Newsletter 400-"The Presence of Jesus"-12/21/2011

GOODNEWSLETTER

Number 400 December 21, 2011

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive

you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also," John 14:3.

There is no sweeter hope or thought than the Second Coming of our LORD, Jesus Christ. We ought to dwell upon this promise and understand that we must make our stand with it. He's coming again! And

we remember that all the things spoken by Jesus did occur. We ask, did He "GO" away? Absolutely. Then, clearly He will return. Let's look up to where our redemption lies and settle it in our hearts. We must

be about His business.

Not only is the LORD coming back, His promise is that He will receive us unto Himself. No one is saved and no one can get to the Father without Jesus interceding for them. And, notice, 'Where He will be,

we shall be.' The work of Jesus never stops. Not only reconciled man to the Father, He continues to show how blessed we are within this position of serving and honoring His teachings in our lives.

In His words about His Second Coming, as in John 14:3, we understand that He is coming again to receive us in the glorified body. However; we also know that Jesus is among us, today. He spoke this in

Matthew 28:19-20. In the Great Commission of the church, Jesus said, "All authority is given unto Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Then, after charging the church to "observe all things," Jesus said, "...Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age," verse 20 (NKJV).

We see then that Jesus came to earth by man, physically, and that He promised to come again. This time, spiritually. Then, our LORD spoke of the Holy Spirit; which, the world could not receive. At this time,

man would have a tutor for heavenly things. We think that the Holy Spirit that came of the day of Pentecost is indwelling His body, the church today; leading her into all the world. The LORD, Jesus is with us

always.

 

And, man o' man, do we need the LORD'S leadership. Without His teaching, man goes crazy and the doctrine goes out the door. Doing things become a huge part of our work for Salvation. According to those

without true Biblical teaching, we have to be baptized or, we must hold out to the end. Although, Scripture teaches that "Salvation is not of works lest anyone should boast" (See Eh 2:8-9), man thinks that he

he has to add to the word. However, we can't get anything or anywhere though our self-righteous acts of thinking when it come to salvation from God.

    

While, it is true that the love of many have waxed cold over the years, replacing decorations and other idolatrous images in the heart for service, we have to understand how it all began. Such practices come

from the natural heart. It's iniquity to God, which Jesus taught in Matthew 24:12. Yes, LAWLESSNESS amounts to fleshly thinking and unacceptable when it comes to serving the LORD. TheTen Commandments

clearly states, "You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth," Exodus 20:4. Further,

"You shalt not bow down to them nor serve them" (V5). Yet, man has a boat-load of things in placed ahead of Jesus. How will they recognize Him when He comes "...and receives them to Himself?"

    

We think that the idolatrous heart of man has, and will always, demand something to be in front of him so he can be reminded of the LORD. But, it is Jesus. It is Jesus, alone. Nothing can or will replace His

love nor His presence. Whether man desires an idol or a building to be in front of him, doesn't matter; nothing can make Jesus real but who He is and what He taught. At Trinity Missionary Baptist, our major

study is the word of God. We gather, pray and sing and get into the Word, right away – after a song or two.

   

And, when we think about what Jesus taught. "Heaven and earth will pass away but,my words will by no means pass away," Matthew 24:35. We have to study what was taught. We cannot go anywhere

else for His teaching nor His presence. Thus, our question earlier in the article, "Did Jesus go away?," fits perfectly with the thought that "He is still with us." He went away physically but not Spiritually.

Jesus is in our midst of every service and in the lives of His people in the Person of the Holy Spirit. And, the LORD promised never to leave us nor forsake us.

 

Therefore, we are looking forward to His physical return with great joy. Joy that removes everything from our spiritual attention. Only Jesus is before us. Amen! this is our desire. There is another point that

has to be considered, too. In John 15:10 and 11, Jesus said, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These

things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may remain in you, that your JOY may be full."

It's the word, alone. Nothing can replace it; nor, can man bow down to idols or practice false teaching and be pleasing to Jesus. When we check out the Word, we find that Jesus spoke an awful lot about false

teachers coming and deceiving many. The account is: Jesus was born, taught about the day and the days coming, and called men to serve. We have to remember that it was always about Him! The Bible says, "For

we are saved in this hope (that of redemption of the body), but hope that is seen is not hope...But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance," Romans 8:24 and 25.