April 7, 2013
Morning Service

When Luke was writing the Letter of Acts, he wrote;

Act 1:2  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

 

After His resurrection, Jesus was with His disciples, instructing them concerning the things of the Kingdom of god, for 40 days, and then was taken up into the heavens.  He is still in His glorified body, and as far as I know He is somewhere in the heavens, and has prepared a place for us to go one day.  There are different thoughts on this subject;  one, that we will live in a mansion in the heavens somewhere, and the other, is that we will return and live on a purified earth.  IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER TO ME WHICH ONE.  Whichever, will be tremendously exciting.

 

This morning we want to begin concerning ourselves with the commandments from the Lord that we can know, and understand.  How is this possible?  By studying the Bible.  Peter said;  “all things that pertain to life, and Godliness have been given unto us.”  The Bible, our book of instructions, hope, encouragement, and promises.

 

We’ve been viewing a video concerning the early Bible believing Christians, and the way corruption took hold of the early organized church.  There are many things concerning our faith that we don’t know, and won’t know, until the end, but concerning this issue of how the church got so much corruption in it, well, Jesus said;  Mat 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

 

This is what happened in a great way.  The ravenous wolves crept in, took seats of authority, began teaching the doctrines of men, kept the Word of God out of the hands of the common man, and eventually took charge of not only the church, but the known world.

 

Rome, being the world power, and Constantine, the 57^th emperor of Rome, was the first to declare religious freedom for all faiths. Up until this time Christians were persecuted relentlessly.  In the year 313AD Constantine gave religious tolerance to all religions by the issue of the Edict of Milan.  Almost 300 years after the DBR of our Lord.  Many saints had been martyred by this time.

 

From what we have learned from the DVD is that Constantine made himself the first Vicar of Christ.  Up until this time, I would believe that the church government would have been as it was supposed to have remained.    After Constantine the Bishop of Rome took this title, and as you can see this was around the years of 313 – 330, the beginning of the POPES.  They have handed down this position, and title ever since.  As we will see, Lord willing, in the coming days of our studies, the proper structure that the church should have.  THIS WOULD BE ONE OF THE MANY COMMANDMENTS THAT THE LORD HAS GIVEN US THROUGH HIS WORD.

 

But first, let us return to the idea of the Lord’s commandments:

·         Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 

In order for us to keep His commandments, there must be unconditional self surrender to Him.  We must die out to self, and above everything else, seek to do His will in our lives.  It is not impossible!  Nor is it hard!   He wants only what is best for His people.  Listen to Him;  Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

THERE MUST BE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE ON OUR PART.

Does that sound like a hard task master?  Jesus said, “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”  We only become slaves, and burdened, when we follow the commandments of men. 

I KNOW I AM TOTALLY SET FREE WHEN I WANT ONLY TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE WORD!!

 

Amidst the 40 days of instructions, Jesus appeared to His disciples, John records it like this;

 

Joh 20:19-31  Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.  (20)  And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 

·         Just 50 days from now there will be no more fear of the Jews.  For when the Holy Ghost falls on them as a rushing mighty wind, they will go forth in the power of His might, being witnesses to the Lord, of all that He taught, and all that He was.

·         The first words that Jesus speaks to them, “Peace be unto you.”  My friends, have you heard Him speak peace to your heart, and life yet?  He wants too.  Just give Him your unconditional love, and you will hear Him say, “Peace be unto you my child.” And it will be there.

·         Then the thing that made the difference to them, He proved it was Himself, by showing where the nails pierced His hands, and the spear pierced His side.  No faith here, only sight.  No way satan will ever take this away from them.  They will take this knowledge to martyrdom.

(21)  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.  (22)  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:  (23)  Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 

·         Jesus sends them forth with all the power, within the authority of the church. 

·         We will find in the coming days the will of the Lord for the authority of His church, His Bride.  The true hand me down ( traditions ) authority from the Word.  ( 2 Thess.2:15 )

·         You Christian, who are the church, in accordance to what position you hold in the church, speak with all authority from Jesus, as long as we speak His words.  There is a line of authority, and we will look at it in our future studies.

I’ve always said, “if you miss church you will miss something,” well, Thomas missed church and he certainly missed something.

(24)  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.  (25)  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 

·         The Lord was going to be with them another 42 days, but He chose to come and reveal Himself to Thomas after only 8 days.

(26)  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.  (27)  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 

·         Notice Thomas’s reply. 

(28)  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 

·         Yes, He is our Lord, and our God, our object of Worship.

(29)  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.  (30)  And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:  (31)  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

·         You and I are expected to believe by faith, not by sight.  The day is coming when we will no longer walk by faith, but our faith will turn to sight.

Lord willing we will look tonight at the first commandment the Lord gave the disciples.