Strangely Warmed

STRANGELY WARMED
Have you heard of Aldersgate? Have you heard of John Wesley? Have you heard about his experience while listening to someone explaining the message of Romans?
When the truth about justification was explained to him, he said: “My heart was strangely warmed!”
With a hart warmed by the good news that John Wesley could be saved without his spitual performance, he changed the spiritual landscape of his day.
This experience of: My heart was strangely warmed, stayed for him for a life time. Let me take you to Lebanon. Right here next to a newly excavated archaeological site with an open sarchophagus, I had a llfe changing expereince.
My heart was strangely warmed, and the heat of that excitement had not yet left me. I read in the Bible about the Canaanites, also called the Phoenecians. And here I saw the skeleton of someone who lived 3000 years ago.
As I touched the skull my heart was strangely warmed. The Bible is true. The Bible is true!
During this series we will be visiting sites that very few people have visited. In Syria we will travel by taxi to a place called Mari. 20,000 clay tablets were uncovered by archaeologists.
My heart was strangely warmed when the times and customs from the time of Abram came alive.
Matthew 24:15-20 Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
Verses 18-20 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
This is what the Bible says. Can archaeology confirm it? When was the first siege of Jerusalem? What happened when General Gallus ceased his occupation of Jerusalem?
Where did the Christians flee to? To Pella on the other side of the Jordan. How long did they stay here? Did they spread the message to the surrounding areas?
Dura Europos. If you want to know more about the Christians who fled Jerusalem, this is the place to visit. The prophecies of Daniel 8 comes alive when you see how they were fulfiled right here.
Strange far away place like Ugarit, modern Rash Shamra in Syria.
For many years people had questions concerning the psalms. With the recent excavations, you can appreciate Psalms 23, a little better. 150 years before Moses had to write the first five books of the Bible, a scribe from here develepod an alphabet.
So Moses did not have to write the Bible in hieroglyphics. A new Hebrew grammer and script could be used.
At about the same time a similar miracle occurred at Serebit el Kadim in the Sinai desert. Almost an exact alphabet was developed here.
At Qeiyafa an ostracon was recently excavated. The proto-siniatic script on it, shed much light on the existence of an ancient Hebrew script. People were more knowledgeable than was previously believed.
The excavations also proved the existance of king David who built this place. Discoveries like these help to appreciate the wonder of the Bible just a little more.
15. Not too far away from here you can visit the famous battle field where David slew the giant.
1 Samuel 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1The story of David who slew the giant is not a myth, it is a fact. It is also a fact that with God on your side, no enemy will be able to destroy you.
In northen Iraq I came across a newly archaeological site. The temple and arsenal of Esarhaddon was discovered.
While walking here, something strange happened to my heart.
Every thing that the Bible says about this great king, is confirmed by the Bible.
In Babylon I looked at the a painting of Saddam Hussein. The symbolism tells me that even this man believed the story of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrys the great.
In Iran I visited a place called Pasargadae. Great discoveries have been made here.
200 years before Cyrus was born, the Bible predicted his name and the way he would conquer Babylon.
When I stood at his tomb, my heart was strangely warmed. The Bible mentions him and archaeology affirms the correctness of the Bible.
When you read the account of how Cyrus conquered ancient Babylon, you stand amazed.
It is in perfect harmony of the Biblical account.
By the way. Cyrus is a type of the Jesus Christ, the Great Deliver who is on His way to come and deliver you and me from our struggles and our miseries.
I stood next to these great monument at Naqshe Rustam. The Bible speaks about Xerxes and Artasasta.
My heart was strangely warmed by these huge tombs of the Persian kings.
Why?
At Behustin I looked at an identical story in three different cuneiform languages.
They tell the story of Darius I.
My heart was strangely warmed. Why?
Ezra 6:15 Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Egypt is revealing her secrets. Especially her secrets regarding Israel’s presence and deliverance.
For thousands of years nobody was able to read hieroglyphics.
Was the Bible correct in its statements concerning this great nation of antiquity?
My heart was greatly warmed when I looked at the inscription of Pharaoh Shishak.
What he writes here, is the exact account 1 Kings 14:25 where it says who he conquered Jerusalem and took the golden shields of Solomon from his son Rehabeum.
TOOLS
We are going to make use of a few tools in our study of the Bible:
1. Typology
2. Eschatology
3. Soterology
4. Archaeology
5. Chiasisms
One (a) lives to (b) eat
One (b) eats to (a) live
6. Merismis. Two poles describing totality
The Bible contains the principles that lie at the foundation of all true greatness, all true prosperity, whether for the individual or for the nation. The nation that gives free room for the circulation of the Scriptures opens the way for the minds of the people to develop and expand. The reading of the Scriptures causes light to shine into the darkness. As the Word of God is searched, life-giving truths are found. In the lives of those who heed its teachings there will be an undercurrent of happiness that will bless all with whom they are brought in contact. {ML 24.3}