The season of goodwill - is it?

The Christmas season is looked upon as the time of goodwill but will it be for many people in different parts of the world, particularly the Middle East? Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel to name but a few. Problems of political contrasts, social and religious divides cause an absence of goodwill. 

Back in July 2011 Dr. James Zogby, Founder and President of the Arab American Institute wrote an article entitled ‘Diminishing goodwill for U.S. Middle East policy’. He stated ‘A few months back I had a quick exchange with President Obama about the U.S. standing in the Arab World. When I mentioned that we would be conducting a poll to assess Arab attitudes two years after his Cairo speech, he responded that he expected that the ratings would be quite low and would remain low until the U.S. could help find a way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Well, the results are in, and the President was right. In our survey of over 4,000 Arabs from six countries (Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE), we found that favorable attitudes toward the U.S. had declined sharply since our last poll (which had been conducted in 2009 after Obama's first 100 days in office). ……If anything, the results of this latest poll of Arab opinion demonstrates how precarious the position of the United States is in the Middle East and how important it has become for American policy makers to pay attention to what Arabs are saying. Some may play politics with critical Middle East issues and gloat at their success at having stymied the President's efforts to make peace and restore America's image in the region. But as the results of this survey make clear, their success has come at a price; one that is being paid by the entire country.’ 

The Radical Claims of Jesus

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As you survey the New Testament, it’s easy to see that Jesus made history’s most radical claims (John 6:35,John 8:46, John 8:58, John 10:27-28, John 14:6, 9, Matthew 9:2, John 14:15). Even a cursory reading of the four Gospels reveals that Jesus claimed to be a whole lot more than a “good teacher,” “spiritual leader,” or a “prophet.”

Search the writings of the world’s religions, and you’ll never read anything like Jesus' claims on the lips of Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Joseph Smith, or you name the leader. But anyone could say the things Jesus said. Saying those things doesn’t necessarily mean they are true. And Jesus knew that. So, Jesus didn’t just make the claims. He proved that what He said was true by…

• Fulfilling dozens of Old Testament prophecies
• Living a sinless life for which we even have the eyewitness testimonies of his enemies
• Opening the eyes of the blind
• Healing lepers
• Opening the ears of the deaf
• Causing the lame to walk
• Casting out demons

• Feeding 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread

Possessions - How do you use them?

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Bible Reading - Mark 11:1-19  

Imagine that I just bought a new car. It is just the model I dreamed about, the pearlescent metallic paint is looking great, the alloys are really cool and the leather seats are ….well what can I say! I have only one problem. Someone has asked me to take a new family (with their children, mucky feet etc) on a very important journey. What should` I do?

 

The passage we are reading today can teach me a lot about how I use the things I own. I do not know how the man came to meet Jesus or if and when he had agreed to give the Him the use of his donkey and colt. All we know about this man is that his house was at a crossroads, the village was not far from Bethany (a village that often frequented), the animals were kept outside and the man knew who the Lord Jesus was.

 

The Lord Jesus knew just how the man would behave. He knew that the man would be quick to respond to the request and generous, v.3. He knew that he was responsible and would not let anyone walk away with his property, v.5. He knew that he would lend the animals to Him willingly, v.6. I wonder what the Lord Jesus would say about me.

 

What did the man achieve by giving his animals to Jesus?

 

1. He helped fulfil scripture as recorded in Matthew chapter 21 verse 4, on the day the Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem as Messiah.

2. He showed his obedience to the Master.

3. He used what he had for the Lord.

4. He hid in the shadows but allowed the Lord Jesus to walk in the limelight.

 

Searching Questions – Do I use what I have for the Lord Jesus? Do I bring the Lord Jesus out into the open or do I promote myself by how I live? 

PS - these lessons are aimed at people who are already believers in Jesus Christ.

A most unusual arrival of a baby

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‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,’ Isaiah 7:14

This Bible verse reminds us that the birth of the Messiah (Christ) by a virgin girl was not unexpected. God had promised from the very arrival of evil into the world that the solution would be in the form of a child born of a woman without the aid of a man i.e. the birth of a child through a virgin girl.

Is Jesus Israel's promised Messiah?

Is Jesus Israel's Promised Messiah?

The New Testament claims that He is? The evidence stacks up to establish that He is? I believe that He is?


Jesus fulfils all the biblical predictions from Genesis 3:15 about the seed of the woman, right up to the prediction of the place of his birth in Micah chapter five. No one else has ever made and verified the claim to be the Messiah of Israel. Many have made the claim but time has proven them to be deluded or conscious imposters. The Lord Jesus Christ confirmed by his life, behaviour, miraculous powers and fulfilment of the predictions of scripture that He is.

Why did Jesus die?

WHY DID JESUS DIE?

This question is of vital importance because your eternal destiny depends upon your answer to it. Do you know why Jesus died? If not, this article will tell you.

SIN BRINGS DEATH

In God’s Word, the Bible, we learn that death came into the world because of sin. "Wherefore … by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Romans 5. 12. "The wages of sin is death," Romans 6. 23. You and I die because we are sinners: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," Romans 3. 23.

#HolocaustMemorialDay

Holocaust Memorial Day

As we soberly reflect on the sufferings of the Jewish people let me draw your attention to the words of Jesus Christ, the most famous Jew who ever lived. I know some will disagree with the statement and point to Abraham, Moses or some famous Jew of modern times but please bear with me for a moment or two!

In this passage of scripture today (see below) the Lord Jesus is answering and replying to his disciples. They were passing what we now call Temple Mount and were awe struck by the majesty and splendour of the architecture and the quality of stone masonry.

Jesus moves their thinking from the wonder of the present to consider the future. Initially he is saying the temple will not last, it is doomed for a day of destruction. Sadly it was to be destroyed in AD70 when Titus ransacked and destroyed the temple leaving very little standing.

Peter, James, John and Andrew are inquisitive and keen to know more. As they sit on the temple side of the mount of Olives, no doubting continuing to gaze at the Temple structure, they ask Jesus - when will it happen and will there be any warning signs that it is about to happen? A good question! Before I summarise Jesus' answer it would be worth reading the reply recorded in verses 5 - 37! I've added it at the end of this blog for your convenience.

If you have just read these verses you will hopefully notice that the Lord Jesus bridges the times in which he lived with end times. He starts with the temple as it was in his day but infers that the biggest issue they need to think about will not be the destruction of the temple in AD70 but the desolation and defiling of a future temple (v14). 

This is a big topic and we would need to refer to many passages in the Bible to get a real grasp of it. However Jesus points us to one passage indicating that Daniel the prophet also spoke about the same event (see Daniel 9). When you read Daniel and other relevant scriptures, 2 Thess 2, Matt 24, Luke 21, you could only come to one conclusion: A new Temple will be built in Jerusalem before Jesus comes again (v36) and the long stopped practice of animal sacrifice will be reintroduced. Then a non-Jewish world leader will rise on the world stage (Rev 13). He will stop the animal sacrifices and break a seven year deal that he has negotiated with Israel. At this stage he will place some form of image of himself (2 Thess 2, Rev 13) in the 'holiest of all', the most holy place of Jewish worship, and sacrilegiously defile their temple once again. This has already happened once in their history in the period following Alexander the Great but this future event will usher in another period of 'holocaust' treatment of God's chosen people! 

There are many predictions made in Mark 13. As with all bible prophecy they usually have two points of fulfilment (see one example above). The predictions about wars, earthquakes, famines and troubled times have happened to some extent but will also reoccur as we approach end times. The predictions about persecution and the spread of the gospel equally have an application to the start of Christianity, as was very relevant to the disciples, and will see fulfilment as Jewish evangelists (see Revelation 7, Matthew 24. 14) preach about the coming Messiah and His coming kingdom after the church has been raptured to heaven. The heart of man never changes. What drives man to hate has always been the the same. Whether in the holocaust of WW2 or the current day! The hatred of the world for the Jews has always been the same. The origin of the hated comes from another source, the arch enemy of God, the Devil.

God chose the nation of Israel to be the means by which he will bless the world and despite the horrific treatment of this nation by most civilisations God will see to it that this comes true in His own time. The future return of Jesus to rescue the nation of Israel from future anti-semitism is assured in the bible, Zechariah 14, Matthew 24. 29,30, Luke 21. 25-28. He will also come to judge the nations of the world in respect of their treatment of Israel at that stage, Matthew 25. This is a separate issue from the day when God will judge all of mankind, Revelation 20. 11-15.

Today, God is blessing people in the world today through a Jew - his name is Jesus. He is the Son of God and the scripture states 'when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a women, made under the law,' Gal. 4. 4. Jesus was born when the time was exactly right, he was born in a human family by the miracle of the virgin conception, a Jewish family to be precise. All this being the fulfilment of the ancient predictions of scripture.

As we reflect today on National Holocaust Day and mourn the wicked treatment of a race do not suppose for a moment that it couldn't happen again. Indeed it will happen again! Your choice should be to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122. 6, and to trust their greatest Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Saviour, Acts 16.31. 

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Mark 13King James Version (KJV)

13 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:

16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.

19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:

22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk