strongbeliever
Member
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2005
- Messages
- 9
ELISABETH
Lk.1:13-17, 24-25,36 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord...And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men...And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
We learn from the Bible that it was a reproach for a woman not to have a child. Elisabeth was old and yet had no child and therefore her reproach was all the more difficult to bear. Are you a barren Christian? Does it disturb you? To be a barren Christian is a reproach to the name of Jesus and there is a need for the reproach to be taken away. Let us cry out to the Lord for He is faithful and shall cause us to bear fruit.
Lk.1:6 tells us 'And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless'. And yet Elisabeth had this reproach. But the timing of the Lord is perfect and He is faithful to His own. Jesus was about to be born into the world and God wanted a prophet to go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. Elisabeth's son, John the Baptist, was to be that prophet. Let not the barren lose heart for God will hear and answer in His chosen time.
JERUSALEM
Is.54:1-5 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the places of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Gal.4:26-27 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Today the Lord Jesus is building Jerusalem. He is calling a people unto Himself. He is gathering the outcasts, the despised and the rejected. He has a remnant that has not bowed the knees to Baal. He will take away their reproach. The desolate and the barren are crying out today while many are gloating in their self-satisfaction. Many are the Laodiceans of today who say they are rich and have need of nothing.
Those who have kept His word and not compromised are not the many but the few. But these few shall rejoice and bear much fruit. They shall do exploits in the name of the Lord. Therefore, let the weak say I am strong (Joel 3:10) and the barren be glad.
Yours in Christ,
strongbeliever
Lk.1:13-17, 24-25,36 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord...And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men...And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
We learn from the Bible that it was a reproach for a woman not to have a child. Elisabeth was old and yet had no child and therefore her reproach was all the more difficult to bear. Are you a barren Christian? Does it disturb you? To be a barren Christian is a reproach to the name of Jesus and there is a need for the reproach to be taken away. Let us cry out to the Lord for He is faithful and shall cause us to bear fruit.
Lk.1:6 tells us 'And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless'. And yet Elisabeth had this reproach. But the timing of the Lord is perfect and He is faithful to His own. Jesus was about to be born into the world and God wanted a prophet to go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. Elisabeth's son, John the Baptist, was to be that prophet. Let not the barren lose heart for God will hear and answer in His chosen time.
JERUSALEM
Is.54:1-5 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the places of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Gal.4:26-27 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Today the Lord Jesus is building Jerusalem. He is calling a people unto Himself. He is gathering the outcasts, the despised and the rejected. He has a remnant that has not bowed the knees to Baal. He will take away their reproach. The desolate and the barren are crying out today while many are gloating in their self-satisfaction. Many are the Laodiceans of today who say they are rich and have need of nothing.
Those who have kept His word and not compromised are not the many but the few. But these few shall rejoice and bear much fruit. They shall do exploits in the name of the Lord. Therefore, let the weak say I am strong (Joel 3:10) and the barren be glad.
Yours in Christ,
strongbeliever
