace of God - God approaching man and not man approaching God. The rent Veil symbolizes the broken Body of the Son of God at Calvary. The Veil must be rent and Christ must die. The rent Veil points to His rent flesh through which the Way to the Father is restored. It was lost since Adam and Eve sinned.
Jesus said to Thomas, one of His disciples: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
So, as New Testament believers we have the privilege to come to the Throne of grace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and stand in the presence of God in our ministry of prayer and intercession.
Believers' priority in prayer and intercession
Here are some areas of concern we need to focus in on, as a royal priesthood exercising our God-given ministry of prayer and intercession.
Intercede for all men
Paul sid, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1 - 4, NKJV).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. Paul mentioned "first of all" which suggests that the first duty of Christians meeting together in a prayer meeting is to pray for all men.
2. The phrase, "Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks" covers all forms of prayer.
3. We are to pray and intercede for all men. it is the will of God for all men to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. While Scripture teaches elsewhere that not all men will be saved; it is nevertheless the will of God that all come to the knowledge of the truth. Praying for all men would include, of course, all the nations of the world. We need to pray for the fear of the Lord and a consciousness of God to become more evident and manifest among men.
4. The Chuch is to pray and intercede for rulers (kings, if any) and all those who ar in authority. This includes political, judicial, legislative, and local leaders. Good government is the will of God because good government provides a conducive environment for the spread of the Gospel. When the Church fulfills its priestly function of praying for the government, then we will see the release of righteousness in our land and the availability of divine wisdom for the problems we are facing now.
Intercede for spiritual leaders
Paul asked the Churches (Ephesians, Thessalonians) to pray for him:
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints - and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:18, 19, emphasis added).
Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him so that he would have a mouth of utterance to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel.
"Finally, brethren, pray for us (Paul, Silvanus and Timothy), that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and they we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith" (2 Thess. 3:1, 2, emphasis added).
Paul beseeched the Thessalonians to pray that the Word of the Lord through him would have a free course.
The writer of Hebrews (probably Paul) was deterred from visiting the Jewish believers by some adverse circumstances over which he had no control. This might be either imprisonment, sickness or the want of a convenient opportunity of visiting them.
One of the greatest areas of neglect in the Church today has been intercession for spiritual leaders. As a result of our prayerlessness, we havs seen a number of God's servants become morally and/or doctrinally disqualified to serve as leaders. it is imperative we pray for our leaders. They must function in their God-appointed ministries if the Church is to come to unity and maturity.
Paul said, "And He (Jesus) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11 - 13, NKJV, emphasis added).
The ministries concerned are those of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher - the so-called five-fold ministries of the Church.
Christians who are called to these ministries are constantly on the battlefront lines where the enemy's attacks are the most severe and damaging. They must be lifted up in intercession so that the Word of the Lord may come forth with power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. One of the common tactics the enemy uses to make a person's ministry ineffective is tho attack him, directly, physically, mentally, spiritually or through the members of his family. We need to cover our spiritual leaders with prayer and intercession - especially to intercede for their ministries, their families, and for their vision.
Pray for unity in the Body of Christ
In John 17, the Lord Jesus interceded for His disciples and prayed that they would be one as He and the Father are one. In our praying, we need to do likewise. As royal priests, believers at all times must continue to pray that the prayer of Jesus would soon be fulfilled. We must understand that the brokenness and fragmentation of the Church, the Body of Christ, being divided by denomination differences, not only grieves the heart of the Father but also seriously hinders our appeal and outreach to a lost world!
Pray for the suffering and persecuted Church
We need to intercede for our brothers and sisters who are living and serving the Lord in countries that are hostile to the Gospel. We must pray that they will be strengthened and encouraged to stand for their faith in the midst of persecution.
The writer of Hebrews said, "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the body also" (Heb. 13:3).
We are admonished to remember, in prayer, those who are imprisoned because of their faith. They are our fellow believers in the same Body of Christ.
In the Book of Acts, when Herod imprisoned Peter, the Church prayed for him:
"Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the Church" (Acts 12:5).
The verses following describe how Peter was set free by an angel.
Intercede for the cause of world missions
Jesus said, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2, KJV).
Not all of us are called to world missions but all of us are called by Jesus Himself to pray to the "Lord of the harvest" to send forth laborers into the harvest. The laborers are so few that some of the harvest is spoiling! In harvest time you do not sow seed, you thrust in the sickle! While there is, of course, a continual need to sow the seed of God's Word, the great need of this end time hour is to teach, train, equip, and inspire the laborers to reap the harvest. Pray especially for missionaries and workers and leaders as they lead the way in harvesting. Pray for the release of more funds to finance the Great Commission in every nation.
Jesus said that the field is the world and the havest is the end of the age (Matt. 13:38, 39)
Conclusion
Let us praise God for calling us to salvation and for calling us to participate in the redemptive process of those around us by serving as New Testament priests.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Prayer, Meditation and Waiting
Since the beginning of creation, men have sought to find a solution, through various forms of meditation (transcendental meditation, yoga practices, New Age involvement and the like), to find answers for their human dilemmas - worry, lack of mental peace, strife, war and ill health. But they will not find lasting answers or solutions through these secular forms of meditation. Only those who know God, take time to come before Him in prayer and meditation and waiting upon Him, can find and know these answers.
In God's heart nothing supersedes His longing to restore fellowship with the human race and to have actual communication with them. Thus it ought to also be the deepest longing of those who know God to likewise want communication, dialogue, and times of being in His presence, and meditation on the many attributes of God. All the prominant Old Testament saints (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and especially David) sought the face of God, walked and communed with Him.
Jesus Christ makes it all possible
The writer of Hebrews said, "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in all full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:19 - 22, NKJV).
We can boldly come to God and have communion with Him through the blood of Jesus. In other words, the blood of Jesus opens the door for us to draw near to God to praise Him, worship Him, pray to Him, to appreciate Him, meditate on His attributes, wait upon Him, and thank Him and to develop an intimate relationship with Him.
The meditations of David
David was a person who truly knew His God and therefore he was a great man of prayer, meditation and waiting upon the Lord. Here are some examples of his meditation:
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him" (Ps. 8:3, 4, NKJV).
"My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue" (Ps. 39:3, KJV, emphasis added).
Notice that "musing" is a state of deep thought or dreaming abstraction, to become absorbed in thought; to turn something over in the mind meditatively; to wonder of marvel. In short, it is the same as "meditation".
"When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches, because thou hast been my help, ..." (Ps. 63:6, 7, KJV).
You can see clearly that David spent night watches (or nighttimes) in giving place to meditating; his mind and spirit swelling, or musing, with great contrmplation upon the Lord.
"I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings" (Ps. 77:12, KJV).
David, in his meditation, dwelt upon all God's work. He also said, "My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord" (Ps. 104:34, NKJV). In other words, to David it was a time of sweetness, a time of preciousness when he would shut himself away, or while alone in the fields give time to meditate upon the Lord.
Meditation is certainly sweetness to the heart and gentleness to the soul; and affects nearly every aspect of us, both spiritually and physiologically. David further said, "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways" (Ps. 119:15, KJV).
I believe more of us would have greater respect of God if we spent more time, as David did, in meditating upon His laws, upon His precepts, on His judgments, and the many aspects of God's divine order.
David also said, "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation" (Ps. 119:99, KJV).
David said that he had more understanding than all of his teachers simply because he had meditated (given deep thought) upon God's testimonies. Therefore by meditating upon the testimonies of God, he was able to have an increased knowledge and wisdom that supperseded all of his instructors. We can do likewise. For all God's people, meditation and musing upon God's great works leads to increased knowledge and wisdom.
Meditation and thought life
Meditation and the thought life of a believer are closely related - in fact almost synonymous. I believe the thought life plays a very important part in successful Christian living. A mind cut loose to run every direction, undisciplined, will cause continued unrest and leave one unstable, insecure, and actually void of receiving anything much from God. This is precisely what James said:
"... he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8, NKJV).
So it is imperative that we understand something about the thought life of the Christain.
Peter offered a suggestion: "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, ..." (1 Peter 1:13, NKJV).
In other words, we need to tuck in the loose ends of our minds (thoughts). Don't let thoughts run wild; gird them up; concentrate on proper, essential, productive, eternal, heavenly things.
Paul also said something about our thoughts: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praisworthy - meditate on these things" (Phil. 4:8, emphasis added).
In given us these guidelines for our thought life, he mentioned 8 categories of things we should meditate on.
Paul also taught us how to control our thoughts:
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought (including wild thoughts and imaginations) into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4, 5).
We control our thoughts by being obedient to Christ, and by bringing every wild thought and wild imagination under captivity. The evil one wants us to think wild thoughts, but the Holy Spirit in us keeps them under captivity.
Meditation and thoughts of a believer is so important that Paul admonished Timothy: "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all" (1 Tim. 4:15, emphasis added).
The things that Timothy should meditate upon can be found in Timothy 1 - 4. In general these are the things of God.
I believe that discipline of the whole life begins first with the control of the thought life. Whatever you license in your mind, whether evil or good, you will perform when the opportunity affords itself. In other words, if you license in your secret thoughts, lust or evil desires, when the opportunity comes Satan will see to it that you will perform those acts. Satan knows that he can only attack you mind (part of your soul), but not your spirit. And through your mind he attacks your body.
James said, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:14, 15).
Only through prayer and meditation, the mind is trained and exercised into discipline and control by the Spirit of God.
Musing and meditation
How shall I spend my time of musing and meditation? The psalmists showed us many ways:
Musing on the Word of God
"Blessing is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:1, NKJV).
Musing upon God
"My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches" (Ps. 63:5, 6).
Musing and meditating upon past blessings
"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of your hands" (Ps. 143:5).
Waiting
Through Isaiah, God said, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount upon with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV, emphasis added).
The statement: "Wait on the Lord" means to wait upon Him like a waitress or a servant. But the Scripture says that believers are sons and not servants (John 15:15; Gal. 4:7).
So, upon this premise, this waiting upon the Lord reminds me of a loving son who sits at the table with his father to cummunicate, listen, and learn; he refuses to run off to other sources for wisdom and knowledge, but waits to learn from his father. Waiting is sweet tarrying before the Lord, in quiet times, often to learn and be strengthened from this tremendous fellowship and communication with God, the Father.
The word, "waiting" implies a time of conquering, controlling, disciplining the restless spirit, quieting ourselves, being silent with a holy, spiritual silence and just being in His presence.
Here, Isaiah was told that to wait upon the Lord was the source of strngth, with the ability to rise above this present world of conflct and problems, like an eagle taking flight.
The benefits of waiting upon the Lord
The psalmist said, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).
I believe, "being still" simply means, "Stop, be quiet, wait in His presence and upon God, not mere daydreaming, but in total concentration and quietness".
Jeremiah said, "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord" (Lamentations 3:25, 26, NKJV, emphasis added).
The word "salvation", in this context, comes from the Hebrew word "teshuwah" which means, "Rescue, deliverance or help".
David, the psalmist said, "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him" (Ps. 62:5).
David's expectation was of the Lord. By waiting upon God, we can expect many miracles wrought by Him, both for our own emotional and spiritual life inwardly and outwardly, and also for His leading and provision.
The result of failing to wait upon the Lord
David said, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass" (Ps. 37:7).
What David is literally saying is, don't do anything until you have heard from God; be patient and wait upon the Lord; don't be motivated by others. We could have saved ourselves many a heartbreaking moment and difficult trial if we had not moved ahead of the Lord, doing our own things instead of waiting for our Heavenly Father to give us direction. This is an important truth that needs to be learned by all Christians. It is part of the meditating and waiting process that, when learned and when practiced, can make for a better and more successful Christian life of faith.
Conclusion
God spoke to Joshua when He commisioned him to take over the duties of Moses:
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous. and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8, emphasis added).
God made it clear that if Joshua (or any man) would constantly meditating upon the Word of God then he would have prosperity and good success.
The same thought pattern is reiterated in Psalm 1 where the psalmist said that any man who delights himself in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. In other words, the blessings of the Lord, the fruitfulness, the productiveness and the prosperous way rest upon the man who will take time to meditate, muse, contemplate, and wait upon the Lord!
In God's heart nothing supersedes His longing to restore fellowship with the human race and to have actual communication with them. Thus it ought to also be the deepest longing of those who know God to likewise want communication, dialogue, and times of being in His presence, and meditation on the many attributes of God. All the prominant Old Testament saints (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and especially David) sought the face of God, walked and communed with Him.
Jesus Christ makes it all possible
The writer of Hebrews said, "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in all full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:19 - 22, NKJV).
We can boldly come to God and have communion with Him through the blood of Jesus. In other words, the blood of Jesus opens the door for us to draw near to God to praise Him, worship Him, pray to Him, to appreciate Him, meditate on His attributes, wait upon Him, and thank Him and to develop an intimate relationship with Him.
The meditations of David
David was a person who truly knew His God and therefore he was a great man of prayer, meditation and waiting upon the Lord. Here are some examples of his meditation:
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him" (Ps. 8:3, 4, NKJV).
"My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue" (Ps. 39:3, KJV, emphasis added).
Notice that "musing" is a state of deep thought or dreaming abstraction, to become absorbed in thought; to turn something over in the mind meditatively; to wonder of marvel. In short, it is the same as "meditation".
"When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches, because thou hast been my help, ..." (Ps. 63:6, 7, KJV).
You can see clearly that David spent night watches (or nighttimes) in giving place to meditating; his mind and spirit swelling, or musing, with great contrmplation upon the Lord.
"I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings" (Ps. 77:12, KJV).
David, in his meditation, dwelt upon all God's work. He also said, "My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord" (Ps. 104:34, NKJV). In other words, to David it was a time of sweetness, a time of preciousness when he would shut himself away, or while alone in the fields give time to meditate upon the Lord.
Meditation is certainly sweetness to the heart and gentleness to the soul; and affects nearly every aspect of us, both spiritually and physiologically. David further said, "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways" (Ps. 119:15, KJV).
I believe more of us would have greater respect of God if we spent more time, as David did, in meditating upon His laws, upon His precepts, on His judgments, and the many aspects of God's divine order.
David also said, "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation" (Ps. 119:99, KJV).
David said that he had more understanding than all of his teachers simply because he had meditated (given deep thought) upon God's testimonies. Therefore by meditating upon the testimonies of God, he was able to have an increased knowledge and wisdom that supperseded all of his instructors. We can do likewise. For all God's people, meditation and musing upon God's great works leads to increased knowledge and wisdom.
Meditation and thought life
Meditation and the thought life of a believer are closely related - in fact almost synonymous. I believe the thought life plays a very important part in successful Christian living. A mind cut loose to run every direction, undisciplined, will cause continued unrest and leave one unstable, insecure, and actually void of receiving anything much from God. This is precisely what James said:
"... he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8, NKJV).
So it is imperative that we understand something about the thought life of the Christain.
Peter offered a suggestion: "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, ..." (1 Peter 1:13, NKJV).
In other words, we need to tuck in the loose ends of our minds (thoughts). Don't let thoughts run wild; gird them up; concentrate on proper, essential, productive, eternal, heavenly things.
Paul also said something about our thoughts: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praisworthy - meditate on these things" (Phil. 4:8, emphasis added).
In given us these guidelines for our thought life, he mentioned 8 categories of things we should meditate on.
Paul also taught us how to control our thoughts:
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought (including wild thoughts and imaginations) into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4, 5).
We control our thoughts by being obedient to Christ, and by bringing every wild thought and wild imagination under captivity. The evil one wants us to think wild thoughts, but the Holy Spirit in us keeps them under captivity.
Meditation and thoughts of a believer is so important that Paul admonished Timothy: "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all" (1 Tim. 4:15, emphasis added).
The things that Timothy should meditate upon can be found in Timothy 1 - 4. In general these are the things of God.
I believe that discipline of the whole life begins first with the control of the thought life. Whatever you license in your mind, whether evil or good, you will perform when the opportunity affords itself. In other words, if you license in your secret thoughts, lust or evil desires, when the opportunity comes Satan will see to it that you will perform those acts. Satan knows that he can only attack you mind (part of your soul), but not your spirit. And through your mind he attacks your body.
James said, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:14, 15).
Only through prayer and meditation, the mind is trained and exercised into discipline and control by the Spirit of God.
Musing and meditation
How shall I spend my time of musing and meditation? The psalmists showed us many ways:
Musing on the Word of God
"Blessing is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:1, NKJV).
Musing upon God
"My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches" (Ps. 63:5, 6).
Musing and meditating upon past blessings
"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of your hands" (Ps. 143:5).
Waiting
Through Isaiah, God said, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount upon with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV, emphasis added).
The statement: "Wait on the Lord" means to wait upon Him like a waitress or a servant. But the Scripture says that believers are sons and not servants (John 15:15; Gal. 4:7).
So, upon this premise, this waiting upon the Lord reminds me of a loving son who sits at the table with his father to cummunicate, listen, and learn; he refuses to run off to other sources for wisdom and knowledge, but waits to learn from his father. Waiting is sweet tarrying before the Lord, in quiet times, often to learn and be strengthened from this tremendous fellowship and communication with God, the Father.
The word, "waiting" implies a time of conquering, controlling, disciplining the restless spirit, quieting ourselves, being silent with a holy, spiritual silence and just being in His presence.
Here, Isaiah was told that to wait upon the Lord was the source of strngth, with the ability to rise above this present world of conflct and problems, like an eagle taking flight.
The benefits of waiting upon the Lord
The psalmist said, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).
I believe, "being still" simply means, "Stop, be quiet, wait in His presence and upon God, not mere daydreaming, but in total concentration and quietness".
Jeremiah said, "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord" (Lamentations 3:25, 26, NKJV, emphasis added).
The word "salvation", in this context, comes from the Hebrew word "teshuwah" which means, "Rescue, deliverance or help".
David, the psalmist said, "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him" (Ps. 62:5).
David's expectation was of the Lord. By waiting upon God, we can expect many miracles wrought by Him, both for our own emotional and spiritual life inwardly and outwardly, and also for His leading and provision.
The result of failing to wait upon the Lord
David said, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass" (Ps. 37:7).
What David is literally saying is, don't do anything until you have heard from God; be patient and wait upon the Lord; don't be motivated by others. We could have saved ourselves many a heartbreaking moment and difficult trial if we had not moved ahead of the Lord, doing our own things instead of waiting for our Heavenly Father to give us direction. This is an important truth that needs to be learned by all Christians. It is part of the meditating and waiting process that, when learned and when practiced, can make for a better and more successful Christian life of faith.
Conclusion
God spoke to Joshua when He commisioned him to take over the duties of Moses:
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous. and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8, emphasis added).
God made it clear that if Joshua (or any man) would constantly meditating upon the Word of God then he would have prosperity and good success.
The same thought pattern is reiterated in Psalm 1 where the psalmist said that any man who delights himself in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. In other words, the blessings of the Lord, the fruitfulness, the productiveness and the prosperous way rest upon the man who will take time to meditate, muse, contemplate, and wait upon the Lord!
Monday, May 04, 2009
End-time Pestilences
One of the clearest signs of the beginning of sorrow is frequent occurrences of pestilences mentioned by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:
Jesus said, "take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, saying 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24: 4 - 8, NKJV, emphasis added).
Bible teachers point to these verses as prophetic in that they as well as the rest of Matthew 24 will take place during the Great Tribulation. I tend to agree with them on that interpretation. But we can certainly see all these things currently approaching, similarly to a woman in travail. Birth pangs are growing very intense in these end-tim hours.
The recent outbreak of the Swine Flu or more correctly, the Global Flu or Influenza A(H1N1) is one of the pestilenses. Other earlier pestilences are HIV/AIDS, Bird Flu, Spanish Flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the Nipah Encephalitis Epidemic, etc.
A question we are tempted to ask is - are we in the Great Tribulation yet? The answer is, NO. And the reason can be found in my earlier posting/message - "Some Biblical Facts about the Future". Toward the end of that message I mentioned that Paul, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit said something about the timeline of the events of the future:
Paul said, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sit as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, ...." (2 Thess. 2:3 - 4, 6 -8, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Antichrist is known by many names - the man of sin, the son of perdition and the lawless one. The word 'Antichrist' simply means 'instead of Christ' rather than 'against Christ'.
2. The word 'He' in "He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way" refers to the Holy Spirit. The true Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also lives in individual true believers. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, the true Church is also taken out of the way. This event is obviously the rapture of the true Church - a future event.
3. This is the timeline of future events - the falling away (the great apostasy); rapture of the true Church; the revelation of the Antichrist and followed immediately by the Great Tribulation.
The above clearly says that the true Church will not go through the Great Tribulation.
Prophecies concerning more severe pestilences
If you think the present Global Flu A (H1N1) Epidemic is hard to control and hard to bear, you should read read what other more severe pestilences are waiting for the people of this world during the Great Tribulation period. We need to thank God that true believers will be with Jesus just before the Great Tribulation.
The four seals and the four horses and their riders (Rev. 6:1 - 8)
The apostle John, in the Book of Revelation, saw visions of four horses - the white horse, the red horse, the black horse and the pale horse.
If you are familiar with Bible prophecies you will realize that the man who rides the white horse is the Antichrist, disguising himself as Jesus Christ, falsely claiming he is the messiah who will bring peace and prosperity to the world. He uses a bow whereas Jesus fights with a sword (Rev. 19:15). He wears only a crown whereas Jesus, the Word of God, the King of kings wears many crowns (Rev. 19:12, 13).
The red horse symbolizes war and blood. And "it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another and there was given to him a great sword" (Rev. 6:4). I believe the red horse also signifies communism, which is symbolized by the color red.
The black horse symbolizes famine. The rider has a pair of scales in his hand (Rev. 6:5). This is a time of great famine. Famine and economic ruin always the aftermath of war. During the war, resources are consumed by the war effort, as are available workers. Many industrial and business/commercial facilities are also destroyed.
The pale horse and its significance
John wrote: "So I looked, and behold, and ashy pale horse (black and blue as if made so by bruising), and its rider's name was Death, and Hades (the realm of the dead) followed him closely; and they were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and with wild beasts of the earth" (Rev. 6:8, The Amplified Bible, emphasis added).
It is interesting to note that the estimated world population as of May, 2009 is 6.77 billion - Google search result. One-fourth of which is about 1.69 billion. That means during the first three and one-half years of the Great Tribulation, nearly 1.7 billion will die on account of war, famine, religious deception and pestilence. If again one-fourth will perish on account of pestilence and disease, the figure is 425 million! We must also understand that by the time of the Great Tribulation all these figures will be much higher. At the time of writing this message the number of death due to Swine Flu A(H1N1) is only 160. There are hundreds of confirmed cases but not all lead to death. This figure is considered negligible in comparison with the number of deaths, due to pestilences, in the Great Tribulation!
The key to the identity of the last horseman is the word 'pale', which often makes us think of someone who is feeling sick, having an anemic-looking appearance. 'Pale' is translated from the Greek word 'chloros', which we would normally take to mean the color of chlorophyll, the property that gives plants their healthy green appearance. When used Biblically, however, 'chloros' means the sickly pale green color of sickness and disease.
All the four horsemen represent the end-time culmination of the most traumatic problems endured by a rebellious mankind. They picture one of the most ominous scenarios ever. The man on the pale horse symbolizes climatic, globe-encircling plagues and pandemics occurring now (pre-Great Tribulation period) and soon to occur in an uncontrollable scale in the days to come.
Old Testament Prophecies
I believe the only reason for this type of extreme punishment is man's unabated rebellion toward his Creator God.
According to Moses
Let us examine Deuteronomy 28 (part of the Law of Moses) and add modern-day expressions to see more clearly how this warning applies to our time now:
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee; .... The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption (chronic, degenerate disease such as AIDS), and with a fever, and with an inflammation (malaria or communicative diseases such as influenzas), and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. ... The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt (elephantiasis), and with the emerods (tumors, cancer, etc), and with scab, and with the itch (agravated psoriasis and other nutrient-deficiency diseases such as scurvy, rickets, etc.), whereof thou canst not be healed (incurable or drug-resistant diseases). The Lord shall smite thee with madness (mental illness, insanity), and blindness, and astonishment of heart (emotional distresses such as depression)" (Deut. 28:15; 21, 22; 27, 28, KJV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Lord shall let curses come upon His people (Israel and the Church) if they refuse to obey His commandments, His statutes, His laws, His Word, etc. Most incurable sicknesses, diseases and pestilences are the result of curses.
2. In the eyes of God, compromised teaching is also considered disobedience toward God. Please read my previous posting/message - "Hidden Danger of Compromised Teaching". A compromised teacher or preacher will never teach or preach the full counsel of God. He changes the meaning of the Holy Word of God to please men and to make his teaching more acceptable to men. This is the outworking of what Paul wrote to Timothy:
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth ..." (2 Tim. 4:3, 4, NIV, emphasis added).
In my opinion, preachers/Pastors who are in the habit of preaching compromised sermons are very proud persons. They knowingly or unknowingly judge God's Word - add or take away as situation arises.
3. Compromised teaching is a recipe for sickness, disease and pestilence. Please read my earlier messages on healing and health. God's Word is His recipe for health:
"My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Prov. 4:20 - 22, NKJV, emphasis added).
When you keep His Word and His sayings in the midst of your heart, you will have health in all your flesh. And if you ignore His Word and His saying, you will not have good health. Instead sickness, disease and pestilence will come upon you.
According to Daniel
Referring to the Law of Moses, Daniel wrote:
"As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice" (Daniel 9:13, 14, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Book of Daniel is an end-time prophecy (Daniel 12:4, 9).
2. God's people failed to call upon the Lord for forgiveness when they sinned. They failed to confess their sins; implore His mercy; and to deprecate His wrath. It would have been easy to turn aside His judgments if they had been penitent, and had sought His mercy, but they had not done it.
3. God will heal our land of disease and pestilence if we just cry out to Him:
The Lord said to Solomon: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14, NKJV).
The above verse says that God requires us to do four things - humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and trun from our wicked ways. Then He will do three things - hear our prayer, forgive our sins and heal our land.
Conclusion
Millions are prophesied to die (especially through disease and pestilence) because they fail to heed God's warning to turn to Him with the type of contrite attitude necessary to please Him.
"This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2, NIV).
God wants true repentance - a turning away from the carnal "human nature" (the old nature of the old man) that we possess to the spiritual nature God originally intended us to develop.
Jesus said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41).
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit at all times so that we can overcome the weakness of our flesh.
Paul said, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16, 25).
Above all, God wants us to "tremble at His Word" - to fear Him and revere His commands.
Jesus said, "take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, saying 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24: 4 - 8, NKJV, emphasis added).
Bible teachers point to these verses as prophetic in that they as well as the rest of Matthew 24 will take place during the Great Tribulation. I tend to agree with them on that interpretation. But we can certainly see all these things currently approaching, similarly to a woman in travail. Birth pangs are growing very intense in these end-tim hours.
The recent outbreak of the Swine Flu or more correctly, the Global Flu or Influenza A(H1N1) is one of the pestilenses. Other earlier pestilences are HIV/AIDS, Bird Flu, Spanish Flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the Nipah Encephalitis Epidemic, etc.
A question we are tempted to ask is - are we in the Great Tribulation yet? The answer is, NO. And the reason can be found in my earlier posting/message - "Some Biblical Facts about the Future". Toward the end of that message I mentioned that Paul, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit said something about the timeline of the events of the future:
Paul said, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sit as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, ...." (2 Thess. 2:3 - 4, 6 -8, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Antichrist is known by many names - the man of sin, the son of perdition and the lawless one. The word 'Antichrist' simply means 'instead of Christ' rather than 'against Christ'.
2. The word 'He' in "He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way" refers to the Holy Spirit. The true Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also lives in individual true believers. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, the true Church is also taken out of the way. This event is obviously the rapture of the true Church - a future event.
3. This is the timeline of future events - the falling away (the great apostasy); rapture of the true Church; the revelation of the Antichrist and followed immediately by the Great Tribulation.
The above clearly says that the true Church will not go through the Great Tribulation.
Prophecies concerning more severe pestilences
If you think the present Global Flu A (H1N1) Epidemic is hard to control and hard to bear, you should read read what other more severe pestilences are waiting for the people of this world during the Great Tribulation period. We need to thank God that true believers will be with Jesus just before the Great Tribulation.
The four seals and the four horses and their riders (Rev. 6:1 - 8)
The apostle John, in the Book of Revelation, saw visions of four horses - the white horse, the red horse, the black horse and the pale horse.
If you are familiar with Bible prophecies you will realize that the man who rides the white horse is the Antichrist, disguising himself as Jesus Christ, falsely claiming he is the messiah who will bring peace and prosperity to the world. He uses a bow whereas Jesus fights with a sword (Rev. 19:15). He wears only a crown whereas Jesus, the Word of God, the King of kings wears many crowns (Rev. 19:12, 13).
The red horse symbolizes war and blood. And "it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another and there was given to him a great sword" (Rev. 6:4). I believe the red horse also signifies communism, which is symbolized by the color red.
The black horse symbolizes famine. The rider has a pair of scales in his hand (Rev. 6:5). This is a time of great famine. Famine and economic ruin always the aftermath of war. During the war, resources are consumed by the war effort, as are available workers. Many industrial and business/commercial facilities are also destroyed.
The pale horse and its significance
John wrote: "So I looked, and behold, and ashy pale horse (black and blue as if made so by bruising), and its rider's name was Death, and Hades (the realm of the dead) followed him closely; and they were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and with wild beasts of the earth" (Rev. 6:8, The Amplified Bible, emphasis added).
It is interesting to note that the estimated world population as of May, 2009 is 6.77 billion - Google search result. One-fourth of which is about 1.69 billion. That means during the first three and one-half years of the Great Tribulation, nearly 1.7 billion will die on account of war, famine, religious deception and pestilence. If again one-fourth will perish on account of pestilence and disease, the figure is 425 million! We must also understand that by the time of the Great Tribulation all these figures will be much higher. At the time of writing this message the number of death due to Swine Flu A(H1N1) is only 160. There are hundreds of confirmed cases but not all lead to death. This figure is considered negligible in comparison with the number of deaths, due to pestilences, in the Great Tribulation!
The key to the identity of the last horseman is the word 'pale', which often makes us think of someone who is feeling sick, having an anemic-looking appearance. 'Pale' is translated from the Greek word 'chloros', which we would normally take to mean the color of chlorophyll, the property that gives plants their healthy green appearance. When used Biblically, however, 'chloros' means the sickly pale green color of sickness and disease.
All the four horsemen represent the end-time culmination of the most traumatic problems endured by a rebellious mankind. They picture one of the most ominous scenarios ever. The man on the pale horse symbolizes climatic, globe-encircling plagues and pandemics occurring now (pre-Great Tribulation period) and soon to occur in an uncontrollable scale in the days to come.
Old Testament Prophecies
I believe the only reason for this type of extreme punishment is man's unabated rebellion toward his Creator God.
According to Moses
Let us examine Deuteronomy 28 (part of the Law of Moses) and add modern-day expressions to see more clearly how this warning applies to our time now:
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee; .... The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption (chronic, degenerate disease such as AIDS), and with a fever, and with an inflammation (malaria or communicative diseases such as influenzas), and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. ... The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt (elephantiasis), and with the emerods (tumors, cancer, etc), and with scab, and with the itch (agravated psoriasis and other nutrient-deficiency diseases such as scurvy, rickets, etc.), whereof thou canst not be healed (incurable or drug-resistant diseases). The Lord shall smite thee with madness (mental illness, insanity), and blindness, and astonishment of heart (emotional distresses such as depression)" (Deut. 28:15; 21, 22; 27, 28, KJV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Lord shall let curses come upon His people (Israel and the Church) if they refuse to obey His commandments, His statutes, His laws, His Word, etc. Most incurable sicknesses, diseases and pestilences are the result of curses.
2. In the eyes of God, compromised teaching is also considered disobedience toward God. Please read my previous posting/message - "Hidden Danger of Compromised Teaching". A compromised teacher or preacher will never teach or preach the full counsel of God. He changes the meaning of the Holy Word of God to please men and to make his teaching more acceptable to men. This is the outworking of what Paul wrote to Timothy:
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth ..." (2 Tim. 4:3, 4, NIV, emphasis added).
In my opinion, preachers/Pastors who are in the habit of preaching compromised sermons are very proud persons. They knowingly or unknowingly judge God's Word - add or take away as situation arises.
3. Compromised teaching is a recipe for sickness, disease and pestilence. Please read my earlier messages on healing and health. God's Word is His recipe for health:
"My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Prov. 4:20 - 22, NKJV, emphasis added).
When you keep His Word and His sayings in the midst of your heart, you will have health in all your flesh. And if you ignore His Word and His saying, you will not have good health. Instead sickness, disease and pestilence will come upon you.
According to Daniel
Referring to the Law of Moses, Daniel wrote:
"As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice" (Daniel 9:13, 14, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Book of Daniel is an end-time prophecy (Daniel 12:4, 9).
2. God's people failed to call upon the Lord for forgiveness when they sinned. They failed to confess their sins; implore His mercy; and to deprecate His wrath. It would have been easy to turn aside His judgments if they had been penitent, and had sought His mercy, but they had not done it.
3. God will heal our land of disease and pestilence if we just cry out to Him:
The Lord said to Solomon: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14, NKJV).
The above verse says that God requires us to do four things - humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and trun from our wicked ways. Then He will do three things - hear our prayer, forgive our sins and heal our land.
Conclusion
Millions are prophesied to die (especially through disease and pestilence) because they fail to heed God's warning to turn to Him with the type of contrite attitude necessary to please Him.
"This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2, NIV).
God wants true repentance - a turning away from the carnal "human nature" (the old nature of the old man) that we possess to the spiritual nature God originally intended us to develop.
Jesus said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41).
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit at all times so that we can overcome the weakness of our flesh.
Paul said, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16, 25).
Above all, God wants us to "tremble at His Word" - to fear Him and revere His commands.
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