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| Toe River Chamber Ensemble - 2013 Holiday Concert - First Baptist Church, Burnsville, NC on Tuesday, December 17, 7:00 FREE and open to the public |
My Meditations on Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine
and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words/Phrases: Hear this, you who swallow up the needy and
make the poor of the land fail; Behold the days are coming/in that day (x 5);
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob; Hear my prayer, O LORD; What
is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know? He opened the seals; come
and see, look
Set Apart – A Remnant
– Amos 8 and 9 – (Facts: What It Says
– Summarized) Israel’s End: The end has come upon My people Israel. I
will not pass by them anymore. The songs will become wailing…dead bodies
everywhere. Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land
fail, saying, ‘When will the New Moon end…that we may sell…grain? And the
Sabbath…that we made trade…wheat…making the ephah small and the shekel large…falsifying the scales…by deceit…THAT…we may buy the poor
for silver…and the needy for a pair of sandals…even sell the bad wheat? The LORD’s Promise:
Surely...I will never forget…any…of their
works; the land shall tremble; everyone in it shall mourn…and it shall come to
pass in that day…I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the earth;
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations. Behold,
the days are coming, says the Lord God.
I will set my eyes on them for harm and not for good. Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the
sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth…yet…I will not utterly destroy the house
of Jacob,’ says the LORD. All the sinners…of my people…shall die by the
sword, who say…’The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’ On
that day I will…raise up, repair, rebuild …the tabernacle of David…that…they
may possess…the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by My name. I will bring back the captives of My people
Israel, and they shall build, inhabit, plant, drink, and no longer be pulled up
from the land I have given them, says the LORD your God. Principle: God’s Chosen People will face
destruction for their sins, but a remnant will be saved – including the
Gentiles who are called by His name.
The Set-Apart King
From Whom the Messiah Will Come – Psalm 143: 1-6 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) How “The Man After God’s Own Heart” Prayed: Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my
supplications. In Your faithfulness…answer me, and in Your righteousness…do not enter into
judgment with…Your servant…for…in Your sight…no one living is
righteous. King David’s Distress: The enemy has persecuted…my soul; he has
crushed…my life…to the ground; he has made me dwell in darkness, like those who
have long been dead. THEREFORE…my
spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is distressed. What the
Greatest King of Israel Does: I
remember…the days of old; I meditate
on… all Your words; I muse on…the work of Your hands. I
spread out my hands…to You;
My soul longs for…You…like a thirsty land. Selah Principle: Even the greatest king of Israel, from whose
lineage the Messiah would come, dealt with great depression, distress, and
persecution. But he always found his
solace and his help in his close, intimate relationship with God. (For the
meaning of “Selah”)
The Eternal Question
to the Set-Apart, the Chosen, the Elect – Proverbs 30:1-4 (Facts: What It Says) Augur’s Great Question: I neither learned wisdom…nor have knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended into heaven, or
descended? Who has gathered the wind in
His fists? Who has bound the waters in a
garment? Who has established all the
ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know? Principle: As believers we are called to be
holy, which is “set apart.” How do we as
believers answer those who ask us for the hope that is within us (1 Peter
3:15)? How do we declare His name and
His Son’s name to those who “have no knowledge of the Holy One?” This is why we must know Him intimately and learn and share with others the entirety of His Word
that reveals Him.
This is our Great Commission from our Lord (Matt. 28:16-20.)
The Set-Apart Saints
in The Revelation – Revelation 6 – (Facts:
What It Says – Summarized) The Lamb opens the seals; each living creature
commands John to come and see. The First Four Seals – The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse:
1) A white horse – he who sat on it had
a…bow. And…a crown was given to
him. He went out…conquering and to
conquer. 2) A fiery red horse…and it was granted…to the one who sat on it…to
take peace from the earth...and that…people should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword. 3) A
black horse…and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 4) A pale horse…and the name of him who sat
on it was Death, and Hades followed with him.
And power…was given to them…over a fourth of the earth…to kill with
sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of he earth. The Fifth Seal – the Martyred Saints: When he
opened the fifth seal, I saw…under the
altar…the souls…of those who had been slain…for the word of God…and for…the
testimony…which they held.
And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood
on those who dwell on the earth? Then
a white robe was given to each of them…and it was said to them that they should
rest a little while, until both the number…of their fellow servants and their
brethren…who would be killed…as they were, was completed. The Sixth Seal – Cataclysmic Disaster: There was an earthquake…the sun became black
as sackcloth…the moon became like blood…the stars of heaven fell to the
earth…the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up…and every mountain and
island was moved out of its place. All the kings, great men, rich men,
commanders, mighty men, slave and free hid themselves in the caves and the
rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide
us from….the face of Him who sits on the throne and…from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of His wrath has come,
and who is able to stand?' Principle: The Apocalypse is revealed. Things will look and get worse before they
get better. The souls of additional martyred saints will join those under
the altar until judgment of the
unbelieving world is complete. But hope
is not lost for the saints. They are
“set apart” for their coming reign with Christ after the judgment of the
world. Charles Stanley: Life Principles Daily Bible, -pg. 1522: The ungodly know this is the day of His wrath, and ask, ‘Who
is able to stand?’ The believer knows the answer. Even though every aspect of
worldly security is stripped from the earth, as a believer you are clothed with
the heavenly security of Christ. You
will never lack hope because you will never have to fear the presence of the King upon His throne. You have been clothed
with God’s promise, so rejoice in your confidence and security.
My Lessons and
Applications: How do I handle the knowledge that I am “set apart” by
God. Christ’s righteousness is imputed
to me, and I am, therefore, holy before God – not because of my merits but
because of Christ’s blood sacrifice for me.
How do I live out this holiness? What
might the cost of this be? How can I remain steadfast unless I am continuously
in His Word, in prayer, in an intimate relationship with Him? If the great King David knew and did this, how can
I not? How does the knowledge of the
martyred saints affect me? Does the
hatred and mockery of the world toward “Christ in me” give me cause to rejoice
and stand firm or withdraw and cower?
What if Christ should ask for more from me – all my possessions, all I
have spent my life building, or my very life?
Charles Stanley, Ibid, pg. 1521: Godly people have always died for the faith - from Abel at the beginning to Antipas (Gen
4:8 and Rev. 2:13) and these unnamed martyrs in Revelation 6:9 at the end of
time. God sometimes requires that His people sacrifice their lives for Him.
Remain true to the faith.
Acts 14: 22
Perseverance is the sign of a
true saint. Dear brothers and sisters,
conquest by God’s power has made you what you are, and continuing to conquer
must sustain you. Your motto must be:
“Exceslsior” – Latin for “ever upward.”
The only true conqueror is the one who receives a crown at the end – he
who perseveres until the war trumpet ceases to blow.
Thus our perseverance is the
target of all our spiritual enemies. The
world will not object to your being a Christian for a time of if it can tempt
you to stop your pilgrimage and, ultimately, get you to trade with it in Vanity
Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you
and prevent you from pressing on to glory, saying, “It’s tiring work being a pilgrim. Give it up.
Must I always be put to death and never be indulged?”
Satan himself will make many
fierce attacks on our perseverance. He
will strive to hinder you in your service by insinuating you are not
accomplishing any good. That you need rest, to make you weary of suffering and
whisper to you, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9).
Or he will attack your steadfastness, saying, “What is the good of being so zealous? Keep quiet like everyone else, sleep as others
do, and let your lamp go out as other virgins do.” (Matt. 25:1-13). Or he will assault your doctrine saying, “Why
do you believe these denominational creeds?
Sensible people are becoming more liberal and are removing the old fundamentals
of he faith. Get with the times!”
Therefore, dear Christian, take
up your shield, fasten your armor, and cry out mightily to God, praying that by
His Spirit you may endure to the end.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
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