You may be surprised to learn that truly accredited ministry is through suffering.
T Austin Sparks explains:
“Accredited ministry represents a tremendous victory, set in a background of great conflict.
A determined effort is made through the age to discredit spiritual ministry, and to do so through the one engaged in that ministry.
In the case of the Lord, there was a persistent effort to discredit Him, and thereby discredit His ministry. It drew forth the words: “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” (Luke 4:24).
In the case of Paul, the Judaisers sought to discredit him, and thereby discredit his ministry. At Corinth a great battle raged over his position as an Apostle, and 2 Corinthians is much taken up with the establishment of his own position, and therefore his authority in ministry.
“For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life: yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8-9).
One who counts for the Lord, is a joint of supply, who can be of value in any way to the Lord’s people, and stand in His testimony, will know the enemy’s effort to render those spiritual values nil by discrediting. The enemy will give a strong sense of unworthiness, unfitness, uselessness to the Lord, or he will cause something to be associated with the vessel for the discrediting of the ministry; he may even patronize in order to compromise, as when the demons cried: “These men are servants of the Most High God, which proclaim unto you the way of salvation”. Sometimes he will cause to associate with a pure thing people who are unsaved, to bring discredit.
The Lord’s answer to that is to keep the vessel of ministry in weakness, dependence upon Himself; so that all is kept spiritual, and all is of the Lord alone….
Metal is passed through the crucible and refined then the stamp is put upon it to show its calibre.
So God brings through the fires of Satanic antagonism, allows the thing to reach a point where He alone is its life, and then brings it up out of the conflict, and puts the stamp of resurrection life on it, so that it has in it the power of an indestructible life – that only comes through death.
All ministry that is to be accredited will be bound up with suffering; a decision we have to make is as to the object of our ministry. A good many things can be taken into consideration, but there comes a point where all other things have to be ranged on one side, and one thing on the other side – the real spiritual value, without alloy: that which is wholly of God and not at all of man. In the measure in which that is true there will be suffering. To stand utterly for what is spiritual is a costly thing.
There must be a willingness to be dealt with by the Lord, in such a way as to keep the ministry living and pure. All ministry which issues from such suffering is going to count. It may not be welcomed or desired by the mass, but where there is need and a call for that which we have gained through suffering there will be response.
Two tragedies today amongst the Lord’s people:
(1). So many have no knowledge of the truth in any adequate way, and are therefore spiritually immature.
(2). So many have a great deal of truth, and are dead. The Lord needs a vessel to meet these conditions – a vessel that has gone through the fire, and is living in the power of resurrection.
Such a vessel is going to be a suffering vessel, which has come to the place where God Himself meets the situation.
This may explain much; it may be a challenge; it may be a call.
“Seeing we have this ministry… we obtained mercy” – we have received grace to help – and so “we faint not”. But the treasure is in vessels of fragile clay, the vessel is being broken day by day. To stand in the power of God, the revelation of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, represents cost. Are we prepared for that? That is the way of the accredited ministry.
God has accredited the ministry of His Son, yet there was a universal combination to set Him at naught.
God has accredited the ministry of His servant Paul, but he was taken through depths of suffering.
So for us; ministry accredited of God is linked with suffering, but the suffering produces that which is wholly of God and cannot be destroyed.”
First published in “A Witness and A Testimony” magazine, Sep-Oct 1946, Vol 24-5
Wednesday night began Hanakkuh, also known as the “Feast of Dedication” or the “Feast of Lights”.
Hanakkuh is an 8 day Jewish holiday, beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, celebrating the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees in about BC 164.
Hanukkah has now become a special time for us because on Wednesday, the first night of the feast, both our daughter and our son were baptized in our bathtub by their Dad.
We had friends and family over for a meal last night whom witnessed our children’s public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ. At the same time we asked their Poppy to dedicate them to the Lord, since this is a Feast of Dedication.
The interesting thing is that until yesterday I didn’t know that Jesus actually attended this very feast Himself in Jerusalem.
“Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.” John 10:22, 23
Because all of the Feasts point to Christ, and by the fact that Jesus attended this Feast Himself, I think we could say that Jesus attached some significance to it, and so it is worthy of our consideration.
During the period of the Syrian rule over Palestine the Jews suffered extreme persecution. Under Antiochus Epiphanes many Jewish men, women and children were slaughtered mercilessly. He also desecrated the Temple of the Lord by removing the golden altar, candlestick and vessels and setting up a statue of his false god Jupiter in the Holiest of All. The Jews were commanded to worship this idol and only (un-kosher) pigs were allowed to be sacrificed in the Temple. The Jews were forbidden from keeping the Sabbath and from practicing circumcision.
Eventually a godly remnant of Jews revolted against this oppression and the desecration of the Temple. The Maccabees family led the revolt which eventually drove the Syrians from Jerusalem. Judas Maccabees then cleansed the Temple and re-dedicated it to the Lord. During this time the Temple was illuminated with a consecrated oil which miraculously lasted for eight days. This is why Jews today light nine candles, one for each day of the Feast, during the “Feast of Lights”.
Eventually there arose from the revolt three sects amongst the Jews – the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes.
Pastor Bill Randles writes this about the Pharisees in his article “Why Saul Hated Christians”:
“Pharisees were not rationalistic unbelievers as the Sadducees were, nor were they political schemers as the Herodians of Jesus day. Pharisaism was a serious attempt to systematically observe the laws of God, and to separate from ungodliness. However, of all of the known sects of Israel in Judea at the time of Christ, Pharisaism was closest to the theology of Jesus.”
The Pharisees were the religious leaders during the time that Jesus walked the earth. They observed the Feast of Dedication as a way of commemorating the Maccabees cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple at a time when the Jews were set free from massive persecution. They lit candles in honour of the miracle of the light shining for eight days.
Yet when Jesus, the fulfillment of the feast, was walking right among them – they didn’t recognize Him.
While they were lighting the candles in the temple, He who is the Light of the World was walking amongst them in the temple.
While they were commemorating the cleansing of the temple all those years ago, He, who had cleansed the Temple twice in front of them, was there.
While they were celebrating the emancipation from their persecution, they were persecuting the Son of God Himself.
Why? Because they couldn’t see Him. For all of their knowledge of the Torah, their good works and their religion, they didn’t recognize their Messiah even when He was right in front of them. Whilst they were celebrating a feast that pointed to Christ, He was there in their midst and they missed Him.
“The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” John 10
Further to not being able to see Him, they also persecuted Him:
“ Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” John 10
As Kevin Conner writes in “The Feasts of Israel:
“They had become worshippers of the Temple but failed to worship the Lord of the Temple.
They kept the Feast of Dedication but sought to stone the One to whom the Temple was dedicated. Thus they missed Him at another Feast, even as they had at previous Feasts.”
They had external works of the natural – but none of the spiritual
They kept the letter of the law – but had not the spirit of it.
They had the ritual, but not the reality – Jesus Himself!
How easy it could be for us to now say “Tut-tut how could they have missed Him?” But….have we ever done this ourselves?
Do we have a worship of God based on ritual, on the external works of man? Are we, ourselves, of the letter and not of the Spirit?
Do we actually have the reality of Christ Himself?
And here is a BIG question – Have we actually, amidst our profession of Christ, missed Christ Himself? Or worse still, have we persecuted Him?
As a Christian, we may well wonder whether it is actually possible to persecute Jesus.
The answer is yes.
When Saul was persecuting the Christians, Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus Road. Notice that Jesus didn’t say “Saul, why are you persecuting my children?”,
No. He said “Saul why do you persecute Me?”
We need to be careful that we don’t persecute Him, by persecuting one of His children
We need to be careful that we don’t reject Him, by rejecting one of His children
Have we ever deliberately withdrawn our fellowship from another believer because they do not conform entirely to our own concepts and viewpoints?
Have we ever slandered other Christians? Caused division between brothers and sisters? Have we accused others of having a spirit other than the Holy Spirit?
And…what if we are wrong…?
We need to watch that in our quest to be right we do not miss the Saviour. What if He were to come to us in a way we did not expect – in a meek and lowly way, in a way of weakness?
What if He were to come to us through someone outcast or poor? Or how about a mentally- ill person?
What if it were through a Christian whom didn’t conform to our idea of ‘Christian’?
Jesus spoke a lot with the Pharisees. He warned them, spoke honestly to them, because He loved them. He wanted them to see Him, but they wouldn’t. If He was the Messiah then they didn’t want Him. He wasn’t what they were looking for, He didn’t come to them as they expected – so they rejected Him.
No wonder Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Luke 13:33-35
This brings us to a very important point:
It is possible to know the Word of God without knowing the God of the Word.
If the Pharisees had truly known God they would have recognized Jesus. They knew the scriptures, they knew the Law, but Jesus they didn’t know.
Jesus is not separate from His Body, the Church. So when one of His members is persecuted He takes it personally. We need to be careful, oh so careful, that we don’t become so full of head-knowledge that we can no longer recognize Jesus nor His Body. Because in doing so we may become like Saul, like the Pharisees, and persecute the very Lord we profess to follow.
Jesus said, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honorme with their lips, but their heartsarefarfromme.” Mark 7:6
The letter truly kills, but the Spirit gives life. This Feast of Dedication, let us re-dedicate our lives to Christ Himself, not to a creed, not to a denomination, nor to a set of rules or ideals, but to the Son of God Himself. Let us live in the light of His illumination and really get to know Him personally.
Once we truly know Him, then we will recognize Him, even in the unexpected.
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:…… The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”
(Acts 2:17-20)
Could we be on the brink of seeing this verse of scripture fulfilled?
Next year on 15th of April the first in a series of four full lunar eclipses will occur. A full lunar eclipse creates a “Blood Moon” as the earth’s shadow passes over the surface of the moon, rendering the moon a deep blood-red colour. This is a rare occurrence.
What’s more interesting is that it falls on Passover next year. The 15th of April 2014 is Passover.
Yet more rare is the fact that the lunar eclipse on Passover will be followed by another three full lunar eclipses, in the beginning of what’s known as a “tetrad” – a sequence of four consecutive full lunar eclipses.
And guess what else? The following three lunar eclipses, or Blood Moons, will also fall right on Biblical feasts!
Here are their dates:
15 April 2014 – first Blood Moon on first day of Passover
8 October 2014 – second Blood Moon on the eve of Tabernacles
(20 March 2015 – Total Solar Eclipse on Nisan 1, the Religious New Year)
4 April 2015 – third Blood Moon on first day of Passover
28 September 2015 – fourth Blood Moon on the first day of Tabernacles
Could it be that God is trying to get our attention??
After all He did say in Genesis 1:14:
“..Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens…for signs and for seasons…”
The rabbis say that signs in the moon are for Israel. In May 2018 Israel will celebrate her 70th birthday anniversary – could this be connected? We know that 70 years seems to have significance attached to it in relation to Israel – ie, the 70 years captivity in Babylon; also it was 70 years after Jesus Christ was born that Israel’s temple was destroyed.
The rabbis also say that signs in the sun are for the nations, or Gentiles. On 20th March 2015 there will be a total solar eclipse. This is when the sun goes dark …”the sun shall be turned into darkness…”
Over the last 500 years there have been three lunar tetrads falling exactly on Biblical Feast days. These signs in the moon were all preceded or followed by major events for the Jews or Israel.
Derek Prince says in “Appointment in Jerusalem”: “On May 14, 1948, the modern State of Israel was born. Of the countless prophecies in Scripture that refer to the close of the present age, all without exception assume one thing: the presence of Israel as a nation in their own land. Until Israel was thus restored as a nation, none of these prophecies could be fulfilled. Now the way is open for the fulfillment of them all.”
We are living in very interesting times.
“Therefore…what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:11, 12
This post is part 3 in my series about Marriage and the Church, in the light of Jewish marriage customs. This is the next installment of the interpretation of the analogy which I wrote about recently, (The Beauty and Significance of Jewish Marriage Customs). If we look at these Jewish customs in the light of Jesus Christ and His Bride then we will begin to see, not only the beauty of the analogy, but also the bearing this has on us as Christ’s Bride, the Church….
Preparing A Place
In the analogy the young man leaves his betrothed to go and prepare a place for her in his father’s house. Just as the young man is busy preparing for his bride a place, so too our Betrothed has not forgotten His bride and is busy preparing for us a place.
Jesus had said to His disciples concerning His return: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,f but only the Father….Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:36-42
The Father’s Consent
When the time comes and the father gives permission to his son to collect his bride, the young man takes three days to prepare before he begins his journey to go and collect his bride. As John and Helen Gardiner write in “Wow! So that’s how Jesus loves me!”:
“We know that one day is as a thousand years to the Lord. And just as with working out the three days of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we know that the Jewish method of measuring days is different to ours. So, we are on the brink of the third millennium, the third day. Yes the third day is almost upon us. Our bridegroom has been preparing Himself for three days. He is fully prepared and fully expectant, longing to be with His Bride…”
The Bride….Waiting
Meanwhile the bride has been patiently awaiting her groom’s return, not knowing when it will be, but knowing that he will keep his promise to her. Because she is uncertain of the date and time she must keep watching.
“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night…But you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief…Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober..” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6
Jesus will return for His Bride, just as he has promised. So the picture of the young man returning to collect his bride, is a picture of the Rapture of the Church.
The Fetching of the Bride
Just as the young man brings his friends and escorts with him to collect his bride, so too will Jesus Christ return for His bride with His holy angels in the Rapture of His Church.
Matthew 24:31 says:
“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Jesus’ arrival will also be preceded by a loud shout and the blowing of a trumpet (shofar) to alert His Bride that He is on His way:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ” 1 Thessalonians 4:16
“…For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52
As Arnold Fruchtenbaum puts it so clearly in “Fruit from the Frucht” here’s what will happen:
“1. the Messiah will come from Heaven into the earth’s atmosphere and He will enter into the realm of the home of the Bride.
2. He will then give a shout. The Greek word used means “a military command”. Thus, He will issue the command as a military general does for the process to begin.
3. The third step will be the voice of the archangel. Michael the archangel is pictured here as the sub-commander, who will repeat the order of the chief commander.
4. Then… the trump of God will sound. After the sub-commander had issued his orders, the trumpeter would issue his calls so the soldiers could know what to do: whether to attack or retreat, whether to go forward or reverse, whether to go right or left. So the trump of God will sound.
5. Then the dead in the Messiah will rise first. This is why the dead saints will not miss out on the benefits of the Rapture, they will receive them first by being raised first.
6. Those who are alive will be caught up (or be raptured) to meet the Lord in the air.
7. The believers will ever be with the Lord. From then on, believers will be with Him because He is their husband.
The Wedding Ceremony
Now the Bride is with her Groom and so the wedding ceremony can take place. As in the analogy, the ceremony took place in the groom’s house. There were only a few guests at the actual ceremony, usually family members and two witnesses.
Once again, the Jewish marriage system foreshadows what will take place between Jesus and His Bride, the Church. At the ceremony in Heaven, there will only be a few in attendance. These will be those who have already been raptured. Revelation 19:6-8 describes the wedding ceremony:
“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”
The Wedding Feast
In the analogy the bride was hidden away for 7 days in the bridal chamber (huppah). So too will Christ’s Bride be hidden away for 7 years during the Great Tribulation upon the earth.
“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” Romans 8:19
Then after this 7-year period the veil will be lifted off the Bride and she will be revealed in all her glory:
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21:2
The Wedding Feast is different from the ceremony, in that whereas only a few were invited to the ceremony, many are invited to the Feast. It is the Wedding Feast that will usher in the Millennial Kingdom on earth and so it takes place on the earth.
The ones invited to the wedding Feast will be as follows:
The Old Testament saints (including John the Baptist, whom are not resurrected with the Church, but after the Tribulation period.)
The Tribulation saints (whom are saved by faith in Christ during the Tribulation period, but not resurrected until after the Second Coming.)
Israel (those who survive the Tribulation)
“And the angel said[b] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”” Revelation 19:9
The Home of the Bride
We cannot forget the glorious, eternal home that Jesus is even now preparing for His beloved Bride…
“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal….” Revelation 21:9-11
Conclusion
“The Spirit and the bride say “Come!”… (Revelation 22:17).
If you do not know Jesus the Messiah as your Lord and Saviour, hear His voice today and come to Him. He, in essence, is making to you a marriage proposal. Will you allow the One who gave up His life for you to be your Husband….to have and to hold…in sickness and in health…forsaking all others from this day forward?
And will you, accept the cup offered to you and become part of His Bride? Will you pledge to Him your troth (your faithfulness) from this day forward?
If you do know Jesus, if you have already been betrothed to the Bridegroom, then I exhort you to remain faithful to Him. God is not slack concerning His promises as humans are, Jesus is returning for you very soon. He has already paid the Bride-price for you with His own precious blood. Keep watching and waiting for Him.
It won’t be long now!
“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32)
“The Bible has no compromise whatsoever with the world. The Bible has a message for the evangelical church, calling it back home. The Bible always sends us out into the world, but never to compromise with the world; and never to walk in the way of the world, but only to save as many as we can. That is the one direction….
“There is a disillusionment and emptiness in the average Christian’s life because they think that Christ suffered on the cross so that they can go to church every Sunday.” Jim Cymbala
If this is you dear Christian friend, then I have a solution:
Get to the streets
Seriously.
Christians think I am trying to condemn them when I say this. Or force them to do something they don’t feel comfortable with. But I am not. Really. I feel sorry for you if you don’t go. Truly, I am telling you that you are seriously missing out by not going.
Missing out on what? You may well ask…
Real life
Serious joy
Excitement
Fellowship
Fun
But most of all – the tangible, real presence of Jesus Christ.
If you are wondering WHERE JESUS IS – I am here to tell you that He is in the darkest, dirtiest, sin-ridden place in your city. Yes He is. He is there pulling people out of the darkness into the Light with His own nail-pierced hands. But He needs us to go there with Him. He uses His Body to do His work with Him.
I can honestly say that the two places where I have been in His presence most (other than my own prayer closet), was in
1. a drug addict’s home and
2. on the city streets.
…..Next to homeless ice-addict Roddy. Ruthlessly he was kicked out of my old church, (coincidence?). I met him a while ago, but now he’s sleeping rough. Now white stuff oozes from the corners of his eyes. He talks and talks to me, very quiet. I can hardly hear what he’s saying, but he talks about Jesus. He talks about speaking in tongues. He keeps talking and talking even when I am no longer next to him. To himself. Oh Roddy… Jesus help this man.
Yes sir. This is where Jesus is.
He is there when I am preaching. He is standing right in front of me. I am preaching to Him. The bullets fly all around me, the looks of hatred, other looks too.
“You’re an idiot,” one guys says to me. That bullet stings. But Jesus is there. I see Him, I feel Him. I preach to Him. I love Him. He is there.
How people respond is not my problem, I preach to Him. And He is happy.
Last night as I was preaching I saw out of the corner of my eye a man standing next to me, to my left. He stood with me as the bullets flew. Six foot 4 and built strong.
Afterwards he said to me that it was a war zone and he wanted to stand with me in the trenches.
I cried right in front of him because I suddenly realised that years before, when street-preaching was not an option for me, when it seemed impossible that I would ever do that, God had given me a vision of this very man standing next to me in the city as I preached. God had shown me this man would stand next to me and protect me.
And there he was…..
But…hang on a minute…… did I really say FUN?
Yes. Even in the midst of the spiritual battle.
The Public Safety Officers told us to move on.
Some guys came and set up a massive sound system next to us and blared their music whilst holding signs “Free Hugs”.
One of the young guys with us responded by making up a sign “Free Salvation”. There they stood side-by-side.
We laughed and laughed.
And then the “Free Hugs” sign man came to me and said “I don’t believe in God, but you can try to convince me if you like.”
But that’s another story.
On the way home in the car I laughed with joy.
I felt so alive.
Oh Jesus, there’s nothing more important than You and Your Gospel. May Your Body see that.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Relate: When I was working in college ministry at SUNY Binghamton, I befriended a young man who was getting his master’s degree in evolutionary psychology. By culture and upbringing he was a Muslim but by what he believed he was an agnostic. We both loved history and religion but our understanding and approach to it was from such different angles that it made for some great (sometimes a bit too lively) discussion every time we got together. He made a statement early on…
This is the prayer of a man called to be a witness to the nations. This is what he said to his Lord on the day of his ordination. After the elders and ministers had prayed and laid their hands on him he withdrew to meet his Savior in the secret place and in the silence, farther in than his well-meaning brethren could take him.
And he said: O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and was afraid. Thou has called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou art about to shake all nations and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. O Lord, my Lord, Thou has stooped to honor me to be Thy servant. No man taketh this honor upon himself save he that is called of God as was Aaron. Thou has ordained me Thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected Thee, the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the servant.
My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine, but Thine. Thou has said, “I knew thee – I ordained thee – I sanctified thee,” and Thou hast also said, “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Who am I to argue with Thee or to call into question Thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Thine. So be it, Lord. Thy will, not mine, be done.
Well do I know, Thou God of the prophets and the apostles, that as long as I honor Thee Thou will honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor Thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep that vow unbroken while I live.
It is time, O God, for Thee to work, for the enemy has entered into Thy pastures and the sheep are torn and scattered. And false shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround Thy flock. The sheep are deceived by these hirelings and follow them with touching loyalty while the wolf closes in to kill and destroy. I beseech Thee, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of the enemy; give me understanding to see and courage to report what I see faithfully. Make my voice so like Thine own that even the sick sheep will recognize it and follow Thee.
Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should be come a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet – not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place. I shall try to be blind to the little ways that could make life easier. If others seek the smoother path I shall try to take the hard way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes. Or if, as sometimes it falleth out to Thy servants, I should have grateful gifts pressed upon me by Thy kindly people, stand by me then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I receive in such manner that will not injure my soul nor diminish my spiritual power. And if in Thy permissive providence honor should come to me from Thy church, let me not forget in that hour that I am unworthy of the least of Thy mercies, and that if men knew me as intimately as I know myself they would withhold their honors or bestow them upon others more worthy to receive them.
And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven.
Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee, therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with Thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.
Then, dear Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen
This post is the interpretation of the analogy which I wrote about recently, (The Beauty and Significance of Jewish Marriage Customs). If we look at these Jewish customs in the light of Jesus Christ and His Bride then we will begin to see, not only the beauty of the analogy, but also the bearing this has on us as Christ’s Bride, the Church.
All the Way from His Father’s House
As we saw the young man coming to the young woman’s home, all the way from his Father’s house, so Jesus Christ did this for His Bride. He came from Heaven to earth to redeem His Bride. It was a long way for Him to come. He left the glory and worship of Heaven to enter this dark, sin-stained world. Although He is God, He humbled Himself and took on human flesh:
“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:6-8
The Bride-Price (Mohar)
In ancient Jewish customs, the Bride-price was a very high price to pay, and for some young men it was simply too high, they couldn’t afford a bride. The higher the price that was paid, the less incentive for a young man to divorce his betrothed. This gave the young woman comfort that her betrothed would in fact return for her.
Jesus Himself paid a very high price for His bride, the ultimate price – He paid with His own blood. His life was poured out for her. No higher price has ever been paid than what He paid. We can take comfort in this, knowing that the price that Jesus paid was so high, His own life, that we know that He will return for us.
The Agreement
In the analogy, the young man and the father discussed in private and agreed upon the price that the young man would need to pay in order to purchase his bride. This too was the case in the plan of redemption, which was formed and agreed upon (or covenanted) from all of eternity within the eternal counsel of the Godhead. (Read: Revelation 13:8; Psalm 110:1; Psalm 2:7, 8)
Paid in Full
The Bride-price is hence agreed upon. And so the young man pays the price in Full to the father in order for the marriage covenant to be established….
…and so we see Jesus. There He is, nailed to the cross, beaten, whipped, bloodied. The Son of God with men’s spit on his face, with self-righteous heads shaking at His humiliation. He cries out with a loud voice “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
“It is finished” is literally translated “tetelestai”.
“The word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full. The Greek-English lexicon by Moulton and Milligan says this:
“Receipts are often introduced by the phrase tetelestai, usually written in an abbreviated manner…” (p. 630). The connection between receipts and what Christ accomplished would have been quite clear to John’s Greek-speaking readership; it would be unmistakable that Jesus Christ had died to pay for their sins.” (source:Bible.org)
Everything He had come to do, everything that had been pre-determined in the eternal counsel of God, had now been accomplished. He had said to His Father “Thy will be done” and now it had been done. His was a cry of victory.
There at the cross, the sinless Son paid in full the debt owed, our debt, for the sin of mankind to the Father. Oh what a beautiful Saviour!
“And he has blotted out by his authority the bill of our debts which was adverse to us and he took it from the midst and nailed it to his cross.” (Colossians 2:14, Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
The Handing Over of the Bride-Price
The Bride-price was agreed upon and paid, now it needed to be handed over to the Father.
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest killed the goat of the sin offering for all of the children of Israel on the altar. He then brought the blood of the sacrifice inside the veil of the Holy Place and presented it to God by sprinkling it on and in front of the mercy seat. (Leviticus 16:15) The High Priest could not come into contact with anything impure or unholy before he had brought the blood into the Holy Place.
As everything that happened under the Old Covenant was a picture (or type) of our Lord Jesus, so too did Jesus, our great High Priest, have to hand over His blood (the Bride-price) to the Father.
“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:12
In John 20:17 Jesus meets Mary Magdalene outside of His tomb. He was risen from the dead but, as yet, had not presented His blood to the Father, and so He said to her :
“…Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father…”
Note: that it was the groom-to-be that paid the price in full. The Bride was not required to add anything, nor could she, to what the groom had paid.
The Glass of Wine
A glass of wine is poured.
Now the bride is invited into the groom’s presence. It is the Holy Spirit whom calls in the lost, but we are used as His mouthpiece.
Just as the bride in the analogy was offered a glass of wine to drink to show her acceptance of the covenant with the groom, so too Jesus, the Bride-Groom, offered His disciples a cup of wine.
“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave 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. Mark 14:23
This was Christ’s “marriage proposal” to His Bride. And just as that young woman could either accept or reject the marriage proposal, so too can each of us. Every time the gospel is proclaimed through this world it is Christ once again issuing His proposal to the lost sinner.
So by Jesus offering His disciples the Cup, He was instituting the New Covenant, just as the marriage covenant was explained to the young woman. The disciples drank from the cup He offered and thereby accepted His proposal and consented to the covenant He was making with them. As they drank from the cup He offered, the disciples willingly entered into the covenant which was to be established at Jesus’ death. Another important point here is that upon entering into covenant with Him, they also entered into covenant with each other, as the Bride.
When Jesus said “this is my blood of the covenant..” He was explaining to them that it is His blood that is the Bride-price. It is the blood that will institute the new covenant He is making with them. The disciples, being Jews and familiar with the marriage customs of the day, would have understood the implication.
“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:25
Here Jesus is referring to the consummation of the betrothal – the marriage and Wedding Feast of the Bride and the Lamb in Revelation 19:7.
The Covenant
Just as the young Jewish couple are now considered husband and wife, although betrothed, rather than that of fully married, so too are we, as Christ’s Bride, wholly set apart, or consecrated, for our husband and exclusively committed to Him. As we willingly enter into covenant with Him, it is now only divorce that can dissolve the union. (ie. Spiritual adultery on our part).
When we partake of communion we are showing forth the Lord’s death until He comes. This is not just an empty religious ceremony but a loving way of the Bride remembering her Groom and confirming her faithfulness to Him. It is her way of saying “I have not forgotten You, nor the covenant we made with each other. I am remaining faithful to You, my Groom, while I wait for You to return for me. I remember the Bride-price you paid for me, Your blood was the price you paid to gain me, and so how can I not be faithful to a Groom who would pour out His life for me?”
Being part of His Church, the mystical Body of Christ, we also enter a covenant relationship with others within the Body. His Body is made up of individual believers, but once we enter into covenant with Him, we are also entering into union with other believers. Christ never intended individualism within His Body, it is a mystical community of unity and oneness with each other. This is why it says in 1 John :
“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another….We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other…. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
Just as Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, so too are we expected to do this for each other.
The Departure
After Jesus instituted the New Covenant with the disciples, and offered them the cup of His “marriage proposal”, which they accepted, He then prepared them for His soon departure. Just as the young man prepared to depart from the young lady’s home after their betrothal, so Jesus too must go away for a time.
Just as the young man comforts his bride-to-be with these words at his departure, so Jesus Himself comforts His Bride-to-be with the same words:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:1-3
But Jesus went further than the young man in His comforting promise – He not only promised that He will return, but also that in His absence He will provide a Comforter for her:
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you…. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:16-26
Jesus made His departure 40 days after His death and resurrection. In Acts 1:9-11 it says:
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Once again we, as Jesus’ Bride-to-be, are comforted with the knowledge that He will return the same way in which He departed.
And true to His Word, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, was given 10 days later at Pentecost.
The Waiting Bride – To – Be (That’s Us!)
As the betrothed of Jesus Christ, what is our role as we await His return?
Watch as did the young woman. Watching is to stay-awake, to be sober, to be vigilant against the enemy, to use our mind to interpret end-times Bible prophecy and to pray. Jesus and the apostles connected prayer with watchfulness.
Wait for Him. This is not a passive state, but rather we need to actively await Him. We need to live in a state of expectancy, for we do not know when His return will be, although we can tell His warnings in scripture that it will not be long now. And as we wait we should be preparing ourselves as a Bride.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)” Revelation 19:7, 8
Be faithful to our Bridegroom, just as that young bride was faithful to her betrothed. We have entered Covenant with Him and this not to be taken lightly by us. A covenant relationship is just as binding as a marriage. We should not look upon another while we wait for Him, our eyes should be steadfastly fixed upon Jesus, as we “set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). It is possible for us to commit spiritual adultery whilst He is away. How do we do this? The Bible says quite clearly:
“You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God.” (James 4:4 AMP)
Be Not Deceived by false prophets, false Christs or false doctrines. Jesus Himself warned us to :
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many…. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time” Matthew 24:4-25
The best way to recognize the counterfeit, is to know the real thing. So get to know your Betrothed, Jesus Christ. Spend time with Him and study the Word of God.
“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2-3
Consecrate Ourselves to Him. To be consecrated is to be declared or set apart as sacred and holy. This is something we willingly do for Him. It is surrendering our own will and our very lives to Him. We have been bought with a (bride) –price, at the huge expense of Christ’s own blood, therefore our body is no longer our own to do with as we choose. It is now His property:
“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:17
Be Sanctifiedby Him. We consecrate ourselves to Him, but we are sanctified by Him. This is what He does in us, by His Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a process of being purified and made holy.
We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us as He sanctifies and cleanses us “with the washing of water by the word, (so) that He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:26, 27
This will include trials, tribulations and suffering on our part, but we must yield to the Holy Spirit and to the loving discipline of the Lord to His children.
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:5-11
Grace and Truth 