Hear our Father

There is nothing more important than listening to our Father and hearing what He would say to us. We hear from Him directly through His word. We are going to start with a message first spoken to the prophet Isaiah and later repeated by Jesus and Paul many years later.

Isaiah 6:1-13

6:1-3 seraphim H 8314; burning ones, (celestial beings). Don’t ever forget this verse, no matter how bad things get. Our Father’s Glory fills the whole earth. This should give us comfort and boldness to go and do His will.

6:4-5 undone H 1820; dumb, silent. Contrast king Uzziah who died of leprosy, and our Father who is a King Eternal. Israel had fallen away from God and was not hearing His word.

6:6 tongs: these were instruments used in the temple (compare Ex 25:38, Ex 37:23). The live coal was taken from the very altar of God.

6:7 purged H 3722; to cover, atone, forgive, purge, reconcile. The fire of God cleanses us of our sins. Did the fire of God hurt Isaiah? It absolutely did not, and it won’t harm you either, as long as you are serving God.

6:8 Isaiah was a willing servant, are we willing to go and serve Him?

6:9-10 Make the….and be healed: Declare or foretell that the heart of this people will be fat. This is a common Hebrew idiom (or saying), Isaiah could do no more. This prophecy is of the utmost importance in Israel’s history. It is written 7 times in the word (Isa 6:9-10, Matt 13:14, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10, John 12:40, Acts 28:26-27, Rom 11:8). Very few listen to the word of God today; and even fewer hear/see with understanding.

6:11 God will allow the people to destroy themselves spiritually due to being biblically illiterate. It is very hard to have an intelligent biblical conversation with people with them bringing in things that do not pertain to the word of God.

6:12 this pertains to a forsaking of the land.

6:13 a plot of one tenth of the land will be set aside. The oak and teil (similar to an oak) trees are mentioned because of their ability to sprout a sapling from their roots after being cut down. This is like God’s elect, they will continue to sprout from generation to generation.

Matthew 13:9-23

13:9-11 this is what was going on in Isaiah chapter 6. If the people want to be deceived then God will allow it.

13:12 too many today listen to traditions set by men and take it as truth from the word of God. Unfortunately they are greatly mistaken and allow themselves to be deceived.

13:13-14 these people just don’t get it. A lot of people just can’t understand the simplicity our Father teaches in and try to make it much more difficult than it has to be.

13:15 if these were to see, hear and understand they would become responsible. Then they would be able to commit the unforgiveable sin. Some are blinded for a purpose, for their own good.

13:16-17 we are very fortunate to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Many of the prophets wanted to live in our time to witness the things happening.

13:18-19 there is a huge difference between hearing the word and understanding the word.

13:20-21 anon G 2117; straight, at once. We must have strong roots to withstand the bad this world brings. Don’t allow yourself to be shaken at the first sign of trouble!

13:22 we must make a choice in our lives, between what the world offers and what God offers.

13:23 it doesn’t matter how much you produce, as long as you are bringing forth fruit.

Acts 2:32-41

2:32-33 the Holy Spirit spoke a language all could hear and understand.

2:34-35 (quoted from Psalm 110:1). Christ will remain at the right hand of God until His enemies made His footstool. God’s elect will be doing this for Him, when we witness against the false messiah.

2:36 they had crucified Jesus and God had made Him Judge of all. They are probably not feeling too good right now.

2:37-38 even those who crucified Jesus could be saved! What a merciful God we serve.

2:39 the Lord has called his election, He knows He can trust them.

2:40-41 untoward G 4646; warped, perverse, crooked. The church was growing, as it does today when truth is taught over the traditions of men.

1 John 1:1-5

1:1 we must hold that word near and dear to us, it is our strength!

1:2-3 when you have partaken of the word you can have fellowship with our Father and His Son.

1:4-5 share the word our Father gives us.

Romans 10:17

10:17 don’t ever let anyone rob you of the word by substituting it with the words of men, no matter who that man is. The word of God builds your faith!

Signs and Wonders

Men and women are always looking for signs and wonders to help them with things in their life. We often see these things and are fascinated by them. God utilizes signs, but so does Satan. We must be able to recognize where the signs are coming from, Satan or God.

Matthew 15:22-31

15:22 devil G 1139; to be exercised by a demon. This is a gentile woman who understands the seed line of the Messiah.

15:23-26 remember she is a gentile. Christ is saying that it would not be right to take the truth from the mouth of the Israelites and give it to the Gentiles.

15:27-28 this woman’s faith caused her daughter to be healed of the devil.

15:29-31 these healings and miracles brought many to our Father. They witnessed the hand of God at work. Remember who to give credit to for the many good things in your life, and even the correction.

Matthew 16:1-4

16:1 tempting G 3985; to test. People are always looking for a sign, something supernatural.

16:2-3 lowring G 4768; to render gloomy, overcast. They were able to understand the weather based on the sky, but unable to understand the signs of God. The Son of God was amongst them, and they didn’t have eyes to see.

16:4 (compare: Matt 12:39-41, Jer 3:9, Ezek 23:37, Hos 1:2). Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days and nights, so was Christ 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth after the crucifixion. Only Christ through His sacrifice can defeat death. This is what we should look for, Satan brings death but Christ brings life.

Mark 5:1-20

5:1-3 this unfortunate man had been bound with evil spirits and possessed unnatural strength.

5:4 fetters G 3976; a shackle for the feet. He was a crazy man possessed by demonic spirits. Jesus will exercise the same power given to us in Luke 10:17-19.

5:5-6 who was worshipping Jesus, the man or the evil spirits? Remember the man was totally under control of the evil spirits. If you have seen the Son you have seen the Father. They knew who Jesus was.

5:7 the spirit knew Jesus had the power to torment them.

5:8-10 Legion: a Roman legion was about 6,000 people. These evil spirits are scared; they know the power of God.

5:11-12 the demons chose to take up residence in the pigs.

5:13 these pigs chose to drown themselves over being possessed by the demons.

5:14-15 they had tried everything to control this man possessed by the demons. Now he civilly sat amongst them.

5:16 I am sure these people were not that happy with Jesus cause of the death of their pigs.

5:17-18 the cleansed man wanted to go with Jesus, but God had a different plan for him no that he was clean.

5:19-20 when people saw what this crazy man had become, they were amazed. He told them the hand of God had cleansed him and many would follow Christ because of these signs and wonders.

Revelation 13:7-13

13:7 these first few verses deal with the one world political system of the beast. This is the antichrist himself. The beast heals the deadly wound the political system will receive and the world will worship after him. This is the power of Satan that we must be able to recognize.

13:8 if you have chosen Christ and or one of His elect (those that stand against the antichrist) your names are written in the Book of Life.

13:9 do you have eyes to see and ears to hear? If you do then you are one of His elect and have a destiny.

13:10 this is a Hebraism that deals with your destiny. If you do evil then you are destined for evil, if you stick with God, then you are destined to be with Him!

13:11 horns are symbolic here of power. The antichrist will do his best to look like Christ, but he has the voice of a dragon, which is Satan.

13:12 the deadly wound to the one world political system will be healed by antichrist. He will cause all that have not eyes to see and ears to hear worship that system.

13:13 he will be able to make lightning come down from heaven, it will be very impressive for those that are not written in the Book of Life. For those that know, it will serve as a sign and confirmation of what is happening.

2 Corinthians 11:3/12-14

11:3 Paul doesn’t want us to be seduced as Eve was in the garden by Satan.

11:12-13 transforming G 3345; disguising. Watch for those that disguise themselves to fool you.

11:14 Satan will disguise himself as Jesus. Satan will deceive many with his miracles and ability to bring peace and prosperity. The unlearned in the word will see theses miracles as divine in nature. Beware!! Don’t be fooled by Satan.