4-21-07 Come Up Hither "Revelation 4:1-8"

Memory Verse: Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come p hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

There is a key to understanding the book of The Revelation. It is found in Revelation 1:19. There John is told to write the things he has seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. This verse gives an outline of the entire book. The first chapter records the things that John had seen. Chapters two and three present a picture of the church age -- the things that are -- the age in which we live, as did John. The things which shall be hereafter begin in chapter four. The remainder of the book explains events that follow the coming of Christ for His church. It is not surprising then that the first verse of chapter four gives a preview of the Rapture.

John heard a voice and a trumpet and so shall we: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangels, 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" (I Thessalonians 4:16:17).

John was taken immediately to heaven. And we shall be also. On that day when the ties of gravity are overcome by the power of God and Christians meet their Lord in a moment, they will go with Him to heaven.

John saw the Lord, And so shall we!

What a good day that will be!

4-20-07 Assembling Together "Hebrews 10:22-25"

Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting our another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

As the day of Christ's return approaches, there will be an increasing tendency among Christians to stop attending the meetings of their local churches as regularly as before. Perhaps you are a fulfillment of this prophecy!

There are probably a number of reason for the coming increase of this problem. Television may be one of the major factors. Some are so caught up in the entertainment mania that they actually miss gathering with others in worship just to catch one of their favorite programs. Also, affluence allows a considerable amount of traveling and vacationing. Though vacations are needed and can be healthful, it is wrong to flee to the mountains or the seaside every weekend to the detriment of your church and your spiritual health.

It is important to remember that assembling with others for the study of God's Word and for worship and praise is commanded in the Bible. Attendance at your church is not optional -- it is obedience. Are you disobedient in the matter of church attendance?

The question is asked: "Can you be a Christian and not go to church?" The question is a contradiction. If one is born again, he should desire the fellowship of other Christians and should hunger to hear God's Word. This should be his normal experience.

The day of Christ's coming is approaching. If he comes on the day of worship (the Lord's Day), I want him to find me obedient.

How about you?

4-19-07 Perilous Times " I Timothy 3:1-7"

Memory Verse: I Timothy 3:1 This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Most students of the Bible do not have to be convinced that we are living in perilous times. The splitting of atom has given man the power to bring about total destruction. In addition, we have learned to live twenty four hours a day in the rocket sights of our enemies who are bent on world domination.

Nevertheless, Christians need not panic. Not one recent event has taken God by surprise. He is in control and is allowing man to work out His program. The words of the Psalmist are relevant today: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

Though times are perilous, we never walk alone: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. For I the LORD they God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:10 & 13).

Though times are perilous, we can never be separated from His love: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth nor things other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

Though times are perilous, these conditions are but reminders of better days ahead: "And when these things begin to come to pas, then look up, and lift up your hands; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

4-18-07 Good Ministers " I Timothy 4:1-6"

Memory Verse: I Timothy 4:6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of those things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

Courageous ministers point out dangers to their flocks. Though it does not make a preacher popular, he has a responsibility to refute false teaching to which his congregation may be exposed. Christians will do well to stand with God's servants when others are criticizing them for speaking out against evil.

Cults are not new, but are to multiply in the last days. We should not be surprised to see many new ones come into existence. Nor should we be taken in by numerical success attained by false teachers. Financial empires and growing membership rolls are not the test of Biblical accuracy. Seeming prosperity may not be the blessing of God. Satan has been known to offer the kingdoms of this world to those who would follow him.

The needs of men are met only through the preaching of the Gospel. No changes in the message are needed. Spurgeon said that the greatest compliment ever paid him was spoken by one of his enemies who said: "Here is a man who has not moved an inch forward in all his ministry. At the close of the nineteenth century he is teaching the theology of the first century, and is proclaiming doctrine current in Nazareth and Jerusalem in the first century!"

That is the need of this hour. Stand with the men who proclaim that message and do not desert them when they obey God by exposing those who preach and promote another gospel.

Thank God for the "good ministers of Jesus Christ."

4-17-07 Therefore "I Corinthians 15:51-58"

Memory Verse: I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

When you find the word "therefore" in the Bible, it is a good idea to read the preceding verses and find out what it is there for. In the text above, this linking word reaches back to the message of the Lord's return and calls for the kind of life described in our memory verse in view of that return.

Because the Lord is coming, we are to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Like soldiers assigned to duty in wartime, we have been charged to serve God faithfully. Distractions must be resisted. Laziness overcome. Compromise with evil is out of the question.

In Chicago, One Sunday morning, a minister pointed to a young woman who had been converted about a year and a half, and said, "What are you doing for God? Why don't you do something for God?"

To give emphasis to his words, the minister stepped down from the pulpit, went to where the young woman was sitting, took her hand, conducted her out to the middle aisle, made her turn towards the door, and giving her a push, said, "I want you to start doing something for God."

That push sent the young woman to the other side of the globe. She became a missionary to Africa and led many to Christ, including General Allenby of Britain. Her name was Miss Malla Moe. The pastor who gave her the push was D.L. Moody.

Christ is coming! That should be all the push we need.

4-16-07 A Woman To Rememeber "Luke17:26-37"

Memory Verse: Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.

Of all the women in history, Jesus chose Lot's wife to be a warning to those who live in the last days. What can we learn from this woman who turned to a pillar of salt while fleeing from wicked Sodom during its destruction? What is there about her that is worth remembering?

Let us remember her privileges. Concerning her, J.C. Ryle wrote: "In the days of Abraham and Lot, true saving religion was scarce upon earth: there were no Bibles, no ministers, no churches, no tracts, no missionaries. The knowledge of God was confined to a few favored families; the greater part of the inhabitants of the world were living in darkness, ignorance, superstition, and sin. Not one in a hundred perhaps had such good example, such spiritual society, such clear knowledge, such plain warnings as Lot's wife. Compared with millions of her fellow creatures in her time, Lot's wife was a favored woman." In spite of such surroundings, however, this favored woman evidently rejected the truth. There is no evidence of faith in her. She died as one who had no knowledge of God.

Let us remember the pleadings of God to her. Angels were sent to Sodom with specific instructions for her safe deliverance. She did not have to be a recipient of judgment. Still, we remember her for that very reason.

Let us remember the finality of her punishment. It happened in a moment and was irreversible. Like those who perished in the flood, she died after the repeated warnings of God.

Have you turned away from repeated invitations to be saved? Do not wait another day to get right with God.

Remember Lot's wife!

I'm Away

I'm away for the weekend

4-13-07 Increased Knowledge "Daniel 12:1-4"

Memory Verse: Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

For centuries it seemed as if the world slumbered. Thousands of years passed without major changes in most areas of life. Paul and Columbus sailed in similar ships though their voyages were nearly fifteen hundred years apart. Medical know-how moved at a snail's pace. Men watched the birds fly but all efforts to copy them were in vain.

Then, in the lifetime of many alive today, there came an explosion in knowledge and travel. People who went about in buggies and other horse-drawn vehicles lived to see the skies filled with jet planes and watched men walk on the moon. The atom was split, ushering in the nuclear age with all its perils and possibilities. Miracle drugs were discovered that conquered old killers and vaccines were developed that eliminated former plagues producers.

Now we are in the age of the computer. This mind boggling invention is entering every area of life. Old methods of office procedures have been made obsolete. Records on millions of people are available at the push of the proper buttons, a scary fact if wicked men come into power.

Each day, some new invention seems to outdo another. What does it all mean? It means that we are living in what the Bible calls "the time of the end." One who is in possession of the Biblical facts would have to close his eyes to the truth not to recognize the signs of the times.

What are you doing about it?

4-12-07 The Purifying Hope "I John 3:3-11"

Memory Verse: I John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

"What a difference does it make if Jesus is going to return?" a minister asked. Sadly, he had missed one of the greatest incentives for holy living given in the Bible. The constant expectation of the Lord's return is a purifying hope.

Did you expect the Lord to come last week? How did it change your life? What did you leave out of your conversation, not wanting to stand in His presence with wicked words? What thoughts did you dismiss from you mind? What temptations did you conquer?

Or were there no changes due to His expected return? Perhaps the second coming of Christ is but a doctrine to which you say you subscribe, a part of your church statement of faith. To some, the rapture is only a point to argue, a good bumper-sticker topic or slogan producer. Like the Pharisees, they have all their prophetic events properly placed in their minds but their lives are not affected by these tremendous truths. How about you?

If you are not living differently because Christ may return at any moment, you have missed the point of the Lord's command: "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matthew 24:42).

Try this tough question. If the prospect of Christ's imminent return has not changed your way of living, do you really believe He's coming again?

What adjustments need to be made in your life today, in view of His promised return? In making them you will demonstrate the power of the purifying hope.

4-11-07 Like Him "John 3:1-2"

Memory Verse: John:3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

The child of God is accepted in the beloved, but may be rejected by his associates. He has come into earth's greatest fellowship, but in doing so has become a riddle to his friends. He has become a citizen of heaven, but is now a pilgrim and a stranger in this world.

This turn of events should not surprise us. Jesus said: "If the world hate, you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you. The servants is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also" (John 15:18-20).

The Christian may not be popular on planet earth.
Never mind. A better day is coming. And on that good day, we shall be like Jesus.

What will it mean to be like Him? We cannot fully understand. But we know that we will have perfect bodies that will never be affected by sickness or infirmities and that death will be no more. This anticipation should fill our hearts with joy!

If we are alive when Christ returns, we shall escape death. If death has overtaken us, our bodies will be resurrected in that perfect form. David, the Psalmist, said it well: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" (Psalm 17:15).