"Holy's Price"

"HOLY'S PRICE"

There is a cost to be holy: To be cleansed of mind, soul

spirit, and body  ... exacts a price

The Lord Jesus Christ settled the account; He paid in

full with His life to suffice

It was the cross, His blood, and the stripes that bought

our freedom, healing and salvation

We are delivered by That blood, His name, and His Word,

a santified trifecta of holy oblation

To be holy is the obeisance of the mortal, receiving the

recompense of the Lord's sacrifice

Into bodies surrendered in repentance, and souls given

to God in spirit, and newness of life

Holiness comes from the One who IS; it's a stance of

sanctity and a place not of earth

It is a hallowed aura assumed from the Omnipotent,

through the entrance of rebirth

The stone rolled away, and Jesus Christ arose on that

misty and expectant third day

The blood sealed the contract and mankind reaped the

redemption; it was the only way

Now the tomb is empty; it's a place where only angels

abide, to convey the message that He's alive!

"It is Finished;" the plan has been accomplished; the

world has a Holy place to reside

Our abode is in His Spirit, resting in the midst of human

souls, after Holy Ghost infilling

When Jesus arose; He promised a comforter to all who would

receive it, to all who are willing

Palm Sunday and Easter dawn a new day for the lost;

because of a God so holy and precise

He conquered death, Hell and the grave, with His own

blood, the cost of "Holy's Price."

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

"Judging The Church"

"Judging The Church"

"The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard

this and began looking for a way to kill him, for

they feared him, because the whole crowd was

amazed at his teaching."

(Mark 11:18)

Jesus Christ throwing out the money changers

You say, "That's cruel."  Is it?  Judgment begins at the house of God.  The people were buying and selling in the Holy temple.  It hasn't changed; thousands of years later, the Lord Jesus Christ still judges His church before He judges the world.  We must be a holy generation, a royal priesthood; our altars must be sanctified and sacred.  We have come to the end and it has begun.  What?  I'm talking about the period before the great and terrible tribulation, when the world will be judged, the period of "Judging The Church." 

Jesus declared the temple the House of prayer

for the Nations

The Church of God is still a house of prayer for the Nations.  Sin cannot abide in a holy place; sin has not place in a place of worship, except at the altar  ...  in the baptismal waters, and in the posture of repentance.  The Church must be clean before a Holy God; the saints must keep ourselves holy in daily repentance.  "But, we're already forgiven; so it's done, right?"  you ask.  We are not "once saved, always saved."  The Apostle Paul said that he must keep his body under subjection lest that he, after having preached to others, would himself, become a castaway.  There is only one who can remove us from the hands of God  ...  we, ourselves, by sin. 

Forgiveness

Living a clean and holy life is a daily thing.  Sin will keep our prayers from being answered; sin keeps us from hearing the voice of the Lord; sin stops a move of God; sin hinders His presence  ...  Sin and God do not coexist. 

Holy offerings

We must bring our offerings from a pure heart, and that's what the house of God is for; it is the place to lay ourselves before the holy face of Almighty God in a posture of surrender, a sincere cleansing of our souls before the One who knows all.  It's beautiful "to come clean" before God; to be forgiven of all sin and cleansed of all unrighteousness, to be forgiven and walk away clean, renewed, and holy in His sight.  It is the step to receiving the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues as His Spirit gives us the utterance.  Then, when we are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, we come up out of the water innocent, forgiven, clean, and holy.  It's the greatest thing in the world!

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on

Palm Sunday

When Jesus Christ rode into town on Palm Sunday, everything changed.  Huh?  The world would never be the same.  "It is Finished" had begun; sin was about to be eliminated; the final price was about to be paid; mankind was about to get an eternal pardon; hope for a lost world was about to be manifested; there was about to be a lamb slain for the world; the blood was about to be shed that would cleanse all of humanity  ...

                                             

Blood applied to the doorposts so the

death angel would pass over

In the old testament, animals were sacrificed for the shedding of blood "to cover" the sins of the people.  Blood must be shed to cover sin.  The shedding of blood is also a protection from destruction.  When the tenth plague was issued in the book of Exodus, "to smite all the firstborn" in order to free the Israelites from bondage, the Israelites were instructed to place lamb's blood on the doorposts of their homes, so that the death angel would pass over them; they would be protected and the death angel would only go to the homes without the blood applied to kill all the firstborn.  This was also a prophetic symbol and shadow of the blood the Lord Jesus Christ would shed on the cross to protect us from eternal death without Jesus Christ and to not only cover our sins, but eliminate them forever.  

The death of the Lord Jesus Christ

on the cross

The Lord Jesus Christ took the sins of the world upon Himself, shed His precious holy blood for all mankind, and died on the cross.  The blood  ...  the blood; it's all about the shedding of the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ  ...  It Is Finished!

The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead

three days after He was buried in the tomb

He's ALIVE forevermore!  Death couldn't stop Him; the tomb couldn't hold Him; the rugged cross and nails couldn't destroy Him  ...  He gave His BLOOD, His life, His all for You and me, that we might have life forevermore!

Jesus risen!

It's worth it, dear ones, to be judged here, so that we have the opportunity to get ourselves in line, now, before it's everlasting too late; we must come clean before the One who made the heart and knows the heart.

Judge us, Oh Lord!  We repent; we humble ourselves before You; cleanse us of all unrighteousness, we pray; give us pure hearts, holy and acceptable unto You; forgive us of all of our sins, and wash us in that precious blood You shed for us.  Thank You, Lord, for riding into town, for taking our place on the cross, for dying that we might live, for rising to live again that we might rise to newness of life in You! 

 Thank You, Lord, for keeping Your saints holy, for cleansing the temple, for "Judging The Church."

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

     

"It's Adar ... We Can!"

"It's Adar ... We can!"

"Who is there among you of all his people? His God

be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem,

which is in Judah, and build the house of the

LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,)

which is in Jerusalem."

(Ezra 1:3)

The rebuilding of the altar in the Book of Ezra

It was the month of Adar, February to March, which in the annals of Jewish history, encompassed many significant events, but we will center on one, the rebuilding of the second temple occurring in the Book of Ezra.  The temple was completed in Adar (February to March) of 515, 21 years after the work started in 536, and 4.5 years after Haggai began his prophesying.  This was 70.5 years after the temple had been destroyed on August 12, 586.

Ezra noted that the command to rebuild the temple was from God himself.  God worked through the orders of pagan Persian kings, Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, workers, prophets, and of course, the Holy Almighty God was always moving behind the scenes.

You say, "What does all this have to do with me, today, in 2012?"  That's a good question, because "Adar" has come around once again; it's March once again; and the temple is being rebuilt once again.  Huh?  The temple is referred to as a place of worship, and it can also mean a person's body.  The temple of the Lord Jesus Christ in earth today is His bride, the Church, and it's being rebuilt, revived, inspired, increased, reorganized, infused, divided to multiply, broken up to stand up, regioned to enlarge, gathered in to spread out, solidified to pour out  ...  It's an Adar, Ezra, God ordained, heaven-sent operation!  And, YOU, are involved.  What?  You'll see ...

The question is, today; who will rebuild the temple?  The tabernacle of David is being restored.  That is Worship, continual worship, and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ is occurring and growing all over the world.  The times and the seasons are calling for MORE worship, more praise, more sacrifice  ...  Ezra's rebuilding of the temple began with "rebuilding the altar"  ...  the Altar is always first.  Why?  The sacrifice was the way to God through the shedding of blood  ... in the old Testament, the shed blood covered the sin, for a short time  ... 

Blood MUST be shed to cover sin.  Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross, which eliminated animal sacrifices of the old Testament; Jesus Christ became the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and He shed His blood to cover the sins of all mankind "forever."  "It is Finished;" the blood of Jesus Christ took sin away for eternity, but we must come to Him in repentance to have the blood applied to our hearts.  Thank You, Lord!

Temple rebuilt

"And the people of any place where survivors may now

be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and

livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."

(Ezra 1:4)

The temple was rebuilt because people gave all they had; it's really no different today.  The work of God requires tithes, offerings, donations, inheritances, giving of all kinds, and currently, it seems the Lord of creation is wanting us to give our all  ...  Why?  Because time is short!  "Oh brother, you're talking about The end of the world again?" you say.  It depends on what people mean when they say "end of the world."  We know there WILL BE a new heaven and a new earth; there WILL BE a Rapture of the Church, when the Lord "catches away" His bride in the air before the great and terrible tribulation period; there WILL BE a Second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and there WILL BE a millenium of a thousand years of peace.  How do we know?  The Holy Bible says so; how de we know it's true?  Everything has been fulfilled that was prophesied up to the Rapture of the Church and those events following. 

"...O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in

heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant

of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way."

(I Kings 8:23)

Rebuilding the temple was not easy; there were setbacks, delays, sin that had to be dealt with  ...  What?  Building programs are always attacked by satan, whether they are construction buildings, building of unity among the people of God the world over, building of hearts to a platform of continual worship, building a New Church Order, building a Rapture-ready congregation, building a people after God's own heart, or building a World congregation by one Prophet - from one main Church - by one mandate from ONE God!  But, there's a verse in Ezra which I love:

"Then all the congregation answered and

said with a loud voice, As thou hast said

so must we do."

(Ezra 10:12)

Don't ya' love it?  I'll tell you who loves that verse; it's the Pastors, the Anointed of God, the Sent, the Chosen who lead the multitudes, the Father of the Nations  ...  That's who loves it!

So what about You and me, and Adar?  From what I read about it in Jewish history, it's a time to "Give it all you've got."  It's a time to rebuild, restore, resume, rectify, reconnect, and resurrect  ...  We could do some, or all, of those things in our families, in our Churches, in our neighborhoods, in our world, couldn't we?  

Hey, we've come this far; it's time to grab a guitar, a sitar, a shofar; lay aside the scars; you're God's star; gone is yesterday's tar; you have the risen Lord which no man can mar;  Rise Up, it's Adar! 

                                       

                                                                                                                                                            

Let the month of Adar be a new beginning for you.  You say, "But, there's a lot wrong in my life; I don't see how anything can change."  "Anything" doesn't change, WE DO!  Huh?  It starts with us, turning it all over to the One who made us  ...  The Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord; then we repent, deeply and sincerely; we ask Him to fill us with His Spirit; and we get baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.  If you've done all that; then Worship!  It's Adar; rebuild David's tabernacle within your own heart  ...  Worship the Lord for WHO He is; start with a three-day fast; a Bible reading schedule; prayer at least an hour a day  ...  It's time to rebuild.  We all are in Adar, and we all are working on the "temple;" ... it always pays off to work on the temple  ...  and complete it!

Ezra

Thank you, Ezra; excuse us now: We're in the

middle of a "building program." 

 ...  It's Adar, you know  ...

"It's Adar ... We can!"
                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

"Anointed"

"Anointed"

"Is any sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of

the church; and let them pray over him,

anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."

(James 5:14)

Have you ever been anointed with oil and prayed over for healing, for ministry, for direction, and for answers?  The anointing oil and the hands of the Minister will bring the victory to your life!  The answer, in obedience to God's Word, is to be "Anointed."

Samuel, anointing David to be king

It's not only for sickness and disease; the prayer and anointing oil is for position and ministry.  Samuel poured the anointing oil over David to bless him as king.  Our Pastor, Kenneth Phillips, anoints the ministers every year at the beginning of the year; it's always a very powerful service when this is done.  By the laying on of hands, and anointing with oil in the name of the LORD, one is appropriating His will, His authority, and direction in accordance with the Holy Word of God.

"They drove out many demons and

anointed many sick people with

oil and healed them."

(Mark 6:13)

I have been healed when anointed with oil and prayed over by my Pastor.  We need the medical profession, and God uses all kinds of methods for healing, including them, but many a trusting and faithful Saint have sought the holy hands and prayer of the "Anointed" and the anointing oil, "before" they take that trip to the doctor.  If one is truly healed, it will be verified and authenticated by the medical profession, and many, in that profession, have admitted, "This was, indeed, a miracle."  Thank You, Lord Jesus!  Our Pastor has anointed and prayed over ladies to have children, and one recent and others, had twins!  Hallelujah!  It works!  

Woman with alabaster box of precious ointment

                      "Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
                        For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good:
but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospelshall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her."(Mark 14:3-9)  

The woman, with the expensive perfume, anointed Jesus for his burial.  Anytime an anointing takes place it is special, but this was a precious, costly, love deed by a woman for the lover of her soul.  She broke the box of perfume and poured it all upon the feet of Jesus Christ.  The beauty of this action remains beloved in the hearts of Christians today. 

One time when I was deep into prayer, and had been weeping and praying for many hours, I heard the Lord say to me in my spirit, "Break the box."   He wanted the sweet fragrance of "worship"  ... the made-up love song from a lovesick soul; the words of beauty describing His omnipotence, glory, and power; the incense from the depth of a heart after God; the sweet smell of phrases of poetry for my everlasting love; the tearful renderings of many hours of sitting at His feet  ...  That's what He wanted  ...  Break the box  ...

David being anointed

When you have been anointed, you know it!  There is an unction in your soul, a moving within your spirit; words come that are not your own; the Spirit of the Lord is significantly present in whatever capacity for which you were anointed.  If you were anointed for leadership, you have direction and guidance, ideas and plans, and blessings of all things in that regard.  If you were anointed for healing, you feel it immediately, and medical tests prove it. 

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken

away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the

yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing."

(Isaiah 10:27)

What does it mean to break the yoke?  The Hebrew is literally, "From the face of oil," and many render it as from the Messiah, meaning the Lord takes the burden away, removes it, breaks the chains that bind, and sets one free!  Ah, beautiful, is it not?  Gill's exposition about Israel and its enemies says it with clarity:

"the people shall be broken from before the Messiah; who was anointed

with the oil of gladness above his fellows, and for whose sake, and by

 whom, the yoke of sin, Satan, and the law, has been destroyed. Vitringa

interprets it of the Spirit of God, and his powerful operations, whose

gifts and graces are often compared to oil and ointment; and

makes the words parallel to Zechariah 4:6."

The hands, the oil, the Word still break the yoke today!  Break the yoke of what?  Whatever's ailin' ya!  ... whatever has you bound, whatever has wrapped its twisted fingers of depression and oppression around your body, soul, spirit and mind  ... the yoke is BROKEN by the anointing!  Oh, it's so very incredible to be delivered, to feel light as a feather, to have no more guilt or shame, to be well and whole, to be walking in a Called and Sent anointing, and to go forth in the power and Spirit of the Lord God Almighty.  There is nothing in this world like it!

Jesus Christ anointing the Apostles

Don't you want it?  You can have it!  If you live in another country, please send a request to promiselandchurch.net for an anointed cloth to be sent to you.  Our Pastor and staff will pray over it, anoint it with oil for you, for your need, or for your family's need.  Then, believe!

Jesus Christ, our Lord, considered the woman's perfume offering of her heart to be a precious, beautiful, welcomed, and blessed anointing.  Everyone who saw it grumbled, saying the woman was wasting a very expensive perfume by pouring it on Jesus' feet, but Hey; "those feet" walked on water, and "those feet" stepped up to Lazarus' tomb and said, "Lazarus, Come forth!"   It has been preached that if He had only said, "Come forth;" everyone in the graveyard would have gotten up!  Now, you know you wanna' shout!  "Those feet" stood on the grassy knoll when He fed 5,000, plus women and children, in a miracle food multiplication; "those feet" were on the boat, when He was asleep and they awakened Him in their fear and He said "Peace be still," and the oceans obeyed; "those feet" stood on the seashore as a chef, grilling fish for His pitifully hungry disciples; "those feet" were nailed to an old rugged cross  ... "those feet" ALL of YOU, who grumbled, are the Feet of the soon coming King, the Feet that will stand upon the Mount of Olives and rule the earth in a finale of Victory  ... 

We are in GOOD company when we have been "Anointed."

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

Contact promiselandchurch.net for

anointed prayer cloths!

"IDUS"

"IDUS"

"To stablish this among them, that they should keep

the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the

fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days

wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and

the month which was turned unto them from sorrow

to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that

they should make them days of feasting and joy,

and of sending portions one to another, and

gifts to the poor."

(Esther 9:21-22)





Purim, Ides of March, the day of the decree that the Jews were delivered from extinction, the fourteenth and fifteenth of every month to be celebrated by the Jews from year to year, the result of the courage of Queen Esther, the day designated by Mordecai as a Feast day from generation to generation for all Jews.

The word "Ides" refers to days; it comes from the latin word "Idus" and it means "half division" especially in relation to a month.  This, then, refers to the numbers "14" and "15."  Numbers in the Bible have strong significance:

The Ark was borne by the flood 15 cubits upward. (Gen. 7:20)  

Hezekiah's reprieve from death was fifteen years.  (2 Kings 20:6)

The Jews were delivered from death under Esther on the fifteenth

day of the month.  (Esther 9:18,21)

Bethany, where Lazarus was raised, and from whence the Lord 

ascended, was fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem.  (John 11:18)

Paul's ship anchored safely in 15 fathoms on the 14th day.  (Acts 27:21)

On the 15th day of the first month was the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  (Levit. 23:6)

On the 15th day of the seventh month was the Feast of Tabernacles.  (verse 34)

The number 15 pictures rest, which comes after deliverance, represented by the number 14.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles, both on the 15th, are days of rest for the children of Israel.  

"God delivered Israel's firstborn from death on the 14th; then, at the beginning of

the 15th day at sunset, the children of Israel began to leave Egypt by night.  On 

this same day 430 years earlier, after the sun had gone down ending the 14th, God 

told Abraham in a vision that his descendants through Isaac would end up as 

slaves in a foreign country  -- but that he would release them from this bondage 

after 400 years (Gen. 15:12-16)  Exactly 430 years later  --  on the same night  --

this prophecy was fulfilled as the children of Israel left Egypt on the 15th day of the

first month. (Ex. 12:40-41)  On the same night in order to guarantee his covenant 

promises to Abraham, the Lord passed between the parts of sacrificial animals, as 

evidenced by a burning lamp and a smoking furnace, which wholly consumed 

the sacrifices. (Gen. 15:17-20)  In performing this ceremony, God was pledging his 

future death as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world -- guaranteeing the 

future 'rest' from sin for all who inherit eternal life."  (*biblestudy.org)

"On the same day as Abraham's vision and the children of Israel leaving Egypt, 

the 15th day of the first month in 30 AD, as the sun was setting to end the 

14th -- Jesus' body was placed in the tomb." *

What does all this mean?  It means Almighty God doesn't do things without meaning, significance, and purpose.  Nothing is coincidence in the realm of the Creator.  "For Christians, the 15th day of the first month, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, pictures rest from their sins, having had them removed by Christ's shed blood on the 14th."*

Jesus' empty tomb

Do Christians have something to celebrate on the 15th?  Oh yes, we do!  The Lord Jesus Christ is risen; He lives, and He's coming back!  Fight on, Christians; hold fast to your faith; stand strong in the face of persecution; wear your full armor; pull down those strongholds; persevere and occupy until He comes; be an Esther for the cause of Christ; let His blood, His Word, and His name cover you; go forth watchful and alert as Gideon's army, lapping with the hand; and follow His presence  ...

Esther



God is not mentioned or referred to at all in the Book of Esther; yet, His providence and presence are felt throughout the Book.  It is a lesson to us that even in the most pagan of places in the world, God is in control, moving to the glory and benefit of His name.  It's interesting that research reveals that the Nazi's banned the reading of this Book in the concentration camps.  The comparison is to be noted; even as in the time of Esther, the enemy, Haman, meant to destroy the Jews, but he himself was destroyed and the Jews were spared.  The Nazi's were defeated, but the Jews remain.  The magnificent paradox of Esther is that God is omnipotently present even where He is conspicuously absent.  Even when we don't see evidence of Him clearly; when God is seemingly silent; when even at times we can't feel Him  ...  He's there, behind the scenes working for our good!

Esther could have said No; she was, after all, now living in the lap of luxury in the palace.  She could have thought, as Mordecai informed her, that even if she didn't do it  ...  someone would be raised up to do it.  We have all been guilty of those thoughts  ...  someone will help that hungry person; someone will stand up for the Truth; someone will GO and preach; someone will witness to her  ...  someone will  ...

Christian martyrs

Daniel in the lions' den

Esther, the Christian martyrs, Daniel, and so many others taught us to have courage in the face of trials, tests, temptations, and even death for the biggest cause of all  ...  The Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel.

We are "in between," or in the middle  ...  Huh?  We are between the law and the kingdom, in the apostolic era or the dispensation of grace, also known as the laodicean church age.  We are in a No. 15 position, and it's a place of Joy, feasts, and glory to celebrate what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.  After having repented, filled with His Spirit and baptized in His name, we have cause to dance, rejoice, and worship Him for His deliverance, even as the Jews do in the feast of Purim.  But, there's a difference; the Church has many more yet to be delivered  ...  there are still people in danger of death without Jesus Christ  ...  The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the present day Esther; she stands in the gap between Heaven and Hell, and only she, the Bride of Christ, has the power to bring deliverance.  She's the "IDUS" of the final hour, the Esther between life everlasting and death everlasting, the middle number of warriors to bring the final number of saved  ...  She's the Church  ...  God's 2012 Esther.

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)