BE READY TO MEET JESUS For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power…

JESUS IS COMING AT THE CLOSE OF THIS AGE! As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” —Matthew 24:3             Jesus is coming soon!  What are the signs that point to His coming?  Here are a few from Matthew 24:1-22 and they seem to be coming upon us… Many false Messiahs will make claims There will be wars There will famines There will be earthquakes There will be martyrs There will be hatred toward Jesus’ followers by ALL nations There…

WORK WITH WORKERS TO FINISH THE WORK! Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done…

OUR ALL IN ALL—ADONAI— MY LORD The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. —31:1-5 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known…

BE AWARE OF WRONG MOTIVES IN COMMUNICATION Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is…

SEEK THOSE DESIRING TO OBEY “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” —Matthew 21:28-31             Better is delayed obedience, than a promise to obey and then not to.  How many people today say they will do something, but then they do not follow through and do…

TEMPLES/HOUSES OF PRAYER He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” —Matthew 21:13             Secularism had crept into the temple.  It was to be a place of prayer, but it had lost that focus.  Think of it.  The temple of God was where He wanted to meet His people and they turned that meeting place into materialistic gain.  How sad…             Today the temple does not exist, but we who believe are temples where God’s Holy Spirit resides.  Is our temple “a house of prayer?”  May it be so and not a temple that…

JESUS DESIRES SERVANT LEADERSHIP But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” —Matthew 20:25-28             The difference between leadership in this world and the leadership under Jesus is this— worldly leadership exercises authoritatively over the people whereas the greatest leadership…

JESUS KNOWINGLY CAME TO DIE IN OUR PLACE, RISE FROM THE DEAD TO GIVE LIFE TO ALL WHO CALL ON HIM! And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” —Matthew 20:17-19             Jesus communicated on numerous occasions what would happen to Him.  He was very specific…

MEANT TO SERVE TOGETHER Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. —Exodus 18:17-18             We are not meant to serve alone, to serve in isolation.  No, we are meant to serve together and encourage others to serve with us.  Moses was not only going to wear himself out, but he was going to wear out the people as well.  Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, said what he was doing was not good (Exodus 18:17) and gave Moses advice.  He said, “The…