| The First of the Last (part one) Take a little time and read and re-read this scripture. Over the next few sessions I will be talking about the “last days.” I will be going through this scripture and a few others just to get you thinking along those lines. 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:17-21. (KJV). Are you ready? Be blessed. ACC 01/02/12 The First of the Last (part two) 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:17-21. (KJV). Have you called on the name of the Lord? This verse was mentioned by Peter when he was minister to the people that had thought that the believers who had just been endued with the Holy Spirit came out and those in the street thought that they were drunk. This day was predicted by the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). Maybe you are saying, “So what does this have to do with us?” Well, we are in the last of the last days now and we will see a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives than ever before. God is preparing His children to come home. The word “saved” is the Greek word sozo meaning save, salvation. The verb sozo means the state of action of delivering or rescuing another from a dangerous situation. The danger can be physical or figurative. In the New Testament, it usually refers to divine salvation for a fallen creation and humanity. Are you sozo or do you still have to worry about the Lord’s soon return? Be blessed. *Translations are from the New Living Translation, Reference Edition: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. ACC 01/04/11 The First of the Last (part three) Read these verses from 2 Timothy: 1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 2 Timothy 3:1-5. (KJV). After you have read this verse, does it kind of sound like the days we are living in? If it doesn’t, why don’t you take in the local news and maybe a few news shows on somewhere like CNN or FOX. If that doesn’t convince you, why not try one or two of those “reality” shows, (or like I like to call them “unreality” shows). The only thing I have found in those shows is that they use real flesh and blood people. These shows really show us how much men (and women) have become lovers of their own selves. I can remember a time when I was active in the Marine Corps. I had been to boot camp and to my school for my “job” in the service. I came home on leave and I didn’t realize just how bad my mouth had gotten. I have told people I could make a sailor blush. I was at home and around my mom and I let loose just a small tirade. My mom didn’t get hysterical. My mom didn’t yell and scream and beat me to within an inch of my life. But what she did do was worse than all of those. She gave me a look that only moms have. Dads can’t come near this look. That look sank deep down into the fiber of my being and I decided from that point on that I would clean up my mouth. When we do these things that Paul wrote Timothy about in the presence of God the Father, He gives us one of those looks that only He can have. Some of us have a conscience that is so seared that it doesn’t faze us. But we should let that look sink deep into our spirit. We should seek out the aid of the Holy Spirit to help us clean up our act. We should find ways to put others before ourselves and love God more than anyone or anything in our life. These are the last days. Do you want to be on God’s side and live forever in a paradise prepared especially for you by a God that loves you more than our finite minds can imagine? Or do you want to spend an eternity with the devil who blames you fully for the reason he was banished from heaven? You decide! Be blessed. ACC 01/06/12 The First of the Last (part four) Have you ever been waiting on something to happen and you just get to a point that you don’t think it will ever happen? There are many that were waiting on the second coming of Jesus and they have just given up and fallen away. Do you know someone like that? Are you someone like that? Read what Peter wrote in his second letter. 1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:1-7. (KJV). The themes of this letter are diligence, false teacher, and the Lord’s return. We have false teachers these days that either tells us that Jesus has already returned that second time, that He will never really return, or that they know the specific date that Jesus will return. The latter is hard to fathom since the one returning (Jesus) doesn’t even know the day or the hour. But by faith we know that He will return for His Bride. Here is what Jesus said as recorded by Mark. 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. Mark 13:32-36. (KJV). The last word “Watch” says it all. Watch for the Master’s soon return. Watch the signs leading up to that return. Be ready and you will be referred to as a good and faithful servant. Be blessed. ACC 01/09/12 |
| The First of the Last |