“Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” — Mission Forgotten

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We have a few brief hours to embrace an aspect of our mission that I think we’ve largely forgotten, namely, praying for the peace of Jerusalem. What does it mean to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? Jerusalem will never have peace until they recognize the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Some we can reach now, in which case they become a member of the Church. Some will not believe until it’s the last hope in a very, very dark, and painful world after the rapture of the Church. Let’s make sure that we have uttered a prayer for that nation. They are surrounded by enemies. They are facing from a human point of view, certain annihilation. You know, Henry Kissinger said in ten years there will be no nation of Israel. That’s the best joke I’ve heard in a long, long time. They will never be driven out. So how can you know? I’m asked this question all the time. How can you know? How can you know that they won’t be driven out and scattered again and things that go on for a thousand years? Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is they’re there to stay. The bad news is you don’t have another thousand years. We’d like to think that we do. But we are are at the conclusion of our short paragraph in history.

Check out Isaiah 11:11. The prophet foresaw that there would be two dispersions and two returns, and “after the second time” God will re-gather them and then will return. And, folks, it has happened! And He’s coming. Israel is not going to be driven out, but it’s going to be painful in the extreme. A third of those who survive into that time are going to believe (Zechariah 13:8).

We have a mission mandate, and that mandate is to all the nations of the world. But I do believe that there is a specific focus of that mandate and that that aspect of the mandate is with special attention to the children of Israel. Israel is a burning passion in the heart of the impossible and should be to you and me. You remember that Paul in Colossians 1:24 that it was his pleasure “to suffer on their behalf because he was filling up that which was lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” Paul saw very clearly that it was his responsibility as a member of the Body of Christ to continue what His Lord had begun, what Christ came to do. That’s what Paul was here for, and what Christ died for. That was what Paul was willing to die for and therefore to carry on Christ’s ministry. And Paul, in Romans 10:1, we see how he makes this a little bit more specific. “ Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”

You know, my friends, the Bible commands us to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” comes from Psalm 122. What does it mean to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? When you and I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, there will be no peace in Jerusalem until Jerusalem and Israel receives the prince of peace. And therefore, we pray for the opening of their eyes. Have you ever thought that a prayer that you utter today could impact the soul of someone who will live in the next dispensation? A thousand years before Christ, David prayed for us in the Psalm 102. This is similar to when Paul says, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” Don’t you think, Paul, being doctrinally accurate and having the mystery of a new creation revealed to him would just say, “Who cares about them?” And “we’re done with them.” “We’ve moved on to new ground.” A thousand years before Christ came, there was someone praying for you.

David, by the way, often praise as an expression of the trials of Messiah when He would come. I like the way Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it. He said, “When you read the prayers of David, you are reading the prayers of Messiah, because the prayers that David prayed, Messiah prayed when he was here.” Interesting thought, isn’t it? Psalm 102 is picturing the whole history of the nation of Israel, which is summarized in brief in Revelation Chapter 12, which tells us that “the woman will conceive and bear a child,” and because of that child that she brings, she “will be driven into the wilderness.” The hatred against the nation of Israel that existed in David’s day and the hatred that existed against Israel in the time of Nazi Germany, and that exists today comes from the same source. It’s satanic in origin because Satan still knows that God’s plan for those people is not done. And so Satan stalks to the woman who is in travail. Psalm 102 says in part, “But you all Lord shall endure forever, And the remembrance of your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion for the time to savor her. Yes, the time that was set has come.” What time is he talking about? Jesus Christ’s Second Advent, right? The Psalmist continues, “Your glory for the Lord shall build up Zion. He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the afflicted. He will not despise their prayer.” Did you get the message that he just said this that is promised is going to happen? “He will not despise their prayer.”

Now, get this, because here is the kicker in Psalm 102:18, “This will be written for a generation to come. There are people yet to be created, may praise the Lord.” Do you see the church there? He’s not just talking about the next generation of Jews. He’s not just talking about another generation. He’s talking about a new people. Generation is often used for race that are race yet to come of people yet to be created. I believe that David here anticipated, and maybe because of something He saw in the writing of Moses, Moses knew there was more to be revealed, but he knew that it was not for the children of Israel, it was for someone else. David knew that the things he wrote would be an encouragement and a strength to a people who did not yet exist. He didn’t know who they were. He didn’t know what they would be called. The idea of church never entered his mind. The concept of being in Christ was beyond his ability to comprehend. Although I would say that of all the prophets of the Old Testament, no one came as close to church age truth as did David in the Psalms. The Psalms are timeless and express the prayers of Christ. I would even be willing to bet that the Lord Jesus Christ had the entire Psalms memorized and uttered each of them at their proper place throughout the time of his pilgrimage on this earth may be continues to pray them. Who knows? He intercedes in our behalf. If David had a concern for a people that would not yet be created, how much concern can you and I have for a people who preceded us?

If the last are going to be first, how great will they be? Paul asked the question in Romans 11 If their casting off is the salvation of the world, what will their reception be but a resurrection from the dead? It’s going to be something amazing. Pray for the opening of their eyes. Our nation is no longer a friend to Israel as we have been. But somewhere there has to be a people that will not only pray for that nation and speak out for that nation, but if necessary, shelter that nation. Those Christians who fought in the resistance for the sake of the Jewish people, they did what the church is supposed to do. And through their dedication and devotion, many, many people of the Jewish nation have come to Christ. Many people will yet come to Christ. How many will come to Christ because you played your part?

Let’s pray that you and I can play the part through our prayers. Stand up for them, be their advocate, be their defender, and above all, be their intercessor. It will make a difference. The priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. See the previous video “I will bless those who bless you – Mission Forgotten” for more detail.

Gene Cunningham - January 1, 2011

Message for 2011, Jan 16th

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The greatest opportunity in life: to make a choice to believe in Jesus Christ

How do we make decisions that will make this year a blessed year? If we are rightly related to the Lord and obedient to His Word, this year will be a fantastic year, no matter what.

With all the problems in the world, it is clear the world is unraveling. God is still at work, and is working all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

1 Peter is about suffering, it is to people who have been persecuted and scattered.

1PE 4:7

It is becoming very common that widespread areas are being wiped out. Affliction is the norm for life, sooner or later it touches us all; so how do we prepare ourselves?

Peter is encouraging these believers allow their suffering to set them free from clinging to this life, then they are able to unburden themselves, and see not what they’ve lost, but what they’ve gained.

Every day gives you the opportunity to think of ourselves last, and someone else first.

Peter explains how to take trials in life into personal and eternal glory.

All of us are being stalked by disaster, and problems we never expected.

1PE 2:21

They were called to suffer what they were suffering. Will we rise to the status of a hero, and learn the lessons, or become a victim and blame everyone else, and say, “this shouldn’t have happened”?

Are we going to mindlessly pursue what little prosperity we can scrape together, or to be the one there for others, the one who edifies and prays.

These bad things that happened free us from the distraction of our simple, meaningless pursuits, and instead to look to those who are also in need.

Whatever problem or struggle you are facing, God has purposely called you to it, and He has a reason, just as He had a reason for Jesus’ suffering.

1PE 2:21-25

Resurrection is the purpose of the cross. From God’s perspective, resurrection is always the goal of our suffering. 2TI 2:12

What can you do? Reach your own mission field, whoever is around you.

1PE 4:1-2

There comes a point in every life where we decide what to do with Jesus Christ.

1PE 4:7-11

The last days have begun, how long they will continue, no one knows, but every generation from then on is living is in the process of the unfolding and finishing the plan of God.

Be serious and sober, watchful, for the sake of prayer. You need to recognize opportunities, your own peril, and you need to pray about it. Pray that you: have fervent love for one another (love one another at your expense), be hospitable (show love to a stranger) to one another without complaint (even when they take advantage of your kindness), employ your gift in serving one another (you are far richer and talented through Jesus than you can imagine). God treats each of us as if we were the chief steward of His grace. God is the wellspring of ministry, He knows how to use every weak, foolish, and base to work mightily for His glory.

Maybe it’s my will for others that is covering my own sin, my own nakedness.

So that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus.

What makes Christ’s death so special? He is God, He stepped down from glory, born of a virgin, scorned and mocked His whole life, beaten and abused beyond the laws of Rome and Israel, and hung on a cross. He is the only holy Man who walked the face of the earth, and the only One who would satisfy God in taking our place.

We need to enter 2011 with a serious attitude, and be serious about praying, and pray that God will raise us up out of ourselves, and make us more than we are, and use us in ways we haven’t imagined, for us to love one another, to be hospitable to one another, and to serve one another as stewards of the manifold grace of God.