General Articles

The Long Wait :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR10

John 19:17-24

“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: Jesus of Nazareth is the King of the Jews.

20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 21 Therefore, the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seams, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore, the soldiers did these things.”

It is Thursday morning now; Jesus has been in the tomb since sundown last night, and it is a Sabbath day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4–8). No work is allowed on this day. These disciples are trapped in their thoughts: Peter is broken (Luke 22:64), John is making room for Mary, his new house guest (John 19:25–27), and all of Jerusalem is in unrest. The religious leaders who orchestrated Jesus’ death are on edge as they are worried that the disciples will come and steal Jesus’ body and claim that He was resurrected.

Matthew 27:62-66 “On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days, I will rise.’ Therefore, command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way; make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.”

Those three days and three nights must have felt like an eternity to these followers of Jesus. By Thursday night, commerce would resume, people would go about their business, and life would move on. But for these folks, it would seem as if all was standing still. They had given it their all. Peter said it: We have left all to follow you.

Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore, what shall we have?'”

Did they make a mistake? Were they blinded by the miracles? Did the miracles really happen? Peter was pondering going back to being a professional fisherman, and he does so in John 21, taking a bunch of the apostles with him, including John. I cannot imagine the questions, the doubts, the worries, and the fear. Some of the women went and saw where they buried him, and they prepared to properly anoint his body after the normal Sabbath.

Luke 23:51–56 “Now, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision or deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, and he himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

In Luke 24:1, we see that these women went to anoint a dead body; they did not expect to see the tomb opened or empty, and they even wondered who would help them move the stone. They find the tomb empty, and they run back to the disciples to tell them, and they are met with skepticism.

Luke 24:8–12 “And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like fairy tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.”

Peter saw the empty tomb, and even he was not too sure what happened here. He and John saw, and they returned to their homes (John 20:10). But later that night, they would be all together, still very afraid, and the Risen Jesus would show up, speak to them, show them His scars, eat food with them, and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John 20:19–23 19 “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'”

This would begin a journey that would transform these disciples into the men and women who would change the world. God would begin a movement with them that is still changing the world today. We are waiting for Jesus to return; it has been a long, long wait. Generation after generation has come and gone, and still, we wait, but as sure as Jesus arose from the tomb, so is His promise to return and get us. Hold on, don’t lose hope, don’t give up, and soon the trumpet will sound and we will be with Jesus forever.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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A Watchman’s Prayer :: By Rick Segoine

Published on: by RR10

Please pray with me… Heavenly Father, there are so many things to pray to you about and so very many men, women, and children with so many needs. Millions of precious souls all over the world are in need of intercession on their behalf.

For the missionaries in dangerous foreign lands, Father, I ask you to provide them with a mighty protection. Surround each of your brave messengers with warrior angels like the ones your prophet Elisha asked you to reveal to his assistant when wicked King Aram sent an army to confront Elisha in the city of Dothan in the ancient days of the Kings. May the confidence in you as the protector of each of them be greatly emboldened by such knowledge. (2 Kings 6:8-23)

Father, we pray that wisdom and courage prevail in the hearts of all shepherds that preach the gospel of salvation. Let it be the pure biblical gospel where nothing is added and nothing is taken away. (Revelation 22:18-19)

May it be the good news proclaimed by Jesus Himself in John 14:6, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that His name is the only one that can be called on to provide salvation as revealed in Acts 4:12. Father, may the hearts of your true shepherds be unafraid to preach and teach all Bible prophecy from both the Old and New Testaments. Please give your shepherds the courage and the wisdom to teach about God’s promises of eternal life and the resurrection of our bodies into incorruptible bodies like that of Jesus. Immortal bodies free of sickness, death, and the temptations of sin, for this teaching is such an important part of the blessed hope of our Savior’s appearing, spoken of by your Apostle Paul. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Heavenly Father, may all of us who trust in you and place our eternal destiny in your hands take comfort in knowing that all scripture is God-Breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), and also comfort in the words of our Messiah when in regard to his soon appearing, he said, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

Heavenly Father, we pray for each and every persecuted Christian everywhere on this earth for your supernatural protection, even as the forces of darkness ramp up their assaults on those who love you. (John 15:18-27)

We pray with all of our hearts for those brave missionary souls who live and serve you in nations ruled by followers of false gods, along with their vile priesthoods who despise you. Please give these believers the knowledge of the wonders that await them in eternity and the strength to stay the course and keep trusting you as Paul did, under all circumstances.

Father, we pray for those Muslims who truly seek you in their hearts but have been trapped and threatened by the oppressive religion that so many of them have been born into. We pray that you continue to reveal yourself to them in dreams and in every other possible way as well.

And for the Hindus and the Buddhists and for all peoples lost in the multitudes of false teachings that reject the amazing gift of salvation provided by your Only Begotten Son, we pray.

We pray that eyes are opened and ears become unstopped, and that if it be possible to you, Lord, the hearts of the lost and the deceived are turned in your direction. We pray for mercy on souls who are lost yet still open to being found.

Father, we pray for the children of America and the children of the entire world. Countless children are being exploited and taught evil false narratives about a great many things. The forces of evil are attacking these innocent children in attempts to either ruin their lives or exploit them further. Lord, we pray against the evil ones that exploit the children, and pray for the spirits of each child that, through no fault of their own, is being harmed and/or led away from you. No matter how they are being led away from you, may you remember each precious one and call each of them home to be part of your eternity without evil, which you have promised.

That wonderful place where every tear shall be wiped away and the evils of a fallen world will be remembered no more at all.

Father, we who love you are praying for the nation of Israel, that tiny little nation that we know you love so dearly. The apple of your eye with whom you have made eternal covenants that are still in effect and can NEVER BE BROKEN (Genesis 17:7) (Jeremiah 32:40) (Psalm 89:3-4) (2 Samuel 11:11-16) (2 Samuel 23:5) (1 Kings 2:3-5) (Jeremiah 33:17).

Though the whole world be against Israel, Dear Lord, may she always remain under your mighty protection. (Zechariah 12:2)

May the leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, receive your protection and your directions clearly, in spite of so many conflicting and traitorous voices worldwide that clamor for his attention in attempts to coerce him into doing the will of those who hate you.

And Father, though you have revealed that the Jewish people will come to accept Jesus as their Messiah en mass at the end of the tribulation, may the Israeli people and Jews around the world in the here and now continue one by one to seek the truth as to who Jesus really is, and one by one to turn to Him as their personal Savior and Messiah. (Zechariah 12:10)

Precious Lord, as the forces of evil indulge openly their wicked assaults on everyone and everything decent, here in these, the last of the last days on this earth before you call home your remnant church, grant us the patience and the strength to endure through the hideous things we are beholding.

Like you, Father, we who love you despise the wickedness that must for a time, according to Bible prophecy, become worse and worse as it, and those who embrace it, grow uglier each and every day. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

As hard as it is to watch Satan seemingly having his way, we know from your Word that it all must play out according to your plan. Thankfully, Father, your plan also reveals that the day will come when you will confine the evil one and his minions forever in that maximum security prison called the Lake of Fire.

Heavenly Father, for the sake of those who will yet be saved, help us endure as we watch for your appearing.

Father, we ask for the strength to pray continually for all who are in need, to share the gospel of salvation with any and all who will listen, to write books and articles that glorify and teach about you, to help financially, and with our time when and where we can, and to do your will in all things to the very best of each of our abilities.

We have seen, oh Lord, how the fallen angel known as Lucifer convinced the first humans in the Garden of Eden that it would be a good thing to know good and evil and that by doing so, it would make them like you. We now have all of history to view the consequences of believing Lucifer’s first and yet ongoing lie. It did not make Adam and Eve like you, nor has it made anyone else that bought the lie the least bit like you. Instead, it is obvious that the more anyone throughout history bought into that lie, the more they became like the one who did the lying.

For some of us though, what it has done, Lord, is it has made us hate and despise evil and to want nothing at all to do with it. We do not want to become gods, and we do not want to be God or replace you, Lord, in any way. We do want to emulate your character however, in that you Lord, are always truthful and never ever lie.

We are content to praise you, Father, glorify you, adore you, and dwell forever in your goodness.

That is why we are so grateful for what Jesus, your Only Begotten Son, did for us on the cross at Calvary. Paying the price for all of our sins with His most precious, innocent, and sinless blood so that we, by believing in Him and believing that He rose from the dead, may spend eternity with you in the new heaven and new earth where lies will have no power.

Your plan, Father, as you have revealed it, is a seven thousand years plan, or as it is put in the words you gave to Peter, your “Week of Creation,” as one thousand years are as a day to you.

Heavenly Father, seven millenniums is such a short period of time compared to eternity. Seven thousand years for the mystery of good and evil to be sorted out.

Seven thousand years is enough for all who have walked the face of the earth to choose whom they shall follow into eternity and to one of two very different destinations.

And, Father, it is comforting to know that all children throughout history who were killed or led astray before they reached an age of accountability will be a part of the eternal family in a new heaven and new earth where no one, not even one person, would ever think of harming a child or anyone else for that matter, ever again.

We are so thankful to you, Father, that you are able to work all things for good in the lives of those who love you and trust you.

Heavenly Father, help us who love you and love your ways to understand that in your due time, all of your will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Meanwhile, we shall watch and trust in you with all of our hearts, and in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we thank you for hearing our prayers.

Rick Segoine

If you have not given your life to Jesus but would like to at this moment in time, please turn to Romans 10:9-10 where Paul, the chosen Apostle of Jesus, says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”