The Ultimate Reunion

THE ULTIMATE REUNION

 

This topic was brought to my mind this morning by the devotional in ODB by Joe Stowell. He used (1 Thess 4:13-18) for his text, which is commonly referred to as "the rapture passage". Paul was addressing the question of what happens to those loved ones who had died "in the Lord", and if they would ever see them again? This is a clear explanation of what will happen at the return of Jesus to receive His "Church/Bride", and includes "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall ever be with the Lord". This will definitely not be "a secret quiet little affair" as some believe, but I expect will be quite "noisy"! And of course only Father God knows when this will occur (Matt 24:36), although many people have made predictions of when this rapture will happen, but they are all "false prophets" according to Jesus.

 

But we can be certain that it will happen in God's perfect time, until then Jesus will remain at His Father's side "until" certain things happen, See

(Ps 110:1) or (Acts 3:19-21) for details. This should end all of those theories that Jesus might return "at any moment", these are definitely not true and are impossible according to scripture. But this will be what Joe calls "The Ultimate Reunion" with family or friends who knew Jesus as Lord and Savior, and have already passed on. This is our glorious hope if we have obeyed the advice given by Paul to Titus in (Titus 3:1-8), which is part of the "Gospel of the Kingdom" that must be preached to all nations and tribes and tongues before the "end of this age" (Matt 24:14), which are the words of Jesus.

 

Most everyone has at least a few people who you know had a relationship with Jesus before they died, and are now enjoying His presence in heaven. This is the "Ultimate Reunion" you can look forward to if you have that same relationship with Jesus here and now in this life. If you are not sure where you stand with Jesus, I would suggest you read (John 14:6) and then (Eph 2:1-10) where Paul explains clearly how we can be sure of this relationship with God. This is how we can be sure of having this "ultimate reunion" with those who have gone on before us!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                       27/09/14                                                                                     

The Lion of The Tribe of Judah

THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

 

The fifth chapter of the book of Revelation is dedicated entirely to a discussion of this person who is none other than Jesus Christ in His resurrected heavenly body. We have many pictures in various passages of scripture of Jesus the Son of God, starting with Him as the lowly babe in the manger in Bethlehem, then as described by John the Baptist in (John 1:29) as the "Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world", plus many others. In this case it is given by John as he is weeping because no one is found worthy to open the scroll in the hand of God, then in (Rev 5:5) we read "But one of the twenty four elders said to me, stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals". As I understand scripture, Jesus is the only member of the Godhead that we refer to as the Trinity, who actually has a body. When we read about Moses speaking to God "face to face" on the mountain of God, it has to be Jesus he is talking to because of (Exod 33:17-23). The "rock" that God mentions that He would place Moses in would represent Jesus!   

 

Then we have the description of Jesus given by John in (Rev 1:12-20), and then again in (Rev 19:12-16), so we have many pictures of Jesus to help us understand Him a little better. Actually it appears to me that Jesus will make 3 visits to our planet all together, first as "a baby King in Bethlehem", then second as our deliverer from the Antichrist at the rapture (1 Thess 4:15-18) although at that time He only comes in the clouds of glory, and we go up to meet Him, and then as "the King of kings and Lord of lords" in (Rev 19:12-16), when He comes to defeat His enemies at the "battle of Armageddon". The other pictures we have of Him are all heavenly scenes, and we will have to wait until we get there to see Him in person. But probably the most important picture we need to see Him as, is "The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world". What He accomplished for us on the cross is certainly the "very core" of the Gospel of The Kingdom. And that is the basis of our assurance of salvation that needs to be made known to the whole world. So as committed followers of Jesus we certainly have our work cut out for us. People need to know how very much God loves them just the way they are. He showed this by allowing His only begotten Son Jesus to die in our place on the cross as our "Redeemer". Jesus was the "perfect God/Man" who was qualified to settle the debt we all owed as lost sinners (Rom 6:23)!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                  23/09/14                                                                                

The Day of The Lord

THE DAY of THE LORD

 

This day is the real "Pivot point" of the whole end times scenario, on the same day that Jesus comes for His second visit to rapture His Church/Bride in the morning of that great day; once the Godly are taken away the Wrath of God on the wicked who remain will begin. Because of our wrong teaching about the end times, and especially about the rapture, many people don't know this truth. The "Day of The Lord" is described in graphic detail by 8 OT writers, and confirmed by 3 NT writers, Luke, Paul, and Peter. So I would say that we are without excuse of the importance of this day, if we are familiar at all with the Bible. God is certainly a God of "love and compassion", but He is also a God of "justice and judgment", and we can't separate these two qualities. And as the old saying goes "you can't have one without the other", although some people think He is like a big "Santa Clause" up in heaven somewhere, who will give us anything we desire! If you don't believe me, I suggest you read (Zeph 1:2-18; 3:11-20) and also (2 Peter 3:1-13), both of these passages are in God's Book.

 

The rapture of the Church will happen quickly see (1 Thess 4:13-18) for details. But the actual pouring out of God's wrath will take some time, possibly several months, but the decision to start this process begins this same day. Actually several chapters of Revelation cover this event, chapters 8-11 and 16 all speak about the "wrath of God". This is not to be confused with the "wrath of Satan" that we see when the Antichrist causes the "Great Tribulation" with the Church that is "Cut short" by the return of Jesus (Matt 24:21-22). I have found there is much confusion in this whole area, caused by so many books that have been written that are based on the false doctrine of the pretribulation rapture. If you are interested in learning more in detail about this subject, I would suggest you obtain a copy of "The Sign" by Robert Van Kampen that was first published in 1992 and then revised and republished in 1998. Copies are available from Abe Books Canada at a very reasonable price for a used book. I have a copy of the revised edition and have found it very helpful in understanding this whole topic of the "end times", which can be hard to keep straight in your mind!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                   29/08/14                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

Simple Truth About The End Times

SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT END TIMES

Our Creator knew we would be interested in knowing about what would happen in the future, so He had a Book written called the Bible which tells us all we need to know. He chose certain people from all walks of life, and had His Holy Spirit to inspire them to just use the words He wanted them to say, (2 Tim 3:16). He chose to use Hebrew and Greek as the languages to have His Word written in, so consequently most of us have to depend on translations to know and understand His Word. He chose special people like Moses to record the first 5 chapters, called Genesis which means "beginning", and certain men like Isaiah and Daniel to write what we refer to as "The Old Testament" (OT), and people like John and Paul to record part of "The New Testament" (NT). It seems He chose Daniel to write about what will happen just before life on this planet will come to an end.

 

Our tiny Planet called Earth was created to sustain life of all kinds, but especially "human" life, because He tells us in (Gen 1:26) "God said let us make human beings in our image, to be like us". (NLT) As we said it would appear that God chose Daniel to be the OT prophet to whom He revealed more information to about the "end times" of life on earth. Daniel was a young teenager when he was taken to Babylon from his home in Jerusalem. He was a faithful worshipper of his God while in Babylon, and won favor with King Nebuchadnezzar because of his God given wisdom. He was the only one who could tell the king what his strange dream meant. In chapter 9 he started a long prayer to God confessing the sins of his people, and in verses 20-27 we read about the angel Gabriel being sent from God to give Daniel the answer to his prayer. It concerned a period of 70 years, divided up into 7 years plus 62 years for a total of 69 that would pass and then a period of 7 years which we refer to as "Daniel's Seventieth Week" would come sometime later. And we know from reading (Matt 24:4-14) and certain sections of Revelation plus part of Paul's letters, what will happen during this important 7 year period. All signs point to this period of 7 years as being the final 7 years of life on our planet, and it starts when a certain man who pretends to be a "man of peace" signs a treaty with Israel for 7 years, but at the "mid-point" he will reveal his true identity as the "man of lawlessness" as Paul calls him in (2 Thess 2:1-12), or in other words The Antichrist. Only Father God knows when all this will happen, but He has warned us through His servant Daniel what to expect, and when it will happen. So look for the signing of this treaty in the future!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                          05/08/14                                                                                              

How Jesus used the OT scriptures

HOW JESUS USED THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.

The very first example we see is when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness soon after He was baptized by John in the river Jordon. Both Matthew and Luke record this event in chapter four of their gospel accounts. The accounts are nearly identical, so you can take your pick. Satan started each temptation with "If you are the Son of God?" which is a question to cause doubt. But Jesus answered each statement with the same answer "It is written", and then quoted a suitable scripture from the OT. Actually all that Jesus had as His "Bible" was the OT scrolls that He often quoted from. Another case would be later in the same chapter of Luke (Luke 4:14-30), where we see Him being rejected in His own home town where He had been brought up.

 

Probably the best example of Jesus using the OT Scriptures would be (Luke 24:13-34) where He came upon the two men walking on the road to Emmaus. It was the same day that Jesus had arisen from the tomb He had spent the last three days in. They were discussing the events of the last few days in Jerusalem, and were very sad. Jesus joined them on their walk and asked questions, as if He didn't know what had happened. This opened the door for Him to remind them of what they should have known from their OT Scriptures. Jesus reminded them of the words of Moses and all the prophets, and then we read in verse 27 "Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself". Can you imagine what a Bible study that must have been? Some people avoid reading the OT Scriptures, because they think they are obsolete like the old covenant that was replaced by the New Covenant. But this is a misunderstanding of the Bible. The truth is that our Bible contains both the OT and the NT Scriptures, and we need both. Someone has said concerning the two "The New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament, while the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament". In other words they are both the Word of God and we need both. It is true that some OT passages are hard to understand, but the same Spirit who inspired the authors of both (2 Tim 3:16) is available to anyone who has been "born again" by accepting Jesus by faith, and what He has accomplished for us on the cross, and receive Him as Lord and Savior. At that moment Father "adopts" you into His Eternal Family and gives you the gift of His Holy Spirit, as a seal of the transaction!!

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer                                22/08/14                                                                                                                   

 

Holding On

HOLDING ON

 

In a recent reading of (1 Tim 6) from the NLT version, my attention was drawn to part of verse 12 "---Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you----". This tells me what it is that we should be holding on to! We read in (1 John 5:11) that "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son", therefore it is really Jesus, the only begotten Son of God that we should be holding on to! Right? The first part of (1 Tim 6:12) tells us "Fight the good fight for the true faith", and then goes on to speak of holding on to eternal life. This tells me that holding on to eternal life these days will involve a fight! The Word of God tells us clearly that He will never leave us or forsake us, but it doesn't tell us we won't have to fight sometimes for our very life! We are called to live in a very wicked world, that is becoming more "Anti-Christian" all the time. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi that they should live as bright lights in a world "full of crooked and perverse people". (Phil 2:15) If that were true back in Paul's day, how much more so today, some twenty centuries later!

 

How important it is, even very critical, as followers of Jesus today, to stay real close to Him! You might be thinking how can I do that when He is heaven with the Father, and I'm here on this sin cursed earth? Remember the instructions He left with His disciples before His ascension, as recorded in the gospel of John in chapters 14, 15, and 16. He assured them it was going to be better for them for Him to go away because then He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them. The promises He gave them are still valid for us, as His followers today. So if we are to be victorious in our faith battles, it is absolutely essential that we get to know the person of the Holy Spirit, and learn to hear His voice! Some people treat Him as some sort of power that they can receive and use, but this is very wrong, and often leads to "fanaticism"! The Holy Spirit is a person, and He must be honored as such. Not only is He a person like you or me, but He is part of the Trinity, and therefore a Divine Personality! Remember this world is not our home; we are just passing through on our way to our eternal home with Jesus our Redeemer! Let's hold on fast to eternal life, and heed the warning of (Heb 2:1-4) about the danger of "drifting away"!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                               Revised 18/07/14                                                                                                            

In Christ or In The Lord

 IN CHRIST or IN THE LORD?

The term "in Christ" is used 68 times in the NT and it is an "affirmational" truth according to Bob Mumford. While "in the Lord" is used 42 times in the NT, and is what he calls "aspirational" which requires some effort on our part, or in other words it is "behavioral" in nature. "In Christ" is a "gift" from God and is completely "by grace through faith", and not by any works of ours (Eph 2:8-10), so be well aware of this fact! While "in the Lord" can be understood from (Matt 7:21-23), where we see many people who call Jesus "Lord! Lord!" but Jesus will reply to them "I never knew you, get away from me you who break God's heart". (NLT) So I think these two scripture passages show clearly the difference between the separate meanings of these phrases. I have read the scriptures for many years, and have heard many sermons preached, but have never understood the difference between these two expressions until I saw Bob teaching this truth on You Tube yesterday. This only made me more aware of the fact that we can often think we understand what certain scripture passages mean, but miss the true meaning by a mile, so to speak. So we all need to read scripture more carefully, and listen to certain people who are proven "teachers" who have been "called" by God to that position in the "Body of Christ" like Bob Mumford has been.

 

One thing I have learned in my some 50 years of being involved in various denominational churches is how easily I can think I know the true meaning of a certain Bible truth, but have the wrong basic concept, based on incomplete teaching. I have no trouble believing that the complete Bible is God's Word from cover to cover, but I have often been led astray by believing certain church "doctrines" that I was taught as being based on Bible truth, only to find out they were based on some man's understanding of some scripture passage. This could very well have been only a theory based on his interpretation of a certain scripture passage taken out of context. This is often what happened with certain doctrines that perhaps sounded good to certain church leaders, and before long they were accepted by whole denominations. I have found this to be true in several cases, which has caused me to use extra caution about any so-called "new teaching". Several NT authors have warned us to beware of "many" false teachers that will show up in our "churches" in these later days. So I take it from that fact that we all need to be careful and know who we are listening to and following. It certainly pays to be extremely cautious!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                       27/04/13