Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

 Amaziah-The King Who Stopped Short of the Goal

 Book of 2 Chronicles Chapter 25

 

I think the greatest thing we can learn from the Old Testament is "what not to do".

No matter how powerful we become upon this earth, we are very, very small compared to God!

 Over and over, we read how people went against the Word of God, and God had to take away His hand of blessing.

You see God does not cause our problems; He just removes His hand of blessing that would have stopped most of our problems.

God wants us to allow Him to dictate how we live our lives to gain the greatest blessings while we are alive and even greater blessings when we join Him in Heaven.

God wants to deal with us as any good Father would.

We are foolish people when we do not realize that God wants to bless us and not take away our blessings.

 People believe that God does so many things to them, when actually it's the Devil who has more freedom when God removes His hand of blessing and protection.

 We get a bird's eye view of these things in the Books of the Kings and the Chroniclers, and in the divided nation, we see how leaders rebel against a loving God, and it did not go well for them.

None of us like discipline, but for all of us, a little discipline is necessary.

 Throughout the Old Testament, God dispensed His theocratic kingdom through mediators, the prophets.

 God appointed human leaders through whom He revealed His will and made Himself known. He still does this today.

 The final ultimate form of God's theocratic kingdom will be the Millennial Kingdom governed by Jesus Christ.

There is no more important subject in the Old Testament than the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

 The Old Testament looks forward to all the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and it gives us true history so we can better understand.

 We must understand that God deals with Israel to bring her to a place of Spiritual blessing in which she will be the agent for God to bless the nations of the world.

 We now know that this will not take place until after the Rapture of the Church and the Seven Years of Tribulation, which the Church will miss.

 The Mosaic Covenant was conditional and a demonstration of God's Holiness.

 All those who would enter into fellowship with our Holy God would have to meet His Holy Standard.

 Jer 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 

Jer 31:32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 

Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

Jer 31:34  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 

 The Prophets of the Old Testament teach us how God will achieve this with Israel.

 We know the Messiah will rule this earth from Jerusalem, but the Messiah first came as a suffering Messiah through whom God offers forgiveness of sins.

This forgiveness is for the whole world, but each individual must acknowledge it.

1Jn_2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 The one thing we see in all the Bible is the continuation of sin in the human race, and there is only one race in all the Scriptures.

 Red, yellow, black, and white, we are all sinners in His sight, but we are all forgiven if we trust what God has done for us.

Rom_3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 We know the Messiah to be a descendant of King David.

 2Sa 7:12  And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 

2Sa 7:13  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 

2Sa 7:14  I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 

2Sa 7:15  But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 

2Sa 7:16  And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. 

 This is the purpose of God to gain as many as will accept Him into His Heavenly Kingdom.

 The Old Testament gives us the history of Israel in the way God moved these people to fulfill His purpose for them.

 Our lesson continues to show us how the divided nation of Israel and the kings in the line of David continued to fail God in His purpose, but the plan of God continued to move forward, as it still does today.

 How many of us stop short of the goals God has set for us because we have slipped backwards from time to time?

I know I have. I am a work in progress.

I also know that God does not ever change. This is why we need to study the Old Testament to learn from the mistakes made then.

 *****2Ch 25:1  Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 

2Ch 25:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart. 

 After our salvation, God the Father gives us opportunities to earn rewards that will be in Heaven when we get there.

 When an opportunity arises, we must grab it, or else we will lose that opportunity.

 God gave opportunities to the Kings of Judah to become great kings, but most of them let pride and discipline be their downfall.

 Pro_16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

 In fact, God provides opportunities to every national leader because it is God who put them in place.

 We know we just do not see great leaders anymore.

The leaders of today are poisoned by the wickedness of this world.

What did God say on the day of Noah?

Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

God says the world keeps going as it always has, disregarding the sin that is in this world.

We here in America have great hope for the one who sits in the chair of the president today, but we do not know as of yet.

All we know is that he was the best choice to change the direction our nation was following, and he still is. 

Opportunities are lost by God's people because we just do not know how to discipline ourselves in the Word of God.

 When we as Christians meet the Lord Jesus in the clouds, He will probably remind us of all those lost opportunities.

 In the Books of the Kings and Chronicles, we see the lost opportunities of the leaders of Judah and Israel.

 Judah had nineteen kings and one queen, and most of them were wicked rulers.

 We must completely understand that God is not going to allow us to live like a bunch of pagans.

 Amaziah was the son of Joash, also written Jehoash, and was the ninth King of Judah.

 Joash was the son of Ahaziah, King of Judah, and the only one of his children who escaped from the wicked Queen Athaliah when she killed her own grandchildren.

 At the age of seven, Joash became King of Judah, and for twenty-three years, he did right in the eyes of God because he was led by Jehoiada, the High Priest of Israel.

 When Jehoiada died, Joash fell into the hands of bad advisors, and he revived the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth.

 When he was rebuked by Zechariah, the son of the High Priest, he had Zechariah stoned to death in the Temple.

 He had allowed the people to build worship centers on former pagan sites, and God was not pleased.

 He failed to remove the High places where the worship of false gods took place.

 False worship began to intermingle with the worship of Jehovah, and God was not pleased.

 These same things still happen today, and some inside the Church.

 People just never change from their wicked ways because they cannot without God in their lives.

 Ecc_1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

 Not too much later, he was assassinated by two of his own servants.

 Even though Amaziah was known as a mostly good king, we find that Amaziah was much like his father, King Joash, and never truly committed himself to the Lord.

From time to time, Amaziah would worship idols instead of the Lord.

We have a lot of our leaders who claim to be Christian, but the fact remains that any leader who only gives the Lord part of his heart is not really a leader at all and certainly does not belong to God.

God is an all-or-nothing God.

Amaziah did not close the "high places," which were places where false worship took place.

Amaziah did not serve God with a perfect heart.

Once Amaziah returned from his captivity in Israel, he was not much good to the people of Judah, and a conspiracy was made, and he too was assassinated.

 We cannot just be guided by the Preacher; we must be guided by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

 Amaziah began his reign by punishing the murderers of his father but not their children in obedience to the Word of God, but this was about all he did in obedience to the Word of God

Amaziah was not going to be the new King David.

He actually helped to bring idol worship into Judah.

 Amaziah numbered his army and became a foolish king.

 *****2Ch 25:5  Moreover, Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. 

2Ch 25:6  He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver. 

2Ch 25:7  But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 

2Ch 25:8  But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down. 

2Ch 25:9  And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this. 

 Amaziah found that he had three hundred thousand men who were able to go to war.

 Notice that a man had to be at least twenty years old to serve in the army and physically able.

 Then Amaziah committed a no-no.

 He hired a hundred thousand mercenary soldiers of Israel.

 If we are God's people, then we must trust that God will provide for our victories in life.

 If Amaziah had gone to war with the help of this mercenary army and won, then he could have bragged about how great he was instead of how great God is.

 The man of God stepped in to warn him.

 It is important to God that we turn away from evil associations with the enemies of God.

Our job is to witness to them the truth of God, but we are not to become a part of the lost crowd.

 It was Edom who had refused to allow the nation of Israel to travel through their land in the exodus from Egypt.

 It was Edom who had helped round up escaping Jews to give to Nebuchadnezzar.

 We should remember Edom was established by Esau, the brother of Jacob.

We would think that one side of the family of brothers would help the other side in their time of need, but not Edom. Edom is Esau

What did God say? Rom_9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Mal 1:2  I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, 

Mal 1:3  And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. 

 Eventually, Edom and Moab were taken over by the Nabateans.

 King David had conquered the Edomites, and so would King Amaziah without the help of that mercenary army.

 This would not have happened had he kept that army with him.

 It is God who has the power to help, but He also has the power to take down, as many who have faced Israel have found out.

 Amaziah gave this army a hundred talents of silver, which he had promised, and sent them away, but they were not satisfied with that.

 King Amaziah had to choose between losing the hundred talents and losing the war with the Edomites. He chose to win.

As the servants of God, we cannot allow ourselves to be pushed into disobedience because of others, especially by those who do not know the Lord as their Savior.

Satan smiles every time this happens.

We must be led by the LORD and not by the circumstances we face in this world.

 *****2Ch 25:10  Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger. 

 One man wrote that this army was disgraced by this rejection and disappointed with the spoil they hoped to gain and sent home empty.

 It is believed that a hundred talents were probably given to the officers who raised this army, and the soldiers themselves got nothing. This is the way greed works.

 You cannot trust an angry army of a hundred thousand men!

 They returned to Israel with great anger.

 *****2Ch 25:11  And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. 

2Ch 25:12  And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces. 

2Ch 25:13  But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil

 What did this man of God say? It may be okay to hire others who have the same hope in God and have an interest in Heaven, but God will never allow us to associate with those whom He has given over to the Devil.

 We cannot expect godliness from those who are ungodly.

 Amaziah was now convinced that he was stronger without the army of Israel than he was with them.

 The Valley of Salt ֶwas a significant geographical and military location in the ancient Near East, mentioned in several Old Testament passages. 

It is generally identified with the southern end of the Dead Sea, in the arid and salt-impregnated plain between Judah and Edom.

 It is believed to be part of the Arabah, a broad plain at the Dead Sea's southern end, bordered by salt mountains, salt marshes, and brackish water.

 Twenty thousand men of Edom died in this war with Judah.

 Ten thousand of them were just murdered, but we should understand what God said.

 This place is now called Petra. Selah and Petra are the same.

 2Ki 14:7  He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day. 

 The name Joktheel means subjugated of God.

 Today, many liberals would scream bloody murder at such a thing, but God does not ever forget the cruelty of His enemies.

 Eze 25:12  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; 

Eze 25:13  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. 

Eze 25:14  And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.

 Oba 1:10  For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 

 Edom or Esau is a picture of sin, the old nature of the flesh.

 Edom had always behaved as a merciless enemy of God's people and was judged for it.

 We cannot feel sorry for God's judgment of sin!

When armies were victorious in those days, they would take plunder, which could include men, women, children, cattle, and any other wealth of the defeated army.

Since there were no prisons, the defeated army was often killed to keep them from seeking revenge.

We could feel sorrow for any people if we had the opportunity to lead them to the Lord, and we did not even try.

 Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 

Col 3:6  For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 

Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 

 While Amaziah was occupied with Edom, those soldiers from Israel showed just how foolish it was for Amaziah to associate with them.

 We next see that Amaziah becomes a foolish king.

 *****2Ch 25:14  Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 

 We might ask ourselves, "Why would Amaziah do such a thing"?

 The only answer is that he was not completely sold out to Jehovah!

 Of all the sins we commit, false worship is the worst besides rejecting the Lord Jesus, which has no forgiveness!

 Exo_34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

 What Amaziah should have destroyed, he began to worship.

He bowed down to these false gods on more than one occasion, and he became a fool.

If false gods cannot save us, why would we consider them gods?

America is full of people today who worship material things and figures of the imagination.

No one has ever seen God, so no one can make an idol that is in His likeness.

It’s the same for Jesus Christ. We do not know what Jesus looked like except to know He took on the resemblance of the Jews.

Jesus was likely a first-century Jewish man with olive-brown skin, short black hair, a beard, and a modest, stocky build, standing around 5 feet 5 inches tall.

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 

We should not have objects of worship for either one, for they are no more than idols.

What had God said?

 Deu 7:5  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. 

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 

Even a picture of said Jesus Christ can become an idol if we see it as a thing to worship.

 Another King of Judah had failed God's people.

 Amaziah had potential, but he became a failure.

 Amaziah became boastful and arrogant because of his military victory, which he would not have had if he had not listened to the man of God.

 This arrogance would cost Judah a great deal more!

We should realize that if the Kings of Judah had all lived by the Word of God, then God would never have allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem, and the Middle East would be far different from what it is today.

It is the same for the Church today. If the Church is obedient to the Word of God, it will thrive because God's plan works while our plans fail.

The truth is, at this moment, the Church is failing because it has allowed the world to get inside the Church, and man's laws have overcome God's laws.

Just because a judge can decide the fate of certain people, only God can decide the true fate of all people.

Amaziah challenged the king of the Northern Kingdom, King Joash.

*****2Ch 25:18  And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. 

2Ch 25:19  Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? 

2Ch 25:20  But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.

We get a close-up view of what pride can do to us if we fall into its trap.

God may have allowed Amaziah to be victorious if he had not begun his worship of false idols. 

 Truth be known, it was probably Joash, King of Israel, who had sent that army back into the land of Judah.

 We can see that the areas and the cities that are mentioned were once part of Israel, and Samaria was the chief city in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes of Israel.

 God was on the side of Amaziah until he turned his back on God and began to worship idols.

 One of our greatest problems we as humans has been that we think we are far more important than we really are

Many of us walk around thinking we are some great things, but we are nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Without the love of God, we are nothing!

 It is Okay to take a little pride in our accomplishments and our achievements, but we must never think we did those things under our own power.

 We must never look upon others as being of less value than we are!

 Self-pride and self-righteousness are enemies to our relationship with our Righteous and Holy God.

 Psa 10:2  The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Psa 10:3  For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. 

Psa 10:4  The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. 

 When we go to others to solve our problems and not to God, we are just asking for failure.

 When we say goodbye to God, He will say goodbye to us.

 He will never force us to follow Him or His Words!

 2Ch 25:22  And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent. 

2Ch 25:23  And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

 The arrogance of Amaziah cost his nation dearly; even the House of God was plundered.

He was captured and was a prisoner to Israel until the death of Joash.

The wall of Jerusalem was broken down for about six hundred feet.

The treasures of the Temple were stolen.

The treasures of the king's house were taken.

Many royal hostages were taken back to Samaria.

It should be very clear that God will judge us for our sins against Him and His Word.

 *****2Ch 25:24  And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria. 

2Ch 25:27  Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

It should be easy to see that the Bible is always right. Pride does go before our destruction.

When we say goodbye to God, we begin walking on dangerous ground.

Our biggest problem from the beginning of time is that we just think too highly of ourselves.

Joash was even more wicked than Amaziah.

We see that wicked people can see through the motives of other wicked people much better than we can.

Almost all wicked people are driven by the same motives!

We would be wrong if we cannot see that God is using Joash to punish Amaziah.

Amaziah would enter his own home as a prisoner and see it plundered by Joash.

A section of the wall of Jerusalem is destroyed, and Joash goes too far when he plunders the House of God.

Joash takes hostages from the house of Amaziah to make sure Amaziah does not plan to retaliate.

Joash's advantage was a surprise attack, but more importantly, God's help. Other than God punishing Amaziah, Israel was no stronger than Judah.

God had already given Israel over to destruction.

After Amaziah's exile, he ruled in Judah for fifteen more years, but he was never the same, and he accomplished nothing else during his reign.

He never returned to the Lord, and in a conspiracy, he fled Jerusalem and was assassinated, but he was still buried with his fathers in the city of Judah.

Amaziah had the potential to be a great king, but once he left the Lord and filled his heart with apostasy and self-pride, he was just a figurehead sitting upon the throne of Judah and never accomplished anything for God's people.

We just must not squander the opportunities God gives us to fulfill the purpose He has for us.

If we just follow the Word that God has given us we live a good life here on earth and a much better life in Heaven.

1) Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2) Rom 10:9  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.

3) Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not

These are mine right now but what are yours.

Amen

My Savior Lives

 Jesus Is Alive

 Book of Luke Chapter 24

 People sometimes ask, what is the greatest discovery that has ever been made throughout the history of our world?

Immediately, they think about material things or certain medicines.

 That answer should be simple. The greatest discovery that has ever been made in this world is the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ!

 His tomb is still empty today because it was a borrowed tomb; the Lord Jesus only needed it for three days.

 Much of this world does not know this, and most of the world does not believe this is true to their loss.

We should be very clear: if the Lord Jesus Christ had not risen from the dead, there would be no such thing as Christianity.

Christianity would be just another religion serving a false god.

 The empty tomb and our risen Savior have to become a personal discovery for each individual on this earth.

 If my God cannot do the impossible, then He cannot be my God!

If my God is not alive, then I am no more than a fool and bound for Hell with no means of salvation.

 The Passover is past. The Lord Jesus was buried just before six PM on the day of the Passover.

The first day following Passover was to be a holy convocation treated as a special Sabbath, and it did not matter what day of the week it was; it could well have been on a Friday.

Lev 23:5  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover. 

Lev 23:6  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 

Lev 23:7  In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 

It was on Tuesday when the Lord Jesus had these words.

Mat 26:2  Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 

Two days after Tuesday would be Thursday. The words of Jesus are more reliable than calendars; this Passover was on a Thursday. 

The day after the preparation day, which was Passover, would be the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was treated as a Sabbath, a High Day. Then, in this particular year, the true Sabbath would follow that day, meaning that when Sunday came, Jesus would have been in the ground for three days and three nights. 

The Lord Jesus had been in the grave three days and three nights just as He had said.

At least this is where my Bible study leads me.

Mat_12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so, shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jhn_19:31  The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

 Luk 23:54  And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 

Luk 23:55  And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 

Luk 23:56  And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. 

 *****Luk 24:1  Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 

Luk 24:2  And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 

Luk 24:3  And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 

 It was the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that would bring the history of this world and eternity to their fulfillment according to God's plan.

 God plans that every living soul be provided with the opportunity for atonement.

The day of atonement was the only day of the year in which the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, but not without blood, which he offered for himself.

On this day, he wore none of his colorful clothes to enter behind the Veil but wore white linen clothes.

On this Passover, the Lord Jesus offered His own blood for the atonement.

When the High Priest fulfilled his purpose, he left those clothes in the Holy of Holies just as the Lord Jesus left His white linen clothes behind, and He is not only our Mediator, but He is our true High Priest.

 Rom 5:11  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 

 The meaning of the word is at-one-ment, and it means the state of being at one or being reconciled to God.

Until you are washed in the blood of Jesus, you cannot be reconciled to God! 

Atonement is reconciliation. It signifies the truth of the Gospel which flows from the death of Jesus Christ.

 The Lord Jesus Christ died in our place! The Lord Jesus Christ took our punishment, which we were rightly due for the sins we committed against our Heavenly Father, our Creator.

 Our guilt was imputed to Him, and this is why He came at the First Coming.

 2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

 1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 

 Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

 This was God's plan, and it was executed by His only begotten Son.

 The Old Covenant is over, and the New Covenant has begun.

 These women were not aware of these things, yet all they knew was that the body of the Lord Jesus Christ had not been properly cared for, and it had been three days.

At four days, the body of Jesus would be corrupted.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had rushed to get the body of Christ into a grave on the day of Passover.

 The Lord Jesus had been dead three days, just as He had said.

 Mat_12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 The Lord Jesus Christ arose on the first day of the week, which is Sunday on the Jewish calendar.

 We now look at Monday as the first day of the week and Sunday as our Sabbath.

 Act 20:7  And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

 This Sunday would have had its beginning at six o’clock the previous day, and these ladies came to the Tomb of Christ early that next morning.

 Because His resurrection had occurred just as He had said, another order of things had occurred.

 It was love that brought these ladies to the tomb of Jesus, and it is love and truth that should bring us all to the cross of Jesus.

 Death reigns no more in our earthly flesh if you are reconciled to God.

The curse of Adam has ended for you.

 The rules of death have been broken by the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Why? Because His tomb was empty, but that was not all.

 1) The Scriptures were opened: Luk 24:27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

 2) Eyes were opened: Luk 24:31  And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 

 3) The mind is opened: Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

 4) Heaven was opened: Luk 24:51  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 

 That stone was not rolled away to let the Lord out of that grave. He was already out before the angels rolled away that stone.

 That stone was rolled away to allow these women who loved Him so much to go inside and look at an empty tomb.

 This was the first victory of God's amazing grace.

 Now, mercy and grace are the rules God will use toward all mankind.

 These ladies were perplexed about what they had seen.

 *****Luk 24:4  And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 

 One of the best proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the testimony of these ladies.

They witnessed the body of the Lord Jesus being placed into that tomb, and they now see that the tomb is empty.

 They knew He was dead, and they knew where He had been laid, and the door had been sealed.

It was the penalty of death to remove this seal unauthorized.

 None of those who came to the tomb of Christ had believed Him when He said He would be three days in it and then He would arise from that death until it took place.

 As they arrive, they see the stone rolled away, and no one man could do such a thing, and they knew that they could not do it themselves.

 Mar 16:3  And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 

Mar 16:4  And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.  

It was the angels who rolled away the stone.

 Mat 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 

 An angel of the Lord cannot lie; they are only messengers.

 The body of Jesus Christ was not in the tomb.

 These angels had taken on the form of humans.

 They looked like men, but their clothing was not of this world but shining garments.

One angel was on each end of the slab where the Lord Jesus had lain, which gives us the vision that the mercy seat was no longer in the Holy of Holies.

 Jesus is first called Lord Jesus in this passage after His resurrection, for He is now our risen Savior. 

 What was the message of the angels?

 *****Luk 24:5  And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 

Luk 24:6  He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 

Luk 24:7  Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 

Luk 24:8  And they remembered his words,

 They were not so much afraid of those angels as they were about the missing body of Christ.

 The truth is, God the Father has fully accepted the work of His Son for our atonement, and life has returned to Him.

 Joh 10:17  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 

Joh 10:18  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. 

 The Lord Jesus becomes the Living God because death cannot hold our Savior!

 Not many living will stay in a dead man's tomb for very long.

.These angels also reminded these women of what the Lord Jesus had said before His death.

 We had better be clear in our hearts, we do not honor a dead Savior, we honor the Living God!

 Because they now remembered the words that Jesus had spoken, they had conviction and boldness to witness to others this truth.

 The Lord Jesus had declared that the grave could not hold Him.

 Heb 7:8  And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

 Rom 1:4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

 Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,  

It is the power of His resurrection that removes any doubt that the Lord Jesus is the true Messiah, God in the Flesh.

 None of those who had followed the Lord Jesus had truly accepted that He would arise from His death.

 They had not accepted that He would die until it happened.

 It is an eye-opening event when we realize that we were wrong about God!

 God is who He says He is!

God does as He says He will do!

 *****Luk 24:9  And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 

Luk 24:10  It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. 

Luk 24:11  And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 

 What is the greatest lesson we can learn from this passage? 

We need to pay attention to what the Lord Jesus Christ says!

 The Lord Jesus always speaks the truth!

 Not finding the Body of Jesus puzzled these women when it should have brought faith.

 Many will say that an empty tomb is not proof of a resurrection.

 Full belief required the appearance of Jesus Christ.

 Faith would know that He is alive!

 We should understand that the Holy Spirit did it this way so the Church would know that the grave was empty and it was the actual body of Jesus and not some ghost.

 Many commentators will say that those two angels are Moses and Elijah, but the Bible does not lead us in this direction.

 The angels quickly told these ladies that if they wanted to see the Risen Savior, they had come to the wrong place.

 We know our Savior cannot be bound by any tomb, and you will never find Him there again.

 The angels told these ladies to remind the eleven Apostles that He would meet them in Galilee.

 The angels also said, “Do you not remember what Jesus said?"

 Luk 18:31  Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 

Luk 18:32  For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 

Luk 18:33  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 

 The body of Jesus Christ had not been removed; Jesus had walked out of that grave, going straight through the rock because it was the angels who rolled that heavy stone away.

 The enemies of Jesus were still rejoicing, but this rejoicing was about to end.

 It took a while for these women to believe that the Lord had risen from that grave, and the Apostles did not believe these women.

 The greatest sin in all the Bible is to not believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

 The Apostles had no excuse for rejecting the truth of the resurrection, for the Lord had told them He would arise on many occasions.

 They did go to Galilee, but they were quitting. They felt they had no one to serve after the death of Jesus.

 This is where they would witness the truth of the Lord Jesus.

 There is a lack of clear direction. They are no longer full of the Lord Jesus, and activities they previously abandoned for Him have a chance to creep back in.

 It is never a good time to quit on Jesus!

 Mar 16:14  Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 

 Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

 Peter was still suffering because he had denied Christ.

 *****Luk 24:12  Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. 

 Many say that those linen clothes lay in that grave just as they were wrapped, meaning that the body of Jesus had passed through those wrappings, leaving them in place.

 Jesus had folded the napkin that was over His face and laid it in another place, and we all know the meaning of this. "I will be back."

As I said earlier, the High Priests would always leave those white linen clothes in the Holy of Holies, so that the empty tomb had become the Holy of Holies, and that place in the Temple was no longer important. The Veil had been torn into two pieces.

 Peter came to the tomb of Jesus.

 Peter saw what manner His clothes were laid.

 Peter departed, wondering within himself what had actually happened.

 What we now know is that it is dangerous not to understand the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 We cannot spiritualize the Word of God because it will lead to unbelief and serious problems.

 All we need to do is be open to the evidence that the Holy Spirit gives us in the Gospels.

 1) The tomb is empty.

2) Jesus has risen just as He said.

3) The Holy Spirit will convince us of the truth if we listen to Him.

 Joh 8:23  And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. 

Joh 8:24  I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. 

 Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 

 The risen Messiah was not some spirit, He was not some vision, not some phantom, not a hallucination or the figment of man's imagination, He was the risen Savior.

 One day, not so far into the future, we will have a glorified body just like the Lord has.

 *****Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 

Luk 24:46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 

Luk 24:47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 

Luk 24:48  And ye are witnesses of these things. 

Luk 24:49  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. 

 The road to Emmaus is another great picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but our lesson goes to the teaching of the Lord Jesus to the Apostles after they knew that the resurrected Christ is the same Christ who had died for their sin and ours.

 Now that these Apostles know that Jesus is a risen Savior, they can better understand the lessons He had taught them.

 All prophecies up to the point of the Cross had been fulfilled just as they were written.

 Jesus makes a point to teach these men that every word of God would be fulfilled just as written.

 We can depend on the Word of God and a proper translation of the Word of God, such as the KJV.

 Many translations are nothing but trash and should be done away with.

 1) The death of Christ and the Resurrection had to take place just as they happened. Some of the brutalizing of our Savior was unnecessary, but foretold.

 None of these things should have been a surprise to these men, and certainly not to the Scribes and Pharisees who were supposedly Bible scholars.

 The Lord Jesus had preached these things Himself.

 2) It was necessary that the death of Christ and His resurrection take place. His death was imperative, or we would still be bound with our sin, unforgiven.

 His resurrection also had to take place, showing us the power of God and our own future resurrection of our bodies.

 The Lord Jesus gave us His own division of the Bible of that day.

 The Law

The Prophets

The Psalms

 Basically, the entire Old Testament.

 3) The Lord Jesus opened their eyes so they could understand:

 1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

 4) These prophecies had to be fulfilled.

 Christ had to suffer a terrible death and then rise from that death.

 Repentance and forgiveness must be preached.

 The Holy Spirit and the Power of Heavenly Father must be sent.

 Every believer was to be equipped for witnessing the truth of God.

 The source of the Holy Spirit and His Power can come from God the Father only.

 Jesus Christ was to send the promises of God the Father.

It was God the Father who made the promises.

We are to wait upon the Lord Jesus Christ to return while praying for the promises of God.

 God the Father is the source of all power.

 Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 His work finished, the Lord went home to be by His Father's side.

 *****Luk 24:50  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 

Luke closes his Gospel with the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He had remained on earth for forty days since His resurrection.

The Lord Jesus came to this world on a mission to save the people of this world, and He provided a means of salvation and reconciliation with God to every individual who has lived since that time.

His ascension closes His earthly ministry, but it opens His Heavenly ministry, His mission of intercession for the world.

He now bears witness through the lives of those who believe Him.

He is now the propitiation for our sins.

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 

God's Son returned to the right hand of God the Father.

His ascension proves that Heaven is a real place!

Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 

Php 3:21  Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

His ascension assures us that we have a very special Helper in Heaven who really loves and cares for us.

Amen

The Most Innocent is Crucified and Buried

 Mock Trials, Crucifixion, and Burial

 Book of Luke Chapter 23

 

Who is this Jesus?

 Luk 22:67  Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 

Luk 22:68  And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 

Luk 22:69  Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

Luk 22:70  Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 

 This is the Jesus who was born of a virgin.

 Luk 2:11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 This is the Jesus who received His commission at His baptism.

 Luk 3:21  Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 

Luk 3:22  And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

 This is the Jesus who was proclaimed at His first sermon.

 Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 

Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

 This is the Jesus who was proclaimed by His disciples.

 Luk 9:20  He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. 

 This is the Jesus of Nazareth.

 Act_22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

 This Jesus is the Son of Man: Luk 22:69  Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. 

 This Jesus is the Son of God: Jhn_11:4  When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

 This is the same Jesus, who the Scriptures prove is God's Messiah, and was rejected by the Jews.

 This is the same Jesus who was crucified for all the sins of this world.

 This is the Jesus that should not be seen as a helpless idealist who died in weakness, but who was and who is the Lord of Glory.

 1Co_2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

 What were the charges against the Lord Jesus Christ?

 1) Jesus was charged by the Sanhedrin Court with perverting the nation of Judah and with committing sedition against Rome, which was a false charge.

2) Jesus was charged by the Sanhedrin Court with disobeying the Laws of Judah and not paying His taxes, which were all false charges.

3) Jesus was charged by the Sanhedrin Court with claiming to be king and being a rival to Caesar, which was also false.

 *****Luk 23:13  And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 

Luk 23:14  Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him:

Luk 23:15  No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.  

 We first saw Pilate, who was the great compromiser.

 It is by this Roman that the most innocent man to have ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ, was put to death.

 This was the greatest tragedy in human history, though it was deemed necessary by God the Father.

 He found no fault in Jesus because there were no faults, as these Jews brought only false charges, and they knew it.

He had sent the Lord Jesus to Herod, who also found no faults in the Lord Jesus.

He gave in to worldly pressure.

 Herod was also a compromiser who used this instance to repair his relationship with Pilate.

 Pilate hated the Jews because of their religion, and the Jews hated Pilate for the same reason. He worshipped idols.

 Among the things he had done was that he had stolen money from the treasury of the Temple for a water project, and he was never forgiven for this.

 Pilate was certainly a wicked man.

 Pilate knew that these same elders and High Priests would go to Caesar if he did not do as they requested.

 We see that they all were worried about their standing and their riches, all material things.

 Pilate decided to appease the Jews because it was certain that they would cause Him trouble in Rome.

 Pilate was concerned about himself, not truth and justice.

 A compromising man is self-centered. They will always protect themselves at the expense of all others!

 Pilate said, "I will just chastise this Jesus and let Him go".

 Pilate subjected our Lord Jesus to a horrible punishment of scourging, just to try to satisfy the religious leaders of Judah.

 He thought that the sight of Jesus after this cruel treatment might perhaps cause the people to pity Him.

 The High Priests had the people in such a false uproar that they made a tragic mistake.

 Mat_27:25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

 *****Luk 23:16  I will therefore chastise him, and release him. 

Luk 23:17  (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) 

Luk 23:18  And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: 

Luk 23:19  (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 

Luk 23:20  Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. 

Luk 23:21  But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

 The Romans had a custom of releasing a prisoner on certain special days and Pilate brought this custom to Judah. It was never a Hebrew custom.

 At the time of the Passover, Pilate would release a prisoner from his cells, many just political prisoners, and Pilate decided he could release our Lord Jesus, and all sides would be satisfied, but the elders and the High Priests so stirred up the people, and they would have no part even in this.

 Pilate may have tried many ways to release the Lord Jesus when all he had to do was just release Him; he had this power all along.

 The Lord Jesus was completely innocent and Pilate knew this.

 We see that word envy: Mrk_15:10  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

 What is the truth of envy? Envy leads to strife, division, railing, and sometimes murder.

 We see all these things in this mockery of a trial of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

 There was a man named Barabbas who was the guiltiest prisoner in Pilate’s cells at that time.

 He was a murderer.

He was a thief.

He was a seditionist.

He was an insurrectionist.

He was guilty.

 There are some who say that this Barabbas was also named Jesus, but this is not true.

 In the Armenian version of the Scriptures, it says: "whom will you that I shall deliver unto you, Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus that is called Christ?"

 The Armenian Church does not follow the Doctrine of the Apostles, which is the Doctrine of Jesus Christ.

 One commentary says this text was written by a bigoted transcriber.

 Matthew wrote that Barabbas was a notorious prisoner.

 Mat 27:16  And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 

 These disciples of the Devil had their way with Pilate because he was just as wicked as they were.

 Psa 69:4  They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. 

 One thing is missing. When the truth is known, it should be proclaimed and not compromised!

 This is the only thing that our politicians know how to do today: compromise with the Devil and his ways.

 Compromise weakens principles.

Compromise weakens life!

 God will never accept compromise!

Much of the Church has compromised with the world today, and they will find that God will not accept them.

 1Jn 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

1Jn 5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 

 They cried crucify Him, crucify Him.

 Luk 23:24  And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. 

 The Lord said the same thing that we say about our children. We just cannot fathom how our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will survive in this wicked world if the Lord Jesus does not return soon.

 Luk 23:28  But Jesus, turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 

 The Lord Jesus was crucified, and the Lord Jesus Christ died a real death.

 *****Luk 23:44  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 

Luk 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 

Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. 

 The sixth hour would be midday, around twelve o’clock, when the Sun was high in the sky.

 At this very moment, the brightest time of the day, it became completely dark.

 This was not an eclipse of the Sun, and it can be proven.

 An eclipse of the Sun only lasts about six minutes, but this darkness at the death of Jesus Christ lasted for three hours.

 Another proof is that the time of the Passover is the time of the full Moon, and Eclipses of the Sun do not take place at the time of the full Moon.

 The Sun withdrew its rays when the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for us.

 If He had not been made sin, there would be no means of salvation.

 The Sun of Righteousness is led into darkness.

 Ecc_3:16  And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

 In those places, people are selfish and ambitious. The greatest injustice in the place of justice is the trial against the Lord Jesus.

 Mal_4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

 The sun is the symbol of dominion over the day (Gen_1:16 ). Thus, the day of the LORD is marked by His dominion over Sunday, but truly every day.

 Jesus is the day star.

 2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 

 The "daystar" appears in each of us once we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

 He is the bright and morning star: Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star. 

 Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 

 At this time, the light of Our Daystar was out because the Lord Jesus had taken on all the sin that this world had committed.

 It was darker than it had been since that first Passover.

 It was so dark you could feel the darkness, and it did not feel good!

There is no goodness in darkness!

 Exo_10:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

 There was no light anywhere to be seen for three hours.

 This darkness tells us just how much God hates sin!

 In the darkness, all of mankind also stood in the darkness, having no way to see God.

 For three hours God forsake His Son.

 This was the thing that the Lord Jesus hated the most.

 God had to break fellowship with His own Son for three hours.

 The Lord Jesus Christ hung lonely on an old wooden cross between Heaven and Earth.

 The Earth did not want Him and lifted Him, and Heaven closed itself above Him.

 God had stopped the Sun from shining, and the Glory of the Lord went dark for a period of three hours.

 That is not all: The veil of the Temple was ripped from top to bottom because the Almighty God had ripped what could not be ripped by man.

 The way to God has now been opened, and it is through His Son.

 Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ was dead, but He could not stay dead and still be God!

 God dwells in darkness, and He invites the entire world to come to Him by the Light of His Son, Jesus Christ.

 The Lord Jesus said, "Father, into thy hands I commend My Spirit".

 The work that provided every human being a way to Heaven to live with God was now finished; all we need to do is accept this truth as fact.

 The unshakable foundation of the Kingdom of God had been laid!

 Psa 31:5  Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. 

 The Lord Jesus came to die, and this work was now complete.

 *****Luk 23:47  Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. 

 This thing that happened got the attention of a man who had fought many battles and survived but was still in the hands of the Devil.

 He had been in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but he knew he was never in charge at all.

 He had made sure that Jesus was nailed to the cross, but since that time, all these things that happened were between the Lord Jesus and God the Father.

 No one could have changed what happened.

 Old Satan was celebrating, but his joy would not last exceedingly long!

 This Centurion was a Gentile, and the Church would soon turn to the Gentiles who began to see the truth of Jesus Christ in the coming generations, but we must understand that God will soon turn back to the Jewish people, and almost all of them will believe what they first rejected, and God will close the Door to the Gentiles.

 Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind,

 Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

 It was time to place the Body of Christ into a borrowed tomb.

 *****Luk 23:50  And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: 

Luk 23:51  (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. 

Luk 23:52  This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 

Luk 23:53  And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

 This man we know of as Joseph of Arimathea was a secret believer who failed to confess the Lord Jesus publicly until His death.

 He had ignored what the Lord Jesus had said.

 He had stepped forward for Jesus, but only after His death.

 The Bible does say that he had not committed to the false trial and deeds of those who had pushed for the death of Jesus.

 He was afraid to stand up for God, and there are many like him today in the Church.

 This is a question we should ask ourselves: would we take a stand with Jesus if that time came to us?

 We need to be settled on this question now!

 We must never be afraid to make a public confession of our faith!

 Joseph was a highly educated member of the ruling body of Israel.

 He was a good and just man to those around him.

 He was a man looking for the Messiah.

 He was a man looking for the Kingdom of God.

 These things meant nothing because he was a man who refused to stand up for Jesus, who was also the Messiah, as Scripture proved so easily.

 He feared the loss of his position more than his fear of God.

 Joh 19:38  And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 

Joh 19:39  And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 

Joh 19:40  Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 

 Here we see another man named Nicodemus, a man similar to Joseph.

 Luk 9:26  For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

It makes no sense for us to be this way because it just makes us losers.

Luk 12:4  And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 

Our fear does not come from God; it can only come from the Devil.

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

2Ti 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Joseph got his courage back at the death of our Savior, and he went to Pilate to demand the body of Christ because he knew that the Romans usually just dumped the bodies of crucified criminals.

Pilate, being fed up with the Jesus matter, still did not want the disfavor of the Sanhedrin Court and gave the body of Christ to Joseph, who was a part of the Sanhedrin Court.

Every secret believer needs to go to the foot of the cross and meet the Savior who died for us there.

Joseph is careful with the body of Jesus and laid the body of Jesus in his own tomb he had prepared for himself.

When the Lord Jesus Christ was born, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. Now, as He has died Jesus was wrapped in clothes again.

While everyone else is preparing for the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the Lord Jesus is laid in a borrowed tomb.

Many who had stood by the Lord wanted to get close to Him now, but there was no sign of the eleven disciples.

The cross had changed many lives just as it does today.

Just remember we serve a Living Savior who can never die again.

Amen

Fellowship Then Denial and Betrayal

 Passover to Betrayal and Denial

 Book of Luke Chapter 22

 

 It was time for the Jewish Passover, and this Passover is tied to the death of Jesus Christ.

 The annual Passover celebrated by the Jews is both memorial and symbolic:

 1) As a memorial in memory of that first Passover night in Egypt.

2) Symbolic because its ultimate fulfillment was at Mount Calvary.

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

 1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

 On the tenth day of Abib (Nisan), a day set aside for the Passover Feast, each family was to select a lamb, without blemish, a male of the first year, and keep it isolated and under close observation until the fourteenth day.

 If this lamb were injured or became sick within those four days, it would have been blemished and could not be used as the Passover Lamb, and they would have to select another one.

 The Lord Jesus also spent four days in view of those of religion before He was crucified.

 On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey, with multitudes crying Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,

 This was a fulfillment of prophecy: Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

 The Lord Jesus then went in and cleansed the Temple.

 Mat 21:12  And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 

Mat 21:13  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

 The Lord Jesus was under critical scrutiny for four days.

 Four different groups challenged him in one day:

 1) The chief priests and the elders of the Jews.

 2) The Pharisees with the Herodians.

 3) The Sadducees.

 4) The Pharisees again who brought their lawyer.

 With every test, the Lord Jesus proved to be the Messiah by the Word of God.

 He had no blemishes, and He had no sin!

 We know that day began at six PM and ended at six PM the following day.

 The Lord Jesus and the disciples began their feast in the evening of the Passover, while most others celebrated their feast after daylight on the same day, which was the day the Lord Jesus was crucified and died between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 PM, in accordance with prophecy.

 Luk 23:44  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 

 Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. 

 Exo 12:5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 

 Exo 12:7  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 

Exo 12:8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat

 The Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper on the evening He was crucified.

 The Lord Jesus commanded that His followers continue to observe this last meal until His return.

 Mat 26:26  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 

Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

 This began the New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenant.

 To enact this New Covenant, His death was necessary because it was His death that provided the forgiveness of our sins.

 1Co 11:23  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 

1Co 11:24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 

1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

 So, what is the meaning of the Lord's Supper?

 1) It is a memorial to the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. He said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

 A) The bread symbolized the body of Jesus Christ.

 1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 

1Pe 2:25  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

 B) The grape juice symbolized His blood for the forgiveness of sin.

 Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 

Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

 The Lord's Supper looked forward to the cross.

 He finished His work of salvation when He came the first time.

 His resurrection looks forward to His return.

 Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 

 The Lord's Supper is also a communion of believers with each other!

 1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 

1Co 10:17  For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 

 Those who love the Lord Jesus Christ will also follow Him and eat and drink the same symbolic elements, focusing on our common faith in the work the Lord Jesus Christ did to provide our salvation.

 *****Luk 22:14  And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 

Luk 22:16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 

Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 

 When all prophecy is fulfilled, we will sit down again for the Lord's Supper, the difference being, He will be there with us.

 This will be the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

 It is possible that the Passover Feast has no significance as a meal of remembrance for the Jews as they have rejected the Messiah as the fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture.

 Even the Church is cautioned: 1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 

 The Lord's Supper is never to be thought of as a means of salvation.

 After this meal the Lord Jesus and the eleven disciples now went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

 The Lord Jesus often prayed at Gethsemane, and Judas the betrayer knew this.

 *****Luk 22:47  And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 

Luk 22:48  But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? 

 We should understand that the religious leaders of Israel had joined the forces of darkness against the Messiah.

 This will be repeated when the Lord Jesus Christ returns!

 Judas had been one of the twelve, but he had now sunk so low as to desert the Lord.

 How could he have done such a thing?

 Luk_22:3  Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

 Judas is separated from the crowd, but his crime is much greater than that of the crowd.

 There was the kiss of love and the kiss of reverence, but this day Judas had the kiss of a traitor.

 Mar 14:44  And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.

 The kiss of Judas on this day was to put the Lord Jesus in the hands of His enemies.

 Only a criminal has this kind of love!

 The other eleven had love to defend the Lord, but the Lord did not need them to defend Him.

 In fact, it is the Lord who does what is needed to protect these eleven true disciples.

 We must also keep in mind that these Jewish leaders could have captured the Lord Jesus many times, but they were afraid of the people.

 They chose the cover of darkness and broke the law themselves to capture Him.

 *****Luk 22:49  When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? 

Luk 22:50  And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. 

Luk 22:51  And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

 We know that only the eleven remaining disciples were with the Lord at this time.

 We know it was Peter who took the sword that he had, and it was Malchus who was the servant of the High Priest.

 Peter attempted to take off the head of Malchus, but Malchus reacted quickly enough that only his ear was removed, and the Lord Jesus immediately healed him.

 Many of these men were the Temple guards, but the rest were chief priests and elders of Israel.

 The Lord Jesus was no robber trying to escape!

 The Lord Jesus was the Lamb of God, ready to be sacrificed.

 All those things of abuse that were used on Him were unnecessary.

 Even the kiss of Judas was unnecessary because Jesus had stepped forward to protect those who were with Him.

 Jesus told His disciples to stand back and just allow this thing to happen to protect them, and that prophecy would be fulfilled.

 The use of violence was to be left to those who brought swords and clubs, and not those who followed the Lord.

 The Lord Jesus was never a danger to society, but He was a danger to their positions with Rome.

 To them, Jesus was no more than a thief trying to rob them of their position over the people.

 The Lord Jesus was not ready to establish His earthly Kingdom at that time.

 They still did not understand that our Lord Jesus was bringing eternal salvation to all those who believed in Him and the work of the Cross.

 *****Luk 22:52  Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? 

Luk 22:53  When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.  

The greatest sin of these people, which is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, was that they were blind to the Son of God!

 They just were not going to accept the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, no matter how many miracles He did.

 The Lord Jesus never once acted as if He were a thief come to steal something from this world.

 The Lord Jesus never preached a sermon that allowed them to live as they wished; He always preached the Word of God clearly.

 Only if they changed their evil and wicked ways could they be received by the God that they said they worshipped.

 They had to repent and obey the Word of God, which was the message that they received from Moses.

 They knew the truth of the flood.

 The Lord Jesus had to teach the truth for anyone to be saved.

 God will never accept an unrighteous person.

 If we want to meet the Almighty Living God, then it will only be without sin.

 We must believe who God really is!

 Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 The Word of God tells us who He is, and we must have enough faith to believe it.

 Those who arrested the Lord Jesus on this day could only think of their position with Rome and not their position with the God whom they said they followed.

 They were sold out to this material world that will soon come to its terrible end.

 They had joined forces with the powers of darkness.

 Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 What did the Devil know?

 Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

 When the Light of Jesus reappears, the darkness of this world will disappear.

 Peter became afraid for his life, and it caused him to sin.

 *****Luk 22:54  Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. 

Luk 22:55  And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. 

 Peter followed Jesus "afar off".

 This phrase means:

 1) Not walking close to Him.

2) Not standing with Him.

3) Not being identified with Him.

4) Not focusing his life on Him.

 If this could happen to Peter, it could happen to any of us.

 Peter became afraid for his own life, and his commitment was weak.

 Peter sat down with the crowd.

 The truth is God has not given us the Spirit of Fear, so if we are afraid, it came from the Devil.

 2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

2Ti 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,

 What is apostasy?

 Apostasy describes the defection of Christians, or so-called Christians, who now accompany the Antichrist.

 It is written that just before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be much apostasy by many in the Church.

 What we see in Peter is what we will see in the Church just before the rapture of the Church.

 2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 

 The Antichrist will show himself to be a superhuman and deceive many.

 *****Luk 22:56  But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. 

Luk 22:57  And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. 

Luk 22:58  And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. 

Luk 22:59  And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. 

Luk 22:60  And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 

 We must never pretend that we do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.

 We do not need to hang out with non-believers.

 We certainly must never deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Persecution is going to increase among Christians, and it is already terrible in many places today.

 Jesus said: Mrk_8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Matthew and Mark tell us that Peter began to curse and swear.

As Peter warms himself among the enemies of Jesus, he becomes like them.

Pro 4:14  Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 

Pro 4:15  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

Peter was from Galilee and he could not deny this.

Then the rooster crowed.

*****Luk 22:61  And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 

Luk 22:62  And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. 

Then Peter remembered the Lord's Words.

Then the Lord turned his head so He could see Peter and Peter could see the Lord.

The Lord Jesus had already warned Peter: Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 

In all this, the Lord Jesus, knowing exactly what would happen to Peter, the Lord never forgot him.

Even while the Lord Jesus was being beaten and abused, He still prayed for Peter.

He loved and cared for Peter, and He still wanted his loyalty and service.

Peter left this wicked crowd just as fast as he could.

He was a broken man, full of anguish and pain for having failed the Lord Jesus, and he wept bitterly.

Peter repented of his sin.

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Amen

Looking Forward to the End

 The Beginning of the End

 Book of Luke Chapter 21

 

 This is one of the chapters in the New Testament that is known as the Olivet Discourse.

 The Lord Jesus will teach us:

 1) The destruction of the Temple.

2) His return.

3) The end of the world.

 The Book of Matthew, Chapters twenty-four and twenty-five, along with the Book of Mark Chapter 13, should also be studied to get a complete picture of what the Lord Jesus is teaching here.

 The Lord Jesus begins with the destruction of the Temple.

 We should understand that this Temple was intended to be a House of Prayer.

 Mat_21:13  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Mrk_11:17  And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Luk_19:46  Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

 The Temple had been made into a house of commerce and was no longer the house of God, but a house of men.

 Only for faith did it have any value, such as that poor widow who had given all she had in faith.

 The disciples of the Lord were still blind to the corruption in the House of God at this time.

 Much of the Church is blind to the corruption in many houses of God today, which are more entertainment centers than they are Houses of Prayer.

 What is wrong with the Houses of God today? Repentance is no longer required, and the Bible is not preached, or it has been changed to reveal a false gospel.

 *****Luk 21:5  And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 

Luk 21:6  As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

 The Lord Jesus begins to reveal to them what will happen to this Temple that they are so proud of, and some of them may have still been alive to see it happen.

 The Lord Jesus describes to them the destruction of Jerusalem and the total destruction of the Temple that took place in 70 AD.

 The siege of Jerusalem began in April 70 AD, led by the Roman general Titus, as part of the First Jewish Revolt against Roman rule (66-73 AD).

 The city was already weakened by internal strife among various Jewish factions, including the Zealots, which hindered their ability to mount a unified defense against the Roman forces.

 After months of intense fighting, the Romans breached the city walls and captured Jerusalem. The climax of the siege occurred in the summer of 70 AD when the Romans set fire to the Second Temple.

 Estimates suggest that over a million Jews died during the conflict, with many more enslaved or displaced.

 The Romans systematically destroyed much of the city, leaving only a few structures, including parts of the Western Wall, which remains a site of pilgrimage today.

 The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple fundamentally altered Jewish religious life and still does today. 

 The destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD was a significant event that reshaped Jewish history, culture, and religion, with effects that are still felt today.

 It is said that Titus did not want the Temple to be destroyed, but he lost control of his  armies and  Temple was set on fire to melt all the gold that could be captured.

 Josephus the historian wrote that, except for Herod’s three great towers and part of the western wall, the whole circuit of the city was so thoroughly levelled and dug up that no one visiting it would believe that it had ever been inhabited.

This is why the Muslim say today that Israel never existed.

 The disciples then wanted to know when these things would take place.

 *****Luk 21:7  And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? 

Luk 21:8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

 The Book of Mark tells us that Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked this question.

 They also asked if there would be a sign before it happened.

 The Jews did love their Temple. We know that King Herod had spent forty-six years making the Temple one of the great wonders of the world.

 The government of the Jews had no respect for Jehovah God.

 The disciples had already begun to see that the Lord Jesus was not going to sit as King of the Jews at this time, and this thing told of the Lord made this more real to them.

 The Lord Jesus told them that this destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was not one of the signs of the end times.

 The Apostles of Jesus Christ would face some terrible times as they taught the first words of Christianity and the beginning of the Church.

 In other words, there will come a time of the destruction of Jerusalem and a new rebuilt Temple, which would take place during the time of the Gentiles.

 Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 

 We get the idea that it would certainly be centuries before the return of Jesus Christ, first to get His Church and Second to reclaim Jerusalem and all the earth.

 2Pe 3:2  That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 

2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 

2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 

What is the greatest sign mentioned by the Lord Jesus Christ?

 The sign of deception!

 Mat 24:23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 

Mat 24:25  Behold, I have told you before.

 The Lord Jesus is dealing with the end of the Temple and the end of the world, the destruction of the Temple and the destruction of the world.

 It is sin that causes the judgment of God upon this entire world and not just the sin of the Jews!

 Deception is the state of being misled.

 As Christians, we recognize that the Church Age will end with the judgment at the return of Jesus Christ.

 Because God is Holy, He must judge all that is unholy; otherwise, He would no longer be Holy Himself.

 God is judging in this present age as every true Christian has been justified, but this future judgment goes much further than this.

 At some point in the past, God judged Lucifer and the fallen angels.

 God judged the people of the earth when He sent the flood.

 God judged the people at the Tower of Babel, and the different languages began. 

 God judged the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and then later He judged the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

 None of these things were the final judgment.

 Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 

Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

 Believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.

 Rom 14:10  But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

 Unbelievers will stand before the White Throne Judgment!

 Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

 At the end of the ages, God will judge Satan and his demons together with the beasts and the false prophet.

 Yes, judgment is coming to all God's created people!

 A great deception is already in place today in the Church and in the world.

We believe that after the Rapture of the Church and the Church meets the Lord Jesus in the air, it is at this time or near this time that a covenant of peace will be signed with Israel, and the Temple will be rebuilt, and the priestly duties, along with animal sacrifices, will begin again.

This begins the time of Jacob's trouble, when Israel has relative peace until they find out that the Antichrist, who is the great deceiver, has no intention of peace, the sacrifices will stop, and the Temple will again be destroyed in what we know of as the Great Tribulation.

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Mat_24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

This is the time of Israel, and God has removed the Church just as he promised before this takes place.

Some things should not bother us too much, for the Church will not see this wrath of God as He has promised.

As long as the Church is upon this earth, we are to stay busy spreading the Gospel. 

The Lord Jesus says that we will live in a time of unrest, and we are today, and it may get worse before 

we go home to Heaven.

 We have seen this unrest since the Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the beginning of the Church Age.

 *****Luk 21:9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

Luk 21:10  Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 

 What have we seen?

 1) We have seen nations fight each other and kingdoms take up arms against each other.

2) We have seen that the earth has been moved by great earthquakes and natural disasters.

3) Heaven has also spoken; terrible things have happened that make great impressions, and great signs in the heavens have already been seen.

 The Lord Jesus said that these things are going to happen, but they are not necessarily signs that the end is imminent.

 The Lord Jesus Christ was preparing His Apostles for His death and departure and preparing them to carry on without Him.

 We already know that these eleven men and the Apostle Paul faced some terrible times in which they were all martyred, but the Apostle John.

 The most important thing we can gain from this message of Jesus Christ is that we must not grow weary in waiting for His return.

 He was telling us all that we will see and experience so much trouble in our world that our faith might falter, and we must guard against this happening.

 Many walk this earth today after their own lusts, not even caring if Christ will return, in fact stating, where is He, where is His promise.

 One of the key signs of the return of Jesus Christ is what we see today: 1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.  

1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 

1Jn 2:20  But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

 Many of the doubters come from the Church itself.

 We see a falling away from the Church today, but this speaks of those who belong to Satan who have become leaders in many churches and now deny Jesus Christ.

 We should know that God is never caught off guard. He is still on the throne and still in charge of His creation.

 We should not get caught off guard ourselves. We can expect these things from a corrupt world, so we must not get discouraged.

 Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 

 We will face challenges that will try to draw us away from God, our Savior.

 We must concentrate our trust on New Heaven and the New Earth and not in this world.

 We must remember that the Lord Jesus was not preaching a sermon here; He was answering the questions from His Apostles.

 Joh 16:31  Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 

Joh 16:32  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

 We should also understand that the turmoil we see in our world is not part of the plan of God; He just knows that these things will happen.

 It is because of the lust, the greed, and the wickedness in this evil world, which never goes away.

 Jas 4:1  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 

Jas 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 

Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

 We must not get caught off guard by these things we see every day!

 We see how violent our world has become, so we believe that the end is near, and it may be, but it may not be.

 We are to remain busy with the work of the Lord!

 Jer 51:45  My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 

Jer 51:46  And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

 There will most certainly be natural disasters, which may increase and have.

 We do live in a cursed world!

 *****Luk 21:11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 

 We can say that since the time of the flood, there have been great earthquakes.

 We seem to forget sometimes that when the Lord Jesus first created this earth, all the land was in one great continent.

 During and after the flood, this big continent broke apart, and volcanoes and earthquakes began as the tectonic plates began to shift and are still shifting.

 Gen_7:11  In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

 Gen_10:25  And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

 What do we know about earthquakes?

 Just on March 30th.

 Map data from National Geographic

5.1 magnitude Celebes Sea

3.9 magnitude Road Town, British Virgin Islands

4.9 magnitude, Lakatoro, Malampa, Vanuatu

4.2 magnitude, The Valley, Anguilla

4.1 magnitude, Road Town, British Virgin Islands

4.6 magnitude, Fiji

Another 5.0 magnitude, The Valley, Anguilla

Another 3.9 magnitude, The Valley, Anguilla

Another 3.6 magnitude, Road Town, British Virgin Islands

Another 3.7 magnitude, The Valley, Anguilla

 There have been 195 earthquakes in the past 24 hours

1,278 earthquakes in the past 7 days

5,452 earthquakes in the past 30 days

50,842 earthquakes in the past 365 days

 Earthquakes are one of the most feared disasters among people.

 The historian Josephus made a record of the earthquake that fulfilled the prophecy of the Lord Jesus upon the cross.

 Josephus also thought the world was coming to an end on the day Jesus died.

 He wrote: There broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest shower of rain and continuous lightnings, terrible thundering, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake.

 He added: These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder, and anyone would guess that these wonders foretold some grand calamities that were coming.

 The Lord Jesus speaks of "great earthquakes" more powerful than what we see daily.

 Food is one of the necessities we cannot do without. Jesus said there would be a great famine before Jerusalem falls again.

 Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 

Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 

 The Bible says that those who are slain with the sword are better off than they that die from hunger.

 There will be great diseases, and we know disease shows no partiality.

 No one can buy their way out of an epidemic of disease.

 There will be fearful sights and great signs in the heavens.

 We know that the earth can be darkened by the dust of volcanoes, windstorms, and even smoke from huge fires.

 Whatever darkens the sun will also affect the moon.

 Meteorites fall from the sky, and we have been seeing very large meteorites pass through our solar system lately.

 Large enough to destroy our planet.

 The earth is primed for all these things to take place, but if we believe that the "Rapture" is the next event on God's calendar to take place, then there is one more thing that will take place.

 *****Luk 21:12  But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. 

Luk 21:13  And it shall turn to you for a testimony. 

Luk 21:14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 

Luk 21:15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 

 This is the sign that concerns the Christian that will happen before God removes His Church.

 Right now, there is a Christian murdered every two hours just for following the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is only going to get worse.

 For them, following the Lord Jesus Christ has cost them everything!

 They are tortured and murdered just for saying "I believe in Jesus Christ".

 This is the reality for Christians who live in the Islamic World.

 More than 388 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.

 We had better understand that we will face persecution for claiming our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 We stand for godliness; the world is not godly, nor does the world seek to become godly.

 The Muslims claim to serve the God of Abraham, yet they reject the Lord Jesus Christ, so this is an outright lie; they serve the Devil.

 All those who live for the world do not think they should have to change; therefore, the message of Jesus Christ is that they will die in their sin.

 Repentance is not even taught in many so-called houses of God today because few people left are willing to change their lives.

 When this persecution happens, we must be settled in our hearts that we will remain with Christ, and the Holy Spirit will use our own mouths to speak the words of Jesus Christ.

 Without a test of our faithfulness, we will never have a testimony!

 What will our persecution look like?

 Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 

Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. 

Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls. 

 *****Luk 21:20  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 

 Many believe that the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 AD was the fulfillment of this prophecy.

 1.1 million Jews were slaughtered.

 97,000 were taken captive and removed from Jerusalem.

 Not one Jew was left alive in Jerusalem.

 Not one Christian died because they fled Jerusalem before the siege of Jerusalem took place.

 Many Jews have used this as an excuse to hate Christians ever since, but our main job is to obey the Word of God and not this world.

 The Romans not only destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem, but they also ransacked the entire area around Jerusalem, so that it looked as if no one had ever lived there.

 Was this even what the Lord Jesus described?

 After the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews predicted by Jesus in the previous verses, there would come a long period when Jerusalem would be dominated by Gentiles.

 But miraculously, in 1948, Israel again became a nation, and in 1967 Jerusalem was captured again by the Jews and is now again one of the mightiest nations on this earth.

 As long as the Muslim rule on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem is still trampled by the Gentiles, there remains prophecy to be fulfilled.

 Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 

 As Christians, we believe that this one week is the seven years of tribulation that have not taken place yet and will not until the Rapture of the Church has taken place.

 The truth is that no one knows exactly when these things will happen, and the Lord Jesus says to watch and pray.

 To watch means to keep up with what is going on in Israel and Jerusalem at all times.

 *****Luk 21:21  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 

Luk 21:22  For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 

Luk 21:23  But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 

Luk 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 

 No doubt these things took place in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

 Some who Jesus was teaching were alive to see these things happen.

 Some of the Apostles and the Christians fled to a place called Pella in the district of Decapolis.

 In reality, we are still to be prepared for the coming judgment of the end times because we know they have not taken place yet.

 As Christians, we may be actual witnesses to the beginning of these things of the end times.

 *****Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

We should understand that Jesus describes things that did not happen in the years around 70 AD, so the Lord Jesus is describing a future event.

Revelation Chapters 6, 8-9, 15-18 give us a much clearer picture of what the Lord Jesus is teaching here.

Our universe will be in complete turmoil.

What Size Asteroid Would it take to destroy Earth?

It is believed that no single asteroid can completely and utterly destroy the Earth as a planet. However, an asteroid approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) in diameter or larger could trigger a global catastrophe that renders the planet largely uninhabitable for humans and many other species.

In the last few years, there have been asteroids or comets that have entered our solar system larger than this.

Gravity is another power in the heavens, and gravity in some way must fail before the stars of heaven can fall.

The power above all power is in God, the Holy Trinity, who only can cause such things to fail.

It is at the end of these things that the Lord Jesus will return to this earth.

The Church will already be in Heaven or will be returning with the Lord Jesus, so those who are gathered would be those who were saved during the Great Tribulation, and they would be mostly Jews, who still have God’s covenant.

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 

Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 

Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 

Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. 

This is the remnant that is mentioned throughout the Bible.

Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 

This is a lot to take in, but when we see any of these things begin to take place, then we need to look up, lift our heads high, because we are soon going home.

Remembering that deception is the main culprit affecting the Church, we should be holding our heads up high now and not be deceived.

The Church will be out of here soon.

Amen