JESUS SAID, "I AM COMING QUICKLY"

THREE TIMES in the last chapter of the Bible Jesus says, “And behold, I am coming quickly..." He said that a LONG time ago...over 2,000 years. And He still hasn't come? It helps to remember HE said that and therefore it is from HIS perspective. Probably to the eternal mind 2,000 years isn't much. A day to the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years but a day. 

Meditate on these verses... 2 Peter 3:8 -  3:9:

"But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." 

Also Psalm 90:4:

"For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night.")

So, from His standpoint it's only been a couple of days since He promised a soon coming, or, He just said this like the day before yesterday. Poor mortal me, I can't even remember what I ate two days ago. But God? He will keep His promise according to His frame of reference. And His viewpoint and earthly time schedule are, of course, perfect.

So, be patient, my soul! And, remember, two days may qualify as "quickly."

-rdc

OLDFASHIONED WORSHIP...REALLY OLD

                           OLDFASHIONED WORSHIP

I mean, what we are going to read is really an example of  worship that happened long ago. The story is about Ezra, a priest and scribe, who ministered about 500 B.C. And yet, similar to Ezra’s worship gathering so long ago, there are yet elements of worship then that are still included in many places of Christ honoring worship today. I have interjected an outline in the passage below. It makes salient 12 points of God-honoring worship. All that is in parentheses and in caps is my attempt to point out the richness of the text.

NEHEMIAH 8:1-8

​^“And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked (THE PEOPLE’S ASPIRATION) Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses (DIVINE REVELATION) which the Lord had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest (DIVINE AUTHORIZATION) brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding (PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION), on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose (ADVANCE PREPARATION). And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand (LEADERSHIP PARTICIPATION). Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up (CONGREGATON VENERATION). Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God (WORSHIPER EXALTATION). And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen! (WORSHIPER AFFIRMATION)” while lifting up their hands (WORSHIPER EXHILARATION); then they bowed low (WORSHIPER HUMILIATION) and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, explained the law (PRIESTLY EXPLANATION) to the people while the people remained in their place. They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense (MORE EXPLANATION OR EXPOSITION) so that they understood the reading.” 

D.  CHRISTEN

DANIEL, A MAN OF PRAYER...

                    DANIEL, A REAL PRAYER WARRIOR

Daniel 9:1-9, 16-19. This is an instructive, heart-felt and earnest prayer, one of the most passionate in the Bible. We learn so much about prayer by carefully reading it. Here it is:

       "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans - in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
     "Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by PRAYER and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I PRAYED to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
      “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him."

      Then, verses 16-19:

 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I PRAY, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the PRAYER of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

      In the days of the Babylonian Captivity, DANIEL proved to be a sterling man of God! He was a most special servant. He was one of the Hebrew captives who met the qualifications for serving in the King’s Court. Nebuchadnezzar was looking for ”young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand…” (Daniel 1:4). Daniel was chosen. He was also full of holy purpose. It says in 1:8 … “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

     DO NOTICE DANIEL’S …..
SET DETERMINATION (9:3a)

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God…”

     A true prayer warrior set his or her face like a flint to do so. Prayer can't be merely a whim or a fancy. I must understand that a righteous believer can reach the heart of God and move Him in unusual ways. Speaking in hyperbole, Jesus said if we pray in faith we can move an entire mountain into the sea. Such a faith is perseverance that GOD CAN! It's been said that the difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won't. 
Daniel had both!

SERIOUS COMMUNICATION WITH GOD (9:3b)

“…to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”

     J. Wilbur Chapman told how he met the famous missionary, "Praying Hyde." Chapman asked the man if he would come to his room and pray for hm personally. He was conducting meetings at the time and sensed he needed to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Chapman reported that as soon as they were in his room, Praying Hyde locked the door and dropped to his knees. "I waited five minutes without that dear man uttering a single syllable, said Chapman. "Presently I felt hot tears course down my cheeks. Although Hyde had said nothing, I knew I was in the presence of God in a special way. Then, with upturned face and eyes streaming, he exclaimed, "O God!" Then he was quiet again. When he sensed he was in communication with the Lord, there came from the depths of his heart petitions such I had never heard I arose from my knees knowing what real prayer was! 
Daniel prayed like that!

BY WAY OF PRAYERFUL MAGNIFICATION (9:17)

“Now therefore, our God, hear the PRAYER of Your servant…”

Supplication or asking God for 'this and that' (worthy causes as they may be) is indeed encouraged by the Lord Himself. "Ask and you shall receive." But, I think, although prayer includes the idea of 'supplication' the very word PRAYER also elicits the idea of worship or fixing our eyes upon the magnificent God to Whom we pray. He is to be extolled and magnified. When David prayed before the congregation dedicating the materials for the Temple, he worshipped God intensely at the outset  of his great prayer, saying, 
"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all" (2 Chronicles 29:10-12). 
     Jesus taught us to pray in a manner in which, first of all, God is magnified: "Our Father Who art in heaven..." Big thoughts about God bring forth a big faith toward and in God. 

BY WAY OF PRAYERFUL SUPPLICATION (9:17)

“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, AND HIS SUPPLICATIONS…”

     Again, our Savior taught us to ask Him for whatever is needed. "Give us this day our daily bread." "Ask and you shall receive. Wisely, He doesn't always give what we ask, but, He will give us what we need. He always answers with a RED LIGHT (no), a YELLOW LIGHT (wait a while), or a GREEN LIGHT (yes). 
BY WAY OF PRAYERFUL AND WILLING DEPRIVATION (9:3)
“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, WITH FASTING…”
     What am I willing to forego in order to pray or receive the right response. It may be food, a change of schedule or some other inconvenience in order to be with God. Someone has remarked that today's plastic saints want to hear all about Jesus doing all the dieing. They want the preacher to preach another sermon on the cross. It never occurs to them that the same Jesus who died for our sins, asks us to die to sin and self. Only thereby can be ever be found to be serious prayer warriors. "Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord."

BY WAY OF PRAYERFUL AND LOWLY HUMILIATION (9:3)

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, 
SACKCLOTH, AND ASHES.”

     Isaiah the prophet excoriates the proud who parade their feigned goodnesses before the Lord. God hates pride. He sums up much of what he says on this subject in the last chapter of his prophecy when he reports God saying, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word." How profound. Do I want to be close to God? I must then be humble before the Almighty.

- dick christen