salvation

Is This the End of the Church Age?

/ Karen / 14 Comments

Just as the disciples witnessed the beginning of the Church Age, are we witnessing its end?

Nothing about 2020 has been ordinary. This New Year’s cup has gushed over with one surprise after another. First, the Covid-19 Pandemic has gripped most of the world inside its tight fist.  Then civil unrest around our country and the world has produced rampant lawlessness. Many lives have been turned upside down by fear of the future as jobs and businesses disappear overnight. The swiftness of these events occurring almost simultaneously have left us stunned, asking, “What’s next?” Could this be the end of our civilization and culture as we know it?

What did the disciples live through?

The disciples lived through frightening upheavals after Jesus’s arrest, torture, and crucifixion. Peter had sworn only hours before that he would never forsake the Lord, even if he had to die with Him. As Jesus had predicted, Peter denied Him three times out of his fear of man.

While the distraught disciples took refuge together, Judas hanged himself over the regret of his denial of Jesus. Only John stood with the Lord and the women at the foot of the cross where they witnessed His death.

Although Jesus had told his disciples several times that the Son of Man would be crucified, they still acted in surprise. And even though Jesus had explained that He would be resurrected to life on the third day, it took time for them to believe it—especially doubting Thomas.

 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

John 20:24-26 NKJV

Nothing turned out the way the disciples had planned a few days earlier when Jesus had ridden triumphantly into Jerusalem. Following His death, they sorrowed in deep depression as evidenced by the two men who had walked to Emmaus and encountered Jesus unaware.

And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”

Luke 24:17 NKJV

2020 hasn’t turned out as we planned.

So we find ourselves in unexpected turmoil and sadness today, questioning God about what is going on. Separation from friends and loved ones, closed churches, masked faces, and the rise of lawlessness—nothing has turned out the way we had planned in 2020. Like the disciples, we are sorrowing in depression over what we have lost.

But just as the disciples joyfully realized that all wasn’t lost after Jesus had appeared to them, so should we. They found Jesus, who gave them newfound hope and victory through the power of His death and resurrection. Every word Jesus had spoken to them had come true. Then they understood, and Jesus took the next forty days to prepare and commission them to be the foundation of the Church Age. The Age of Grace entered the world with free salvation of eternal life for whoever would receive it.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

The curtain of this age is closing.

This Church Age of God’s grace has endured for two thousand years, but I believe the curtain is starting to close. We are entering the final phase before the Tribulation begins, and it is perfectly normal that we are shaking in our shoes as we wonder what to expect. We are so like the disciples, aren’t we?

But just as the disciples had Jesus to prepare them for what to expect, so do we. God has spoken to us in His Word, telling us what these last days will be like and not to fear.

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.“

Luke 12:32 NKJV

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV

 Read the words of Jesus as He explains the end of the age HERE. (Matthew 24: 3-44.)

We mustn’t waste time wringing our hands in anxiety and finding a place to hide until this evil time passes over us. We may feel lost like the men on the road to Emmaus, but Jesus will join us on our journey. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in Acts Chapter 2 to give His disciples the power to witness to the world about Christ and His wonderful plan of salvation. Jesus is also giving us a new anointing, stronger than before, to live and witness in these last days before the Rapture.

As the disciples received this fresh anointing after they had gathered and prayed in the Upper Room, so we will also receive our fresh anointing as we gather to pray for revival.

We will receive a new anointing for these last days.

This is the hour to receive our fresh end-time anointing, just as in Acts Chapter 2. We are to use it to witness to the lost and invite everyone to enter the ark of salvation.

It’s also time for us to repent, wash our sins in the blood of the Lamb, and put on our white wedding clothes. We must get ready for our Groom to come to get us and take us to His home in heaven.

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:2-3 NKJV

Let’s rejoice that we are alive and participating in the end of this age. What a privilege to make ourselves ready to meet our King Jesus in the air! The time is short. Are you getting ready?

 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 NKJV

As the world grows darker, the church grows brighter. As the world grows more evil, the church is growing stronger in righteousness and courage. Allow your faith to grow and sustain you during these transitional days. We may be mourning our past, but it doesn’t begin to compare to our future in heaven. Look up! The trump of God will soon be calling us home.

Are you ready to meet Jesus? If you’re not sure, you can be sure today. Please pray this prayer with me.

Dear Lord, I’m a sinner in need of a Savior. I confess my sins and ask you to wash them away in the blood of the Lamb. I receive You into my life to be my Savior and Lord. I thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to be my Teacher and Comforter. Thank you, Lord, for saving me and writing my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And I rejoice that I will live forever with You in Your kingdom. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

The Fruit of the Spirit Study Summer Review: LOVE

/ Karen / 4 Comments

Welcome to our final summer review lesson. This week we’ll review the theme of salvation, which is the ultimate gift of LOVE from God. Let’s travel back to the night when Nicodemus secretly visited Jesus to ask Him questions about how to be born again.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17 NKJV).

Click HERE to read today’s Scriptures.

Nicodemus, a Pharisee…

Nicodemus secretly met with the Lord one night, so he could question Him about His miraculous works. Can’t we identify with this Pharisee’s literal thinking? I know I can. Even with all his religious education and high position as a ruler of the Jews, he was baffled by Jesus’s statement that “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

God is spirit…

Jesus took the opportunity to teach Nicodemus the difference between the flesh and the Spirit. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Jesus used the wind as an example to illustrate this principle. “‘The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit’” (John 3:8).

Spiritual birth, a mystery…

 Jesus explained spiritual birth to Nicodemus, a Torah scholar and intellectual who found Jesus’s teaching incredible. As was Jesus’s custom, He used an illustration to express what salvation is like–a mystery of God that we feel and witness but cannot see with the naked eye. Perhaps that’s why intellectuals, even today, find this concept difficult to understand because it can’t be dissected and examined under a microscope. It’s a spiritual place in our heart where true salvation takes place.

Sins’ consequences…

The consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience sentenced every person to be born into spiritual death, a condition which separates us from God. But God sent His Son into the world to save mankind and reunite us with the Father. God provided His only Son as the perfect sacrificial Lamb who laid down His life on the cross. Jesus took the sins of the world on Himself so we could be saved through His shed blood. Everyone who believes in the Name of Jesus will be born again, but those who don’t believe are already condemned.

Are you saved? Or not?…

How about you? If you’ve been born-again, would you share your salvation story with us? If not, pray this prayer below and let us know so we can rejoice with you! “‘Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents’” ~ (Luke 15:10).

Dear Heavenly Father, I’m a sinner, and I want to be born again. I confess and repent of my sins. Come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Wash my sins away in the blood of the Lamb and robe me in Your righteousness. Thank you for making me alive in Jesus and writing my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Thank you for joining me this month to review some of our past posts about LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and PATIENCE. I’m looking forward to resuming our regular study in August, focusing on KINDNESS. How does the Lord show kindness to us? How can we show more kindness to others? Next week we’ll begin with the story of the Woman at the Well and learn how to win the lost to Christ. See you then!

Front Porch Bible Study Series by Karen Jurgens
Front Porch Bible Study Series by Karen Jurgens

Where is Your Point of Pain?

/ Karen / 4 Comments

 girl in pain

 

A small girl rushes through the back door of her house, slamming the screen door behind her. Her tousled blonde hair is full of scraps of leaves and dirt, and a smear of blood crosses the front of her trousers at the knee.

“Mommy!” she wails piteously. Her mother bursts into the room in response to her child’s cry and scoops her daughter into her loving arms. Instantly assessing the situation as only a mother can do, she cradles her on her lap and coos, “Honey, show me where it hurts.”

These types of hurts can be cleaned and bandaged. After a few days a scab forms as protection for the new skin growing back. A few more days and it comes off, revealing healthy skin underneath. All that is needed is patience for the wound to heal (and maybe a kiss, too, for a small child).

Whether it shows on the outside or comes from within, we have all experienced physical pain. We can ache from our backs, stomachs, ears, teeth, head, and joints. These unseen causes can produce very real suffering.

But what about the unseen suffering from wounds in your soul, which is composed of the mind, will, and emotions? What about “soul-wounds?”

Although catalysts come in many different forms, one common cause is the weapon of words. This point of pain can be long in healing or leave you with a permanent inner scar carried throughout life. I know because I carried a wound through childhood and into my teen years.

Here is how it was inflicted: “Hey, fat-so!” And “You’re too fat to play.” And “Hi, Fatty Arbuckle!” And when we chose teams, I heard, “Don’t pick her. We’ll lose—she’s too fat.”

The most hurtful remark happened when the boys would chase the girls on the playground. When caught, the boy kissed the girl on her cheek. The boy who caught me changed his mind. “You’re too fat to kiss.” He didn’t care that those words had sliced off a piece of my soul.

The name-calling went on and on, day after day, year after year. I responded with the rhyme my mother had taught me to say in my defense: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I concluded by laughing with them, to appear as if their words didn’t hurt me. Then I went home and ate a piece of chocolate cake and a peanut butter sandwich before dinner to assuage my inner pain.

And my rhyme of defense? What a lie. Those taunts were like jagged glass cutting up my soul. No blood—at least on the outside. My smile and laughter hid my embarrassment and horror about my appearance. I didn’t know it then, but self-hatred was taking root and growing in my soul. Fortunately, I never got to the point of wishing to harm myself (although I do know of some like me who tried). This wound was the only lemon in my otherwise happy childhood days, but it colored the tone of my life since I didn’t know how to fix the problem.

The solution, however, arrived unexpectedly when I turned thirteen. My mother began taking me to a dermatologist for my complexion, and he prescribed a diet as part of my treatment. Suddenly I wasn’t allowed to eat fried foods, butter, oil, peanut butter, or desserts. Sugary, buttery treats abounded in our kitchen due to my thin mother who loved to shop at the bakery each week, making my new regime a miserable challenge. But I wanted clear skin, so I bit the bullet and was faithful to my instructions. In the course of about eight months, I had lost more than fifteen pounds. I’m not sure if the diet actually helped my complexion, but it certainly had wonderful side-effects.

The bleeding of my soul-wound was arrested.

The compliments rang out from friends and family, and my school friends looked at me with respect instead of derision.

The wound began to dry up and form a scab.

I can still see myself looking into a full-length mirror at a fancy dress shop, staring at a thin girl wearing her first pretty dress. AND NOT LOOKING FAT AT ALL.

My self-hatred shrank into a little tumor, dried up and eventually blew away–not overnight, but throughout the next few years until my soul was healed. I’m sure that it was my relationship with Jesus that made my healing complete. Without Him, I would probably still be nursing scars about my self-esteem to this day.

Where is your point of pain?    

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In today’s culture we suffer from all types of wounds that cannot be kissed away or solved through dieting. We suffer through the stress of broken relationships and financial burdens, to name a few, which in turn can cause serious illnesses and disease. What is the answer to finding inner-healing?

The answer begins with a universal spiritual wound every human being shares. Because of Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, everyone’s spirit is born into sin. Think about it—do you have to teach a toddler to share…to be obedient…to be truthful? These sinful traits are inbred in everyone.

But the good news of the gospel saves us out of our original fate. That is why making a decision about Jesus is crucial to our lives on Earth and especially in eternity.

Where do we start? At the beginning, of course. We first must have a personal relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. It’s not a denomination issue—rather, it’s a relationship issue. Anyone can come to the cross of Christ from any religion–or none at all–to meet the living God.

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NASB).

At the point of salvation we receive the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth. He is our comforter and our teacher. Through daily prayer and study of His word, we develop that spiritual relationship where He will provide the answers we seek. We will find healing for our soul-wounds at the feet of Jesus. He comes running to us, picks us up, and lovingly asks us where it hurts.

When Jesus touches us, soul-wounds stop bleeding…. form a scab…and in time, disappear.

There is healing in the name of Jesus. Just ask Him now and see what He can do.

“…and (they) brought to Him all who were sick; and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured” (Matthew 14:35-36 NASB).