Bringing in the Dove

The story of Jonah...

listen to Keller here:
http://www.allsouls.org/ascm/allsouls/static/sermons/showsermon.flow?id=11783
http://www.allsouls.org/ascm/allsouls/static/sermons/showsermon.flow?id=11784
http://www.allsouls.org/ascm/allsouls/static/sermons/showsermon.flow?id=11785
(he's basically paralleling Jonah to Romans 1-11)

then listen to Glen here:
http://christthetruth.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/sinners-slaves-or-sons/

Now then.. Jonah the idolater amongst idolaters

Bring it back to Jesus and the context:

Matthew 12:22-45
- the demon casting
- the accusative Pharisees
- the sign of Jonah
- the evil generation that will be accused by Nineveh and Ethiopia

Make sense now?
Jonah is from an evil generation church heading to an evil generation pagan nation
Jonah's condition is the same as that of the Pharisees
Yet it is the sinners who will accuse the religious

The warning of Jesus in Matt 11 - is the most stern..

The focal point of Jonah : "Salvation belongs to the Lord"
Grace or Sheol

Jesus brings the idol out of Jonah - chp 4
Jesus brings the demons to light to the Pharisees

True grace forces out the idols - who cannot match the Living God
they do not save

Jonah.. learn the lesson - God has come in peace to the wicked

you are also in the same boat in the storm - Christ is asleep on the cushion - rouse Him and He will save

now go and save others... i release you to bring the olive branch to where?
Go back to Israel - save the church
that's why I took you out to Nineveh

Day of Rest

From "O Day of Rest and Gladness" by Christopher Wandsworth - 1862

verse 2:
On Thee, at the creation, the light first had its birth;
On Thee, for our salvation, Christ rose from depths of earth;
On Thee, our Lord, victorious, the Spirit sent from heaven,
And thus on Thee, most glorious, a triple light was given.

Elijah

I did this for a school assignment - what would you do if you saw it? How would you grade and comment it?
If you let me know I  will tell you what the aim of the assignment was.

1 Kings 17:1-6:

Firstly the name Elijah means Yahweh is God, and he points to the one who will be a forerunner or bride for Christ – the one who comes after him, Elisha (meaning Jesus is God). Elijah lived in Gilgal, meaning "whirlwind", which indicates how Elijah will be swept up in a whirlwind back to his God and Bridegroom when he finishes his ministry of the Word on earth – also since Tishbite can mean stranger. Therefore we see the stranger in the world sent to preach the Word of God, who will signal the coming of the true Word of God – which is Christ. As the New Testament agrees, Elijah is a picture of John the Baptist.

The ancient John then goes head to head with Ahab, the husband of Jezebel – the Satan figure. Here we see Christ’s bride face up to Adam, the one who sleeps with Satan. The church-Elijah then holds back the promises of God from the natural man while he himself goes to the Kerith Ravine, or the Cherith Brook. He goes to the death-river called ‘drought’, instead of the river that symbolizes life through death – the Jordan.

During her time on earth, the church will not be fed by the provision of the world – through natural means, but by the very bread brought by the winged messengers of God Himself. The raven, although an unclean animal, symbolizes - as we see from Noah – that the earth is still not yet producing fruit. And the dove of peace has not come – this is not the new creation.

Yet the Lord uses unclean means to bring provision to His people, both bread and meat, in the morning and evening – every day He is fed by the Lord Himself. So when the people of God preach the Word of the Lord, they declare judgment on the world, and withhold its blessings, while the Lord blesses them richly in secret – though the world assumes they die by the death-brook of drought – they know how to live daily on the Word alone. Elijah holds his baptismal water away from the Pharisees of the church, and he alone has true holy communion with Christ.

In a side point, we also see the ravens, though unclean, can still be used for God’s purposes. The creatures, accustomed to eating carrion, can also be made clean – to serve His purposes. But also a warning, Jesus claims that many will do things in His name, but still be unclean. We must be wary of this – that our outer works are not our assurance, but only faith in Jesus Christ.

Reversing Light and Darkness

In the sermon on the mount Jesus says:

you retreat to the darkness to do evil deeds, and come into the light to show off false goodness

this is how you create a black hole
you shine falsely while inside you are dying - and in the end - you suck the light out of everything
how great is the darkness

now do the reverse
retreat to the darkness to do your good deeds, and come into the light to show off your true evil self

That is how you create a star...
let the dust clouds be seen while you ignite from within - and then your shining will be glorious...

More Pail Grabbing

In the light of John 4 - the woman at the well


Isaiah 12:1-6  You will say in that day:"I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.  2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."  3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.  4 And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.  5 "Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.  6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." 

Grab a pail

Jesus and the woman at the well...

John 4
⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" ⁸(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)


¹¹"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?


Prov 20
 5 The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters,
       but a man of understanding draws them out.

Woman... I've come to draw your water
I have found your well is dry

Draw from Me and be satisfied...

Prov 20
⁶ Many a man claims to have unfailing love, 
       but a faithful man who can find?


John 4

¹⁶He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
 ¹⁷"I have no husband," she replied.
   Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."


You have found not just a prophet - but a faithful, righteous lover judge-King

He now reaps in His harvest:

Prov 20
 ⁴ A sluggard does not plow in season;
       so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

What is the problem?

Glen this one is for you...

from here

It is not sin that's the problem, or the wrath of God that's the problem

It is God's love that's the 'problem'

The reason God hates sin is because it destroys those whom He loves, His Son, His children and their brothers and sisters...

The problem the world faces is that it's God and Creator and Father loves it too much to leave it alone...