June 26, 2005

• Continuation of Friday’s Bible study (Part 1 is on Sat. )

  
  

  God is returning everything to its rightful position. And this is written also in the stars in the heavens.

  
  

  Isaiah 8:11-18 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people saying: “Do not say,’A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of host, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken.” Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me? We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.

  
  

  In the above passage, Isaiah was talking to the people, not the priests and Pharisees. This is a prophetic passage about Jesus’ coming, and he did just as this said, was a stumbling block and an offense to the priests. And Jesus performed signs and wonders. v. 13 We must worship God before any institution or church. v. 14 The Messiah will come. He is the rock. Jesus is the cornerstone and everyone who stumbles on him will fall.

  
  

  Chapter 9 of Isaiah is the prophesy of Jesus’ birth. Remember he was Born in Bethlehem, which is translated the House of Bread. Jesus was the Bread of life, and we are not to be offended at his teachings.

  
  

  Verse 15 of Chapter 8 If you refuse to accept the truth that Jesus teaches, you become the enemy, a stumbling block, and broken. You are NOT STRONGER THAN THE WORD OF GOD WHICH DOES NOT YIELD. That is why those who try to ignore the Words of God written in the Bible, will ultimately fail.

  
  

  Isaiah Ch. 8:16 Bind up my testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Let those who will hear it make it permanent with them, and those who refuse to hear will be blinded.

  
  

  Chapter 8:18 We are for signs and wonders in Israel. If the signs and wonders are rejected by the people, then they will not be hearing the whole truth. God gave signs and wonders so that his children could work among the people, get their attention, and make them receptive to God’s words.

  
  

  People can argue and debate theology, religion, but they cannot debate your testimony. We are a sign and a wonder due to the good work that God has done thru us.

  
  

  This prophesy in Chapter 8 of Isaiah is fulfilled in this day. The House of Israel is still divided into two camps. Those who trust God and believe in Him, and those who are not truly devoted to God and do not believe in Him.

  
  

  Because you are in the House of God, does not mean that the House is in you.

  
  

  Pastor Don said that the following verses make him want to cry for they are the mandate to gather the gentiles.

  
  

  Isaiah 9:1-2 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed the Land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the gentiles, The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.

  
  

  Isaiah 9:21Manasseh shall devour Ephriam, andEphriam Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

  
  

  The Israelites spent 5,500 (or so) years rejecting God, but God still stretches his hand out to them. We gentiles have rejected him for 2,000 years, and He still stretches His hand out to us. He sent the Messiah, and he forgives us.

  
  

  Then we, as Friday Bible studies go, moved back to the topic of faith, and Pastor Don said that once he heard this quote from Kenneth Hagin, “If faith was dynamite, they couldn’t blow their nose.

  
  

  Now there is a mandate for us.

  
  

  Mark 16:14-20 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”So then after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

  
  

  Jesus said that these signs will follow THOSE WHO BELIEVE.  If you do not believe what Jesus said about the signs, you will not see them manifest. If you believe that they died with the apostles, for you they will have died with the apostles.

  
  

  Jesus’ prayer for us

  
  

  John 17: 20-26 I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word: that they all may be one as You, Father, are in Me, and I  in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. Iin them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may now that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold, My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

  
  

  This prayer is not just for his disciples, for in V. 20 it says he is also praying for those who will believe in Jesus based on the teachings of the apostles about Jesus. That means US too, for we are believing, even though we haven’t seen Him in the flesh. Jesus was VERY SPECIFIC with His words. If He was praying for just the disciples, he would have said so.

  
  

  Jesus wants the whole world to believe. And He has allowed us to help to spread His word throughout the world. And all the signs and wonders still exist to bring glory to God.

  
  

  Acts 10:38 “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Sprit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God who was with Him.”

  
  

  Jesus was the Lord over sickness and death and the devil. When Jesus gave to his apostles was the baptism of the spirit with power, and they went around doing good, with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Anyone needing healing is oppressed by the devil who is the author of sickness and disease.

  
  

  The devil is an equal opportunity employer. He will oppress anyone who he can oppress.

  
  

  John 17:22 “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.”

  
  

  We are the THEY in the above scripture, and we have received the glory of the Holy Spirit from God, and the ability to do what He did to the glory of God.

  
  

  John pointed out that he could not write all the miracles that Jesus did, they wouldn’t fit in the gospel. If you just count up the miracles, you would realize that what was written would have necessitated Jesus working daily to do them, as there were so many.

  
  

  Jesus had a supernatural personal relationship of total sharing with God, 24/7 openness with God, and he was totally obedient to God.

  
  

  Luke 10:9 ..”And heal the sick there, and say to them, “The Kingdom of God has come near to you.”

  
  

  For those who say that only the apostles carried the healing, there is the 70 that Jesus sent out in Luke 10 to do healings, in Luke 9 he sent out the disciples. Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hand on the sick, and they will recover.

  
  

  Mark 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

  
  

  We can’t have a Luke 19 gospel, and a Mark 16:20 gospel if the churches do not believe that God can allow signs and wonders in this day and age.

  
  

  If you are not operating with the full gifts of Christ it is like giving someone the keys to the car and telling them they have the car, but they can’t drive it.

  
  

  Acts 24: 12-14; 20-21 “And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in they synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets, v. 20-21: Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, unless it is for this one statement which I cried out standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.”

  
  

  Paul, a prophet, continued to write, and maintain the testimony of the raising of the dead.

  
  

  We have to minister on the basis of believing in the resurrection of the dead, it is what sets us apart from all other religions.

  
  

  Other religions believe in gifts, but where the rubber meets the road is Christ raised from the dead. For, from the accounts in the Bible, it is true that the dead were raised.

  
  

  Is our gospel still a gospel of the dead raised?

  
  

  Jesus was here to conquer sin and death.

  
  

  We have documented cases of the dead being raised in the name of Jesus, and of other gifts and signs being used long after Jesus and the apostles died. In more recent times, Smith Wigglesworth raised at least 16 from the dead, and today there is documentation of a dead man raised at a revival of Rheinart Bonke (Sorry for spelling).

  
  

  It is time that our churches raise from the dead and operate in all the gifts that Jesus gave us.

  
  

  Hope you enjoyed this Bible study.

  
  

  Heather

  • 1:57 pm
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