God has intervened in the lives of mankind, His creation! If He had not we would cease to exist. Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!
Matthew 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
Matthew 24:23-26 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
Great tribulation like nothing that the world has seen will come to the holy city. God has always protected His chosen and His promises always will never return void. False prophets have become a way of life in this world. Do not fall for their heresies. Jesus told us that we should love God above all else and our neighbors as ourselves and in doing so we will fulfill all of His commands. We are His hands and feet!
Revelation 12:5-7 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan is Thrown Out of Heaven
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Jesus has ascended into heaven and He sits at the right hand of the Father. God will protect the remnant for three and half years supernaturally. Satan hates Israel. BUT God will keep them safe who have by faith believed in their Redeemer King. Jesus is the King of the Jews and Savior of the world.
Exodus 19:3-6 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Jesus has already accomplished, in His sacrifice on the Cross, everything needed for salvation. The battle has been won and God has extended His mercy and grace to any person who believes in His gift to humanity. Satan hates Jesus and His chosen people and us as the Body of Christ. Any power he thinks he has will be completely destroyed, in the second coming of Jesus. Carla
God will place a limit on the tribulation. Christ will intervene and prevent complete genocide. Miracles by themselves do not prove that something is of God. The teaching of those who perform signs and wonders must be tested against correct doctrine and by the witness of God’s Spirit. Christ’s return will not be confined to a desert or to some inner rooms. When Christ returns, His coming will be so spectacular that everyone will know He has arrived. The NKJV Study Bible
2 Thessalonians 2:9–11 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved…
Luke 17:23–24 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
Matthew 24:11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
Revelation 13:13–14 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
Revelation 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty
I do miss my morning conversations (and yes, homilies) with the sheep on Vashon Island.
And I loved their look that asked, “Well, do you have a story today or not?” And today, it did my heart good to remember one visit, telling them, “I do have an old story. It’s about a lost sheep.” And that seemed to perk them up. (But then, we preachers always see what we want to see.)
“This shepherd had one hundred sheep. And one of them was lost.” I stood silent a little while, wondering if the story would make them uncomfortable. “And the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go out and find the lost one. He brings him home.”
In the story, the shepherd doesn’t blame the lost one. Or give advice. Or admonish. Because to the shepherd, that sheep is not just a number, but a face, a name and a story.
The shepherd knew that some stories are too heavy to carry alone. That every one of us at some time in our life will need the loving arms of justice, mercy and unmerited grace.
And here’s the deal: some days we are the one lost.
And some days, we are the hands and feet of the shepherd.
Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People: I will, with God's help. (The baptismal covenant in the Episcopal Church.)
Because some stories are too heavy to carry alone.
My good friend Ed Kilbourne wrote a song called Promised Land. I can’t carry a tune, so I read it to the sheep. They didn’t seem to mind.
“There’s a place they call the promised land where people live by grace
The leaders are their servants, the last ones win the race
And those who love are wealthy and those who hate are poor
And honor’s won by making peace, not by making war
And everyone’s invited when the kingdom feast is spread
They remember how they got there in the breaking of the bread
They pass a cup around the room to every tear stained face
And drink a toast to Jesus as they sing Amazing Grace”
Some days we are the one lost.
And some days, we are the hands and feet of the shepherd.
The Talmud reminds us, "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." Sabbath Moments
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