#1 PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT:
Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Let us build a foundation for this lesson. We can totally trust by faith the plan of God. GOD HAS A PLAN from the first day of creation beyond the ending of time. God’s plan has always been based on the promises God gives his people. Our real question is clear. We know that others have trusted by faith. That is not the question today. The question today is: ARE WE GOING TO TRUST GOD’S PLAN?
FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME GOD HAS ESTABLISHED A SEPERATION OF A NATION OF HIS PEOPLE. GOD WILL ESTABLISH A NATION… GET UP AND GO…
God’s plan is you can’t stay here. You must first trust God. Then obey His plan.
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
PEACE does not necessarily mean the absence of trouble and conflict. Peace is an INNER CALMNESS. Nothing creates more deep seated anxieties than the FALSE ASSUMPTION than to think when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior that life should be TOTALLY FREE FROM ALL ANXIETIES.
This often comes from well-intended people misquoting the Bible… I hear this from well known preachers:
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out (ALL) fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Through IGNORANCE people miss what the word of God says. The Bible never says PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT ALL FEAR. Grow up? The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It is healthy to have a fear or respect of certain issues.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
I had a terrible fear of water. It was bad. My older brother Charles had absolutely no fear of water. We was at a huge lake in east Tennessee. Charles decided he was going to swim across the lake. The swim was almost a mile. He swam about half the way. He was too far to return to us. He was too far from making it across the lake. He was drowning. Thank God there was a speed boat going down the lake and they saw him in distress and they rescued him. The people brought him back to the shore. He lay lifeless for over an hour. He learned something that day.
COME AND LET US RECOGNIZE LOVE WHEN MIXED WITH FAITH PRODUCES PEACE. PEACE IS A DIVINE GIFT FROM GOD… (GIFT-UNMERITED.) MANY SERVE JESUS FOR YEARS AND NEVER ACCEPT THE PEACE OF GOD.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
We can know a great spiritual peace that I call: STUPID PEACE. The world cannot know understand. Jesus either calms the storm or Jesus can calm the believer through the storm. God does what is best for his child.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
GOD’S PLAN WAS HE HAD TO SEPARATE HIS PEOPLE FROM THE WORLD. GOD HAD A PLAN WHEN ABRAHAM WAS 75 YEARS OLD. GOD COMMANDED ABRAHAM TO LEAVE HIS FATHER’S HOUSE AND HIS FAMILY. ABRAHAM LIVED AT UR, IN HARAN, MESOPOTAMIA. HARAN WAS A RICH PROSPEROUS LAND.
God is asking Abraham (Abram) to walk away from the richest nation of the time and to TRUST GOD TO LEAD HIM. Walk away? Totally abandon everything that Abraham knew and trusted GOD’S PROMISE. Abraham stood on the promises of a mighty God. GOD WAS GOING TO ESTABLISH A NEW NATION, ISRAEL from Abraham’s seed. God made a promise that still stands today.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
WE HAVE A BIBLICAL COMMANDMENT ABOUT PEACE. --- THIS VERSE IS AN IMPERATIVE COMMAND… The subject is “YOU” understood. JERUSALEM was the city of the throne of David.
Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
ISRAEL has been the “APPLE OF GOD’S EYE.” David tells us to pray for peace in Jerusalem. There is a clear promise to those that love Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. If we love and respect Israel God will prosper this nation and those who will love JERUSALEM. We need to teach others to pray for Jerusalem's peace! Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!
We pray for Israel’s security. Many nations of the world hate Israel and vow to push her into the Mediterranean Sea. The vow stands clear. This battle probably goes back to HAGAR and SARAH. The battle of the FLESH and the battle of the SPIRIT.
Conclusion: I trust God’s plan completely. I have faith in God and His word. We are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus. There comes a great day of separation. The goats over there? The sheep over here? As God separated Abraham from the family and friends at UR. God will separate His Children from the world. You can’t live like a sinner and die like a saint. BE READY!
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
