COMMITTED to train men and women
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.

"Prophet Elijah" Tagged Sermons

The Lamb Of God

Why did John call for a water baptism?
The ritual of water baptism was applied to Gentiles, unclean people, who wanted to convert to Judaism. Ritual baptism was never administered to Jews, only to non-Jews who converted to Judaism. Why? Because Gentiles were considered unclean and needed to go through a purification rite, to take a bath – in order to be welcomed and received into the covenant community of Israel.
However, John the Baptist primarily directed his calls for repentance to Jews. With that, he told Israel “the Messiah is about to arrive but you are not ready for Him. It is you, the people of Israel,that are unclean. That’s the reason why John called the Jews to submit to a ritual of cleansing that up to this point had been administered only to Gentiles. The typical procedure when a Gentile was going through the proselyte baptism, he was never baptized by a Levite or by a priest, who normally performed all the other purification rites in Israel. The convert was to baptize himself. No wonder the religious leaders asked themselves: Who does this man think he is, to call us, the children of Abraham, to undergo a cleansing rite?
The Lamb of God is also prefigured in the Passover, when God prepared to bring His final plague on the Egyptians, the death of every firstborn male of the Egyptians, including the crown prince of the Pharaoh (Exodus 12:3-31). Just as the blood of the lamb caused the people of Israel to be spared from God’s wrath, the Lamb of God redeemed His people from the penalty that was due for their sin.

It’s Who You Are

If you would have to give a definition of who Jesus is, what would it be?
Peter simply stated: You are the Christ, the anointed one, the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God.
The apostle Paul in the letter to the Colossian church is getting all excited when he giving them a definition of who this Jesus Christ is.
Notice how valuable that treasure is. First, the man finds the treasure and immediately recognizes HOW VALUABLE that treasure is. He does not tell anyone about his find, because he is concerned that someone else would take it from him. His heart is filled with great joy as he goes and liquidates everything he owns so he can go and buy the field in which the treasure is hidden. IN OTHER WORDS, TO GET THE TREASURE, HE IS WILLING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING ELSE.
In the second parable, the man is portrayed as a merchant, a person of great wealth. He is seeking pearls so he could resell them with a profit. However, in his search He came across ONE VERY SPECIAL PEARL OF GREAT VALUE, he also was willing to go and sell everything he owned so he could get that particular PEARL. The treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price are both POINTING TO THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL TIME, JESUS CHRIST. In order to get that treasure we must be willing to give up everything.
Today’s evangelistic sermons are full of sugar that brings the hearer to a temporary “sugar-high” only to crash a few hours and days later.
The truth is that the person who finds the treasure, who finds the pearl, never has enough to procure this treasure unless he or she is willing to let go of everything.

Hold Fast What You Have

Jesus is being identified as the Son of God in this passage alone. This is the only time in this book where Jesus is called the Son of God, which makes me believe that this church is meeting Jesus not as their advocate, their intercessor, but instead as the ultimate JUDGE.
And this Judge is missing nothing. His eyes like a flame of fire means that nothing can be hidden from him.
Yes, we as Christians can fall into sexual immorality, and idolatry, but we are not to have such a life style. And certainly teaching others in the church that such a life style is acceptable to God is bringing the judgment of God upon those who do so and the church that is tolerating such teachings.
The Lord said that He gave this false prophetess time to repent, but she loved DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT. She simply refused to accept the Word of God and to live accordingly.
Remember, the church in Thyatira was commended for their works, especially their works. But such work, when it replaces FAITH, which is a form of spiritual idolatry, is introduced to a church that is under God’s judgment.