Putting On Christ                                     go directly to point 9          go directly to point 10

In this series we are expanding on one simple directive from God.  It is found in Romans 13 and verse 14

“Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”

Now in the first four lessons, we discussed the first eight elements of Christ’s character.  They were:

1)   Christ had a mission and He stuck to it.

2)   Jesus kept in constant contact with His Father.

3)   He believed in Himself.

4)   Christ had internal anchors

5)   He guarded His energy

6)   Christ did the difficult things

7)   He Said Thank You

8)   He Did Not Waste His Time Judging Others

Today we will discuss Points 9 and 10 of Christ’s character; elements that we must have if we are to be like Him.  Elements that fit right in with the meaning of Trumpets.

Point 9:  He Had a Passionate Commitment to the Cause

Christ was a passionate person and He was absolutely committed to His cause.  Witness  Matthew, Chapter 21

Here we read about Christ entering into the city of Jerusalem for the last time.  He entered as a King, verse 5.  As King, He did not go into the Court or Palace but went straight for the Temple because His kingdom was not physical but spiritual.  Being a man passionately committed to His cause; let us see what He does when He gets there.

Matthew 21:12-15

 12        And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

13        And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

14        And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

15        And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

He had done this same thing once before, early in His ministry; John, chapter 2.

Abuses must first be purged out, and the plants not of God's planting be plucked up, before that which is right can be established.  Christ is the Great Redeemer and He here appears as the Great Reformer that turns away ungodliness.

Romans 11:26-27 says..

26        And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27        For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Now notice the passion in which He did this thing…

Tradition says, that his face shone, and beams of light darted from his eyes, which astonished these market-people, and compelled them to yield to his command; if so, the scripture was fulfilled.

Proverbs 20:8  A King that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

If we want to see more about Christ’s Passionate Commitment, just look at some of His servants such as:

David:

1 Samuel 17:34-37

34        And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

35        And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

36        Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

37        David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

And verse 48

48        And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

Clearly, a man of passionate commitment

Elijah:  1 Kings 18:20-40  His contest with Baal Worshipers.

Not only are Christ and His servants committed, but Christ asks for our commitment too.

Remember the disciple that wanted to follow Christ?

Matthew 8:21-22  says…

21        And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22        But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Christ wants us to be ever as committed as He is.

Point 10: He Felt a Sense of Destiny

Surely Christ knew His destiny as it relates to the end time, Armageddon, and The Feast of Trumpets.  He knew both that He came here to die for us and to later return to this earth when the trumpets sound.

Notice John 8 and beginning in verse 13…

13        The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.

14        Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

In our Bible Studies we are coming to understand the meaning of cities, valleys and other locations in the Holy Land.  We are coming to see how each physical place has a tie to prophecy and truth.  It is easy for us to conceive that Christ, even as a teenager knew what His destiny was.

Were you aware, for example, that Christ grew up in the town of Nazareth?  That happens to be just over the hill from the Valley of Jezreel  where the Battle of Armageddon will take place.  Imagine Christ, as a teenager walking up on that hill and looking down into the very valley where He will take over the reigns of government from mankind.

Christ was always telling people what his destiny and mission was.

In Matthew 9 He says, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

In Matthew 5 He says, I have not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it.

And in John 18 He says, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the word, that I should bear witness unto the truth.

Finally, Paul says about Christ, “Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the stake.  Phil 2

So again, we have added two more elements of Christ to our notebooks and to our lives.  Let’s continue to study these things so that we can continue to..

Put on Christ