Wednesday, December 13, 2017

JERUSALEM - A CUP OF TREMBLING AND A BURDENSOME STONE

I must say that the news headlines today have my heart so conflicted.  I am so excited to see things fall in line more and more as scripture has foretold and to know that Jesus is coming to take His own home to heaven soon.  At the same time, I am grieved over friends and loved ones that continue to refuse to accept my LORD as their Savior.  I hate to think of them having to suffer through the times of God’s wrath; and more importantly, to lose out on living in His presence for eternity.

President Trump is certainly being used by God to position Jerusalem more firmly in the position of a “cup of trembling unto all the people round about” and a “burdensome stone for ALL people” as foretold by the prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah 12:1–3 “The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”

His announcement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has everyone in an uproar.  The phrase “a cup of trembling” makes reference to reeling and shaking from intoxication.  That is an apt description of how the nations respond to anything that gives credence to the truth that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel as declared in scripture—or even the right of Israel to exist as a nation.  They seem to lose control of their common sense and make irrational statements calling for irrational acts of protest and terror.  The phrase “a burdensome stone” makes reference to “a weight that is troublesome, painful and hard to bear.”  Again, that is an apt description of how the nations perceive the issue of Jerusalem and its historical connection to Israel. 

Even many who claim to be Christians refuse to recognize the truth of scripture regarding Israel.  God declared that He has chosen Jerusalem as the city to which He has attached His name.  He established it as the capital of Israel and the place to which Jesus will return to take His position on the throne of David as King of kings over the whole earth.

2 Chronicles 6:4–6 “And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying, Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”

Luke 1:26–33 “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary….And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Zechariah 14:9 & 16 “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one….And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

His action is also serving to more firmly establish the alliance of Gog as foretold by the prophet Ezekiel (chapter 38). (See my website for more detailed commentary.)

Though Turkey has an established relationship with Israel, President Erdogan has quickly responded to denounce Trump’s action in the hopes of inspiring even stronger support from his Islamic base.  His actions in recent months have positioned Turkey more firmly in alliance with Russia and Iran, just as foretold by the prophet, essentially causing their relationship with Israel to deteriorate.  That alliance has been referred to in the news as the new real power brokers in Syria; e.g., from the Huffington Post, The World Post, “Russia, Iran and Turkey: The Real Power Brokers in Syria.” 

Consider this quote from the Jerusalem Post on November 12, 2017: With the winding down of the war in Syria, some pundits have seen an alliance of Russia with Turkey and Iran in the Middle East as possible and even likely. They see a rising authoritarian Russia and Iran uniting with an authoritarian Turkey to dominate the Middle East.” 

And this quote from The Daily Brief by Scroll.in on December 12, 2017: “The emerging alliance among Russia, Iran and Turkey gained its newest member in Qatar, thanks to a rash move by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. Most alarming for America: Turkey is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s easternmost member with the second largest military in the defence partnership. Qatar provides the Pentagon’s Central Command with its forward base, the region’s largest.”

The important truth is that the Bible contains the truth of the word of God—no matter whether men choose to accept it or not.  I truly pray that my lost friends and loved ones and others throughout the world will recognize their need to accept Jesus as their Savior.  He is not going to leave His family to suffer through the wrath that He will soon pour out on planet earth.  He has promised to take us home before that judgment begins.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–9 “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ….

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

It will not surprise me to see the headline soon, “Damascus Demolished,” as foretold by the prophet Isaiah.  It may even be that Israel’s hand is forced to serve as God’s vessel in bringing about fulfillment of that prophecy.  Only time will tell—but God’s word will prove true!

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, I pray you will turn to Him in faith and repentance.

Romans 3:23 “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

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

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

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

Thursday, October 26, 2017

BEING GOOD VS. DOING GOOD

There have been a lot of articles in the news lately concerning a recent Pew Research Center poll concerning the necessity of believing in God to be moral and have good values.  Before this question can be answered, you have to define what is good and moral.  As a Christian, I hold firmly to the truth that only God has the authority to define those terms; and He has done so in His word, the Bible.  No one person or group of persons has/have the authority to make that decision for others.  They may come together to form governments or institutions etc. and establish laws that make things legal or not, permissible or not; but that doesn’t mean that those laws define what is good or moral in the opinion of others.  If one dismisses a higher authority than man, every man is free to make such determinations on his own.  Only God, as our Creator, has that authority.

God has sovereignly chosen to give men the freedom to make their own choices concerning whether to accept Him as LORD or not, whether to choose to live in accordance with His truth as established in scripture.   Are there unsaved people in the world that choose to live in a manner that basically aligns with many of the morals established in scripture?  I believe so.   If you ask them why, they will probably answer that it is because they want to do good, all the while rejecting the truth that God is the arbiter of what is good.  Are their people who profess salvation that choose to ignore the morals of scripture in areas of their life?  Yes.  If you ask them why, the only honest answer they can give is that they haven’t yielded their lives completely to the LORD; they are more concerned with what pleases them instead of what pleases God.  Important to note, however, is that if that person can continue in such sin without guilt or shame, I would wonder if their profession was sincere.  If one sincerely realizes the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross on his/her behalf to make it possible to become part of His family, you will want to show your love to Him.

So, the phrasing of the question is important to framing an answer.  Can an unsaved person do good and moral things?  The answer is yes.  Can an unsaved person be defined as a good person?  No.  It is only through the new birth in Christ at salvation that one becomes good or righteous.

2 Corinthians 5:17 & 21 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new…. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”


Just had to get that off my chest.