A TALE OF THREE CITIES

In the middle 1800s, Charles Dickens authored a novel entitled “A Tale of Two Cities.”

It is a story of corruption, of abuse, of the desires of men. It is a tale that ends in one of the main characters standing trial for the deeds done in his life.

Today we will examine a story of three different cities that have touched the hearts of God and man alike.

City one. “He beheld the city, and wept over it.” Luke 19:41

City two. “His spirit was stirred when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” Acts 17:16

City three. “I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.”

Revelation 21:2

Here in these verses are three distinctly different cities.

The first is Jerusalem. The second is Athens, Greece. The third is a city “whose Builder and Maker is God.”

Why did Jesus weep over the Jerusalem of his day?

Jesus said in Luke 13:34-35 “I would…ye would not…ye shall not.”

Jesus wept over it because it was a city that knew the truth yet wanted none of it.

What stirred Paul to weep over the ancient city of Athens?

In Acts 17:22-23 we find the answer, it was a city that wanted the truth, it knew the truth was available, yet did not have the truth.

Modern Christendom is full of cities that have the truth but do not want it.

The non-Christian areas of the world are full of cities that want the truth but do not know it.

Jesus wept openly over the former and the Apostle was “stirred” painfully by the latter.

Have you and I shed tears over the cities of Christendom, that shun the truth for a fable, have we even shed tears for our own city that has the truth yet discards it as inconvenient.

Have we ever had a heart rending compassion for those cities which want the truth but do not know of it?

Have we ever envisioned the multitudes upon multitudes of peoples in the cities that have never and may never hear the truth because of our unmoved hearts.

Have you ever shared the gospel in your own city?

I can say with absolute certainty that there are many in your city and inmine who have never heard the truth.

The third city is perfect as it contains no pride, no lust, no lies, no selfish motives.

It is the city that we will enter into as part of reward for our service to the King.

Will we go in alone or will we be wise enough to take others with us?

No one will enter the third city unless they have accepted the truth, and they cannot accept unless some one tells them.

If not you , then pray tell who.

Oh, for more broken hearts and stirred spirits and the tears that flow from them!

When our tears begin to flow, we begin to do some remarkable things.

We begin in a new way to pray, to give, to go, to help, to sacrifice.

Some how we must interpenetrate the first two types of cities with the saving truth, the truth that is Christ Jesus.

Often it is far from inviting. Sometimes it can be frightening.

But it is always rewarding, in the present and in the Kingdom to come.

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End note:

I have been fortunate enough to know men and women who go to the cities in many nations, who will preach the gospel of salvation in Christ, to those who inhabit the cities that know and deny, and to those cities whose inhabitants have never been presented the truth.

If your heart leads you to help, I will gladly introduce you to one of them. Just contact me and with your help we can change a city, a nation, and perhaps a world.

REPENT TO BE FREE

I have never met a man who did not want to be totally free.

Have you?

There is something in man that always causes him to fall short of experiencing the totality of happiness and personal fulfillment that he believes should be his.

A friend of mine drove this point home to me as we sat together and I was able to hear him speak of what he perceived as a feeling of total dejection.

He had recently gone through the final stages of his third divorce and with a sense of helplessness he stated, “Somewhere it is written, that I will never be happy; as nothing ever works out for me.”

I attempted to assure him, that, his life could be happy, and full, and good, and that God was waiting to set him at liberty, and to give him a life worth living.

My friend was so down that even as I shared the possibility that there was hope for his future, his depression noticeably deepened.

And something spiritually strange was occurring.

Each time the name of God, was mentioned, he would become uncomfortable and change the subject, or would attempt to create a god that was powerless and blind.

Even so, it appeared that he truly was looking for help.

He expressed a desire to be free of the endless cycle of bondage he found himself in, yet he was not willing to turn to God to find this freedom.

How strange to have such a marvelous gift offered, to want it so badly, yet reject it so soundly.

Could it mean that my friend understood something about Gods message that is so often missed, regarding the need to repent.

He felt very uncomfortable about his sin and what God thought about him.

He could not grasp the fact that it was possible to have a brand-new start in life with God.

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Christ stated in John 10:10 “ I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

How does a man attain this new life? Only by making things right with God. The answer is found in Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”

Any one who has repented and believed in Christ and what He did on the Cross of Calvary, can have everlasting life with God.

Acts 17:30 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.”

There is a word in the preceding statement and that word is “ALL” that includes you and I.

The same command is repeated in 2 Peter 3:9 where God states that He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Please understand that “we are saved by grace and that through faith” in which Christ has done for us.

But there can be no saving faith without true repentance.

What then is repentance? It means to change ones mind or purpose.

In this case, it refers to a man and his sinful relationship before a holy God.

A man must be able to acknowledge Gods view of him as stated in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

There are three essential elements regarding repentance that we should be aware of.

1. A man must exhibit a genuine sorrow towards God because of the sins that have been committed by that man against the holiness of God.

A king named David repented before God and stated, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight.” Psalms 51:1-4

Have you grieved over your sin knowing that God knows and awaits your admission of guilt, before the miracle of forgiveness occurs?

2. There must be an inward repugnance to sin, followed by the actual willingness to forsake it.

The Apostle Paul in Acts 26:20, stressed the need for us to see our sin as it really is, and also our need to express our willingness to leave our sin, when he wrote, “That they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.”

Plainly stated, the willingness to repent must allow God to bring about a change through the conversion experience.

3. There must be a humble self-surrender to Gods will and service.

We must be able to turn from our way and begin to walk in Gods way.

We must tell God that we want to turn to Him and then go the way that He leads.

We must say to Him “Here is the life that You gave me, take what is left of it and do with it whatever You will.

Acts 9:6 “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?”

Please understand that repentance is not a condition of salvation.

Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ, but repentance is a condition through which we are able to receive salvation as a free gift.

In other words, there can be no salvation if one is not willing to repent so that God can save him.

What then must be done to have peace with God?

The Holy Spirit must bring you to a place of conviction where you see yourself as God sees you. “Behold the Lords hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2

You are separated from God because you are a sinful being.

As you are now, you can never be accepted by God. But there is hope, for God has said that He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

Then the Holy Spirit will speak to you and cause you to understand the enormity of the price that God paid through the death of His Son on the cross.

For it was through the cross that Christ took our rightly deserved punishment, that we might be forgiven.

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”

Friend:

If you would like to know the freedom to live, to love freely, and to laugh, you must be willing to repent and let God give you a new life.

I had to do this, the young man that I call Pastor had to do this, the very ones that walked with the Christ, two thousand years ago, and all who will inherit eternal life, have all done a similar thing.

Turn to God, and seek His forgiveness, invite Christ into your life, and let Him have His way in you.

OUR OPPORTUNITY SOON WILL END

What are you waiting for?

If you know that God will raise up voices to declare the way, then why not you?

Scripture is full of seemingly unnoticed people who were just going about life waiting on someone else to do what needed to be done.

The church universal is in such a state today.

Praying for God to raise up someone, to be the voice in a wilderness, just so it isn’t them personally.

In the book of Judges ch. 6 the angel came to a man named Gideon, who was going about his business in hiding, waiting for someone else to do what he should do.

The angel declared him to be a mighty man of valour.

HIS LIFE CHANGED.

In 2 Kings ch 9, another seemingly unknown person was just going about his life doing his job, serving in the army of the earthy king.

The prophet declared him as king, his friends jested, and mocked him, yet Jehu believed he could make a difference, and got busy doing just that.

HE TOOK ACTION .

In the book of Isaiah ch 6 the future prophet was thinking only of himself when the Lord appeared to him, and so impressed Isaiah that he was compelled to plead with God with the words “Here am I , Lord send me.”

I ask each of you to say the same “Lord, here am I, use me.”

HE MADE A DIFFERENCE.

Each of you are mighty in His sight, you can be empowered with the Holy Spirit, and fully equipped to make a difference in the only generation that counts,… yours.

PROPHETIC UTTERANCE

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Brothers and sisters, I have been hearing the most devastating news
about what is coming to this country and the judgment coming upon this
land.
The Father has been warning us and I am hearing prophetic
messages from other sources. But I want to say this, and I need you to
listen VERY carefully and hide it in your heart.

The Father has given us promises in Psalm 91 and they apply to us, no
matter the situation, His word is TRUTH.
Terrorist incite terror, we can hear about all these terrible things
that are coming in graphic detail and all it will do is cause great fear
and anxiety. 2 Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind. God does not give us a fear of man, satan does
that. Fear is our enemy except for the fear of the Lord. Faith is what
we are called to. Faith is where we need to be, fully TRUSTING in Him.

If we are thinking about all the devastation, the evil, we are not
dwelling in the secret place. You cannot do both at the same time. The
Father has said His promises are yea and amen. Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.

I suggest that you memorize Psalm 91, have it be a part of you, do
exactly has it tells you to do, because when judgment begins and terror
strikes your heart you will panic, because you have not been hiding
yourself in the Lord, and having Him on your mind continually. If your
mind is not on the Lord, you will not be listening for His directions.
Fear is paralyzing but you have absolute calm and peace right in the
midst of the storm, when your eyes and heart are fixed on Him. Do not
have your mind on other things, this is a distraction and you will find
it impossible to keep them on the Lord.

Do not forget this word, put it into practice NOW, because if you forget
it will be too late to do you much good.

The Father has been telling us this for a long time, that we must be
abiding in Him constantly, actually 24/7, and now we know why He has
been exhorting us to do this.

I want to share with you Psalm 91 as the Father speaks to you
personally, that you hide it in your heart, it will be your salvation in
the coming days. The word says: Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment:

We are all appointed to die, and then we will be judged, so whether it
is our time to die or not. we can be perfectly calm and at peace. If we
be martyrs for Christ let us do it with joy and peace, if it is not our
time, the Lord through us will do mighty exploits.

If you are dwelling in the secret place of My Presence, you shall live
under the shadow of My protection.

I am your refuge and your fortress, in Me shall you trust. I will
deliver you from the snares and traps of the enemy, and from the
pestilence that is all around.

I shall cover you just as I covered Daniel, Meschach, Shadrach, and
Abendego. You shall trust in me as you remain in Me and My Presence. My
Word shall be your shield and shall cover and protect you round about.
Do not be afraid of the terror by night nor the bullets that fly by day,
nor the pestilence that spreads in the darkness, nor the destruction
that is happening all around you.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you see the
reward of the wicked. BECAUSE you have made ME, the Lord, the most high,
your habitation, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor any
plague come to your house.

For I shall give my angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.
They shall bear you up, and keep your from any harm, lest some evil
befalls you.

You shall be given spiritual power over the devil and his angels.

I will do all this because you have placed your love on Me, I am first
inyour life, therefore I will deliver you, I will set you on high,
because you KNOW ME, and know the power of MY NAME.

You shall call on Me, and I will answer you, I will be with you in
trouble, I will deliver you and honor you. With long life I will satisfy
you, and I will give you salvation.