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Text Sermons : Erlo Stegen : Submit to God today

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Matt 23:34-39

"34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

We recently celebrated Christmas where the heavenly host announced the birth of Christ. The Gospel is Good News for everyone.

It is sad that the Child was hardly born when Herod tried to kill Him and actually killed all the children in that region.

How is it possible that the messengers of the Good Tidings are the ones that are persecuted and killed? It is because of the devil. He brings pride in people's hearts and that's why they cannot rejoice at the Gospel.

Our Lord did nothing wrong; He only did good, yet they mocked Him, persecuted Him and eventually crucified Him. Jesus said that if they do that to Me they will do it to you too.

God also sent them prophets. A prophet is someone who hears the Word of God and passes it on to the people.

These days people glibly call themselves prophets. A certain witch was converted and was advised by some of her "friends" to keep her spirit of fortune telling but simply transform it into her new life. Such a thing is from hell and that spirit of fortune telling has nothing to do with the Spirit of God.

In special circumstances God can reveal future events to people but usually a prophet is simply someone who passes the Word of God to the people. A prophet speaks the Word of God to people so that they are convicted of their sins, repent and come to God for forgiveness of their sins. A prophet warns the people of the wrath of God that will come upon those who will not repent of their sins.

The Lord said to the scribes and pharisees that they say that they would not have killed the prophets had they lived in the days of their fathers. So they condemn themselves because they call the murderers of the prophets their fathers.

The prophets were persecuted and killed because they spoke what the people did not want to hear. They did not speak to please the people but they spoke the Words God gave them to speak to the people.

Jesus called the prophets wise men for they spoke not with the wisdom of man but took God's Word and applied and kept it. They lived according to the Bible. In heaven such people are called wise men. Once they have received this salvation and it had worked in their lives, they passed it on to others.

You cannot claim to be wise if you had received salvation and refuse to pass it on to others so that they too might be saved.

May it now be clear what the difference is between a fortune teller who just speak stories and a true prophet of God. A true prophet of God is humble and bows under God's Word and His authority.

In our text Jesus speaks of scribes that will be persecuted too. These scribes study God's Word and apply it to their lives and teach others to keep His Words too. Students leave this mission school and immediately go astray because they don't study God's Word and apply it to their lives and make a clear decision to live according to the Word of God.

Some never make it in their Christian life because they never cut the umbilical cord with their old life and old friends. They still want to cling to some of their old life. No, cut the cord with the old life, submit to the Word of God yourself and then go and share God's Word and standard with those who are lost.

Note that Jesus said in this text that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth will come upon those who will not receive God's Word. You are not just rejecting God's messenger but you are bringing all the blood of God's prophets who were murdered upon your head.

A certain drunk man stood on a railway track while a train was approaching. Drunk people get a lot of courage and he said to the train while standing on the track, "I, ... I, say to you train, stop". Some who saw this tried to remove him from the track but he simply went back and repeated his arrogant command to the train. Well, the train couldn't stop and it hit him and ground him to mincemeat. The people didn't even know what remains of him to collect.

Some people treat God like this drunk man and want to dictate to Him what He should do. Well, God is far greater than just a train and you will break if you don't bow to Him.

God deals far gentler with people and not as their manners deserve. We read here how Jesus tried to gather the people as a hen gathers her chicks. So too He is wooing you today to come to Him and submit to Him while there is still time and grace. Don't waste time, standing there in your pride and saying to God, "I say to you God this and that". You will only get hurt with such an attitude. Rather submit and bow to Him today. Maybe there are others who try to save you and drag you out of harms way, yet you refuse their help and complain that they handle you too rough. If you refuse the help offered, you will only get hurt unless you humble yourself and do God's will.

Testimony by Eugen Olsen:
Before the service Eugen gave a powerful testimony of how God in His grace brought life and a personal revival into his life. He grew up on the mission all his life, confessed his sins, gave his life to the Lord but simply did not find overflowing life. But this past year he was in a serious conflict, until he decided to take the Bible as the Word of God and submit to its absolute authority unconditionally; then God breathed life into him. The Word of God became a new Book to him, as it is in truth, the very word of God. God also opened John 6:65 to him that salvation is by the grace of God, "And He (Jesus) said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."





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