Messiah: Gentiles Come to His Light

“I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.” (Isaiah 49:6b, 13. NKJV. [Read Isaiah 49:1-13]. “For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you to be a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:47-48. NKJV). “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ “ (2 Corinthians 6:2, NKJV).

Multiple prophecies of the life and ministry of Jesus were foretold in the Old Testament. This devotional series on prophecies/fulfillments about Jesus Christ are only a few of the rich store we have for our study and spiritual enlightenment. A recent devotional looked at the Wise Men coming from the East to worship the Christ Child. When Christ stood on the Mount of Olives ready to ascend back to God the Father, He told his gathered disciples: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8. NKJV.) The Great Commission given by Christ has been the marching orders for evangelical Christians from that time about 33 A. D. until the present, and, indeed, until the Lord shall return again.

Because Christians were faithful to this Commission of Christ, even we, who are Gentiles, came to the light. Many in the centuries since Christ’s ascension have been martyred for the faith. Because they would not recant their beliefs, they met death at the hands of persecutors. But despite the hard times Christians have endured from then until now (and some are still enduring), the prophecy of Isaiah and others has and is continuing to come true. The Lord’s comfort and mercy—and salvation—are extended to all who will believe and follow. When Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth and healed him, He said in the hearing of His disciples: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4, NKJV). Just as Jesus felt an urgency to do the work of God while He walked on the earth as a man, so we, in receiving His Great Commission must work “while it is day”—while we have opportunity. 2 Peter 3:9 makes clear why the Lord delays His second coming: “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (NIV). God wants all to repent and believe. But one day His patience in waiting for people to come to His Light will run out. Let us therefore be faithful to witness and invite others to the Light.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, December 28,2010

Unity in the Christian Fellowship

“And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way” (NIV Ephesians 1:22-23. Read Ephesians 1:15-23).

“Unity in the Christian fellowship”—the church: how do we gain it, how do we maintain it? This has been a deep question ever since Christ established the church and commissioned his disciples to “go into all the world…teaching, preaching, baptisting, teaching them to observe all things” (Mt. 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8). One aim Paul had in writing Ephesians was to warn the church about forces that would undermine unity: false doctrine, enticements of worldliness, internal bickering, and forgetting to make Christ Lord of all. Do these seem relevant to our present day as we consider our own church? If we are honest, we would admit that these and other forces are at work to undermine the effectiveness of a local Christian fellowship.

We need to recognize, first and foremost, that God has chosen believers to be His children. We are part of the family of God. A family is bound by ties of love. The ideal is to quell petty jealousies and for “each to esteem the other better than himself.” This ideal is hard to reach in a family setting, and it is also hard to attain in a church family. We have our “pet agenda” and often vie for it at great expense to the fellowship. We are prone to blame, slow to forgive. All of this, unfortunately, occurs within the confines of the fellowship founded by the Lord Christ Himself.

One of the best ways to ensure unity in the fellowship is demonstrated within Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This, which is believed to be a general letter to the churches (and hence to us) not just to the Christians at Ephesus, Paul does not pinpoint one particular problem and dwell upon it. Instead, he emphasized who they were in Christ Jesus, all that was available to them through Christ, and the importance of oneness within the body of Christ. He knew they would be facing persecution, scattering, divisions and grave opposition. He wanted them to be strong in the faith that would give them confidence and boldness. He was praying for their wisdom and revelation (v. 17) and that “the eyes of your heart be enlightened” (v. 18). In this way they (and we) can come to know “the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance…and His incomparably great power for us who believe” (v. 19). These are the keys to unity in the fellowship of believers. It takes much prayer and putting the Lord first.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, June 14, 2010

Praying in One Accord

“Then they returned from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, thy went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued in one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” –Acts 1:12-14.

A new era dawned for followers of Jesus after His ascension. They no longer had the physical presence of their Lord with them. Yes, they heard his Great Commission. Yes, they knew they had an assignment to do. He had promised not to leave them or forsake them. But they had seen him go bodily up into heaven.

And they could not turn to him now in the flesh to seek His wisdom.

What could they do? What did they do?

They had a prayer meeting, all eleven of the disciples, and “the women,” and “Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” It was a small but dynamic group.

The prayer meeting had two characteristics: All present were in one accord and all were in supplication. They agreed and had a unified prayer among them. In supplication they were offering themselves, humbly and earnestly before the Lord.

What was about to take place? At this point they did not know. But they began as they should have, praying in one accord and as humbly as they knew how, offering themselves in service.

We have the record of the results of that prayer meeting. Luke, writer of the Acts of the Apostles, gives the amazing story of how this small group of believers gathered in an upper room praying humbly and in one accord and how this start made a world of difference. The church was about to be empowered, born, thrust forward into an unbelieving world. And prayer was at the heart of how God would move and make Himself known through those who supplicated, humbled themselves before Him. The principle of success in the Lord’s work has not changed since that long ago time in the Upper Room in Jerusalem when a band of believers prayed earnestly and in one accord. Prayer precedes, undergirds, and propels every work in the Lord’s Kingdom. Pray; then act on the answers to prayer.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Promise to Be Fulfilled

“Now while He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’ “ -Acts 1:9-11 (NKJV)

When we consider the context of the scripture Luke records in Acts 1:9-11, we need to review some of what the disciples experienced in this period of their lives.

They had been present as the tension in Jerusalem grew at the time of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Although the Master had told them to expect the worst, they did not know what He meant. Peter had gone through the terrible denial, predicted by Christ but nevertheless devastating to Peter when he committed it. Then came the death of their Lord, so cruel, so humiliating. Some of them, at least, were present, watching the terrible proceedings, suffering untold agony themselves. There followed three days of desolation and mourning. Jesus their Leader was dead. All seemed hopeless. And then came the resurrection, which they had great difficulty believing. His appearances to them, His talking with them, and His giving the Great Commission before they saw Him ascend into heaven were remarkable and encouraging, but how could they go on without Jesus’ physical presence with them? How shaken up was their world! I can imagine being there myself and reacting to all of the events they had experienced.

Then two men in shining apparel appeared to them. Their message was two-fold: “Why do you stand here, gazing up into heaven?” As if to say, this inaction, this gazing up will bring no purpose to your mission. And then: “Jesus…will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” As if to say: “Didn’t He promise you that He would return?” The heavenly beings brought the disciples down to earth again.

The disciples moved from the Mount of Ascension and went back to Jerusalem to wait and pray and get ready for the great manifestation of the Spirit which would propel them forth to the work Christ had assigned them to do. And to look forward to His Second Coming. They would not forget this promise! Praise be to God.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, April 9, 2010