Sermon Central
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Lightning Inside Of The Church
Contributed by Joe Rowland on May 8, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: God is manifesting Himself in ways that might seem to scare us. God wants us to know that we don’t have to fear His Presence. Church, I believe that the lightning is inside of our church.
Lightning Inside Of The Church
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. 12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
I have entitled this today: “Lightning Inside Of The Church”
Our opening text, verse nine, pertains to the first advent of Christ and is a definite prediction that the Messiah would be the King of the Jews.
1. As portrayed in Mathew, He is your King
2. In Mark, He is lowly, hence a Servant
3. In Luke, He is Just
4. In John, He is God, therefore having Salvation
He appears as the Prince of peace in His first advent, but not so in His second advent.
In His second advent, He is mounted on a war horse as the mighty conquer that is found in Revelation chapter 19.
The phrase, “Behold your King comes unto you, this refers to Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass”.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Verse 9 refers to the first advent of Christ, verse 10 is the second advent of Christ.
At His first advent He came in peace, the Second Advent He comes in war.
Between these two verses over 1900 years have already passed; this period has been filled by the Church.
The phrase “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim”, refers to the battle of Armageddon.
The Phrase “and he shall speak peace unto the heathen” means that Christ will extend the peace that He brings to the entirety of the whole world, watching the heathen receive his spiritual rule and in effect accept Him as Lord and Savior.
The last Phrase refers to His total dominion of the entirety of the whole world.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Verse 11 was referring to Israel’s miserable condition, the phrase “I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water”,
is talking about a Blood Covenant. It is referring to God’s Covenant that He made with Abraham and secured it by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
“Ye prisoners of hope”, portrays Israel as a prisoner of their own rebellion, but yet with hope.
The phrase, “even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee” is identical to Job, with the Lord making Job twice as prosperous as before.
Israel had to turn to the stronghold. Church, Jesus is my stronghold and I know when it seems that I am in prison because of my own rebellion that there is hope.
When it seems you are taken captive, cry out to the Rock of your salvation and He will set you free.
14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
I have entitled this today: “Lightning Inside Of The Church”
3-19-97 Wednesday Afternoon
Lightning inside of the church
I dreamed that I was at Trinity, Terry was preaching. The next thing I knew, lightning struck in the church. I jumped. It was during prayer time, my head was bowed. Terry said no one should be afraid, that it was the power of God. I put my head down in prayer and I told myself I was not going to be afraid. The next thing I knew, there was lightning all over the place in the Sanctuary. I told myself I was not going to be afraid. I lifted up my hands and I felt the presence of God all over me.
