Great Speckled Bird

Great Speckled Bird

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

King James Version (KJV)

⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

This powerful piece of scripture is both reminder of the mortality of the creature called man, and reminder of the immortality that exists for the soul residing in that mortal creature.

It is also reminder of the promise, and solace given as that promise is faithfully awaited by those who have chosen to accept that promise.

The power of the words written by brother Paul continue in that power, as does the power of all scripture given.

These words are living words, not merely marks upon a page holding no passion, no compassion, dead and meaningless, and must be read with the comprehension of the power conveyed by them to have any effect on any reading or hearing them.

Today’s selection of title and song used for subject matter is also one of power and passion, a song of promise and praise for the power that lives within the words of both scripture and song, but that lives, more importantly through a LIVING SAVIOR,  Whose promise to return cannot be broken, and Whose power will be evident to all upon that return.

Great Speckled Bird

What a beautiful thought I am thinking
Concerning a great speckled bird
Remember her name is recorded
On the pages of God's Holy Word.

All the other birds are flocking 'round her
And she is despised by the squad
But the great speckled bird in the Bible
Is one with the great church of God.

All the other churches are against her
They envy her glory and fame
They hate her because she is chosen
And has not denied Jesus' name.

Desiring to lower her standard
They watch every move that she makes
They long to find fault with her teachings
But really they find no mistake.

She is spreading her wings for a journey
She's going to leave by and by
When the trumpet shall sound in the morning
She'll rise and go up in the sky.

In the presence of all her despisers
With a song never uttered before
She will rise and be gone in a moment
Till the great tribulation is o'er.

I am glad I have learned of her meekness
I am proud that my name is on her book
For I want to be one never fearing
The face of my Savior to look.

When He cometh descending from heaven
On the cloud that He writes in His Word
I'll be joyfully carried to meet Him
On the wings of that great speckled bird.

Songwriters: GUY MARTIN SMITH

Perhaps a more appropriate title for today’s dissertation might be Power of the WORD.

The power of the WORD of God has not in any way diminished with the passage of time since the crucifixion, nor will that power ever diminish.

Perhaps it is the wish to simply coexist in a world that allows for no such coexistence of Christians that mutes that word as it is taught, and preached today, a muting, a dumbing down for the masses that have no desire to hear the power contained within the passages of warning and promise, to be found through the pages of scripture, that both speak lovingly and lowly, and loudly and longingly that the warning be heard as well.

Jesus said:

Matthew 5:17-18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

¹⁸ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

He also said:

Matthew 24:35

King James Version (KJV)

³⁵ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

In the first instance those words were spoken as the sermon on the Mount was given, a sermon of power and deliverance for those there in attendance, and for those willing to hear it yet today in the power with which it was given.

The second quote comes from a plain, and plaintive passage that clearly outlined the warning that goes hand in hand with the promise delivered to the believer, a warning ignored despite the power with which it continues to be conveyed, by Him, through progressing proof of the prophecy delivered in that 24^th and 25^th chapter of Matthew.

Despite any wishing to the contrary, any dumbing down, any muting of that WORD, there is no change to what has been promised, and there is no change to the warning that must be heard in order to accept that promise.

The power of the WORD, when accepted as the power it conveys makes possible the impossible, grants solace to the inconsolable, grants hope to the hopeless, reconciles the irreconcilable.

That reconciliation comes through the redemption promised within that WORD, redemption granted for repentance, the ongoing second chance to attain what is otherwise unobtainable, to change what is otherwise unchangeable.

To accept the power that exists within that WORD, the message given by that WORD must first be accepted.

That message was spoken both loudly and clearly, and softly and tenderly as well, and still speaks to each willing to hear it.

It is a message of love, compassion, care, infinite forgiveness…. a message of warning, pleading, extoling, and exhortation to hear the warning so that the promise may be found and accepted.

It is the message spoken throughout the ministry from Jordan to Cross and beyond, the message given validity through the substitutionary sacrifice made on that cross, and the resurrection that gives proof of the power of that WORD which stands, still in mediation for those willing to hear HIM.

In closure, I return to the Sermon on the Mount with the reminder given there of consequences of choices made:

Matthew 7:24-29

King James Version (KJV)

²⁴ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

²⁸ And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

²⁹ For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

His words have no less authority now than that day they were first spoken. The Power that lies within that authority remains equally powerful, equally demanding:

“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Amen and Amen

CMc