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Glen Park Gospel Church >> Archive >> Editorial >> 2006
Each month the Glen Park Gospel Church produce a one page newsletter called the Green Leaf. It's available from the chapel each Sunday. Some months include a topical article or report. We thought you might appreciate reading those previously published.
2006, Year of Prophecy
We are not into telling the fortunes.
The popular
media does that.
Astrologers and fortune tellers at new year take a punt on the trends evident in the previous year. The Sunday Sun predicts that Australia will dominate the Commonwealth Games, the Socceroos will not make it to the finals, Robert Doyle will lose the leadership, that now is the time to buy Telstra shares because they will rise, and so on (Page 30 December 18 2005). Anyone could make these predictions and they will probably be 50% correct at least. Now, just read what the Bible has to say -
By prophecy we mean those things foretold by the Lord Jesus and the writers of Scripture detailing conditions existing on earth prior to the time when Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, will come again. These conditions were foretold 2000 or more years ago, which makes them all the more startling. Here are just a few of the things starting to happen which people recognise are becoming part of our world today:
There are many more prophecies all telling us that we are living in the ‘end of the era' days. They include a large asteroid or similar body being cast into the sea, the earth being blanketed by smoke and ash, massive loss of life worldwide, Rome suffering a massive explosion, the Jewish nation being returned to nationhood in Palestine and the eventual restoration of their Temple in consultation with her neighbours, and more.
Past Accuracy Guarantees Future Fulfilment
How do we know these things will happen. Because the Bible documents many, many past prophecies and their fulfilment. For example, there is an almost event by event description of the career of Alexander the Great, his untimely death and the disintegration of his kingdom into four parts more than a hundred years before they happened.
Also we can count at least 38 distinct prophecies which were fulfilled to the letter in the birth, life and death of Jesus, which were foretold hundreds of years before. How could anyone rig so many things to happen, events before birth, during life and after death of someone else. Amazing.
And, these things tell us that Jesus Christ is coming again for sure, and that we had best be ready when He does.
King Hezekiah's Three Miracles
Isaiah chapter thirty seven records three amazing miracles, so amazing that some people simply disbelieve them.
1. King Hezekiah was healed of a terminal illness which included one or more skin lesions, often called a boil in the Bible, but a word covering any of the festering skin sores.
We do not have a diagnostic description. Josephus the first century Jewish historian quoted the earlier Herodotus the Greek saying that bubonic plague accompanying a rodent plague was rife at the time, but this is unconfirmed. Hezekiah called on the Lord his God because he knew he was dying. God heard his prayer and sent a message to say that He would heal the king, and did so adding fifteen years to his life.
2. The Sun move backwards across the sky. As a confirmation of his promised healing, God offered
"I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz."
So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down. Isaiah 38.8.
Did this really happen? There is some external evidence that it did. Chinese records of the period tell of Duke Lu-yang who was at war when the sun went down. He pointed his spear at the sun and the sun came back. This is confirmed by Prince Tau of Yin who records that in his part of China, the sun returned to a former position.*
3. God answered Hezekiah's prayer about world events. All these things happened while Jerusalem was under siege by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. He had stormed through Hezekiah's neighbours, destroying, deposing and deporting their people, and now was threatening Judah.
Sennacherib's own record confirms that he withdrew leaving the siege incomplete.*
Take courage! God answers the humble prayers of His believing people. God's word is sure. He will not allow it to return to Him void. God does not always do what we want, just because we want it, but He always does what He says that He will do.
*More detail, see for example, www.biblestudymanuals.net/joshua10.htm or ‘Worlds in Collision', Velikovsky p229. www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/sennprism1.html. http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/herodotus/sethos.htm
Hiding?
Immediately we negatively think of something to hide; hiding the truth. After all, we all have something to hide. Maybe it is we who want to hide; if we are the victim and are being pursued by someone of evil intent.
Essentially we want to hide something because we do not want others to ‘see’ it.
If we have an ugly birth mark or perhaps a degenerative condition that causes us embarrassment we seek to conceal it, especially as we get older, maybe loss of hearing or memory loss. There is probably nothing bad in it, but we prefer to keep it to ourselves.
If we have done or are doing something wrong we almost certainly want to hide it. There is a human perception which says, ‘It’s not wrong unless you get found out.’ If others find out, we will have to face it, and that, if nothing else, is acute embarrassment. It is human nature to secrete our wrong doing, to play cover-up. ‘Secrete’ is a stronger word than ‘conceal’ and almost always deals with things, things that need to be covered by something else. What is secret is that which is secreted, or tucked out of sight. The more scarlet our sin the greater our efforts to suppress the truth.
The Bible has a lot to say about hiding things. Here are a few.
The first thing we need to know is that we can hide nothing from God, we cannot escape His gaze. The Bible says, ‘The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.’ And again, ‘There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.’ This is the first thing, God knows us better than we know ourselves. This seems pretty scarey, and it is. Just knowing that our lives are an open book should make us stop and think. This leads us to the second thing.
The second thing we need to know is that we ought to take the first thing seriously. We like to put it out of our mind, that is , hide it from ourselves. Isaiah, the prophet of old put it like this, ‘Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”’ We forget that God is there, thinking that because we have hidden Him that we are hidden from Him. We look this way and that and seeing no one do what is in our heart. All our actions and all our thoughts for good and for bad are recorded in a book for the day of accounting. In reality, nothing is hidden.
The third thing is that by taking the first thing seriously, we can, if we are wise, deal with the problem. God is willing and able to do what we cannot. David knew that. He prayed seeking forgiveness, ‘Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’ Hear God’s response to His ancient people through Isaiah, ‘I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.’ This response accords with the heart of God.
David faced up to his iniquity and the matter was settled.
We can too. God has dealt with the matter of our sins in that
He sent His Son to take our penalty on our behalf. The New Testament
does not talk about covering sin, that was for the old order before
Jesus came. Then God sent ‘His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin’ in His flesh.
He did this in His death on the cross. For we who trust Him, our
sin is dealt with and we are free of its penalty.
Here is a simple prayer you may wish pray to deal with this matter.
Prayer is talking to God:
Father God, I come to you to confess my sins and I want to turn from them and have you cleanse me of them through what Jesus has done for me. I trust you to do this. Thank you.
Did you pray that prayer? If so please contact us through the addresses in this newsletter, so we can help you. Meanwhile, God has taken you seriously. Here is one of God’s promises:“If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9.
The Lord is Good to Those Who Wait For Him
This century opened on a world of unprecedented violence, torture, rape and unutterable greed. It seems the tribal warfare of yesteryear has escalated into national and international tragedy of unimagined proportion, not only in concentration but its extent.
Does this Newsletter find you gripped by fear or held in the gall of bitterness? Are there things going on in your family, or in your business, your career, your church, your health, your finances which cause your heart to tremble, your knees to turn to water, your spirit to fail? Life is grinding down.The old certainty is gone. Confusion has taken it’s place. No longer are you able to look up with confidence. Hope is dim. Faith is weak.
You will identify easily with the prophet Jeremiah. Two Bible books are ascribed to his pen. The second is Lamentations and it consists of five odes which are wet with his weeping. Jerusalem is sacked, the Temple destroyed, houses are raised, the walls broken down and the gates burned. The people are taken away in captivity all because they rejected the Lord, and therefore his prophet and his warnings. Jeremiah’s life’s ministry seemingly counted for nothing, his prayers ineffectual and his aspirations were crushed. He feels the failure personally. He is utterly distraught; defeated. ‘Lord,’ he cries, ‘Why have you done this to me?’
Hear his words
He has besieged and encompassed me
with bitterness and hardship.
In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD.”
In all this heaviness and futility there is a sudden flash of brilliant sunshine with all it’s warmth and light that brings nourishment, recognition and healing. We see what it was that sustained Jeremiah through his long years of rejection and confusion. It can be the same for us. Only those who really know God can appreciate what it is that sustains the soul through this world’s hopelessness. Here is his secret:
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
It is only those who know God, really know God, who can be convinced that despite the most miserable, most painful, most futile experience of life, that He is there and he is unchangeable. He is ever faithful. Because He is faithful we may have faith and thereby hope is rekindled.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:5-9,14-15,17-18&21-26(NASB)
Each of Us Has Turned to His Own Way
It is in the spirit of this age for every one to do his, or her, own thing.
There is a desirable necessity for us all to grow up, assume the responsibility for the decisions we make and to stand on our own feet. Parents look forward to the day when their children will be independent and self sufficient members of society who achieve distinction in their chosen field of expertise. We consider this to be maturity.
However this is not necessarily so. First, not all adults enjoy this level of autonomy. There are some who for no reason of their own are not able to function independent of a support network and thankfully in recent decades there has been a move to turn this around, giving those people greater mobility and independence. Are these people immature?
Then there are a significant number of us who may be physically capable but due to an incident or a genetic accident of birth are not able to process the information to coordinate the affairs ot life or solve the problems which will deliver them a safe and desired life style. Life becomes a series of difficulties, mistakes and disasters. To put it simply we just can’t cope without help.
There is however a deeper level of need. It is not physical or mental but spiritual. The word ‘spiritual’ is a fuzzy, abused word today. We use it in the sense of the spirit being that part of a person which drives them, the heart. “Put your heart into it, get cracking!” When we do our own thing, where is our heart leading us?
When we do our own thing, we are moving away, probably away
from that which we have known, away from that which is proven,
what is expected, from that which is true.
The prophet Isaiah put it like this:
"All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;"
Like a flock of sheep, each one wanders. Sheep grazing simply follow their own nose. They take their own path. Isaiah is alluding to sheep as a trait of human nature. The words ‘each of us’ in this text are translated from a singular masculine noun meaning ‘someone’. Each of us follow our own nose selecting this or that as the fancy takes us. We follow our own morals and create our own standards, and thereby can indulge in any exciting thing.
"All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him." Isaiah 53.6 (NASB)
There are two things to consider here
We may not realise that doing our own thing, following our nose, walking our own path may well be indicative of sin in our heart, sin that caused God to send His Son to die in order that we may be cleansed. The heart is deceitful above all things. It makes us think that we are doing good, when all along we are being wilful, lustful, disobedient and selfish in the extreme. The heart is desperately wicked. We need a Saviour.
We need to be part of the flock. When the flock is together it better comes under the protection of the shepherd. When the flock is scattered it is susceptible to the predator. Sheep need each other and sheep need the care of the shepheard.
Israel and Lebanon
While this is being written Israel and hostile elements in Lebanon are locked in war. This is nothing new. There has been war in these lands for many years and we may confidently predict from past experience that this hostility will continue for a long time to come because the prejudices and fears which feed it are so deep seated. However we are still grieved at the suffering, the injury, the hatred and the loss, in both material and in human terms. Could we end it we would, but alas what can we do?
There are two things that we can do despite our limitations. The first is that we can pray for those who are suffering. We can pray for those in authority on both sides and those who have the power to act, that wiser, cooler heads will prevail. We can pray that God will intervene. These events are due to the actions of men, and men have brought this state to be, but God can and does intervene in the affairs of people for their good from time to time when there are those who trust Him. There is ample evidence for this.
The other thing that we can do is to know that despite the actions of all men whoever they are and whatever the result, God is working His purposes as He has foretold and as is recorded in the Bible. How can God do this? How can He achieve His ends without overriding the absolute freedom of will experienced by mankind? The only answer is that He can because He is God. Read Romans 8.28.
Because He is God He has foretold things that are going be and things that are going to happen and how mankind’s freely made decisions and chosen actions will deliver history into His hand. Men do not know that they are working out God’s purposes as they make up their minds what they plan to do; but they are.
And it is all there for anyone to read and ponder. And ponder we must for God’s statements relating to the end of this age were often included in what was written or spoken to other peoples in other situations in other ages. They were revelations given to them to encourage and inform them about events in their time. God was saying, ‘Trust Me, in this problem of yours, because this is how it is going to turn out, and this is what I plan to do. Things might look bleak now, men might be doing awful things, but in reality I have not lost the ultimate control and when they have done what they will, I will bring order, peace and beauty out of this mess. So, trust me. Have faith in God.’
God is saying the same to us both personally and collectively today. He wants us to trust Him. One clear, very well know passage that accords to what is happening today is Matthew 24.6&7:
“You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (NASB)
Such things fill our newspapers and television screens today. As we watch we are seeing prophecy being fulfilled. Did not these things always happen? Certainly, more in some decades than in others. Examine the words, Jesus did not say that they would increase in frequency, merely that these things would be occurring on the eve that ushers in His coming again. The Bible has much, much more to say on this topic. Search it out.
What is our response to these things. Jesus instructed that we not be alarmed or frightened at the things that are occurring, for He said ‘these things must take place.’ God is working out His purposes despite what man is doing. Be confident in this, even if we get caught up in it all, God knows all about it. Things are not out of His control. Have faith in God.
When They Go In...
“...the Prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.”
Ezekiel 46:10 (NASB)
These are regulations for ingress and egress in the temple which Ezekiel describes; but we may be pardoned for finding a true and tender thought of the new relationship of Christ and His own.
We too go in, to find pasture within the precincts of the fold, to get refreshment and strength; as when Jonathan and David met in the woods and strengthened each other’s hands in God. On the Lord’s Day especially we go in where the Seraphim stand around the sapphire throne. But of what avail is it to go in unless our Prince accompanies us. His presence makes the feast, His company is as sunlight to nature; to hear His voice, to feel the touch of His hand, to sit in His near proximity - this is the bread of life divine.
But there are times when we must go forth; we must leave the transfiguration mount for the valley. The bugle note rings out in the starry dawn, and tells us that the foe is approaching. The lookout watch calls out from the masthead that the enemies’ ships are in view. There is work to be done, suffering borne, difficulty to be encountered. But when we go forth, our Prince and we shall go forth together (RV).
He never puts his sheep forth without going before them. He never thrusts us into the fight without preceding us. If we have to take the way of the cross we may always count on seeing Him go first, though we follow Him amazed.
No ascent so steep that we cannot see His form in advance; no stones so sharp that are not flecked by His blood; no fire so intense that One does not go beside us, whose form is like the Son of God; no waters so deep that Emmanuel dos not go beside us.
Taken from
Great Verses Through the Bible by F B Meyer.
© by Marshall Morgan and Scott Ltd 1966.
Used by permission of Zondervan.
Reflections for Christian Living
“When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
Ezekiel 46:10 (NASB)
This text speaks of the new order centred on the New Temple which Ezekiel foresaw in a vision in Babylonia when he and his people were captives there. The passage is decidedly Jewish, but we may be forgiven for applying it to our lives, remembering that the apostle Paul tells us that all the promises of God in Jesus are ‘yea’, and in Him ‘amen’ to the glory of God. We may see in it the Prince of peace who told his followers that when the Holy Spirit came, you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, Prince Jesus is with His people, to go out to work and witness and to come in with them for worship. We may count on it. He is here in all the trials and joys of life.
I was reading a book which quoted a wayside pulpit:
“Are you flying with Jesus as your co-pilot?
Then change seats!”
We think that it is we who are in charge. We make the decisions. We do the work. We carry the burden. Jesus is there when we run into unexpected trouble, and then He is our ever present helper. If this is how we work then we are only living as a part time Christian, that part is when we turn to ‘Jesus our helper’.
Mabe God is just waiting for us to turn our lives over to Him so that the One who indwells us can begin to live as He intends. This does not mean that there will not be decisions, or burdens, or crises. It means that we can meet them with Jesus in charge and finding the answers that He has planned. Prayer is not provided to send help messages only, it is a means of communication with the One who ought to be in control full time.
Remember, when you go out, the Prince will go out with you. Now that may make all the difference to your day.
* _ * _ * _ * _ *
“Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, yet he does not know it.”
Hosea 7:9 (NASB)
We may well laugh at this quaint text. However hidden in it, like the gray hairs in a glossy mane, is a serious warning.
The story is that Ephriam had wandered far from God and was in serious trouble, for when a people forsake God, God in love allows chastisement in order to correct their way. Ephriam was oblivious to his peril. God said he was like a cake on an hot plate, burnt on one side, uncooked on the other. He was like an uncontrollable pigeon.
Gray hairs grow imperceptibly. The pan cake burns before we realise. We are busy with this and that and before we know it, it has happened. All we have to do is to take our mind off the very thing we ought to be watching, we are distracted and it is too late.
We may or may not be able to do anything about the gray hairs, but we can do something about the pan cake. There are three metaphors here, each have a different function. They are progressive: unexpected change, impending loss and unwillingness to act. A recipe for disaster.
There is a like verse in Hebrews 2:1-3, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
Picture men in a boat who set their true course and then gave their attention to the set of the sail, the veering of the wind, the shipping of water, all the while sailing in another direction because the current drift had taken their heading off true. It is so easy to drift away from what we know is true. How stupid would they be if having discovered their drift they failed to re-set their compass to true.
We see it over and over again. The man who set himself to make money and forgets God. The woman who marries an unbeliever and goes his way. The youth who yearns for acceptance with friends and surrenders his standards. Yet this is Ephriam, like the senseless pigeon, he refused correction. Gray hairs! Beware!
Be Found in the Place of Prayer
“Devoted to prayer”
Romans 12:12 (NASB)
It is an instruction to us to be found often in the place of prayer. Devoted is sometimes translated 'attend constantly', an example is given in Acts 2.42, where the word is used. Prayer also means ‘the place of prayer’. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Luke in Acts 16.13 tells how Paul on the Sabbath went to the place of prayer beside the river to meet with the people gathering there. As the context of our text is life in the fellowship we may assume it is public prayer Paul had in mind, although regular personal prayer is important. See what Hebrews 10.25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.”(NIV) If the Bible has authority for the Christian, we had best be obedient and attend constantly the place of prayer.
* _ * _ * _ * _ *
Christian Resources On Line
Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
It was written for the English reader and lists English words used in the KJV Bible under their Greek forms. You do not need to read Greek to read it, but it explains the differences of meaning that are significant to the reader when a different Greek word is used. These meanings are not brought out in the English and cannot be discerned by using an English dictionary. It is easy for us to read into a word a shade of meaning that was not intended by the original writer. This On Line version also gives the word number used by the Strong’s Concordance and this is a useful cross reference to ensure that the word is correct for the Bible verse being examined
http://www.mf.no/bibel/vines.html
This web address has been added to our Links page of useful sites. click here.
Christmas 2006
Had Burke and Wills eyes to see, they could have found the food and water they needed to survive their exploration ordeal in the Australian desert. The aborigines who could rescued King. Had the Jews of old eyes to see they would have recognised their Messiah when He came. Simeon was a man who was looking and he saw (Luke 2:25). The Old Testament abounds with prophecy and metaphor, all of which point not only to the coming of the Saviour as a priest, but to His coming as Sovereign to be judge. Take for example:
“Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honour and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’”
Zechariah 6:11-13 (NASB)
This passage has a primary application to the restoration of the people to their land and the rebuilding of the temple, but it also applies in type to another Joshua (or Jesus for the name is the same).
The crowns were it seems, a double circle, one inside the other, so it is Jesus who holds the dual office. The first, the outer is made of silver is one of service and suffering, as He who knew no sin became sin for us. He performed the Father’s will and died upon the cross in agony in our place that all
who trust Him might be redeemed. He as great high priest presented His own blood upon the altar in the heavenlies and the guilt of our sin was met.
The inner circle is made of gold and is for glory, as He who humbled him self has been exalted, and is the one to whom every knee shall bow. It is the Father’s will to give to Him the kingdom. He will come as judge and His policy is genuine justice.
Yes, only those who have eyes to see, recognise Him as ‘the branch’, the One Who holds the fulfilment of this extended Jewish prophecy in his twin offices and has branched out from there. It is He Who in building His temple, not of stone like Joshua the type, but stones of people, people hewn from every tongue and culture, rough stones cut to His qualification, yet each individually shaped to the purpose of their own specific function in the structure. The living temple is growing.
And these offices He holds in Himself and there is harmony, there is peace. And on earth there is peace. Men who must face the judge can find peace this Christmas through Joshua the priest.
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