Will Many Be Saved

The Certainty Of Christ's Compassion

Book of Luke 13


Compassion is a warm feeling with and for other beings.

Compassion is suffering along with others who are suffering.

Compassion is a mixture of love and sorrow.

Compassion is a fundamental and a distinct conception of God.

It was God's compassion for a small group of people that set them free from the bondage of Egypt and form them into the nation of Israel.

The Old Testament full of God's acts of compassion, pity, and mercy.

When God made Himself known to Moses, He described Himself for the benefit of Moses.

Exo 34:6  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

God said He was a compassionate God and not some unloving being.

What did Moses do?

Exo 34:8  And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

And Moses said "I have found Grace".

Until we have found the "Grace" of God, which is in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ we will never understand our compassionate God.

Because God is so full of compassion, then He expects those that love Him to be the same.

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?

God's greatest act of compassion was when He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem His people!

God gave up His own Son, to the death of the cross, in order to release us from the bondage of sin!

Therefore all who know the God, the Father of Christ, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, and call themselves the children of God, will also show compassion and mercy to all those who do not know the Lord as their "personal" Savior!

Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the epitome of compassion!

We begin with who can be saved:

*****Luk 13:22  And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

The ministry of Christ Jesus was coming to an end and He was on the way to Jerusalem to Calvary's Cross.

This did not stop Him from preaching and teaching along the way, Jesus still remembered the work He was sent to do.

Jesus reached out to as many as He physically could.

Along the way a disciple asked Jesus a question that even many of us have asked and is still asked today.

Are there many or few who will be saved?

The word saved means to participate in God's Kingdom.

The truth is the door of "faith" has a narrow entrance.

The door of "faith" is found on our knees just as Moses found out when He fell on his face before the Lord.

The door of "faith" begins when we acknowledge God for who He is!

*****Luk 13:23  Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Luk 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

The question should never be how many will be saved but how many will be lost!

Notice the Lord Jesus did not respond to just the one who asked but took the time to teach all who were with Him.

There are so many today who think that everyone who dies goes to Heaven and they are wrong.

There are also those who think there is no place called Heaven or Hell and they are certainly more wrong.

There are also those that think only certain predetermined ones will get into Heaven and they are wrong also.

The first word Jesus uses is "STRIVE".

The word strive means to struggle, to compete (as for a prize), to endeavor (to accomplish something).

To strive is to make an effort, to labor hard, to exert yourself, to contend.

The Jews taught that all would be saved just because they were Jews by birth and circumcised, this is not so.

The Lord Jesus Christ taught that nationality meant nothing toward entering into God's Kingdom!

The Lord Jesus taught that religious rituals meant nothing toward entering into God's Kingdom!

The Lord Jesus theme has always been that many are called but few are chosen!

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

**The truth is that many people are curious about Heaven but not curious enough to truly seek the Lord in a personal manner!

They will certainly discuss the issue of salvation but they are unwilling to deny themselves of their own desires.

**Birth and ritual are not enough to save anyone. Not circumcision, Not Baptism in any form nor any other religious ritual and certainly not someone wearing some explosive device to kill others.

The entrance to the place of salvation is a narrow gate!

**In other words the way through this gate is specific, very specific!

This truth always seems to drive the liberal community crazy.

**There are not many ways to get to God's Kingdom, there is only One Way!

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Why is Jesus Christ hated so much in our world?

This one Scripture gives us the answer. You cannot enter into God's Kingdom but by Jesus Christ!

We cannot pick and choose our own way to get to Heaven!

**To get into God's Kingdom is not a cake walk!

We must all "strive" to get there!

It takes a whole-hearted dedication and effort, but let's not confuse the issue because you cannot work your way to Heaven either.

No amount of work can pave our way into God's Kingdom as many try and will fail.

**To "strive" means we must diligently seek God by "faith"!

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

First there must be "faith".

Next there must be "repentance".

Isa 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7  "Let the wicked forsake his way", and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and "let him return unto the LORD", and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

**This means we must deny ourselves and give ourselves to God.

In the military, to repent is to do an about face. Go 180 degrees from where you were headed,

We are our own worst enemy.

Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Few are willing to pay the price of self-denial!

Most will say that self-denial is just to high a price to give up this world we live in now.

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.
Luk 9:24  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

When God closes that narrow gate, no one can open it!

*****Luk 13:25  When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

What is the truth?

The truth is God will call us to salvation only so many times and some can move too late.

God says: the Holy Spirit will not always strive with man.

And we will not ever come until we are not called by the Holy Spirit!

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, "even as ye are called in one hope of your calling";
Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

We know that God loves everyone enough to call them at least once!

We also know that God is a God of the second chance!

But we also know God can see into the heart and He knows those who will never accept Him.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Those who "strive", those who truly seek the Lord will find Him but the truth is, in the future many will seek the Lord but they will not find Him.

When is the proper time to seek the Lord?

2Co 6:2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation".)

Salvation is the thing that needs to be sought!

There is nothing to gain by delay!

In fact you lose every moment you delay!

And you may forfeit your salvation by delay!

Today is the day of salvation!

Today, all that strive to enter into God's salvation will be accepted!

There are many who try to clean themselves up of the things they do that are not pleasing to God but they still use the world's standards and not God standards.

When we seek the good opinion of the world, rather than the will of God who calls us out of the world, then we are not acceptable to God.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

There is no one that meets God standards!

There is only one means to be justified in the eyes of God!

Rom 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

That is why it is called "Grace".

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.

There are no works that we can do ourselves to make us acceptable to God!

There is coming a day when the Master of the House "shall" rise up and shut the door to salvation.

There is a time limit to salvation!

The door to salvation will not always be opened!

Our death is certain but it is also certain that we do not know the time of our death!

We must not be fooled, the door to salvation is closed at a person's death.

There is no such thing as praying someone out of Purgatory!

For many today, the door to salvation will be shut in the next minute or the next hour or the next day!

There will be many who will cry on the day of judgment but it will be to late.

In fact at the Second Coming of Christ it will be too late and Christ could return at any moment!

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

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

If you doubt the words of Jesus Christ, then you will find yourself unable to get into God's Kingdom because the door, the gate, the entrance will be closed!

Jer 8:20  The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

It is then that God will hear all sorts of excuses to no avail.

*****Luk 13:26  Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

There will be a great many who will come up short on the day that salvation is redeemed!

They will have given up everything except that one thing that will keep them out of God's Heaven.

They were "almost" believers.

They were "almost" through the gate.

They were "almost" guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

When your name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life, Jesus will utter those terrible words "I never knew you".

They may have attended church.

They may have fellowshipped with God's people.

They had heard the Word of God, as it was taught.

They had actually been close enough to see the work of God.

They may have actually passed out some tracts.

They may have lived in places where they could witness for the Lord without breaking any law.

They may have freely allowed anyone to speak of Jesus Christ.

HOWEVER, they were only professing believers, they were not genuine believers!

They had accepted all the privileges of the Gospel but they had never "strived" to have a close and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to strive to have a close and a very personal relationship with our God!

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

*****Luk 13:27  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

The first thing that will happen after "Judgement" is that there will be "an absence from God".

No matter where you are located on this earth or what circumstances surround you, God does have His eyes on your situation.

After "Judgement" that will not be the case.

They may think they can just run away feeling relief that God will no longer be seeing their sinful lives but this is also a false belief.

The truth is, they will stand without the power of motion, awe-struck and chilled at the doom that they face.

To depart from God is to be doomed to a place where there is no escape!

And God says there is no one who does not know of Him.

There is no such thing as an Athiest!

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

On the day of "Judgement" it is God who will say He does not know those who have rejected Him!

To be without God is to be in a place of extreme sorrow!

Left behind are all things that are perfect, all things of beauty, all things of peace and tranquility and they will be replaced with all things of fear, and lonesomeness.

They will find that Christianity was not a bondage to God, but evilness and suffering will then become the bondage of those who are told to depart.

This person will feel the sting of a life time of sin upon himself, he will be helpless at that time, and be hopeless for all eternity future!

The truth is:

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

To refuse the "gift of God" is to require payment for all that sin, which is death!

There will be much weeping!

There will be the  gnashing of teeth!

They will actually get to see those that they have known personally, living in Heaven's glory, while they have been shut out!

The one thing they failed was to "strive" in seeking the Lord!

They will now be filled with rage, fury, and despair from which there is no escape!

Even on this day, God will look one more time to make sure that their name is not in the Book.

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

BUT, they will see all those to whom the gate will be opened!

*****Luk 13:29  And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

God could have allowed all of us die in our sin but we see that there is no one who cannot be saved!

There is no where on the face of this earth that the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ cannot reach!

Those that are saved and enter into God's Kingdom will come from all nations!

**Those that will enter into God's Kingdom will come from all cultures and all societies but we also know that not many will have been rich in material things.

There may still be a great Gentile revival and conversion one day.

It could happen before the rapture of the church but it could also happen during the 7 year tribulation period.

It could be that we are already near the end of this great revival today!

The truth is, that the Lord Jesus died for the sin of the whole world!

The truth is, that Jesus Christ provides the only means of entering into God's Kingdom!

It is God who is the ultimate ruler of His entire created world!

It is only by "faith", and by striving that we can enter into God's Kingdom, but this is not working your way into Heaven.

This "striving" is seeking the face of God and not the arm of 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.

**It is only the saved who will sit down in the Kingdom of God!

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

**God is no respecter of persons, the saved will come from all classes of people!

Gal 2:6  But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: "God accepteth no man's person":) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

There is nothing about us that makes us beautiful before God but "our faith in the promises of Jesus Christ"!

We are to never over-rate nor under-rate the difficulties which lie in our way to Heaven.

We must view them exactly as they are!

What ever difficulties we have in obtaining the "faith" necessary to enter in God's Heaven, God's Kingdom will be well worth the "striving" it takes.

If we knock, it will be opened to us!

But we can wait too late to knock!

We must not trust in Church privileges because there are none. There is only the "Grace" of God which shows us His love and His compassion for us.

It is still God's plan and we must follow God's plan!

There will never be some man-made plan to enter into Heaven!

No matter the time or the season of the Lord, we are the disciples who have become the fishers of men at this time, and we are to be busy about the work the Lord has given us to do but this work only comes after He has saved us!

The truth of the Word of God is "that we will reap what we sow"!

No one on this earth can stop the plan of God!

*****Luk 13:31  The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

The truth is, the Lord Jesus Christ has always been rejected and opposed by the majority of people.

He was opposed by the the religionist and we can see also by the rulers.

There is not one single class of people that flock to Jesus in true belief of Him!

Most of the world just ignores the Lord Jesus Christ!

Many try to stop those who witness for Jesus.

Many just ridicule and abuse those that try to follow the Word of God.

But there are still those who persecute and kill those who know the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.

There were a few Pharisees who were not hostile toward Jesus and they warned Him of Herod's plot to kill Him.

But many just wanted Jesus to leave the area and go preach His message somewhere else.

Herod at one time had been fascinated with John the Baptist and wanted to meet Jesus but the politics had changed and he had changed with them.

Many of those that did not recognize Jesus as the Savior still recognized Him as a good man and they knew to murder Him was still sin.

In either case we can see Jesus was not concerned about plots to kill Him!

Jesus was actually in the area ruled by Herod at that time, which was Galilee and we know that thousands were following Jesus from place to place as He preached "the Kingdom of God".

The whole area was aroused by the Messiah!

There had been many before that had claimed to be the Messiah but none of those spoke with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In any case when the subject of the Messiah arose, those in power would begin to tremble.

In many cases the subject of the Jewish Messiah would cause an uproar of the people.

We can be sure that even Rome was paying attention to what was happening around Jesus Christ!

The governments of all people have a dread and a fear of all people who give their loyalty to God instead of the state!

The truth is, that the Kingdom of Christ is not of this earth and God instructs all those trust Him in "faith" to be subjects of their government "unless those governments go against the Word of God".

If that government is truly subject to the people's needs there should never be an uprising by the people!

The truth is, righteousness, justice, and love are not at the top of the list of what most governments truly want!

Most governments are so caught up in spending money for frivolous things that they find their resources in the taxes that sin generates!

Jesus said Herod was a "fox".

What are the attributes of a fox?

Foxes are sly and crafty and sometimes treacherous.

Most people who attack Christianity are sly, crafty, and sometimes treacherous.

Why?

What are the attributes of the Devil?

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The Devil is sly, crafty, and always treacherous!

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Jesus said nothing could happen to Him until His ministry had been "perfected"!

The Greek word "teleoo" means completed or accomplished.

The pure fact is, that the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ cannot be stopped by any man!

The witness of Jesus in His person did stop but not before what He came to accomplish was finished!

Notice it was not the cross that completed the ministry of Jesus, it was His resurrection!

It was Jesus rising from the dead, having conquered death, that completed the work for man's salvation!

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

Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Nevertheless the ministry of Jesus will continue because it is not in the power of man to stop the will of God!

*****Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

That word "must" means that the work Jesus was sent to accomplish "must" take place before He could be killed!

Jesus had to die in Jerusalem and Herod had no jurisdiction there!

Jerusalem was and still is the center of the Jewish nation.

Jerusalem was and is recognized by all Jews the capitol city of Israel.

The Temple stood in Jerusalem.

The Sanhedrin Court was in Jerusalem.

If a prophet of God was to die, that decision would be made in Jerusalem.

Jesus was saying, when people kill God's Son, it would be done under the circumstances that God had set forth in His Written Word.

Jesus was to die in Jerusalem but He was to die for the benefit of all mankind!

Many today still do not understand the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ but they all will one day!

And Jesus said:

*****Luk 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

The truth is, that the sinners of that day and the sinners of our day and the sinners in the days to come cannot destroy the willingness of Jesus Christ to save them!

The soul is a precious thing to God!

When Jesus looked ahead to Jerusalem He wept!

Not for the things He was sent to accomplish but because He would be rejected.

Jesus would have saved them all but "they would not be saved".

Today our world is filled with many who just will not be saved!

They and their homes will be forsaken by the Lord!

*****Luk 13:35  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

That house can be just a house but it can also be a church, a local group, a city, or a nation if they reject the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to save them, they will be forsaken and God will leave them alone.

They will spend eternity away from the presence of God.

Rom 1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

All we have to do is look and see what is happening in our world today, to know that these words are true!

God is giving up on our world!

Pro 1:28  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30  They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Pro 1:32  For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

Has God reached this point, only He knows but the evidence is growing that He has.

*****Luk 13:35  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

There is still the day that the Lord will return to complete the promises He made to Israel.

The Lord will return and He will rule supremely.

Psa 118:26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

The truth is that everyone who has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will see the Lord return and it will be too late to accept Him at that time!

Those who foolishly believe that they can come to Christ at any time need to listen to what is said here.

There is a day to each of us when we will no longer see the Christ as the Savior that He is and it is too late for salvation.

God definitely has a deadline that once it has been reached none will be able to see Him until He returns and at that time all will bow the knee to the Lord of His creation!

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Here again it would be hard to say that most of the world has not reached this point already!

Still the fact remains that we who know the Lord must remain busy spreading the "Gospel" up until the very moment that Christ returns!

There is never a good time to quit on God!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

The Teaching Of Jesus Christ

The Certainty Of Christ's Parables

Book of Luke 12


We already know that the Lord Jesus used many parables in His teaching.

A parable can be best described as a story of something in our earthly life or in nature, that we can compare to the truth of God's Word, a Heavenly truth.

It is a fact that both the Created world of God and all the things in Heaven develop according to the same laws.

For instance in the spring we see the resurrection of this natural world from the dead of Winter to the new life of Spring which should remind us that to be resurrected is to be raised from death to eternal life.

Nature is a witness of the Spiritual world to come.

It could be said that a parable is the clearest illustration of God's truth!

We can be certain that the parables that Jesus taught will clearly show us the meaning of God's Word.

Everything that Jesus taught was in perfect harmony with the Message of His Father.

We should remember that a parable will never contradict the truth of the Scriptures, but will only point to the truth of God!

*****Luk 12:13  And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.

Here we see one of the followers of Christ asked that He be the judge between he and his brother. This man was in a dispute with his own brother over the inheritance of his fathers estate.

We already know that by the laws of Moses the elder brother would get two thirds of the estate compared to his younger brother's one third.

We do not know if this is the problem with this man or not.

This man felt that he deserved an equal share of all the things his father had possessed.

The truth is, we never see where Jesus will ever interfere in secular matters!

At this time it was not His purpose because He came to seek and to save those who are lost!

At this time is was a common practice in the life of the Jews for the Rabbi to settle local legal disputes.

What do we know?

**This man had been listening to the Preaching message of Jesus sermons.

**This man was seeking material wealth of this world.

BUT, Jesus will never deal in matters of selfishness!

*****Luk 12:14  And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

Jesus Christ refused this man very sternly.

This gives us an idea how the Lord would respond to any request for the material things of this world for our own use.

This man exposed a serious flaw in the spiritual life he should have been seeking.

In verses 1-12 Jesus was teaching all those who would listen to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees.

Most of the Pharisees were hypocrites who taught the Laws of Moses but they themselves lived outside those Laws.

This is something we see in our own government today. Men and women who make the laws refuse to abide by those laws.

The truth is, the disciples of the Lord are to never live in this manner and are always to be aware of hypocrisy.

We are never to get caught up in this way of thinking!

Luk 12:2  For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

This was a man who had heard the message of Jesus but he was to preoccupied in his own worldliness to listen to what Jesus had really said.

The Bible says:

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

It is obvious that this man had his mind on the things of this earth and not on Heavenly things!

There many people who sit before God's preachers but they still refuse to hear the message he has preached.

The Bible says:

Mat 11:15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

This man had a strong desire for the things of this world and that is a sign of cold-hearted worldliness!

AND, Covetousness will lead to all manner of sin!

*****Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Each of the Ten Commandments is centered on covetousness!

The Tenth Commandment says "Thou shalt not covet".

To covet is to have an inordinate desire to possess what belongs to someone else!

In fact as the Bible describes covetousness, it means an ungoverned and selfish desire that threatens the basic rights of others.

To covet can also mean self exertion and the Tenth Commandment forbids such a thing.

This is exactly what is being pushed on the American public by the gay movement, the students that want everything to be free, those who want to take away the rights of Christians, and those who think differently from the Democratic Party and the secular society of today.

Free speech to these people means that you can say what you want to say as long as you do not disagree with what they have to say!

They should remember the Word of God:

Eph 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

To be covetous is to not be rich toward God!

To be covetous is to deny faith and scorn the values of God!

Just as Jesus says "life does not consists of the things of this world that we have in our possession".

Jesus says to "take heed", "to beware".

It was not being wronged by his brother that drove this man, it was simply greed!

This was the sin of this man and the great sin of this world we live in!

This is the sin of covetousness!

This is the sin of Socialism!

This is the sin of Communism!

These people become aggressively self-centered and this is what we see in America today!

So Jesus teaches with a parable.

*****Luk 12:16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luk 12:18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

In this parable we have a man who is already a rich land owner.

The crops that were planted on his lands brought forth greater than average crops, so much so he did not have room to store the abundance.

He uses the word "I" six times and the word "my" five times in these passages, because we see that he could only think of himself.

The one thing we can be sure of, is that if we have anything it is something that God has provided to us for a reason.

We are all prone to take credit for the things that we have acquired when the truth is, success comes only from God!

The sin of covetousness is a craving and a desire for more.

Covetousness is the sin that is hardest to overcome!

Covetousness causes greediness.

Covetousness causes dissatisfaction with what is enough.

Covetousness causes our cravings to influence our fleshy behavior!

It is not so "much a want to have" as a "got to have" and a will to try to obtain no matter the cost.

Covetousness puts material things in the place of God!

When this man had a great opportunity to help others in need, he chose only to store it in newly built barns.

This man had become self-centered that only his perceived needs were real ti him.

And what did God say to him? "You are a fool".

God says those that continuously lay up treasure for themselves and are not rich toward the ways of God are fools.

We already know that Jesus warned us for calling anyone a fool using the Greek word "moros" which means stupid.

But here the Holy Spirit uses a much stronger word meaning "insane".

Covetousness is a very serious sin in the eyes of God and goes all the way back to the very first commandment.

Notice, God knew the thoughts of this man.

Notice, God knew this man would die that very night.

The soul of this man was going to cease because the soul returns to the God who gave it.

The soul simply does not cease existing when the flesh dies!

The soul returns to the spiritual world.

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

This man will never know who ended up with his riches after his death.

Psa 39:6  Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

Pro 5:21  For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
Pro 5:22  His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Pro 5:23  He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

What did Jesus say before He began this parable?

Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

True life is not about the material things of this world we live in!

True life is about what happens after the death of this flesh we live in. It is the soul that has eternal life!

*****Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Psa 49:6  They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
Psa 49:7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
Psa 49:8  (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
Psa 49:9  That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
Psa 49:10  For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

Wealth is not a permanent possession!

Someone else will always get your wealth that you leave behind and many times not those you would prefer to have it.

The ownership of material things is really never ours to begin with, all things belong to God.

1) The riches of God are true life:

Psa 30:5  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

2) The riches of God come from a life of faith:

Jas 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

3) The riches of God in this life are from our good works after our salvation.

1Ti 6:18  That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

4) The riches of God come from the wisdom of God:

Pro 8:11  For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Those that lay up their own treasures in this world are not rich in the things of God that last forever!

*****Luk 12:22  And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

Discipleship training has lost it's importance in the modern day church.

We should be clear, Jesus is teaching His disciples here. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ then you need some training for the tasks that He has for us all!

This message is not for the world, those that reject Jesus Christ!

Taking thought, is worrying.

Taking thought, is being overly concerned.

God says for us to not worry about the necessities of life!

King David said: Psa 37:25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Jesus said "I have come that you might have life".

In other words, life is not about this life we live in the flesh that only last such a short time!

*****Luk 12:23  The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.

The biggest problem this world has today is that it does not believe in an ultimate provider.

In reality there are no such things as the laws of nature!

God did not create a world in which only the strong survive!

Psa 145:15  The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Psa 145:16  Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

Sure there are those that are starving in this world but if looked you would see that most people starve because some man or some men have interfered with the food process!

The truth is, that it is only those who are strong in Christ that will survive.

The life that Christ Jesus supplies is eternal!

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Our faith is the key to true life, if that faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Who would choose a meal over such a life?

Who would choose a new wardrobe over such a life?

These things are just covetousness which leads to most all sin!

The greatest sin besides, rejecting the Lord Jesus, is the desire of mankind for bigger and better things of this world.

Life and our bodies mean much more that the food we eat and the clothes we wear, or the place we live, or the things we think we own!

We already know that a healthy lifestyle will extend our life in this world and a life in Christ will extend that life to a life eternal in the actual presence of God.

Jesus did not say we are not to think or to plan for the necessities of life, Jesus said we are not to worry about these things.

Life takes some thought and some planning but we are never to covet to the point of worrying!

We should just truly consider the ways of God!

*****Luk 12:24  Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

Jesus says just consider all the birds, they are fed by God Himself.

As far as I know, the only birds who die of starvation are those who have been captured by some person and kept as pets.

Birds do not sow or reap their food, they just go to the location where food is available.

Many animals store up food for the times when it is not available but not the birds, God provides for them day by day.

Birds are willing to go to wherever their needs are met!

God says that those who have accepted His Son Jesus as their personal Savior are of much more value than the birds.

Faith that God will provide our needs comes from the faith that we have a Savior and a Redeemer.

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Jesus is teaching all His disciples, which includes all who have faith in Him, not to worry or be anxious in this world over food and clothing.

BUT, we should also remember that God does not put up with laziness, or a lack of initiative, and effort on our part.

God made plans ahead of time for our salvation.

Jesus planned ahead for His own funeral.

Joh 12:6  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Joh 12:7  Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

Jesus preached and taught for us all to be industrious believers.

Luk 16:8  And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

Jesus said we are to be more industrious than this unjust steward.

The Bible is very clear about us being faithful workers and even working to have extra that we can give to those that do not have.

Eph 4:28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Our faith means that we are trusting in God to meet all our needs because God says He will never forsake us.

God does not ever say that we will not suffer in this life in fact He says we will!

It is that suffering that will increase our faith!

God truly cares for those who love Him!

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Worrying about these things of God is then senseless!

*****Luk 12:25  And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?

The Greek word used for stature in this verse is "helikia".

Helikia can mean age as well as size.

So this verse could read either "who can add one cubit which is about 18 inches to his stature" or it could read "who could add one minute to his life span".

The answer to both is that none of us can do either of these things.

No two of us are alike but we are all sinners!

This world is corrupt and imperfect just as we all are.

Our only hope is in the Almighty God through the Lord Jesus Christ who makes these promises to us.

2Pe 1:2  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

*****Luk 12:26  If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

It is to our benefit to think that there are many things that we simply cannot do!

There are some simple things that man simply cannot do.

It would seem reasonable that we are in control of our own destiny but the truth is we are not in control at all!

God does not cause accidents yet they still happen and our lives our over before we know it.

The big thing today is climate change and with all the power of man and all the knowledge of the world's greatest minds, it is God who controls these things and the climate has always changed.

If we would only look at a Supreme Being and not the foolishness of Evolution we would not get so caught up in these things!

When we are unable to do some of the simplest of things with human power, how could we ever believe we could do these things that foolish men say is possible.

God has promised that no matter what we see or think, God will work out all things for the good to those that truly trust Him!

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We know God's plan and we may not understand His methods, but we need to just place these things in His hands because He certainly knows what is best for us.

1Co 7:17  But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

We are challenged to trust God and leave all our worries to Him, or to be so anxious about this life that it robs us of our peace and joy.

We are to consider what God has already done.

*****Luk 12:27  Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

When we see the beautiful lilies, do they not always appear contented and happy.

The lilies live on the property of man.

The same air that keeps us alive does not help the growth of the lily, because the lily requires our wasted air.

When we and also the animals breath in all the air we want, it is that air that is exhausted, though poison to us, that is life to the lily.

A lily is not concerned with popularity or of wearing the proper clothing.

A lily is not concerned with style and fashion.

A lily is not concerned with acceptability.

Flowers are grateful for the leftovers of this world and our ingratefulness shows when we simply cannot be happy with what God has provided for us.

As rich as King Solomon was, he could not purchase clothing that could come close to the beauty of the lilies!

God simply says, to get all the good out of the things He has provided before we wish for better things!

A flower has no wings and no feet and must stay exactly where it is planted.

They do not do anything that cannot be done at home.

When the Lord Jesus was asked to do wrong He said "I and my Father are one".

Jesus was saying that this is not what happens in My Father's House!

There are still people who talk to their flowers but flowers never talk back.

Flowers allow their silent beauty do all their talking for them!

Flowers teach us to do good without being asked to do so!

It is a fact that without the systems God has put in place we would not have flowers!

We would not have trees!

We would not have grass!

We not not have the wheat and the corn that feeds us!

God is the Creator of life, not only mankind, and all the animals but life also can be seen in all the plants that grow and many of those plants are grown for our on benefit.

We get food and shelter and many other resources from plants who survive off our waste and even if they had mouths they would never complain!

SO, What this world is suffering the most from, "is a lack of faith" and that faith in God!

*****Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

When we doubt that God cares enough for us to provide our basic needs, then we become anxious and worry to a point that we become insecure in many other things.

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Worldliness is being wrapped up in the things of this world and doubting God's care!

These things will consume us if they are allowed to fester!

When life becomes food, drink and possessions, we have forgotten that life is eternal and we have forgotten life is in the soul which never dies.

As the children of God we are to different from those of this world!

God commands us to seek the Kingdom of God and all these other things will be provided.

We must understand that God knows we have personal needs!

If we cannot trust in God's ability to provide our basic needs, how then can we be sure of our own salvation.

A God that cannot provide for His people is not much of a God!

We serve a God that not only provides our needs, but He gets great pleasure in doing so!

*****Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

God has great pleasure in giving us treasures that do not age, that do not corrupt, and no one can steal them away from us!

The teaching of the Lord is this: "Once our needs have been met, we do not need more".

We will only waste it or we will store it to deny others from having.

We live in a world that is full of needs and should be willing to help others with any excess that we have.

Not to gain a good reputation but for the purpose of seeking the Kingdom of God!

What advice does God give us?

*****Luk 12:33  Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

"Gifts" of money and good deeds can never grow old.

The treasures in Heaven are built upon the fruit of the Holy Spirit and Souls led to the Lord.

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.

Eph 5:9  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

These things never age, never fail, cannot corrupt, and cannot be stolen, as all things of this earth do.

The real treasures are in Heaven!

Our hearts should be centered these things of Heaven.

If we believe our treasure is in this world then our hearts are in this world.

As this world is corrupt, then our hearts are corrupt!

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
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.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
We can be certain that the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ teach us Heavenly Truths!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Teach Me To Pray

The Certainty Of Christ's Prayer

Book of Luke 11


Some people just do not understand that prayer is our means of having a conversation with God!

It was by the cross and the veil was rent into that we have direct access to the throne of God!

We waste our breath in prayer if we do not first believe, in faith, that God is who He says He is and can do what we read about in the Word of God.

If we do not believe that God will answer prayer, then why pray at all?

Our prayers must be sincere!

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.

The disciples of Jesus asked Him to teach them how to pray because prayer was a daily thing for our Lord and it can be said that Jesus truly prayed without ceasing.

It is an absolute fact, the more we pray the closer we will get to God.

Jesus said if we pray in His name, God will answer every prayer that reaches into His throne room.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

So let's let Jesus teach us how to pray.

*****Luk 11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

The Lord Jesus Christ spent much time in prayer. Prayer was not unknown to these disciples.

They had witnessed prayers at the Temple and in their own synagogues.

They had heard the long winded prayers of the Scribes and the Pharisees.

They had known the prayers of John the Baptist, who had taught his own disciples how to pray.

There was something about the way that Jesus prayed that got their attention!

**Christ Jesus prayed often and He emphasized that prayer was one of the greatest needs of each believer. Jesus insisted that His prayers were the source of His strength.

**Jesus prayed as a Son to His Father in a close and very personal relationship with Him. Jesus taught that we that believe are to have the same close and personal relationship with our Father who is in Heaven.

To be saved is to be adopted into the family of God.

**John the Baptist had taught his own disciples to pray and all these that followed the Lord Jesus knew that He was the Master teacher and could teach them also, it was a reasonable request.

Even in prayer the Lord Jesus is our example!

*****Luk 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

The Lord Jesus Christ will teach anyone to pray, anyone who is sincere and anyone who wants to begin a successful prayer life.

**Jesus begins with "When we pray".

We must accept that Jesus is teaching us a "model prayer" and not a prayer that should be repeated over and over again, even though nothing is wrong with praying this prayer as it is written.

As we all have different needs and are going through different trials, so then every prayer will be different.

This model prayer is also meant for use of all the children of God no matter their age group.

This prayer is a guide for all of us who need to have a personal relationship with our Creator and our God!

**Thank God for being "Our Father"

We are to have a close personal relationship with our God!

This relationship is to be a family relationship, the relationship of of a child to his parent.

This is the relationship we have after we have been "Born Again" into the family of God!

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 must always thank God for being our Father!

We must always thank God that we are part of His family!

This is our assurance that we will spend eternity with not only all other believers but even our own earthly family if they will also trust in the Lord Jesus.

It is this model prayer that will open our eyes to the right way of looking at things.

Remember just a few lessons back, God was teaching us to have the right attitude.

Thank God we have a Father who cares about each and everyone of us!

Once God is our Father, that can never change!

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

**Thank God for "In Heaven"

Heaven is a real place!

Heaven is the eternal real world, while this place we live now is only a temporary place.

Heaven is incorruptible and undefiled and it will never fade away!

Heaven is where God our Father resides and we will one day be with Him there in that place called Heaven.

Jesus said:

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

And God's truth is:

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

We truly do not have a clue just how wonderful Heaven is going to be!

**We need to praise God for "His name is Hallowed".

God's name is to set apart from all other names.

Our God is holy, and righteous, and pure, and loving, and kind, and merciful, and gracious.

God is to be praised for who He is!

We do not hallow God, if we speak of Him in an irreverent fashion.

We do not hallow God when we take His name in vain.

In fact we do not hallow God unless we worship Him in spirit and in truth!

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We do not hallow God unless we honor God in our own households!

If we do not have sense of God's majesty and God's holiness we will never hallow God's name!

AND, We do not hallow the Almighty God if we do not have a devout response of "faith" in Him!

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

God's attributes are "His Name"

God has made Himself known to us by His Word but also by His Created Works!

We do not hallow the name of God if we do not trust in His power to direct and overrule all things, good and evil!

Holy is the name of God!

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Only after we have praised God in our prayer are we to make request of Him!

**We need to pray for God's Kingdom to come.

In this sense we are praying for the spreading of the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ throughout this world.

We are praying for God's spiritual kingdom to come into all our lives and the "Gospel" has been spread throughout this world.

This is a prayer to personally receive the "Gospel"!

This is a prayer to personally promote the spread of the "Gospel"!

This is a prayer to persevere in prayer for the success of the "Gospel"!

God says to pray for Him to come but we must remember, when Christ returns to this earth, He will set upon His throne. He will rule and reign upon this earth for 1000 years.

This is the Kingdom that will ultimately be established in fulfillment of the covenant with the Jews.

Before that happens. His will needs to be done in all our lives just as it will be in Heaven.

There is the Spiritual Kingdom, which is God's authority over all the souls of believers.

There is the Visible Kingdom, the Church, which is visible to all mankind.

There is the Heavenly Kingdom which comes after the rapture of the Church!

**Thy will be done as in Heaven

It should be very obvious to us all that God's will is not done on earth as it is in Heaven.

We are all unworthy to receive the "Grace of God"!

God's will for us all is faith and holiness.

We cannot please God without faith.

We are to live holy because our God is a Holy God.

The Lord's Prayer indicates the right way of looking at things!

The Lord's Prayer is a prayer that this world we now live in would be filled with the knowledge of God!

The Lord's Prayer is a prayer that the "Grace" of God will rule in every heart!

The Lord's Prayer is a prayer that God, by His Grace, will remove all spiritual blindness and cause us all to know His will for each of us!

It is God's will that all the world be saved.

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.

*****Luk 11:3  Give us day by day our daily bread.

We are certainly to pray for the necessities of life and we are to do that on a daily basis.

This is food for within and without. We need to fed spiritually and physically.

The Lord's Prayer is a prayer to be filled as much spiritually as physically!

We must learn that we are dependant on the Lord for both these things.

The needs of the body while on this earth are great, but the truth is, the needs of the soul are far more important!

God will supply our daily needs.

God will supply those needs that are necessary for us to spread the "Gospel".

God may even sometime supply some our wants, but our needs will always supersede our wants.

There are some rewards for those who serve the Lord but the greater rewards are in Heaven.

*****Luk 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

We need to spend some time discussing the forgiveness of our sins with our Father!

Our sins are a debt that we owe!

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our sins are the very reason God had to send His Son to pay that great debt!

Notice we are to pray specifically for the forgiveness of our own sins.

We have a debt to God that we had no means to repay.

But we are also to pray for the forgiveness of the sins of our family, our neighbors, our community, our state, our nation, and our world!

Sin is the most serious matter and the most tragic matter to ever occur in our world!

We need to pray this daily because we are still in the flesh and without a doubt, we sin daily!

Our old sins are already under the blood and it is unnecessary to continue to ask for the forgiveness of those sins!

God does not remember those sins anymore!

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

God does not want us to remember those old sins anymore!

Heb 10:17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:18  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Jesus said that part was finished when He was on the cross!

Until we meet Jesus, we will still come up short of His glory and Jesus is teaching us to pray for this reason!

As God has forgiven our sins then we are to be forgiving of all others.

This is a condition of our own forgiveness!

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

We should realize that every confession of sin is always fulfilled with a pardon!

**Lead us not into temptation.

First, God will never tempt us!

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

We are to have a sincere belief in the providence of God!

It is when we trust in ourselves when temptation can overcome us!

We must have the faith that God is able to deliver us from all evil.

**"Deliver us from evil"

Satan the Devil is real!

We are to avoid all occasions of evil.

We are to give no place to the devil.

We should understand that "evil" is anything and everything that goes against the Word of God!

The Devil is above all, the evil one and the great opposition to the goodness of God!

Worldly afflictions come and go and are indeed grievous so long as they last and they require our prayers.

Sin is evil in it's nature and high treason against Heaven!

Sin will enslave us!

Sin is a painful thing. Sin is its own punishment to our bodies and sin will destroy the soul!

Sin is worse than death, though death might kill us, but it could not curse us!

The sin of God's people are even greater than the sins of the world because we sin against the "Mercy" and the "Grace" of God that He has already shown to us!

We should pray for God's deliverance from evil because God has more "Grace" than He does "wrath"!

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

And Jesus says we must be sincere and persistent in our prayers, we may have to make many request to fulfill the will of God.

*****Luk 11:5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

What the truth of our prayers?

When we get into the throne room of God through our prayer, then we must refuse to leave until we get an answer.

How is this possible?

We must be sincere in our need, fervent in our request, constant, persistent, persevering and enduring when we are in contact with our Lord!

Micky Mouse prayers will not move the hand of God!

We need to ask until we get what we need, or that God says no.

Sometimes the greatest blessing we can get is when God says no to something we think we need!

And, Sometimes we have to be somewhat like a pest to move the hand of God!

Jesus gives us the answer to our problems in prayer.

*****Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

"Ask and it shall be given" We should continue to ask until we receive, but if asking is not enough, Then

"Seek, and ye shall find", But in seeking and we do not find what we need, Then

"Knock, and it shall be open unto us"

The words "ask, seek, and knock" are verbs which means these are things we must do in a continuous action.

We are to keep on with these things until we know for sure we have God's answer.

God must know we are sincere!

God knows: Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

The one thing we must consider is, "That God is always willing to give us the things that will fulfill the will and the purpose He has for us!

No matter the circumstances of our life, God will meet our needs!

No matter what we think sometimes, if our prayer can reach the throne room of God, we will get an answer even when it may be a "no" answer.

Deu 4:29  But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

**There are other reasons that God does not answer our prayer immediately.

1) Prayer teaches us to have a close personal relationship with the Lord our God!

God loves to hear from us and He may hold back to keep us talking and sharing our needs with Him.

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

2) Prayer teaches to have patience and hope in God and His promises.

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

3) Prayer demonstrates how deeply we trust God and how much we depend upon Him.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

4) Prayer teaches us to love God as our Father.

*****Luk 11:11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Prayer teaches us that God is not evil, God is like a loving Father.

Not one man upon this earth is a righteous man.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

But most men who are also fathers will give to their children when asked.

If all men are evil and God is "Good", it is impossible for God not to give as our Heavenly Father.

Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

The greatest gift that our Father in Heaven gives us is the "Gift" of the Holy Spirit!

We have the presence of God living within our hearts and bodies.

When God dwells within those that have called on Him for salvation, then everything that is good is assured!

God is always with us and never far away and He knows us by our fruit!

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.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

And we can be sure that God will answer our prayers!

Jer 33:2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Prayer is the greatest tool in the arsenal of the Christian, yet in most cases we all lack in a proper prayer life!

The truth is our Father in Heaven is not a dead beat dad who cares very little for his children, God is a true Father who cares for His children.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Questions?

Let's Pray!

The Glory Of God Is Certain In Christ

The Certainty Of Christ's Future Glory

Book of Luke 9


Since His days as a babe in the arms of His mother Mary, Jesus Christ knew exactly what He would go through. Jesus knew everything that lied ahead of Him in the days He would spend on this earth.

Luk 9:22  Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

Jesus did not say He "would" suffer, He said He "must" suffer!

The suffering of Jesus Christ was a necessary to be obedient to His Father in Heaven!

The Father's will was the Son's law!

The entire nation of Israel had looked for the Messiah and having rejected Jesus the Messiah, many of them are still looking for the Messiah to come.

These people had not grasped the full meaning of the Messiah as written in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The work that the Lord Jesus Christ was sent to accomplish demanded the cross!

Messiah came first to redeem His people!

These Jews could only see His sovereignty, His power, and His glory!

They could only see His ruling and His reigning on this earth which will come later.

We can see that Jesus accepted the things that were about to happen to Him!

His willing acceptance of all these things were required. It was love that would be nailed to that cross along with all our sin!

There were 3 Jewish groups who would take the lead in killing Jesus.

The elders, the respected men of the community. Israel had no government of it's own at this time.

The chief priests, the religious system that was in place.

The scribes, who made copies of the Scriptures but taught the oral law.

Men from these 3 groups made up the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of Jewish justice.

We can see why we must have men on our own Supreme Court who are not politically motivated even today!

Jesus Christ was to bear His cross for all mankind!

BUT, there was another cross, a cross man was to bear for the Messiah!

To be a disciple of Jesus would bring it's own suffering!

*****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 truth is that following the Lord Jesus Christ entails a "daily" willingness to die for Him!

We all have the tendency to indulge ourselves in our own desires.

The Lord Jesus, in His own words says that "we are to deny ourselves daily", in order to become His disciple!

Taking up our own cross refers to a condemned man hauling his own cross to the place of execution.

Jesus Christ did this very thing and He is our example even in this thing!

Each of us must follow Jesus and not someone else of this earth!

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

The modern day Church has forgotten that we are to be like Christ.

Jesus Christ is to be our example in everything that we face!

No doubt these Jews knew exactly what the cross stood for. They had seen many criminals bearing their cross to the place of execution!

Part of the execution by the cross was the public display in places where it was easily seen by all people.

We should understand the our own cross does not mean we are to bear life's hardships.

It does not mean we are to bear poor health, or abuse by the government, or the abuse of our parents, or our spouse or even a wayward child!

The cross is an instrument of death! We are to die to ourselves!

We are to die mentally and actively to the things of this world and we are to do this daily!

We are to have the mind of Christ!

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

This is not a negative behavior because it is a positive behavior!

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

When we die to ourselves we become alive to God!

Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

This is when God can make a use of us!

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

We need to understand what life really means.

*****Luk 9:24  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Life as we know it on this earth quickly passes away!

We are born as babes and then the aging process begins and we fade and decay until there is only a lifeless corpse buried in some grave.

This in itself defeats all the laws of evolution. We never evolve we only decay just as all the things in our universe are doing the same!

When we work only to please ourselves we will lose our life eternally!

Life is not something that we possess!

1Ti 5:6  But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

Life is given by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

God gave us this life we have now in order that we may have fellowship with Him.

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

God gave us this life in order that we might fellowship with one another.

Psa 119:63  I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
Psa 119:64  The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

God gave us this life in order that we be able to help save this world that is lost in sin!

Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 
We should be able to see that life is only real when we release ourselves to serve the Triune God!

There are no advantages to a life without Christ Jesus!

*****Luk 9:25  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

If we sit down and think about these words of Jesus we can come to only one conclusion.

There are no eternal advantages of materialism!

There are actually some men who devote their time in pursuit of gaining all the riches this world, though that be impossible.

The truth of all those that reject Jesus Christ is that they will truly be cast into the Burning Lake of Fire.

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Those that live only for themselves are actually wasting their lives on themselves.

Those that deny themselves and pick up their own cross and follow Jesus make their lives count for something that is truly important!

To be castaway is to suffer loss of, or to forfeit, To Lose What Is Of A Greater Value!

*****Luk 9:26  For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
Luk 9:27  But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

The truth is no man on the same level of man in their moral nature could ever be a Savior!

The judgment on the materialist of this world will be tragic.

Most of mankind are ashamed when they come face to face with the Word of God!

Most of mankind actually find comfort in their acceptance in a society of unbelievers.

Most of mankind find comfort in the sinful pleasures of this world.

The truth is Jesus will return to judge this world!

**Jesus will return in His own glory:

Php 2:9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

**Jesus will return in the glory of God:

1Ti 6:16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

**Jesus will return in the glory of the Angels:

Luk 12:8  Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Luk 12:9  But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

When Jesus Christ returns in His glory He will be ashamed of all those that have rejected Him and who showed their shame in Him!

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Here on earth the greatest reward is salvation!

BUT, the reward to those who are saved is God's Kingdom!

Each believer has his place reserved in the Kingdom of God as soon as he believes!

Standing before Jesus this day were some who would be eyewitness of His death and resurrection.

Standing before Jesus that day were some who would witness the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And standing before Jesus that day would be some who would be eyewitnesses to His glory!

And now we see the the certainty of Christ's future glory.

*****Luk 9:28  And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

Peter, James, and John could be said to be the inner circle of the 12 disciples.

They were all partners in the fishing business before coming to Christ and they would become fishers of men.

What we know is the Jesus had just announced His death on the cross it seems that God knew He needed a very special strength to face the pressure of the cross.

That added strength would come in His transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The disciples also would need some added strength and these three of the inner circle would witness the transfiguration, the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the resurrection of Jairus' daughter.

God gave them a glimpse of the glory of His Son!

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4  Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

And then Jesus began to pray.

We should know that the weight of the sin of the world, including our own sin already weighed heavy on Jesus at this time.

We should also know that the time was short before Jesus would give these disciples the keys to the Church.

*****Luk 9:29  And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.

Luke says His countenance was altered and His raiment was white and glistering.

Matthew said His face did shine as the Sun.

Mark wrote His raiment became shining exceeding whits as snow as no fuller could white them.

On this day was Jesus seen in all His glory and in just a few days He would be unrecognizable!

Isa 52:14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

But God had a purpose for all these things.

God was showing these men that Jesus was not only the Master teacher, not only the Miracle worker, not only a great Prophet, but that Christ Jesus was indeed a third part of the Triune God!

Jesus allowed His Godly nature to shine through Him.

Even on this day these disciples had no excuse for doubting the Savior!

The needs of these disciples were met but there was also a need of Jesus Himself.

We should understand that when our needs are desperate God will meet those needs in a special way!

We have recently learned that before major decisions are made it takes intense prayer.

We see here that when there are special needs it takes intense prayer!

These things can change our own countenance!

Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Peace and blessedness comes to those who know the Lord!

But God was not through yet.

*****Luk 9:30  And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luk 9:31  Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

Moses the great Lawgiver appeared to Jesus and they discussed how Jesus would accomplish the fulfillment of the law on the cross in Jerusalem, which is God's great love for us..

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Heb 9:16  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Heb 9:17  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Heb 9:18  Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.

Elijah the great Prophet appeared to Jesus and they discussed how Jesus would accomplish the fulfillment of all the prophets in Jerusalem with His life, His burial, His resurrection and His return a second time.

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

These two great men of the Old testament were giving strength to the only One who could fulfill the New Testament.

Jesus represented the New Covenant, Moses represents the Old Covenant, Elijah represents the prophesy that would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Peter, James, and John represented the Jews to whom the Covenants of Abraham and of David would be fulfilled.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Peter, James and John also represented the Apostles who would have the keys to building the Church!

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:45  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Peter was not that rock but Christ the Son of the Living God is that solid rock foundation of the Church of the Living God!

We should notice that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to accomplish the wishes of His Father in Heaven.

Jesus, the man. clearly understood the details of the great work which He and His Father were soon to accomplish in Jerusalem!

Both Moses and Elijah had trusted, and believed and hoped in this day when God would provide the means of salvation for all people, of all generations!

The truth is all our faith, and all our hope are realized and fulfilled in Christ Jesus!

That's why it is called "Grace"!

Gal 1:3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Gal 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Today we truly think of death as a bad thing but in reality to the Christian, death is a good thing and we should discuss our death with other Christians.

Php 1:20  According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Php 1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Sharing the knowledge of our home going can be an encouragement to others!

But Peter "with the foot shaped mouth" needed to learn another lesson along with James and John.

*****Luk 9:32  But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
Luk 9:33  And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.

The Lord Jesus had brought had brought these three chosen disciples to be witness of this event.

Luk 9:27  But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

They all had fallen asleep again while Jesus was praying but they were suddenly awaken by the "Shekinah Glory" of God.

They were in the very presence of God Himself and they knew they were on hallowed ground!

These disciples at once saw the source of the Lord Jesus' strength.

The throne of God is in Heaven but at this time the throne of Jesus Christ would be the cross.

It was good for them to be there on the Mount of Transfiguration!

Transfiguration is a change in form!

It is during the Church Age that we all stand on the Mount of Transfiguration and see the Glory of the Cross!

But we cannot spend the rest of our lives on the Mountain Top!

We cannot build shelter and homes and stay on the mountain top.

God calls us all down into the valley to spread the "Gospel of Jesus Christ"!

When God has revealed in us the glory of His Son then we are to consecrate our lives to the work the Lord has given us to do just as He gave to all His disciples.

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Just like Peter, we may not know what to say to these things but God will give us the answers!

*****Luk 9:34  While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
Luk 9:35  And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Most of the time God will speak to us in His still voice but but Peter, James, and John heard something else on this day.

When you are in the presence of God you will realize just how puny we human are compared to the awesomeness of the Almighty God!

**This was a bright cloud.

This cloud was bright because it contained the Shekinah Glory of God.

This was the same cloud that had guided Israel in their 40 years in the wilderness.

This was the same cloud that rested on the Tabernacle that Moses built.

This was the same cloud that rested on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies.

This was the same cloud where God dwells.

1Ti 6:16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Peter never forgot this day!

2Pe 1:16  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
2Pe 1:17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
2Pe 1:18  And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

**This was a bright cloud that overshadowed the Lord Jesus Christ.

When God gave Moses the laws of the Old Covenant, God came in a dark and overshadowing cloud:

Exo 20:21  And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

The point being that the Old Covenant was dark and threatening:

Gal 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

The New Covenant in the Lord Jesus Christ is bright because it is given to save and to bless and not to threaten and condemn.

Heb 12:18  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19  And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20  (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

Add to this:

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

**And maybe the most important of all, the voice that came out of the cloud spoke and said "This Is My Beloved SON"!

God has given us the only means of salvation!

God has given us the only chance we will have to get to Heaven!

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.

Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

**God's message was very clear when He said "HEAR HIM"!

Those soon to be Apostles were to hear what Jesus had to say!

We are to listen to what Jesus has to say!

God warns and commands every living man, woman, and child to listen to Christ Jesus!

Why?

1Jn 5:9  If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

Faith is the key that unlocks the Glory of God!

1Jn 5:10  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
1Jn 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

After God speaks He will give us some time to think about His words.

*****Luk 9:36  And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.

Quietness, Jesus was standing alone, No one said spoke the remainder of that night.

These disciples did not speak of these things until after the resurrection and the ascension of Christ back to Heaven.

Once we hear the Word of God, the things that Jesus spoke, there should be a time for silence, a time for being still, and a time for meditating on what Jesus says.

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psa 83:16  Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
Psa 83:17  Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
Psa 83:18  That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Solomon wrote that there is a time for all things and now is the time for "Grace"!

Now is the time for all the servants of God to spread the "Gospel of 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:

Just as we see that these Apostles saw the glory of Christ, we can be certain of Christ future glory!

Questions?

Let's Pray!