Bible Cast: Recent Episodes
Shwabe
I'm just some guy who loves Jesus and shares short Bible studies and sermons that can be heard throughout the week.
With many Christians downplaying the importance of Bible doctrine and Bible Prophecy I'm going to talk about what is the pre-tribulation rapture and why should we believe it?
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If you guys remember when we look at the book of Isaiah, he is known as the evangelical prophet. Out of the book of Isaiah comes more of salvation doctrine that is supported and leaned upon in the new testament than any other old testament book. Isaiah was a prophet that not only spoke about the times that he is living in but also would speak out into the future of times yet to come. This is what makes Isaiah hard to follow because the very next verse can take you out 1000 - 2000 years beyond the moment Isaiah is currently in. Because of this, we need to read Isaiah carefully and tonight is one of those nights. In Isaiah 18 we’re going to read about the burdens against the nations. The word burden in modern-day language means the judgment against. So we have to ask the question: does God judge nations? Yes, of course, He does. And He judges nations based upon what the leaders of those nations take those nations. Some nations are under dictator rule and God knows in his mercy how to deal with that. This is why it is so important for us as Americans. We pick our leaders or we don’t. When we select bad leaders that is a form of judgment. The people of Israel did this in the times of Samuel, they rejected God as their ruler and selected a man who would enslave them. I believe God is either in the midst of judging the united states or we’re about to enter into it because we have rejected Him.
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Many bible scholars throughout the years have thought that this is a description of not only a historical portion of the book but it also had a more broad application of an end-times event. It’s going to talk about Damascus becoming a ruinous heap, a city and a geographical location the Bible talks about it one day being obliterated. Damascus has been attacked many times in history but never has it been completely destroyed. It will not only be destroyed but it will be uninhabitable for a great amount of time. One of the oldest cities of the world, Former Syria used to boast that it was the oldest city. Are we seeing the stage being set in our day that Damascus is going to be wiped out?
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Sermon Highlight from Isaiah 16. In all the chaos that is happening in the world, Jesus can offer the peace that is needed.
These 14 verses teach us this: that Moab (modern-day Jordan) plays a very key role in Bible prophecy. We’re 21 centuries from the first coming of Christ and we have this Bible that goes back thousands of years to the Moses. We’re talking about the kingdom of Moab 3000 years ago to prophetic fulfillment to a time yet future dealings with the nation of Jordan. This is cool because Jordan is on your map! It’s not like the Amorites or the Hittites, they are gone. We’re going to be looking at Jordan and what God has in store for that. We should be having our newspaper or news apps open as we’re reading our Bibles! I believe this is why so many Christians are dead in their walks with God because they have no idea what is going on! Nations are called to give God glory. They are called to be submissive to Him and to bring Him glory. When nations don’t do this they bring upon themselves judgment. God will judge Moab but He will not destroy them. God has a special place for Moab (Jordan) in the future.
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What did Jesus mean when He said He came to bring life and that more abundantly? Why did He put it this way? The answer is simple, There is a difference between just existing and having life found in Christ.
From Isaiah 15-23 there are messages given to various national players, these nations are being addressed by the prophet Isaiah because the God of heaven has determined. All of these nations that God is speaking about have had some relationship to Israel. Good, bad, or ugly. Neighborhood or surrounding Israel. The reason they’re in the Bible is because they had some dealing with Israel. The second thing we see is that God judges nations. The Bible tells us that the God of the Bible will one day judge all nations of the earth. We are going to be looking at why God must judge the nations. Every nation has its history and every nation has its origin, the Bible teaches us that God has established nations. And according to the Bible He has predetermined their rise and their fall. God knew the rise of America and He knows the fall of America. America will fall. Every nation has its beginning, its peak and its failure. God judges nations. Billy Graham was quoted as saying, if God doesn’t judge America he has to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. So we have to try and understand where we’re going as a nation and how does it affect you as a Christian if the Lord doesn’t come back soon?
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This chapter is not a fairy tale concerning evil. Are there dark powers, forces at play? The Bible says that there are. Chapter 13 and 14 go together. We were talking about Babylon, the kingdom of Babylon and the spiritual aspect of Babylon. The king of Babylon which is a person and the spirit of Babylon which is false religion. A commentary on Isaiah 13-14 is Jeremiah 50-51 and Revelation 17-18. All six of those chapters speak about the same topic of a leader, a religion, and a place. We live in a world where technology is on the move, updates are common. What's interesting is ancient pyramids we cannot recreate. What we have today is an outcropping of what already existed. Think: we have all this technology but are we smarter? Based on the education levels of people leaving elementary to college, they are less than those who graduated before them. We see very little in this world because we’re bound by our sight. The Christian life is one that transcends our sight to go beyond into the spiritual realm.
If you don’t understand Isaiah’s calling his ministry this guy can drive you crazy. He is the prophet speaking to Judah, 740 before the birth of Jesus, nearly 3000 years ago from today. He is speaking to the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, there 10 tribes to the north and 2 tribes to the south. He was also known as the “Evangelical” prophet, why? Because he spoke more about the messiahship of Jesus Christ than any other OT prophet! In his deliveries, he spoke as God’s oracle of coming judgment to the people, and then he would speak of a coming age, still coming in the future. If we don’t understand this it can be confusing, the Bible doesn’t become clear to us until we read all of it. The OT has the New contained and the New has the OT explained. This is why as Christians we need to be reading our OT, we will never understand the New completely until you read the Old. The title of the message is “The God Who Holds The Future (part 2). The Bible makes it very clear that God is the creator of all that there is BUT we live in a fallen world.
[Phl 4:8 NKJV] 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things [are] noble, whatever things [are] just, whatever things [are] pure, whatever things [are] lovely, whatever things [are] of good report, if [there is] any virtue and if [there is] anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
We saw Isaiah give a message of judgment and hope for Jerusalem. Isaiah accused the cities leaders of Rebellion, Idolatry, injustice. God said He was going to judge the city by sending the nations to conquer Israel. God said it would be like a purifying fire that would burn away all that’s worthless. To create a new Jerusalem (millennial kingdom) Isaiah said that's when all people would come from around the world to worship God.
When looking at the life of Abraham you realize that he was not a perfect man, yet he was greatly used of God, the same can be true of the Christian today.
Encouraging the Church to be faithful in God's Calling in the midst of difficult people.
Isaiah will be possed (filled with) the Spirit and he would pronounce that judgment was coming upon the people of Israel. He tells Judah that what's happening to them in the North is going to happen to Judah next. He tells them to repent but they won't listen! They are apathetic, they won’t get engaged. Then we saw in Isaiah 11 at length the promise of the Messiah to come. We saw the attributes of the Messiah. And as the chapter began to close out, Isaiah is putting warnings to the nation. Then Isaiah 12, Isaiah is preaching/ prophecying the news and reality just hits Isaiah like a wave. Reality-- Isaiah now looks way ahead into the future from his day. 3000 years ago from tonight. He sees what the Millenial Kingdom is going to be like in part. But this part is going to be the theme of the 1000 year reign of Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ will literally reign on earth for 1000 years. Not only is this teaching Biblical, but it is neglected today. There are many denominations not teaching this anymore.
[Rom 14:14 NKJV] 14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that [there is] nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean.
The last chapter left us with the idea of the Lord chopping down the proud as if they were mighty trees. Now the Lord is looking over the stumps and He causes a branch to grow out of one of them. The root of the family of Jesse was the father, the royal authority of the house of David had lain dormant for 600 years. When Jesus came forth it was like a green branch coming out of an apparently dead stump. The Lord wanted Israel to know that even though Assyria would come and bring judgment, and they would be like stumps, that God was still going to bring life from them. By saying that the root was from Jesse, God was emphasizing the much less humble father of King David.
This chapter has the tendency to make you bummed. But as you begin to study these passages, the words, context, you see hope weaved in. This country is in a dark time, There is hope. 1 There is Hope when things look hopeless When studying prophecy we need to keep in mind that there is near and far fulfillment. God would have a fulfillment take place in the time of the prophet but there was also a deeper fulfillment. We are currently at a place in time where the things prophesied by Isaiah can happen in our day.
We don’t need to study every verse to get what this passage is trying to tell us. There are a cluster of verses that we’ve all heard (Christmas cards) I’m going to try and provoke you to get as close to Jesus as you possibly can be. It is all important to God that you know who His son Jesus is. Read the Bible from cover to cover and you will come out with one figure. His name is given in the old and new testament. Mission and ministry. The book of Isaiah is the most quoted of the four gospels. This is why we call Isaiah the “evangelical prophet” Mat 3:3 - For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: Luke 4:16-21 it was Jesus custom to go to synagogue, but if you were a rabbi you would teach on a specific day. It was not an accident or self-fulfillment. When He closed that book it sents goosebumps. Is this the Jesus that we know? The Jesus of the OT prophets?
Peter is now going to talk about Noah to encourage his readers who were going through persecution. Noah was linked with Daniel and Job, two awesome men of God. Also linked to Ezekiel 14:19-20, there are also many references to the flood in both the Psalms and the Prophets. Jesus referred to Noah in His teachings about the end times in Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17. Noah is also named with the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11
On Tuesday 5/24/19 we had protestors across the United States to stop States from abortion bans. Georgia's heartbeat bill: the bill has prompted Hollywood stars vowing to boycott the state if the legislation goes to effect in January. Alabama Governor signs abortion ban, Missouri Senate has also passed an abortion ban, Louisana is in the final stages and more states are coming. This is after NY signed the abortion on demand bill, lit up the empire state building. Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama signed a bill that makes most abortions in the state during any point of pregnancy, illegal. Except for those necessary to prevent a serious health risk to the unborn child's mother. She said, “every life is precise and every life is a gift from God.” Intro: Abortion, since 1973 the United States has killed over 70,000,000 viable children in the womb. The less than 1% that have to be aborted because of the mothers' life, or threat of the mothers' life. When this is the case I believe that that medical procedure, that termination is something that is a painful decision but necessary for the life of the mother. That’s that what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about rape which is less than 1% I want to talk about the bulk of elective abortions.
Since death comes when the spirit leaves the body (James 2:26), then resurrection involves the spirit returning to the body [Luk 8:55 NKJV] 55 Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given [something] to eat. The father raised Jesus from the dead, but the Son also had authority to raise Himself, this was, in fact, a miracle. It is because of His resurrection that Christians have the “living hope” that 1 Peter 1:3-4 talked about.
This section of scripture presents the ministry of Christ. Peter presented Jesus as the perfect example of one who suffered unjustly and yet was in complete obedience to God.
These verses introduce the third main section of 1 Peter -- God’s grace in suffering. It introduces an important point and that is that every other fear is conquered by the fear of the Lord. Peter quoted Isaiah 8 to back up his admonition in verse 15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,” The setting of the Isaiah quotation is significant, Ahaz, the King of Judah, faced a crisis because of an impending Assyrian invasion.
We’re looking at a message in God’s ability to restore. We take this out of Isaiah’s prophecy who’s known as the evangelical prophet. The people started to see their identity in the stuff they had, under king Uzziah they were very prosperous. The men were nicely clothed, the women were well dressed; ankle bracelets, nose rings, they walked around mincing all the wall. They had disposable income, instead of using it for good stuff they used it to self indulge. Isaiah in chapter 3 painted a picture of a time that looks a lot like today, he ended the chapter with God saying He will resend His presence. we’re now done talking about the day of the Lord, that day of judgment and are now looking forward to that time when God’s kingdom will be established
Now that we are past the marriage and relationship part of the letter we have to remember why Peter wrote this letter. He wrote this letter to prepare Christians for a “fiery trial” of persecution. Yet, his approach was optimistic and positive. In this section, he gave them three instructions to follow if they would experience the best blessings in the worst times.
Three important phrases sum up Isaiah’s second message and its proclamation of God’s future work. 1) The Temple of the Lord (1-5) 2) The Day of the Lord (2:6- 3:26) 3) The Branch of the Lord (4:2-6)
An excerpt from our Friday nights Bible study in the book of Isaiah. What we need to know about prophets is that their ministry focuses on the present as well as on the future. They “tell forth” the Word of God as well as “foretell” the works of God. True prophets are like good doctors: They diagnose the case, prescribe a remedy, and warn the patient what will happen if the prescription is ignored. When prophets declare a vision of the future, they do it to encourage people to obey God today. Peter stated this principle when he wrote, “Therefore since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? (2 Peter 3:11). Unlike Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Isaiah did not begin his book with an account of his call to ministry. This he gave in chapter 6. Instead, he started with a probing examination of Judah’s present situation and gave a plea for God’s people to return. As we go through this I believe the same thing can be said of America.
When you look at this chapter you might be asking, why did Peter devote more space instructing the wives and the husbands only get this one verse? Well, the answer is because Christian wives were experiencing a whole new situation and needed guidance. In general, women in the Roman empire were kept down. And their new freedom in Christ created new problems and challenges. Also, many of them had unsaved husbands and needed extra encouragement and enlightenment. As Peter writes to the Christian husbands, he reminds them of four areas of responsibility in their relationship with their mates.
A Study in the book of Isaiah from our Friday home fellowship.
Winston Churchhill was once asked to give the qualifications a person needed in order to succeed in politics, and he replied: “it is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterward to explain why it didn’t happen.” Well, because God’s prophets were correct all of the time, they didn’t have to explain away their mistakes. "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. - Deu 18:22 NKJV To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. - Isa 8:20 NKJV Isaiah was a man who had God’s light, and he was not afraid to let it shine. But, before we actually go into the book we need to do some more background so that we can better understand the man and his times.
The theme of this book is that the Lord saves. According to Isaiah, Jesus is the Savior who is coming, the Savior who came, and the Savior who is coming back one day. 1) Isaiah said that a Savior was coming (Predicted in Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Fulfilled in Matthew 1:18-25). He said this Savior would come through the line of Jesse, the father of King David (predicted in Isaiah 11:1; fulfilled in Luke 3:23,32). Isaiah recorded these prophecies seven hundred years before Jesus was born. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, our savior whom Isaiah said would come.
A strange situation exists in society today. We have more readily available information about sex and marriage than ever before, yet we have more marital problems and divorces. Obviously, something is wrong. It’s not enough to say that God is needed in these homes, because many Christian marriages are falling apart. The fact that a man and a woman are both saved is no guarantee that their marriage will succeed.
Peter lastly, encouraged the theme of submission by showing us the ultimate example of servitude, Jesus. He’s going to give us three “pictures” of Jesus Christ to finalize the point.
Jesus began His ministry with the words, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God, to put it simply, it is where God reigns as king. It's heaven, where God's will is done, but it's also more than that.
Probably twenty or twenty-five years elapsed between the events recorded in chapter 7 and those in 8. Samuel was now an old man, about to pass from the scene, and a new generation had emerged in Israel with new leaders who had new ideas. Life goes on, circumstances change, and God’s people must have the wisdom to adapt to new challenges without abandoning old convictions. Like many great leaders, Samuel in his old age faced some painful situations and had to make some difficult situations. He left the scene convinced that he had been rejected by the people he had served so faithfully. Samuel obeyed the Lord, but he was a man with a broken heart. God had chosen Moses to lead the nation of Israel and Joshua to succeed him, but Joshua wasn’t commanded to lay hands on any successor. He left behind elders he had trained to serve God, but when they died, the new generation turned away from the Lord and followed the idols of the land. There was an automatic succession to the priesthood, and the Lord could call out prophets when needed. But who would lead the people and see to it that the law was obeyed? During the period of the judges, God raised up leaders here and there and gave them great victories, but nobody was in charge of the nation as a whole. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. The “nation” of Israel was a loose confederation of sovereign tribes, and each tribe was expected to seek the Lord and do His will.
The Bible talks about the godly or the happy man. Happiness is something I believe every human is searching for. The pursuit of happiness is even a fundamental right mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. Psalm 1 gives us insight needed to achieve this, and it starts in the positive by stating that the blessed man "delights in the word of God." One translation says "he finds his greatest pleasure in the Bible.
This section of Peter’s letter emphasizes submission in the life of the believer. This is especially true when it comes to our relationship to government and people in authority. of course, everything we do should be for the glory of the Lord and the good of His kingdom! But Peter was careful to point out that Christians in society are representatives of Jesus Christ. to understand the real meaning of what Peter is saying we must understand something of the nature of slavery in the time of the early church. In the Roman Empire there were as many as 60,000,000 slaves. Slavery began with Roman conquests, slaves being originally mainly prisoners taken in war. It was not only menial tasks which were performed by slaves. Doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, secretaries, stewards were slaves. In fact, all the work done in Rome was done by slaves. Roman attitude was that there was no point in being master of the world and doing one’s own work. Let the slaves do that and let the citizens live in pampered idleness. It would be wrong to think that the lot of slaves was always wretched and unhappy, and that they were always treated with cruelty. Many slaves were loved and trusted members of the family; but one great inescapable fact dominated the whole situation. In Roman law a slave was not a person but a thing; and he had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever.
Today I wanted to talk to you about Idolatry of the heart. Specifically from 1st Samuel 7. The Israelite people had just gotten the Ark of God back from a disastrous defeat by the Philistines. The leadership had also changed from Eli the High Priest to now Samuel a judge and priest over Israel. God had called Samuel to bring the people from their backsliding into the loving arms of their God once again. He told them that "if they would return to the Lord with all their hearts, and put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among them, prepare their hearts for the Lord and serve Him only; that God would deliver them from the hand of the Philistines, their longtime enemies.
Today is presidents day, officially known as Washington's Birthday (even though it isn't actually on Washington's birthday!). So, I wanted to talk a little about this man, the first president of the United States. George Washington is known as the founder of this country, and historically he was known or, should be known as a man of strong Christian faith and prayer.
This section of Peter’s letter emphasizes submission in the life of the believer. This is not a popular subject. Peter applied the theme of submission to the life of a believer as a citizen (1 Peter 2:11-17). A worker (2:18-25) and in marriage (1 Peter 3:1-7), and a member in the church (1 Peter 3:8-12). All three of these areas have been polluted in today's age. What is interesting is today's climate looks a lot like that of the ’60s. God has established the home, government, and the church, and He has the right to tell us how these institutions should be run. There was free sex, drugs, drinking, political upheaval, climate concerns, radical music, riots, marches, wars, and racial issues. Rebellion to authority is not something new, its something old and is demonic in nature. You know the leader of a rebellion taking a third of the angels. Now, in saying that. There are times to resist authority, but only when that authority tells you to do something contrary to the law of God. Act 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. “Submission” does not mean slavery, but simply the recognition of God’s authority in our lives. Satan’s offer to our first parents was freedom without authority, but they ended up losing both freedom and authority. The Prodigal Son found his freedom when he yielded to his father’s will. Peter shared with his readers three excellent motives for submitting to authority and living dedicated, obedient Christian lives.
I was just at a pastors and leaders conference a couple of days ago, and there was a lot of talk on the Jesus movement. That revival in the 60s concerning Calvary Chapel and the hippies. I've also been doing some reading on the subject and asking some questions like; why did God do such an awesome work back then? What was it that radically changed the culture? And how can we have that today?
No sooner does God begin to reveal His word to His people than the enemy shows up to attack them. The Philistines are mentioned in the Bible as early as the days of Abraham. And in the book of Samuel, they are mentioned 150 times.
The Bible teaches that sin has been defeated, and this is something to be celebrated. Sin has been rendered powerless by the cross of Christ. Well, then, some of you may be asking how does sin still have a stronghold in my life? The honest answer is because we allow it. God is not weak, me and you allow it sin to reign in us, This is why the scriptures command us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, this verse, by the way, shows us that it's our choice. The victory has been given, sin has been defeated.
Again we’re going to see the contrast between the wickedness of Eli’s family and the faithfulness of Samuel. V1 to the Lord… he ministered before the Lord under the guidance of Eli at a time when God was hardly speaking to His people. The people and the leaders were corrupt and God’s people weren’t obeying His law so why should He say anything to them. It was a sad day in the nation of Israel when the living God no longer sent His people signs and prophetic messages. Amo 8:11-12 NKJV - 11 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find it. The silence of God was the judgment of God. but God was about to change the situation and speak His word to young Samuel. In this passage, we’re going to look at four characteristics that made Samuel a man who God spoke to.
Here we are. Ep. 8 and I wanted to talk to you about a war that takes place inside of every Christian. The Bible says that we're in a constant battle between our old nature and our new nature in Christ. And In Exodus 17 we see a fight take place between Israel and Amalekites, Showing us a couple of principles of spiritual warfare. The attack began because of the first premise of spiritual warfare. God favored the Israelite people; God blessed them, split the Red Sea, defeated and rescued them out of Egypt, drawing attention to the people of Israel.
One simple and hard fact is that the people of God don’t always get along with each other. You would think that those who walk in holiness and with Jesus would be able to walk in harmony. From God’s point of view, there is only one church and one body (Eph 4:4-6). But on the human perspective, we see a church divided and sometimes at war. There is always a need for unity in the church. In this section, Peter is going to present four vivid pictures of the church to illustrate this point.
The Christian life doesn't need to be one that is a struggle, it's not how God designed it. To wake up every morning and say something along the lines of, "Oh, that's right I need to read the Bible today because that's what good Christians do." "Oh, yeah, I need to head to church today because that's the right thing to do. Let me tell you, that's a struggle. And if that's you, chances are your lamp probably hasn't been trimmed and fueled in awhile. Your lamp, shining before God and the world is probably just letting off a bunch of smoke into the air. No, Christian, What God is looking for is not one of striving and struggling. But one that is just naturally being fueled.
The word gossip according to the dictionary means: idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. This six letter word has been the cause of many broken friendships, church splits, ruined reputations, and ruined lives. It is, in my opinion, a great tool used by Satan to destroy and dismantle God's people and the work of God. Thankfully, Jesus in HIs wisdom gave the Christian the proper way to deal with those who wrong us in the church.
After Hannah left her son with Eli, she could have gone off and had a good cry, but instead, she burst into a song of praise to the Lord. People don’t understand the relationship between sacrifice and song. There is nothing more satisfying than giving up something to God and surrendering to His will. Before Jesus would be arrested and crucified He sang a hymn with His disciples (Matt 26:30). When Paul and Silas were beaten, humiliated and thrown in prison for there testimony of Jesus, they sang hymns to the Lord (Acts 16:20-26). There are many Psalms of David praising God in the midst of difficult situations. All these examples point out God’s grace on undeserving people, God’s victory over the enemy, and the wonderful way God turns things upside down in order to accomplish His purposes.
in the first part of this letter Peter talked about walking in hope, now he is going to talk about walking in holiness. These two things go together, 1 John 3:3 “every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure” The root meaning of the word “holy” is to be set apart or to be different. This is not talking about being odd or weird, but being different. His present lifestyle is not only different from his past way of life, but it is different from the lifestyles of the unbelievers around him. Now, this is not an easy thing to do, it is hard to walk in this world and maintain a holy walk. The anti-God atmosphere around us that the Bible calls “the world” is always pressuring us, trying to force us to conform. In this paragraph, Peter presented to his readers five spiritual incentives to encourage them (and us) to maintain a different lifestyle, a holy walk in a polluted world.
A short podcast bible study I do from my car. Matthew 11:25 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
During the time of the judges the Israelites were in a bad situation. 1) because they lacked godly leadership. The priesthood was defiled, there was no sustained prophetic message from the Lord. 1 Samuel 3:1 And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. Leadership is vital to a church's spiritual health. Paul said to follow me as he follows Christ. Hearing the word of God is also vital to a church's health. Luke 18:8 will He really find faith on the earth?” We need to be a people desiring God’s word because I guarantee if we stop caring then God will stop speaking. The law of Moses was being ignored throughout the land. And as God often did in Israel’s history, God began to solve the problem by sending a baby. Babies were like God’s announcement that He knows the need, cares about His people, and is at work. To make the event even greater, God sometimes selects barren women to be the mothers, Isaac to Sarah, Jacob and Esau to Rebekah, and Joseph to Rachel.
What is Revival? Churches talk about it, people talk about it. But, what is Revival? And how can we experiance it?
Man’s glory simply does not last, but God’s glory is eternal, and He desires to share that glory with us! In this first part of the letter, Peter is going to share four observations about the Glory of God. -2-4 Christians Are Born For Glory (1st observation) -5 Christians are Kept for Glory (2nd observation of God’s glory) -6-7 Christians are being prepared for glory (observation 3 of God’s glory) -8-12 Christians can enjoy the glory now (observation 4 of God’s glory)
Amos is going to share four final confirmations from the heart of God. Three are going to deal with judgment and the fourth is going to deal with mercy. Even as the people have rejected God’s love, rejected the message, rejected His authority. God is still going to make a way of restoration for them.
After Amos’ painful encounter with Amaziah, Amos received further messages from the Lord; It’s just like God to encourage His servants after they’ve been through tough times. God encouraged Paul in the book of Acts when he was ministering in Corinth. When Paul sailed as a prisoner to Rome and a storm hit them. 2 Tim 4:16 Paul was left alone in his trial at Rome.
William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. And he got his young man that he was mentoring together one day and told them, it is the nature of a fire to go out. And then he said, you must tend it, and feed it, and carry out the ashes. Booth was unto something. Just as in the physical world there is that law called entropy, that in a closed system things tend to go to disorganization and decay instead of organization. The loss of energy, so too, in the spiritual life that things tend toward decay, disorganization. It’s the nature of a fire to go out. When I first became a Christian I was properly instructed to read my bible, pray, stay in fellowship. I was instructed to fan the fire of God, the fire that God lit in my heart, tend it, carry out the ashes, feed it so it grows. There is a tendency in the Christian life. That tendency is to let the fire go out. There’s an old hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, written by Robert Robertson. One of the parts of the song goes “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel. Prone to leave the God I love. That is the story of the nation of Israel. They were prone to wander, prone to leave the God they loved.
This is the second woe. There are two woes in this chapter, this is not a great word. It’s a somber word, it’s to get your attention. Whoa! Is another way of saying this, look at it like slowing down a horse. I picture an air raid going off right now. There is an incoming attack. Take cover! Be prepared! Look at what's happening to you. The Lord is trying to get your attention. Is God trying to get our attention? I can’t say for sure. But it could be. There have been 307 mass shootings in the US so far in 2018. The nation's deadliest wildfire in the past century has killed at least 84 people, and more than 560 are still unaccounted for. Despite the inclement weather, more than 800 volunteers searched for remains on Thanksgiving and again Friday, two weeks after flames swept through the Sierra Nevada foothills, authorities said. Armed guards at our schools, fights, political hostile environment. Chapter 4 pointed the finger at women who lived in wanton luxury. This chapter points the finger at those notable men who were in charge.
The ancient Romans used to say, “while there’s life, there’s hope!” This saying has a kernel of truth but no guarantee of certainty. The Christian believer has a “living hope” 1 Peter 1:3, because our faith and hope, are in God. This “living hope” is the major theme of Peter’s first letter. Before we delve into this letter it is important that we get to know the man who wrote it, the people to whom he sent it, and the situation they were in that prompted him to write it.
Now we have the third message. Now in this chapter and this message, Amos is to become a singing prophet. He’s to sing a lamentation, that is not a happy song. He’s not going to entertain them, he’s going to sing a sad, sad song. This would not have gone over very well in Israel, for you see the people of Israel were singing not a lamentation but a song of celebration! They wanted a catchy, exciting song. It’s not what they’re going to get. God is trying to get their attention.
A.W. Tozer once said that scholars can interpret the past, but it takes a prophet to interpret the present. Amos came to the northern kingdom of Israel at a very crucial time. He came out of obscurity, nobody had really heard of him. He’s not mentioned anywhere else in the bible except for this book. No family background that we know of. Not someone of wealth, or importance, or influence. All we know is that he was from a small town called Tekoa. He had an interesting occupation. A sheep breeder of a particular kind of sheep that was kept down from that area of Tekoa. They had sort of a long stringy hair. He was also a producer or a harvester of the sycamore fig fruit. What most people would think of as untrained, unlearned, unschooled-- perfect guy for God to use. [1Co 1:27 NKJV] 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
If chapters 1 and 2 are the roar of God in Judgment, chapters 3 - 7 are going to be the reasons God gives judgment. God is going to get more in detail as to why He judges the people. There is going to be a series of five messages and a few of them begin with the phrase, “hear the word.” this is going to be the first three messages. The second two messages will begin with the phrase “woe to you.” A total of five messages where God will list the reasons for His judgment.
Just as the people are agreeing with Amos’ message, then the arrow hits them. Amos begins with Damascus, and there will be seven nations before he hits the eighth, which is Israel. He says, “For three transgressions of Damascus and for four.” Amos is figuratively drawing a bullseye around Israel, maybe to show them their hypocrisy. We, humans, tend not to be able to see our own sin but very good at seeing it in others. This is why when Nathan the prophet came to David when he sinned with Bathsheba he presented as the sin from another. David had a very harsh judgment. Now we’re going to continue into the sixth nation which is Moab. The people are loving Amos’ messages as he pronounces judgment on them. But, he is, in fact, drawing the bullseye a little closer to the target, now he’s at Moab which is just right next to them.
Amos was a prophet from Judah in the south. Yet, God sent him to the northern part of Israel. When we read about the prophets they’re usually living in the areas they prophesied in, not Amos. He was from a town called Tekoa, which is out in the wilderness overlooking the Dead Sea area. If it weren’t for Amos nobody would probably know about this place. God called this preacher out from nowhere, to go to Bethel, which was headquarters for the northern Kingdom of Israel. J Vernon McGee called him the country preacher that came into the big city. Amos was not a professional prophet (he will say this in Chapter 7). I’m not the son of a prophet. But, I was a herdsman from Tekoa and a picker of Sycamore figs. Yet, God will use this man to share His message.
From verse 6 to the rest of the chapter, the book of Revelation has now ended. All of the visions that Jesus gave to John are now done. This is the last message in the bible. This last message is going to be an invitation, Jesus' hand is always out to people even till the very end. Jesus' hand was out to Judas until the very end. It’s as if Jesus is saying, I know that these visions from the last 21 chapters seem crazy but, they’re true. They’re going to happen. The tribulation, the rapture of the church, the battle of Armageddon, the plagues. The promises of God are true. And the Word of God is true.
It’s going to take God all eternity to demonstrate His love towards us. We’re now going to see the beginning of that eternity of God demonstrating His love. We talked about the millenium. Now we’re going to speak of the end of time, eternity.
The world has always been on a search for peace. People have fought for it, had marches for it. But, there will not be peace on earth until Jesus returns. This is what we’re going to read about it chapter 20. The coming kingdom of Christ. Now if you look over this chapter its only 15 verses, yet this one chapter has filled libraries with books because of the controversy over it. It all revolves around something called the 1000 year reign of Christ mentioned 6 times in this chapter. This is where we get the term Millenial kingdom.
We talked about the 70 weeks prophecy from Daniel 9. The prophetic time clock that helps us understand bible prophecy. It lets us know that when Jesus died, 69 out of the 70 weeks have been fulfilled and, that the prophetic time clock has stopped. There was a pause, a time of grace. Where God poured out HIs love on the gentiles. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. - Rom 11:25 NKJV This will issue in the rapture and Daniel’s prophetic time clock will start again for the last 7 years. Or, the 70th week of Daniel. This 7 years is than divided into two 3 ½ years, the last being the great tribulation period, called by Jesus and John in the book of Revelation. It will all end with the second coming of Jesus Christ in the battle of Armageddon. This is where we are today.
We saw last week in chapter 17 a spiritual Babylon. A system depicted as a great harlot that is going to able to lure the entire world in. It will be a melting pot of all the world’s religions, most likely including; an apostate christianity, buddhism, hinduism, mormonism etc. and now John is going to turn our focus on yet another Babylon, a Babylon of a different sort. Some may think it’s just a continuation of chapter 17 when in fact it is a political and economic Babylon. This is the emphasis of this chapter. There will be, in the end times, in the day of the Lord, in the great tribulation period, a global economic system.
We’re going to look at the coming world religion. There is something true worldwide, a blur between the lines of truth, there is no right or wrong, Christianity has no real purpose, in fact, it's bigoted and narrow-minded, all roads lead to God, what makes you think yours is the only way? There is coming a world revival. Not a Christian revival, but a coming world religion that exalts man and minimizes God.
In the 15 chapter of Revelation, we have the introduction to this chapter. We saw the seven angels in heaven given the seven final plagues; which complete the judgment of God upon the earth. These seven angels came out of the temple and they were clothed in pure white linen. Then a Cherubim gave the angels, bowls of wrath to pour out upon the earth. The Temple of God was filled with smoke and the glory of God and it was closed to man. No man was able to enter in while these plagues were poured out upon the earth.The time has come, God has been patient with humanity, He has withheld, He has been forbearing. It’s calculated, it’s precise in timing, it’s passed through God’s approval and now God says, “Go.”
The events in this passage are predicted by several old testament prophets including Daniel. The events predicted is what Daniel called the 70th week. When Daniel predicted the 70 weeks we can look backward from 2018 and find 69 of those 70 weeks fulfilled. The great tribulation according to prophets like Daniel and Joel, will be the worst time this earth has ever seen. Jesus said it will be a time that no nation has ever seen. It’ll last three and a half years. It will be sure, it will be literal, and it is coming.