Therefore did my heart Rejoice...the Wayfarer 11/22/16

   

Therefore did my heart Rejoice
11/22/16

“Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope.”

(Acts 2:26)

Here we find Peter quoting the 16^th Psalm as he spoke on the day of the Pentecost.

 As the apostles spoke to all about them of Christ, and what had just transpired through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they were accused of drunkenness, incoherence by those who simply had no desire to hear the words they spoke.

Peter reminded them of the words spoken in the book of Joel, promising the outpouring of that Spirit, Promising prophecy, visions and dreams, and most importantly that outpouring of Spirit that brings with it the wonders and signs that foretell the coming of the day of the Lord.

He reminds them of that promise also that who so ever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

He then goes on to remind them that Jesus stood among them as a man, doing the miracles showing wonders and signs given through God, and that they were well aware of all that had been done, yet decided and determined to have crucified and slain.

As Peter quoted that  16^th Psalm that gave honor and praise to God and the promise of the hope  and deliverance yet to come that had been fulfilled by the gift of Jesus, He reminded them that David himself remained dead and entombed, despite the prophecy given by him of One to come.

David knew that he was not that One, but that that One would be given as had been promised by God, knowing that One would be none other than Christ Himself!

Peter goes on to remind them of the cause of that joy and hope held by David, and that should be held by them as well… the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

 After hearing Peter proclaim Christ as the Son of God, The Lord that that they so diligently sought for so long, Acts tells us that their hearts were pricked, and finally they asked what they needed to do.

Peter’s response was the repetition of the simple message preached by Christ of redemption through repentance, without which that hope and joy cannot exist!

Peter, in his dissertation assured the understanding of the separation of what had been considered a mere man, and the glory of the resurrected Christ.

It is that resurrected Christ, not a mere man that yet and still is worthy of our continued worship and obedience.

“This man, Jesus”, rings loudly from many pulpits extolling the life of Jesus, which was and is important because of the gifts and teachings given by him while He walked among us as a man.

Without having experienced that humanity and the temptations and desires of mankind, without having experienced the weaknesses of man, without having experienced the death that must come to all men, there would never have been a cause to be the blood sacrifice that he was for those very things.

It is however, this Son of God Jesus, not a mere man, not a mere prophet, not a mere hero in human form only that came among us of His own free will, without ever having to do so, had he not had that love for this pitiful creature that is man.

I choose to extoll and honor and worship the Jesus I met at an altar so long ago, not “this man, Jesus,” but the Son of God, a part of that all but incomprehensible Trinity, God himself, and “This God Jesus!”

It is my faith in that Son of God, that precious gift given by Him to us through the sacrifice of far more than a mere man, that persuades me to keep and have that same hope and joy, that makes my heart rejoice and my tongue glad in full knowledge of the soul that lives far beyond the confines of the time spent in the flesh, but throughout eternity with the joy of being in the presence of that God and Savior.

The 20^th chapter of Luke describes own statement about David, and that hope held by David, The 14^th Chapter of John  solidifies just who Christ is as he answers Thomas with the following after Thomas questioned the statement that they already knew where Christ was to go and the way  to get there:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him.

(John 14:6 & 7)

He also addresses Philip who still had a problem comprehending what had been said with the statement:

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

 Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever:

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you.

 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
(John 14:11-21)

Yes, I know and have personally met Jesus, not a man named Jesus, but the Son of God named Jesus, not some dead prophet, philosopher and teacher, but a Living and eternal Savior and advocate, as promised.

I close in prayer that others meet Him as well, know him, and accept him and the promised salvation; recognize the same reason to rejoice in their heart and have that same gladness of tongue that I have in that hope given through the grace shown me by God.

I remain as always, nothing more nor less than the humble servant of that God, and His Son Jesus, a simple sinner save by grace through my faith  given me by God, not through any other means. That way, truth and life is there for all who wish to find it, and I must also remain the soldier proclaiming the singularity of that way, that precious truth and that promised life eternal given by no mere man, but by God’s Son… named Jesus!

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen.
the Wayfarer