The Heaton File

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:28-29)

Two Resurrections

One certainty is affirmed by Jesus and acknowledged by all men. Death is certain. No one can escape the reality that no man lives forever and, in the scheme of things, does not live very long. The grave has a voracious appetite that can never be satisfied, taking young and old, rich and poor. Men have tried to find a fountain of youth to turn back the hands of time, to slow the dying process, and to prolong life, but to no avail. All men die. Jesus reminded His disciples that death should not be a surprise to anyone. There is an hour when everyone will die regardless of where they are in life and who they are. The only exception that will take away the power of death is the coming of the Lord, but the conclusion remains the same. It’s what happens after death and the coming of the Lord that is the true meaning of life.

Men fear death and take no notice of what happens after death. For most, death is final. There is no life after death. When a man breathes his last, the body crumbles into dust, life goes on, and the existence of the human spirit is extinguished. Many believe in some form of an afterlife but seldom live as if there are consequences to what lay beyond the realm of the dead. If a man truly believes in life after death and reward and punishment await him on the other side of the grave, he will live accordingly. This does not guarantee hope of good things because living according to one’s answer to right and wrong may not justify him. The question remains if there is life after death and what happens to everyone when they die.

Jesus said all men die, but that is not the important lesson. The Lord makes an astonishing statement about all those in the grave. They are dead and have no life in them, but there is coming a time when those in the grave (those who are dead) will hear the voice of God and come forth or resurrect from the dead. The question of whether there is life after death is immediately recognized that death is not final. There is something else coming. Those who are dead will be able to hear the voice of God. When they hear the voice of God, the dead will do something remarkable. They will come forth to a world of blessing or a world of the most horrible horror. This suggests an experience after death that is real. Jesus said there would be two resurrections.

For all those who have obeyed the will of the Father (done good), hearing the voice of God will bring immeasurable joy and happiness. They will resurrect to a world of life. Death will be turned into life. The experience of death will be the fulfillment of the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. It will be real and full of inexpressible joy. Sadly, most will not enjoy resurrection. Jesus taught that few will be saved, and the majority will be lost. The common factor for all men is that everyone will resurrect, but the disobedient and those who have not done the will of the Father will be resurrected to condemnation. There will be life after death, but this life will be an unending experience of the most profound horror and fear in a world of total darkness. All men will experience resurrection, and most will be resurrected to the wrath of God, judgment, and damnation.

The gospel of two shows that life after death will only take two courses. One will be full of joy, and the other will be filled with terror. Which resurrection one experiences will depend on whether one decides to follow Jesus Christ and obey His word. There’s a great day coming when all that in the grave will hear the voice of the Lord and be raised up. What happens next is the deciding point in a man’s life when he hears the voice of God say, “Well done,” or “Depart from Me.” Which resurrection will be yours? You decide what that answer will be. Resurrection. It’s coming.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:31-37)

Sleeping When The Lord Comes

There’s a great day coming, and this great day will be unlike any event in the history of the earth. Thousands of years ago, God formed the word with the breath of His word. The world is held together by that word reserved for judgment on the final day. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away. As Creator, He knows the fate of the earth, moon, sun, and innumerable stars that fill the heavens. The Earth is the only place where life dwells in the vast universe of space, and on this tiny rock spinning around the sun, billions of souls live unaware of a fateful day that will change their lives for eternity. In a moment faster than the eye can blink, with the deafening sound of eternal judgment, the universe, including planet Earth will melt in the heat of divine righteousness as God brings to a close the history of humanity. The Lord has returned as promised.

The day of the Lord took on many forms over the centuries. In the days of Noah, the day of the Lord began with the heavens bursting forth in water and the fountains of the deep filling the world until all life on earth was dead except eight souls. For the nation of Egypt, the wrath of the Lord was unleashed upon the most powerful nation on earth through the plagues and destruction of the army of Pharaoh. Other countries would suffer the same fate as the Lord God brought judgment against those who stood against Him: Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Israel would suffer the day of the Lord twice; first, against the northern tribes and then the captivity of the southern tribes. Jesus spoke of the day of the Lord coming against the city of Jerusalem. In 70 A.D., the Roman general Titus destroyed the once city of God, including razing the Temple.

Writers in the early church warned of the coming of the wrath of God. Two thousand years have passed, and nothing has happened. The population of the world continues to be oblivious to the firm reality that aside from death, a day is coming that will destroy all life on earth. In the destruction of the heavens and the earth, all men will be dissolved in eternal fire. Only a few will experience a new birth in eternal life, while the majority of souls will face the abyss of Hell and eternal darkness and fire. The great day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. There will be no warning, no signal, and no announcement of His coming. Every day is a blessing because there is no guarantee another day will come.

Jesus declares the day of the Lord is kept secret from everyone – including Himself. The Son of God does not know the day His Father will determine the end of humanity has come. Deciding to destroy the world is the divine judgment of the Lord God Almighty and Him alone. What Jesus wants His disciples to remember is the day of the Lord is unknown, and the faithful must be on guard and alert so they will not be caught unprepared. Three things are necessary to prepare for the day of the Lord: take heed, watch, and pray. Taking heed is setting life in order to be pleasing to God. Watching for the Lord is rising each day in the hope the Lord returns that day. Praying is a vital part of a watchful life as God hears the voice of His children seeking His love and mercy.

The most important part of the Christian’s life is never to be found sleeping, unaware, surprised, and unprepared. No one knows the day of the Lord, but remaining awake for His return will be a blessing of joy rather than the horror of unpreparedness. Keep a good watch and pray. Long for the day the Lord will return. If He does not return in your lifetime, death will be a blessing to preempt that day, and the same joy awaits. Take heed, watch, and pray – for the day of death can come suddenly. Let that day be a day of joy. Watch.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The story is told of Michelangelo, the famous Italian sculptor, standing before a rejected block of marble that builders had cast aside. Staring intently at the block of marble, someone asked Michelangelo what he was looking at. “An angel,” he replied. What he had discovered in looking at the block of marble cast aside was what he could bring out with a mallet and chisel. To others, the block of marble was a rejected stone; to Michelangelo it became a masterpiece.

It would seem that when Jesus chose the twelve apostles, He was not looking as clearly at what they were but at what they could become. On the surface, these twelve men were Galilean fishermen, a zealot, a tax collector, and two brothers known as the “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:14-19). How could these men possibly be the future of the Kingdom of God to take a message of salvation to a lost world? Except for Judas, they became ambassadors of the good news of Jesus Christ to which later the apostle Paul would write, “Not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven” (Colossians 1:23). They became all that God wanted them to be because of God working through them.

It is easy to focus on who we are instead of what we can become. We are the rejected stone that God saw promise in. In the Garden of Eden, God saw the blessing of bringing salvation to the creation that had rebelled against Him. Through Jesus Christ, we are made whole in the “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Peter tells us we are an “elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). This is not because of who we are but what we have become in Jesus Christ.

Our lives are changed by the power of God working through our thoughts, speech, actions, and motives. This change is a metamorphosis of our character of sin to our realization of hope. What I can become with God’s help is only limited by what I desire Him to work in my life. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Allowing God to work in my life will bring about significant changes in every aspect of my character.

Many people who lived reprobate lives before obeying the gospel are changed beyond recognition because of what God has done in their lives. Consider the changes in Saul of Tarsus, who became (with God’s help) the apostle Paul (Philippians 3:4-6). If these changes can be made in Saul, what great wonders can happen in my life? “What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him” (Romans 8:31,32). How wonderful the promise of God to give us all things in Christ. With God’s help, I can hear those precious words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter” (Matthew 25:21).

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the Earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the Earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” (Genesis 6:13-14)

Noah Believed In The Grace Of God

The early days of the Earth did not produce a righteous nation of people. Following the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, men grew worse and worse in their desire to please themselves through the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the lust of the eye. Nothing was held back. Filling themselves with every kind of unrighteousness, the world exploded with evil, causing God to decide something had to be done. It grieved the heart of the Creator to see how His creation had turned their back on His love, mercy, and grace. As the Lord gazed upon the hearts of men, He found few that were righteous. Noah was such a man the Lord saw favor and grace.

Living in such a corrupt world would seem impossible, but Noah and his family were determined to serve the Lord with all their hearts. Raising three young boys in such an environment would have been a monumental effort. Noah and his wife instilled in Ham, Shem, and Japheth a love for God. The influence of Noah reached to the women who married his sons. The family of Noah was the only island of holiness in a world filled with the flood of wickedness. As a light shining in a dark place, Noah’s family stood firm for God and His word. The Lord looked upon the Earth and saw the evil that had taken the hearts of men. He decided to kill everyone on Earth except the family of Noah. They found grace in His eyes.

Grace is only found in the mind of God. Gazing upon a wicked world, the Lord decided He would destroy everyone. Noah was unaware of the mind of God. He had no way of knowing the plan of God and the reason the Lord would destroy the world. Noah served the Lord in faithfulness without the knowledge of the coming destruction. Grace is first served when God comes to Noah and tells him of the imminent destruction. It must have been a blow to Noah to consider the number of people that were going to die at the hand of the Lord. Trying to understand a global flood was beyond his comprehension. God’s grace was without definition in the mind of Noah as he viewed the word of God. The world faced extinction and destruction.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God comes to Noah to tell him something he could not know apart from divine revelation. The kindness of God warned Noah of the impending doom, and then grace told Noah what to do to be saved. After God tells Noah what He plans to do, Noah may have wondered how he would save himself and his family. Would they move to the tallest mountain in the world and hope for the best? How could Noah survive the great flood that would kill all mankind? Noah had no answers. God’s grace had the answer.

Telling Noah what was coming did not save him and his family. God’s grace demanded a plan of salvation. Grace is of no value if there is no means of redemption. Noah was told to build an ark and construct it in a specific way. God’s grace gives Noah the plan to save himself and his family, but Noah is still not saved. Believing God will destroy the world and accepting that building an ark could save him is now how the grace of God could save Noah and his family. The grace of God must be obeyed. Moved with godly fear, Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his household. Grace alone did not and could not save Noah. It was within the power of God to build the ark for Noah, but that was not the will of God. Noah had to build the ark, which must be constructed precisely as God instructed.

Noah believed in the word of the Lord and built the ark exactly as determined by the will of God. When the flood came and destroyed all whose nostrils were the breath of the spirit of life, Noah was in the ark as God commanded, along with his family. Grace saved Noah, and obedience to the word of God saved Noah. Without the grace of God, Noah and his family would have perished in the flood. If Noah refused to build the ark, he would have doomed his family to perdition. Grace and works saved Noah. He believed the word of God and obeyed His command. God’s grace has determined the world’s fate again, and the Lord has given instructions on what a man must do to be saved. When men reject the will of the Father, they reject the only ark that will save them. Obeying the word of the Lord will put a man in Christ, where the grace, mercy, and love of God are found. No obedience means no salvation. Thank God for His grace. Are you doing His will?

However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. (Luke 5:15-16)

Taking Time For Self

The ministry of Jesus was an exhausting work of preaching, teaching, healing, and traveling from region to region. When Jesus would come into an area, the word spread the teacher and healer was there, and multitudes flocked to Him. On a few occasions, over five thousand people gathered to hear the teachings of Jesus. As Jesus touched each diseased person, laid His hands on the blind and mute, and restored untold numbers of people to their health, the energy was sapped out of Him, and He grew weary. There was not only the physical toil of His ministry but the incredible intensity of the purpose of His mission. He knew what He came to do. More than once, He would tell His disciples He would go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and then be killed. Jesus was fully aware of what suffering awaited Him, and He was constantly remembering when the hour would come. He pressed on. And He seldom slowed and missed opportunities to teach others.

On more than one occasion, after teaching and healing multitudes of people, Jesus would withdraw Himself to a quiet place for meditation and thought. He would go to a mountain and pray all night. Sometimes long before the sun’s rising, Jesus went out by Himself to a solitary place and prayed. There was a time when the people wanted to make Jesus their king, but Jesus left them and went to a mountain to be alone. He also went into the wilderness to be alone with His Father in prayer. Jesus needed to take time for Himself. He made it a practice in His busy ministry to carve out time away from the crowds so He could be alone. Judas knew where to find Jesus on the betrayal night because the Lord often went to Gethsemane as a place of prayer.

Life can be filled with a lot of activity. There never seem to be enough hours in a day. Everything that needs to be done is seldom done, and schedules are straining under the weight of too much work to be accomplished. People live hectic, rushed, and chaotic lives that never seem to slow or calm down. Excuses are given why there is little time for self-meditation, prayer, a study of God’s word, or fellowship with those of like precious faith. There are ballgames, concerts, practices, parties, shopping, lawn care, fixing broken things, filling out the honey-do lists, recreation, and checking every form of social media that vies for constant attention.

The endless activity of life consumes people who cannot go through an hour of worship to the Lord Holy God without checking their phones for social updates. When the invitation song is sung, phones light up to see what was missed in the last 54 minutes. Social media has stopped couples from sharing, children of learning, and society in general from taking time for themselves. There is no time. The irony is that someone will say they need to get away and be by themselves but cannot leave their phones. Life is consuming. It is overwhelming. Minds are filled with the constant beehive of activity ad nauseum.

Jesus took time for Himself. If the Son of God knew the importance of going to a quiet place to be alone (and no cell phone), what makes any human being think they should not need the same – and more? Life is not as busy as it is presented to be. We create life to be what it is, and we allow life to run our lives into the ground with never-ending activity. Jesus took time for Himself – we must take time for ourselves. There is a time to remove yourself from the hectic pace of a hurried life and spend time alone in prayer with God. The Lord is not interested in your cell phone. Leave it alone for a few hours (or more) and prove you are not addicted. God needs your time – alone – all by yourself. Is life busy? Find a mountain or wilderness and GO by yourself and be ALONE. You will be amazed how refreshed you will be.

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)

Was The Thief Baptized?

No criminal in human history has received more press time than the man crucified next to Jesus. When Jesus was led to Golgotha for crucifixion, two other criminals were crucified. In the beginning, both men reviled Jesus. The unrepentant robber taunted Jesus that if He were the Messiah, to save Himself and the two of them. But the other rebuked his fellow robber declaring they were guilty of their crime, but the man in the middle had done nothing wrong.

The scriptures are silent on how much the man knew about Jesus before they were crucified, but it is certain he recognized Jesus as a man who was innocent of the crimes leveled against Him. Above the two thieves bore the titles of thieves and robbers. Pilate had inscribed above Jesus the charge, “This is the King of the Jews.” The conduct and demeanor of Jesus struck the robber as it would later impress upon the Centurion in charge of the execution. There was a penitent heart in the robber. Jesus knew the man’s heart and saw a pure motive in seeking forgiveness. The expression of mercy and grace is eternal, and it finds Jesus, barely able to speak after hours on the cross, whispering to the man by His side, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

There are few acts of mercy found in scripture as profound as the moment the Son of God looks upon the face of one of His creations and gives him peace. Jesus is saving men before He dies. His act of love is a message of incredible grace with the promise of eternal life. As the author of salvation and the adjutant of the divine law, Jesus served the purpose of His Father to forgive men their sins. This was not the first time He had forgiven sins. When the four friends brought their ill friend to Jesus, letting him down through the roof, Jesus shocked the religious elite by telling the man His sins were forgiven. Answering their hearts of blasphemy, Jesus proves He can forgive sins by healing the man of his paralysis immediately. Jesus can forgive sins according to His divine will. That is how powerful the Holy Spirit preserves the story of the thief on the cross.

Sometimes men are uncomfortable with acts of divine mercy. Trying to explain the reason Jesus forgave the thief on the cross, the idea is suggested that possibly the thief had been baptized under the baptism of John. Nothing in scripture suggests the thief had any dealings with John and his disciples. Denying the power of divine forgiveness, a solution to the quandary of how Jesus could forgive a man is answered with reference to the need to be baptized by John. It is unclear why the baptism of John is always suggested when the disciples of Jesus baptized more than the disciples of John. Why not appeal to the thief being a disciple of Jesus and baptized by one of the Lord’s disciples? What purpose does the suggestion of the thief being baptized have to his salvation?

When the thief was crucified, baptism was not essential for salvation. The Law of Moses was still in effect, and nothing in the Law required immersion in water for salvation. Was Lazarus (of the story of the rich man and the beggar) saved because he had been baptized under John’s baptism? The scriptures only tell that Lazarus was a beggar laid at the rich man’s gate, and the beggar went to Paradise. Why suggest he was baptized when the scriptures do not say? During the early days of the church, the Holy Spirit tells the story of Paul finding twelve men who knew only the baptism of John. If the thief was baptized under John’s baptism, why did the Holy Spirit leave that detail out? The only answer is the men have sought to justify a powerful divine act of mercy and explain away (or suggest) the thief was baptized under John’s baptism.

It is a dangerous course to suggest an argument of defense by an indefensible position of suggesting an assumption without any body of proof. The thief did not have to be baptized for Jesus to save him. After Jesus died and rose from the dead, entrance into the kingdom of God was accomplished through the waters of the death, burial, and resurrection of the penitent soul. The journey of the thief to Paradise has no bearing on the will of God today. Let the story of Jesus forgiving the thief stand on its own merits of divine mercy without propping the story up with false assumptions. Today, salvation can only be found by doing the will of the Father.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. (Revelation 20:1-3)

Satan Is Subservient

There is no doubt that Satan is a formidable foe. The apostle Peter describes the devil as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is the adversary. Jesus calls Satan the Father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. The devil does not stand for truth because there is no truth in him. Paul describes the power of Satan as fighting against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Satan is a force to be reckoned with as powerful and destructive. But the devil is subservient to the will of God.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, penned by the apostle John, is a powerful testimony to the embattled saints of God’s kingdom that the Lord God reigns, rules, and controls all things under His will. Satan is no exception. To the human heart, the devil is a powerful enemy. In the eyes of God, Satan is under His will to do the bidding of the Godhead. The book of the Revelation could be summed up with the battle cry of victory, “We win.” So much attention is given to the minutia of the details of John’s final message that lost in the trivial pursuits of useless arguments is the reality that Satan has no choice in matters of divine judgment. God is in control, not Satan. The Lord God rules, the devil has no power before God.

As the Revelation begins to close, John reveals the fate of Satan and his minions. An angel took hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. God tells us an angel has the power to bind Satan. There is nothing the devil can do or say about what the angel does. Satan is subservient to the will of God. The angel cast Satan into the bottomless pit. He shuts the devil up in the bottomless pit and sets a seal upon the pit. An angel binds Satan and limits his power. All of this was accomplished by an angel of the Lord.

Satan does not have free reign to do as he wishes. He operates within the sphere of authority allowed by God. Yes, he influences people to do evil, and most of the world is under the sway of his deception. But John tells us the truth about Satan, and that is the reality the devil is nothing more than a servant, a lowly slave, a nothing being who has limited power. He can be bound, thrown into a pit, and locked up. His power can be limited. Jesus taught the disciples to ask God to lead them not into temptation and to deliver them from the evil one. Satan complained that the Lord had put a hedge around Job, and he was correct. Every faithful child of God has a hedge surrounding him with the army of the Lord standing on the mountaintops, ready to do battle. Satan knows his power is limited.

The victory message of the Revelation becomes much clearer when John writes of the final demise of Satan. There is no guesswork of what will happen to the devil and his angels. It is not left to the wisdom of men to know what happens to the devil on the final day. An angel can bind and control Satan. The day is coming when the devil will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. He will be tormented day and night forever and ever. There is nothing he can do to change this reality. He is not powerful enough to overcome the will of God. When the Lord decrees Satan will be punished in Hell for eternity, that word will come to pass in complete fulfillment. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone when God tells him.

There is much to know and understand about the old serpent, the devil. John encourages the faith of the saints by reminding them that the faith residing within them is greater than he who is in the world. If a man thinks the devil can defeat him, he is correct. God tells us that the devil can be defeated. We must believe that and practice that faith. Through the power of God, Satan will be caused to flee from us. It is possible to bind the power of the devil. Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6)

On The Wings Of Eagles

When God created man and placed him in the garden, the heart of the Lord desired to commune with His creation and share all the manifold blessings of His immense storehouse with the world He created. Everything was beautiful in the garden. God and man walked together in the cool of the day. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. Fear did not fill the world. In the place called Eden, Paradise reigned supreme. Satan tempted Eve, and falling prey to his scheme, the woman disobeyed God and gave the forbidden fruit to Adam. The world created by God was now destroyed by sin, and man was cast out of the garden.

Cain killed his brother Abel. The heart of man grew worse, and humanity was destroyed in a flood save eight souls. Men struggled to find peace and happiness as they sought after their own desires. Men like Abram stood above the world to seek the will of the Lord to find happiness. God showed His power and might to those who followed Him proving His benevolent love for them. God’s promise to Abraham to provide land, nation, and seed began to unfold by divine will when Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. Isaac and Rebekah gave birth to Jacob. The children of Jacob became slaves in the pagan world of Egypt. God had not forgotten His promises to Abraham and heard the plight of the children of Jacob.

Egypt was the world’s superpower, and the Hebrews were no match for the Egyptian might. Enslaved for generations, the descendants of Jacob could do nothing but languish in the misery of slavery in a cruel world. They could not save themselves. Only the Lord God could deliver them from Egypt, and with His mighty hand, He delivered His people. First, the Lord God destroyed the nation of Egypt through ten powerful plagues. When the Egyptian army tried to recapture the Hebrews at the Red Sea, God destroyed the army in the sea. Egypt would never be a great nation again.

When the Hebrews arrived at Mount Sinai, the Lord reminded them of His mercy and grace. God wanted the people never to forget what He did to the Egyptians. He told Moses to remind the people their deliverance was like salvation on eagle’s wings brought forth by the hand of the Lord God who saves. The Hebrews did not escape Egypt on their own accord. God delivered them. He brought them out with majesty and power to be His own special people. The Lord tells Moses that He brought Israel to Himself. That is where He wanted Israel to be – in the presence of God. All God has desired for His people is to dwell with them and commune with them.

God tells Moses that He will bless Israel with all the bounty of His grace if only the people obey His voice and keep His commandments. If the people served the Lord, they would be a special treasure above all people on the earth. They must obey His voice and keep His commandments. All the earth belongs to the Lord God, who will bless all who follow Him. Israel was given a choice. They chose to refuse the blessings of God. The history of Israel unfolds the rebellion in the people’s hearts as they did not hear the voice of God and refused to obey His commandments. Israel was no longer the special treasure of the Lord. Like Adam and Eve, they turned their back on the blessings of God.

Israel was delivered on the wings of eagles from Egypt through the grace of God. Jesus Christ came into the world to remove the weight of sin from the shoulders of men on the arms of a cross. God did mighty works against Egypt, but His greatest work was found at a place called Golgotha. It was there He destroyed the power of Satan. Through the blood of His only begotten Son, God promised to raise sinful man up from the depths of destruction if only he would hear His voice and obey His commandments. Men refuse. On the wings of eagles, God has provided the avenue of grace to save men from His wrath. When men hear the voice of God and obey His commandments, they become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Jesus died to build His church where all the saved are found. Come to the voice of God. Obey His commandments. Let God deliver you through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100)

Thank The Lord He Is God

There is reason for a man to rejoice and be thankful. It does not come from the elements of human wisdom, carnal pleasure, wealth, or fame. A heart full of thanksgiving comes from acknowledging the Lord is God and that man is created for the glory of God. Every nation on earth is established by the will of the Creator. The world and the expanse of the universe are held in the palm of God’s hand. Life is created by the Lord. All of the knowledge of men from time beginning are molecules of the smallest atom compared to the vast storehouse of wisdom contained in the mind of God. God is Lord. Man is not.

The Lord is God. It is a powerful yet simple statement. There is no need for elaboration. He existed before the world was created. By the spoken word, the firmaments were established, seas created, animals formed, and man created in the image of his Creator. The sun, moon, and stars all abide in their place because the Lord is God. Life begins, and men die in the cycle of life. Generations come and go, and there is nothing new under the sun. God remains the same. The Lord that spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden is the same Lord that now speaks to men through the written word. All the attempts of human wisdom to discredit the Bible are broken hammers against the anvil of God’s word. God is Lord. Man is not.

Man is created by the power of God and not by his own power. Through the wonders of science, human wisdom has opened the vistas of the human body to the levels of DNA and molecular understanding. But man cannot create life and extend life at his whim. A baby born as a male child will always be a male child, regardless of the science of human wisdom. Trying to change the gender of a human is an impossibility because God created the DNA for the specific gender of the child, and no laboratory can reach into the power of creation to change that. It is God that has made man, not man that has created himself. All men are the people of God through creation. He is the Creator Shepherd who controls all things as all things exist in Him. God is Lord. Man is not.

When a man understands his place in the world and the dominance of God as Lord, he is filled with thanksgiving. The Lord is good, and His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. Human wisdom is fickle. The wisdom of God is true and righteous. Men fail; God never fails. There is gladness to serve the Lord because He is God, and through His knowledge, the heart can find peace, joy, happiness, and contentment. Thanksgiving comes from seeing that the Lord, He is God, and He is in control, and He knows and understands – so why worry? Having a thankful heart will remove the pain of worry. This begins by allowing the heart to know the Lord, He is God – and man is not. Now you have a reason to sing praises to the Lord. Rejoice. The Lord, He is God.

But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15)

Serving The Wrong King

Among the Jewish hierarchy, the chief priests were a powerful lobby of the high priests proper, the ex-high priests, and members of privileged families from which high priests were drawn. As members of the Temple worship, the chief priests represented the elite among the spiritual leaders of Israel. They were law scholars and devoted adherents to the word of God. If anyone understood the importance of Hebrew law, the chief priests would fill that role. The conflict between Jesus and the chief priests was born from the spirit of envy that developed over the years of man’s corruption of the office of the chief priests. Religion had become stale, formal, and filled with the pride of those in power. The chief priests served only by name as they had long abandoned the righteous principles of the law.

The chief priests aligned with the Pharisees, elders, and religious leaders to kill Jesus. There was nothing more important to the Jewish leadership than the death of the man from Nazareth. They would stop at nothing to get their way. After a few appearances before the Sanhedrin and the High Priests, Jesus was brought before the Roman court of law under Pilate. The Romans allowed the Jews to stone their brethren, but public execution like crucifixion had to come from the Romans. Succeeding in bringing Jesus before the Romans, they had to convince the governor that Jesus was worthy of death.

Pilate tried to free Jesus, admitting the innocence of the man they charged with treason. The chief priests (and others) stirred up the crowd to demand the crucifixion of Jesus. The crowd was creating a small riot demanding that Pilate deliver Jesus to be crucified. When Pilate asked if they wanted him to crucify their king, the chief priests made a startling statement. They shouted that they had no king but Caesar. It was a great ploy to use against Pilate forcing his hand to crucify Jesus. At the same time, the chief priests denied their loyalty to the kingdom of God. The setting was faithful to the character of the religious leaders. They gave up their faith to force Pilate to kill their adversary.

Shouting that they had no king, but Caesar allowed them to destroy the man they hated, but in 70 AD, the king they gave their allegiance to (Caesar) destroyed them. How ironic that the plea of the chief priests became their prophetic end. They refused to acknowledge Jesus as Christ, the Son of God, giving up their faith in God as their king to receive a temporal and pagan king. In defiance, they gave up all hope of a Messiah. When the heart abandons truth, all that remains are the remnants of a lost promise. The madness of their hatred for Jesus led them to destroy their faith in God.

Caesar comes in all forms. Men reject the kingdom of God for wealth, power, glory, pleasure, fame, and the pursuit of the doctrine of me only. They shout as the chief priests that they have no king but what they desire and want. There is no time for God. Life is too full to waste energy on faith, truth, and the gospel. There is no need for the church. Religion is ridiculed. The Bible is laughed at. Any image of God is removed. Nothing changes from generation to generation. Men still cry out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him. We have no king but ourselves.” Jesus died. God raised Him from the dead. The Jewish nation ended in 70 AD. Jesus still reigns and rules. He is still King. Caesar has long been forgotten. Which king will you serve? Who is your king?