I have had the privilege of preaching in 44 different nations. In many of the nations, they did not understand English so an interpreter had to be used. Sometimes the person interpreting did not understand English properly or my South African accent. On one or two occasions the interpreter used my lack of understanding to preach his own sermon. Nevertheless, the contact between the congregation and myself was the interpreter.
God uses people to speak on His behalf. People are the connection between God and other humans on earth. Do we speak His word or our own sermons?
Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
Moses Had to speak to Pharoah
Exodus 6:28-7:2 And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” 7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land.
Elijah was a Prophet who spoke God’s words
Isaiah 6:4-9 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Jonah had to preach against Nineveh
Jonah 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
How is the world going to hear about God’s goodness apart from through us who believe? How are the 8 billion people living on the earth today going to hear the glad tidings?
First of all, you have to realize that in the Old Testament, the inheritance of the Israelites was a piece of real estate in the Middle East called Canaan.
Genesis 15:18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.
The deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt is an unforgettable story of God’s purposeful and powerful salvation of His people. The account of God redeeming Israel from Egypt foreshadowed the redemption to come in Christ. Just as God redeemed Israel from Egypt through the blood of the lambs on their doorposts, so all God’s people ultimately are redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
Exodus 3:7-8 The Lord said, “I have seen the suffering of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of the men who make them work. I know how they suffer. 8 So I have come down to save them from the power of the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land to a good big land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite
One is the “buying back” and the other is the “bringing them into”
The land of Canaan which God promised Israel they would possess is a shadow of the true land of our inheritance in Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,—in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.
After test driving and inspecting a vehicle, you intend to purchase from someone, you can proceed with applying for finance. At this stage, you will be required to make a predetermined deposit as a commitment to your final purchase. The process of buying the vehicle is now in motion and your deposit becomes "the earnest" "a down payment" that you make to the seller as a legal agreement in which you the buyer have contracted yourself. While walking away from the seller, you have agreed to return and complete the purchase at a later date.
That is exactly what God has done. He has guaranteed our full inheritance purchased through Christ Jesus!
We still do not have the full revelation of what God has promised us.
That is to say, all that Adam lost Christ will win back, not just a handful of dust. Christ died and rose again for all and everything, total redemption of the whole man. Paul alluded to this truth by writing:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The giving of the Holy Spirit and all the gifts of the Spirit was only a down payment of God’s promise.
Three words stand out in this account! They are earnest, promise, and until. The word promise works like a promissory note. Anything “promised” automatically points to the future. The same goes for the word “until”. Stay here, “until” I return also points to the future.
As a child in my parent's home, I remember how I could hardly sleep the night before my birthday or Christmas because I knew the earnest promise of a gift from my parents when I woke in the morning.
Now even more so that since the Holy Spirit was given as a deposit, a down payment, and as the earnest, until the redemption of the purchased possession, we, as saved people should be on tiptoe, anxiously looking for full complete redemption. The pledge of complete salvation.
God did not just redeem our spirit and soul He also redeemed our bodies. We fully belong to God. Spirit, soul, and body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God and that you are not your own [property]? 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honour and glorify God with your body.
The messengers have told us that saving our soul is important but no word about our body only that our body is destined for the grave, so don't try to save it rather pay attention to the saving of your soul.
Yet in Romans 12:1 we read Paul’s words, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.
The message is flawed, the sad fact is that we as Christians have the belief that our salvation has to do with caring for our souls. Our expectation is in dying and going to heaven to be with God in His presence. This is our only victory. This we tend to believe is our full salvation.
Romans 8:19-25 J.B. Phillips New Testament
In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own. The world of creation cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses to be blind, but because in God’s purpose it has been so limited—yet it has been given hope. And the hope is that in the end the whole of created life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and have its share in that magnificent liberty which can only belong to the children of God!
It is plain to anyone with eyes to see that at the present time all created life groans in a sort of universal travail. And it is plain, too, that we who have a foretaste of the Spirit are in a state of painful tension, while we wait for that redemption of our bodies which will mean that at last we have realised our full sonship in him. We were saved by this hope, but in our moments of impatience let us remember that hope always means waiting for something that we haven’t yet got. But if we hope for something we cannot see, then we must settle down to wait for it in patience. we have realized our full sonship in him.
But more than two thousand years later, those events have yet to materialize. We should quickly understand that Paul's vision and understanding of these events still hold true today.
Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
2 Corinthians 5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
"But PUT YE ON the Lord Jesus, and make not provision for the flesh. "Romans 13:14. Remember, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON CHRIST." Galatians 3,27.
Be a messenger of life and hope for the future to expect the promise of the down payment to be realized. Put on your heavenly clothing which is Christ Jesus. AMEN
