"IN TIMES LIKE THESE YOU NEED..."

Because of the Corona virus, our world has been ‘turned upside down’. None of us has ever experienced what is now occurring in our lifetime and in our country. Perhaps it has caused us to consider what we really need in this life, rather than just what we want. There is definitely a need for food to sustain life. Because of health problems, there is a need for many to see a doctor, others may need to be hospitalized. Grandparents truly need to hug their grandchildren. Students need to be in school. There is a great need for family members who are separated to be together again. There is a great need for an owner to open his/her business soon! There are people who need to go back to work. There are multitudes of family members who need to see their loved ones who are in hospitals and nursing homes! There are individuals who are in the Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit or in a hospital room who are in critical condition, who desperately need a loved one to hold their hand and express words of comfort and love to them. There are Christians who have a great need to assemble with their brothers and sisters in Christ to worship Almighty God and Jesus Christ. During this crisis, we should all realize that we really don’t have control over what a tomorrow may bring in this life. In the epistle of James, we read, “Come now , you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that” (4:13-15). We all agree that we need a cure for Covid-19; however the greatest need we have in this life is Jesus Christ who gave His life for us on Calvary’s cross. There is a disease of the heart and it is called sin. If it is not removed, it will lead to death (Romans 6:23). Jesus was born to be the Savior of the world (Luke 2:11). In fact, He came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus, the great Physician, came to call sinners to repent (Matthew 9:12,13). The hope that we have in Jesus Christ, is the anchor of our soul that is “both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:19). Read carefully the words of the apostle Peter, when asked by his hearers what they should do to be saved, “Repent and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”. The “saved” were added to the church, the body of believers (Acts 2:36-38;47). In this time of uncertainty, anxiety, being quarantined, loss of loved ones, worry, fear of contacting the virus, etc.; it is comforting to know that God “desires all men to be saved”(2 Peter 3:9). Truly, it can be said, “In times like these you need a Savior.” “In times like these you need an anchor Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One This Rock is Jesus, the only One Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock”

IS IT AN AUDITORIUM OR A SANCTUARY?

It is not uncommon to hear a brother mention in his prayer that “we are thankful to be able to come out to God’s house and worship.” Also, you will hear from time to time a member of the church referring to that part of the building where the assembly of worship is conducted as being the ‘sanctuary’. If you were to bring someone to visit our buildings, most likely the person would refer to the place of worship as being “a beautiful sanctuary.” To some degree, most of us have been affected by Judaism or Catholicism whether we realize it or not. The Lord God had Moses to erect the tabernacle. This portable tent of meeting was to be the center of worship until many years later when Solomon would build the temple in the city of Jerusalem. In Exodus 25:8, we read that the purpose of such a place was “that I may dwell among them.” In this verse, the whole of the tabernacle was referred to as the “sanctuary.” However, in Exodus 25:22, we learn that it was at the mercy-seat between the two cherubim, atop the Ark of the Covenant and located in the Most Holy Place that God said, “I will commune with thee.” In short, the sanctuary, whether speaking of the tabernacle as a whole or the Most Holy Place, was a dwelling place of the presence of the Almighty God. In contrast, the place of worship in the Christian age is of no significance. Jesus taught the Samaritan woman that it would not matter where one worshiped God (whether in the mountains or in Jerusalem) as long as such was done “in spirit and truth” (John 4:20-24). Paul declared that the “Lord of heaven and earth dwells not in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24). The Lord’s called out congregation is never a place but always a people. The church is “a spiritual house”, not a physical building, “to offer up spiritual sacrifices” (I Peter 2:5). Again, Paul wrote in I Corinthians 3:16 that “You (Christians) are a temple (sanctuary) of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Paul referred to the “house of God” as being the “church of the living God” in I Timothy 3:15. Therefore God’s sanctuary (house) today is His kingdom, the church, and not where the saints meet to worship.

"THERE IS A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD"

Zechariah 13:1: “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” The prophet Zechariah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, penned these words approximately five hundred years before the coming of Jesus Christ. Because of the immediate context containing prophecies regarding Jesus Christ before and during His crucifixion, we can understand this passage as pertaining to His death. In chapter 9:9, the writer mentions that “Your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (NKJV) This was fulfilled as found in Matthew 21:4, 5. In chapter 12:10, we read, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” This prophecy is fulfilled in John 19:37. Again, we find another prophecy regarding Christ in chapter 13:7, “...Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.” The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Matthew 26:31. The location of the “fountain” in chapter 13:1 was to be in Jerusalem. A fountain is a source of freshwater that is gushing forth for the thirsty souls. However this “fountain” refers to that which flowed from the side of our Savior while he hung on Calvary’s cross. It was a Roman soldier who “pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). His precious blood was shed “for sin and for uncleanness”. When Jesus instructed His disciples to drink from the cup, He said, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” In Romans 6:3, 4, the apostle Paul explains that we come in contact with His blood that saves when we are “buried with Him through baptism”. William Cowper, in 1772, wrote the lyrics of the moving and beautiful hymn, “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood”, based on the words found in Zechariah 13:1. Here is the first stanza of the song: There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains: Lose all their guilty stains, Lose all their guilty stains; And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains. Praise God for His immeasurable love!

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

It is early in the morning and the silence is deafening! The house is too quiet. There is hardly any noise in my neighborhood. I do not hear the school buses that are normally picking up children for school; and, there is not any traffic on the nearby street that leads to the high school!! This is my ‘quiet time’ for prayer and study but it is just too quiet! Simon and Garfunkel sang the song, “The Sound of Silence” which has remained one of the most popular songs over the decades. It was based on the biblical passage, I am sure, found in Ecclesiastes 3:7, “A time to keep silence; A time to speak.” But, there is a verse of scripture found in Habakkuk 2:20, that is profound and needs to be understood in the immediate context. The writer is contrasting the reality of a living God and idols made of wood and silver that are lifeless and cannot speak. In verse 20, 34 we read “But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” (ESV). In the Old Testament the temple in Jerusalem was where the presence of God could be found; however, the apostle Paul said, as recorded in Acts 17:24, that the Lord “does not dwell in temples made with hands.: Paul also said that God “is not far from each one of us! (Acts 17:27). In Psalm 139, we learn there is no place we can be but that God is there! While He is in His “holy Temple”, that is heaven, He can be everywhere at all times, but He is not in one place all the time. Because God is so great in His majesty we are to “keep silence before him.” The Septuagint Version renders Habakkuk 2:20, “The Lord is in his holy temple; Let all the earth FEAR before him” (Emphasis, mine, RE). “The consideration of his infinite perfections, his self-existence independence, supremacy, immensity, eternity; his omnipresence; omniscience, and omnipotence; his unspotted holiness, his inviolable truth, and impartial justice; and especially his sovereign authority and dominion, should strike all men with a reverential awe, and should dispose them to the most perfect submission toward him” (Benson Commentary on Habakkuk) When we sing the following hymn, let us understand that it is more than a song to quieten people, or just a call to worship. Let us humble ourselves before the great Almighty God and stand in awe of His holiness. Let us possess a reverential fear of our God in our hearts. “The Lord is in His holy temple Let all the earth keep silence before Him Keep silence Keep silence Keep silence before Him!” - Wm.J. Kirkpatrick