What a great time gathering! In the midst of a busy month full of holiday activities, we carved out some time to pray, worship, learn about the celebration of Hanukkah, and “gather some oil” for our own hearts. Linda Edwards began our time together with several Christmas hymns. “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “Angels from the Realms of Glory” were two not so familiar songs that struck our hearts this year with their powerful lyrics.
After these songs, Matthew shared a great message helping us all understand the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. We were in the midst of the Hanukkah celebration at the time of the meeting so it seemed an appropriate time to enjoy jelly donuts along with our coffee and learn about this Jewish festival that often gets confused as “Jewish Christmas,” which it is not. We watched a helpful and humorous YouTube video (Hanukkah || Mayim Bialik), that explains this event on the Jewish calendar.
Matthew then read from an article "Christ in the Feast of Hanukkah by David Brickner of Jews for Jesus) explaining not only the historical facts about the Maccabean revolt against the Greek rule of that day to purge the temple from Greek desecration, but also the connections Jesus had with Hanukkah. Matthew also wrote some Hanukkah reflections in a December Blog, Hanukkah Reflections 2017 We watched a few fun videos about Hanukkah by the Maccabeats (Candlelight & Miracle & Latke Recipe). The point of this was to see that Jewish people are faithfully remembering this historical event, but they are missing the LIGHT who has come. Matthew’s main point in sharing all of this about Hanukkah was so that we would gain a heart of love for God’s people Israel. We also gain understanding of the struggles they have faced as well as their culture and customs. We realize the beauty of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. He shared a great word of wisdom that although we don’t necessarily agree with everything that the political nation of Israel does, we want to always be in agreement with God’s plans for Israel, the Land and the People. In the story of Hanukkah there was a miracle of oil that Jewish history tells. After the Jews drove out the Greeks who were polluting their place of worship, the Jews cleansed the temple. They only had enough oil for 1 day, but the oil miraculously lasted 8 days, long enough to allow them to prepare more oil. This has an application for us as we have talked about pressing out oil. We do our part of seeking the Lord and studying the Word, but ultimately, we look to Him for a miraculous supply of oil in our own lives. Ginny Wall and Ian Wilson both led us in worship focusing on having oil in our lamps and on Jesus as our light. We prayed for impartation of God’s heart for Israel as well as having oil.
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Hanukkah ended December 20th. This year, I have been more interested in this Jewish holiday than I ever have been before. I am not Jewish but a little research about it has led me on a treasure hunt, finding greater revelation and fascination with Jesus. In this season, where so many Christians are focused on the birth of Jesus, why is it important to look at Hanukkah?
Hanukkah means “dedication” and it commemorates the rededication of the Jewish temple after the Maccabean revolt. This deliverance of the Jewish people from the tyranny of the Greeks came over a century before Christ was born. The Jews were greatly outnumbered and God brought miraculous deliverance through a family known as the Maccabees. I have to admit the first thing that fascinates me about the subject of Hanukkah is the celebration of the multiplication of oil. After the Maccabean revolt in 165 BC, there is a story that appears in the Jewish Talmud that the Jews cleansed the defiled temple and lit the temple lampstand with only one jar of oil that should have lasted only one day. That oil lasted 8 days until more oil could be readied for burning. At the Lampstand meetings that we host at our house once a month we have talked about pressing out oil for ourselves so that we will have a reservoir filled with oil to burn brightly. What is the “oil” we need in our lives? The oil of a history with God. The oil pressed out by meditation and study of God’s word. The oil of growing devotion and love toward Jesus. Just as in that Jewish legend, we cannot get this “oil” in our own strength. We also need supernatural multiplication of that kind of oil. We offer our small part and He adds the other 99%. As I began to study Hanukkah even more I began to see that there was a greater miracle that the Jews experienced than the multiplication of lampstand oil. Jesus Himself and what He had come to do as Messiah and Deliverer was the greater miracle. The only time this holiday is ever mentioned in Scripture is in John 10. This is a fascinating passage in which Jesus is responding to the question asking whether He was the Messiah or not. I came across an article by David Brickner from a Jews for Jesus newsletter in 1998 that gives a simple and clear look at this passage revealing Christ in the Feast of Hanukkah. Below is one excerpt from the article. (The “Antiochus” mentioned was the Greek/Selucid ruler who declared himself “the manifest god.”) “The rededication of the Temple was a reminder of God’s power to keep His promises and preserve His people Israel. But One greater than the Temple stood on Solomon’s porch that day. And He made an astounding claim. “I and My Father are one” (v.30). Remember, this is Hanukkah. Fresh in my people’s minds was the fact that they had rightly rejected the false claims of Antiochus. Now here is Jesus, standing in the Temple asserting His own claim to deity. The reaction of my people was predictable. “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him” (v.31). And if He hadn’t been who He claimed to be, they would have been absolutely right to do so.” To read the entire article, CLICK HERE. The truth is Jesus is the Messiah, and He is everything He claimed to be, yet was missed as the “greater miracle” to the Jewish people. He was the one who could deliver them from more than the threat of Roman tyranny; He had come to deliver them from the guilt and punishment of their sin and to bring them back into right relationship with Father God. We have a great opportunity to pray for Israel and join with the apostle Paul’s desire that all of Israel would be saved. Let us pray for the Jewish people in this Hanukkah season that they would see the Light of the World, Jesus as their Messiah who is the one who still has the power to keep his promises and preserve His people Israel. Happy Hanukkah! I am so thankful for these time to get together for the purpose of beholding and worshipping the Lord and pressing out oil to fill the reservoir that our flame draws from.
It is so valued and valuable to spend time in praise and worship, thanksgiving and adoration of the Living God. Not only does He greatly value it, we join with the worship that is happening around His throne day and night. It is not a superfluous activity to fill time or simply a means to make ourselves feel better. Worship is something He is worthy of and time spent doing it honors Him. Yes, it does change our hearts and encourage us as we do it, but ultimately worship is about Him. Oh, that our worship would get bigger! This Lampstand, Ian Wilson led us in worship, it was a time of engaging with the Lord and He manifested His presence. The Message I (Matthew) shared briefly from Zechariah 4, continuing to remind us that it is the supernatural supply of oil that we need. We do our part to press out that oil and God supplies it supernaturally. What an encouragement Zechariah 4 is! Zechariah was a prophetic encouragement to those God chose to lead the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem in that day when the Jewish exiles had returned to the land. God was going to help! He promised He would be the supply. He does that for us in the assignments He gives us. We depend on His supply and we are “wow”ed when He comes through. Julie shared more from Revelation 4, specifically about the ministry of the living creatures around the throne. They sing, the great song of heaven, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, “ The beauty of the heavenly throne room is truly our reality and it is so valuable to stand before this powerful picture and ask questions. Why these details? Why living creatures? Why 4? Why wings and eyes? Why these 4 faces? One possible connection is that the Spirit is linking the 4 faces of the living creatures with the 4 aspects of Jesus revealed in the 4 Gospels. Each Gospel have things in common yet each has a unique purpose and message and they correspond to the faces of the Living Creatures around the throne. These creatures never cease beholding the Lord and declaring what they are seeing. We have a similar calling as worshippers to BEHOLD Him and to DECLARE! This kind of beholding and declaring produces a response; it brings forth the response of the elders falling down before the thrown and casting down their crowns and singing a new song! The elders sing of the worth of Jesus. We can’t even imagine what it cost Him to be slain UNTIL we know the Beauty He lived in BEFORE He was slain!! We look at what He descended from and where He is exalted to and everything shifts for us! Response: We prayed for impartation for each individual! I love these times where everyone participates in encouraging one another through prayer. It was an especially sweet time for us (Matthew and I) as parents to see Issachar stepping out to pray for individuals and share encouragement. Stay tuned for the December Lampstand as we are going to be doing something different and talking about Hanukkah and the miracle of oil! WORSHIP We had the awesome privilege of having our friends, Samuel Knopp and his son Ethan join us for the Lampstand. Samuel led us in worship and it was a powerful time lifting up the name of Jesus. We truly were positioning ourselves before the throne and beholding the Lord! I love the powerful way the Lord can bring agreement as we worship. I love that the Holy Spirit will speak the same thing to two different people in order to highlight something He wants us to see or understand. The Lord was speaking to my heart during worship about being a Bride who has made herself ready. I was reading Rev. 21 and 19:7. Kim Ellis also came to Matthew during worship feeling a similar stirring from the Lord. She shared that in thinking about Jesus coming back it is like engagement. When people were engaged in Biblical times the man would go to prepare a home for his Bride, which is what Jesus is doing now! And, women who are engaged do things to prepare for their wedding! As the Bride of Christ, what are we doing to prepare? Are we "waiting" for Him to come? Like Esther who prepared for an entire year before going to the king...we need to be preparing ourselves with sweet fragrances of prayer, weeping for our loved ones, being prepared with oil. Howard carter shared Psalm 77:11-14. I so appreciate the Lord stirring His word in people's hearts. MESSAGE We have been focusing in these Lampstand meetings on getting oil, being fueled, learning to live with our hearts alive and connected to the Lord with His Word alive in our hearts. We have specifically been pressing into Revelation 4 and 5 for the last several meetings because we feel like gazing at this "beauty realm" fuels and steadies our hearts in a powerful way. How many people can claim they have had a heavenly vision experience? It certainly does happen, but it isn't necessarily a common experience. Yet, we have this incredible gift in the Word of God of a "heavenly vision experience"! We can choose to "go there" by asking the Spirit to open up understanding of this passage! I'm going there!! I want the reality of what is going on around the throne to touch my life. I want to live daily connected to this heavenly reality! At this Lampstand meeting, Matthew shared about Revelation 4 and how we get oil from gazing on the beauty of God revealed in this throne room picture. He walked through the details that are included in this heavenly description and how and why these things are significant.
RESPONSE How can we respond to this consideration of God and His beauty other than in worship? We took time to lift up our gaze and our voices again in song! More on Revelation 4 in November.... As we sat in front of the abortion clinic this Monday with 40 Days for Life, it rained and rained. Yet it didn’t seem to stop those going in and out of the abortion clinic. As we prayed under our tent we watched a pastor who faithfully drives an hour and fifteen minutes to be a witness for life each Monday and offers to talk to each one who walks into the clinic. There was no visible response to his kind words. I contemplated the mercy that each person is being offered and yet they continue on their way. I know not all of them are completely numb to the decision they are making. I realize fear is leading some of them; fear of losing their boyfriends, fear that their lives will be wrecked, fear about someone finding out the true story. I feel like some are confused and feel like this is the only solution they have. There are many factors that play into each decision to have an abortion. I say all this to say what I am about to. When you pray for the ending of abortion, standing in front of the clinic there are times that you have to come to grips with the evil that is actually in front of you. There is an ongoing practice of absolute wickedness, innocent lives are being taken, babies are being murdered there. Oh, to say that makes me cringe at those who may take that as insensitive or condemning. Please hear me, I know God would meet any patient from the clinic, any staff worker, even the doctors with mercy and help if they chose to turn to Him in repentance. There is an opportunity for a transformed life, forgiveness, healing, and peace in Jesus. We stand in a spirit of mercy and compassion for all who are involved. And, we stand knowing we need His mercy and forgiveness for any sin in our own lives as well. But there is a holocaust in our land and this is one of the death camps. There is a mass murder and this is one of the murder sites. There is a scheme of the enemy to kill the babies and it happens at the corner of State St. and Slaughter St. in Bristol, TN. Oh, it is like a ball of pain, grief, frustration, and anger that comes with knowing what is going on across the street from where we pray. It is a temptation to get bitter and angry in an unholy way. ABORTION IS WRONG: IT IS WRONG FOR THOSE WHO PERFORM THEM, FOR THOSE WHO ASSIST AND ENCOURGE ABORTION, AND FOR THOSE WHO GET THEM. Indeed, there is a call to the church in the Tri-Cities to do something about it. We pray, we fast, we hold signs, we offer sidewalk counseling, we talk about it, and we respond. We cannot be as ostriches who stick their heads in the sand over this issue. Where is the church who will labor to see this clinic close, to see the murder stop? To see those who have had abortions receive healing and wholeness? To see women in crisis receive help and hope? It’s now time to respond to God. If not now, when? I want to offer a measure of comfort to those who seek justice in the face of wickedness, who pray for the ending of abortion. Psalm 37 says Vs 1Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb…… Vs 7Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more…. Vs. 34 Wait on the Lord, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree. 36 Yet he passed away,[a] and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found. Vs 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him. We put our trust in the Lord to ultimately deal with the wickedness we witness, especially when the current laws and culture give allowances for it. We trust He will deal with those who do evil and those who practice abortion. The wickedness will be judged and those who have been involved in it will face His judgment, and we look to Jesus for His mercy towards them. He stands as the one who took on their punishment. Rest in Him as you labor against abortion. Trust in Him as you stand for LIFE. We continue to stand for the rest of the 40 Days for Life looking to the One who actually created babies in the womb and appeal to Him to bring justice for them. He will sooner or later. We pray sooner…. Let abortion end in the Tri-Cities and all across our nation. We are well into the fall campaign of 40 days for Life, praying for the ending of abortion. Locally, we gather on State St. in Bristol, TN across from the abortion clinic and pray. I will be honest. This time of prayer can be difficult to endure. Sometimes, the thoughts of “When is this ever going to be over?” fill your mind. This is not necessarily referring to the campaign but the practice of abortion that is an atrocity in our region and throughout the nation. I mean, 8 years of praying regularly and the clinic is still open. We still see women going in the clinic for that purpose. It is heartbreaking but more than that, it is heart sickening sometimes. Yet I can step back and breathe and thank the Lord for those who have been raised up who ask to talk to those women going in and out of the clinic and offer another solution and hope. They are voices for LIFE that have chosen to continue on past 40 Days for Life and they stand all year to serve the Lord in front of that clinic. When we started praying 8 years ago in Bristol, there were few to pray and hardly anyone offering help directly in front of the clinic. I thank God for the consistent voices crying out. I thank God for the constant witness of life and truth. I thank Him for the other LIFE victories in our nation and region. Sometimes in the prayer time we hold signs by the road and pray. Signs saying, “Pray for the Ending of Abortion”, “Men Regret Lost Fatherhood”, “Women Regret Abortions”, “Choose Life”” etc. Passersby in cars have all sorts of reactions. We have profanity yelled at us, people who throw trash, and many not so nice gestures. We also have many honks and waves. We also get a lot of thumbs up. One particular day earlier in the campaign, I was particularly burdened by both the issue for life and areas of personal struggle. A car passed by and both in the front seat gave me a thumb’s down. It was more than just general discouragement. I was weighed down with “Will this ever change?” As I talked to the Lord about it. I asked Him to give me 2 thumbs up to encourage my heart. The rest of the morning passed and I never saw it. I encouraged myself in the Lord and kept going. One day last week I was pained by what was going on in the clinic. It’s easy for me to get upset by what we witness when we are down there. We chose to stand with signs by the road. A car honked and I looked up to see 2 thumbs up from the two in the front seat. I was surprised. I forgot about what I asked of the Lord. Tears started streaming down my face as He ministered to me. Through that little incident, I was encouraged that He is smiling over me. It was an affirmation and approval of my choice to stand for LIFE, that I was doing the right thing and that He was proud of me, an affirmation of the sacrifices I have made to stand for the unborn. Even an affirmation of my choice to respond to His calling on my life overall. He used 2 thumbs up to encourage me. And I am thankful for that. God is like that. He wants to encourage us in the assignments He gives us. He never leaves us alone. So, I say to all those who stand up for LIFE, for those who are part of 40 Days in various cities across America and the world, “2 THUMBS UP” and I remind you of an instruction from the Scripture (that is actually on one of the signs we hold at 40 Days for Life) “Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die.” Proverbs 31:8 It is interesting how the Spirit leads. We had arranged for Ian Wilson to lead worship at this meeting, but earlier in the week, I (Julie) had felt like I should prepare to lead worship just in case. And, that day we discovered that Ian was feeling under the weather and so I stepped in to lead with a thankful heart that the Lord had prepared me ahead of time! I felt that there was such grace to enter in and to go before the throne boldly together. Matthew shared briefly about being fascinated by the Lord and beholding him. This has been our inspiration in digging deeper into some Biblical topics that will help us fix our hearts on Jesus and behold Him. I shared from Revelation 4 and 5. I gave a brief overview of these chapters looking at the context of them within the full picture of the book of Revelation. John is in prison on an island and he has had an encounter with Jesus and then he is instructed to write messages to seven churches. Then as chapter 4 opens, he sees an open door into the heavens and he hears a voice (it is Jesus) inviting him up to "see what must take place after this." But, before John is given the revelation of the things that will come to fulfill all of history, he sees a throne. This is truly the kindness of the Lord that He invites us to see everything from the vantage point of His throne. Once we behold the throne and really study this incredible scene, we have greater grace to see BIG things as BIG and small things as SMALL. So, why bother to study this rather fantastical scene in a rather fantastical book? Because the Scripture makes it clear that we are destined for that place! Colossians 3:1-4 says that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places, and exhorts us to fix our minds and hearts on those heavenly places. None of the details of that scene have changed since John caught a glimpse of it! It is so worth our time to look at the details and the big picture of it in order to understand that this is where our hearts are called to be even now, but also this will be a beautiful familiar place to us for all of eternity. Jesus, in Matthew 24:6-8, commands us not to be alarmed in light of terrible things that will occur on earth. How are we not to be alarmed? Even today we see so many troubling things happening around us and so how can we avoid a response of fear? I would argue that fixing our gaze for significant amounts of time on the throne of God that is firmly fixed in the eternal places gives us confidence to stand firm in difficult times. We will look again in more detail at these passages in our next Lampstand meeting! Worship response We took time again to go before the throne, inviting the presence of the Lord to stir our hearts and seal His word in us. Prayer for needs: We always take time to pray for personal needs, as we feel this is important that people can find encouragement in agreement. We also prayed for our national leaders to have wisdom as hurricanes were tearing through parts of the country. What a sweet blessing these times of fellowship with the Lord are for us! Thank you to all who come and join us! Wow! It is hard to believe that the fall 40 Days for Life campaign is upon us. It begins on September 27th and goes through November 5th! For those of you who don’t know, here’s a brief summary of what this ministry is about from their website: “40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil to end abortion.” To read more about the campaign in the Tri-Cities, CLICK HERE. To learn more about the international ministry of 40 Days for Life, visit the website www.40daysforlife.com. This past Sunday afternoon, we had a rally preceding the campaign. Instead of gathering in Johnson City (as we have done in years past), we gathered across from the Bristol Regional Women’s Center, the abortion clinic we pray in front of for the ending of abortion during the campaign. Linda, our fearless leader, had asked me to share about the subject of solemn assemblies in regard to 40 Days for Life and this fall campaign, even calling those gathered there to the solemn assembly gathering that the 40 Days for Life Rally in Bristol is. A solemn assembly is a time of serious gathering for God’s people, to humble themselves and cry out to the Lord to have mercy in the face of His judgments. A clear picture of this is in the book of Joel. In Joel, the people of God have turned from the Lord and are under His judgments. They are experiencing great economic crisis and are under the threat of an invading army. The instruction God gives His people through the prophet is to blow the trumpet, sound the alarm, gather the people, return to the Lord, rending their hearts and not their garments. It is a call to repent and seek the Lord. If they respond, then there is hope God will restore the land and protection. We as a nation are in great crisis. Abortion alone has claimed the lives of over 60 million innocent babies. We have embraced and celebrated immorality. We have issues of hatred and racism. We have gone against God’s purposes for Israel. We have turned to greed, self-reliance, pride, compromise and covetousness. We have abandoned God for idols of pleasure, entertainment, comfort, possessions and money. We have stepped out from under God’s protection and we have turned from God. Because of that we have faced current race riots, natural disasters of hurricanes and flooding, wildfires ravishing the west, not to mention the effects of the sins we have committed. Many have opinions about what we should do in the face of crisis but God gives us a prescription for what we are to do first when we are in crisis: gather and turn to Him. With this upcoming 40 Days for Life, we are gathering on the streets with this understanding. We want God’s mercy (specifically the ending of abortion) and so we will humble ourselves before the Almighty God and appeal to His mercy. We will make a conscious effort to seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Please join with us in this prayer movement/solemn assembly. Contact us if you would like to be involved. Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. Joel 1:14 Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Race Weekend in Bristol and a week of moving bedrooms around in our house (read: CHAOS!), and then a Lampstand meeting! Circumstances may not always seem ideal, but it is always a blessing to make time in our lives to stop and seek the Lord. Worship: Even before we began to worship, we jumped right into a prayer time for God's people in this region to be a house of prayer. We were meeting and worshiping that night at almost the same time as the Bristol Nascar race. There was an encouraging story from years ago about a young girl who had a vision of a racetrack and a small house of prayer in the same area and that God heard the sound from the tiny house of prayer as being louder than the sound of the racetrack. This is an encouragement to us that even though we may be small, God sees and hears from heaven. We were praying that God would awaken ALL of His church in this region to be a praying people who would cry out to Him! Ian, for those of you who don't know him, is an excellent worship leader (and a husband to Abbi and father of 2 cutie little girls). He has written some songs that are among my favorites. On this Saturday night, he was focusing in on Jesus. We were really lifting Him up during worship and looking at Him and His work on the cross and His mercy and goodness. It was so powerful. There was truly a grace that was given to us to see Jesus, to behold Him, as we lifted Him high together. Matthew said that during worship he felt like the Lord was saying He would establish a "helpline" through our praise. He read from Psalm 28 and said that as we lift up Jesus and make much of Him (praise), then we will see Him work on our behalf. Linda said she felt during worship like there was a portal open and the Bride was standing ready with voices filled with praise. The Message: We sometimes hear a message that so encourages us we know we couldn't say it any better so we share that with the folks who come to the Lampstand meeting. This was one of those times. We listened to a message from Times Square Church in NYC by Gary Ham entitled "Behold the Man." He was looking at the passage in John 19 when Pilate brings Jesus before the people in the crown of thorns and purple robe, all beaten and abused, and says, "Behold the Man!" This message went so much along with what Matthew has shared at the last two Lampstand meetings and what the Lord has continued to highlight to us that it was a powerful challenge to us to fix our eyes on Jesus. Especially in the midst of challenges that we face, we must fix our eyes on Jesus. We must answer the invitation of the Spirit to BEHOLD this Man. This One who has created the heavens and earth, and performed so many miracles, who claimed to be God, who then took the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. This One who lives now to make intercession for us and who IS coming again to rule and reign on the earth. Here is the link to the teaching...it is worth it to listen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afWjdJCwBiM The Response: Before we moved into a response, Skip Cone shared a thought comparing Zechariah 6:9-13 with the John 19 passage. Hundreds of years before Jesus came, Zechariah prophesied this invitation to behold by putting a crown on a man with the same Hebrew name as Jesus (Joshua, which means "salvation"). That Joshua received the word that God was sending forth, His servant "the Branch". It is amazing that word "Nazarene" means branch. Jesus had the title of “the Branch” declared over Him on the cross when he was crucified. The sign said, “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews” (John 19:19). Amazing to see God's word declare Jesus from cover to cover! The work of the Holy Spirit is truly to lift Jesus up and to draw attention to Him! After the message, we broke up into groups to pray for one another and to share together anything that specifically impacted us or that we felt we needed to respond to. Let us all live our lives beholding Jesus and considering who He is, what He did, and what He is doing now and what He will do... Let us be fascinated by Him all of our days! To the saints who are in Ephesus and the faithful who are in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:1 Identity is such a catch phrase these days. Everyone is talking about knowing who we are and knowing our identity. There is also so much confusion about identity. Wouldn't it be helpful to know, to really know, who we are? Especially as Believers? Who am I? And, how do I find out? Well, maybe the answer is somewhere we wouldn't expect. To the saints who are in Ephesus and the faithful who are in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:1 These simple words at the beginning of Ephesians that you can read in chapter 1 verse 1 that are so easily skimmed over actually contain some important answers to the above questions. If you are diving into a reading of this letter from Paul to the Ephesian believers, we usually skip over most of the words to see who is Paul addressing: Ephesians. Okay, now on to the meat of the letter. But, if we are going to zoom in a little closer and carefully consider each word as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is encouraging us to do in his sermon series on Ephesians, then we must stop and see that there is something much bigger here than what is visible in a quick glance. We are seeing something profound here: a statement of who we are as believers! These few, brief introductory words highlight some keys about who we are at the very core before the Lord. Let's take a look at each piece of this picture Paul is painting. 1. Saints Paul is addressing this letter not to every single person in Ephesus, but to the SAINTS in Ephesus. What is a saint? What does that word mean? Who are saints? Many people back up right then and think they can't be a saint because they feel average in their struggle to live for God. Surely, a saint is a "special" Christian of some kind. But, let's look a little more carefully at the word. Saint means "holy," which means “set apart." So, a saint is someone who is set apart from the world, but also set apart FOR something: for a specific purpose and for a specific relationship. Would that apply only to a select group of Believers? No. Every Believer, every person who calls on the name of Jesus for salvation is set apart for God. Which means every believer is holy, a saint. Even the new, struggling believer. Even the weary, doubting believer. Each one who persists in following Christ, is a saint. 2. The faithful Paul doesn't just call the Believers "saints" but also refers to them as "the faithful." The faithful. This has layers of meaning. Literally "faith" and "full"... we are those who are full of faith. We are full of faith in Christ, believing in Him. ALSO, we are faithful in the sense of committed, loyal, or unswervingly devoted. 3. In Christ Jesus We are those who are "In Christ Jesus." We are faithful in Christ, but we are also simply “in Christ;" we are those who are found abiding in and trusting in and leaning on Him. Our lives as Believers, our very identity comes from knowing that we are in Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in Him. We now belong to Him. We truly are not our own. We have been "redeemed," bought back from the bondage of slavery to sin and we are now "owned" by Christ, our Redeemer. Stopping to consider and tear apart each of these phrases fills my soul with strength. Paul and the Holy Spirit who inspired his writing intended this letter to be for all Believers everywhere. So, put yourself in these terms. I am a saint. I am set apart for relationship with God and for His purposes. I am faithful. I am full of the gift of faith that only the Spirit can give. I am true and loyal to Jesus and by His grace I will endure in my faith until I see Him. I am in Christ Jesus. I belong to Him. I am hidden in Him. I am abiding in Him (John 15). This changes the way I think about myself and makes me confident in my identity in Him. I don't have to be confused about who I am. I am a saint; I am faithful; and I am in Christ Jesus. |
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November 2020
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