Into The Depths - Exodus 15:1-5

Exodus 15:1-5 ESV

1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

 I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him,

 my father's God, and I will exalt him.

3 The Lord is a man of war;

 the Lord is his name.

4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea,

and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

5 The floods covered them;

they went down into the depths like a stone.

In Revelation the AntiChrist, the beasts, and all those who followed after them were cast into the lake of fire.  The deliverance from Pharaoh foreshadowed our deliverance from the army of Satan as prophesied.

Babylon is thrown into the sea.

Yesterday informs tomorrow and gives us confidence today.

Their Own Desires - 1Timothy 4:1-3

2 Timothy 4:1-3 NIV 

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Doctrine may seem an archaic word for some and signal an unenlightened understanding of Scripture to others. Often the word preached is diluted, incomplete, or misinterpreted. 

There were those from the beginning who rejected the true gospel and devised a gospel more suited to their own desires, but few will argue that the time has come at the present day for going one's own way. Rejection of Christianity seems to be in vogue and the Scripture has been discarded as irrelevant and primitive.  Voices clamor with competing truths which oppose God. 

Our charge is to endure patiently and stay true to the word. 

The time has come and is near. 

 

Final Desolation - Daniel 9:1-2

Daniel 9:1-2 ESV

 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

The final desolation will be the abomination in the temple in Jerusalem in the last week of the last days. 

To The Pure - Titus 1:15-16

Titus 1:15-16 ESV 

To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

With the eyes we can view the same thing, but see different things. This can be easily demonstrated by a casual experiment. 

The view from the heart is a different matter. What is seen depends more on the heart than the image coming through the eyes. A heart that is purified by the presence of the Holy Spirit is contrasted to the heart of one that remains in darkness. The unbelieving profess to know, but do not. The light of that darkness is dark indeed. 

But Jesus Only - Matthew 17:1-8

Matthew 17:1-8

 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Jesus is the only one transformed in this experience. They glimpse the divine majesty of the man they know as Jesus. 

Moses and Elijah then join Him on this mountain. They represent the law and prophets of the Old Testament. We are not told here what they talked about, but everything revealed previously was in preparation of the coming of Jesus and His salvation of grace. 

The passion of Jesus was yet to come and the Holy Spirit has not been given. The disciples have yet to realize the passing of the old covenant and coming new covenant. 

They hear the voice of God the Father blessing and confirming His Son. He directs the disciples to listen to voice of the Son, who only speaks the words of the Father. In fact, Jesus is the Word. 

They fall down in terror at the voice of the living God. Then the Word comes to them and touches them.  He speaks tenderly to them to rise and fear no more. When they look up they only see Jesus. 

The two witnesses have disappeared. They were used by God to pave the way for his Son. Like John the Baptist, they fulfilled their purpose and now defer to the head of all creation: no one but Jesus only.   

Love Fulfills - Romans 13:10

Romans 13:10

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love fulfills, it is the beginning and end. 

The operative force behind all things. 

We are told that Jesus fulfilled the law. Therefore we know Jesus is love. 

We move and have our being in Him. 

Find your neighbor and love.  

The Promise - Romans 4:14-15

Romans 4:14-15

For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Jesus died that we would have a way to be heirs to the kingdom of God. To do so we must die to self. In a sense, Christ died to self in that His death enabled the body of Christ, the Church, to find life. That life exists because we have been freed from the law through the grace of God through Christ. 

The way of faith is justified and the promise is sure.  Faith overcomes the wrath to come.