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Tom Fannin—July 15, 2022
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Matthew 24:4: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Be on guard, so that no one deceives you. For many shall come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ"; and they shall deceive many'" (vs 4-5).
We've seen this over time, and through the years it's talked about some in history, those who have appeared and claimed to be Christ. We know as time goes on we will be seeing more of this.
Verse 6: "And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you do not let these things disturb you. For it is necessary that all these things take place, but the end is not yet."
I know that a love of people in the Church have probably said, 'For years and years, though all time, there have been wars continually and rumors of wars. Certainly in this time, if you haven't noticed, there's a difference! Things have escalated! A lot of the nations in this world that are at war or contemplating war have a lot to do prophetically with what's coming.
Definitely there is something brewing, and we know that Satan is at work behind this.
Verse 7: "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places."
We see that, and when you read the news, all over the world there are different things going on; certainly there are a lot of problems in the world right now, a lot of things for us to be concerned about.
Verse 8: "Now, all these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake" (vs 8-9).
When you read that that's talking about the end-time and what will happen to a lot of God's people.
Verse 10: "And then shall many be led into sin, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold" (vs 10-12).
We see that now! In society how much love do people really have for one another? Hopefully in the Church that's not a problem, but that can be a problem, and I believe it is also a problem within the Church.
Verse 13: "But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come" (vs 13-14).
In the times that we're living in, and we know times to come, these things are intensifying! Satan is stirring things up, but prophetically we know that these things are to come to pass.
- Are our eyes open to what's going on?
- Are they open, more importantly, to God's Word?
- Are our eyes open to the Truth?
- Are our eyes open to God's promises?
At times when we read these things like we just read that are going to come, in many people's opinions a lot of things are starting to happen.
- Do we find ourselves having some fear of what's going on?
- Do we find ourselves sometimes having doubts about our calling and what we need to be doing ourselves personally?
With that, I want review the account of Elisha. As we get started in 2-Kings 6 we're going to be reading about the king of Syria and how at that time he was coming after Israel; the king of Israel in particular.
2-Kings 6:8: "And the king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servants, saying, 'In such and such a place shall be my camp.' And the man of God… [Elisha] …sent to the king of Israel, saying, 'Beware that you do not pass such a place, for the Syrians have come down there.' And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God told him and warned him, and saved himself there, not once nor twice" (vs 8-10).
So, we know this happened a few times, he was able to save himself and those with him.
Verse 11: "So, the heart of the king of Syria was enraged for this thing. And he called his servants and said to them, 'Will you not show me, which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?'"
You can just imagine being the king of Syria here and his army. He's got these well-thought plans and they don't come to pass; every time he doesn't succeed with what he's trying to do. It's very frustrating for him, and he's probably wondering what's going on!
Verse 12: "And one of his servants said, 'None, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet, who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.' And he said, 'Go and spy where he is so that I may send and bring him.' And it was told him, saying, 'Behold, he is in Dothan.' And he sent there horses and chariots and a great army. And they came by night and surrounded the city" (vs 12-14).
At this point they probably think that we have Elisha now; 'he's in this city and we've got this city surrounded, so we have succeeded.'
- Isn't that how it is with this world and Satan when it comes to God's people in the Church?
- How many times do you think they've had success in harming or disrupting God's people?
But those plans didn't come to pass!
Let's see what happens here; the city was surrounded!
Verse 15: "And the servant of the man of God arose early and went out. And, behold, an army surrounded the city, and horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?'"
This servant sees this big army out there and he's certainly distressed over it. He's got a lot of concern about what's going on! I'm sure that he's afraid of what's happening here.
Verse 16: "And he [Elisha] answered, 'Do not fear, for those with us are more than those with them.'"
Brethren, that's something we should always remember. When we were called and went into covenant with God and Jesus Christ, there are always more of us than there are of them, because we have God and Jesus Christ on our side continually, and all the Holy angels! It's good for us to just remember this if nothing else: There are more of us than there are of them! Elisha knew this!
Verse 17: "And Elisha prayed and said, 'I pray You, LORD, open his eyes so that he may see.' And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."
This young man, this servant, was able to see what was there; what was really there around them. I'm sure that was strengthening and encouraging for him, and something he never forgot!
- Do we fear?
- Are our eyes open to see what God is doing continually? They should be!
If we have fear, it closes our eyes! Fear puts us in a position where we can't understand or focus on the things that we need to be focusing on:
- God
- His presence
- the Word
- the Truth
- His promises that He's made to us
This is a blinding that occurs when we have fear! Hopefully that we can have the confidence that Elisha had, to know what was there and the Power thereof, where God was able to open this man's eyes also to see that.
What can cause us to have our eyes closed spiritually! To have these types of fears where we don't recognize what's done through God and Christ.
We have a light shining upon us continually that we can see.
2-Corintians 4:1: "Therefore, having this ministry, according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain, not walking in cunning craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the Truth, we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience before God" (vs 1-2).
There was a proper way that Paul and the others with him—Silas, Timothy, Titus, whomever—there was a certain way that they delivered the Word of God correctly and faithfully.
Verse 3: "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing; in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe…." (vs 3-4).
That's how Satan works; he works constantly to keep this world blinded to what the Truth is!
"…lest the Light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we do not preach our own selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake, because it is God Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, Who shined into our hearts the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, we have this treasure in earthen vessels in order that the supremacy of the power may be of God, and not from us" (vs 4-7).
We have God's Spirit within us! It's a light of knowledge! We need to use that and exercise that! We know what it produces and He gives us this mind where we can put away fear, and have our eyes opened to the things that our eyes need to be on.
But Satan's desire is to blind! Within the Churches his desire is also to blind us who have been enlightened to this Truth and this knowledge that we have and become blinded again to it.
Paul wrote that we need to be mindful of Satan's schemes, and not be ignorant of them. He will work any way he can to cause blinding. One way not to be in fear is being skilled in God's Word! How important is that that we know God's Word?
Hebrews 5:9: "And having been perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him, after He had been designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchisedec; concerning Whom we have much to say and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing" (vs 9-11).
All the things that Jesus did and that He came here to be the Perfect Sacrifice and our Savior, all the things that He came to teach and reveal to us—including the Father—there was so much that needed to be taught about Christ! But because of where they were, and this being '…dull of hearing...' it was hard to do that! We don't want to find ourselves in that same position!
We want to be eager to hear and learn and practice these things, as Paul will talk about as we continue on.
Verse 12: "For truly, by this time you ought to be teachers, but instead you need to have someone teach you again what are the beginning principles of the oracles of God, and have become those in need of milk, and not of solid food. For everyone who is partaking of milk is unskilled in the Word of Righteousness because he is an infant. But solid food is for those who are fully grown, who through repeated practice have had their senses trained to discern between good and evil" (vs 12-14).
To help us with fears or doubts, knowing God's Word is critical! Knowing the Word of Righteousness and by practicing this, as Paul talked about, He gives us the ability to have discernment and to know the difference between good and evil, to recognize what's going on. So we can have confidence and courage. As again, as we're talking about in this message, maybe not have the doubts and the fears.
Hopefully, for all of us we enjoy studying God's Word! It's not a chore for us, or it's not something we don't look forward to; or that it's something we do because we feel it's necessary to 'check the box' for that day.
We look forward to and yearn for God's Word, the study and understanding of it. Hopefully all of us in the Church that's our desire every day is to hear from God and His Word, and to learn to be on the 'meat' of God's Word and not the 'milk.'
If we're still on, at this point, on the 'milk' of God's Word, it's not fruitful! We need to on the 'meat' of God's word and growing and developing. We need to developing ourselves, personally, and understanding this opportunity that God has given us through His calling.
Let's go over the Parable of the Talents, particularly about the person who received one talent.
Matthew 25:24: "Then the one who had received the single talent also came to him and said, 'Lord, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. And because I was afraid, I went and hid your talent in the earth. Now look, you have your own.' His lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather what I did not scatter. Because you knew this, you were duty-bound to take my talent to the money exchangers, so that when I came, I could have received my own with interest. Therefore, take the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance; on the other hand, as for the one who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken from him. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.' There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (vs 24-30).
It's our responsibility! Once we entered into covenant to develop ourselves spiritual, to have the goal to develop the mind of Christ. That was part of what we agreed to when we went into covenant.
- Are we afraid to do this?
as we received this calling and understanding
- Do we have fear in doing that?
- What's our attitude toward God?
- Is our attitude like the servant here where he looked at God and basically told God what He was in his opinion, a hard man?
- What are our thoughts of God?
- Do we look at God that way?
We know that's not who God is. God is a God of love and very merciful and patient with us! Yet, He desires for us to grow and develop.
We know that with this servant here (Mat. 25), the real answer is what God told him; he was wicked and lazy!
What we've been given through this calling, we need to be growing and developing in. if we do that, we'll grow in confidence. Help our fears! We need to look at God for Who God is; the loving God! Not like this man who received the single talent.
Sometimes the fears or doubts we have can come from lack of faith. God desires us to have faith in Him. When we talk about faith Heb. 11 is a chapter we turn to.
Hebrews 11:6: "Now, without faith it is impossible to please God…."
Think about what we read with Elisha (2-Kings 6), and his faith, knowing that everything was going to be okay! That there were more of us than there are of them!
Elisha had prayed that the Lord would open his eyes so he could see and understand this and the faith that he had.
"…For it is mandatory for the one who comes to God to believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (v 6).
- Are there rewards for seeking God?
- Are there rewards for having faith in God?
Yes, there are! There are a lot more than just the physical things! They have a lot to do with God's Spirit and how that's working within us, and the increasing of our faith helps generate more of God's power and His Spirit within us!
We always have to look to God first!It's easy to look to ourselves first. God desires us to look to Him and not try to come up with our own solutions. If we find ourselves where we're trying to figure out things for ourselves and we don't have faith in God and diligently seek after Him and look to Him, we can find ourselves as this servant was and our eyes are shut, closed not able to see.
Building our faith and having faith and coming to God that way is very important for us in our spiritual walk.
Another part of this is that we need to continually have the relationship with God and Christ and keep that relationship with them, continually looking to Christ our personal Savior and elder Brother.
Matthew 14:25: "Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled and said 'It is an apparition!' And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good courage; it is I. Do not be afraid'" (vs 25-27).
They knew Who Christ was, so He had to let them know it was He and they didn't need to be afraid.
Verse 28: "Then Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is You, bid me to come to You upon the waters.' And He said, 'Come.'…. [if you have faith that you can do this, come to Me] …And after climbing down from the ship, Peter walked upon the waters to go to Jesus" (vs 28-29).
I'm not sure how big the ship was, probably a decent size shipping vessel that was out of the water. Peter climbed down out of the ship and sees the water that he could stand on and start walking toward Christ.
Peter was the only one Who requested to do this. None of the other seemed to have any interest in this, but Peter was ready.
Verse 30: "But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became afraid; and as he was beginning to sink,he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" (vs 30-31).
It was all going great there! Here Peter got down and Christ gave him the ability to walk on the water through his faith, but then the winds hit and he started thinking about other things. He began to sink because he took his mind off Christ and the relationship with Christ; and the faith in Christ when He said, 'Come.'
It's important for us to continually have that relationship and our mind on Christ and God and what They're doing and look to Them!
If we start looking at the physical things that we face or run into, in that instance at times like Peter did with the strong winds there, and our focus gets on that for too long, the physical things that can trouble us or be stumbling blocks for us that try and test us. We can find ourselves in a situation where we have fear and doubts. So, we need to keep our mind on Christ and our faith in Him!
Matt. 16—Christ had just told the apostles that the things that were going to happen to Him in Jerusalem, including that He would die.
Matthew 16:22: "But after taking Him aside, Peter personally began to rebuke Him [Jesus], saying, 'God will be favorable to You, Lord. In no way shall this happen to You.'"
The things that Christ was telling them that would happen to Him, and did!
Verse 23: "Then He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, because your thoughts are not in accord with the things of God, but the things of men.' And Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and let him take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it; but whoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it'" (vs 23-25). Again, it goes back to:
- Where are our thought?
- Are our thoughts on the things of God?
- Are our thoughts on the things that God is doing?
God is working on the prophetic things that we know will happen, that are necessary to take place! OR:
- Are our thoughts on men?
- Are our thoughts on physical things that are not relevant to what God is doing, the bigger picture?
That's where our mind needs to stay on! As we see all of these thing like we read starting off in Matt. 24. When we see thee things go on we need to remember what God is doing: the bigger picture!
We don't know what's getting ready to come to pass here in the near future. But our lives are about being in God's Kingdom.
Verse 26: "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall render to everyone according to his doings. Truly I say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste of death until they have seen the Son of man coming in His Kingdom" (vs 26-28).
These physical lives aren't always about trying to save our physical lives. As it talks about here it is leaving God's Kingdom:
Verse 25: "For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it; but whoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it." That's the mind we need to have!
John 12:35: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Yet, a little while the Light is with you. Walk while you have the Light, so that the darkness will not overtake you. For the one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.'"
Don't we still have the Light now? We still have been able to do so many things! I know that there are a lot brethren that are really going through trials, problems and difficulties, but for a lot of the brethren in this nation (USA) I live in and some of the other countries where the Israelites are now, there are still freedoms and opportunities to do things, just like we do here in this meeting. So, we still have the opportunity and time to do things that we need to be doing.
Verse 36: While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become the children of Light.' Jesus spoke these things and then departed from them and was in hiding. Although He had done so many miracles in their presence, they did not believe in Him" (vs 36-37).
So yes, we still have the Light, the Word of God, the Light that is in us through the Holy Spirit. The Light that shines upon us! We need to believe in this and be faithful and strong in this while we have this opportunity! There's coming a time where it may not be as easy for all of us as it is right now. We have seen some changes where it's not as easy for some! But we can still do some things, and we need to take advantage of that.
Remember the miracles! "…He had done so many miracles in their presence, they did not believe in Him." Reflect on the miracles that God has done with all of us in the Church and within our lives!
Again, it's important to take advantage of the opportunity we have; we still have a great opportunity with that relationship with God and Christ no matter what our condition is, we always have that!
As far as our fears, we need to stay strong in God and rely on Him! Paul mentions this:
Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength."
- Can we do this? It's something we have to, really!
- But are we able to do this?
- To be strong in God and His strength?
We have to overcome ourselves so much of the time! For a lot of people it's hard not to rely on and look to other sources for power and strength. But we have to have a mind where we go to God and we're strong in Him and mighty in His strength! That's the only way we will get through some of the things that coming!
If we rely on ourselves or on other physical things, we'll find ourselves in trouble! In fact, eventually having fear and doubt.
King David was a great example of someone who had strength in God; strength in His power and might coming through God to him. Let's see what David says about this in Psa. 28. We know what God went through in His life; he was a man of war and saw a lot of war in his lifetime.
- How did he get through all of that, all those troubled times?
- Times when he was destitute and probably in fear for this life?
Mostly because of God!
Psalm 28:7: "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped."
He knew that! He had to have a heart and mind that trusted in God!
"…Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him" (v 7).
That's the confidence that David had, and he rejoiced in that confidence. We know all the things that David went through, but he relied on God and he was faithful to God. He received power and strength through that. That's what we need, too, as we start approaching more of the times at the end. We're also to remember:
- Who do we really fear?
- Do we fear God?
or
- Do we fear man?
- Do we fear what man can do to us"
or
- Do we fear ultimately what God is capable of doing?
Matthew 10:28—Christ said: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but do not have power to destroy the life; rather, fear Him Who has the power to destroy bothlife and body in Gehenna."
This is something really important to remember: God has the power to destroy life! God and Jesus Christ created all things. It says that all thing were created through Him and for Him!
No matter if it was in heaven or on earth! God and Jesus Christ were the Creators of all things! God has the authority and God can and will destroy life, all life that's been created. I know that at times there have been philosophies of men within the Church that have said that God can't destroy spirit. It says right here that He has the authority to take away and destroy life. That's all life! So it's something to remember here.
We need to fear God! But for us—and really all mankind—God desires for everyone to be in the Kingdom. He desires for all to repent; He doesn't desire for anybody to perish! God has this authority and this power to take away all life. So yes, we want to fear God, which is the point here! We don't want to fear what man can do to us. Man can destroy the body, but man can't take away the life, the eternal life that we look forward to. Only God can take care and kill the eternal life; take that life away!
Another thing to think about when we look at ourselves and where we're at spiritually when it comes to these things:
Do we have God's love within us? We know there is all kind of help that comes through God's love. The Spirit that we have within us is a spirit of love. It's also a Spirit of power and sound mindedness that God has put within us.
Going back to what was said that God has the power to take away life, one thing we need to be careful to do is to NOT tell God what He can't do! I've heard that within the Church where people have said that God kill spirit. Let's be careful that we NEVER tell God what can and can't do! A lot of things that we don't really have a clear understanding about are in God's authority. He and Christ know exactly what they're going to do. We trust in Them; in all Their decisions.
1-John 4:14: "And we have seen for ourselves and bear witness that the Father sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God…" (vs 14-15).
We know that's a true confession of Who Jesus Christ is and where He came from and what He came here on earth to do! A faithful and true confession!
"…God dwells in him, and he in God. And we have known and have believed the love that God has toward us. God is love, and the one who dwells in love is dwelling in God, and God in him. By this spiritual indwelling, the love of God is perfected within us, so that we may have confidence in the Day of Judgment, because even as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in the love of God; rather, perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. And the one who fears has not been made perfect in the love of God" (vs 15-18).
So, we do have this spiritual indwelling, and we just need to make sure that we're allowing God's Spirit to fully work within us. It is the spirit of love and it's at work!
It's really a testimony of who we are, that Spirit within us and the fruits that born from that Spirit within us and our actions. It takes a long time to develop. This mind of Christ and the mind of God and the love that They have. It's something that we work at every day diligently.
- IF we find ourselves fearing
- IF we find ourselves with a different mind than what we read about here
THEN
- maybe we're lacking some things in our lives that we need to be doing
- maybe we're lacking the use of God's Spirit within us and what it's there for
It is a spirit of love and there's no fear in that love!
We should be being perfected by it and developing a different mind! Not the mind that Christ was telling Peter that he had, which was a mind that thinks about the things of men, a mind of man; but the mind of God and what God thinks about, which is God's love! That's where our efforts need to be, too. Particularly developing the love for God and Christ in one another.
It's important every day that we strive in our faithfulness as far as our behavior, the behavior that God wants us to show and be developing toward Him! Not only with Him but also with mankind and how we conduct ourselves and the example that we set as the children of God.
Daniel set the example with the king and also with God, too.
Daniel 6:3: "Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the presidents and satraps because a surpassing spirit was in him. And the king was planning to set him over all the kingdom."
Because of who Daniel was and with God's Spirit dwelling within him and God giving him favor, he had a lot of wisdom that was given to him from God. We know that at times those who are in power and authority with Him, or those in the authority in the world—and sometimes we've seen it in the Church—there's a lot of jealousies and envies and strifes that go on. This was happening with Daniel, as well.
Verse 4: "Then the presidents and rulers sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. But they could find no occasion or fault because he was faithful. Neither was there any error or fault found in him."
What Daniel did in serving King Darius, he was faithful in his service. There wasn't any fault or error found in him at all. We know that they setup a plot against him where there was a decree that came our from King Darius. There was a period of 30 days that no one was to bring any kind of petition or praying to anyone but the king. They knew that Daniel was faithful to God and he prayed to God and caught him in his prayers to God.
A decree was made that if anybody does this to anyone else besides the king, to any other gods or men, they are going to be put in the lion's den. One thing about King Darius, and some of the other kinds at that time, they were faithful to what they agreed to. So, even though King Darius really liked Daniel when this was found out, Daniel was sent to the lion's den.
Verse 18: "Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting…."—because Daniel was in the lion's den with these lions and the king cared about Daniel! He didn't want Daniel to be there, but he was kind of tricked into it.
"…And instruments of music were not brought before him, and his sleep fled from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and hurried to the lions' den. And when he came near the den, he cried with a grieved voice to Daniel. The king spoke and said to Daniel, 'O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God Whom you serve continually able to deliver you from the lions?'" (vs 18-20).
Verse 21: "Then Daniel said to the king, 'O king, live forever. My God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me because before Him innocency was found in me. And also before you, O king, I have done no harm'" (vs 21-22).
- Daniel was faithful to God
- Daniel was obedient to God
- Daniel was an example to King Darius
He had done King Darius no harm; he was faithful also to him and set the example of that nation there.
Verse 23: Then the king was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So, Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of injury was found on him because he trusted in his God."
The point I want to make here is it's important for us to keep our behavior right continually, no matter what condition we find ourselves in, in the future, and now to keep our behavior correct, but first before God, because that's what God desires, but also as an example to mankind.
We know those examples of Daniel in the lions den, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego with the fiery furnace are in here for us to review and look at and draw strength from their faith and what their belief in God and their deliverance.
Certainly, all of us know that the future approaches, and whether it comes in our time or it comes in our children's time or another generation, there is a time coming, like we read about in Matt. 24, when things are going to be very difficult. Remember, in Rev. it talks about this Beast Power that's coming and anyone who does not worship the beast will be put to death. Certainly all of us won't be worshipping the beast or taking that number. Probably many in the world won't either.
- Where is our mind?
- What do we look to?
- Where is ou confidence drawn from?
- What are our eyes continually open to?
Hopefully to the things of God, and not fear!
Let's look at some Palms that may help us to remember and maybe meditate on regarding protection that we have from God and also the angels. These ministering spirit that are sent forth to help us, the saints; what we have with God in them.
Psalm 34:7: "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them."
Just like Elisha and the servant were able to see and the chariots of fire that were around them.
Verse 17: "The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all" (vs 17-19).
God does deliver us out of ALL of our troubles and difficulties! The one thing that we have to remember and be mindful of, there is a final deliverance for all of us!
Not knowing what some people in the Churches of God may face in the future, in the final deliverance the death—which turns into a resurrection—unto life! That's the final deliverance! Yes, there will always be a deliverance from God for the righteous!
Psalm 91:11 "For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways."
We don't know how many times the angels have intervened in our lives, do we? We'll find out someday when we're resurrected and we get to meet all the faithful down through time, those who will be part of the first resurrection, and also all the host of Holy angels that have been with God's people over all these years. We'll get a change to find out more then what's been done for us. They're there to keep us, and we don't know how many different ways that they kept us. But we'll maybe find out someday.
We can truly be thankful everyday and remember to thank God for them, and praise Him for what they do for us!
Psalm 27:1: "The LORD is my Light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?…."
David's eyes are wide open; he sees and knows where his salvation comes from and what he feared. We should be the same way!
"…The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not be afraid; though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I have desired from the LORD, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His Temple" (vs 1-4).
David had his mind on the bigger picture! He trusted in God and he knew that God would deliver him in all occasions. David thought about the future and where he would be, and he was looking forward to the day when he could see God and behold Him, just as we all will. Paul said that 'we look through a dark glass' now, but then we will be face-to-face!
Verse 5: "For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion, in the secret place of His Tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me upon a Rock."
We need to keep our eyes open to what God desires us to be doing, and that's trusting and looking to Him! In the times to come, we have to be doing that!
- that's the mind we need to be preparing ourselves to have now
- that's the relationship we need to be building now
- that's the character we need to be building now
to be able to do that!
Truly our strength and courage comes from God in the times that we are going to be facing!
Remember what Elisha told his servant, those with us are more than those with them!
Scriptural References:
- Matthew 24:4-14
- 2 Kings 6:8-17
- 2 Corinthians 4:1-7
- Hebrews 5:9-14
- Matthew 25:24-30
- Hebrews 11:6
- Matthew 14:25-31
- Matthew 16:22-28
- John 12:35-37
- Ephesians 6:10
- Psalm 28:7
- Matthew 10:28
- 1 John 4:14-18
- Daniel 6:3-4, 18-23
- Psalm 34:7, 17-19
- Psalm 91:11
- Psalm 27:1-5
TF:bo
Transcribed: 8/18/22
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