Second Coming lesson 2

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.


Loud Command of the Lord

With a shout:
 probably in these words: Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment;

To understand this better, let us look at Gospel of John 11 from verse 17

Martha says Lord if you were here, he would not have died.
and but Lord Jesus says why talk about end days, I am here.
then Martha says that at the resurrection day he will rise.

Verse 25 is very important, Lord Jesus says 

1st truth
I am the resurrection and I am the life.
Jesus Himself is the resurrection. Life means Lord Jesus.

Many times we are like Martha, we are people who are quick in words or speaking many truths but we lack believing when moment comes.
Many times I myself a man of many words , speak a lot about Gods word, but when situations came, i stumbled ( honestly). when my wife is preganat first time the doctors told me your daughter might get Thalsemmia. Till then I was a man who spoke lot of Gods Word.but when situation came for me, my faith is revealed.

So today do we believe that Resurrection and Life are Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:16, In Him we are created, by Him we are created.

Imagine believers who died long back , their graves are not there, but
when the Lord comes they all will be raised. 
matthew 10:14 says, even dust particles will testify to it.

1 corinthians 15:51,52
In a twinkling of eye, we will be changed.

2nd truth
Colossians 3:3,4
our life is hidden in Jesus Christ.
when we died in this mortal body, our life is hidden in Jesus Christ

How we know that our life is hidden in Jesus Christ.
How do we know that this belongs to your property.
how do we know this children are yours.
by a seal
sealed by Holy Spirit.(Romans 11:36)

Voice of Archangel

Angels and Arch Angels.
There are myriads and myriads of angels in the heaven.
there are various angels God has created.
some are seraphs, cherubs, some are ministering angels to the believers. some are fallen angels who are doomed to destruction.
whats mentioned here Arch Angel of God.
this Arch angel of God: is like a chief of the angels.
Jude 1:9 says
The arch angel Michael did not condemn but says Lord rebuke you.
Lord might have sent arch angel to do the funeral activities for Moses.
Even the dead bodies of the righteous people are precious in Gods sight.
at that time, there was big argument between Michael and Satan.
Michael did not lose his tongue or word , although he had full authority.
Even rebuke of Michael is glorifying to God.

Daniel 10:11-13
One of the princes, Michael - that means there are other angels who are equal to the stairs of Michael.
But Jude says the arch angel Michael.
in Bible there are no other names of other arch angels mentioned.

Daniel 12:1 
Michael stands with people of Israel during their tough times.
When we go through our tough times, God does not leave us alone, but sends his angels to minister to us.
1st verse says everyone who is found in book of Life will be rescued.

Resurrection of dead and Michael have close relationship
In Jude with Moses dead body.
Michael in Thessalonians 4:15,16
Daniel 12:12, Michael mentioned.

Whenever the resurrection is mentioned, God used arch angel Michael.
So even in this verse of 1 Thess 4:16, The shout of Arch angel is there during resurrection of the dead.


Trumpet Call of God. Devuni boora.
Number 10:12
4 reasons to use trumpet
1) to gather congregation
2) to move from one place to another
3) during war time
4) during happy or festival time.

1) During Rapture, the trumpet is blown to gather all saints.
2) Saints move from one place to another place to meet Lord Jesus.
3) Vivaha mahotsava samayamu


Order of resurrection:
1 Thess 4:17 says First Dead will rise and then the Living.

The coming of the Lord Jesus is for sure. and He is our resurrection and Life.
this is not a study to just to make it interesting , but this is to share and encourage one another.
Verse 18 says Encourage one another with these words.
Amen.

Psalm 42

 This is a famous verse.

As the deer panteth-
i looked at the meaning of panting in dictionary and saw that
breathing at breathe with short, quick breath

A deer when it chased by a lion,
it runs runs runs and when it escapes the enemy, it takes those quick breath looking for stream of water.

Here the psalmist longing for God is compared to the pantings of deer.
now
look at the situation of Psalmist

v3 - my tears have been my food day and night,  and People say - "where is your God"
V46:my soul is downcast within me.
V 9, 10 - why must i go about mourning, my bones suffer and enemies taunt and say where is your God.

Psalmist is chased by the enemy, he was completely down. he is physically and mentally
pulled down , just like the deer and
in this situation psalmist says Lord where are you
V2 - my soul looks for God - where can I go and meet my God.

V5 - my soul is downcast within me- yet I will praise Him.

In these tough situations, it is not easy to praise God, but psalmist has decided and said even in these situation I will praise Him.

 Longing for God is the work of grace.

If  a man in not renewed , that man pants after anything than God: . . .
For example if it comes to choice of reading your bible or watching a sport,
then unrenewed man will quickly goto watching a sport.

It proves a renewed nature when you long after God; it is a work of grace in your soul, and you may be thankful for it
if you see history, All saints of God placed highest importance in knowing God , longing for Him, more than anythings of this world, or for that matter more than the ministry they gave more importance in knowing Him.

Apostle Paul summarizes this desire for more of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He placed knowing Christ Jesus above all else. Philippians 3:8-9 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Today this morning,
A challenge for all us, -
as the deer panteth for the water - the psalmist is longing for God,
but do we?
is it our longing just a thirst on need basis ,like whenever i need something that I goto God.
or is my longing like the pants of a deer- saying without you i cant even live for a moment.
Matt Redman wrote this song

One thing my heart is set upon One thing that I would ask To know You, Lord, as close as one Could hope to on this earth
Intimacy O Jesus, intimacy My treasure will be, O Jesus Your intimacy
Lord, since the day I saw you first, My soul was satisfied; And yet, because I see in part, I'm searching, more to find.


Let this psalm encourage each one of us to 

Psalm 40

V 3:
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

A believer in Christ has new song of praise to our God.
Why, because in Lamentations 3:22,23 it says His mercies are new.

we may not realize the mercy and grace of God, because we take it for granted.
When we take things for granted , you will not have the freshness or new song.
When see and have revelation that today if I am able to gather with the saints of God, it is Gods grace.  Last week i could not come to Church because I was in hospital and I missed so much. Today I realize that Gods grace I am again here.

Song of thankfulness, Song of praise to God, Song of great fullness.

Do we take things granted and always  have a song of complaints.

Today morning, do we realize Gods mercy and grace and have that song of praise , Such a mans song will be like verse 5

Many are the wonders Lord,which you have done.
There is none to compare with you.
they too numerous to count.

Verses 6 -8
For God, doing His will is more important than the offerings that we bring.
that is why in Matthew 5:23,24 says, forgiveness and unity is more important than the offerings that we bring.

Before giving an offering, let us check whether we are doing Gods will.

Verse 16
Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,“The Lord be magnified!”


A person who loves the salvation of God will say
The Lord be magnified.

Sadly, today Church has people who says  I be magnified.
How do you check blood pressure or sugar?
One good test that you can check for yourself whether we love salvation of God is Check whether you say I be magnified or Lord be magnified.


Story of the preacher who travelled and served at shoe stand

Psalm 37 (20-40)

V 21,22

The wicked borrow and do not repay,
    but the righteous give generously;
22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land,
    but those he curses will be destroyed.

V21 says the wicked borrows but they dont repay it.

You know we come across people who borrow money and they do not repay.
I am sure you might have come across people who are like that.

But the righteous give generously.

To understand this statement, we need to understand God.

man is always a seeker.
Right from the morning he get up till he goes to bed he keeps asking.
But God is a Giver. God takes pleasure in giving. 
God is not stingy when giving.
God is not like man when giving. Man holds off something, but You know when God gives, the receiver gets overwhelmed. Even when He forgives a sinner,He takes so much pleasure that Bible says a big party goes in heaven when a sinner repents.

When a person truly understands how big a Giver our God is, then we will be very content.
Today we see lot of greed in our own Christianity because we dont truly understand about the giving nature of God or how much He has given to us.

And when we truly walk in the righteousness that God has given us, we will be witness for Him even through our giving.
We will not be stingy like the world does. 

The righteous gives generously.


V25 & 26

David says He was young and now I am old.  But I have never seen righteous forsaken.

So by the time he is writing this psalm ,David has seen a mans life time.
And when a person is saying something in his old age, it has very some significance in it.
In his old age he is saying these words.
He is not saying how to fight wars, how to become a king,
But in his old age he says
He is talking about giving and how a righteous giver is not forsaken.

Righteous are not forsaken, they are indeed generous givers.


David is not just a man of words but a man of actions.
If we look at who are the righteous people during Davids time, Jonathan is one of them. and according to this verse, Righteous should not be forsaken, even their children should not beg.
So he made sure a righteous man like Jonathan who recognised the annointing of God on David and respected him, his children should not left out like beggers, so David called him to sit at the Kings table and eat daily and all his land is restored.

It is one thing to recite the verses in bible , but it is pleasing sacrifice to fulfill the heart of God.
No wonder David is called man after Gods own heart.


V30 & 31.

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
    and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
    their feet do not slip.

In His old age,he is also saying these words

what kind of words come forth from a righteous person. To understand this also, we need to understand who God is.
Man talks a lot and lot- But there will be very less content  in it.
When God speaks , He speaks straight ( doesn't say may be , Probably) 12 3.
Thats it and it carries lot of weight. Those words have weight of eternity.

And a man who believed in Lord Jesus Christ, the words that comes out of their mouth are just blabbering, but do they carry eternal words.
Peter, no wonder says, Lord Where can we go, you have words of eternal life.

You can give a lot of gifts to others, but they all perish with time.
The best gift that you can give to others is speak the word of Wisdom and Justice that will give eternal life.

Speak less, but when you speak , speak eternal life.

As we go out into this world this week, let this psalm reminds each one of us, that God is giver, as a children of God I will be a giver.
God talks less but speaks eternal life. 
As a child of God , whenever i speak , i will speak eternal life.

Amen.

Principles of God

Proverbs 11:27
27 1Whoever seeks good finds favor,
    but evil comes to one who searches for it.

if I seek in my heart to do good to others, I will find favor from God.
But suppose if I think evil of another person ( it could be of any form, to hurt with a word, even assassinate their character in my  heart), that evil comes back to the me who searches for it.

it is a natural principle that God has put in.
I always want favor from God, then why not I seek good of others.
Even forgetting to seek good of others is also a problem, because I may miss finding the favor of God. This may sound like little bit of Old Covenant, because in new covenant I find favor by grace and grace alone. 
So in new covenant, I already found favor by Grace of God, now that I already found favor, So because of the favor i received i seek more good for others.
The new covenant compells us to do more (not to gain acceptance/favor), but because I already received it.

May God bless this meditation - Amen
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Psalm 34

Verse 1: I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises

In God times it is easy to praise the Lord, but when wer are going through worst of times,it is very tough to praise the Lord. Sometimes forget about praises, people will question if God exists?

David is facing one of those worst situations.
He is running away from Saul and now acting infront of Achish as mad man.
In order to escape and save your life, you act like a mad man, what kind of situation it will be.
Now, David is writing in that situation that I will praise the Lord at all times.

In verse 3,David says in those situations that he wants to testify the Lords greatness.


1 samuel 21:10-14 says

10 So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,
    and David his ten thousands’?”

12 David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13 So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

14 Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15 We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

Verses 4-7 Prayer

David prayed and God delivered him  out of troubles.

This is great passage that explains the importance of prayer.

even during these fasting times when we are praying,

know for sure:

v4 -anyone going though fear - you will be free of my fears ( v4)

v5- anyone looking for help from the Lord - you will be joyful

    are going through a shameful situation like David - because you prayed to the Lord, your shame will go away.

v6 - are you in some desperate situation, because you prayed, the Lord listens and delivers us out of trouble.

Verse 8 Taste and See that the Lord is good.

Many times we go to costco and taste the sample foods they give.

and then we know that particular food is good.

Without tasting we are not sure whether it is good or not.

If somebody else tell us that food is good we will have only head knowledge.

Similarly, we should have our own testimony of goodness of the Lord.

Many people might talk about their testimonies of the goodness of the Lord they have tasted and see. That is why we have testimony time every sunday at the end of worshipservice. 

If you are really not sure, seek and ask God , i want to taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

V12,13,14 - Do you want a long life.

There are 2 things mentioned in bible for long life.

1) Honor your father and mother 

2) Here in Psalm v12,13 - 

Dont speak evil about others and dont tell lies

I was thinking why there is long life if we dont speak evil about others.

When we speak evil, we speak death to others.

and bible says what you sow is what you reap.

Never speak evil of others.

Also never tell lies in a world that is full of lies.

V19,20

The Righteous people might face troubles.

Christians throught the ages faced persecution. God s gracee was with them in times if of troubles.

May this psalm encourage each one of us to praise the Lord at all times, to go in prayer and seek His help instead of mans help, also taste and see for yourself that the Lord is good

The Lord is with righteous people.

Amen.

March21st2015Meditation

7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT


The man who trusts in the Lord is compared to tree planted by the water.
Trust in the Lord - has 2 effects.

1) The tree's roots go deep into the water.
2) Not bothered by the heat, also not worried by long months of drought.

A tree to have deep roots, the following are needed.
              Water,Oxygen,Good Soil.

When these 3 things are there, the roots of the tree go deep down into the earth.
Sometimes the roots go upto 3 to 6 feet. In Some cases where the soil is at its best, the roots have taken to 23 feet also.




In a person's life,  Water is the Word of God(Ephesians 5:26)
Oxygen represents the HolySpirit who gives Life. (Ephesians 5:18, Be filled with HolySpirit)
and the Good Soil is person heart.(Luke 8:15, A humble soil allows Gods word to penetrate).


We some times see the rots of a tree grow horizontally and not vertically. that is because the soil is not good enough for the roots to penetrate and so grow horizontally.



A tree which has deep roots, the roots which go deep into water has many advantages.

Such tress are not bothered by heat.
why deep rooted trees are not bothered by heat is  when there is heat, what plants need is water.
A deep rooted tree, whose roots go down to the water levels are supplied with water from the deep.
and so it does not bothers the heat.

Also not worried by long months of drought.
because during long months of drought, there is no rain, and when the there is no rain, generally the plants wither and dry up. But a deep rooted tree whose roots go deep into water does not worry and wait for the rain to come.A deep rooted tree gets its water from the deep even in the times of drought.
That is why their leaves are green and they never stop producing fruit even in drought times.


A person whose trusts in the Lord is like this tree whose roots go deep into the water.
When heat he does not wither because he gets the water from the deep source of his trust in God.
Even during months of drought/storms when everyone else is falling away, this person who trusted in God still is fruitful, because he has continuous supply of water from his deep trust in God.

A good soil with water and oxygen makes tree roots go deep into water.
A person with humble heart that allows Gods Word and Holy Spirit to work in his life, this person goes deep in his trust in God and he withstands heat, drought and is still fruitful.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God Bless this meditation - Amen