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THE PERSON OF THE BOOK
GENESIS: Promised Seed
EXODUS: Passover Lamb
LEVITICUS: Scapegoat
NUMBERS: Brazen Serpent
DEUTERONOMY: Great Lawgiver
JOSHUA: Prophet, Priest and King
JUDGES: Judge of All the Universe
RUTH: Kinsman Redeemer
SAMUEL: Anointer of Kings
KINGS: King of Kings & Lord of Lords
CHRONICLES: Great Historian
EZRA: Rebuilder of the Temple
NEHEMIAH: Rebuilder of the Wall
ESTHER: Saviour of the Jews
JOB: Friend that Sticketh Closer than a Brother
PSALMS: Song of the Ages
PROVERBS: Truth
ECCLESIASTES: Great Preacher
SONG OF SOLOMON: Wonderful Lover
ISAIAH: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and The
Prince of Peace
JEREMIAH: Weeping Prophet
LAMENTATIONS: Street Preacher
EZEKIEL: Rebuilder of the Kingdom Temple
DANIEL: Stone Cut Out Without Hands That Will Someday Come Back to
Earth and Establish a Kingdom as Supreme Ruler and King
HOSEA: Forgiving Lover
JOEL-MALACHI: One Coming in Bethlehem Judea
MATTHEW: King of Kings
MARK: Suffering Servant
LUKE: Son of Man
JOHN: Son of God
ACTS: Power of the Church
ROMANS: Dynamite of the Gospel
CORINTHIANS: Restorer of the Carnal Nature
GALATIANS: Rent Veil and Overcomer of the Schoolmaster
EPHESIANS: Heavenly One
PHILIPPIANS: Our Sufficiency
COLOSSIANS: The Shadow
THESSALONIANS: The Great Coming Christ
TIMOTHY: Our Great Appearing God
TITUS: Blessed Hope
PHILEMON: Great Master
HEBREWS: Best of All
JAMES: Fulfiller of the Law
PETER: Rock of Ages Cleft For Me, Let Me Hide Myself in Thee
JOHN: Assurance of our Salvation
JUDE: One Able to Keep Us From Falling and Present Us Faultless
Before Christ in Glory
REVELATION: One Saddled on a White Horse Coming Back to Set Up His
Kingdom
HE’S THE PERSON OF THE BOOK!!
THE JEWELED LADY OF POMPEII
Of the 20,000 inhabitants of Pompeii, some 2,000 lost their lives, among them a woman who loved finery above all else. As the deadly rain of fire came down, she decided to run to the harbor and escape by ship. That was wise, but this rich and beautiful woman stayed behind just long enough to collect as much jewelry as she could carry. Snatching up her rings, she hastily thrust them on her fingers. There was no time to hunt for a box or a bag in which to cram her ornaments, so she picked up as many as she could hold, and rushed into the street, clutching her pearls and diamonds, her rubies and sapphires, her gold brooches and her earrings--a wealth of finery that would be placed at thousands of dollars today.
But she delayed too long. The poisonous fumes overcame her as she ran; and with all her trinkets she stumbled, fell, and died, clutching the things she prized so much.
There, under the ashes of Pompeii she lay; and when the excavators found her, she was still lovely, and her hands were still laden with jewels.
— Prairie Overcomer, Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
STAYING IN THE SHALLOW END
He stays at the shallow end of the pool for a long time, refusing invitations to come out into the deeper water, even with his dad. But after a long time considering it, my grandson Zion Brave Bennett thrusts himself into the pool, swimming underwater and then dog-paddling across the deep end to the far edge. It took a while but he does it and the results are spectacular. He has the time of his life in the pool from that point on. He is an OVERCOMER!
Many of those who respond to the message of Christ have thrust themselves into the deep end of the pool and will be enfolded into the life of our Church and grow in their newfound faith. Some will even go through the Bible College. Yet it is also true that no matter how hardhitting and inspiring and deep the message is on Sunday, many stay at the shallow end and won’t continue with the faith that they profess. They are not so much the HARD SOIL Jesus speaks about in Matthew 13, but the SHALLOW SOIL.
She says that she is a Christian, but she hasn’t made any commitment to Christ other than an occasional prayer. Edna (not her real name) has no desire to let Christ lead her life, read her Bible or grow spiritually. I would never be able to tell that she is a Christian by listening to her speak or by how she responds to life. There is no discernable difference between her and anyone else. She looks, speaks and acts as any other person. Then again, how can you tell what faith LOOKS LIKE in someone’s life?
In Matthew 13:20-21 (NLT) Jesus gives us a PICTURE of what Edna looks like spiritually. He says “The seed on the rocky soil (shallow soil with underlying rocks) represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.”
INDESCRIBABLE CHRIST
Dr. S.M. Lockridge was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, San Diego CA from 1953 - 1993. He entered heaven in 2000. He is well-known for a passage out of his sermon titled “He’s My King”:
“He’s enduringly strong, He’s entirely sincere, He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. He’s God’s Son. He’s a sinner’s savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s preeminent. He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest idea in philosophy. He’s the fundamental truth in theology. He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick, He cleans the lepers. He forgives sinners, He discharges debtors, He delivers captives, He defends the feeble, He blesses the young, He serves the unfortunate, He regards the aged, He rewards the diligent, He beautifies the meek. Do you know Him?
Well, my king is the king of knowledge, He’s the well-spring of wisdom, He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness He’s the gateway of glory, He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquerors, He’s the head of the heroes, He’s the leader of the legislators, He’s the overseer of the overcomers, He’s the governor of governors, He’s the prince of princes, He’s the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Well. I wish I could describe Him to you. But He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible, He’s irresistible. I’m trying to tell you, the Heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explain Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him. Well. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate coul...
Something's Happening...
This last week I began reading a book by James Rutz. James wrote this book to make the Christian church aware that God is moving all across the world. His observations are a wakeup call to the American Christian and churches in America. Listen to some of his thoughts:
"Miracles are happening like popcorn starting to pop. That alone is amazing. But they are also attracting global numbers that no movement in history has ever seen. Back in 1970, the world had 71 million core apostolic, born again Christians with a vision to reach out to the world. As of mid-2000, it had 707 million. That comes to 11% of the planet. And it doesn't even count the more than one billion Christians who are growing too slowly to fall within the fast-growing core. Their ingrown cultures, spiritual inertia, or liberal beliefs have stunted their growth. But surprisingly, it does not include North America and Europe, where the overall growth rate for Christians is zero. We've gotten so used to being on a no-growth treadmill that it comes as a major brainshock whenever a yankee, euro, or canuck hears these numbers for the first time (Page 8)...In any case the new realities are massive in scope. The future of your world is being written at this very hour. For instance:
Up until 1960, Western Evangelicals outnumbered non-Western Evangelicals-mostly Latinos, blacks, and Asians-by two to one. As of 2,000, non-Westerners had shot ahead by four to one. By 2010, it will be seven to one.
If you go through Latin America on a Sunday morning, you will now find more evangelicals than Catholics in church.
As soon as we produce some church models that are culturally acceptable to Hindus, we could see an additional 70-100 million secret Indian Christians go public.
There are more missionaries sent from non-Western nations than Western nations.
Are you starting to see the outline of the new world? (Pages 15-16)...God has stormed onto the scene like a tornado...By tomorrow, there will be 175,000 more Christians that there are today (Page 25)...From our vantage point in North America and Europe, where church membership is going nowhere, this sounds like a cooked-up fantasy. But it's true. This is the biggest megashift in history. Can you think of any time when over a billion people eagerly changed their lives and loyalties in one generation? (Page 27)....There are 23 million in the U.S. who have made a conscious decision at some point to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, yet seldom go to church anymore (Page 29)....Are you ready to move up? (Page 30)...Be an overcomer. And start today (Page 39)...There's never been a time like this. In 1960, there were 24 nonbelievers for every believer in the world. Now there are six. In 1960, even the strongest part of the church was growing as slowly as the rest of the world. Now we're growing almost seven times as fast. Do you see the picture? Can you feel in your spirit the excitement of what the Lord is doing? Back in the golden days of early Christianity, we were outnumbered by 360 pagans for every believer. That's pretty intimidating. Today's 1:6 ratio of born-again believers to everyone else is much less daunting ...This is the most massive event that will ever touch your life. Don't be a spectator! (Page 41)
I add -- don't be ignorant to what is happening in our world and get aboard-now! Don't miss the boat by being ignorant to the truth!
The Blessing of the Overcomers
What do the overcomers (the ones who defy gravity) of this world get according to Scripture?
a. Revelation 2:7:
i. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
b. Revelation 2:11
i. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
c. Revelation 2:17
i. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
d. Revelation 2:26
i. 26To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
e. Revelation 3:5
i. 5He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
f. Revelation 3:12
i. 12Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
g. Revelation 3:21
i. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
h. Revelation 21:7
i. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Overcomers
1. Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half-mile in less than two minutes.
2. Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952.
3. Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
4. Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was a committed person. He became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.
5. At the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty-one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At...
The prayer closet is the arena which produces the overcomer.
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