Mark 14:27-31 Do We Betray Jesus?

Mark 14:27-31  “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’  But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”  Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”  “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today — yes, tonight — before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”  But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”  And all the others said the same.

And all the others said the same.  How easy it is for Christians to say that under the threat of physical pain or even facing death, they would never deny Jesus.  As we sit in our comfortable homes, experiencing the warmth and security of our environment, we can express undying allegiance to our Lord, but how many of us would waver if our lives were in duress because of our commitment to Jesus.  In reality, sometimes in far less dire circumstances, such as in a group full of nonbelievers who would reject our witness, we have trouble remaining faithful to Jesus.  Likewise, sickness, family problems, or financial difficulties will sometimes cause us to question our Lord's fidelity to us, and our faith begins to waver.  We grumble, complain about Jesus not coming to our aid to rescue us from our problems.  How quickly we blame Jesus for not eradicating all of the trials in our lives.  Is He really there?  Does He care for me?  Am I believing the right thing?  Maybe I should just go back to my old ways of thinking and living?  Human beings tend to be fickle even when they are not stressed; but under stress, they are even more ready to go back on their words or even lie about their faith while in reality they are full of anger and doubt.  Car accidents or some other sudden vicissitude of life will bring out such a tendency to doubt in some believers.  Normal events such as income tax time tempt many people to skew the truth about their financial situation while they say they are trusting God.  Humans, as in the case of Peter above, tend to lack reliability and trust in their Lord under stress.  Yet many scriptures tell us life will be difficult.  After the cross, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, speaks of the great inheritance we have in Christ, and says, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  (1Peter 1:6-7)  While life is hard at times, we have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  (1 Peter 1:3) 

Peter knew the precarious situation that he, Jesus, and the disciples were in when he made his affirmation of loyalty to Jesus: Even if all fall away, I will not.  He knew the authorities wanted to kill Jesus; he knew Jesus' followers might also be put to death; yet even under those realities, he and the disciples all pledged their enduring faithfulness to Jesus.  Their hearts were not false when they made these declarations: they had followed Jesus throughout his earthly ministry, and they had agreed to leave all to be with him.  But as we learn later, they all fled.  None were willing and able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Jesus as he faced his enemies who would crucify him.  The disciples were just men, strong in their allegiance but weak in their practice when it came to going to the cross.  How many times in our walk with Jesus have we promised him something and then failed to carry it out because of the weakness of the flesh?  How many times have we allowed our flesh to take priority over our promises to the Lord?  Peter and the disciples were facing real persecution and possible death.  This was not one of those times they would be rebuked by the religious leaders: they knew where Jesus was headed.  Can you imagine the scene when Pilate turned Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took charge of him.  Can you imagine Jesus: Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).  We can excuse the disciples for not carrying out their pledge of allegiance to Jesus, but can we excuse ourselves in this day and age, for not reading the word, not praying fervently, not witnessing?  He does not condemn us; neither did He condemn Peter.  He was ready to use Peter to preach to thousands, and He is ready to use each of us and has work for us to do.  As Paul wrote: And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  (Colossians 1:10-12)  

Since this breakfast is read by people all over the world, we know some reading this breakfast are facing persecution if they stand up for Jesus.  We know  some are enduring the real trials that the apostles faced.  How will they remain steadfast?  What can keep them faithful under tremendous duress?  We know that after the day of Pentecost, the disciples went out and gave their lives for Christ.  They were fearless in their pursuit to preach the gospel.  When one city would reject them, they moved to the next to carry the Good News to others.  To do this, they had to have a reality more compelling than just their past experiences with the physical Jesus.  Of course they did!  After Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them in the upper room, they had the indwelling of the Spirit of God.  Every day, no matter their circumstances, they had the Spirit of God comforting them, urging them to understand the nature of their business on Earth.  Daily they needed his words: "SON OR DAUGHTER, I AM WITH YOU.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  THE GIFT I HAVE GIVEN YOU IS ETERNAL LIFE.  MY LIFE IS IN YOU.  YOU WILL NEVER DIE."  The Spirit gave them power and authority to carry on, doing the will of God.  Unless we also hear those words, we will fear, we will step back.  But God is in us, and we are IN HIM.  The Spirit has come to give us courage and to comfort and to guide us.  He challenges us to live confidently IN HIM every day: on the easy and the hard days.  For IN HIM, even while we abide now here on Earth, we are always HOME, present with God.  Because we know who we are, we can believe with the disciples what Jesus said to them and act upon his words: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-19)   

Mark 14:17-26 Eat the Bread, Drink the Wine!

Mark 14:17-26  When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.  While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me.  They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?”  “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.  But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”  While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”  Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.  “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.  “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”  When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 

"Will you betray me for gain?" Jesus asks  “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me.”  Jesus directs his comment at Judas' heart, for He knows Judas will betray him for 30 pieces of silver, money Judas later despises.  How many of us use the gospel of Jesus Christ for gain?   Are we like Judas, trying to get more out of this world because of our acquaintance with Jesus Christ?  For sure, Judas betrayed him, but do we not betray him when we skew his teachings, when we tell people they should believe in Jesus so they might gain more from this world because of their position with God.   Judas betrayed Jesus' whole message when he went to the religious elite for the wealth they promised.  He had heard Jesus' teaching: Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"  (Luke 9:23-25)  Judas obviously did not believe Jesus, for he sought his own wellbeing over dying to this world and its goods.  He was no longer going to deny himself of what the world offered by taking up his cross daily and following Christ.  How tempting it is to use our relationship with Jesus for our self-serving interests.  We like it when the millionaire football player crosses the goal line and points to heaven to acknowledge the supreme being or kneels in a prayerful attitude, but we are not too sure we should cheer the status of a martyr who has given his or her all for the cause of Jesus our Lord.  However, the acclamation for the football hero will be nothing in comparison with the thunderous acclaim the martyrs will receive when they are revealed in the heavenly domain.  These are those we read of in the Word: Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.  Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.  They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.  They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them.  They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.  (Hebrews 11:35-38) 

Luke records Jesus saying these words to the crowd that followed him: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.  And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."  (Luke 14:26-27)  Jesus knew people would experience problems totally surrendering to his will, totally committing to serving God.  We can see this problem throughout history as passion for Christ comes and goes in societies.  The church finds itself in a retrograde position when trying to uphold the teachings of Christ.  We are in retreat sometimes to the materialism of this world, finding our position overshadowed by the allurements that tempt people away from their love for Jesus.  Of course, having Christ as Lord and winning the world offers amazing hope and peace and is an attractive doctrine to share with others.  In reality, winning the world and its goods cannot possibly compare to winning Christ as Lord.  He gives life, real life and true freedom.  Outside of him there is nothing but death and captivity to sin.  We who are alive in him have passed from death to life.  If we choose the meagerness of this world as a meaningful existence for ourselves, we will miss out on eternity with God.  The Bible says, But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 6:22-23)   Yes, we all have the goods of this world in our possession, but these goods should not have relevance in or spiritual lives.  If we believe we are blessed because of our beliefs, because of our superior faith, we must be careful about such a doctrine.  It is leaven that will leaven our souls; pretty soon, we will be working for flesh rather than for Christ.  Jesus said He did not have a place to lay his head, and He also said, In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.  (Luke 14:33)

Jesus does not ask for our complete allegiance to him without making provision for us.  He does not ask anything of us that He will not empower us to do through the Holy Spirit.  In today's passage, Jesus takes the bread and the cup of wine and tells his disciples to eat the bread, “Take it; this is my body,” and to drink from the cup, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”  He is preparing them for his death and the offering of his own body on the cross.  But He is also telling them there is life in the body that will be broken for them; there is power in the blood that will flow at Calvary.  They do not understand at that moment all that Christ is saying, but they will come to know what He means when the Holy Spirit is poured out at Pentecost.  When Jesus talked to them after his resurrection, they wanted to know if He would restore the kingdom of Israel.  He said it was not for them to know the times.  Then He said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)  This same power is available to all believers today as we commit fully to Christ and take up the cross and follow him.  We must follow the example of our brother the Apostle Paul, who said, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:14)  As we fall more in love with Jesus, we will be less involved with this world and what it has to offer.  As we serve others, we will care less about the things we once thought so important to our happiness.  To know Jesus as Savior and Lord is truly joy unspeakable and full of glory.  (1 Peter 1:8)  Today, the Lord asks us to break bread with him and to drink from his cup.  He says, "Take up your cross daily and follow me, my child."  In him are the riches of the spirit that we all long to receive.  Bless you dear ones.   

  

Mark 14:10-16 Catch Up With Jesus!

Mark 14:10-16  Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.  They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money.  So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.  On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”  So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him.  Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.  Make preparations for us there.”  The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them.  So they prepared the Passover. 

In the above passage, we have two men involved with Jesus' life in different ways.  Judas intends to harm Jesus; the owner of the house intends to do good for Jesus.  Sadly, Judas, whom Jesus chose as one of his twelve disciples, betrays the one who loves him more dearly than anyone else on the face of the earth.  But Judas' selfish desires contaminated his love for Jesus.  When Luke describes the incident, he says, before Judas went to the chief priests and officers of the guard, Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.  (22:3)  Therefore, Judas was willing to hand Jesus over to officials who intended to kill him.  The owner of the house was also selected by Jesus.  But he was a man who was ready to serve The Teacher, ready to offer his best.  Even though he did not have the privilege of constantly living in the presence of Jesus, he was willing to serve him by preparing a guest room where Jesus could celebrate the Passover with his disciples.  Both men were chosen: one did evil, the other good.  One served himself, the other served Jesus.  One was focused on his own gain, the other on making Jesus comfortable.  Now, we do not know for certain why the man who greeted the disciples knew Jesus needed a place to celebrate the Passover, but we do know he performed his duty well.  He was ready just as the colt had been ready for Jesus to ride triumphantly into Jerusalem.  (See Mark 11)  Sadly, Judas performed a duty as well by turning Jesus over to his enemies.  We do know of Judas' repentance: When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.  “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”  (Matthew 27:3-4)  We pray that Judas found his Messiah before his demise.  But we know Judas' self-serving life led him to his terrible deed of sin and betrayal.  

Life can be trying and difficult for all of us, full of trials and temptations.  Yet Peter said we have an inheritance that can never perish, kept in heaven for us, and  we should greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  (1 Peter 1:6)  Nonetheless, without fully understanding the effects of our choices, we sometimes betray our Lord or at least let him down.  He has promised to go with us, to be in us; but at times we behave as disheartened children, following Jesus in a negative way for what we can get instead of serving and obeying him.  As Christians we live in an alien land with a dusty and barren landscape.  The trail of our life is much like the one the Children of Israel walked when they journeyed through the wilderness.  The springs of water are rare, the food is rather tasteless, failing to nourish our eternal souls, causing us to feel famished and faint.  Our longing for God remains in our souls.  However, instead of walking uprightly in God by faith, we lag behind what Jesus wants to do in our lives.  We complain about the journey, with our heads down.  We kick up the dust with our battered shoes, allowing the particles of doubt and worry to cover our clothing and to blind our vision.  Of course, Jesus is ahead of us, looking over his shoulder and saying, "Catch up!  I am doing a great work in you.  I am doing marvelous things in your life.  Hurry, catch up and you will see my glory!"  Each of us needs to quicken our steps and catch up to what Jesus is doing, wants to do.  Forget looking around at the barren hills that surround us.  Jesus is leading us through the valleys to a Land of Promise.  Catch up!  He is doing something great in our lives.  He calls us today: each of us is called by name.  

Aleksandr Solhenitsyn, a Russian intellectual and atheist who was imprisoned in the gulags of Siberia where 60 million people died, said this about his prison life, where he found God:  "And that is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me: 'Bless you, prison!'"  He was initially banished there for the rest of his life.  In prison, many were being murdered by fellow inmates; the environment was horribly violent, animalistic.  In prison, he almost died from cancer.  He lived in constant danger of dying, either from the authorities, the inmates, or sickness; yet he says that was the best blessing anyone could have, for in this horrible experience, he found God.  Sometimes, we must stop and consider whether or not we Christians understand the marvelous work God is doing in us right now, the wonderful opportunities He has given to us to prepare a room for him in our hearts and our homes where He can abide forever.  In that Russian prison, God performed a miracle in an atheist's heart and mind, who had killed many people, for he was a decorated officer in the Russian army.  God was working in the midst of great hardships!  It is not a trite religious saying to stand on God's promise that we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  Even in dire experiences in prisons, with sicknesses, heartaches, famines, and in every sort of trouble, we can trust our God.  This world is not our home.  We are following our Lord, wherever He leads.  Jesus is looking back at us as we follow, perhaps reluctantly, kicking up the dirt as we go.  He is still saying, "Catch up my child!  Look what I am doing!  I am changing lives permanently for my glory."  Dear friends, quicken your pace and catch up with what God is doing RIGHT NOW in your lives regardless of the difficult circumstances.  If you want to keep up with Jesus, He has to be about his Father's business.   

Mark 14:1-9 Precious Perfume for Jesus!

Mark 14:1-9  Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him.  “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”  While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.  She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.  “Leave her alone,” said Jesus.  “Why are you bothering her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want.  But you will not always have me.  She did what she could.  She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” 

We know the life of Jesus Christ has been breathed on, inspired by, the Holy Spirit.  In today's passage, we see a woman led by the Holy Spirit to anoint Jesus' body before his imminent death and subsequent burial.  Throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit used people to help explain the love of God revealed through his Son's mission on Earth.  We see Jesus extending salvation to even the worst of sinners, a cheating tax collector, when He says, Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.  (Luke 19:5)   In another passage we see the owner of a colt fulfilling a prophecy made hundreds of years before by readily giving his animal to the disciples simply because they spoke Jesus' words to the man.  Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.  As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”  They replied, “The Lord needs it."  (Luke 19:30-34)  In John 4:7, we see a woman of Samaria placed in the way of Jesus' journey so that the Holy Spirit could expand the message of God's redeeming love to all people of the world, even to the despised people of Samaria: When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?"  He goes on to offer her living water.  In today's passage we see the Spirit use a woman's love and dedication to Jesus as a challenge to all Christians to have the same passion and love for Jesus.  When John tells us this about Mary: Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.  Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  (John 12:1-3)  Does the fragrance of our love for Jesus fill the room when we enter.

How easy it is in this world of things and activities to forget to serve Jesus in the same manner as the woman above who sat at the feet of Jesus.  Paul had this zeal to know and to serve Jesus, Lord of his life: But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:7-11)  In today's passage we see this woman pour expensive nard on Jesus' body.  Some say the cost of this perfume was equal to 300 days of wages.  Yet, Mary considered it loss for the sake of blessing and glorifying Jesus.  Nothing was too good for Jesus.  This spirit of love and devotion to Jesus has to be an integral part of every Christian's life.  Nothing is too costly or too good for Jesus--not our goods, our time, our everything.  We who are 2000 years removed from that time still must have that kind of zeal and devotion for Jesus.  Without such love and commitment we tend to become lukewarm, and we know through scripture that God will not accept a lukewarm dedication, for we read in Revelation that the Spirit spoke harsh words to the church at Laodicea: So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelation 3:16)

We can easily read or quote the first commandment Jesus spoke to his disciples, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  (Matthew 22:37)  But how often do we stop to think how the "all" translates in our minds and our lives.  Are we so consumed by the concerns of the world and the allurements of the world that we put God on a shelf someplace in our minds until we need him in an emergency or decide to give him some of our time, such as on Sunday morning?  Is He merely a comfortable idea to us, One who might exist, but we are not sure?  Or is He a God we serve for our own benefit?  Do we serve him to give or get?   Are we serving him to live better in some material way or as servants in his kingdom?  Is He our means to get rich or even have a happier life in the present or have we been crucified with Christ to become fishers of men?  Are we serving the Lord for us or for him?  Mary was serving Jesus for his sake, not for hers.  Cultish thinking makes a person seek God for his or her own betterment: for me, myself, and I.  People from cults come to our doors not for our sakes, but for their sake.  By coming to your door they earn a better place in heaven or they even earn heaven itself.  This is not what Mary did.  She served Jesus out of a strong devotion towards him.  SHE LOVED HIM!  PAUL LOVED HIM!  PETER LOVED HIM!  THEY ALL DIED FOR HIM.  Are our minds in today's Christianity in the right place?  Are we serving him to spread the Good News because we have found the true lover of our souls or are we fixated on ourselves: our prosperity, our wellbeing, our peace of mind?  Today, as you read this, at this very moment, people are being killed, persecuted, raped for the cause of Christ.  They are literally experiencing giving their "all."  Are we willing to experience the same?  This is a strong call, but each of us must be ready to give an unequivocal yes to the Master's call, for the enemy will tempt us with many false gods in this materialistic world.  Bless you today as you choose life and love in Christ while you sit at his feet and learn of him!         

Mark 13:32-37 Watch, Be Ready For Jesus' Coming!

Mark 13:32-37  “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard! Be alert!  You do not know when that time will come.  It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.  “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back — whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” 

You do not know when that time will come, but Watch!  This is the message to Christians over the centuries: Watch! Watch! Watch!  Violence has been a part of the Jewish experience from the time of Christ.  Violence and corruption have been an integral part of man's existence.  But someday all we call life in its present form will end, for God will put an end to it.  However, the Bible is very clear about one thing: No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. . .  You do not know when that time will come.  No man, not even the Son of man, knows the final day.  We do know when the temple was destroyed, we do know the Jewish people fled from the Romans, we do know the slaughter of the Jewish people, we do know of the diaspora.  But we do not have a clear knowledge of when the very last days will happen.  Many people have written books speculating on the timing of the last days, proposing elaborate suppositions or offering hypotheses for when and where the antichrist will appear and describing the geopolitical nature of the world at the end of time.  Of course as the decades and centuries pass, these varying predictors of the last days have had to adjust or to discard their ideas depending on how errant they were from the present realities.  Nevertheless, we do know for sure that Jesus warned us to watch with alert minds, always ready for the coming of the Lord.  We should be cognizant that these are the last days as Peter preached on the day of Pentecost:  No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’" (Acts 2:16-21)  Because we are living in the last days, we should be ready and long for the return of Christ.

Though we may not know the exact day and hour, we who are born of Christ have reason to rejoice in the Lord's coming.  I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.   When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?”  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 15:50-57)  We know whether Jesus comes to us in the last days or whether He comes to us in our demise, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  We cannot be with Jesus unless we have been changed from the inside out, WE MUST BE CHANGED FROM THE MAN OR WOMAN OF DUST TO THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  (1 Corinthians 15:45)  The earth-bound or creatures of dust have no inheritance with the heaven-bound, those who have fixed their eyes on heavenly matters and not on earthly matters.  We must be prepared when Jesus comes: we must watch for his soon coming, clothed in his righteousness.  If we are not clothed appropriately in his holiness, we are hopelessly lost.  If we are still clothed in earth-bound clothing of good works and self-aggradisement, we will never be accepted by a holy God.  Dear friends, the Spirit would say to you: "If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

How do we know we are waiting and watching as Jesus asked us to do?  If we are watching as He has asked us to do, we will always be prepared, wearing the appropriate garments of righteousness and doing the Father's will.  We will have accepted Jesus' righteousness for our own righteousness.  We will not believe that doing good or obeying the law through our own abilities will grant us entry into the kingdom of Heaven.  As the prophet Isaiah wrote: All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.  (64:6)  Good works will not span the gulf between a righteous God and sinful men.  As those who know our purpose on Earth is to display the glory of God, we will shine brightly for him.  We will be as the five wise virgins who took oil for their lamps so they were ready when the cry came: Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!  (Matthew 25:6)  Yes, we are truly light, and we are salt to the world.  Just as Jesus was a servant to everyone, we serve in his name.  Knowing our lives are HIDE IN CHRIST, we are always his ambassadors.  Our lives should constantly reflect the Lord: our voices and actions are to be different from the world's voices and actions.  As redeemed people, we are to reveal a good God, who deserves to be worshipped as the one and only God who created all things.  If we live as his followers as we watch for Jesus, we will do all we can to help people find God and be filled with his Spirit.  We will lead them away from their sinful nature and a body that turns dust at death and lead them to Christ, for life IN CHRIST IS LIFE EVERLASTING IN THE SPIRIT with a new body in heaven.  Breakfast companions know this for sure, life comes only through Christ.  There is no other way, no other gate, to life eternal.  Live today as if this is the last day, the day you will see the Lord.  For if you do, out of your innermost being will flow living water: the life-giving water of the Spirit; the water of love that will heal the wounded, the broken hearted, the dying.  Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  (1 Corinthians 15:58)  

Mark 13:24-31 Jesus Will Come For His Children!

Mark 13:24-31  “But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’  At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.  Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.  I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." 

We see similar words to these: the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken in the Old Testament about the disciplining and destruction of Babylon, Egypt, and Israel.  The prophet Isaiah warned: Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude!  Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together!  The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war.  They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens — the LORD and the weapons of his wrath — to destroy the whole country.  And he went on to say, See, the day of the LORD is coming — a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger — to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.  The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light.  The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.  I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins.  I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.  (Isaiah 13:4-5 & 9-11)  The natural disasters are a precursor to God's judgment.  As with the nations of old, He will judge all people.  Their works will be tried by holy fire.  If they are good, righteous works, God will reward the people; but if their lives have been lived for the self, with selfish motivations behind all their activities, God will judge them harshly.  Today's passage confirms that God is all powerful.  No nation, people or individual can escape the judgment of God, for He controls all things as illustrated by his authority to shake everything in existence.  His judgment will come upon those who are not safe in the grace of the Lord.  Jesus is telling his disciplines to live upright lives for God, to watch for his coming, to be ready, and not asleep. 

These scriptures also represent a marvelous passage for all believers as it reminds us of our blessed hope in Christ Jesus our Lord.  We must all watch and judge the times and the seasons.  In Jude, we see the words of Jesus repeated, In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.  Jude warns the people: But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  (Jude 18 & 20-21)  There are scoffers and unbelievers in every generation.  There are temptations and the cares of life that lead us away from the truths of God's word.  We must remember to look at the fig tree, learn its lesson, and know when summer is near.  We should be aware of what God wants to do in our lives and be aware of the needs in the lives of those around us.  We who are alive IN CHRIST by faith will one day see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  Some of us will see his coming as we take our last earthly breath and pass from this life to the next at the time of our physical demise.  Others will actually see him coming in the clouds of glory.  He, who is known as the eternal bright morning star of heaven, will be seen by all of us as He is known in heaven.  As we wrote in the last breakfast, we are to comfort each other with the thought of his coming--that amazing time when we who are alive will be caught up to meet him in the air.  (See I Thessalonians 4:15-18)  

We know Jesus is life: all life originates IN HIM.  Jesus is light.  As He said: I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  (John 8:12)  He is the light that brightens all of heaven.  No sun or stars need to shine in the heavenly realm.  Because He is our peace and all we need on the day of his coming, perfect peace will rest upon every believer.  As Paul wrote, For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.  (Ephesians 2:14)  Isaiah said, He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.  (Isaiah 25:8)  No more questions, doubts, or restlessness will linger within us, for the answers to life will find a home in our thoughts.  His revelation of truth will comfort and satisfy our hearts when we see him face to face.  Outside of Jesus there is no truth or answers to life.  Only eternal darkness and decay rest outside of the Creator, Jesus Christ.  In that day of his final coming, the full body of Christ will be evident.  The roar of the redeemed, shouting his glory and praising his name will be heard in every part of heaven.  He is alive and we are alive in him will be our victory shout: Worthy is the Lamb!  The redeemed will know in a twinkling of an eye the truth of existence since they are no longer bound by the strictures of frailty and death.  They will understand the Holy Spirit's work in them and realize their ability to interact with God constantly.  As children of God in his image, they will inherit what God planned for them from the beginning of time.  As the stars of heaven, they will shine brightly for God's glory.  Their brightness will manifest the plan of God: changed from death to life, from darkness to light.  AS JESUS SHINES, SO WILL THEY.  All of this life, this glory, was purchased by the blood of Jesus on the cross.  Rejoice, dear children!  

Mark 13:14-23 Hope for the Last Days!

Mark 13:14-23  “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountain.  Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.  Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.  How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now — and never to be equaled again.  If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive.  But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.  At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.  For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect — if that were possible.  So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." 

There are many theories about the above passage.  Some believe the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, that Jesus was referring to at this time, had already begun in 167 BC when a representative of Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig.  This defilement opened the door to future calamitous events that Jesus is referring to in his teaching.  Other people believe that Jesus is referring to the events that took place in 70 AD when the Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem and tore down the temple.  At that time, the Christians did flee in haste into the desert.  Also, the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world following those events.  Many in our day believe that Jesus' words refer to the very last days before the end of time.  At this time, Jerusalem will once again be surrounded by hostile countries, determined to wipe the Jewish nation off the face of the earth.  But God will intervene to save his chosen people of Abraham's lineage.  Daniel's prophecies and the book of Revelation are used to support this supposition.  Regardless of one's belief about Jesus' words, we know that in the above passage, He is describing trying times, times when one needs a savior, a safe harbor.  We also know concerning what Jesus said about the last times and his return, No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  (Matthew 24:36) 

As believers, we have hope in the darkest nights.  This hope comes through faith in Jesus Christ.  As Paul told the church, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15:13)  Some people fear the end; but when the end comes, Jesus will appear.  As a child, Dad often wondered why mature Christians, who supposedly wanted to see Jesus, were so afraid of the end times.  In fact, many seemed to infer in their teachings that we should be better people so that the end times would not come on us so quickly.  After the preaching, many people would be at the altars rededicating their lives so the end times would be postponed, keeping Jesus from arriving so soon.  Yes, we all should be rededicating our lives to Jesus daily, and all of us should not be looking forward to calamity, but we need to understand that Jesus is even greater than death.  There should be no weeping but rejoicing if the return of our Lord is near.  Paul told Titus to live a righteous and godly life, Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.  (Titus 2:13 KJV)  

This morning Dad was singing some words as he moved through the house, emptying wastebaskets into a trash bag.  He was singing the words from this breakfast: "In the darkest of nights there will be hope."  These words are not from any song he knows, but the Spirit was singing to him through his consciousness and his lips.  How true and blessed those words are.  Even if heaven and earth were obliterated today, there would be hope in Christ our Lord.  God's word extends beyond what we see and know.  His word is eternal, lasting beyond the sun and the stars, the galaxies, and more than we can imagine.  God is and was and is to come.  Yes, heaven and earth will pass away but his words will never pass away.  What is the hope of a Christian, who is but a biological entity, existing for a moment in time as a wisp of fog on one of a million mornings?  What is the hope of a saint who labors out his last breath this day, never to fill his lungs again with the air of this earth?  That saint will turn back to the dust of this earth, but his spirit will rise, ever to be with the Lord, known as his child, joint heir with Christ himself, forever in the bosom of the Lord.  

When we think of our impermanence and our feeble estate, we might say with the psalmist, What is man, that thou art mindful of him?  (Psalm 8:4 KJV)  Yet because of God's great love for us and Jesus' death on the cross, our hope rests in Christ alone, our cornerstone.  We do not fear the coming of the Lord because we know the Word: 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.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.  (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)  Until the coming of the Lord, we who are alive in him shall never face death.  Yes, we all proceed through the shadow of death, biological extinction.  But our lives are hid with CHRIST in GOD.  (Colossians 3:3)  Jesus ascended; we shall ascend with the same power that was resident in him: the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost has taken up residence in every believer.  In us abides the power to resurrect our lives.  Christ cleansed us; the Spirit now abides in that cleansed temple.  The Spirit's power in us is our hope of Glory, of eternal life.  That is why it is so dangerous to talk against the work of the Spirit.  The Spirit is the eternal life in each of us.  He is not only the Comforter, He is the power of God to save our lives eternally, to deliver us into the presence of God, our Abba Father.  Without him, we are earth-bound.  The message of the last days should terrify us if we have no relationship with Christ, for outside of him, we have no eternal dwelling place with God.  We are then alone in existence, without hope of eternal life.  But we who are IN CHRIST, remember what the Spirit is singing this morning to each of us: "In the darkest of nights there will be hope."  That hope always resides exclusively IN CHRIST.