- araratchurch
- Apr 29, 2023
- 4 min read
“The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?””
Acts 8:32-34 NLT
I was in fourth or fifth grade and we were outside on the playground playing softball (as an aside, back then there was very little supervision of recess yard activities). Taking my turn at bat, having swung at the ball, I let go of the bat which hit a nearby metal building, causing the bat to bounce back and hit one of my best friends in the head. Now, she did not lose consciousness; but she immediately sported a big “egg” sticking out on her forehead.
I can still remember how devastated I felt, knowing that I had done this to her. In fact, I was so beyond consolation that—sadly—she ended up trying to comfort me.
Why was I so bereaved? Because this was my fault. In this scenario—although I felt very sorry that she must suffer—my primary response was that of the guilt and remorse of knowing I had done this.
Now, many well-meaning ministers, in describing the death of Jesus Christ, seem to be aiming at provoking sympathy for the Lord. However, a while back the Lord instructed me that He is not looking for sympathy. He is King of kings and Lord of lords and does not need our sympathy. What the vision of His suffering should provoke is what I experienced having been responsible for hurting my best friend’s head: extreme guilt and remorse, and ultimately, repentance.
“He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 AMP
As we shared yesterday, there are three truths we must grasp as we look at our Lord in order to truly see and know Him.
The first of those truths we consider today:
When we see our suffering Lord, we must know that He is suffering for our sin. We are responsible for His suffering. That suffering should have been mine!
Now obviously, as the creator of the universe, no one made Him suffer; He chose to do so as it was the only way for our salvation.
In our opening scripture we see that the Ethiopian eunuch is asking Philip who was being referenced in the scripture about the lamb to the slaughter. This, of course, is from Isaiah 53 that prophetically gives a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant. Indeed, it is this very passage that renders one of our most beloved scriptures:
“But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:4-5 AMP
Yes, in order to rightly see our Lord, we must see that He suffered for OUR sins.
Having appeared to His disciples soon after His resurrection, the Lord instructed them to look at His hands and feet (Luke 24). The point He was making was that He had truly returned from the dead and was flesh and blood and not a spirit.
When we consider the piercing in the Lord’s hands and feet, we must see that He—in the flesh—suffered for our sins.
Ownership of the Lord’s suffering (in terms of causality) is the first step toward seeing Him clearly. As the Lord expressed to me several years ago, “In order to have a Savior, you must know you need one.”
Indeed, the end of days in terms of the fallen world system, will be triggered by the Jewish people seeing and crying out to the One they now realize was pierced at their own hand.
“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.”
Zechariah 12:10-11 NLT
If you are suffering today, look at Him willingly suffering on the cross for your sin. Let His suffering, eclipse whatever you are feeling, and let that ultimately lead you to the relief and deliverance only He can give.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 29, 2023
- 3 min read
“Pilate went out again and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him." So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!"”
John 19:4-5 ESV
Today we set sail on our journey into “The Prophetic Word.” In seeking the Lord concerning our direction for the “Word of the Day,” He has directed that we should begin presenting the prophetic instruction He gives us for Ararat Church.
At this point we will begin with our most recent instruction, but will—from time to time—go back and cover other words He has previously given us.
Please know, anything presented to Ararat Church is based on the written word of God. We simply—by way of the Holy Spirit, our Guide into Truth—present areas of focus in which the Lord directs us (wherein the word is illuminated for our edification).
For this week we will consider the lessons we can learn by looking at some events at Kadesh Barnea.
Let us begin our word for today by considering a couple of familiar scenarios.
Have you ever been in a relationship with a person for a long time, yet came to realize that you did not really know who they were? There are many complex reasons this happens. But, for our purposes today, let it suffice to say that whether a person has a secret life into which we never entered, or they changed from who they were in the process of life and we did not follow that process, or we saw them through a “lens” we developed early on, never allowing consideration of any evidence to the contrary, that person we think we know may indeed be a “stranger” to us.
Another scenario for our consideration is the phenomenon of thinking you know someone although you have only observed them from a distance without any true personal interaction.
One of these situations we see is the phenomenon of thinking you “know” an actor or actress well because you have seen many of their movies or studied their lives by way of media. However, the person we think they are, may be very different from who they really are.
Now, how do these scenarios fit in with what the Lord would have us know?
In order to truly know the Lord, we must not allow our false assumptions, or neglect concerning our seeking of Him, make us think we know Him when we do not.
““Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”
Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
In our opening scripture we see that Pilate presents Jesus to the Jews, telling them to look at Him. His purpose for doing so was in order for them to determine what should be done to Him.
Whether you know it or not, our Lord is being presented to us through the word of God with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, in order that we determine what we will do with Him. Our response to the invitation to look at our Savior, and our resulting assumptions, will determine whether or not we truly know Him.
There are three truths we must know as we look at our Lord in order to truly see and know Him. We will begin our consideration of those truths tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 28, 2023
- 1 min read
We are about 2 weeks behind on the Prophetic Word series on the blog side. So, for the next few days we will have 2 blog posts per day until we catch up to the Facebook crew. Make sure to check your inbox twice a day for the next 14 days until we catch up. Also, remember to share this blog with your friends.