To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date sent: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 20:23:09 -0500
Subject: HF043 - The Family of the Great King
Hebraics,
I have a request to provide a study on a message that was shared with our
band of disciples Sunday. The study will be adapted to the forum. I
believe you will be blessed. The study is rich in thought.
(There will be some Scripture references identified by "Cf." You
can use
these Scriptures to further enhance the study.)
Special note: This study will need to be done in parts.
This is Bible Study HF043 - The Family of the Great King. As a prelude to
the study we will need to consider Psalm 95. The Psalmist said,
"O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the
rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and
a King above all gods." A little further, the Psalmist adds, "For He
is
our God, and we are the sheep of His hand."
Then we need to hear this portion; "Do not harden your hearts, as at
Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers
tested me..."
I realize this portion sounds rather strange to be used as a textual base
to talk about the family of the great King. But Psalm 95 is a Davidic
Psalm, that concerns itself with the Messiah. The Bible is the only book
of any religion that actually records history before it happens. This
Psalm is written both to the people of the cross, and to those of the
Jewish leadership who rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel.
The afore mention Scripture, which says, "Do not harden your
hearts," is
to be understood as being spoken to the rejecters. It can be stated, "Do
not harden your hearts against My Jesus." This is the intent. How do we
know this is the intent? Because this verse is quoted in the book of
Hebrews for the very purpose of warning the Jewish peoples about turning
from Christ. (Cf. Hebrews 3:8; 3:15; 4:7)
The fact of the rejection of Jesus was recorded in more than one place. In
the song of Moses, the man of God speaks of those who would reject Jesus;
"They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because
of their defect; but are a perverse and crooked generation." (Deuteronomy
32:5) If you recall, Peter spoke by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in
saying to the peoples, "Be saved from this perverse generation." (Acts
2:40.)
Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke of this same group, in calling them
"this evil family." (Jeremiah 8:3)
There is so much more to be shared concerning what the former
testament has to say about Jesus, but for the sake of the study, lets hear
what the Lord says. After the resurrection, Jesus did something that
helped prepare the apostles for laying the foundation of the new covenant.
He ate a piece of fish, and then said, "These are My words which I spoke
to you while I was with you, that all things which are written about Me in
the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then
He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." (Luke 24:44,45)
Many Christians are not aware that the Bible of the earliest believers was
what we call the Old Testament. But it was the New Testament to them. They
preached Jesus from Moses and the Prophets. And this was the reason that
the early church filled itself to overflowing with Jewish folk. Even a
great many of the priests in Jerusalem became obedient to the faith. The
facts were clear. Jesus was the great king of Israel. (Cf. Acts 6:7; John
1:49)
The key to the Bible is to understand that it is a book of redemption. It
wraps itself around Jesus. This is what the Scripture means, which says,
"Behold I come, in the scroll of the book it is written of Me." (Psalm
40:7; Hebrews 10:7) In the old Greek translation the word for 'scroll'
speaks of the spindle and head around which the scroll was wrapped.
(Technically.) The point being that Jesus is what the book is all about.
If you forget this, you will miss the underlying message of the entire
Bible.
Why is it so important to understand the true doctrines concerning the
Christ? It is important because what you believe will have a direct
influence upon how you live your life. Some believers live in fear and
uncertainty. Is this of the Lord? Hardly so. The true gospel is designed
to dispel fear from the life of a believer. John says, "There is no fear
in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves
punishment, and the one who fears [punishment] is not perfected in love."
(1 John 4:18)
John's point is that where fear and condemnation remain, God's perfect
love has work to do. The work of God's love is to cast out all our fears.
This same apostle wrote, "Behold, now we are children of God, and it has
not appear as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will
be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." (1 John 3:2)
In a moment I will share four identifying marks that belong to God's
family. But first let me share something that passed through my mind
earlier this week. I was thinking about all the Christian Churches that
flourish in America. The United States is the most religious nation on
earth. According to statistics, more people attend church in this nation
than in any other nation.
I thought to myself, "What would happen in the minds of peoples if
every single Christian suddenly disappeared from the earth, and all you
had left was empty church buildings? I pondered on those who would be
left. (Whether you believe in a rapture or no, just humor me. I want to
make a point.)
All that would be left would be memories of a people who once
gathered in church buildings to worship the Lord. Think about those
who had been raised in a church setting, but had never accepted Jesus
Christ as their Savior. Now all they would see is a building. Weeds would
be growing. They would hear no singing or preaching. Just silence. What
would go through their minds?
Since this is not a study on the rapture, here is my point: Every gospel
preaching church in this country is a testimony to the fact that God has a
great family in the earth. Sure we disagree on a lot of unnecessary
things, and the denomination is immaterial for this scene, but the fact
remains that God only has one family. Anyone who is blood bought, belongs
to the family. On a personal note, I don't personally believe you can have
too many churches. When I travel about the country, my heart always warms
when I see a Jesus-loving Church. You see, Jesus said that we are the salt
of the earth, and, that we are the light of the world. (Think about it.)
So now let's talk about the identifying signs that belong to the family of
God in the earth. Keep in mind that the Lord told Abraham that his
descendants would be like the stars of heaven. They would be without
number to be counted.
Here are the four marks of those who belong to the family of the great
King:
First and foremost, is a love for Jesus Christ. This has nothing at all to
do with where you attend services. Peter said, "And though you have not
seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in
Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." (1
Peter 1:8)
Psalm 95 brings it out, where it says, "Let us shout joyfully to the
'rock' of our salvation." (Verse 1)
Secondly, you have the the royal seal. Every person who accepts and
receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior receives the seal of
God. This seal is spoken of as God's seal of redemption. There is a
Scriptural indication that angels may be able to see the seal. They
certainly know the ones who are sealed. (Cf. Ephesians 4:30)
The seal is the seal of ownership. The word Paul uses for 'sealed' is
'sphragio.' This word means 'to seal up by putting a seal on.' The idea
is
the sealing up of a letter that a courier would carry. Did not Paul say
that we are a letter of Christ? (Cf. Corinthians 3:3)
The seal itself can only be broken by the person to whom it belongs, or by
someone who has the right. Our seal is the seal of the Holy Spirit,
signifying that we belong to Jesus. Satan knows about the seal. All who
are sealed cannot be touched by Satan in the sense of ownership. He has no
rights whatsoever over any child of God. (Cf. Colossians 1:13)
Thirdly, is the testimony of God that is carried in the heart of all God's
true children. Even in our struggles and failures. Even when we make
terrible mistakes. Even then the testimony remains secure. Paul said that
nothing could separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
The apostle wrote, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we
are children of God, and if children, then heirs also, heirs of God and
fellow heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also
be glorified with Him." (The suffering comes with our confession of faith
in Jesus. Romans 8:16,17)
And fourthly, every child of the great King has this 'other worldliness'
as a conscious reminder that he or she is not of this world. The reminder
is a thing of the heart. And this is why no true child of God can ever be
satisfied in a life that generates to seeking wealth. Peter said, "Silver
and gold have I none." But at the same time, all out needs are met in
Christ.
The point in this case is that though we are children of the great King,
we have not yet come into our full inheritance. Therefore we know in
ourselves that this life is but a journey. A Scriptural witness for this
is Hebrew 11:16, where it says, "But as it is, they desire a better
country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God; for He has prepared a city for them."
Jesus Himself said that we are not of this world. He also said, "I go to
prepare a place for you ... that where I am, there you may be also." (Cf.
John 14:1-6)
There are two more parts to this study, but let's draw this portion to a
close for the time being. The other two parts have to do with the family
calling and the heavenly walk.
The study is open for discussion.
Shalom in Christ,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)