This study was first taught on September 2, 2009

Topic: Heaven's Urgent Message: What it is & Why it is Urgent

(use the audio to study)

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Background
An urgent message is one that warrants the abandonment of all else, in order to attend to the need of the urgent message. It can come as the cry of a baby, which jostles the mother from her other concerns to attend to the need of the baby; or it could be the war-time siren alerting people to the approach of a bomber aircraft, warning them to abandon all they are doing and look for a safe place to take cover; or a telegram (or in today's form, an sms), with just a few but weighty words.

Tonight, we shall begin to look at heaven's urgent message to all individuals on the earth. In every generation, such messages have gone out, usually, before an event of epic proportions. It went out just before the revealing of the Son of God in the flesh through John the Baptist; on the day of Pentecost, signaling the formation of the church on earth; and ever since, the message seems to be released during the times of prosperity and comfort, such as the time we are living in!

May the Holy Spirit help us to receive this urgent call with open minds, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Scripture Text(s)
Matthew 4:12- 17

In our scripture text, we see that following the arrest of John the Baptist, rather than move to secure his release, the Lord Jesus relocates to another part of the country, and begins to proclaim, "<em>Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.</em>" This is heaven's urgent message, and it required that He abandon all else, including seeking the release of John the Baptist.

The urgency of this message of repentance is clearly seen as we observe the extent to which God will, and has gone to get the message out as quickly as possible.
Matthew 3:1-2; 10:7-8; Luke 3:1-14; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 3:19; 1:8; 26:16-20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Daniel 6:1-27; Revelation 12:11. Luke 9:59-62; John 4:31-38; Acts 8:1-8; 9:1-22; 10:1-48; 13:1-5; Luke 10:1-2; Hebrews 9:27.

Conclusion
Heaven's urgent message today, as it was in the days of old remains the same: "<em>Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.</em>" It was John the Baptist's message; it was the message the Lord gave His disciples while He was here on earth; and it is the same message that He is giving to us today. It is so urgent that He asked people to abandon some of the social functions they would consider important. He even violently converts a rebel so that the message can be taken all over the world, especially to the Gentiles. What are you doing right now that cannot be abandoned for the urgent message to be carried to your immediate vicinity, and even around the world?

Let us stop chasing after mundane things and go to God in prayer, not just for Him to send labourers into the harvest, but that He should equip and send us into His work.

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