Time with Jesus - 19 Oct 2013
This is certainly true of my
own generation. Rumours of “who, what and where”, concerning the antichrist, are
buzzing in the air. Hitler, Stalin, the Japanese Emperor, and one or two
generals of that time were hotly favoured when I was younger.  |
| Hitler = Antichrist? |
When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
by James M. Black, 1893 |
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When
the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, & time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. |
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Chorus
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When
the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there |
On
that bright & cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise
And the glory of His resurrection share; When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies, And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. |
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Let
us labour for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care; Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done, And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. |
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At that instant in time we would
experience what has been called, “The noisiest verse in the Bible”, written by
Paul to the Thessalonians: 16 For the Lord
Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.
First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.
17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and
re-main on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NLT
As a teenager, the prospect was
rather exciting! On reflection, I think it was the noise aspect. Anyone who was
born and brought up in the West knows a bit about noise. “Turn that noise
down”, my mother would shout at me. “It will make you deaf!”
Dad didn’t comment
much. He was slightly deaf from power station noise anyway. In his final years,
his deafness was a bit embarrassing. He couldn’t hear what we were saying,
unless we spoke up. Now, at the same age as he was, when deafness started to be
a problem for him, I find that I’ve got much the same problem and need a
hearing aid. Mind you, I also endured a number of years working in the noise of
a power station environment. What I still recall from those distant years was
my mother’s comment, “Elvis Presley will make you deaf!”
At the turn of the 19th
to 20th century, evangelists and itinerant preachers had life much
easier than today. Sound recording equipment was in its infancy, so the
likelihood that a sermon would be “taped” was not thought of as a remote possibility.
It follows, that a preacher could “repeat” a sermon on several occasions and no
one would know. 
Likewise, singers who accompanied the evangelist could sing the
same song on several occasions and not annoy anyone. Such possibilities are now
out of the question. In most of the larger churches in SA and elsewhere, after
the service, there is a quick scramble in the recording department, so that as
the congregation makes its way home after the service, CD copies of the sermon
etc. are on sale. In the 1970’s all was on cassette tapes.
Now you can get CD’s
and, in many cases, copies of the sermon on DVD. You can go home after the
morning service and see a DVD of what you had seen earlier. Is it a good thing?
It depends on what the preacher said. Certainly he/she must be more circumspect
than in bygone days.
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| James M Black |
In the table above we have a gospel
song written by James M. Black (1856 to 1938) in 1893. Black,
a Methodist Sunday school teacher in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was calling
roll one day for a youth meeting. Young Bessie, daughter of a drunkard, did not
show up, and he was disappointed at her failure to appear. Black made a comment
to the effect, “Well, I trust when the roll
is called up yonder, she’ll be there.”
He
tried to respond with an appropriate song, but could not find one in his song
book: “This lack of a fitting song caused me
both sorrow and disappointment. An inner voice seemed to say, “Why don’t you
write one?” I put away the thought. As I opened the gate on my way home, the
same thought came again so strongly, tears filled my eyes. I entered the house
and sat down at the piano. The words came to me effortlessly. The tune came the
same way. I dared not change a single note or word. (Courtesy Wikipedia)
I remember singing it in the
1960’s. It’s a sort of sung commentary on 1 Thess. 4:16 of Paul’s Epistle. It
was the chorus that really appealed to me and others. I've found that most
Christians know the chorus. The verses are not as familiar. Today, thinking of
the chorus, my feet start tapping and I remember with great affection the
influence those words had on my early days as a Christian.
There are two “unfortunate”
reactions among Christians concerning the imminence of Jesus’ return. One
reaction is to be so obsessed by the event; all focus is lost on what is
happening in and around us in this world. This is foolish since it is the
impression we make on unbelievers, which is so important concerning their
salvation. To totally disregard the reality of His imminent return is also
foolish. It gives unbelievers the impression that it is unimportant.
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| Rev Andrew Murray |
We need to
learn to live in a state of keen anticipation of the event, without neglecting
what is happening around us. When Andrew Murray was asked what he would do
today if He knew Jesus would return tomorrow, he wisely stated, “I would be planting
a tree”. We need that sort of wisdom in Christianity today, doing what we
should be doing.
Shalom
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 19 Oct 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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WHEN
THE TRUMPET SOUNDS
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The fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. I wonder what it looked like. How easy was it to
identify. We know that it was located in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
But how did Adam know which tree it was? Did it look any different from all
the other trees? Was it in the middle of an orchard? Did it stand all alone
so that you would recognise it if you walked toward it? We don’t know. What
we do know is that Adam and Eve had the complete run of the garden. But they
were not given ownership. 15 The LORD God placed the
man in the Garden of Eden to tend and
watch over it. Genesis 2:15 NLT
Adam and Eve were “innocents
in paradise” with no restriction on them. I assume that the fruit of every
other tree in the garden would contribute to their knowledge of what was
good. I’m not sure that they had any idea about evil at all. How could they.
The knowledge of evil was confined to the fruit of one tree. There was no other
evil in that garden. Presumably, if Satan hadn’t come along, we would all be
there romping and playing in the garden and enjoying our time with God in the
cool of the evening! But I digress.
There was no sin in the
world. Nothing died. Did the trees grow? Did the grass, flowers and plant
life grow? What about the animals? Man was told to be fruitful, multiply and
fill the earth. Presumably this applied to all the creatures God had made.
The instruction may have been given to Adam and Eve only. Presumably it
applied to all the creatures? It seems that this would inevitably result in
the entire world being fully populated. Only one thing could prevent this
from happening. If Adam ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. he would lose the leasehold right of occupation on God’s world.
Only one sin was possible.
For Adam (not Eve) to eat the forbidden fruit. We usually include Eve in this
prohibition. But the way she spoke to the serpent, suggests the Lord had not
given the instruction to her. God gave the order to Adam. It was his
responsibility to pass it on.
We know what happened. God
had given Adam an indefinite lease on the Garden. 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it. The world and all the people belong to Him. Psalms 24:1 NLT Satan now had legal possession
for an undefined period. But he didn’t own it. This means that God had the
right to take it back, subject to the laws He had put in place. So Jesus did
not “steal” the world back. He legally cancelled the lease and terminated
Satan’s tenancy agreement. Since the “freehold” was His, He had every right
to do so. One of these days, Satan will be evicted. When the last trumpet
blows!
Jim
& Phyllida
Strickland
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1 Are you cheerful because you belong to Christ? Does his love comfort
you? Is the Holy Spirit your companion? Has Christ been gentle and loving
toward you?
Philippians 2:1 NIrV
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When he’d been created; in the days before the fall;
I’ve wondered about Adam. Did he understand at all,
What the Lord was saying, when He told him he would die.
The fruit of good and evil He told him not to try.
If ever Adam ate it, death would come on board
And he would face destruction, by death’s great and mighty sword.
Did he really listen? Did he comprehend,
The outcome of his eating and that death would be his end?
It seems he wasn’t frightened. He wasn’t quite aware,
Of all the consequences. He didn’t seem to care.
But after he had fallen; with Satan in control,
He knew that all his children had lost their mortal soul.
He didn’t seem to realise, a little tiny sin,
Would put all of his children in the mess that we are in.
He didn’t quite appreciate that everyone would die.
That fear of death would haunt us, for to all death would apply.
From that very moment, when death was in control,
We have all been frightened, of what happens to our “soul”.
From that very instant, we have been the slaves of fear.
Terrified of dying and knowing it was near.
No one could avoid it. Death’s “jaws” were open wide.
It was unrelenting and to all it was applied.
No one could avoid it. No man dispute its claim.
This would last forever, or till Christ the Saviour came.
He took on the devil and Satan was defeated!
Beat him fair and squarely. The devil wasn’t cheated.
Jesus through His lifetime had not committed sin.
So it was inevitable Jesus Christ would win.
Death had been defeated, when Christ was resurrected!
By His precious blood, His saints are thoroughly protected.
Death has lost its terror. His saints can overcome,
In the precious Name of Jesus Christ God’s only son.
Yes, our mortal bodies will surely pass away.
But we’ll get a new one when He comes again one day!
So be a little patient. All of us will rise,
The instant that His trumpet sounds. the devil and his guys,
Will have to give the lease back. It will not be extended.
And Christ will have the “freehold” of all that God intended.
Jim
Strickland
Written
19th Oct 2012
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1
"How frail is humanity! How short is life,
how full of trouble! 2 We blossom like a
flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.
Job 14:1-2 NLT
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26 When my skin sags and
my bones get brittle, GOD is rock-firm and faithful.
Psalms 73:26 MSG
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16 I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you
another Friend so that you will always have someone with you.26
The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will
send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind
you of all the things I have told you.
John 14:16 & 26 MSG
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3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can
comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same
comfort God has given us.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NLT
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14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to
life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with
Him the believers who have died. 15 We tell you this
directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will
not meet Him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord Himself
will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have
died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we
who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18
So encourage each other with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 NLT
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