This past week was one of exhilarating experiences. For starters, I took my ordination test on Tuesday of last week. I received my grade within a matter of a few days; I passed my test. I give God all the glory and praise for allowing me to fulfill His plans for my life, and I thank those of you who were praying for me this past week. The next step in the process is for Bonnie and me to meet with several ministers in a panel interview. Since I was studying for this examination, I asked Pastor Tom Boyce to step in and deliver the message for the morning service.
Pastor Boyce’s message was based on one of King David’s three mighty men—Eleazar. Eleazar was such a warrior that in one of his battles, he stood his ground and fought many, many Philistines until his hand grew tired and froze to his sword (2 Samuel 23:9, 10). Pastor Boyce challenged us to follow Eleazar’s example and cleave, or weld, ourselves to the Word of God (our “swords”). It is imperative we use the Word of God on a daily basis; it is our Operation Manual for our lives. It is also the way that we can rise to the occasion for Jesus Christ, and become a hero just like Eleazar.
Pastor Boyce gave us a word of wisdom at the end of his message—if you weld yourself to the Word of God, expect battles ahead. However, we can confidently rest in the fact that the throne room is still available for us to call to when we need assistance (which should be every time). For as we suffer for Jesus Christ, so shall we be victorious in Jesus Christ. To help us understand the commitment God was asking of us, Pastor Boyce asked everyone to pick up their Bibles and come down to the altar (God’s Altar). As everyone was seeking God’s face and wanting to become closer to Him, the Holy Spirit moved upon the congregation in tongues and interpretation; as well as, one individual so “slain in the spirit”, he was unable to walk. The interpretation was one of instruction—we have been refreshed and it is now time to reach out to our community for Jesus Christ. This manifestation of the Holy Spirit coincided with an earlier tongue and interpretation in the service when God let us know that His Holy Spirit was still in His church. I don’t know about anyone else, but with those words of promise and our “marching orders”, I could easily walk through a brick wall for God.
Our Sunday evening service was a wonderful time of worship and continuation of our study of the book of Revelation. During worship, God’s Holy Spirit was manifested again with these words—“I rejoice in your praises! I rejoice in your praises! I rejoice in your praises.” There is nothing as encouraging as to hear God tell you He is pleased with what you are doing. In the 14th chapter of Revelation, we see the sealed 144,000 Jews (whom God used to evangelize the world during this time in the Tribulation) present with Jesus Christ on Mount Zion (or Jerusalem). We also see that these individuals have kept themselves pure during this time and followed the teachings of Jesus. The next item we found involves the appearance of 3 angels in the sky. One angel declares the glory of God and tells us to worship Him. The second angel tells of the destruction of Babylon (the kingdom of the antichrist). And the third angel gives the longest message—a message of warning. Anyone who worships the antichrist and takes his mark (see chapter 13), will perish forever in endless torment (Hell). This message is the longest because a merciful God DOES NOT want anyone to end up with this outcome.
John finishes this chapter with the description of a mighty harvest on the earth, but not a harvest of vegetation, a harvest of humanity. The harvest by the angels is so great that blood will flow up to a horse’s bridle for 1600 stadia. When you consider a horse’s bridle reaches an approximate height of 6’ to 6’ 6”, 1600 stadia is the equivalent of 180 miles, and the human body holds approximately 8-9 pints of blood, the number of people who will die is staggering.
Again, this is a time that we will not be present. We will be in the audience of our Heavenly Father. If you don’t know where you will be, now is the perfect time to make certain your reservation. For those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be with Him during this time. To make this decision is not difficult. Just tell God you know you’re a sinner; that He gave His only son, Jesus, over to men; man crucified Him on a cross; but Jesus rose from the dead and gives us eternal life because of His resurrection. If you believe this in your heart and confess it with your mouth, you will be saved. The difficult part comes in the living out of your new found, or rededicated, faith. We strongly encourage you to place yourself in a church that preaches the saving grace of Jesus Christ and follows the Word of God. If you have questions about salvation or of how to find a good church, please leave us a comment.
I look forward to what God has in store for us this coming Sunday, and I pray everyone has a blessed week,
Pastor Claude
