Repentence

“They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” Zechariah 13:9

Zechariah was prophesying about the coming of the Messiah, the One who was pierced. It is amazing how Jesus was sentenced to die by crucifixion even though the Jewish law required Him to be stoned. And when He was crucified, the Roman soldier, though ignorant of the prophecy, pierced him with his spear. The prophecy was fulfilled right down to the very last detail. Jesus Himself testified that every prophecy in the Old Testament would be fulfilled: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17).

Just as the prophecy of Jesus’ death was fulfilled, the conversion of the Jews promised in this same verse will come to pass. Though the Jewish people were guilty of Jesus’ death, the day will come when they will repent and believe on Him. In Zechariah 12:10, it reveals the way this repentance will come to the Jewish people. This is also the same way we experience repentance.

1) Repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit. “I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication.” “And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). Repentance is not produced by our conscience, by terror, or by the persuasion of men. It comes as a gift of grace. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

2) Repentance comes by looking to Jesus. “Then they will look on Me whom they pierced.” As we gaze at the holiness and purity of Jesus, we will realize how terrible a sinner we are. When we look at the cross of Calvary, we see the horrible hatred that sin bears toward purity, because it slew an innocent Man, the Holy Son of God. We will realize such is the terrible guilt of our sin that nothing but death can atone for it. Jesus became that sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sin.

3) Repentance is a deep godly sorrow. “They will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son.” The effect of us looking to Christ is that it makes us mourn in sorrow for the condition of our heart. Paul said that “godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted” (2 Cor. 7:10). This was what happened on the Day of Pentecost, when Peter preached to the multitude. When the people heard the message, those who had a hand in “piercing the Messiah” were cut to the heart, and cried out, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). As a result, there was great repentance.

The Day Of The Lord

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Malachi 4:5

Today you will read the last of the 929 chapters, 23,214 verses in the Old Testament. Congratulations! You’ve reached a significant milestone in your Christian walk … you’ve read through the entire Bible!

Malachi the prophet and Nehemiah the builder were contemporaries, and the problems Nehemiah faced became the basis for the sermons Malachi preached. Years after the restoration from exile, the spiritual condition of God’s people had deteriorated. Again they lapsed into the same sins that brought about their captivity and exile to Babylon. They tithed sporadically, ignored the Sabbath, and intermarried with unbelievers. Their hearts had grown hard and their love for God had grown cold.

Malachi came to remind the people of God’s love for them. Using a question-andanswer approach, Malachi probed deeply into their problems of hypocrisy, infidelity, divorce, false worship and arrogance. For 400 years after Malachi’s ringing condemnations, God was silent. Malachi’s final warning was about the Day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5). The Day of the Lord is a common theme of the prophets. That day signifies the final judgment of God on the earth and the eventual time of blessing and peace. It’s not a literal 24-hour day, but a culmination of God’s plan—including the return of Christ, the final judgments, and the end of history as we know it.

Both aspects—judgment and salvation, punishment and peace—are contained in the Day of the Lord. The Bible says that those who desire the Lord’s coming must know that He requires clean hands and a pure heart (Ps. 24:3-4). The Day of the Lord may be frightening to some, but for the believer who loves God, it’s a day of great rejoicing.

In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul says, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” As Christians, we should be longing for the Day of the Lord to come. Jesus says, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12). Are you ready for the Day of the Lord? Jesus may not return tomorrow, but we should live our lives as if He is. We must seize every moment of our lives and make it count for the Lord.

As Malachi brings down the curtain on Old Testament prophecy, God’s silence is broken in the New Testament with John the Baptist declaring, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2)! On this last day of the year, search your heart before the Lord to see if there are any areas that you need to repent from. Rededicate your life to Jesus, so that He may continue to use you greatly in the days to come!

The Glory Of God

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. Ezekiel 43:5

After Ezekiel had patiently surveyed the temple of God, the Spirit of God lifted him up and brought him into the inner court. Though the temple was very big and magnificent, it was not until the glory of God was manifested that it truly became the holy temple of the Lord.

What is the glory of God? The glory of God is the intrinsic value of who He is. It is His radiance, the brightness of His light and beauty, and the honor that is due to Him. The idols of the heathens have no glory because they owe what you see on them to the goldsmith or the painter. There are two things which Ezekiel observed in this appearance of the glory of God:

1) The power of His Word which he heard. “His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory” (Ezek. 43:2). It could be heard from afar and it made an unforgettable impression on Ezekiel. In the book of Revelation, His voice was like the sound of many waters and the voice of loud thunder (Rev. 1:15; 14:2). The sound of many waters and the earth shining with God’s glory speak of the preaching of the gospel message to the world. The gospel will be proclaimed aloud. The report of it will be heard afar off. It will be preached to the ends of the earth and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). To some it will be an indication of life, but to others it will be like the thunderous roar of a fearful expectation of judgment and death.

2) The brightness of His appearance which he saw. “The earth shone with his glory” (Ezek. 43:2). This appearance of the glory of God was the same one in the vision which Ezekiel saw when he first received his commission (1:4). God is always the same and His glory has no variation. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). That glory which shone in the temple in the time of Ezekiel is still shining today. God has not changed. The gospel message is as glorious and powerful today as when it was first preached in Jerusalem. It brought the entire Roman Empire to its knees and it too will bring our generation to its knees.

Showers Of Blessing

“I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Ezekiel 34:26

Who can say, “I will cause showers to come down,” besides God? There is only one Person that can speak to the clouds and cause them to rain. Who sends down the rain upon the earth? Who scatters the showers upon the fields? It is the Lord. So grace is the gift of God and is not created by man. The whole of creation depends on His grace.

What would a farmer do without rain? He may till the land; he may sow his seeds, but what can he do without the rain? Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for us to have the divine blessings of God. Unless God gives the rain and sends salvation, we who labor will labor in vain.

“I will cause showers to come.” It does not say, “I will cause drops to come.” If God gives a blessing, He usually gives it in such a measure that there is not room enough to receive it. It’s God’s abundant grace! We need God’s grace for everything. We need abundant grace to keep us humble, to make us prayerful and to make us holy. We need abundant grace to make us zealous, to preserve us through this life, and at last to land us in heaven. We need to saturate ourselves with showers of grace.

It is also seasonable grace. “I will cause showers to come down in their season” (Ezek. 34:26). What is your season today? Is it a season of drought? Then it is the season for showers—showers of blessings. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then it is your season for showers—showers of grace. “As your days, so shall your strength be” (Deut. 33:25).

“There shall be showers of blessing.” The word “showers” is in the plural. God will send all kinds of blessings. All of God’s blessings go together, like links in a chain. If He gives saving grace, He will also give comforting grace. What are you waiting for? Look up toward the heavens today and expect God to shower you with His abundant blessings.

Gratitude To God

“Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?“

Ezekiel 15:2The vine here refers to the people of God. But the question was asked: Why are they by nature better than others? Wasn’t it the goodness of God that caused them to be fruitful? What would they be without Him? Who would they become without the continual influence of the Spirit in them?

There was a certain rich man in the Gospel of Luke whose ground had yielded plentifully. As a result, he thought of pulling down his barns to build a greater one to store his crops and goods. He thought he would have many years to enjoy life and be merry because of the great harvest he had achieved. God called him a “fool” and he died that day instead. Through that, God wanted to show that man cannot live independent of Him. He alone holds the universe and is the Source of all life. Jesus said the man acted like a fool because he was one who “lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (12:21).

Therefore, as we meditate on this thought, let us learn to reject pride and embrace God’s goodness in humility, seeing that we have no ground for self-boasting. Whatever we are, we have nothing on our own to make ourselves proud. For Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

The more you have, the more you are indebted to God. Let us also consider our origin, looking back to where we came from. We would still be in our sin if God had not transformed us. Consider who you would have become had it not been for His grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). David rightly puts it this way, “My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26). Therefore, let us humble ourselves in the sight of God, knowing that He will lift us up in due course!

You Are A Witness For God

“In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.” Ezekiel 12:6

The Word of God came upon Ezekiel regarding the approaching captivity of Zedekiah, king of Judah. He was faced with a tough task of convincing his fellowmen that Zedekiah, instead of being their deliverer, would very shortly be taken captive like them. One would think that it might be sufficient if the prophet had only told them the truth in God’s name.

But Ezekiel had to prepare the people for the prophecy by first giving a sign of it; to speak it to their eyes first, and then to their ears. This was because they were a group of stubborn and rebellious people who would not take heed if no deep impression was made upon them. As such, Ezekiel had to speak to them through his own life.

To make a lasting impression, Ezekiel deliberately moved his entire household during the day in front of all the people, and left the city through a hole he dug by himself. He had to carry all his possessions upon his own shoulders, and steal away at evening in their sight, with fear and trembling, covering his face as if being ashamed of being seen or known. By doing so, Ezekiel was making himself a “sign” to the people.

Ezekiel’s prophecy was a reflection of how Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his people would be led away into captivity. They would make a vain attempt for escape, but would nevertheless end up in captivity. In the same way that Ezekiel had carried his possessions and goods upon his own shoulders, Zedekiah would do likewise. He would be made a prisoner and be carried captive into Babylon.

Ezekiel’s life speaks of ready obedience to the orders of God. As a minister of God, he was willing to go through the most difficult and inconvenient tasks. He serves as an example for us to:

(1) Obey with cheerfulness every command of God, even if it is most inconvenient;

(2) Do all we can for the saving of the souls of others; (3) Allow ourselves to be affected by those things we desire to affect others. Your life is often a testimony and a sign for people around you. Jesus says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus didn’t say you will do witnessing, but He said you will be witnesses. When others see your good works, they will glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).

Jesus demonstrated the righteousness of God and His love for us when He shed His blood on Calvary’s cross. Therefore let us avail ourselves as Jesus did, to serve not ourselves, but others.

I'd Need A Savior