PPC011612

Devotional

           “Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He has mercy on us. Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.” (Psalm 123)

This Psalm is another cited as the pilgrim Jew would ascend the Temple mount to go up and worship the Lord on the specified feast days. When the masses were making their way along the path and then up the stairs they would be watching the ground and moving with caution as they went. The steps up to the temple were intentionally spaced in such a way as to cause the pilgrim to cautiously make their way up to the temple. The sound of prayers and singing of the “Psalms of Ascent” would be heard by all around. I am sure there were times when whole groups would be singing them together.

As the journey brought the pilgrim closer to the temple the sound of trumpets and other singers could be heard. The excitement would rise and the emotions would lift. It was an exhilarating experience.

The experience the Jews enjoyed can and should be the experience of every believer in Christ. As we come together to worship, and as the sound of instruments and singing is lifted, we too should experience excitement and its accompanying emotional rise. The words of the songs we sing and our focus on the Lord brings healing and encouragement. Prayer set to music – oh the joy!

The Psalmist, in this beautiful Psalm says, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God…” When this Psalm was written, and when it was cited, the pilgrim Jew would also pray, “Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.” The Jews have been persecuted from the beginning. Christians and Jews are both persecuted today. Therefore the prayer for mercy is given. The good news is that God has answered the prayer for mercy and will continue to do so for everyone who calls out to Him for His deliverance.

I am thankful to say that we have a God who is alive and well, desires to shower us with good things, Has a plan and purpose in all He allows in our lives, and will ultimately deliver all who trust in Him from the presence and power of our enemies.

    I  love you all,

Pastor Paul

Scripture For Memory

     "Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." (Psalm 29:1)

Quote of the Week

    "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the wall of his cell..."  

                                              - C. S. Lewis 

Q & A of the Week

Q.  I have been reading Ellis H. Skolfield's book called "The False Prophet". He seems to believe in a Post Tribulation Rapture and says that the doctrine of a Pre-tribulation Rapture is error. Can you review a bit of his work and make some comments?   

A.  This is a complex question that may need more time than I have to put it all into print. Maybe  a Wednesday night Q and A on this would be good.

However, here are a few comments…

It appears that the gentleman you are reading was a dispensationalist and is no longer holding to Dispensational Theology but has embraced (at least in some form) Covenant Theology.

This alone explains the difficulties and misapplication of many Scriptures. He seems to see the Church as “the new Israel” (his own words) and therefore places the church in the context of Jewish passages. For example in Matthew 24. Matthew 24 is (in context) “Jewish” not “Christian”.

He also sees the “Tribulation” as the entire church era (now almost 2000 years long) and not as the 7 years described in Daniel 9 and Revelation.

It also appears that he believes that there are no trumpets that will sound during the Millennial Reign of Christ (1000 years long) and places the Revelation 11 “last trumpet” as the last of all trumpets of all time. On this he hangs his "pre-wrath" rapture.

He most likely does not see a literal Millennial Reign of Christ either.

He seems to believe that the Rapture is one and the same as the Second Coming (using Matthew 24 as his text) and fails to recognize that the coming of the Lord in Matthew 24 is terrible and judgmental in nature. Matthew 24 relates to the Second coming -  when he comes in Judgment - not the Rapture of the Church.

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Cross reference:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, every family by itself…” Zec. 12:10-12

We/the church are looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Jesus. We will not mourn when he comes. His coming for us is one of comfort.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”  (1 Thes. 4:16-18)

“looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

Furthermore, everyone on the earth at the time of the Tribulation will desire to hide from the Lord. When (I ask) will the church ever say hide me from my Savior? Revelation 6 says,

“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:15-17)

Every slave and every free man excludes no one!

Hope this brief answer helps a bit.