May the Lord richly bless you and use you in the coming year!!
 In Revelation 20:2, Satan is bound for “a thousand years.” This is the first of 6 references to the length of the millennial kingdom (vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). There are 3 main views of the duration and nature of this period:
We are taking some time this Christmas to think about BOTH how the baby Jesus was announced and then How it was that the Lord Jesus went about introducing “Who” (and What) He was during His life’s ministry
Click Link below to view the sermon: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  At this time of year, a lot of people get excited about what will be waiting for them under the Christmas tree, thinking that these things will somehow bring them fulfillment. But how many of us remember what we received last Christmas? A few months after the coming Christmas, we probably will also have forgotten about the gifts we will open on Christmas day. Christmas is really not about gifts under a tree; it’s about a relationship with God. Jesus came to give us life in all its fullness. Jesus said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT). Jesus came to this earth to bring us a meaningful life, a life with purpose. Medical science may add years to our lives, but Christ adds life to our years. He gives us a life that’s worth living. Jesus also came to give His life as a ransom for many. He was born to die so that we might live. Jesus came with a rescue mission. He came to die on a cross. He said of himself, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NLT). Jesus was born in a manger so that we could come into a relationship with God through Him. And He offers us the gift of eternal life. The Bible calls this the unspeakable gift.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.” -----------------------------------------------------------------------------  Of the two to three million Israelites who left Egypt with Moses, only two of the original adults made it to the Promised Land. What caused them to finish well while so many others got lost in the wilderness? Idolatry was one of the pitfalls of the Israelites who got lost in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. At the root of their problems was a lack of relationship with God, a lack of intimacy with Him. Interestingly, their first idol was Moses. When he was away receiving the commandments of God, they turned to worship a golden calf. They remade God in their image, rationalizing their blatant idol worship by saying it was a feast to the Lord. People do the same thing today. They give God a makeover, looking to conform Him to our perverse society instead of the other way around. But once we lose that set of absolutes in our lives, all kinds of problems will develop. Most people today who have fallen away from the Lord and into various problems and sins would be able to trace this to a point in their lives when they began to let go of the Lord. They were no longer walking as closely with Him as they should have been. The same thing happened to the Israelites. Because God was not on the throne of their hearts and lives, they needed something or someone to take His place. Then they tested God and complained. They exploited His goodness, pushed Him to the limit, and griped about His provision. As a result, they never made it to what God had prepared for them. They had so much potential and possibility, yet it never came to fruition in their lives. The Christian life is not a sprint; it’s a long-distance run. We are in it for the long haul. So we need to pace ourselves and persevere. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Christian life is not a sprint; it’s a long-distance run. We are in it for the long haul. So we need to pace ourselves and persevere. by: Reformer Martin Luther ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Faith comes first, and it is proper that we recognize it as the most important in every word of God. The right and gracious faith which God demands is, that you firmly believe that Christ is born for you, and that his birth took place for your welfare. The gospel teaches that Christ was born, and that he did and suffered everything in our behalf. It is not simply said, Christ is born, but to you he is born. The right ground of salvation which unites Christ and the believing heart is that they have all things in common. But what have they?
Christ has a pure, innocent and holy birth. Man has an unclean, sinful and condemned birth. David says: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Nothing can help this unholy birth except the pure birth of Christ. But Christ’s birth cannot be distributed in a material sense, neither would that avail anything; it is imparted spiritually through the Word; it is given to all who firmly believe, so that no harm will come to them because of their impure birth. In this way we are cleansed from the miserable birth we have from Adam. For this purpose Christ willed to be born, that through him we might be born again. Christ takes our birth from us and absorbs it in his birth, and grants us his, that in it we might become pure and holy, so that every Christian may rejoice and glory in Christ’s birth. Whoever does not believe this, or doubts, is no Christian. O, this is the great joy of which the angel speaks. This is the comfort and exceeding goodness of God that, if a man believes this, he can boast of the treasure that Mary is his rightful mother, Christ his brother, and God his father. But this cannot occur except through the faith that teaches us rightly to understand the gospel and properly to lay hold of it. This is the only way that Christ can be rightly known so that the conscience is satisfied and made to rejoice. Out of this grow love and praise to God who in Christ has bestowed upon us such unspeakable gifts. This gives courage to suffer everything that is well pleasing to God. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)  By this John means to say: I have, by my teaching, made you all sinners, having condemned your works and told you to despair of yourselves. But in order that you may not also despair of God, I will show you how to get rid of your sins and obtain salvation. Not that you can strip off your sins or make yourselves pious through your works; another man is needed for this; nor can I do it, I can point him out, however. It is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. He, he, and no one else in heaven or on earth, takes our sins upon himself. You yourselves could not pay for the very smallest of your sins. He alone must take upon himself not alone your sins, but the sins of the world, and not some sins, but all the sins of the world, be they great or small, many or few.
Now if you are able to believe that this voice of John speaks the truth, and if you are able to follow his finger and recognize the Lamb of God carrying your sins, then you have gained the victory, then you are a Christian, a master of sin, death, hell and all things. Then your conscience will rejoice and become heartily fond of this gentle Lamb of God. Then you will love, praise and give thanks to our heavenly Father for his infinite wealth of mercy, preached by John and given in Christ. Finally you will become cheerful and willing to do his divine will, as best you can, with all your strength. What lovelier and more comforting message can be heard than that our sins are not ours any more, that they no more lie on us, but on the Lamb of God. Lying on him, sin must be vanquished and made to nothing, and likewise death and hell, being the reward of sin, must be vanquished also. Behold what God our Father has given us in Christ. Take heed lest you presume to get rid of the smallest of your sins through your own merit before God, and lest you rob Christ, the Lamb of God, of his credit. John indeed demands that each one should know himself, repent and grow better, yet not in himself, but in Jesus Christ alone. by: Dr. Charles Spurgeon Two learned doctors were angrily disputing the nature of food, and allowing their meal to lie untasted; while nearby, a simple farmer was eating heartily of that which was set before him.
Just so, the religious world is full of quibblers, critics, and debaters, who, like the doctors, argue over religious controversies, without profit either to themselves or others. Those are far happier, who imitate the farmer--and feed upon the Word of God, which is the true food of the soul. Questioning with honesty and candor is not to be condemned, when the object is to "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." But to treat Scripture as if it were a football to be kicked from man to man, is irreverence, if not worse! Study the Word of God; lay hold upon it, and spend your time in feasting upon precious truth! Reader, argue, if you please--but remember that communion with the Lord Jesus gives infinitely more enjoyment than disputing can ever afford you. Eat, don't argue! Selected Passages  Jonah, though a prophet of Israel, is not remembered for his ministry in Israel, which could explain why the Pharisees erringly claimed in Jesus’ day that no prophet had come from Galilee (John 7:52). Rather, the book relates the account of his call to preach repentance to Nineveh and his refusal to go. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and infamous for its cruelty, was a historical nemesis of Israel and Judah. The focus of this book is on that Gentile city, which was founded by Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah (Gen. 10:6–12). Perhaps the largest city in the ancient world (1:2; 3:2, 3; 4:11), it was nevertheless destroyed about 150 years after the repentance of the generation in the time of Jonah’s visit (612 B.C.), as Nahum prophesied (Nah. 1:1ff.).
Israel’s political distaste for Assyria, coupled with a sense of spiritual superiority as the recipient of God’s covenant blessing, produced a recalcitrant attitude in Jonah toward God’s request for missionary service. Jonah was sent to Nineveh in part to shame Israel by the fact that a pagan city repented at the preaching of a stranger, whereas Israel would not repent though preached to by many prophets. He was soon to learn that God’s love and mercy extends to all of His creatures (4:2, 10, 11), not just His covenant people (Gen. 9:27; 12:3; Lev. 19:33, 34; 1 Sam. 2:10; Is. 2:2; Joel 2:28–32). by: Pastor John MacArthur  A few weeks ago there was an event here at Dodger Stadium with Joel Osteen, thirty-five thousand people at Dodger Stadium, something like that. He is now the largest, quote/unquote church…. I’m using the word loosely…in America down in Houston. You need to understand that he is a pagan religionist in every sense. He’s a quasi-pantheist. Jesus is a footnote that satisfies his critics and deceives his followers. The idea of this whole thing is that men have the power in themselves to change their lives. In his definitive book, Your Best Life Now, he says…and that ought to be a dead giveaway since the only way this could be your best life is if you’re going to hell. He says that anyone can create by faith and words the dreams he desires…health, wealth, happiness, success…the list is always the same.
Here’s some quotes from his book Your Best Life Now. “If you develop an image of success, health, abundance, joy, peace, happiness, nothing on earth will be able to hold those things from you,”. See, that’s…that’s the law of attraction that’s a part of this kind of system. Here’s another quote, “All of us are born for earthly greatness. You were born to win.” Win what? “God wants you to live in abundance, you were born to be a champion. He wants to give you the desires of your heart.” “Before we were formed, He prepared us to live abundant lives, to be happy, healthy and whole. But when our thinking becomes contaminated, it’s no longer in line with God’s Word,” end quote. By the way, “God’s Word is not the Bible, God’s Word is that Word that comes to us mystically, spiritually, that tells us what we should want.” Here’s another quote, “Get your thinking positive and He will bring your desires to pass. He regards you as a strong, courageous, successful person. You’re on your way to a new level of glory.” Hum…how do you get there? “Believe…he says…visualize, and speak out loud.” Same exact approach. Words release your power. Words give life to your dreams. Here’s another quote. “Friend, there’s a miracle in your mouth.” I think Isaiah might object to that. He said, “I’m a man of unclean lips and I dwell amidst a people of unclean lips.” Here’s Joel Osteen’s prayer. “I thank You, Father, that I have Your favor.” Wow! Did he meet the Pharisee in Luke 18, or what? “I thank You that I’m not like other people.” Here’s another quote. “I know these principles are true because they work, for me and my wife.” Oh, so that’s the test of truth. Are you kidding? I know these things are true because they work for me and my wife? Sure, you’re at the top of the Ponzi scheme. He is currently worth an estimated 100 million dollars! His scheme is working wonderfully…for HIM!! And then he said, “Even finding a perfect parking spot at the mall.” And I ask, “What about the little old lady you cut off to get into that parking? What about her dreams?” Maybe she was born to lose. I mean, it’s all so silly, so bizarre. He says, “God has already done everything He’s going to do, the ball’s in your court.” You have to take that part of God which exists in you and create your own reality. What is the source of this? Where does this come from? Answer: Satan, this is satanic. This is satanic. This is not just off-centered, this is satanic. You might ask… Why do I say that? Because health, wealth, prosperity, the fulfillment of all your dreams and your desires, Biblically, that’s what Satan always offers. That’s called temptation, based on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That’s exactly what corrupt fallen unregenerate people want. That’s why it works so well, right? You can go right into Satan’s system, make everybody feel religious and turn their desires, their temptations into somehow honorable desires. I mean, what did Satan say to Jesus? Grab some satisfaction, why are You hungry? You need to eat. You need to be healthy, whole. Why would You let Yourself be unpopular? Dive off the temple corner, whew, everybody will be wowed. You’ll be the winner, You’ll be the champion. You’ll be the Messiah. They’ll hail You. And by the way, if You just look over the kingdoms of the world, I’ll give those to You, too. That is the absolute essence of satanic ideals. We need to remember, to order our thinking along the Biblical Truth that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, 1 John 2:15 to 17, are all a part of the world and it’s all passing away. And why are these false teachers so successful at what they do? Because they’re ‘in cahoots’ with the devil. Why is Satan successful? Because his temptations, although they might appear noble on the outside, are in perfect accord with all the fallen, corrupt, selfish, proud, evil desires of sinners. This is a false kind of Christianity and a false view of God. God is the one who reserves the right to make you well. “Have not I made the blind and the lame and the halt, He says? Or to allow you to be sick? God has the right to make you prosperous or to give you little. God reserves the right to control the circumstances and events and experiences of your life for His own ends and His own purpose.” |
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