LISTEN TO THE WORD

LISTEN TO THE WORD

By M.G. Bueno

Mat 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Mat 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Mat 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

Mat 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Mat 17:6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

Mat 17:7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

Mat 17:8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…

In these verses, it is recorded by the evangelist that Jesus wanted to reveal something to his three disciples Peter, James and John, such a revelation that would totally change their lives and, what they use to believe; a revelation that even the Jewish nation, who were supposedly the people of God, could not received nor believe even to this time and age, that Jesus is truly their long awaited Messiah, The Son of God, who is God manifested in the flesh.

Our Bible setting points us to the disciples who were of Jewish upbringing, who had much admiration toward Elijah, and Moses, above all the men of God in Jewish history, mainly because of the great exploits and miracles that they have done by the power of God. It was Elijah who prayed and fire fell from heaven and consume the sacrifice before the priests of satan; a miracle that the priests of satan could not duplicate.

God’s work cannot be duplicated.  There are religions of this world that may try to duplicate the true religion of God, but all that they have to show for is a veneer, or a form, not having God’s Spirit bearing witness, and have not the power of God working within them. They may have the moral teachings which every good man or woman desire to have, but teachings which were not followed with signs that testifies that God is working with them.

Some religions may have a form of godliness, but that’s all that they have. They have all the solemn ceremonies, they dress just right but they don’t have the power working in them, or they do not allow the truth of God to work in their life.  And people know which is real, and which is fake. And we want to make sure that what we have is real.  

Going back to our Bible reading. So what kind of a prophet was Elijah? It was Elijah who prayed to not rain and it did not rain for about three years. And he prayed again and it rained and the earth began to be fruitful again.

We serve a God that answers prayers. And you don’t have to have a very long prayer for God to answer you. All you need to do is ask God by faith and believe that you have what you asks for and God will answer your requests. The prophets of baal prayed all day for baal to answer, and there was no answer. And Elijah prayed a short prayer, and God answered it with fire from heaven. Jesus gave us an example of praying to God (Our Father), a very short and simple  prayer. But what he had was his faith in God.  The bible said that, the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, or that it produces abundant results. What is it that made his prayer fervent? It is his fervent faith and fervent relationship with God. It is that sincerity in prayer. If we are sincere with God about serving him, then our prayer will also be sincere, and our life, sincere. And God will always answer a sincere prayer.

And then there was Moses, who had audience with God face to face, as unto a friend.

Exo 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

It was Moses to whom God had given the "Ten Commandments" carved upon tablets of stones. It was Moses whom God used to deliver his people from bondage in Egypt. And by him God divided and opened up the Red Sea and the people of God passed over to the other side on dry land.

These two men of God were used by God extensively and there were other men of God and prophets in the old testament who preached to the Jewish nation repentance from their sins, in order to reconcile them back to God. And Moses prophesied of the coming Messiah, whom Moses called "a Prophet like unto me," who is Jesus Christ in the book of Deuteronomy and in the book of Acts when Peter was preaching, he said:

Act 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Act 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Act 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

Act 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

The Blessing to the nations he’s talking about here is the good news of turning people away from their sin and iniquity, thru faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus was first preached to the Jews, but the Jews as a nation did not receive Christ and so the apostles began to preach Christ to the Gentile nations, and many received Him.

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…

Jesus is God’s last and only answer, and solution for a lost and dead world. And His message for you and I is that we can be saved from sin, thru His blood which he shed for us on the cross. And that we can receive eternal life, and that we don’t have to go to hell and that heaven can be our home as Jesus had promised in his word, promises which were not given to us by Moses but only by Jesus Christ.

In the old testament, God had given his people a chance to be saved by the law and by the preaching of the prophets. They were God’s mouthpiece and the words that came out of their mouth is God’s word. God sent prophets one after another but the people didn’t want to hear them, instead they killed the prophets because of the impending judgement that was told by them unless they repent. And repentance from sin has always been their message, or judgement such as diseases, or plagues, or famine would destroy their nation.  We cannot play with sin and still be saved.  And just like the people in the past, people today don’t want to hear God. But God’s word is true and God doesn’t lie. And if people don’t want to hear the truth, then they’re just listening to a lie by default.

But God is a merciful God, God had first given people the opportunity to hear His word, so that there's opportunity for them to repent, so that souls may be spared from the eternal fires of hell. And, God is giving you that opportunity, but opportunities don’t lasts, and opportunities are not promised to come our way the second time. But now! there is opportunity, to receive the salvation of God through Jesus Christ.

2Co 6:2…. now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

The privilege of being saved is sometimes being ignored. People don’t always want to hear the Word of God being preached. They don’t want to feel condemnation and conviction in their soul. But that feeling of conviction and condemnation can be remedied upon. All you have to do is repent and come to Jesus Christ, because he came for those who are dead in their sin, and Christ wants to give you life, an eternal and abundant life.  But all you have to do is humble yourself before God and He will lift you up out of your life in sin and wash you clean by the blood of Jesus Christ and make you a son and a daughter of His heavenly family.

Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Back in the Old Testament, Israel heard Moses preached to them the gospel, but they lacked faith, they did not believed in their hearts the word that was preached to them.  The only way that the word of God can become beneficial to a person is when they believe it, and not only believe it, but live it, and allowing the gospel message of the word of God to work in their life. The Bible said, "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God".

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Satan is going to try to stop the word of God do it’s work in the lives of men and women and that is by making them to doubt the word of God. The devil will try to twist the word so that it will not have effect in their lives. But the Bible said, that we are not ignorant of the devi’ls lies and trickery. That’s why there’s a need to really know what the word of God says. Christians are destroyed when they lacked knowledge and faith of God’s word.

When Jesus Christ, the Word, came to the world, satan tried to stop him and his influence with men and women. The devil thought the Word was finished when he died on the cross. They burried the Word in the tomb, covered it with a boulder and even sealed it with the authority and power of Rome. But it could not stop the Word of God, because Jesus rose again the third day. 

The word of God cannot be stopped, the word of God are not just words written in ink, but there is power in the word of God. The word of God is powerful enough to save us from sin and it’s powerful enough to keep us saved. The word of God is powerful enough to give us strength to say No to the devil and the flesh, and Yes to righteousness and to God, thru Jesus Christ.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

When Moses and Elijah appeared, the disciples began to get religious. They wanted to build shrines for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. But then when they have lifted up their eyes, Moses and Elijah disappeared and they saw only Jesus. And they heard a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him."

The voice was telling them, that they’ve already heard Moses and Elijah and what they had to say to the Jewish nation. And God said, "now I’ve given you my Son, Hear what he has to say. Listen to Him!

You see, God didn’t want the apostles to dwell in the pass. Yes, what was done in the pass is glorious but what’s being done today through Jesus Christ is far more glorious. Because in Christ Jesus, all sins are not only forgiven but totally erased, eradicated, expiated forever, and the soul regenerated and made new through the born again experience. In the pass, they didn’t have the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is the power for the believer, but now thru Jesus Christ, we have the power to live a Christian through the Holy Ghost.  To possibly  live a holy life in God, not by our own strength but by the power of the Spirit.

People are living in pass experiences, they are dwelling on some doctrine or religion in the pass, that they know themselves didn’t make their life better, because it is evident that sin is still going on in their life.  But we can overcome sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. We can truly live a victorious life over sin thru Christ Jesus. If it’s not possible, then Jesus Christ died in vain. But with God, "All things are possible." And there’s nothing impossible with God. The Bible said, that Jesus Christ will save his people from their sin.

His blood is powerful enough to cleanse us from our sinful nature and from our sinful desires which we have inherited from the day that we were born, and then His blood is able to wash us from the sins which we have committed. And then he’s given us the Holy Ghost, to seal our salvation until the day that we shall meet him face to face, and the same Holy Ghost power will
also strengthen us and lead us in our work in God. And then he has given us pastors to direct us and lead us and feed us and perfect us, that is, to equip and furnish us with the word of God, so that we may be able to use it for our own and also for the betterment of others. 

And how about the church services that we go to? Going to a church service, like all other spiritual helps that God has given, helps us from a lot of spiritual problems which springs forth in most cases from carnal thinking.  That's why not going to church is more against us than for us.  And if we are faithful with the things that God has given us in his word, then sin has no longer power over us.  What can satan and sin do to us, if we look forward to the next church service, if we look forward to the next message that God has for us, to the next hymn or song, to the next fellowship with the people of God, to the next soul-winning, to the next moving of the presence God. And to the day when we shall meet Jesus face to face.  If our mind is in God, sin does not have power over us. Jesus Truly saves from sin.

Buddha does not have the solution for sin in your life. Muhammad will not tell you that sin can be overcome. All these religious leaders will not tell you assuredly and with boldness and truth that there religion is the Way, the Truth and the Life. But Jesus will tell you with assurance and truth that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but thru him only." Jesus is the only one way to God, and that excludes all the rest of the religions of the world.  The Bible said

Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  

God said, Here Ye Him. Listen to Him.  Jesus has that preeminence to be listened to, because he died for you, to save you from the death of sin, to save you from the fires of hell, to save you from the wrong direction that you’re headed. Don’t listen to the voice of the enemy of your soul, instead listen to him who commended his love towards us while we were yet sinners on our way to self-destruction.