October 18, 2020

Destiny in Christ as shown in Ephesians - positionally being in the mind of God somewhere you are not currently but will soon be in reality. 

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead ^[f]in our transgressions, made us alive together ^[g]with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  

This is only possible by being given something we do not deserve.  This future assurance is very real,

¹³ In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also ^[r]believed, you were sealed in ^[s]Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is ^[t]given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. 

The Book of Zechariah holds some timeless lessons for the people of the one true God.  The prophet was a contemporary to Haggai, and through the ministries of these two prophets the struggling Israelites were given the illumination, motivation and spirit to rebuild the temple of YHWH LORD after 70 years of captivity in Babylon.

This was no easy task for the Babylonian captivity was not altogether rough on every Israelite.  Like we have seen in modern times, a good number of them stayed in Babylon after Cyrus issued the decree to allow the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem and their Temple. This task would fall upon those in those initial waves of tens of thousands who did return when it was opportune.

The first chapters of Zechariah sets forth the global backdrop for the importance of timing for them to rebuild the temple: the world was all calm (at the moment) and it was time.  This message was needed because in times of both adversity and peace and prosperity God's people can be in a lull or be too preoccupied with their own lives to do God's work. As Haggai pointed out their hypocrisy saying to them how they have plenty of time and money to "panel" their own houses - HOW COME they don't have time and money to build God's house?  These two prophets revealed the hypocrisy of God's people.  Further, later on during Nehemiah's day decades later, the Israelists would rebuild the walls around Jerusalem in record time, while being surrounding by adversity literally "with a spear in one hand and a 'shovel' in the other."

Besides showing how the individual sins and wickedness of the people complicates doing the work of God in righteousness, Zechariah rebukes the leadership of the people (aka "worthless shepherds") as being mostly to blame, even hitting a prophetic crescendo foretelling the most blatant leadership error to ever plague Israel: when they would weigh out 30 pieces of silver to betray their Messiah King, resulting in his crucifixion, the rejection of their Chief Cornerstone (Zechariah 11:12-13).  Yes, they would sell out Jesus for about a year of wages.

This is definitely true of today: God's people find every excuse they can to not support and engage in the work of God.  Leader's and their selfish ambitions and desire for wealth leads to great loss of life and opportunity for the people they rule.   

Zechariah ends with a promise that one day the God of Heaven will simply be THE leader over the whole Earth and all nations.  He himself will step down on the Mount of Olives and make Jerusalem his capitol. 

He warns the world that going forward anyone coming against Jerusalem to impede the rolling out of God's Kingdom Work, which will be done "not by might or power of armies" but by His Spirit, will be judged and stopped ultimately by the most lethal weapon of all: plague.

 ¹² This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. ¹³ On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.

This is a reminder to us all that the true God of heaven is in control of history, judges the nations and will bring it all together one day in perfect form, with perfect leadership and with a shout of "glory and grace" to it.

Let's make sure we do not use excuse of oppression, privilege or distraction of wealth and/or personal pursuit to distract us from the necessary work of God - worship and service to repay what has been graciously afforded to us, and that no matter how bad it gets around us or in the world - there is NEVER an excuse or circumstance by which we cannot do his life changing work. 

Lastly, in light of the recent Peace treaty that appears to be formalized soon between modern Israel and the United Arabs Emirate, while some have said this is nothing and others say this is everything, we too are illuminated to know this is not the final status of peace and safety for the modern nation God called his own, as the world still resides in unrighteousness, hate, betrayal and sin - and Israel still has to come to grips with the "chief cornerstone" they rejected and rolled down the hill.

¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives.    

A Chiasmus.

For the first time in the history of the United States, the President has declared the highest level emergency for every single State in the Union regarding a entirely new form of life that "came to be" in the form of a now entirely mature coronavirus the world has called SARS-CoV-2 which has the potential to infect 70-80% of any given population taking no precautions and resulting in a new disease being called COVID-19 in 20% of those infected.  The disease results in death in many of the cases of all ages, but particularly those with underlying mild to severe health conditions.  The 80% who will only experience no symptoms at all, a cold or a respiratory infection are all infectious and may also experience damage to lungs, major organs, the blood system and other biological systems.  It was just learned within the last few days, after the first autopsies that thrombosis in the lungs is the final nail in the cross of deaths resulting from this disease.  2200 of the 1.5 million seniors in nursing homes have been lost and more most certainly to come in the weeks ahead.

As of April 12th, 2020, the number of infections in one month has exceeded all Type A and B flu counts for the 2019-2020 season, killed almost half the number of American Armed forces in the 20 year Vietnam War, and has exceeded the deaths of 911, SARS 2003, MERS 2012 and H1N1 Swine Flu 2009 combined. 

The only Gentile author of the 66 Books/Letters of the Bible - a physician named Luke - describes the end of the Gentile age (Luke chapter 20), the time from the ascension of the Son of the Man to his return to redeem humanity once for all.  This epoch of human history would be and was marked by:

• The typical violence of a humanity that misses the mark of Divinity on a continual, every day, every moment basis at a local, state and national level in the form of war, genocide and mass murder.
  
• The personal betrayals, persecution and murder of millions upon millions of Christians by the hands of family members, pagans, nation states and false religions.

And this epoch of human history known as the "times of the Gentiles" would conclude with:

• Jerusalem yet once again being surrounded by its enemies and ravaged and made empty and barren.

Having read a number of publications out of Israel over the last month, the Jewish people are looking right now for the return of "their" Messiah. 

Certainly, the coherent catastrophism taught from Genesis to Revelation "feels like" the end of this age is within sight, as best summed up in Luke 21:25a, "...There will be attesting-miracles by sun and moon and stars."  But more significantly in 21:25b, 

"...and upon the Earth, a holding-together (imprisonment, quarantine) of nations for loss, a roaring and swelling of a sea (the ocean of humanity).  

It is in a moment like this that I find myself face down, smelling either grass, dirt or carpet thanking YHWH He revealed Himself to me through the grace, love and truth of those possessed by Him in the distance past and my past and the Holy Scriptures which brought to humanity in rational terms the true nature of the One who was "just another son of another human being in Divine perfection."  

Christians often say, without knowing even what they are saying, "I am in the will of God" or "I am seeking the will of God."  The will or more accurately the determination of God is not a wishy washy mysterious realm, especially when his determinative will is clearly pronounced in the Bible - "believe and you will be delivered, be immersed in water for public identification and grow spiritually in all godliness."  But more specifically we see what his "will" is even more in this Luke passage.  Being in His will simply means "taking upon yourself sheer determination" no matter the weight that has been put upon you, or the level of affliction, death, loss and anguish like we see in Job`s life.

Luke grasps the words of Jesus and interpreted it to the Gentile world in this passage for all sons and daughters of humanity:

1. "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”    
    

2. ³⁴ “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

3. 21:19 - "Procure your souls for yourselves by your sheer-determination."  (i.e. endurance or obstinance to hold to the reality of the God). 

This is the will of God, our obstinance to hold on to "the faith once for all delivered to the Saints."

Regarding the question "Why?".  The holy prophet Jeremiah sums it up as he endured with obstinance to NOT walk away from the truth of the Lord God YHWH in Jeremiah 44:11-23.

Where do you go from here?  The world demonized and crucified as a lowly criminal this God when he clothed himself in flesh to be the propitiation for this flawed, violent and "sinful" humanity.  He is now visiting the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. 

Matthew`s genealogy in Matthew 1 revealed the Jesus to be the fulfillment of Jewish messianic scriptures. Luke`s genealogy of the Jesus showed him to be the descendant of Adam and Eve, and therefore is most applicable for the souls of ALL OF HUMANITY.

Accept His sacrifice for your lack of divinity, and he will cause divinity to "come to be" in you, in at first an invisible nuclear, seed like form, but then to grow in Him to reveal it as the most beautiful divine light while securing for yourself a "standing again" out from the "dead ones." 

Get on your face, smell the carpet, the grass and the dirt all ye who have come from such.  It`s ok to weep, and cry and mourn over your mistakes, skeletons and demons and ask for forgiveness.  Love each other like you have so fallen in love with yourself.  Our Redeemer is nigh. 

The Lord Jesus said "...those who worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth."    The teachings at Cave Springs Missionary Baptist Church are consistent with an honest, historical and contextual view of the New Testament in a dispensational structure.  That is, our doctrines are consistent and non-contradictory in nature with the first public assembly of Christians in the Gentile Age. 

We believe the preaching of the entire counsel of the Word of God and spiritual songs and hymns in a sacred context should comprise the worship service of a Christian assembly.  We neither have liturgy nor a "modernized" format to make the sacred worship "more palatable."   We encourage the presence of men, women, children and families in our services to experience a genuine and simple heartfelt worship service where the preaching of the Word is central.  We also encourage members to maintain holiness and a spiritual life with the God through the mediator Jesus Christ.

We have accomodations for mothers with infants, and encourage our membership to come to worship services spiritually prepared. 

We offer an invitation or "altar call" at the end of our Sunday morning worship services for those with conviction to come forward for a new birth experience, public identification with Christ through the waters of baptism and/or membership, and for prayer and spiritual guidance.  If you have questions regarding our services, your salvation experience, baptism or simply God`s influence in your life, do not hesitate to contact Pastor Dixon using the contact us form on this site.