And Jesus wept over it
Luke 19:41 “And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it.”
Here, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the Beloved city…..seeing all that would shortly come to pass for it….and how it could have been avoided.
“But ye would not”.
And so they must bear the consequences of their refusal to receive their King.
Matthew 23:37-39 “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!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
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.”
(The hen, when danger or storm or enemies are about…will cluck and bring her chickens to her….and hide them under her wings: sheltering and defending them. This Jesus Christ would have done…
Yet, again, they would not.)
Luke 21:24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
(This was all brought about in 70 A.D., when Rome put Jerusalem to the sword. And we believe the time of the Gentiles in Jerusalem continued, until the Israelis took the “old city” in 1967.
Of course, God’s timetable is His…..and we are waiting the next thing for the church….the Rapture, where we will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air.)
Today, it is not Jerusalem over which Jesus weeps….but the church….which must soon be spued out of His mouth….if we will not repent….turn from our own ways.
Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
(Actually, there are only two of the seven churches He writes to in Revelation, symbolizing the seven dispensations of the church, that He does not call to repentance.
Smyrna, which was the church under the Caesar’s persecution.
And Philadelphia, which had just a little strength, yet kept His Word and would not deny His Name.
The rest of the churches He called to repent….and in this last dispensation of Laodicea…when time is so short….
….His Voice calls us to be zealous (boiling hot!) and repent.)
We often think of repentance for the lost….and surely as they turn from their sin, and by faith come to Christ, they are repenting.
But repentance is for His people….any time we have “turned to our own way” of thinking, reasoning, and feeling.
Titus 2:12-13 “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 10:37-38 “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”
2 Peter 3:11-12, 14 “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,…
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
It is true….we need to be diligent, in order that we might be without spot….all our daily sins confessed, and covered under the blood of Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:9)
And blameless….by using all the grace and means He gives us…to do His Will, in us and by us.
Then, we will be found of Him in peace.
We should be looking for His coming….and for the joy of being in His Presence….wanting to have something to give to Him….who gave so much for us.
Luke 21:34 “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”
Surfeiting is to overindulge in food or drink: which is eating for the pure pleasure of eating,…and not for nourishment for the body…nor with the fellowship with others
But for the pleasure of the mind and emotions of the body. To satisfy our desire to taste.
This becomes sin as we let these pleasures override our concentration on the Lord’s Will.
And the cares of this life-–so very many to be concerned about! “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:…” (Luke 21:26)
Yet the Lord said about these times….about these things….”Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time…” No matter what is going on, we are to look to Him….and His Will for “the goings on”.
It is in the repentance from sin, that we do the most good. In repentance, we prepare ourselves for the blessing of God.
And when the circumstances are falling apart…isn’t that when we need His peace, most?
Luke 21:28 “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
The Lord has said….”Take heed”.
Is there something in which He is trying to awaken you to?
Is there something that you have become a little “heedless” in?
Then hear the Lord to you….and repent, and take heed to yourselves….look up and lift up your heads, spiritually to Him….
….for, Hallelujah, our redemption draweth nigh. He is coming….are we prepared?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 