^{"THE BANQUETING TABLE"}

Psalm 42:11

^{Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.}

^{Psalms 30
5} Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Revelation 21:4

⁴ God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.

 Song of Solomon 2:16

¹⁶ [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his!

 Song of Solomon 2:4

⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love [for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near him].

 

Deuteronomy 31:6-8

⁶ Be strong, courageous, and firm; fear not nor be in terror before them, for it is the Lord your God Who goes with you; He will not fail you or forsake you.

⁷ Be strong, courageous, and firm, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to possess it.
⁸ It is the Lord Who goes before you; He will [march] with you; He will not fail you or let you go or forsake you; [let there be no cowardice or flinching, but] fear not, neither become broken [in spirit—depressed, dismayed, and unnerved with alarm.

Deuteronomy 32:10-14
¹⁰ He found him in a desert land, in the howling void of the wilderness; He kept circling around him, He scanned him [penetratingly], He kept him as the pupil of His eye.¹¹ As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, He spread abroad His wings and He took them, He bore them on His pinions.¹² So the Lord alone led him; there was no foreign god with Him.¹³ He made Israel ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the increase of the field; and He made him suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock,¹⁴ Butter and curds of the herd and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, with the finest of the wheat; and you drank wine of the blood of the grape.

Deuteronomy 6:23

²³ And He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in to give us the land which He swore to give our fathers.

 

Psalm 6:8

⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

 ^{Psalm 119:97-105}

⁹⁷ Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

 ⁹⁸ You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies, for [Your words] are ever before me.
 ⁹⁹ I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers, because Your testimonies are my meditation.
 ¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].
 ¹⁰¹ I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Your word [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it].
 ¹⁰² I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me.
 ¹⁰³ How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
 ¹⁰⁴ Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
 ¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

 

Zephaniah 3

 

¹⁷ The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

O eyes that are red with weeping, cease your scalding flow, for in a little while ye shall know no more tears! None can wipe tears away like the God of love, but He is coming to do it. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Come, Lord, and tarry not; for now both men and women must weep!

 

 

<sup>"GREATER LOVE"


JOHN 15

13</sup> No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.

DEAR BROTHERS; THERE IS NO DARKNESS, PRINCIPALITY, OR POWERS OF DEMONS, THAT CAN EVER UNDERSTAND, NOR EVER STOP THE POWER OF THIS TRUTH. ITS TRANSFORMING FORCE TURNS OUR WEAKEST MOMENTS, OUR TRIALS AND TRAGEDY INTO "RESURRECTION VICTORY."

¹⁴ You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do.

¹⁵ I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]

¹⁶ You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as ^[b]presenting all that I Am], He may give it to you.

¹⁷ This is what I command you: that you love one another.

<sup>ACTS 2

"WHAT SHALL WE DO?"



4</sup> For David did not ascend into the heavens; yet he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand and share My throne

³⁵ Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.

³⁶ Therefore let the whole house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt and acknowledge assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (the Messiah)—this Jesus Whom you crucified.

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were stung (cut) to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles (special messengers), Brethren, what shall we do?

³⁸ And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself.

⁴⁰ And [Peter] ^[i]solemnly and earnestly witnessed (testified) and admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking and warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved from this crooked (perverse, wicked, unjust) generation.

<sup>1 KINGS 18

" A CLOUD AS SMALL AS A MAN'S HAND"


1</sup> And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.

⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees

⁴³ And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, There is nothing. Elijah said, Go again seven times.

⁴⁴ And at the seventh time the servant said, A cloud as small as a man’s hand is arising out of the sea. And Elijah said, Go up, say to Ahab, Hitch your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.

⁴⁵ In a little while, the heavens were black with wind-swept clouds, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went to Jezreel.

James 5:17

 

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months.

 

^{James 5:18}

¹⁸ And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual].

LUKE 11

⁵ And He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread],

⁶ For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him;

⁷ And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you [with anything]?

⁸ I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ So I say to you, Ask and ^[b]keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and ^[c]keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and ^[d]keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

¹⁰ For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.

¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?

¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

¹³ If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!

 

 

TODAY DO YOU NEED TO SEE A SIGN? THE SIZE OF A MAN'S HAND?REMEMBER, FIRST CAME THE SOUND, THEN THE SIGN. "TO THEM THAT HAVE AN EAR TO HEAR, LET THEM HEAR WANT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING."

 

"AND THERE WAS A GREAT RAIN!"

Psalm 42

"WHY ARE YOU CAST DOWN?"

¹ As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God.

² My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

³ My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, Where is your God?

⁴ These things I [earnestly] remember and pour myself out within me: how I went slowly before the throng and led them in procession to the house of God [like a bandmaster before his band, timing the steps to the sound of music and the chant of song], with the voice of shouting and praise, a throng keeping festival.

⁵ Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God.

⁶ O my God, my life is cast down upon me [and I find the burden more than I can bear]; therefore will I [earnestly] remember You from the land of the Jordan [River] and the [summits of Mount] Hermon, from the little mountain Mizar.

⁷ [Roaring] deep calls to [roaring] deep at the thunder of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and Your rolling waves have gone over me.

⁸ Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I will say to God my Rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

¹⁰ As with a sword [crushing] in my bones, my enemies taunt and reproach me, while they say continually to me, Where is your God?

¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

 

SORROW CAN BE GREATLY ALLEVIATED IF WE GIVE SERIOUS THOUGHT TO THE WORD. WHEN YOU HAVE LEARNED THIS LESSON, YOU WILL HAVE LEARNED THE ART OF COMFORTING OTHERS.  SELAH.

 

 

 

 

 

Luke 8

"LAMPSTAND"

 

8 Soon afterward, [Jesus] went on through towns and villages, preaching and bringing the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God. And the Twelve [apostles] were with Him,

 

² And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had been expelled;

 

³ And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager; and Susanna; and many others, who ministered to and provided for^]Him and them out of their property and personal belongings.

 

⁴ And when a very great throng was gathering together and people from town after town kept coming to Jesus, He said in a parable:

 

⁵ A sower went out to sow seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the traveled path and was trodden underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up.

 

⁶ And some [seed] fell on the rock, and as soon as it sprouted, it withered away because it had no moisture.

 

⁷ And other [seed] fell in the midst of the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it [off].

 

 

⁸ And some seed fell into good soil, and grew up and yielded a crop a hundred times [as great]. As He said these things, He called out, He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and understand by hearing!

 

⁹ And when His disciples asked Him the meaning of this parable,

 

¹⁰ He said to them, To you it has been given to [come progressively to] know (to recognize and understand more strongly and clearly) the mysteries and secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that, [though] looking, they may not see; and hearing, they may not comprehend.

 

¹¹ Now the meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.

 

¹² Those along the traveled road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and carries away the message out of their hearts, that they may not believe (^[c]acknowledge Me as their Savior and devote themselves to Me) and be saved [here and hereafter].

 

¹³ And those upon the rock [are the people] who, when they hear [the Word], receive and welcome it with joy; but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation fall away (withdraw and stand aloof).

 

¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, these are [the people] who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked and suffocated with the anxieties and cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen (come to maturity and perfection).

 

¹⁵ But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just (noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience.

 

¹⁶ No one after he has lighted a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it under a [dining table] couch; but he puts it on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.

 

¹⁷ For there is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come out into the open.

 

¹⁸ Be careful therefore how you listen. For to him who has [spiritual knowledge] will more be given; and from him who does not have [spiritual knowledge], even what he thinks and guesses and^]supposes that he has will be taken away.

1 John 1

"THEY SAW; THEY HEARD; THEY TOUCHED"

 

1 [We are writing] about the Word of Life [in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands.

 

² And the Life an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers].

 

³ What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

 

⁴ And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete].

 

 

Luke 7

 

¹⁹ And John summoned to him a certain two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying, Are You He Who is to come, or shall we [continue to] look for another?

²⁰ So the men came to Jesus and said, John the Baptist sent us to You to ask, Are You the One Who is to come, or shall we [continue to] look for another?

²¹ In that very hour Jesus was healing many [people] of sicknesses and distressing bodily plagues and evil spirits, and to many who were blind He gave a free, gracious, joy-giving gift of] sight.

²² So He replied to them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news (the Gospel) preached to them.

²³ And blessed (happy—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, apart from outward conditions—and to be envied) is he who takes no offense in Me and who is not hurt or resentful or annoyed or repelled or made to stumble [whatever may occur].


Halelujah!  They saw!  What do you see?

 

 

"SINNERS IN THE CONGREGATION"

 

Psalm 1

¹ Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

² But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

³ And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

⁴ Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].

⁶ For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).

 

 

Psalm 1:5 Charles Haddon Spurgeon (The Treasury of David) said, “Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in paradise.” The only way they will ever be able to endure heaven is to be born again and become new creatures with pure hearts able fully to enjoy the presence of God, His holy angels, and the redeemed.

 

 

 

 "O DEATH"

1 Corinthians 15:51-57         

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ...


Revelation 14:13          
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”


CHILD OF GOD, IF YOU ARE SUFFERING AS MUCH AS JOB, AND IF YOUR SUFFERING PERMITS YOU TO SEE THE LORD WITH A SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENED EYE, BE THANKFUL FOR THE SORROWFUL PROCESS. WHO WOULD NOT GO TO PATMOS IF ONE MIGHT SEE JOHN'S VISIONS? WHO  WOULD NOT SIT WITH JOB IN ASHES TO CRY, "IN MY FLESH I SHALL SEE GOD, WHOM I SHALL SEE FOR MYSELF, AND MY EYES SHALL BEHOLD." (JOB19:26-27)


Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

"STRANGERS"

1 Peter 1:13-17

 

¹³ So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.

 

¹⁴ [Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].

 

¹⁵ But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.

 

¹⁶ For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

 

¹⁷ And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [strangers on the earth, whether long or short].

 

 

1 Peter 2:9-11     

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people (strangers), but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

ARE YOU A STRANGER FOR CHRIST?

"INHERITANCE OF HOPE"

1 Peter 1:3-7

 

³ Praised (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

 

⁴ [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

 

⁵ Who are being guarded (garrisoned) by God’s power through [your] faith [till you fully inherit that ^[a]final] salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.

 

⁶ [You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations,

 

⁷ So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.

 

 

Ephesians 1:11-14     

    
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.



Hebrews 10:23         
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 6
 

¹⁷ Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath.

¹⁸ This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us].

¹⁹ [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it—a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil,

²⁰ Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance], a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with ^[e]the rank) of Melchizedek

 

 

"SELAH"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Affliction"


2 Corinthians 12:9         
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

1 Corinthians 10:13          

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

James 5:13         

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

Hebrews 12:1-29         

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. ...


 Affliction and trials for the christian can be a deep valley of warfare, in which more destruction to his faith is accomplished. Satan is fixed on the insuring the death penalty upon your faith in Christ, because he know the scripture,"that without faith, it is impossible to please God.

However, this beast of souls, this defeated foe, lacks the total understanding of "GRACE!" It hidden from him, because we are hidden in CHRIST!

Therefore brothers let the scripture verses of this morning bring comfort to your souls, not by mental ascent, but rather by revelation of the HOLY SPIRIT, who is in you.

Once you have this understanding, then the scriptures below will find themselves placed in your soul, like that the anchor beyond the veil, which can never be removed!



2 Corinthians 1:4         
Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:6     

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.


 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
 

^{"YOU  SHALL RECIEVE POWER."}

 

 

^{BUT PETER;}

 

 

 

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: You Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be [explained] to you so that you will know and understand; listen closely to what I have to say.

¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you imagine, for it is [only] the third hour (about 9:00 a.m.) of the day;

¹⁶ But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (^[divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [divinely suggested] dreams.

¹⁸ Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God’s kingdom].

¹⁹ And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor;

²⁰ The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes—that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned [day].

²¹ And it shall be that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord [^[g]invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord—Christ] shall be saved.

²² You men of Israel, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man accredited and pointed out and shown forth and commended and attested to you by God by the mighty works and [the power of performing] wonders and signs which God worked through Him [right] in your midst, as you yourselves know—

²³ This Jesus, when delivered up according to the definite and fixed purpose and settled plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and put out of the way [killing Him] by the hands of lawless and wicked men.

²⁴ [But] God raised Him up, liberating Him from the pangs of death, seeing that it was not possible for Him to continue to be controlled or retained by it.

²⁵ For David says in regard to Him, I saw the Lord constantly before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken or overthrown or cast down [from my secure and happy state].

²⁶ Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted exceedingly; moreover, my flesh also will dwell in hope [will encamp, pitch its tent, and dwell in hope in anticipation of the resurrection].

²⁷ For You will not abandon my soul, leaving it helpless in Hades (the state of departed spirits), nor let Your Holy One know decay or see destruction [of the body after death].

²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life; You will enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence.

²⁹ Brethren, it is permitted me to tell you confidently and with freedom concerning the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰ Being however a prophet, and knowing that God had sealed to him with an oath that He would set one of his descendants on his throne,

³¹ He, foreseeing this, spoke [by foreknowledge] of the resurrection of the Christ (the Messiah) that He was not deserted [in death] and left in Hades (the state of departed spirits), nor did His body know decay or see destruction.

³² This Jesus God raised up, and of that all we [His disciples] are witnesses.

³³ Being therefore lifted high by and to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promised [blessing which is the] Holy Spirit, He has made this outpouring which you yourselves both see and hear.

³⁴ For David did not ascend into the heavens; yet he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand and share My throne

³⁵ Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.

³⁶ Therefore let the whole house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt and acknowledge assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (the Messiah)—this Jesus Whom you crucified.

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were stung (cut) to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles (special messengers), Brethren, what shall we do?

³⁸ And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself.

⁴⁰ And [Peter] ^[i]solemnly and earnestly witnessed (testified) and admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking and warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved from this crooked (perverse, wicked, unjust) generation.

⁴¹ Therefore those who accepted and welcomed his message were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.

⁴² And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking of bread [including the Lord’s Supper] and prayers.

⁴³ And a sense of awe (reverential fear) came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were performed through the apostles (the special messengers).


Peter's discourse was not distinguished by any special rhetorical display: he used not the words of man's wisdom or eloquence. It was not an oration, but it was a heart-moving argument, entreaty, and exhortation. He gave his hearers a simple, well-reasoned, Scriptural discourse, sustained by the facts of experience; and every passage of it pointed to the Lord Jesus. It was in these respects a model of what a sermon ought to be as to its contents. His plea was personally addressed to the people who stood before him, and it had a practical and pressing relation to them and to their conduct. It was aimed, not at the head, but at the heart. Every word of it was directed to the conscience and the affections, It was plain, practical, personal, and persuasive; and in this it was a model of what a sermon ought to be as to its aim and style. Yet Peter could not have spoken otherwise under the impression of the divine Spirit: his speech was as the oracles of God, a true product of a divine inspiration. Under the circumstances, any other kind of address would have been sadly out of place. A flashy, dazzling oration would have been a piece of horrible irreverence to the Holy Ghost; and Peter would have been guilty of the blood of souls if he had attempted it. In sober earnestness he kept to the plain facts of the case, setting them in the light of God's Word; and then with all his might he pressed home the truth upon those for whose salvation he was labouring. May it ever be the preacher's one desire to win men to repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ! May no minister wish to be admired, but may he long that his Lord and Master may be sought after! May none bewilder their people with the clouds of theoretic philosophy, but refresh them with the rain of revealed truth? Oh, that we could so preach that our hearers should be at once pricked in their hearts, and so be led at once to believe in our Lord Jesus, and immediately to come forward and confess their faith in his name!

"DOUBLE PORTION"

2 Kings 2 

 

 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were going from Gilgal.

 

² And Elijah said to Elisha, Tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha replied, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.

 

³ The prophets’ sons who were at Bethel came to Elisha and said, Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today? He said, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.

 

⁴ Elijah said to him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho.

 

⁵ The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said, Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today? And he answered, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.

 

⁶ Elijah said to him, Tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And the two of them went on.

 

⁷ Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood [to watch] afar off; and the two of them stood by the Jordan.

 

⁸ And Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the waters, and they divided this way and that, so that the two of them went over on dry ground.

 

⁹ And when they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.

 

¹⁰ He said, You have asked a hard thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you—but if not, it shall not be so.

 

¹¹ As they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire parted the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

 

¹² And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

 

¹³ He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

 

¹⁴ And he took the mantle that fell from Elijah and struck the waters and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? And when he had struck the waters, they parted this way and that, and Elisha went over.

 

Amos 3:3         

“Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?




Acts 1

⁸ But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

⁹ And when He had said this, even as they were looking [at Him], He was caught up, and a cloud received and carried Him away out of their sight.

¹⁰ And while they were gazing intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them,

¹¹ Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven.

 

My precious brothers, let it be know to us all, that a far greater mantle of anointing has fallen upon us. Greater then the one that had fallen upon Elisha, when his master was taken up into heaven. So our master has been taking up, and the Holy Spirit's Mantle has falling upon us, and has filled us with the power to live for Him. Who soon will return in the same way, they saw Him taken up. Like Elisha, they saw!