Here is the message from last Wednesday Night, given by Brad Ormonde Jr. We are continuing with our study on the Essentials of the Faith and it was on, What is Salvation.
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We started the book of Isaiah yesterday. There are a total of 66 chapters of Isaiah and in the book we see the Bible, God’s redemptive plan for mankind. I love Isaiah because he points to Christ way before Christ came as baby Jesus. We can break Isaiah into 3 sections. 1) The King (ch 1-37) 2) The Servant (ch 38-55) and 3) The Anointed Conqueror (ch 56-66), these points are from J. Alec Motyer on Isaiah. If we can sum up humanity as sinners in need of a Savior we see the book of Isaiah focusing on the sin of Jerusalem and the need of a redeemer and we see in a deeper way we are the sinners in need of a Savior, Christ.
Isaiah is a prophet for Judah during the reign of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). In this book we see the importance of God being Holy and his holiness that is demanded by his children. Isaiah 2 is designated about Eschatology or the last days.
We read in this section that Jerusalem will be raised above all other cities or Israel over all nations. All nations will encourage the others to go to Jerusalem, a high mountain. They will seek the True God. We see that truly that the nations will come seeking God because he is the answer for salvation. He will send the redeemer for our salvation. During this time there will be absence of war where the righteous judge will weigh everything. Christ will come and proclaim himself as king and sit on the throne that he entitled too (Philippians 2:9-11). Only true peace will come with the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
We see that there is a contrast with the future city of the Lord and the city that Isaiah was living in. He was comparing the two and showing the differences of what he was living in and then what he was hoping in. We see that Jerusalem was following after idols of other nations but their greatest idol was wealth. It says in verse 8, “Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. Verse 7 talks about how their land is filled with silver and gold and there is no end to their treasures. They worshiped wealth! I could not help but read that and think, “This is the day and age we live in, right now.” Our culture worships possessions, money, and success. All looking at it as something they created or earned. They are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2nd Timothy 3:4) and having the appearance of godliness but denying its power (2nd Timothy 3:5).
As we see the stage set about the city we see the judgment that will take place. Three times in this chapter we see the phrase, “The terror of the Lord.” The reason is because the day of the Lord, sinners will flee to hide in caves as this is the day God will manifest his glory for all to see. This is the day that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. He will rule and reign with truth and justice. Those who have rejected Jesus as Savior will see that he is Truly Savior. To the believer, the Day of the Lord will come as refreshing as all things will be reconciled. To the unbeliever, as it says three times, the terror of the Lord, will come. You either long his return or fear it.
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SOS 3 – Do not awaken what before it’s time?
SOS 4 – What does he compare her cheeks to?
SOS 5 – The bride gets beaten. True or False
SOS 6 – The woman was a Shulammite. True or False
SOS 7 – What does he say her neck is like?
SOS 8 – Love is strong as what?
In this chapter we see the bride in a room ready for bed as her husband tries to get in the room. At last she goes to him to let him in but he is gone. She goes throughout the city looking for him and as she is looking the gate keeper (like a police officer) thinks that she is up to no good and manhandles her. She then is crying for all of the women in Jerusalem to help her find her love. She is desperately looking for her love.
As anyone that is married will tell you marriage is not the easiest thing and in marriages there are disagreements. This chapter may be a picture of an argument that the bride and husband had. Even if it was not, we see the bride looking for her husband wanting his presence and knowing that she should be with him.
If we look at this in a spiritual sense we need to know that just like in marriage there will be some hardships so too in the Christian life there will be trials. We need to know how to handle these trials when they come. We have looked in the past at different passages that say we will face trials (John 16:33; Romans 5:3; and James 1:2) and when those trials come we need to be prepared. Just like in marriage when the tough times come, you must be willing to work through the trial and endure and when you do, your marriage comes out stronger than before. If we assume that there was something that was going on for the bride and husband to not meet because of a disagreement we see that the bride then wanted to resolve it.
When we face trials realizing that as Christians we are going to go through hardships, we cannot throw in the towel. We can not give up and think God has abandoned us; we must persevere through and see our faith shining through. When we do we see that God never abandoned us. In verse 8 we see the bride’s motivation for searching for here husband and it was love. She was sick with love for him. We need to be sick with love for our Savior, that is how we endure through the hardships, the evil, in this life. When we know this we see that we can make it. When we mess up and fall short, it is not over. We are forgiven when we seek forgiveness and we grow from these trials and shortcomings.
The reality of the Christian Life is that it is not easy, it is not for the faint of heart. You have to look at it has a marathon not a sprint race and in this marathon there will be obstacles that you would not be ready for. The great news is that your coach is there with you at all times helping your through. Our heavenly Father is our coach in this race. Be prepared and keep going.
Here is a message given by Daniel Hooper who is on staff as a Pastor in training. Daniel is a great guy who loves the Lord. His message is from the Gospel of Luke.
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Here is a message from a couple of Friday nights ago. We are studying the book of James on Friday and this message focuses on James 1:18-20. There are three things that come to receive the Word. 1) Hearing it clearly. 2) Submitting to the Word. 3) Allow the Word to change you.
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Harvest Jr. High