The GOSPEL of MATTHEW: Ch. 27:34-66 – Part 2: The MESSIAH and HIS KINGDOM MESSAGE

~ By James Fire

In JOHN 7:37-39 the LORD declared:

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Spirit of God was not yet given, but once the LORD completed the work for which He was sent to Earth, and the Father glorified Him via the crucifixion and made His soul an offering for sin (ISAIAH 53:10), the opportunity for saints to be indwelt by the Spirit of God, sealed by the Spirit Who is our earnest in fact became a reality (2 COR 1:22)! No other age in all the history of the Bible afforded such an astonishing privilege as to literally become the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 COR 3:16)! This is something distinct with the body of Christ, the church of the living God (1 TIM 3:15) in this present age. However, once the Messiah returns to this Earth that He also purchased with His own blood (REV 5:9) Israel will receive Him and the prophecy of EZEKIEL 36:26 will be fulfilled (ZECH 13:6; ROM 11:26).

Yet where we are now in the study of MATTHEW is the midst of that ministry of sacrifice, atonement, propitiation, redemption and judgment. Our LORD, our LAMB of GOD Who takes away the sin of the world (JOHN 1:29), was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgressions of His people Israel, was He stricken (ISAIAH 53:8) . . .

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The SPIRIT and TRUTH Of WORSHIP

~ by James Fire

This word “worship” is a contraction of 'worth-ship' but that's a little hard to pronounce so we say ‘worship’. We focus on the 'worth-ship' of Jesus Christ, Who indeed is worthy of all our praise and adoration! Amen?

The LORD Jesus said in:

JOHN 4:23-24
. . . the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers* shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

*- Note that it says “true worshipers” as opposed to false worshipers. In Leviticus we have an example of false worship: 

LEVITICUS 10:1-3
10 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange* fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

*- The strange fire was incense that was not according to the command of the LORD, Who gave specific instructions for the production of this implement of worship: myrrh, cinnamon, kaneh bosem, cassia and olive oil. Nadab and Abihu decided ‘to do their own thing’ and come up with incense of their own. Look what happened.

The LORD Jesus observed of the religious leaders of His day:

MATTHEW 15:8-9
8 This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

So, we can rightly deduce that teaching the doctrines of the commandments of God is worshiping God rightly.

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Another Word from the Wall - HOW's YOUR DECEPTION DETECTOR?

~ By Greg Reid,

Where do I even begin? One of the advantages of the internet is I can keep up with everything that’s going on out there. One of the disadvantages of it is I have to keep up with everything that’s going on out there! 

It would be easier in some ways not to look at everything that comes across my desk. But God reminds me that a watchman’s job is not to hang out in Starbuck’s Jerusalem but to stay on the wall and make sure everyone knows what is happening, to warn of danger. I get to do the Starbuck’s thing on occasion but most of my time is by necessity and calling doing THIS. And there is just so much to report all the time, and my prayer is that I can always provide godly perspective in these times that are surely nearing Jesus’ return.

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The RAPTURE and The Tribulation of Seven Years (aka DANIEL’s 70th Week)

 
~ By James Fire

AS WEIRD AS RAIN 

In the days of Noah rainfall was a thing unheard of; the world was irrigated by a heavy mist that rose up from the ground, spread out and saturated everything (GEN 2:6).

So, when Noah (1) began building a 450’ long barge (2) (GEN 6:14-16) in the middle of dry land, and warned of a time yet to come, when the skies would open up and shed cascades of water, as well as the fountains of the deep erupting like geysers, flooding the Earth (GEN 7:11), he was mocked for such a ridiculous idea.
But just as the world mocked Noah for the idea of water falling from the heavens, the world mocks the church because we talk about the living and the dead in Christ disappearing from the Earth suddenly in a rapture, rising up and leaving this world for heaven. And this event could occur at any moment (I might not be able to finish this teaching)!

Yet the warning of coming Judgment still issued from the mouth of Noah (3), for 120 years’ worth of preaching (4) (2 PET 2:5; GEN 6:3)!

1) Noah, the Flood, and 120 Years

2) How did all the animals fit on Noah’s Ark?

3) Living Water's Ministry: NOAH the movie

4) NO ONE LISTENED TO NOAH FOR 120 YEARS

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MIDDLE EAST PROPHECY UPDATE – 2018

~ By James Fire

Prophetically speaking the Bible has much to say about Israel and the Messiah of Israel, and to understand where we are on God’s Prophetic time table, we only have to look to Israel.

It’s not always appreciated in our day, that Israel as a national entity didn’t exist for almost 1900 years (from 70 AD when the nation was dispersed by the Roman Empire until MAY 14, 1948).

For the last 70 years, the Jewish people have been brought back into the land, established once again as a national entity, with their own government, their own economy, an updated form of Hebrew, their own social structure and military – one of the greatest in the world; their Air Force is second to none! Quite an accomplishment! Their historical heritage is restored and preserved.

NEVER in all the history of humanity has this ever happened to a nation; Israel is the first and only people to have been dispersed and brought back and re-established after almost two millennia! And the Bible, the Word of God predicted that this would happen, not once, but twice – but not a third or fourth time!

ISAIAH 11:11a-12b

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, [from all the world over], and from the islands [coast lands] of the sea. 12 . . . and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

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The GOSPEL of MATTHEW: Ch. 27:1-33 – Part 1: The MESSIAH and HIS KINGDOM MESSAGE

~ By James Fire

There are those that see the crucifixion of Christ as a martyr dying for a cause; martyrs however may offer their lives for some purpose, belief or organization, or nation and are victims of their oppressors. This is not the case with the LORD Jesus Christ – He willingly offered His life; no one took His life from Him (JOHN 10:17-18). Many haters of the Jewish people will refer to them as ‘Christ-killers’ – and while the religious leaders of that day had their hand in this deed, so did the Romans – and truth be told, so did I: it was my sin that nailed Him to the cross!

Far from being merely a victim, the LORD Jesus Christ achieved the ultimate victory in this paradoxical performance of propitiatory atonement:

“In weakness like defeat, He won the victor's crown;

Trod all our foes beneath His feet, By being trodden down.  

“He Satan's power laid low: Made sin, He sin o'erthrew.

 Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so; And death by dying slew.”

Let us begin our procession into this, the Holy of Holies – the offering up of the atoning blood of our LORD and Savior . . .

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