The first sermon about Jesus' life after His resurrection was delivered by Jesus himself. These verses tell of Jesus' encounter with two believers walking to Emmaus after His crucifixion. We see that as they are walking Christ approached them, unrecognized, and listened to them and their confusion about what had happened over the past few days to Jesus of Nazareth. They shared with Him the events about Jesus being crucified and the empty tomb.
In verses 25-27 Jesus delivers the gospel message.. 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. Jesus used the scriptures, the prophesies, the Word of God to teach these two men about Himself.
I find it interesting that He taught from the scriptures. He interpreted the Word of God which reveals Christ and in verse 32 we see the impact of God's word... 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
Jesus knew and shows us here that the Word of God speaks to our hearts.. " so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) We look for inspiration and direction from lots of books and put our trust in the teaching of others, when it is God Himself and the Bible where the true inspiration and direction can be found. Pastors today download sermons from the internet and buy sermon material online and the result is churches are dying. Scriptures point to and teach about Christ. Too many churches teach about us and how we are to live, how we are to eat, how we are to give, how we are to be, when God gave us His word so that He can transform us into His likeness.
We all, and especially pastors, need to spend more time in the scriptures seeking the truth of Christ so that OUR HEARTS WILL BURN WITHIN US AS THE SCRIPTURES ARE OPENED TO US!
Discover and Proclaim the Truth of The Bible which is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." (John 3:16 NRSV). Jesus came to humanity to proclaim and give evidence to that love and He has commanded us to do the same. We, who believe, must not merely be followers, but we must be proclaimers of the Gospel Message and we can only do that by being filled with the love of God.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
"With The Eyes of Your Heart Enlightened"...Ephesians 1: 18
Ephesians 1:17-19
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
The "eyes of our hearts" are enlightened as a result of Jesus blessing us with a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Through our relationship with Him he helps us to know more fully and to live more confidently. Notice however, that our knowing and living are not so we can receive glory, but so that we may know and be more aware of His Glory.
Our enlightenment is so that we " may know what is the hope to which he has called " us. What is that hope? John 3: 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." Jesus gives us wisdom and revelation so that we can join Him in His Father's plan of salvation. We can be witnesses because of the hope and assurance that we have of His perfect will.
Our enlightenment is so that we may know "what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints." What are these riches and this glorious inheritance? As we walk with Christ, filled with His Spirit, we become more and more aware of God's love. We find ourselves thanking God more often and with more awe. The riches and the inheritance that Jesus makes known to us through the revelation of His Spirit is God's Love for us and the oneness with Him which Jesus prayed for in John 17.
Our enlightenment is so that we may know "what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power." What is this immeasurable greatness of his power? God's Grace is so hard for us to understand and embrace. We cannot imagine a salvation which we do not deserve or earn. We cannot imagine forgiveness without making sacrifices or groveling before God. We cannot fathom a love that would suffer death for us, so that we can come before God as unblemished children. The greatness of God's power is that He chooses us worthy and by His Grace we are saved!
The "eyes of our hearts" are enlightened as a result of Jesus blessing us with a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Through our relationship with Him he helps us to know more fully and to live more confidently. Notice however, that our knowing and living are not so we can receive glory, but so that we may know and be more aware of His Glory.
Our enlightenment is so that we " may know what is the hope to which he has called " us. What is that hope? John 3: 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." Jesus gives us wisdom and revelation so that we can join Him in His Father's plan of salvation. We can be witnesses because of the hope and assurance that we have of His perfect will.
Our enlightenment is so that we may know "what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints." What are these riches and this glorious inheritance? As we walk with Christ, filled with His Spirit, we become more and more aware of God's love. We find ourselves thanking God more often and with more awe. The riches and the inheritance that Jesus makes known to us through the revelation of His Spirit is God's Love for us and the oneness with Him which Jesus prayed for in John 17.
Our enlightenment is so that we may know "what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power." What is this immeasurable greatness of his power? God's Grace is so hard for us to understand and embrace. We cannot imagine a salvation which we do not deserve or earn. We cannot imagine forgiveness without making sacrifices or groveling before God. We cannot fathom a love that would suffer death for us, so that we can come before God as unblemished children. The greatness of God's power is that He chooses us worthy and by His Grace we are saved!
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Holy Spirit ...The Only Explanation
Acts 28: 30-31...30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense[f] and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
We finished the Book of Acts this week and as we reviewed the study we realized that all the acts of conversion, the acts of faith and endurance, the acts of the lost seeking the message of Christ, the acts of mercy shown by the unsaved can only be explained by the active will of God lived out by His Holy Spirit in His believers. These last two verses are a good summary. The people in Rome came to Paul to to hear the teaching about Jesus and of the Kingdom of God.
When we are walking with God, people will see a difference and hear a new truth that is not of this world. We see all through the Book of Acts, that people sought out believers to hear a new message. God's message is not of this world. It brings a new light into the world to overcome the confusion, the deception, and the despair of the world. Through the Holy Spirit, God's word is spoken and lived out in those who believe in Him. When you look around and see the impact that people like Mother Teresa had and the message that Rev. Billy Graham delivered, there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit was behind their ministries.
When we are being the messengers God wants us to be, there is no doubt nor concern about who will provide and empower our ministries.
We finished the Book of Acts this week and as we reviewed the study we realized that all the acts of conversion, the acts of faith and endurance, the acts of the lost seeking the message of Christ, the acts of mercy shown by the unsaved can only be explained by the active will of God lived out by His Holy Spirit in His believers. These last two verses are a good summary. The people in Rome came to Paul to to hear the teaching about Jesus and of the Kingdom of God.
When we are walking with God, people will see a difference and hear a new truth that is not of this world. We see all through the Book of Acts, that people sought out believers to hear a new message. God's message is not of this world. It brings a new light into the world to overcome the confusion, the deception, and the despair of the world. Through the Holy Spirit, God's word is spoken and lived out in those who believe in Him. When you look around and see the impact that people like Mother Teresa had and the message that Rev. Billy Graham delivered, there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit was behind their ministries.
When we are being the messengers God wants us to be, there is no doubt nor concern about who will provide and empower our ministries.
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