PREACHING

There is no doubt that today is a day like no other ever before. No doubt every generation has probably said the same thing… However, this must never be an excuse... This knowledge of this truth must not be ignored, or cast off with the shrug of the shoulders… With each passing day proven by statistics, proven by the morals or the lack thereof… I believe also proven by the increase of our knowledge and the advancements of our age… Never has there been a day like today…

 

·        I say that not to excuse the preacher from preaching…

·        I say that not to excuse the church from being the church…

The fact is we are in a day that every day and every minute of the day our faith is under attack… If our faith is under attack that means the preaching of the word is under attack… It is the preaching of the word of GOD that caused us to believe… It’s the preaching of the word of GOD that gives us faith…

Paul asked…

Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?     KJV

 

Paul stated to the church of Rome…

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.    KJV

 

·        The hearing of the preached word of GOD is what brings forth faith…

·        The hearing of faith brought us to the Holy Ghost…

·        Christ came by the preached word of GOD…

The word was made flesh and dwelt among us... Yet, Jesus did not come without an announcement… Jesus came by way of the preached word of GOD… (THE PROPHETS, THE PSALMS…)

We that obeyed the word of GOD… The gospel was not obeyed until we first heard the gospel preached…

 

Paul said, of all things that he came preaching… Notice what he preached first…

 

1 Cor 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: KJV

 

This that Paul first received, he also first preached, because this was preached to him… What was preached to him, he received into him, and came upon him…

 

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.    KJV

 

The book of Acts is nothing but the account of what the preaching of the word of GOD gave us… We see HIS results, because we like them that first heard the word of GOD, believed…

 

Acts 2… What shall we do??? Then Peter said… Then Peter preached…

Acts 8… The Samaritans being baptized was the result of Phillip preaching the word of GOD… The Samaritans were filled with the Holy Ghost when Peter and John was sent unto them… Again, the preached word of GOD was the means of their deliverance, salvation and their knowledge of the truth…

 

The Ethiopian in Acts 8 being baptized and filled with the HG… Came about because GOD sent Philip to preach unto him the word of GOD…

 

Acts 10, gives the result of Peter preaching the word of GOD to the first gentile Cornelius and all his house…

 

Acts 16… The jailer’s salvation was the result of the preached word of GOD…

 

Acts 19… Paul preaching to the disciples of John the Baptist which already believed in Jesus yet at the preaching of Paul were filled with Jesus, because of Paul’s preaching the word of GOD…

 

Acts 9… Paul’s own salvation and deliverance from religion came not at the place of being knocked off his horse, blinded, and hearing the voice of Jesus from heaven… But came when he heard the word preached by Ananias…

 

·        IT IS THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD THAT GOT THE DESIRED RESULTS…

·        IT WAS THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD THAT CONVERTED THE SINNER…

·        IT WAS THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD THAT BROUGHT FORTH OBEDIENCE…

·        IT WAS THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD THAT CAUSED THEM “TO BELIEVE AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID…”

 

Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.     KJV

 

THIS CAME AND COULD ONLY COME BY THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD…

 

The Holy Ghost fell on them when they heard the word preached…

 

Where are we to go??? To wherever the word of GOD tells us…

What are we to believe??? Whatever the word of GOD tells us…

How are we to walk??? The way the word of GOD tells us…

What are we to speak??? Whatever the word of GOD tells us to speak…

How are we to be saved??? The way the word of GOD tells us…

 

WE MUST KNOW IT HINGES ALL ON THE WORD OF GOD AND US HEARING AND OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD…

 

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?     KJV

 

We all need preaching and we all need a preacher of the word of GOD… Without a preacher we cannot believe because without a preacher we cannot hear… THANK GOD FOR THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD… THANK GOD FOR GIVING ME A PREACHER TO PREACH TO ME THE LIFE TRANSFORMING WORD OF GOD… WE CAN HAVE HOPE THAT GOES BEYOND WHAT OUR DAY IS SAYING TO US… WE CAN HAVE WHAT HEAVEN SAYS WE CAN HAVE BECAUSE OF THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD…

 

SIGNS 3

Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.      KJV

 

In our month of September, around this time the Jews somewhere at the beginning of the month it is marked by the new moon... It is at this time, by the word of the LORD there was to be a Holy Convocation… Convocation—meaning dress rehearsal…

 

This is a memorial set aside as the blowing of trumpets… It was called a Feast of Trumpets marked by the blowing of trumpets. This feast day was unlike the other six feasts which were at set times, this feast in particular could only be marked by the new moon…

 

·        When the new moon was sighted in this month of September, trumpets were to be blown to mark this Holy Day…

 

 This feast time was marked by the sighting of the new moon; a sign in the heavens… Genesis 1:14… Note specifically, this feast could only begin at the sighting of the new moon.

 

The Feast of Trumpets is also unique in that it is a two-day Feast; but it is a two-day Feast in which both days are counted as one… These two days were counted as one long day. This extended period, was to make allowances for Jews who had been dispersed in other parts who would learn of the start of The Feast of Trumpets by the sign of burning fires on mountaintops. The two days treated as one day, was to allow for all the Jews to celebrate the Feast together.

 

There were to be two witnesses that saw the first indications of a new moon. The witnesses would then run to the Temple and announce their sighting... The Sanhedrin; the 70 would then go through a ritual to verify and to determine where in the sky the witnesses saw the new moon… It was then they, the Sanhedrin would confirm if I indeed was or was not the new moon…

 

If accepted as a true sighting of the new moon, trumpets would be blown to mark the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets…

 

In the course of the ministry of Jesus… Jesus would make reference to much of what took place in Jewish history with these said feasts… We as gentiles would not know but as a Jew the culture and language only they would see the subtle references… However, we that make up the gentile church today would not see what would be hidden signs to us, but understanding to the Jews…

 

It can only be seen through their eyes because they know the language, they know their culture, they know their feasts and such like…

 

To note as in all languages there are idioms… An example of an idiom… “A PIG IN A POKE…” This was in ancient of times that while at the market… One would purchase a baby pig and they would place it in a tote sack… Often this idiom would give place to another idiom, “THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG…” Meaning that this idiom carried with it that the one who purchased a “A PIG IN A POKE…” Instead of a pig, there was a switch and as they got home they opened the bag only to find out they had a payed for an old alley cat instead of the pig they purchased… And thus at the opening of the bag; “THE CAT WAS OUT OF THE BAG…” ITS WHAT IS CALLED AN IDIOM… Very common… A more common idiom us today… “ITS RAINING CATS AND DOGS…” Not that it’s really raining; CATS AND DOGS… It’s just raining really hard…

 

The Jews also had idioms… And Jesus in some of HIS discourse, HE of course spoke being Jewish because as a Jewish man in that Jewish day practicing Jewish culture, Jesus also spoke with Jewish idioms…

 

This process connected with the Feast of Trumpets became known by a common idiom that marked the Feast of Trumpets at which NO ONE KNEW THE DAY OR THE HOUR when it would begin. 

 

Could Jesus with this idiom have been likening the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH to the Feast of Trumpets when He said??? “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only”(Matthew 24:36).

 

Such a possible idiom usage, if that was His intent, makes the connection with the Feast of Trumpets and the Rapture of the church...

 

The Rapture could occur at any time. But if we consider the idiom that may have been used by Jesus that refers to the Feast of Trumpets… Just a side note; we must consider that JESUS has fulfilled the FIRST four Feasts preceding the Feast of Trumpets… And doubly note JESUS FULFILLED THEM IN ORDER… And many messianic JEWS even say not just in order but to the exact day and time of each feast… (THIS IS A STUDY OF ITSELF…)

 

It’s a study and conversation about the Rapture worth having… While we see the connection of the Rapture of the Church with the Feast of Trumpets, we still do not know the exact “day and hour” of its occurrence… The importance of this knowledge is to (BE WATCHFUL AND IN PRAYER…)

 

 The idiom usage does make for one to consider the relevance of what and how Jesus in HIS choice of wording spoke with the very possibility of alluding to HIS coming again… What we if we look through study from the eyes of the Jew we would see as signs of HIS soon return…

 

The Feast of Trumpets is known by some other Hebrew idiomatic phrases.

 

1)     The Hidden Day – The Feast of Trumpets was known as The Hidden Day because of it being celebrated during two days that were counted as one.

 

The Feast begins at the sighting of the new moon in the month of Tishri. Therefore, it was believed God could hide the first sign of the new moon until He wanted it to be seen.

 

Satan’s attempt to confuse the calendar. The Feast of Trumpets was also believed that this Day was hidden from Satan because he couldn’t calculate when it would occur.

 

Some have speculated that Satan has purposely attempted to confuse God’s calendar with a Solar calendar.

 

The Antichrist is described according to scripture as one who will try to “change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25).

 

This may be an attempt to confuse those who are looking for the signs God has put forth in His Feasts.  

 

·        I know I want to be ready when Jesus returns and that consist of me being aware of the signs of HIS return...
·        I believe we are living in a day unlike any day that we have ever lived which demands for us to start looking for HIS return like we never have before…
·        I believe we need to study and watch and pray like were going some where …
·        I believe we need to witness and evangelize making people aware of the signs of HIS soon return…   

 

2)     “But My Father only” –

 

This idiom by Jesus in Matthew 24:36.

 

This is an idiom connected with the Jewish marriage ritual. When a couple was engaged the groom would then go to prepare a place, a home for himself and his bride. It would be built as an extension of His father’s house.

 

Only the father could determine or say when the new abode was complete releasing the groom to go fetch his bride. Jesus may have been making use of such an idiom.

 

In His words from John 14:2-3 we see a close possible connection with the idiom.
John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.    KJV

 

This would also be in line with the marriage supper of the Lamb as given in (Revelation 19:7).

 

3)     “As a thief in the night.”

 

Another Jewish idiom that is relevant for our study is “as a thief in the night.”

 

We find this phrase in;

 

1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night”

 

Jesus also used this phrase in his letter to the dead church at Sardis warning,

 

“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you” (Revelation 3:3).

 

Jesus uses this idiom a second time later in the book of Revelation saying,

 

“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame” (Revelation 16:15).

 

This last case becomes vividly clear that Jesus is very likely speaking in idiomatic terms.

 

The phrase “as a thief in the night” is believed to have referred to the Captain of the Temple guards or the High Priest who would move from post to post in the Temple checking to see that those on guard were awake and not asleep. If he found a guard asleep on watch he would take a torch and light the sleeping guards garments on fire to wake him up.

 

The Captain of the Guard or High Priest came to be referred to as “the thief in the night.”

 

This is important because, as Jesus taught, His return would not catch those off guard or asleep for those who are watching for Him…

 

Please note also only those who aren’t watching for Him will be burned (e.g. Matthew 25:1-13).

 

That’s the consequence of not being ready… Not on guard… Eyes closed, sleeping… Unprepared, busy with self…

 

4)      “The last trumpet.”

 

We find this phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

 

The Feast of Tabernacles was characterized by the blowing of trumpets.

 

The shofar (trumpet) was blown 100 times during this Holy Day.

 

When it came to the end of the Feast the last blowing of the trumpet was referred to idiomatically as “the last trump/trumpet.”
This final trumpet blast, known as the Tekiah Gedolah, the last trump, was to awaken the listeners from their slumber and call them to repentance in preparation to the coming judgment… A SIGN…

 

The last trumpet blast will signal Christ’s Rapture call to the Church. But it will also indicate that the world is in the final stages of existence leading up to God’s Judgment Day for this sin sick world...

 

These are signs that otherwise very few have taken notice of or even know… Yet, right now Israel is looking for their Messiah… They have the red heifer ready for sacrifice (Numbers 19…)

 

They have all the temple furnishings to again start the tabernacle ways of worship…

 

They have the plans to build their third temple… They have the original cornerstone to set again for the rebuilding of their temple…

 

These are signs that the Jew presently have and are prepared in their looking for their Messiah…

 

What is your sign that you have prepared to soon meet your creator???

 

There were 10 virgins… These 10 virgins all would consider themselves to be ready... With their signs showing who they were... They had to have these to show to be prepared for HIS coming…
·        They were all pure…
·        They were all dressed rightly for it…
·        They were all at the right location… 
·        They all knew he was on his way…

 

These were signs of their readiness to meet the bridegroom… Yet, 5 were called foolish, for they had run out of oil… Their oil was insufficient and while they were gone to buy more oil, the bridegroom came... They missed their only opportunity…

 

They all had the signs but the one sign that was most needed; not just so they could see the bridegroom, but that HE could see them… They had no oil, thus no light to see or to be seen… A SIGN BUT AGAIN A SIGN NOT SEEN…
 

SIGNS 2

Signs 2    

After Christ’s ascension we know the last words that Jesus told them… “tarry in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high… (THIS WAS A SIGN…) And as they stumbled out of that upper room as drunk men... Then came the questions… “What meaneth this???” Acts 2:12… “What shall we do???” Acts 2:37… And of course, some with accusation accused them as being drunk at 9:00 in the morning…

WHAT CAN WE SAY EXCEPT; THIS WAS A SIGN… A SIGN FROM HEAVEN… A SIGN PROPHECIED…

These were Jews, these were the first of the believers in Jesus… Their lives were built around all that which was Jewish, their community, their synagogues, their worship, all their expectations were Jewish…

Then out of nowhere with much surprise to the Jewish church… In Acts chapter 10, came the same visitation of the Holy Ghost as it fell on them in the beginning… What they saw was that just as suddenly as Christ came on them, came the same visitation and experience of Pentecost to the Gentiles…

Now the kingdom of God was suddenly open to the Gentiles. That which they (the Jews) experienced in Acts 2… repentance, remissions of sins in water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and the receiving of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues… Christ now came with the same power and the same visitation to the house of Cornelius… He along with his entire house experienced what they had... What can we say, except now the Gentiles became co-heirs of the kingdom with the Jewish believers… CHRIST HAD MADE HIS ABODE IN THEM ALSO…

They all seen the signs… And they knew the origin of those signs…

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.  KJV

AGAIN THE SIGNS AS PROPHECIED… SIGNS AS GIVEN, some 750 B.C.

Gentiles who had repented and left paganism, and Gentile traditions and worship of idols and false gods stopped and now they began attending synagogues... Some no doubt observing Jewish festivals, and reading with understanding through the study of the Torah, the Psalms and the prophets…

THEY WERE SEEING THE SIGNS…

These two groups, the Jew and the Gentile now understanding like never before the working and the manifestation of Christ the Messiah… THE MANIFESTATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD...

However, numerous problems were encountered and occurred between these two groups… It was the apostle Paul who God anointed to preach the gospel to the Gentiles… 

In that time despite much persecution, faith in Christ, the obedience to God and HIS word was very widespread during the first century among the Jewish population…

Acts 17:6… (IN PART) --- “these that have turned the world upside down…”

AGAIN; WE RECOGNIZE WHAT THEY SAW WERE THE SIGNS AS FORETOLD…

But in time, the Gentiles were becoming more and more prevalent, they were increasing in number…

The Gentiles eventually gained the upper hand in decisions affecting most of the congregations outside the region of ancient Israel…

Events that happened 100 years following the death of the apostle Paul seen the changing of faith… Paul prophesied yet another sign to be made aware of… Wolves as the apostle Paul called them in ACTS 20; savage wolves that would come in with the purpose to destroy the faith…

THE WARNING NOT JUST OF PAUL BUT ALL--- WARNING OF THE ANTICHRIST SPIRIT… SIGNS…

Apostle Paul’s death 66 A.D. Then followed the Jewish nation revolt against the Roman Empire… Four years later Roman legions led by Titus, circled Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover… Jesus even warned the believers of that generation that was alive at the time of his death would see Jerusalem destroyed. Not one stone would remain upon another… (AGAIN ANOTHER FULFILLED SIGN PROPHECIED…)

This took place in 70 A.D. (THIS WAS A PROPHECIED SIGN THAT JESUS HIMSELF GAVE…)

Thus, we see the scattering of the Jewish people… Still yet in 90 A.D… The Rabbi leaders who did not believe in Jesus Christ took steps to bar the Jewish believers from the synagogues…

THE FURTHERANCE OF YET ANOTHER SIGN…

Pressure was being put on the Jewish believers of Christ from three sides:

1)     First from the nonbelieving pagans who hated anything Jewish…

2)     Second, from the nonbelieving Jews who feared their power among the people…

3)     And third within their own congregations… The new Gentile believers who were entering the faith…

In 116 A.D. another war broke out in Egypt between the Jewish population in Rome… ANOTHER SIGN GIVEN TO THE SCATTERING OF THE JEWS…)

In 135 A.D. another rebellion… Legions of Rome marched on the Jewish homeland… Hadrian, the Roman Caesar, with vengeance came against the Jewish people again diminishing their numbers…

(ONE MORE SIGN GIVEN…)

In the fourth century 325 A.D. Constantine as the Caesar of Rome supposedly became a so called “believer” for reasons of his own… It was at this time he gathered from the Christian community the few that he invited… Less than 20 % was even there amongst the Gentile believers... Mostly those in his invitation were those who he could persuade and easily be corrupted… The rest he found he would, ignore, and others he would place in exile…

History says in this Council, Constantine purposely left out every Jewish leader. And he passed laws to deny Jewish believers to circumcise their children… He formed laws against them to keep them from observing Jewish festivals, or to rear their children as Jews… The Jewish believers were being forced to drop their Jewish beliefs and to become, in every sense of the word as the Pagan Gentiles…

The Jews were forced into Greek names, and the acceptance and embrace the Pagan festivals… In every sense of the word the implementation of certain things from the decisions of Constantine were now in place and caused the changing of days, times, calendar for the Jew. (DANIEL 7:25…)

The Jewish faith became a totally different religion. Greek names, concepts and religion became “Christianity…” Jewish traditions were being stamped out… Culture was changed and altered… Their sense of identity under attack and forced to change…

It was at this 325 A.D. Council of Nicia that brought to us man’s Trinitarian concept… Then too the changing of the baptismal formula of Acts 2:38…

SIGNS…

We see this as those in power to deny truth as we know it… However, we seldom see what it did to the Jewish believers who went on and who desired to keep their traditions, their feasts, and their festivals…

Constantine who stood against the Jews and the true church, had now taken political control and thus a implemetation of a false church…

·        Laws were issued forbidding Jewish believers to circumcise their children…

·        There was the implementing the replacing of the Passover with the Babylonian fertility goddess…

·        There was the implementing of the pagan; Roman birthday of the sun God…

Many were killed… Many hid… Many fled… The Shema Deut. 6:4… Their belief in one GOD was under attack… Their ways of worship were under attack…

SIGNS…

Is it any wonder to where we in this present world have arrived to???

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:     KJV

2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.     KJV

The descriptions as follows… “The prince and power of the air…” “The god of this world…” works disobedience, and blinds the minds…

SIGNS… THAT TODAY ARE SO PREVALENT THAT EVEN WITH SUCH SIGNS READILY SEEN THEY MISS THEM…

JESUS IS SOON TO RETURN; AND YET, HOW AMAZING IT IS THAT SO MANY HAVE AND ARE MISSING THE SIGNS OF THE SOON RETURN OF JESUS FOR HIS PEOPLE…

HOW ABOUT IT MOM??? DO YOU SEE THE SIGNS???

HOW ABOUT IT DAD??? DO YOU SEE THE SIGNS???

YOUNG PERSON, CAN YOU SEE THE SIGNS???

HEAR THE WORDS OF JESUS…

Matt 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.     KJV

THEY MISSED THE SIGNS… WILL YOU BE ONE OF THOSE WHO MISSED HIS SIGNS???