Godly Living

 The Ministry of Godly Living

 Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 6

 

 What is living Godly? We could say that Godly living is living in obedience to God's commands, the Word of God.

 We could also say that Godly living is living according to the will of God for us.

 We must understand that the decrees of God have been established in eternity past and refer to God's sovereign control over every realm of His creation and over all events that happen.

 Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 

 There are two options:

 1) God is sovereign over all His creation with absolute control.

2) God does not have sovereign control, and He was not our Creator.

 "There is no truth" in those who say God has predestined certain people to be saved and the rest to be lost, so keeping God's commandments is not necessary.

 God indeed knows who will accept His Son and who will not because He is omniscient and knows all things.

 Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

 Our salvation depends upon our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 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, 

2Ti 1:10  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 

 Though many will not accept it, the decision for the Lord Jesus to take on humanity and shed His blood for us was made before we were created by Him.

 1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 

1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 

1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 

 We will never understand all these things until we meet Jesus in the clouds.

 Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 

Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 

Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 

 God has a plan, and we can be part of it, or we can reject God's plan and spend eternity in a real Hell.

 This is the choice we must make before we die. God will not make this choice for us!

 What is God's purpose for all these things? God's plan is designed to reveal His glory to us all!

 Psa 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 Act 2:23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 

Act 2:24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 

 God has decreed all these things, yet every individual must be presented the Gospel, and they must believe the Gospel to be saved!

 Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

 Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

 Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

 Godly living begins when we stand in awe of the God of Creation who is wise, powerful, merciful, and loving.

 In fact, love may be God's greatest characteristic.

 1Jn_4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

God cannot be other than love!

 1Jn_4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

 We can entrust our lives to the Almighty Living God.

 We should rejoice in the wonder of our salvation.

 We can rest in peace now knowing our future eternal life has been secured.

 God still holds people responsible for their sin!

 The main problem we have as humans is the fact that we want to run our own lives, and pride and self-righteousness become our greatest enemy.

 *****2Co 6:11  O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. 

 Anytime we are speaking to the church or to the lost, our words must come from the heart.

 If our thoughts seem to be fake, then we will be seen as fakes.

 The Lord Jesus expects a personal relationship with us, and we must have personal relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

 This is not kissy, kissy love but a heartfelt love as family, because we have the same Heavenly Father.

 Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 

Mat 12:35  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 

Mat 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 

 These things must hold as we witness to others and as we live the Christian life.

 Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 We must give the Lord Jesus all our heart, all our soul, and all our body, just as Jesus gave us His all.

 Our body must truly be the Temple of the Lord.

 Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 

 The Lord Jesus is like His Father; He is jealous in a Godly way and He wants all of our heart not just a part of it.

 *****2Co 6:12  Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.

2Co 6:13  Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged. 

 The Apostle Paul is saying his heart was open to them and his affection had grown since he had been sharing the truth with these Corinthians.

 The word "straightened" is used of these same Corinthians to say that their hearts were not yet open to grow in the Lord.

 We should understand that the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ poured out all of the blood of Christ to make room for the love He has for us.

 Now He does not expect us to spill our blood for Him, but He does expect us to make room for Him in our hearts.

 If we open our hearts to receive the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will also open our hearts to receive those who preach the truth of the Gospel.

 At the same time, if our hearts are not open to the truth of the Gospel, we will never accept the children of God nor His witnesses.

 That word recompense means, open your hearts as the Lord Jesus has opened His heart for all sinners.

 1) Those who preach/teach the truth in the church must be open and honest and have a loving heart toward God's people.

2) That church must also be open and honest and have a loving heart toward God and His chosen preachers/teachers.

3) All those who are to witness of the truth of God must also have a loving heart for those who are lost.

 Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

 Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 

Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

 A church that does not show the love of God in their hearts is not a true church!

 *****2Co 6:14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

 Many believe that Paul is speaking only of marriage here, but in truth believers should never be unequally yoked with unbelievers in any situation.

 God gives us such a situation in the Book of Deuteronomy: Deu 22:10  Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

 Here it was forbidden to plow with an ox and a donkey together.

 This represents doing a work together for the Lord.

 An ox was a clean animal and a donkey was an unclean animal.

 A believer cannot do a work for the Lord together with an unbeliever.

 In a marriage, the problems show up immediately, and the believer will suffer serving the Lord, and not many unbelievers in this situation will come to the Lord.

 A true believer is radically different from an unbeliever.

 1) How can we expect to have fellowship when there are two opposing views of the things in this world and the things of the church?

The unbeliever will live and do as they please, and the believer will try to obey the Word of God.

2) An unbeliever has already rejected the truth of Jesus Christ and will not obey God. That person is their own god.

3) They are not seeking the Kingdom of God, and they think they are righteous without the laws of God.

4) They do not hunger and thirst for the truth but say what truth is to them. The truth of the world we know about.

But God says: 1Jn_2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 The word "fellowship" means sharing and participation.

 The word "communion" means to be in union, in partnership, in a bound fellowship, to be closely bound together.

 When you take a light into a dark room, darkness will do its best to hide from that light.

 It is the same with the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see it in our world today.

 When you take the Lord Jesus Christ anywhere in the darkness of this world, that darkness will try to hide its sin, or it will rebel at any sign of Jesus, and hatred will appear.

 A believer's home is Heaven, the unbeliever's home is Hell, and these two places can never come together.

 1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

 If we worship the One true God, and are a Temple for God, we will want no part of unrighteousness!

 Eze 37:27  My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 Lev 26:11  And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 

Lev 26:12  And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 

 *****2Co 6:15  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 

 To be a child of God is to be righteous.

 To be a child of Belial(the Devil) is to be lawless.

 To be lawless is doing your own will, ignoring the will of God, without recognizing any authority.

 To be in "concord" is to be in agreement, have similar opinions, have similar sentiments, similar views, or similar interests.

 A believer belongs to Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world.

 A non-believer belongs to the Devil, who is the darkness in our world and worthless. (as useless as a pile of trash)

 To be a believer is to be a follower of Christ not only throughout eternity but now in our daily lives.

 The unbeliever hates Jesus Christ!

 To be a believer is to say, "I completely trust the Lord Jesus Christ"; it's called faith.

 Faith is the sincere and hearty assent and consent of the mind to the belief of the being and promises of God, as especially revealed to the church in the person and redemption, work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Faith is the believing of the testimony of Jehovah(Yahweh), through the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 

 *****2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 Since the Holy Spirit dwells in me, there is no room for idols in my life.

 Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 

 As I go about the business of serving the Lord Jesus Christ, I proudly wear the seal of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

 As cattle are branded to show ownership, I am branded with a Heavenly branding iron, which is the Holy Spirit.

 The Lord has paid my sin debt, and I belong to Him; He owns me!

 This seal is permanent: Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

It is the Holy Spirit who is that Seal; God the Father is the Sealer.

The Holy Spirit that gives us the power to show the characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives.

Everything about salvation is about the Triune God, and there is no other such God as He!

1Jn 4:15  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

In the Temple of God, God is honored, praised, and served by the true believer.

There is no room for idols of any kind.

The Church, the Body of Christ, is the dwelling place of the One True God.

The God of the Bible has a desire to dwell with His people and walk with us.

God wants to feel at home in His walking, talking temples and move around freely.

Psa 93:5  Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

This is only possible when there are no disturbing elements within us.

So-called believers who associate themselves with the world are not walking with God within them.

*****2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 

2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

The people of God must be radically separated from the world and everything found in the world.

Yes, we have to work in this world.

Yes, we have to deal with the unbelievers in this world.

But we must remember that any association with unbelievers is what may give us an opportunity to tell them of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so they may have an opportunity to be saved.

God has given us His truth and those denominations that have rejected the truth of God were never saved to begin with.

God warns us about allowing the world into the Church!

Jesus did say to love our enemies, and the best thing we can give to our enemies is the truth of the Word of God.

In the end every believer must break all relationships in which God does not have the first place.

This means relationships that we enter into ourselves.

This means relationships where we have to compromise the Word of God just to remain.

This means the relationships that ruin our testimonies.

This means we must not join ourselves to nonbelievers even in business ventures.

2Ch 20:35  And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 

2Ch 20:36  And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber. 

2Ch 20:37  Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

This means a believer should never marry an unbeliever, but once the marriage takes place, there are only certain reasons that this marriage should be broken.

Keep in mind that as Christians, we may be better off than an unbeliever, but we are not better than they are or anyone else.

There has never been, but One who was/is perfect, and He is our Savior.

We are only better off because of the benefits in choosing the Lord Jesus, which He really chose us.

He came searching for me as He did for every Christian. We must want to be found!

We must never participate in worldly, ungodly events with an unbeliever.

We must not even look like we are being sinful.

We must not question, try to rationalize, twist these words to some other meaning, or ignore this command of God.

If we want God to receive us, we must obey all His commandments!

If God is not our Father, then we are not His children.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We cannot say we are Christians if we refuse to repent from our old life.

Amen

The Comforter

 The Ministry of Comforting

 Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 1

 

 To have a proper understanding of the Book of 2 Corinthians, we first need to study the Book of 1 Corinthians.

 We know that suffering has always been a problem for us humans.

 It is in every Church service that we recognize a prayer list of people in need of comfort because of their suffering.

There are always others not on the prayer list who suffer but keep it private and unspoken needs.

 People injured, people in the hospital, people spending their last days in hospice care, people recovering from surgery or cancer, or heart disease, and those who have been to the cemetery because a loved one has passed.

 In reality, it can be said that the Book of 2 Corinthians was written for those who suffer.

 Suffering can be said to feel or bear things that are painful, disagreeable, or distressing, and these things are constant in our lives.

 We endure these things, but we are never very happy about them.

 Pain and grief of mind are not pleasant things for anyone!

I read of a new religion last week who call themselves the extinctionists because they have determined that the only answer for suffering and the protection of this world is the extinction of all humans.

We know the only answer is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

 Once we begin to know about the truth of Jesus Christ, we begin to see we are sinners and we begin to suffer with our conscience, and we find that we have offended God and are condemned to suffer the wrath of God.

 There is only one comfort, and there is only one Comforter!

Give your life to Christ Jesus, and you will meet Him.

 *****2Co 1:3  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

 When we choose to be a servant of God, we will have to deal with all sorts of difficulties and trials.

 As we study the Bible, we find that the Apostle Paul is a great example of Christian suffering while he spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 God will indeed use these trials and tribulations to make us better Christians and better servants.

 That word "mercies" means compassion, pity, and mercy.

 It means that as we witness for the Lord, we see a people in need and have compassion and mercy upon them.

These are characteristics of the Lord Jesus.

 We see that God is the Father of mercies.

 As the Devil is the father of murder and lies, God is the Father of mercies.

 God sees His Children as a Father and not so much as a God, even though He is God.

 As long as we are living, our Heavenly Father will shower us with His mercy!

 Col 3:12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 

Col 3:13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 

 As a Father, He floods us with His mercies, and as God, He comforts us in all our tribulations, because He is the God of all comfort.

 We should understand that suffering is part of our human lives! We do live in a cursed world!

 God does not take away our afflictions to comfort us; God carries us through our afflictions.

 Isa 63:8  For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. 

Isa 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. 

 God will snuggle up closer to us in our afflictions, put His arms around us, and speak gracious, comforting words to us.

 This is a great example of what He wants us to do to others, as we tell the world about our Savior.

 *****2Co 1:5  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 

 One of the lessons we are to learn as Christians is that God allows sufferings in our lives so we can experience His mercies and His comfort.

 Notice that God allows, but He is not the cause of those sufferings.

As we know, we live in a sin-sick world!

 We need this experience to be able to comfort others.

 Sometimes this suffering can make us feel like we will perish, but the comfort of the Lord Jesus Christ surpasses all suffering, because He is the God of all comfort.

 2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

 Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 

 To understand our own suffering, we must understand the suffering of our Lord and Savior.

 The sufferings of Christ were not exhausted by Him, but overflow to us who have to suffer as He suffered.

 We must bear the weight of His dying so we can share His life. 

He is not suffering in us, but we can have fellowship in His sufferings.

 Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

 *****2Co 1:6  And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

2Co 1:7  And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. 

 The Apostle Paul is saying that his own suffering was not only designed for his own spiritual training but was a source of direct blessing to all who were saved under his preaching.

 Paul's suffering enabled him not only by example but also by the lessons of experience to be a strength to others who were suffering, while serving Jesus Christ.

 Php 1:14  And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

 It is important that the experience of our own suffering can be a comfort to another person going through tough times.

 We can sometimes become so absorbed in our own grief that we start believing that no one suffers as we do, but we are not alone in our grief, and we can draw comfort from others.

 1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

 Very few Christians will ever suffer like the Apostle Paul did to get the gospel to us, but just because we are associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, we will suffer in this world.

 When we know we are not alone in our grief, that one thing will make us stronger.

 2Ti 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

 We should never want special attention in our suffering, knowing that we all suffer.

 We must never become like those who are saved today and lost tomorrow.

We cannot trust God today and not trust Him tomorrow and still believe that He is All-Powerful

 We must continue with our Savior through the good times and the bad times.

We must continue with our Savior through suffering as well as good health.

We must continue with our Savior through rejection as well as acceptance.

We must continue with our Savior through persecution as well as honor.

 We learn endurance through suffering!

We learn to share the God of all comfort through our own suffering!

 Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 

 Every time we suffer from a different kind of suffering, we will experience a new kind of comfort.

 *****2Co 1:8  For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 

 Once we learn that as Christians, we are stronger as a group than as individuals, then we can realize that we can be a comfort to those who are carrying the Gospel to the world.

 There should be no doubt that the Devil works far more to damage a good pastor or the evangelist, or the missionary, than he does to the individual Christian, even though he will attack us all and it is never pleasant.

The Devil can only be in one place at a time, so he will dispatch his demons to do most of his dirty work while he concentrates on certain individuals who may not even be Christians.

 We must become prayer warriors for those who carry the Gospel to the world and also for each other.

 Our prayers are our greatest weapon in this world.

Closet prayer may be the greatest weapon we have against the Devil, his demons, and his followers.

 God wants to know how we suffer and what we suffer from, and He will help us.

 The fact that Doctor Luke traveled with Paul so often should also tell us that Paul needed medical attention often.

 We can learn a lot of it from the Book of Acts, but we should know that the Devil would do anything he could to stop the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles and every missionary called of Jesus.

That man in the pulpit of God, that preaches the truth of the Word of God is one of the Devils greatest enemies!

The devil is still trying to do this today, and it looks like he is winning.

This was what Paul was trying to tell us. 

It may look like the devil is winning, but God is just eliminating all those who do not want to join Him in Heaven.

We are still on the winning side!

 *****2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 

 We wonder sometimes, "What will be the end of it all"?

If we do not put our faith into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, these thoughts will hinder us as we try to serve God.

Death is coming to this world just as death comes to each of us but only in the Lord's set time.

Paul was in some situations where it just seemed that it was beyond all human possibility of deliverance.

There are Christians in this same situation today, who live in lands ruled by wicked and evil men who hate the Lord Jesus Christ, and they have to hide just to be able to worship.

God has a special blessing reserved for them if they just hang on to their faith.

God has a special blessing for all who cling to their faith till the end.

We cannot trust our deliverance to ourselves any more than the Apostle Paul could!

All our faith must be in our Savior and in His Word.

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 

Jer 17:6  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 

Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 

If God allows this world to take our life, He has a reason for it, and it is always a good reason where something good will come out of it.

We may not see it, but He sees it.

The important thing is that our death leads to our victory!

Our true Christian friends will want to know what happened when the Lord does save us from this destruction and we make it through that suffering, and that sentence of death.

There is nothing too hard for God, but when we give our lives to the Lord, we are doing just that; we are giving our lives to Him for His use.

What did Jesus say? Luk_9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

The cross was an instrument of death.

We must never forget that we are in the hands of God and no one can take us out of His hands.

Paul was threatened by large crowds.

Paul was threatened by the unions of that day.

Paul was threatened by the governments of that day.

Paul was threatened by ungodly Jews.

Paul's friends had to risk their lives for Paul.

Paul's friends were locked up in jail.

Paul's enemies were like beasts who would hunt you down to destroy you.

These are the same enemies the Church faces every day.

1Co_15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

Paul sometimes felt crushed by his burden for the Church.

Paul was locked away in prison on seven different occasions.

Paul was in more than one shipwreck.

My question is, what do we have to complain about if the Lord calls us into His service?

Our Savior is also our Deliverer and our Comforter!

When we cannot go with these men and women who are called into God's service, then our calling is to pray for them and support them.

*****2Co 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; 

2Co 1:11  Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

Paul was not complaining; Paul was saying, "Look at all the opportunities the Lord has given me to serve, and He delivered me every time".

This is the exact way we should look at it!

Who are we to witness to?

Sinners are wicked, evil people, and we know this because we were once part of them.

Most everyone in the world today hates the Lord Jesus Christ. That should tell us something!

Just the mention of His name will turn some crowds into our enemies.

These are similar things that happened to Paul.

One of our own greatest lessons is that we cannot save ourselves from our sin, and we cannot save ourselves from this world.

We will suffer at times just so the Lord knows He can trust us to remain faithful.

God is not going to call us into His service and then let us suffer death on our first mission unless it is truly important and many souls are saved because of it.

God never said it would be easy to be a Christian, but He did say the benefits would be Heavenly.

Of all the reasons we may have suffering, maybe the greatest reason is the fact that we will spend more time in prayer and thanksgiving with our Heavenly Father.

Every prayer for us from another believer may cause God to move on our behalf.

It is called intercessory prayer.

Intercessory prayer works, and history from men such as Paul has proven it works.

Intercessory prayer in the Church has proven results because we have heard many testimonies from those who were delivered from cancer and heart problems, and treatments, and other sicknesses.

I was delivered from cancer myself on two occasions because of the prayers of righteous men and women of God and the LORD, who said: “I’m not through with you yet”.

We are all called to be intercessors if God has not called us to do something else, and even if He has, He still expects us to pray for one another.

The Lord Jesus prayed for us! 

Jhn_17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Jhn_17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Jhn_17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

How can we not pray for one another if the Lord Jesus Christ prayed for us?

Amen    

Jonah Becomes Committed

 Jonah The Committed Prophet

 Book of Jonah Chapters 3-4

 

 Jonah the Rebellious prophet became Jonah the committed prophet, but Jonah still had a lot of hatred in him.

 Jonah gets a second chance to go where God wanted him to go and do what God wanted him to do.

 We may think it strange, but Jonah did not want to preach to the Ninevites because Jonah knew and understood the grace and mercy of the Lord, and he knew that many of them would probably be saved.

 Jonah did not want any of them to get saved because Jonah hated the Ninevites, because they were such a cruel and wicked people, and had become a thorn in the flesh of Israel.

 Jonah was a typical Jew who felt that the Jews were better than all other peoples.

 The important word we should understand in this Book of Jonah is the word "repentance".

 Jonah had to repent of his own sin to understand the meaning of repentance, to preach a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh.

 God often gives us a second chance and to some even a third chance or more, but we should also understand that He does not always do this because He can see into our heart.

 Sometimes disobedience is of such a character that God cannot go on with such a servant.

 1Ki 13:21  And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 

1Ki 13:22  But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 

1Ki 13:23  And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 

1Ki 13:24  And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 

1Ki 13:25  And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 

1Ki 13:26  And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. 

 It is always better to be obedient to the Word of God.

 *****Jon 3:1  And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 

Jon 3:2  Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 

Jon 3:3  So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 

 Jonah gets the same command for the second time, and this time Jonah does not flee; he goes to Nineveh and preaches the sermon God told him to preach.

Every preacher is given a message he is to preach to those who gather with him!

Those who are not given a message from the Holy Spirit are not God-called, or they could have unrepentant sin in their lives.

 God had accepted Jonah's repentance and restored his ministry.

 A great city would be a fortified city, and probably was a walled city, and probably had experienced war. 

Most anything else would be a town, and that city in that area would be like a mother to those towns.

 Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, which had begun to emerge as a regional power.

 It was probably a saying that Jonah that he had been spat out of a fish's mouth because he had rebelled against God.

 We should understand that the Philistines worshipped a god named Dagon, and Dagon was known as the fish god. Half man and half fish.

 The Ninevites would have also considered Dagon as a god.

 To the Jews, Nineveh was the land of Nimrod.

Nineveh was up to 700 miles from Joppa, so it would take a while for Jonah to get there, much more than three days.

 When Jonah entered the city, he began preaching the message God had given him.

 Nineveh was such a great city that it would take three days to walk around the walls of that city, if you could walk 20 miles a day.

Certainly, Jonah could not walk and preach at that pace, so this statement is tied to that phrase "such a great city" to tell us just how large the city of Nineveh was.

 *****Jon 3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 

Jon 3:5  So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 

Jon 3:6  For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 

 Jonah had become a sign to the Ninevites: Luk 11:29  And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 

Luk 11:30  For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 

 The Ninevites had heard about this man Jonah, how he spent three days and three nights in the belly of a fish.

 Now we do not know if the false god Dagon influenced these Ninevites or not, but we do know that the Ninevites believed that only a true God could have saved any man from such a catastrophe.

The sign to the Church is that God can bring new life to those who are judged dead in sin.

 This king and these people believed in the story of Jonah, and we have no right to not consider it to be true today.

If God said Jonah was swallowed by a fish that He had prepared to swallow Jonah, then it has to be true!

 The effect of Jonah's preaching was spontaneous, and the people put on sackcloth and proclaimed a fast.

 From the poor to the rich, they believed in the message of Jonah, which reached into the king's palace, and this king caused a fast to be proclaimed in all of Nineveh.

 Jon 3:7  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 

Jon 3:8  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 

 The whole city believed the God of the Jews could have the power to destroy them if He chose to do so, and we know He had that power; He is all-powerful.

This city believed this because they believed the story of Jonah being swallowed by a large fish.

 Notice how God sends a warning with a chance to repent before He would bring judgment.

We are to pass this warning to those we witness to today.

 *****Jon 3:9  Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 

 All those people who sacrificed to idols and false gods had heard about the goodness of the God of the Jews, and they understood the message of Jonah and realized they had only one option to avoid perishing.

 Notice they demanded no forgiveness.

They did not ask for mercy.

In their confession, there was no sacrifice.

They offered no promise to appease God.

 Just as we know today, their fast and humility came by faith in the truth of God.

 Our salvation is based on faith in the work that Jesus Christ has done for our salvation, and it is in this faith that God will receive us into His family and not by these other things.

 Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 This is the work that God has required!

 This is the reason Jonah did not want to preach this message, because Jonah understood the grace and mercy of God.

 *****Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. 

 God had seen the wickedness of Nineveh, and now God saw their repentance.

 God heard them call out to Him.

God saw the change in them, their repentance.

 What had they done? They had produced fruit worthy of repentance.

 Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 

Mat 3:9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise children unto Abraham. 

 That fruit was that they had turned from their wicked ways.

 They did not need to sacrifice some animal, for that would have been little proof.

 They sacrificed a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

 Psa 51:14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 

Psa 51:15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 

Psa 51:16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

 Not only had Jonah preached the message God gave him, but Jonah had learned a lesson he would take back to the Jews and to the Northern Tribes.

 God does not need an animal sacrifice to forgive sin.

 These Ninevites were not confused about Dagon because they had now met Yahweh, Jehovah, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 This is what Jonah knew would happen, and Jonah did not want any of the Ninevites to come to know the true God of Creation.

Jonah had some understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit, and Jonah did not want it to happen.

 *****Jon 4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 

Jon 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 

The Jews, they felt that the God of the Jews was just that. The God of the Jews and not God to any other people.

There are Christians today who feel that some people are just too wicked for God to save them.

There may be, but only God can know these things!

We are never to be hesitant to reach out to others, and if the Holy Spirit encourages us to reach out to certain individuals and we refuse, then we will be held accountable for the blood of that person if they never accept the truth of the Gospel.

God desires to have mercy upon every individual!

The Lord Jesus Christ paid the sin debt for every individual.

It is not up to us to judge if any person can accept the truth of God; this is God's business, and God is in the saving business.

To be more like Jesus Christ, we must also be in the saving business!

God's mercy can reach the lowest of the lowest, the highest of the highest, and all those in between.

God can save anybody, anytime, in any place!

Jonah understood this, but Jonah was not pleased with it.

Jonah understood God's goodness and was not pleased with it.

Jonah explained to God that this was why he fled to keep this from happening, and he knew this was a great sin, and Jonah said to Jehovah, "Just take my life from me".

Jonah discussed his anger with the Lord.

*****Jon 4:3  Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 

Even while he was angry at God, this is proof that Jonah did not water down the truth of God, but preached the truth straight from the Word of God.

Jonah did not keep his anger stored up in his heart, and this is a great example for all of us.

We will never understand everything that God does!

We will never understand the death of a child or why so many die in some catastrophe.

We may never understand why God did not answer our prayer or answer it in a way that we did not want Him to answer it.

Jonah knew God was gracious and merciful.

Jonah knew God was slow to anger and abounding in love.

Jonah knew God was willing to turn away from executing His judgment if His conditions were met.

It is very important that we all understand the character of God, and it is our goal to be more like Him.

What Jonah went through during this time in his life is a great lesson for us all.

Anytime we get to see how God does things is a place we can learn from Him!

It is very possible that Jonah became an enemy to his own people after leading these Ninevites to the Lord.

All the Jews hated the Ninevites.

Jonah may not have been able to witness to the Jews anymore.

Life did not make sense to Jonah any longer.

And God said to Jonah: Jon 4:4  Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

What do we know about anger? Anger is very ugly if it is allowed to simmer in our heart for a long period of time.

Jonah traveled a short distance from Nineveh and made himself a booth to sit under while he was trying to get over his anger.

God does not speak a word of reproach to Jonah, but God will teach Jonah a great lesson.

*****Jon 4:6  And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 

When we are talking to God, it is always best just to stop what we are doing and sit down with Him.

If the Almighty God wants to discuss what has just happened and He takes the time to sit down with one of His children, then it is a great honor to hear what He has to say.

God does want us to understand the things we do not understand, but we must understand that it is because of the great love that He does most things.

Remember how God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah; now God has prepared a plant, a gourd, to come up and shade Jonah and allow Jonah some relief from the blistering sun.

Jonah was really happy with the shade this plant provided for him, but this relief would not last very long.

*****Jon 4:7  But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

If you fool with plants, then you know we can go to bed with our plants looking beautiful and wake up and find that insects during the night have tried to destroy our beautiful plants.

The same God who prepared the gourd to shade Jonah also prepared the worm that destroyed that gourd overnight.

Then God prepared a vehement east wind, and it caused Jonah to be in misery.

That word vehement means a very hot east wind, a scorching, burning wind.

Jonah fainted from the heat, and he again wished for God to take his life.

All Jonah could think about was that gourd that had provided him with some relief the previous day.

Jonah became angry that the gourd had withered and died so soon.

Again, God told Jonah that it did him well to be angry at the gourd.

Then God said: "Here is the lesson for you to learn, Jonah".

*****Jon 4:10  Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 

Jon 4:11  And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? 

Here it becomes clear why God has created such a fast-growing plant. 

If it had been a slow-growing plant, Jonah should have cared for it and watered it, but Jonah did not have to make any effort for the growth of the plant. 

Jonah had no personal relationship with it.

We should understand that God is our Creator, and He has that special love for all His created beings, and this includes such cruel and wicked people as the Ninevites were at this time of Jonah.

God made the sun to rise over Nineveh as well as provide rain.

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 

Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 

Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 

God told Jonah that more than one hundred twenty thousand people were living in Nineveh that could not discern their right hand from their left hand; should He not offer them a chance to be saved from Hell?

This is a trait of God's character that we cannot overlook: Mat 9:36  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 

Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 

Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. 

Should God not heal them? Mat 14:14  And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 

Even the disciples did not understand these things.

Would Jonah understand God's feelings for Jerusalem? Do we? 

Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 

Luk 19:42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Even the animals were dear to God that were in Nineveh, so we must never think that God does not love His creation.

We do not get to read Jonah's response, and the Book of Jonah comes to an abrupt end, so we know for sure that God always has the last words, and we need to grow in Christ to better understand the ways of God!

Amen

The Prophet Jonah

 Jonah The Rebellious Prophet

 Book of Jonah Chapters 1 and 2

 One thing we should be very clear about in this Book of Jonah is that it was written as actual history and not some allegory, or fiction, or parable, and refers to real people in real places.

 Ancient tradition in Israel considered Jonah and the Book of Jonah as historical facts, and we should too.

 A lot is written about Jonah by Josephus and other church fathers, and they all accepted the Book of Jonah as a historical fact.

 It would be best for us to accept the Book of Jonah along with the sixty-five other books of the Bible as the truth of God.

 If God said Jonah was swallowed by a fish to be delivered to Nineveh, then I accept it as fact.

 It does not actually say that this great fish delivered Jonah to Nineveh, and Assyria had no shore and no seaport.

 Jonah was probably put to shore at Joppa, the place from which he had set out.

 God wanted His message of "judgment" preached in Nineveh, and He chose Jonah to deliver that message.

 God does not just choose people He knows might not like the ministry He chose them for.

 God chooses His children who He knows can get the job done if their faith remains strong.

 1) We have a duty to bear witness to the true Lord of all people, Jesus Christ.

2) God wanted Israel to know that God loved all people.

3) Jonah was to be a picture of repentance from disobedience of a true man of God, written to all God's people.

 Another thing to consider that is not mentioned is the fact that it would be the Assyrian Empire that God would use in His "judgment" of the Northern Tribes named Israel, and the capital of the Assyrian Empire was the city of Nineveh.

 The Assyrians were known as some of the cruelest people in the ancient world.

 The children of Israel could be just as callous and hardhearted.

 Even though most of the Ninevites returned to pagan worship later, God always, always has a remnant that stays with Him forever.

 I believe that when Israel was taken to Nineveh, not everyone would be their enemy.

 God has a purpose and a use for everyone upon the face of this earth.

God will use everyone who turns to Him, but God will also use the wicked to further His plan of "redemption" while not causing their wickedness.

 The truth of God is that He desires mercy more than judgment, and every person who lives will get an opportunity to meet the God of the Bible.

 God's patience with our sin and wickedness, our false worship and rejection of Him as the only Living God and True God, is hard to understand, but it is real!

 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

 We must understand that God's "judgment" will be real when the Lord Jesus returns in glory.

 There is nowhere to run to escape the "Judgment of God"!

 *****Jon 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

Jon 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 The Book of Jonah, the fifth book in the row of the twelve minor prophets, is a unique book.

 It is another place where we are to learn about the ways of God.

 Jonah, the prophet of God, tried to put his own importance above the importance of God's message.

 We must learn that if we belong to God, we cannot run away from the purpose He has for us without feeling His chastisement.

 Jonah knew the power and the truth of God!

 When the truth of God is preached to any people, some will believe and be saved.

 Jonah hated the Ninevites, for they were cruel, war-mongering people, and Jonah did not want to see any of them turn to Jehovah for salvation.

 Just like God always does, He will take something that started badly and turn it into good results.

 Jonah was running away from his home and his country to avoid doing what God wanted him to do.

 Jonah would suffer unimaginable things, but in the end, he would be glad to do what God wanted him to do.

 Jonah was already a prophet of God in Judah and was obedient to the Word of God.

 Amos and Hosea were also serving the Lord during the time of Jonah.

 They were to warn Israel and Judah of the coming judgment unless they would repent of their evil ways.

 God's new commission to Jonah was clear and unmistakable.

 Jonah was to go to the city of Nineveh to warn a pagan people of the coming judgment of God.

 We will learn a lot about Jonah, but we must pay attention to the actions of our God and Jonah's God, Jehovah.

 Of course, we know Him as Jesus.

 Nineveh was one of the great cities of ancient civilization.

 For the Lord Jesus to mention Jonah, we know that these things are true.

 It just makes sense for us to accept all the Word of God as the truth.

 To the Jews, the Book of Jonah is important, and they read this great truth of God during the Day of Atonement.

 To critics, it is just a fairytale, but we live by faith in the whole Word of God.

 If the Lord Jesus said these things are true, then we should not question them.

 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.

Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

 Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

 What do we recognize as the sign of Jonah?

 The sign of Jonah refers to the three days that Jonah spent in the belly of a great fish, which symbolizes Jesus' death and resurrection after three days.

 This truth is mentioned in the Gospels, where Jesus uses Jonah's experience as a type of His own future crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

 The miraculous survival of Jonah serves as a powerful reminder of God's mercy and God's call to repentance.

 It is God who is in control of all the parts of nature He created. God loves all people.

 And for those who think God just has His eyes on His own people, all the other people of this earth should know that God has His eyes upon all His creation and all people of every nation.

 What did Jonah do? He tried to flee from God.

 God knows what each of us are doing at any given time.

 *****Jon 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

 It is believed that Tarshish was a city of the Phoenicians in southern Spain.

 This ship would have been an ocean-going ship and not a small fishing boat.

 The Phoenicians were the dominant sea power at that time, and their ships traveled the world.

 We should understand that we may not always like what God wants us to do.

 We know He will never go against His own Word, so anything God asks us to do will be the right thing to do!

 The people of Nineveh were evil and malicious, but as God had promised, the entire world must be warned of the coming judgment.

 Nah 3:1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

Nah 3:2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

Nah 3:3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

Nah 3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

 All sin is an abomination to the Lord, but God will sometimes point out a specific group of people who have become so wicked that He will issue a special call of judgment.

 Archaeology has confirmed what God is teaching us in this Book of Jonah.

 The Assyrians were wicked people!

 In their judgment of people, lips were torn off, hands were cut off, people were flayed like you would a fish while they were alive, and there were great mounds of skulls everywhere.

 Jonah made a tragic decision to deliberately disobey the Lord and run away.

 We must clearly understand that God can save anybody, anywhere, at any time, and it is not up to us to decide who God will save or who God will reject.

 Rom_14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

 The Lord Jesus said: Mat_7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

 The Lord God Jehovah could not allow His prophet to get away with these things, which means He understood the feelings of Jonah, but Jonah was not God, and Jonah could not select who God would save or not save.

 God's message is to all people!

 Jonah was in open rebellion against the Lord and wanted to get as far away from Nineveh as he possibly could.

 God loved the Ninevites, despite their wickedness, and wanted them to hear that there was hope for them if they would only repent of all that wickedness.

 We can also see that when we disobey God, we can endanger others.

 God did not want His prophet to destroy his ministry or his life.

 God caused a great wind, so great that this mighty ship could be destroyed.

 The mariners of the ship all called out to their false gods, and we know there was no help there.

 Jonah was asleep below deck, and the captain told him to cry out to his God, who is Jehovah, the God of the Hebrew people.

 The Lord God of the Bible is the only hope we have in this world!

 *****Jon 1:7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

 Jonah may have thought for a while that he had successfully avoided going east to Ninevah by going west to Spain, but God was not through with Jonah.

 Jonah knew why the ship was in such distress.

 We should understand that God chastises those He loves, and sometimes a lot of chastisement is needed to bring us back to the right path.

 While God was dealing with Jonah, He also took the time to demonstrate His power over the elements of this world.

 This was the time of the year when the Mediterranean Sea would have been the calmest, and the crew, being polytheists, could only blame their distress on some false god.

 They believed more in their false gods than many people believe in the true God, to our shame.

 Ask a Muslim who believes in false gods or ask a Hindu about their faith.

 God wants us to warn all people everywhere of His coming judgment, whether they believe it or not.

 Jonah finally told them his God was the LORD, the God of Heaven, and that he was running away from Him.

 It was obvious to the ship that it was Jonah’s fault that had caused this terrible storm.

 They asked Jonah how they could save themselves from this storm, and Jonah told them to throw him overboard.

 They did not want to do this at first but later decided that there was no other option and tossed Jonah out of the ship.

 *****Jon 1:15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

 These professional sailors got introduced to the God who is our Creator.

 They asked that God not hold them accountable since it was because of Jonah that the storm was so powerful.

 They were now afraid for their own lives and had admiration for the God of the Hebrew people, and they offered some sacrifice when they could have just said thank you and praised Him.

 A vow would mean that these sailors made some kind of promise to God.

 Only Jonah knew what happened next and lived to talk about it, and the Holy Spirit caused it to be written in the Bible we have today.

 *****Jon 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

 No one can outthink God! He knew exactly what was going to happen to Jonah, and He prepared a great fish to be ready to save Jonah from drowning.

 If God can keep life in the womb before the birth of a child, why would He not be able to keep Jonah alive in the belly of a fish?

 This great fish swallowed Jonah to protect him, and as my preacher says, Jonah became the first ever submariner.

 Some say under these conditions, there was no way that Jonah could have known how many days he was inside this fish, but the Holy Spirit knows all things.

 2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 There was but one thing Jonah could do.

 *****Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

Jon 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

 This story of Jonah should confirm the fact that we can pray to God from anywhere but the grave, though we know that everyone in Hell is now a believer in the true God.

 Wherever we find ourselves, we are never too far from God for Him to hear us.

 Jonah had caused himself to be put into this precarious situation.

 Jonah was in this situation because he had willfully disobeyed God, but God was still ready to hear from Jonah.

 Had Jonah not prayed, he would have been lunch for this fish!

 We must know that in our time of need, we should go to God, for He is always listening for our prayers.

 Psa 120:1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

 We are never truly in a desperate situation when we know we can pray to the God of all power, even when we are in disobedience to the Word of God, if we are willing to repent.

 It would take a miracle for Jonah to survive and complete the work that God had given him to do.

 The Lord used this huge fish to keep Jonah alive while He also gave Jonah a sense of being in Hell.

 1) Jonah was in pitch-black darkness, along with the unbearable smell of rotting fish, seaweed, and whatever else a fish would eat.

2) The Lord used this fish to give Jonah a sense of what Hell would be like for those who never heard God's message of salvation.

3) God used this fish to deliver Jonah from death to demonstrate His great love and mercy. God will do almost anything to get His message to those who have never heard it.

4) The Lord used this great fish to swallow and then expel Jonah as a type of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, as Jesus said Himself.

 Luk 11:29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

Luk 11:30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

 We should remember the Lord in everything we do, and He should never be the last thing that we remember in a time of need.

 *****Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

 Though Jonah was still inside this great fish, his heart began to change in his despair.

 Jonah realized that the Lord had kept him alive inside this fish to give him time to repent.

 Jonah could breathe while inside this animal, which causes many to believe this great fish was a whale, but we actually do not know for sure.

 Jonah speaks with faith that the Lord could still save him if He chose to do so, and He did.

 God intends that through situations such as the one Jonah was in, to show us His great mercy.

 2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

 Jonah did not know if he would truly be saved from his dilemma, but he did know that his relationship with his Heavenly Father had been mended.

 Inside this fish, Jonah knew he could still reach into the throne room of God.

 Jonah was not afraid to die!

 *****Jon 2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

 We do not know where Jonah was put out on dry land.

 We do know that God has control of all His creation, and this fish was obedient to God.

 We can ignore all those who suggest the first part of the Book of Jonah is allegorical.

 Those are just people who have no respect for the Word of God nor the power of our Supernatural God.

 God had humbled His servant, and His servant was now ready to serve Him.

 Jonah revived his ministry from this beach where he was deposited.

 He would now obey God and go to Nineveh to proclaim the Word of God to a doomed people.

 This is the same job we have today!

 It was Jonah's three-day experience when he was given a new life and a new beginning.

 So, it is with every believer!

 Through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we too can receive a new life, a new beginning, a brand-new start, a second chance, and spend an eternity with the One who loves us the most.

 Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. By Grace Through Faith.

 We must never think that God is not working in this world to bring to full glory His plan of salvation, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Amen

The Reward for Repentance

 Forgiveness Is the Reward for Repentance

 Book of Hosea, Chapters 10 through 14

 

We see the word repentance throughout the Bible, but most people do not understand what this word means.

 In Christianity, true repentance begins with the consciousness of our sin.

 The evidence of repentance is faith, humility, prayer, and obedience.

 Repentance is a gift of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Just as with any other gift, we must reach for it to receive it.

 How do we accomplish repentance?

 Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 First, we acknowledge the lives of those who are living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We realize that those who are no longer with us encouraged us to live in faith of the Lord Jesus and the life they lived is also an encouragement.

We must accept the salvation that is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must lay aside every burden from this world because they have no importance in Heaven.

We must walk away from the sin in our lives that has now been forgiven.

We must plant our feet into the plan of God for our lives.

Unless we get busy serving the Lord, we have not truly repented. This is the race that comes with being reconciled to God.

 Isa 45:22  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 

 Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

 It is the goodness of God that will lead us to look to Him for repentance.

 Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

 Pro 28:13  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

 We can see that forgiveness is truly the reward for repentance, but we also see that repentance is necessary for forgiveness.

 God’s forgiveness here is clearly linked to a true return to God to find with Him compassion instead of judgment.

 We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for all the sins that have taken place in this world by anybody.

 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.

 Our job is to tell others this truth and show them the goodness of God so they can believe and be reconciled to God.

 2Co_5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co_5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

 This is our race to enter or be left out of God's blessings

 *****Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 

 As long as we are alive, we can make a new start with God; once this flesh dies, our opportunity to do so vanishes.

 Once more, God calls for Israel to repent and escape the judgment of God.

 The horrendous sin that happened at Gibeah almost brought to an end one of the tribes of Israel, which was Benjamin.

 The city of Gibeah had become a place like Sodom, and the tribe of Benjamin had allowed it to take place and would fight anyone who tried to change them.

 What used to take place in the heathen Sodom now takes place in Israel, among the people of God, by people who bear God’s Name, and it is allowed.

 What did God say of His people?

 Jer 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 

 We know that this Levite went to his own home, cut this woman up into pieces, and sent them to all the tribes of Israel. Israel decided to take vengeance on Benjamin, and all but six hundred men were slaughtered.

 Of Israel and Benjamin, sixty-five thousand men died in three battles because of sin.

 The people of Israel eventually brought four hundred virgins to those six hundred men, and this sin disappeared from the tribe of Benjamin. It grew rapidly, but sin remained, and the people continued to fall into the trap of false worship and idolatry, but the sin of sodomy disappeared

 Their hearts remained hardened against the truth of God.

 God likes to use farming principles to get His point across because most of these people were farmers.

 On a new piece of land, to grow crops, the land must be cultivated. They had to break up the fallow ground, or we would say till the soil.

 For a hardened heart to be usable, that heart needs to be plowed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of the Word of God, to cleanse that heart of sin.

 1) To sow righteousness and reap God's love, they had to turn toward God and away from their wicked ways.

 2) They had to begin a new life guided by God's Holy Word.

 3) They had to turn away from the world and look to God, and they would stand justified before God.

 Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

 I do not know how many times the Scriptures tell us to avoid an immoral lifestyle, and it is rejected by much of the Church today.

 We know God does not change, so how can the Church be so foolish?

 God also warns us against wickedness, perversion, and degenerate acts.

 In no uncertain terms, God condemns all acts of homosexuality just as He does fornication.

 He also condemns rape, abuse, assault, murder, and all depravity.

 Mar 7:20  And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 

Mar 7:21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 

Mar 7:22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 

Mar 7:23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

 Another farming principle that we need to keep up with is located in Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

 *****Hos 10:13  Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

 Instead of sowing righteousness the people had sown wickedness.

 When you sow wickedness, you will reap evil and eat the fruit of deception.

 In the end times, the Lord Jesus says we must watch out for deception.

 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.

 Our land today is full of hatred. Hatred brings injustice, which relies on wickedness instead of love, which brings justice.

 Anytime we go our own way instead of God's way, which is righteousness, doing things right according to the Word of God, we will fail as people, and we will fail as a nation.

 All the time, we hear that the USA is not in the Bible, but the people of God are in the Bible, and it takes people to make a nation.

 If we want to be around in the end times, then we must be the people of God and not so full of wickedness as we are today.

 We must break the cycle we are in today: Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

 We cannot rely on ourselves to get us there.

We cannot rely on our government to get us there.

We cannot rely on our military to get us there.

We can only rely on the Lord Jesus Christ to get us there.

 *****Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 

 We immediately see that it is because of God's love that He delivers His people.

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

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 It is the call of God that enables us to be saved.

 We could say this is the unconditional election of God in which He acts.

 God chose to call us while we were yet sinners and had no value to Him.

 God calls us because He has a purpose for us.

 In compassionate terms, the LORD speaks about Israel.

 He speaks about how He loved the people as a child and son, liberated them, taught them to walk, cherished them in His arms, cared for them, nurtured them, and raised them.

 When we say no to God, we are saying no not only to His purpose for us, but we are saying no to His great love for us.

 1Jn_2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

 When God says nothing can separate us from His love, He truly means it!

 Rom_8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 It was God's love that delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.

 God's love will always deliver His people!

 Throughout the Old Testament, we see that the LORD's relationship with Israel was like that of a father and son, and this has not changed.

 This is the way our LORD thinks of all His children, especially the Church today.

 God has not abandoned Israel because we know that His great love He has remains.

 What did God say to Pharaoh? Exo 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 

Exo 4:23  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. 

 When God first called Abraham, God promised to establish a very special relationship with his descendants.

 The one thing they needed to do was obey.

 All true believers, we are the adopted sons and daughters of God.

 Now, we should not leave this verse until we see that it also relates to Jesus Christ.

 Mat 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 

Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 

Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

 We should understand that we should remain where the Lord has placed us until He gives us the command to leave.

 We should only act when God says to act.

 When the Lord Jesus was just a few days old, He had to flee, and the angels who announced His birth did not form an escort around Him.

 One thing is very clear: the Lord Jesus started His history on earth where the people of Israel started theirs.

 Jesus Christ was a Jew, and He would look like a Jew of that day.

 Where Israel failed God, the Lord Jesus Christ would succeed!

 Though Israel is still failing in its calling, Jesus Christ is perfect in His calling.

 The Lord Jesus is the firstborn of the Church.

The Lord Jesus is the true Israel.

The Lord Jesus is the true Adam.

 1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 

 Where we puny humans fail, the Lord Jesus Christ always succeeds!

 *****Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 

Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 

Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

 Once Israel was freed from Egypt and started their journey to the Promised Land, they forgot about God's love.

 The whole world, including the Atheists, sacrifice to Baalim. Baalim represents all false gods and the imaginations of their minds.

Israel, as God's son, has been delivered more times than we can count, and God is going to deliver them again, and this time they will serve Him.

 In many places in the Bible, during the divided kingdom, Ephraim can mean Israel.

 Israel is just like the world today, which refuses to repent.

 We know that in the not-too-distant future, Israel will repent, but the world will remain stubborn and refuse to repent.

 We live in a self-righteous world that still listens to the serpent of the Book of Genesis.

 Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

 The world still believes in the theory of evolution, and the ultimate fulfillment of evolution is that humans will one day evolve into gods.

 What a joke. Evolution is the biggest lie told to the world, and the world clings to it like it is gold, just because the alternative would be that they would have to acknowledge a Supernatural God.

 When Israel was a young nation, the LORD took her people by the arm and helped them along the way step by step.

 Substitute America for Israel, and the same thing could be said. God has helped the USA along the way, step by step.

 When Israel stumbled, they were not abandoned; the LORD was there to lift them. He has not changed!

 The key to the Bible and God's promises is to walk faithfully throughout our lives.

 We should never ignore the LORD's love and care for us.

 God has given us His love letter to us, the Bible, just for this purpose.

 Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

 The “cords of a man” represent God’s loving, personal influence, not forceful control.

 God promises to guide us.

God promises to care for us by providing our needs.

God promises never to lead us into temptation.

God promises us eternal life in the most wonderful place that has ever been conceived.

 God asks us to have faith in His promises.

 Psa 73:24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

 1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

 *****Hos 13:4  Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. 

 What is the truth of all man-made idols? Hos 13:2  And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 

Hos 13:3  Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. 

 There is nothing that is carved by human hands, nothing made of the most valuable things on earth, nothing that is a figment of man's imagination, that could have led Israel out of Egypt.

 There is nothing in this world that can save us or redeem us but God, who is the LORD!

 He has a connection with us because He is also our Creator!

 Isa 45:20  Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 

Isa 45:21  Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 

Isa 45:22  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 

 God loves us!

 If we are faithful and about to do something that will harm us, God will correct us.

 Why do we expect that correction not to have pain?

 God will do what He can to make sure we live and experience the fullness of this life if we are faithful to Him.

 God is not afraid to use His Heavenly hickory, as any good father would, to get us back on the right road of reconciliation if we veer to the left or to the right.

 If those few stripes could not get us back on track, then God will use a harsher method.

 *****Hos 13:7  Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: 

Hos 13:8  I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

 God will move from being the Good Shepherd to being like a wild animal.

 The lion, the bear, the lioness, and the wild beast may not abide in Israel today, but they did in the days of the prophets.

 These animals are known for the horrible way they kill their prey.

 Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

 That word "scourge" can mean severe bodily punishment.

 Scourging, in most cases, was just the lead-in to capital punishment.

 Will God take your life to keep you out of Hell? He could for those who are His children!

 *****Hos 13:9  O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

 After we become one of God's children, the first thing we learn is that we need His help.

 If we know we need His help and then reject Him, it will lead to our destruction!

 The only hope and help for a sinful people is the "GRACE" of God.

 Without God's "grace," we would certainly perish in that place called Hell, which is a real place, and Heaven is also a real place.

 God will never reject or destroy His people forever because He cannot void the promises He has already made.

 God is Holy, completely set apart from all other things, perfectly righteous and pure in all things, including His Word.

 God will never change from what He says He will do!

 God is love; God can never be other than love.

God is Holy; He can never be other than Holy.

God is perfect; He can never be other than perfect.

God is faithful; He can never be other than faithful.

 1Co 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 *****Hos 14:1  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

 We know that Israel has been in that place of judgment since the time of the Assyrians.

 The Assyrian, Sargon the Tartan, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian Army, laid siege to Samaria and put an end to the Kingdom of Israel.

 2Ki 17:5  Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 

 2Ki 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

 Why did God allow this to happen?

 2Ki 17:7  For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 

2Ki 17:8  And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 

2Ki 17:9  And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 

2Ki 17:10  And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 

2Ki 17:11  And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 

2Ki 17:12  For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

 This is what the judgment of God looks like.

 *****Hos 14:2  Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. 

Hos 14:3  Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 

Hos 14:4  I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

 Up until the siege of the King of Assyria, all Israel had to do was repent and turn back to Jehovah God, yet they would not.

 What is it going to take for God's people to return to God and follow the Word He has given to us?

 Repentance is the first step!

 Next comes confession with words that must come from the heart.

 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.

 Rom_4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

 These things must be done in faith.

 Remember, Abraham had faith that if he killed Isaac, God would raise him from that death, and the plan of God would succeed.

 Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 

Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 

Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

 The plan of God will certainly succeed!

 The truth is that if we confess in faith, faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, God will accept our confession as a sacrifice with the respect that goes along with it, if it comes from the heart.

 The truth is that the utterances of our lips, consisting of prayers and praise, or both, are to take the place of animal sacrifices.

 Animal sacrifices would only be good for one year.

 Only the sacrifice of the lord Jesus Christ is great enough to be able to forgive all sins, up to the greatest sin.

 Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

 Mic 6:7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? 

 After we confess our sin and are forgiven there must be a radical break with the past.

 We must do away with our former life!

 We must understand that God will not forgive sins if we intend to continue with them!

 Pro 28:13  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 

 The modern church has forgotten this.

 The Catholic church has forgotten this.

 All those churches that allowed the laws of the world to overcome the Law of God have forgotten this.

 We cannot just conceal our sin; we must forsake all our sin to be reconciled to God.

 There is very little time to get these things behind us, or the rapture of the Church will not be such a great event for those who are just playing church or those who believe the preacher but do not believe the Word of God.

 The Word of God is the only map that will lead us to Heaven!

 Who are the wise ones?

 *****Hos 14:9  Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein. 

 That word "prudent" means discernment, understanding, consideration, and being prudent.

 These are things that the Northern Kingdom lacked while it practiced pagan worship.

 The prophet Hosea was calling out to anyone who had not given in to those things.

Who are the wisest upon this earth? Those who showed wisdom in understanding that the ways of the Lord are the path that we should walk.

God promised that Israel would return to that land.

On May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again, in one day, and they returned to the land that they had been carried away from.

God promised that they would prosper, and they have and will prosper even more during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.

It is during the Tribulation years that they will, for the first time, be totally sold out to Jehovah, the LORD God of Israel.

Israel's judgment was just as God had said on that day.

Why would we think that God will be any different from the Church that has left the pathway built by the Lord Jesus Christ?

Why can we not accept that all the Word of God is the truth?

Amen