And Jesus replied, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." ( Luke 20:8).
The Pharisees; who derided Christ throughout His public ministry had this to say shortly before the crucifixion. Jesus shut them out; as well as remaining silent soon after during Pilate's interrogation. Self exaltation and justification wasn't necessary for Christ didn't seek to be served but to serve and give His life for a ransom for many. ( Mark 10:45) The fact is; the Pharisees and religious leaders should have known who He was; and therefore were operating in deliberate blindness; uniquely qualifying them to commit the unpardonable sin. (See Matthew 12:24).
Part of the concept of the verse on "casting pearls before swine" ( Matt. 7:6) relates to this. Jesus hid meanings of the Parables to others who were deliberately spiritually blind (see Matthew 13:34; and Matthew 13:15; Isaiah 42:19-20). John 9:39-41 shows the end of an entire chapter related to a blind man's healing; where Jesus explains how men are made blind to the truth; but the Pharisees after asking if that was the intention of what Jesus said were still left with the judgment for themselves because they could see and were responsible for their sin.
These are sobering reminders that man is not justified in any righteousness of their own and estranged from God from the womb ( Psalm 58:3); yet has a conscience given by God where men are judged more harshly that know the law ( Romans 2:15).
Jesus warned that judgment would be worse for those cities that rejected Him than for Sodom and Gomorrah ( Matthew 10:15).
This attitude led to the unpardonable sin; blasphemy of the Holy Spirit where Beelzebub was attributed to Christ's healing rather than God ( Matthew 12:22). The issue of forgiveness of sins was truly where the problem was; since the miracles were manifold.
Nonetheless; Jesus wouldn't use His power to save Himself on the cross or when unbelief was present (see Matthew 13:58).
Before I begin; I want to say that I enjoy the fellowship here; as well as writing postings. If there was any time that I wanted to make an impact it is now on this subject. Other than the attributes of God; at least from my perspective and experience this is needed the most. Many go to either extreme (NOT unique to this subject). People either will exaggerate Satan and allow fear of him to paralyze them or will underestimate the threat. It is; and I hope everyone here agrees with this BEYOND our strength to fight the enemy of our souls; we only have Christ to help us; as evidence of Michael the Archangel appealing to the Lord in the case of the dispute over Moses' Body ( Jude 1:9). Since he WILL kick Satan out of heaven at some point; this is evidence of respecting God; although it could show that the combined forces of angels of God are needed to kick out Satan and his minions.
It also avoids presumptuous action as well as acting out before the proper time and without the direct command of God which involves a pride of sorts that Lucifer himself was brought to his downfall. In any case; what causes fear is either our own sin which God allows the enemy to torment us with and accuse us; or an unhealthy obsession with the media representation or occult practices rather than avoiding every appearance of evil. Knowing that Satan is the god of this world and offered all the Kingdoms to Christ and that everyone's name that is NOT in the book of life worships his masterpiece the Antichrist Beast we do well to heed to the warnings not to trivialize the enemy we face but to have an Ephesians 6 mindset.
Satan's "machinations"
Part One.-Self
John 12:25 states that if we love this life we will lose it and if we hate it we gain eternal life. Proverbs 16:18 says that pride comes before a fall. Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many ( Mark 10:45) and the verse begins talking about Him serving others than being served. I will discuss Matthew 16:23 next post.
The twelve apostles were far from perfection and they had forsaken all was not enough. Significant is that the answer Jesus gave Peter was for all, so we need take it as applied to the discipleship. It is 'for my sake and the gospel's',"But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (vv.28-29). Jesus promised them,"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."(Matt.18:.18) Notice that it is addressed to the twelve,"whatsoever ye shall bind on earth." Judas shortchanged his share 'now in this time' and in the world to come for 30 pieces of silver. It is for this reason the caveat given in v.31. " But many that are first shall be last; and the last first." St Matthew also gives it but judging the twelve tribes of Israel is given to the twelve. "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."(Mattt.19:28) So the element of 'Now' is by the Law of Gradation is the authority of Jesus Christ and he foretells the guilt of the nation.
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?/ Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:/That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar./Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." (Matt.23:33-36)
"What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Here the man in question is Adam. By making him a living soul he is set down in the Lucan genealogy as the son of God. On day six he was blessed and placed all his creation under his hands (Ge.1:28-29). 'Male and female created him sets him in terms of his will stated as a forerunner of Christ and his bride. Only after He sanctified the day seven Eve, was taken out of his ribs. Later He brought all his creation for his review and no helpmeet was found from them. Only then God set about creating flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones. The everlasting covenant between God and Man gives us a final separation, as with Day and Night and waters above and below the firmament and it is a precursor for the ministry of reconciliation for the Word become flesh. It is to this St Paul refers, "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." (Ep.5:29. )Christ and his body is therefore implied in day Six. Creation of Eve in the following chapter thus creates a family tree connecting Jesus Christ to Adam in Luke Ch.3.
The breath of God made all the difference to Adam who was formed of the ground. He correctly guessed his calling and did not find anyone worthy from without. He was created in 'his likeness' which is the head. For this reason Jesus referred the deep sleep of Adam was precursor to his own death. He as the word become flesh made himself chaste. Compare his saying, "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."(Matt.19:12) With Jesus Christ came grace and truth. What God has joined together referred to his own case. In human likeness he nourished and cherished what God had entrusted him with. His prayer makes it clear. ( John 17:11-12)
"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." (v.6) God is love is a facet of holiness of God. When God breathed into the nostrils of man there was no need for spelling out holiness as such. In his breath all that were needful for his life and godliness was impressed as a candle is lit by another. Quality of light sets both giver and the given on the same stand,- Holiness made it so natural so love of man so learned did not carry any other feeling than was impressed. By the same token in loving the world God made love Person specific. ( John 3:16)
Male and female he created them is with reference to the holiness so love has a body as a candle has and it is quality also speaks about love of two bodies maintain a common purpose. The Spirit presents the House with seven pillars as a body built by Wisdom, which is a feminine principle.(Pr.9:1)God a Spirit is Power dovetailing into Wisdom is how the Spirit presents the divine Holiness. By the same token his Son has a body which is the Word become God loved the world therefore it must be seen and the heat thereof must be felt throughout. In due time God sent Jesus Christ as the true light. While he presented the doctrine of his Father it had to be out in the open fulfilling the saying, "Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?"(4:21).
"Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away./And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept."(vv.4-5) Compare with what John says," In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."( John 1:1) Because of the hardness of heart Moses allowed man put away, which is like the candle put under the bed. Jesus refers to it as adultery of one against the other.
"And in the house" Jesus explained it in terms of the Law of the Spirit. (Matt.19:9-11)
Here we have two aspects of life where sin controls circumstances of man's world. We shall come to the other man's riches reigning uppermost whereas God covered him with glory and honor in the beginning; so much so Adam and Eve were naked and yet they felt no shame at all. Wealth of a sinful man's inventive mind, in terms of a sentient life did not exist at all.
The man who came running to Jesus must not have come on the spur of the moment. A good life for a fine mind can hold a deadening effect when one sees at every turn the squalor and misery of lives floating about. It is like a healthy man chained to a almost a decaying corpse. Does it not spoil his sleep though he has a comfortable bed to sleep on? He may have kept a good table with rich viands and possessed thoroughbreds in his stables and lived in the midst of objet d'art, and he may have even tried not to succumb to its lure. He would only know how his soul has been left bound so he hastened to Jesus in a moral dilemma. Only when the moment of truth demanded him to declare where he stood in terms of eternal life, "And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions".(v.22)
The Spirit repeats thrice in vv.23-25 Jesus makes a general observation; secondly with regards to those who would want an abiding life as branches to the true Vine. " Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"(v.24)
"Who then can be saved?/And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."(vv.26-27) Grace is required to negotiate between true riches and other man's riches.
On the other hand true riches of man has been established between God and Man and the blessings are allowed to whosoever trusted the Son unreservedly. Besides God sanctified the day Seven and would send him to the world in fullness of time.
Matthew gives the passage in a slight altered form. It is the Mother of the sons of Zebedee approaches Jesus for a special favor."Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshippinghim, and desiring a certain thing of him."(Matt.20:20). The Word or the Law is interpreted differently according to the world of the Spirit and by the flesh and spirit respectively. In one the glory of God is the foremost so Elias or Moses serve as a double for the Son. In the case of the Mother of Zebedee's sons, her desire was the glory of her sons. She serves as a stand in for her Son. Of this St Paul gives us two contrary laws. "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."(Ro.7:25)
Law of the Spirit presupposes a Lawgiver is it not. It is thus God has left all judgment to his Son who also is the Word become flesh. On the other hand Satan the Lawless one has become by default of Adam a law given so the law of sin characterizes works of flesh and blood. Whosoever rejects the commandment as King Saul did is subject to an unclean spirits. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."( 1 John 3:8)
vv.38-39 "And with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized." Jesus refers to the anointing he received (Ps.45:5-6) and in their case of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and adds,"But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared." Jesus scrupulous chose to obey the word and as was reminded by Moses at the mount. of his death and glory would fulfill what was written of him in the scripture. the same choice was left to the sons of Zebedee and it was their free will.
The other ten disciples were naturally upset over their behind the back maneuvering for power.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. ( Rev. 21:8)
Unbelieving: The first verse that comes to mind here is the man with a son that had a demon possessed son who was being thrown into water; etc. That passage is Mark 9:24 and the whole incident is worth reading to understand further how there was rampant lack of faith as well as preparation for casting out the demon. REALIZING we have unbelief results from the Holy Spirit changing us; it is not what is often a false gospel of not having faith enough for a family member to be healed; or some power trip by a ministry more interested in notoriety and ultimately greedy for gain with someone given a title of "healer". We can say at the time of Christ it was indeed foolish not to believe He could work any miracles including bringing one back from death; because it was only rejecting His claim of Divinity that a person could reject Him which shows the depths of blindness of the Pharisees. The core issue which remains the same is the fact that we are all as "filthy rags" ( Isaiah 64:6) and this includes our so called "good deeds".
Abominable: Luke 16:15 shows what men hold as esteemed is an abomination before God. To esteem something shows a sort of prideful mentality; acclaim and praise is something Christ warned about in numerous passages (see Luke 6:26; another passage in this book as one example). Even calling Christ good implies that he as a mere man or prophet is good; and Christ makes it clear only God alone is good ( Mark 10:18). This is what is so dangerous about anyone who men praise; not only do they almost always practice false theology but we are convinced our own righteousness will justify us in the day of judgment.
No wonder Satan appearing as an angel of light fools lost souls ( 2 Cor. 11:14).
A wise deacon in our church has stated that we are in enemy territory currently on earth. Our state prior to salvation was an enemy of God as we were blinded by the god of this world to do his bidding ( 2 Cor. 4:4). Despite what may be assumed by some; there are numerous descriptions of hell in the Old Testament. There are also references to heaven and the Millennial reign of saints ( Psalm 61 seems to be a veiled reference to David in that capacity; for instance). We see also in the famous passage in Job 19:27 which alludes to a bodily resurrection where he will see God. Psalm 63:9 is another reference to hell; in sending enemies to the "lowest parts of the earth." As much as we may not comprehend these eternal truths; Proverbs 8:36 states that "all who hate me love death." (see also John 3:19-21 and 1 John 2:11).
Jesus makes it clear that He is the only way to salvation in John 10:9 and many other passages state the same thing; often in parables. Those who are not enlightened to this truth often have some scripture knowledge, but they can only see general statements about living a righteous life or see descriptions of God and only see God from afar; much as the Israelites did when wandering through the wilderness. Somehow man's myopic perspective focuses on characters in the Bible and considers those who were a prophet; or a "good teacher" and not understanding who is truly good; that is God alone ( Mark 10:18). This is why the man called Christ good in that passage; he was only seeing Him through human lenses rather than His true position as God in the flesh which only God Himself can reveal to someone ( Matt. 16:17).
These truths explain why man underplays his spiritual condition; he sees outer works and judges himself on them; and that based on his own set of scales weighing in his heart the "good vs. the bad"; ignoring God's perfect Holy standard. Worse still; he is blind to his sin NATURE which can only be changed God's way
In the Name of Jesus, God, you know all things and God, you know all things about this situation. God, you know the matter in its fullness. I am asking you, God, what EVER that what EVER is, that you make a way. Also, that this beloved of God stand on the following scriptures:
"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Mark 11:23 KJV
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24 KJV
I say to you beloved of God...do you want this? only believe.
"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:25 KJV
"But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." Mark 11:26 KJV
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12 KJV
Beloved, when in life we find ourselves in situations, the believer always does a forgiveness check, ask God and believe. Beloved, when you request forgiveness its just that simple to ask and believe and God is faithful to accept and grant forgiveness because He is good and instructs us to forgive.
God is always standing by to help you in each and every way, don't be afraid, whatever you need God's got it. God is there for you. God wants fellowship with you. God has called you or is calling you, yes you to walk with Him. To try Him and take Him at His word.
"And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27 KJV
God is able to make a way for you. Believe God in your heart, open your eyes and allow God's holy spirit to lead and guide you in a right way.
The crux of the matter is that REAL miracles as well as Godly living in Christ Jesus WILL result in persecution and suffering. Such are scriptural concepts ( 2 Timothy 3:12 and other passages). The religious spirit of the Pharisees I am sure still is in operation and thus; hatred will result in true miracles as well as true salvation messages involving repentance and calling sin for what it is.
This would include preaching against ALL sin; including pride and hypocricy of individuals and society at large.
The threat against all of Satan's carefully networked aspects of society are many. Those who proclaim Christ are an economic threat; so a genuine conversion that starts to affect this system will bring imprisonment; no doubt. We see this now with the Pro Life movement; and indeed anything that gains any momentum attempting to restore traditional values. This is by no means unique to one particular political party or members of the establishment. There is economic gain to wars; like it or not by powers that be; just as there is influence by caving into popular concepts today where businesses are willing to forego economic sanity to position themselves with the world as others pull the strings.
We present Christ today; sadly often as a God of our imagination. We may have a vacuum that only God can fill but some never will seek it; and we are ALL enemies of God before salvation. Bringing the church down to the world to fill pews is backwards; we should challenge those who would follow Christ with the requirements of being a disciple and warnings of dangers of falling away for those who would glibly make a confession without counting the cost. Looking at Christ makes it clear; with the exception of the 12 Disciples He never actively sought others; but would often weed out those not willing to forsake all for Him. He had no place to lay His head; let alone a fancy building to preach in. The Son of Man came not to be served ( Mark 10:45)
You say you believe, but is HALF BELIEF enough to get you into the Kingdom of God or does God require TOTAL BELIEF of his WORKS.
You say you believe in the works of the resurrection.
But is belief in half the WORKS of Christ resurrection enough or does it takes total belief to OBTAIN the Kingdom of God.
I don't think you know what the kingdom of God is, YET.
What were the WORKS of Christ's resurrection:
OUR sins of the flesh were forgiven and covered by the Lambs blood.
DEATH was conquered, and IMMORTALITY, the gift of God, established, and CHRIST ONLY hath IMMORTALITY ( 1 Timothy 6:16).
Christ ONLY arose, and we as JOINT HEIRS.
Here is where you STOP BELIEVING.
Mark 10:8 And THEY twain shall be ONE flesh: so then THEY are NO MORE twain, but ONE FLESH.
So whose flesh are you, Christ flesh,
Or is Christ, your flesh.
The word gives the answer;
1 Corinthians 15:50 ....flesh and blood cannot INHERIT the kingdom of GOD .....
You INHERIT the Kingdom of God, it is not a place, it is a person.
Genesis 2:23 This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: for SHE, Christ wife, shall be called WOMAN, because SHE is taken out of MAN ( Revelation 12).
1 Corinthians 15:53 ..... this mortal shall PUT on IMMORTALITY .......
1 Timothy 6:16 ..... Christ ONLY hath IMMORTALITY .....
John 17:22 ..... that THEY may be ONE, as WE are ONE .....
You believe Christ and his Father are ONE.
Yet, you DON'T BELIEVE, you we made ONE with them by the resurrection of Christ.
These are not my words that you don't believe.
John 10:34 JESUS SAID, is it not WRITTEN in your LAW, I said, ye are gods ...... Psalms 82:6 .......
Isaiah 55:11 My WORD WILL NOT return unto me VOID .....but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the THING whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 28:21 ....that he may do HIS WORK, his strange WORK, and BRING TO PASS HIS ACT, his strange act.
Can you enter the Kingdom of God, ONLY BELIEVING half of God's WORD.
"Lo, children are an heritage of theLord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
The Spirit is not speaking of children in the sense they are flesh and blood but of the heritage of the Lord where faith is the DNA so Jesus would phrase accordingly. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."( Mark 10:15). He blessed them when they were brought to him,"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."(Matt.19:15) Jesus knew what was written of him in the word. As man-child He represented the man part in it. . Isaiah refers to it. "for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.(Is.66:8)" In the preceding verse Isaiah designates them "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child."(Is.66:7)
Zion as a dwelling place is 'the rod of thine inheritance'. "Remember thy congregation,whichthou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance,whichthou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt."(74:2). The Father promised the Son consequently a congregation and it is to which the quote from Matthew leads us. Before we come to it here is a verse, "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." So the casual incident where the disciples rebuking those who brought children before Jesus has an important lesson for us. The Bible as a document is organized by the Holy Spirit for our instruction in righteousness. Thus Synoptic gospels are not simply four gospels but the command number four has its own significance. Besides through each four gospel the Holy Spirit is giving solid meat for our perfection. Gospels of Thomas and Philip may have their uses but the Holy Spirit has not found them fit with His purpose.
The word says that scripture has to be understood by applying other scriptures to it.
The NEW COVENANT, the gospel, was preached to THEM as well as unto US.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship, salvation is of the Jews.
Romans 2:29 For he is a JEW, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is in the heart, IN THE SPIRIT .....
Romans 8:2 For the LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST, has made us free from the LAW of sin and DEATH ...
This same gospel was preached to them as well as us.
Psalms 119:1 Blessed are the UNDEFILED in the way ( John 14:6) who WALK in the LAW OF the LORD ( Romans 8:2).
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to WALK in my STATUTES, and keep my judgements and DO THEM.
Psalms 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in HIS WAYS.
Psalms 119:5 Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy STATUTES!
The Spirit CAUSES us TO DO his will, the words that come out of our mouth, are his words, the works of our hands, are his works.
Isaiah 48:18 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, from the time that it was, there am I, and HIS SPIRIT HAS SENT ME ( Romans 8:2).
John 14:24 ...and the word ye hear are not mine, but the Father's which sent me ....
Mark 10:8 And they TWAIN shall be ONE FLESH: so they are no more TWAIN, but ONE FLESH ...
The same SPIRIT that sent Christ and raised him up, and we as JOINT HEIRS, abides in us, our words are not ours by the Father's that anoints us.
The wages if UNBELIEF is DEATH.
The GIFT of BELIEF is IMMORTAL LIFE.
1 Timothy 6:16 .... Christ ONLY hath IMMORTAL LIFE......
There are a few places in Acts that speak of the whole household being baptized. it doesn't explicitly exclude babies and children. For those who adhere to infant baptism, it is seen as entering into a covenant with God an His community of faith-filled believers. Infant baptism is seen as bringing upon an infant the saving work of God in Christ as parents obey the command of Jesus to baptize ALL nations and instruct these who are baptized in the life of faith in Jesus. Those who practice infant baptism recognized that all are born dead to God and need to be made alive in Christ, which they believe happens through baptism of infants and children because their parents' consent to obey this command of Christ. These believe that the Holy Spirit implants faith in the infant or child in baptism, whereas before they had not faith to believe. They believe in such baptism all the work is done by God in the infant or child. He gives the faith, He gives the forgiveness of sins with the washing of His Word (the gospel) spoken over the child. Denominations that practice infant baptism besides Catholicism are Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian/Anglican, and perhaps others.
Others, who do not embrace infant baptism, allow for children to be baptized upon an open confession of faith in Christ by the child. Some have an age limit, others do not because Jesus said that we are not to hinder children from coming unto him.
Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16; Acts 2:3; , Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33Acts 22:16
Others only allow what is called "believer's baptism" where one must believe the gospel in order to be baptized. Jesus says in Mark 16:16 to believe and be baptized. See also: Acts 2:41; Acts 16:18:8
I think that there is Biblical merit to all of these teachings about Baptism. Each person must pray for the Holy Spirit to lead them as to whether or not their children should be baptized when very young.
".. because they compassions fail not; They are new every morning: Great is Thy faithfulness." So, so thankful!
For "G" I think that God is GOOD:
Only God is truly good, without any lack of goodness, nor does He have any evil in Him. He is perfectly, eternally good. There is no one truly good beside Him as Jesus said in Mark 10:18.
Romans 3:12 says that there is no one who does good, all of us have sinned and fall short of the good that is who God is. His goodness is the mark that we fall short of.
In Genesis 1 we see that all that God created was good. It was truly good, but not perfected as He is perfect. Satan and mankind were able to sin, but God had this in mind when He made the Everlasting Covenant within the Godhead before creation. His aim in creating was to perfect a people for Himself in eternity for all eternity so that, with the angels, we will forever do His will, love one another, worship God in the way He deserves, and sing of His goodness forever.
2Chr. 7:3 says that God is good; His love endures forever. How comforting it is to know that God will never do to us what is wrong! see Ps. 119:68-the Lord is good and all that He does is good. Ps. 145:9 says that the LORD is good to ALL!
Ps. 100:5 attests that the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures through ALL generations.
So knowing that God is truly Good all the time, we, who have been made sons and daughter of God by the Holy Spirit through the work of His Son, ought to seek what is good and hate what is evil. We should avoid company that would lead us into sin, situations that will tempt us to do evil. We should live as one who has been set free of the slavery of our sinful nature and live for God, being slaves to righteousness. We cannot earn our way to God with good deeds, but we are to live as He wants us to, and that is to do what is good and righteous, godly and God-honoring. We should despise our sins and flee evil, resisting Satan.
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
Holiness is His name. Mary mother of Jesus qualified God thus,'Holy is his name'. From whence came this knowledge? The Spirit moving upon the waters (v.2) sensitized every vapor that God is knowable. "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly" accordingly gave Mary a measure of the invisible quality of God. How do we differentiate between good and evil? There is only one standard which is what we can infer from this short colloquy. "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."( Mark 10:18). When God settled for light as good who shall contradict him? He as the Father of lights saw the light, that it was good. Amen.
Light and darkness are alike unto him. His Son consequently is the true Light which has a great consequence. He named the light as His own. He called the light Day which from henceforth shall signify his holiness as radiating from His godhead, from his force of will. It is set as the law. "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."( John 1:5). So children of light cannot remain hidden but shine forth boldly. "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"(Ph.2:15)
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
God separated two nations, children of light and children of darkness on the basis man responds to His holiness."But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."( John 3:21) Adam hid from the presence of God knowing that he disobeyed him.
Inversion is expressed as a narrative mode where two unequal entities are set on the basis of the Word. Thus blessing come from God to Man and not other way about. The Word is God.
Whereas God the Son becoming man explains one aspect of the Sovereign will of God. Free will on the other hand gives man the choice: either or. In believing the Apostle of God he is adopted in the Son into the Fellowship of God with Man. Here we have the Word freeing man so may be lifted up by faith in the Son. The Word became flesh.
"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me ( John 6:38-NIV). "Motive force of Jesus was squarely set on the bedrock of the Father Son relationship.
Consequently he humbled himself as man, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross./ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name (Ph.2:8-9)." The Spirit has set this example of God the Son for our instruction in righteousness, "But many that are first shall be last; and the last first."( Mark 10:31)
Denying the free will to man is a heresy because just as his Son freely chose to be the slain Lamb, -and before the worlds began, the same liberty is given man. This empowerment places man who reveals the same DNA of faith outside the earth time and space limitations. As it is the eternal Word that is the Law or Constitution of the kingdom of God, we understand the rationale behing the Law of Gradation.
His name Abram signified 'exalted father' and considering God would change his name to Abraham to mean ' father of a multitude.' he had to walk before him and be perfect. Despite of his wife's barrenness and advanced age, his faith had to be of much sterner stuff. Many events in his life tested it. One explains the wife-sister puzzle occurring in Ch.20.
King Abimelech was in mortal danger for taking Sarah from her husband. Abraham presented his wife as sister as he did before Pharaoh on an earlier occasion. He supposed that he could get around difficulties as before. Technically Abraham was telling the truth. But both cannot be right.
Marriage was instituted owing to the flesh that is weak. When the Spirit describes the creation of Eve gives it primary sense, which what Jesus explains, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. / For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;/ And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh."( Mark 10: 6-8) What therefore God hath joined together has one single head, which is of Christ. The will of God does not change.
The Spirit presents Abraham as a double for the Son and his wife as the Bride of Christ (See under A-Abigail) Among the heroes of faith Sara stands in her own right along with Abraham. "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."(He.11: 11) Her faith was her own over which she was answerable to God alone.
Let's step back and think for a moment. What is heaven exactly? Surely a large factor there is that we will SERVE God forever.
John 12:26 says in KJV: If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Let us examine the same verse in the amplified version:
If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me [without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven's glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
I am not an expert on translations but it would seem eternally serving God is a theme here! Revelation 7:13-15 and Revelation 22:3 make this abundantly clear as to the serving of God eternally of His saints. Worship is also inextricably tied to being a servant; and the ruling and reigning with Christ is part and parcel with the destiny of the church as Kings and Priests before the throne as well ( Revelation 5:10; etal).
Now as we assess this life; surely we see this attitude of service begins here; and Christ of course laid out the perfect example with His life. Mark 10:45 shows how Christ came not to be served but to serve; if God incarnate followed that principal surely His disciples must do the same.
As to work in heaven; surely it won't be a drudgery. The curse with the thorns and sweat on the brow will be gone that we inherited in the garden. We won't have unreasonable taskmasters; stressful deadlines; and other difficulties. Work no doubt will be a cooperative effort since we will all be together in performing tasks. No doubt individual things will be suitable for us as well.
The world at large cannot serve without some benefit for themselves; just like we can't love unconditionally (see Matthew 5:34).
You are Absolutely Right that God is JUST! Yet, I ask this question: who is responsible for sin? Answer: satan. Justice demands that the one responsible Pays for what he has done. We are vessels, is a vessel responsible for what someone put inside of it? Satan is responsible for evil, John 8:44 ; and God is Responsible for good, Mark 10:18.
Ronald, your faith is your faith. Whether you believe or don't believe is up to you and God but I ask you to LOOK! What I proclaim is MERCY, what is being used to combat MERCY? Hatred and wrath. I say "God is GOOD!" And the response is "NO!" I've explained and am willing to continue to explain, but just as Christ had to bear the hatred BECAUSE He taught mercy, I as His servant will have to bear hatred and wrath for proclaiming MERCY.
The Message that I proclaim is that sinners WILL go to hell and Suffer, yet there is Salvation for them also!
When Christ says, "Depart from Me, ye cursed" could it be that He is speaking to the demons that are inside that Made them act evilly?
And, yes there are some who will go to the lake of fire, but I point to, Psalms 104:4. For the lake of fire is eternal, yet God is able to make His ministers a flaming fire; can you think of the one thing that fire doesn't burn? Answer: Fire.
Romans 8:35-39. Nothing can separate us from The Love of God.
Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." That is the theme of the Gospel of Mark.
VIII. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN:
It was written to the Romans and written in a style to reach the Roman mindset.
HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE INTRODUCTION:
The Roman mindset was one that followed the judicial system. You had to prove everything by the law. If you couldn't prove anything by the law, they didn't buy it. It was strictly judicial. That's why the book of Romans, which is called the Constitution of the Christian faith, every doctrine is found in the book of Romans. The book of Romans is written like a legal brief. Romans is written like a lawyer would present a case in a courtroom.
And that is how he is talking to the people in Rome. Well, that is what Mark does also. I don't know if you have noticed or not, but Mark's gospel is pretty short and pretty blunt. He doesn't give a lot of details. If he didn't think something was necessary to prove a point, he left it out.
Mark does not give it to us because it is not necessary for proving the point. Mark presents his gospel like a script, fact after fact, and he is presenting it like a legal brief to the court. Jesus Christ will be presented to us as the Suffering Servant. Mark says I'm going to prove it to you, so that you people in Rome that have this mind that is governed by the judicial system, you'll find evidence. You are going to have to figure out what are you going to do with this Jesus? He didn't come as a king. He came as a servant. But I am going to prove to you that He is the Messiah.
Think about the evidence Christ presented that He was indeed the Messiah. Indeed; supernatural blindness HAD to be given; for Jesus even told people to believe Him even for the sake of His works ( John 14:11). And the verse was indicative of His being part of the Godhead. There were HUGE numbers of people being miraculously fed at least twice; people healed of blindness which had NEVER occurred even with the Old Testament miracles ( John 10:21); people who had demons cast out of them; as well as the miracles entrusted to the 12 Apostles and the 70 sent out two by two ( Luke 10:11). There was the undeniable proof of natural phenomenon at the crucifixion ( Matt. 27:54); as well as the 500 witnesses that saw Him; including the Apostles AFTER He was Resurrected and they all died except for John as martyrs; clearly they knew and believed the truth since denial would have saved their lives.
Unbelief therefore is something learned. Children are all born into sin; but scripture makes it clear that they have angels beholding the Father continually and that they were drawn to Christ (see Matt. 18:10). Children came to Christ ( Mark 10:13-16) and praised Him as a fulfillment of Psalm 8:2 and mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 21:16. To deny the obvious requires a hardness of heart and soul; and deliberate rejection of known truths; which of course made the condemnation of the Pharisees greater than most; and was much of the reason Jesus excoriated them in nearly the entirety of Matthew 23. They knew the prophecies but were blinded because of their obsession on the law and all other traditions that were added to put men in bondage and to render mercy and justice meaningless ( Matthew 23:23) with their myopic tunnel vision. The rest of the world if NOT enlightened by the Spirit only looked at Christ as some great miracle worker but didn't worship Him as God in the flesh.
Hence Matthew 16:17 must occur for true salvation.
Knowing God vs knowing about Him: reflections on Good Friday
John 14:9 shows how Christ rather emphatically questions Philip as to his compression of God the Father when in the presence of His Son. This verse is by no means isolated where He states what seems to be obvious as to His inevitable death on the cross; as well as His divinity. Matthew 16:17 shows what seems to be an incredible swing in Peter's life from supernatural wisdom from the Spirit; to being influenced by Satan himself just a few verses later in Matthew 16:23 when Jesus says "get behind me Satan."
Mark 10:33 as well as an equivalent passage in Luke and others in Mark 9 make it clear that Jesus repeatedly explained His fate.
This should serve as a warning to us; along with of course Peter's prophesied betrayal and denial of Christ (which BTW also was what the other disciples did; without making such a bold proclamation of loyalty as Peter did).
The Pharisees; clearly should have known who Christ was; as well as those residents of Chorazin; Bethsaida and Capernium ( Matt. 11:21-22) whose judgments were to be greater than Sodom and Gomorrah who apparently would have repented seeing such things. This is; to say the least a sobering statement. Clearly apart from Divine Revelation we all are blinded.
Romans 5:7-8 shows how although someone may die for a righteous man; for wicked rebels as us who would want to do so?
But the Father from the beginning had some who would be called His own; and chosen (see John 6:37 and many other verses in John on the subject of Predestination also some of my segments on that subject in discussing John).
As the Spirit strives against the flesh ( Galatians 5:17); we realize that we don't love God in our old nature once the Spirit takes residence. We understand not only consequences of our sin; but that we don't want to grieve the Spirit ( Ephesians 4:30). It must be love which leads us to obedience ( John 14:15). Apart from grace our efforts are in vain.
"And when He was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to Him, and asked Him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"
And Jesus said unto him, "Why calleth thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God."
This is the story of the rich man who said he had kept the commandments since he was a child.
This verse came to mind today along with the title of my post.
It made me think about the fact that God is good all the time. He never ceases to be good.
He is even good when He allows or even brings catastrophic events upon people or punishments such as taking Israel and Judah out of the land when they would not cease to revert back again and again to idolatry. He was following through with what He promised would happen if His chosen people did not worship Him alone.
He was good when He poured His wrath for sin upon Jesus on the cross. He was good when He allowed the persecution of the church under repeated Roman emperors leading to the martyrdom of millions. He is good today, even in our hardships, sufferings, and trials.
But, His goodness extends to us in the giving of His grace and mercy; in His patience in order to bring us to Christ; in HIs providence that He supplies daily for our needs; in His protection from the many times we experience a "near miss"; in the creation of family and friendships ; and in the beauty of this natural world that we can readily enjoy firsthand and now through film and photos taken by others.
When Jesus said that God alone is good, He was attesting to His deity in a somewhat round about way. The rich man knew to come to Jesus and kneel before him in order to find eternal life, which only comes from the goodness of God.
So, today I think on this topic. I would love to hear from others how God has bestowed His goodness on one's life.
The Bible does not specifically mention the word abortion. However, if we look at Exodus 21:22-25, it looks to me that God's view is that if you kill an unborn baby, the penalty is death.
A baby in a mothers womb is a living being. Aborting that baby is considered murder. It baffles me that people who commit murder, in many cases, they receive the death penalty. But what about murdering an unborn child?
This topic should touch the heart strings of every believer. Again, the closest thing I see that would give God's view on abortion (other than you shall not murder) in Exodus 20:13, would be Exodus 21:22-25.
Other verses to consider are: Deuteronomy 5:17, Matthew 5:21, Leviticus 24:17, Mark 10:19, Leviticus 24:21.
No, I don't believe we're supposed to wear crosses. Leviticus 26:1, nowhere does it say wear a cross, as jewelry. However it does say not to make idols.
Recently I thought, if a person had a friend that was killed by gunshot & had a miraculous recovery. How would he feel, if when he returned to his friends & family, they had an image of the gun or bullet around their neck, to honor him. I would think it would be upsetting to say the least. Wouldn't he say, "your missing the main point." isn't it the life lived?Jesus himself being the example of a loving life, helping others in need? & the hope & promise of resurrection. John 5:21-29, 1Corinthians 15:42-58, John 11:25, Ecclesiastes 5:15, 1Timothy 6:7,
Bare your cross: Luke 14, looking at context, whole chapter Jesus in doing the better thing by healing, suffered rejection, hate, wrongful judgement.
A cross is painful, it's obvious, on view for everyone to see, not something we can hide in our pocket. It causes ridicule & even division. Luke 14:11, Luke 14:12-14, Luke 14:17-20,24, Luke 14:26,27, also Matthew 10, note Matthew 10:36, Matthew 10:17,18, Matthew 10:21, Matthew 10:22, please read in context Matthew 10, Matthew 10:32-42, & Luke 9:22-26, also Matthew 16:21-28, Mark 8:29-38, Mark 10:14-52,
The Pharisees; who derided Christ throughout His public ministry had this to say shortly before the crucifixion. Jesus shut them out; as well as remaining silent soon after during Pilate's interrogation. Self exaltation and justification wasn't necessary for Christ didn't seek to be served but to serve and give His life for a ransom for many. ( Mark 10:45) The fact is; the Pharisees and religious leaders should have known who He was; and therefore were operating in deliberate blindness; uniquely qualifying them to commit the unpardonable sin. (See Matthew 12:24).
Part of the concept of the verse on "casting pearls before swine" ( Matt. 7:6) relates to this. Jesus hid meanings of the Parables to others who were deliberately spiritually blind (see Matthew 13:34; and Matthew 13:15; Isaiah 42:19-20). John 9:39-41 shows the end of an entire chapter related to a blind man's healing; where Jesus explains how men are made blind to the truth; but the Pharisees after asking if that was the intention of what Jesus said were still left with the judgment for themselves because they could see and were responsible for their sin.
These are sobering reminders that man is not justified in any righteousness of their own and estranged from God from the womb ( Psalm 58:3); yet has a conscience given by God where men are judged more harshly that know the law ( Romans 2:15).
Jesus warned that judgment would be worse for those cities that rejected Him than for Sodom and Gomorrah ( Matthew 10:15).
This attitude led to the unpardonable sin; blasphemy of the Holy Spirit where Beelzebub was attributed to Christ's healing rather than God ( Matthew 12:22). The issue of forgiveness of sins was truly where the problem was; since the miracles were manifold.
Nonetheless; Jesus wouldn't use His power to save Himself on the cross or when unbelief was present (see Matthew 13:58).
It also avoids presumptuous action as well as acting out before the proper time and without the direct command of God which involves a pride of sorts that Lucifer himself was brought to his downfall. In any case; what causes fear is either our own sin which God allows the enemy to torment us with and accuse us; or an unhealthy obsession with the media representation or occult practices rather than avoiding every appearance of evil. Knowing that Satan is the god of this world and offered all the Kingdoms to Christ and that everyone's name that is NOT in the book of life worships his masterpiece the Antichrist Beast we do well to heed to the warnings not to trivialize the enemy we face but to have an Ephesians 6 mindset.
Satan's "machinations"
Part One.-Self
John 12:25 states that if we love this life we will lose it and if we hate it we gain eternal life. Proverbs 16:18 says that pride comes before a fall. Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many ( Mark 10:45) and the verse begins talking about Him serving others than being served. I will discuss Matthew 16:23 next post.
The twelve apostles were far from perfection and they had forsaken all was not enough. Significant is that the answer Jesus gave Peter was for all, so we need take it as applied to the discipleship. It is 'for my sake and the gospel's',"But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (vv.28-29). Jesus promised them,"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."(Matt.18:.18) Notice that it is addressed to the twelve,"whatsoever ye shall bind on earth." Judas shortchanged his share 'now in this time' and in the world to come for 30 pieces of silver. It is for this reason the caveat given in v.31. " But many that are first shall be last; and the last first." St Matthew also gives it but judging the twelve tribes of Israel is given to the twelve. "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."(Mattt.19:28) So the element of 'Now' is by the Law of Gradation is the authority of Jesus Christ and he foretells the guilt of the nation.
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?/ Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:/That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar./Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." (Matt.23:33-36)
"What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Here the man in question is Adam. By making him a living soul he is set down in the Lucan genealogy as the son of God. On day six he was blessed and placed all his creation under his hands (Ge.1:28-29). 'Male and female created him sets him in terms of his will stated as a forerunner of Christ and his bride. Only after He sanctified the day seven Eve, was taken out of his ribs. Later He brought all his creation for his review and no helpmeet was found from them. Only then God set about creating flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones. The everlasting covenant between God and Man gives us a final separation, as with Day and Night and waters above and below the firmament and it is a precursor for the ministry of reconciliation for the Word become flesh. It is to this St Paul refers, "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." (Ep.5:29. )Christ and his body is therefore implied in day Six. Creation of Eve in the following chapter thus creates a family tree connecting Jesus Christ to Adam in Luke Ch.3.
The breath of God made all the difference to Adam who was formed of the ground. He correctly guessed his calling and did not find anyone worthy from without. He was created in 'his likeness' which is the head. For this reason Jesus referred the deep sleep of Adam was precursor to his own death. He as the word become flesh made himself chaste. Compare his saying, "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."(Matt.19:12) With Jesus Christ came grace and truth. What God has joined together referred to his own case. In human likeness he nourished and cherished what God had entrusted him with. His prayer makes it clear. ( John 17:11-12)
"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." (v.6) God is love is a facet of holiness of God. When God breathed into the nostrils of man there was no need for spelling out holiness as such. In his breath all that were needful for his life and godliness was impressed as a candle is lit by another. Quality of light sets both giver and the given on the same stand,- Holiness made it so natural so love of man so learned did not carry any other feeling than was impressed. By the same token in loving the world God made love Person specific. ( John 3:16)
Male and female he created them is with reference to the holiness so love has a body as a candle has and it is quality also speaks about love of two bodies maintain a common purpose. The Spirit presents the House with seven pillars as a body built by Wisdom, which is a feminine principle.(Pr.9:1)God a Spirit is Power dovetailing into Wisdom is how the Spirit presents the divine Holiness. By the same token his Son has a body which is the Word become God loved the world therefore it must be seen and the heat thereof must be felt throughout. In due time God sent Jesus Christ as the true light. While he presented the doctrine of his Father it had to be out in the open fulfilling the saying, "Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?"(4:21).
"Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away./And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept."(vv.4-5) Compare with what John says," In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."( John 1:1) Because of the hardness of heart Moses allowed man put away, which is like the candle put under the bed. Jesus refers to it as adultery of one against the other.
"And in the house" Jesus explained it in terms of the Law of the Spirit. (Matt.19:9-11)
Here we have two aspects of life where sin controls circumstances of man's world. We shall come to the other man's riches reigning uppermost whereas God covered him with glory and honor in the beginning; so much so Adam and Eve were naked and yet they felt no shame at all. Wealth of a sinful man's inventive mind, in terms of a sentient life did not exist at all.
The man who came running to Jesus must not have come on the spur of the moment. A good life for a fine mind can hold a deadening effect when one sees at every turn the squalor and misery of lives floating about. It is like a healthy man chained to a almost a decaying corpse. Does it not spoil his sleep though he has a comfortable bed to sleep on? He may have kept a good table with rich viands and possessed thoroughbreds in his stables and lived in the midst of objet d'art, and he may have even tried not to succumb to its lure. He would only know how his soul has been left bound so he hastened to Jesus in a moral dilemma. Only when the moment of truth demanded him to declare where he stood in terms of eternal life, "And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions".(v.22)
The Spirit repeats thrice in vv.23-25 Jesus makes a general observation; secondly with regards to those who would want an abiding life as branches to the true Vine. " Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"(v.24)
"Who then can be saved?/And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."(vv.26-27) Grace is required to negotiate between true riches and other man's riches.
On the other hand true riches of man has been established between God and Man and the blessings are allowed to whosoever trusted the Son unreservedly. Besides God sanctified the day Seven and would send him to the world in fullness of time.
Matthew gives the passage in a slight altered form. It is the Mother of the sons of Zebedee approaches Jesus for a special favor."Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshippinghim, and desiring a certain thing of him."(Matt.20:20). The Word or the Law is interpreted differently according to the world of the Spirit and by the flesh and spirit respectively. In one the glory of God is the foremost so Elias or Moses serve as a double for the Son. In the case of the Mother of Zebedee's sons, her desire was the glory of her sons. She serves as a stand in for her Son. Of this St Paul gives us two contrary laws. "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."(Ro.7:25)
Law of the Spirit presupposes a Lawgiver is it not. It is thus God has left all judgment to his Son who also is the Word become flesh. On the other hand Satan the Lawless one has become by default of Adam a law given so the law of sin characterizes works of flesh and blood. Whosoever rejects the commandment as King Saul did is subject to an unclean spirits. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."( 1 John 3:8)
vv.38-39 "And with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized." Jesus refers to the anointing he received (Ps.45:5-6) and in their case of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and adds,"But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared." Jesus scrupulous chose to obey the word and as was reminded by Moses at the mount. of his death and glory would fulfill what was written of him in the scripture. the same choice was left to the sons of Zebedee and it was their free will.
The other ten disciples were naturally upset over their behind the back maneuvering for power.
Unbelieving: The first verse that comes to mind here is the man with a son that had a demon possessed son who was being thrown into water; etc. That passage is Mark 9:24 and the whole incident is worth reading to understand further how there was rampant lack of faith as well as preparation for casting out the demon. REALIZING we have unbelief results from the Holy Spirit changing us; it is not what is often a false gospel of not having faith enough for a family member to be healed; or some power trip by a ministry more interested in notoriety and ultimately greedy for gain with someone given a title of "healer". We can say at the time of Christ it was indeed foolish not to believe He could work any miracles including bringing one back from death; because it was only rejecting His claim of Divinity that a person could reject Him which shows the depths of blindness of the Pharisees. The core issue which remains the same is the fact that we are all as "filthy rags" ( Isaiah 64:6) and this includes our so called "good deeds".
Abominable: Luke 16:15 shows what men hold as esteemed is an abomination before God. To esteem something shows a sort of prideful mentality; acclaim and praise is something Christ warned about in numerous passages (see Luke 6:26; another passage in this book as one example). Even calling Christ good implies that he as a mere man or prophet is good; and Christ makes it clear only God alone is good ( Mark 10:18). This is what is so dangerous about anyone who men praise; not only do they almost always practice false theology but we are convinced our own righteousness will justify us in the day of judgment.
No wonder Satan appearing as an angel of light fools lost souls ( 2 Cor. 11:14).
A wise deacon in our church has stated that we are in enemy territory currently on earth. Our state prior to salvation was an enemy of God as we were blinded by the god of this world to do his bidding ( 2 Cor. 4:4). Despite what may be assumed by some; there are numerous descriptions of hell in the Old Testament. There are also references to heaven and the Millennial reign of saints ( Psalm 61 seems to be a veiled reference to David in that capacity; for instance). We see also in the famous passage in Job 19:27 which alludes to a bodily resurrection where he will see God. Psalm 63:9 is another reference to hell; in sending enemies to the "lowest parts of the earth." As much as we may not comprehend these eternal truths; Proverbs 8:36 states that "all who hate me love death." (see also John 3:19-21 and 1 John 2:11).
Jesus makes it clear that He is the only way to salvation in John 10:9 and many other passages state the same thing; often in parables. Those who are not enlightened to this truth often have some scripture knowledge, but they can only see general statements about living a righteous life or see descriptions of God and only see God from afar; much as the Israelites did when wandering through the wilderness. Somehow man's myopic perspective focuses on characters in the Bible and considers those who were a prophet; or a "good teacher" and not understanding who is truly good; that is God alone ( Mark 10:18). This is why the man called Christ good in that passage; he was only seeing Him through human lenses rather than His true position as God in the flesh which only God Himself can reveal to someone ( Matt. 16:17).
These truths explain why man underplays his spiritual condition; he sees outer works and judges himself on them; and that based on his own set of scales weighing in his heart the "good vs. the bad"; ignoring God's perfect Holy standard. Worse still; he is blind to his sin NATURE which can only be changed God's way
"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Mark 11:23 KJV
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24 KJV
I say to you beloved of God...do you want this? only believe.
"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:25 KJV
"But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." Mark 11:26 KJV
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12 KJV
Beloved, when in life we find ourselves in situations, the believer always does a forgiveness check, ask God and believe. Beloved, when you request forgiveness its just that simple to ask and believe and God is faithful to accept and grant forgiveness because He is good and instructs us to forgive.
God is always standing by to help you in each and every way, don't be afraid, whatever you need God's got it. God is there for you. God wants fellowship with you. God has called you or is calling you, yes you to walk with Him. To try Him and take Him at His word.
"And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27 KJV
God is able to make a way for you. Believe God in your heart, open your eyes and allow God's holy spirit to lead and guide you in a right way.
In Jesus Name, I pray peace. Amen.
This would include preaching against ALL sin; including pride and hypocricy of individuals and society at large.
The threat against all of Satan's carefully networked aspects of society are many. Those who proclaim Christ are an economic threat; so a genuine conversion that starts to affect this system will bring imprisonment; no doubt. We see this now with the Pro Life movement; and indeed anything that gains any momentum attempting to restore traditional values. This is by no means unique to one particular political party or members of the establishment. There is economic gain to wars; like it or not by powers that be; just as there is influence by caving into popular concepts today where businesses are willing to forego economic sanity to position themselves with the world as others pull the strings.
We present Christ today; sadly often as a God of our imagination. We may have a vacuum that only God can fill but some never will seek it; and we are ALL enemies of God before salvation. Bringing the church down to the world to fill pews is backwards; we should challenge those who would follow Christ with the requirements of being a disciple and warnings of dangers of falling away for those who would glibly make a confession without counting the cost. Looking at Christ makes it clear; with the exception of the 12 Disciples He never actively sought others; but would often weed out those not willing to forsake all for Him. He had no place to lay His head; let alone a fancy building to preach in. The Son of Man came not to be served ( Mark 10:45)
You say you believe, but is HALF BELIEF enough to get you into the Kingdom of God or does God require TOTAL BELIEF of his WORKS.
You say you believe in the works of the resurrection.
But is belief in half the WORKS of Christ resurrection enough or does it takes total belief to OBTAIN the Kingdom of God.
I don't think you know what the kingdom of God is, YET.
What were the WORKS of Christ's resurrection:
OUR sins of the flesh were forgiven and covered by the Lambs blood.
DEATH was conquered, and IMMORTALITY, the gift of God, established, and CHRIST ONLY hath IMMORTALITY ( 1 Timothy 6:16).
Christ ONLY arose, and we as JOINT HEIRS.
Here is where you STOP BELIEVING.
Mark 10:8 And THEY twain shall be ONE flesh: so then THEY are NO MORE twain, but ONE FLESH.
So whose flesh are you, Christ flesh,
Or is Christ, your flesh.
The word gives the answer;
1 Corinthians 15:50 ....flesh and blood cannot INHERIT the kingdom of GOD .....
You INHERIT the Kingdom of God, it is not a place, it is a person.
Genesis 2:23 This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: for SHE, Christ wife, shall be called WOMAN, because SHE is taken out of MAN ( Revelation 12).
1 Corinthians 15:53 ..... this mortal shall PUT on IMMORTALITY .......
1 Timothy 6:16 ..... Christ ONLY hath IMMORTALITY .....
John 17:22 ..... that THEY may be ONE, as WE are ONE .....
You believe Christ and his Father are ONE.
Yet, you DON'T BELIEVE, you we made ONE with them by the resurrection of Christ.
These are not my words that you don't believe.
John 10:34 JESUS SAID, is it not WRITTEN in your LAW, I said, ye are gods ...... Psalms 82:6 .......
Isaiah 55:11 My WORD WILL NOT return unto me VOID .....but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the THING whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 28:21 ....that he may do HIS WORK, his strange WORK, and BRING TO PASS HIS ACT, his strange act.
Can you enter the Kingdom of God, ONLY BELIEVING half of God's WORD.
"Lo, children are an heritage of theLord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
The Spirit is not speaking of children in the sense they are flesh and blood but of the heritage of the Lord where faith is the DNA so Jesus would phrase accordingly. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."( Mark 10:15). He blessed them when they were brought to him,"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."(Matt.19:15) Jesus knew what was written of him in the word. As man-child He represented the man part in it. . Isaiah refers to it. "for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.(Is.66:8)" In the preceding verse Isaiah designates them "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child."(Is.66:7)
Zion as a dwelling place is 'the rod of thine inheritance'. "Remember thy congregation,whichthou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance,whichthou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt."(74:2). The Father promised the Son consequently a congregation and it is to which the quote from Matthew leads us. Before we come to it here is a verse, "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." So the casual incident where the disciples rebuking those who brought children before Jesus has an important lesson for us. The Bible as a document is organized by the Holy Spirit for our instruction in righteousness. Thus Synoptic gospels are not simply four gospels but the command number four has its own significance. Besides through each four gospel the Holy Spirit is giving solid meat for our perfection. Gospels of Thomas and Philip may have their uses but the Holy Spirit has not found them fit with His purpose.
Thus man child is a composite term.
The word says that scripture has to be understood by applying other scriptures to it.
The NEW COVENANT, the gospel, was preached to THEM as well as unto US.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship, salvation is of the Jews.
Romans 2:29 For he is a JEW, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is in the heart, IN THE SPIRIT .....
Romans 8:2 For the LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST, has made us free from the LAW of sin and DEATH ...
This same gospel was preached to them as well as us.
Psalms 119:1 Blessed are the UNDEFILED in the way ( John 14:6) who WALK in the LAW OF the LORD ( Romans 8:2).
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to WALK in my STATUTES, and keep my judgements and DO THEM.
Psalms 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in HIS WAYS.
Psalms 119:5 Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy STATUTES!
The Spirit CAUSES us TO DO his will, the words that come out of our mouth, are his words, the works of our hands, are his works.
Isaiah 48:18 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, from the time that it was, there am I, and HIS SPIRIT HAS SENT ME ( Romans 8:2).
John 14:24 ...and the word ye hear are not mine, but the Father's which sent me ....
Mark 10:8 And they TWAIN shall be ONE FLESH: so they are no more TWAIN, but ONE FLESH ...
The same SPIRIT that sent Christ and raised him up, and we as JOINT HEIRS, abides in us, our words are not ours by the Father's that anoints us.
The wages if UNBELIEF is DEATH.
The GIFT of BELIEF is IMMORTAL LIFE.
1 Timothy 6:16 .... Christ ONLY hath IMMORTAL LIFE......
God BLESS YOU!
There are a few places in Acts that speak of the whole household being baptized. it doesn't explicitly exclude babies and children. For those who adhere to infant baptism, it is seen as entering into a covenant with God an His community of faith-filled believers. Infant baptism is seen as bringing upon an infant the saving work of God in Christ as parents obey the command of Jesus to baptize ALL nations and instruct these who are baptized in the life of faith in Jesus. Those who practice infant baptism recognized that all are born dead to God and need to be made alive in Christ, which they believe happens through baptism of infants and children because their parents' consent to obey this command of Christ. These believe that the Holy Spirit implants faith in the infant or child in baptism, whereas before they had not faith to believe. They believe in such baptism all the work is done by God in the infant or child. He gives the faith, He gives the forgiveness of sins with the washing of His Word (the gospel) spoken over the child. Denominations that practice infant baptism besides Catholicism are Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian/Anglican, and perhaps others.
Others, who do not embrace infant baptism, allow for children to be baptized upon an open confession of faith in Christ by the child. Some have an age limit, others do not because Jesus said that we are not to hinder children from coming unto him.
Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16; Acts 2:3; , Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33 Acts 22:16
Others only allow what is called "believer's baptism" where one must believe the gospel in order to be baptized. Jesus says in Mark 16:16 to believe and be baptized. See also: Acts 2:41; Acts 16:18:8
I think that there is Biblical merit to all of these teachings about Baptism. Each person must pray for the Holy Spirit to lead them as to whether or not their children should be baptized when very young.
".. because they compassions fail not; They are new every morning: Great is Thy faithfulness." So, so thankful!
For "G" I think that God is GOOD:
Only God is truly good, without any lack of goodness, nor does He have any evil in Him. He is perfectly, eternally good. There is no one truly good beside Him as Jesus said in Mark 10:18.
Romans 3:12 says that there is no one who does good, all of us have sinned and fall short of the good that is who God is. His goodness is the mark that we fall short of.
In Genesis 1 we see that all that God created was good. It was truly good, but not perfected as He is perfect. Satan and mankind were able to sin, but God had this in mind when He made the Everlasting Covenant within the Godhead before creation. His aim in creating was to perfect a people for Himself in eternity for all eternity so that, with the angels, we will forever do His will, love one another, worship God in the way He deserves, and sing of His goodness forever.
2Chr. 7:3 says that God is good; His love endures forever. How comforting it is to know that God will never do to us what is wrong! see Ps. 119:68-the Lord is good and all that He does is good. Ps. 145:9 says that the LORD is good to ALL!
Ps. 100:5 attests that the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures through ALL generations.
So knowing that God is truly Good all the time, we, who have been made sons and daughter of God by the Holy Spirit through the work of His Son, ought to seek what is good and hate what is evil. We should avoid company that would lead us into sin, situations that will tempt us to do evil. We should live as one who has been set free of the slavery of our sinful nature and live for God, being slaves to righteousness. We cannot earn our way to God with good deeds, but we are to live as He wants us to, and that is to do what is good and righteous, godly and God-honoring. We should despise our sins and flee evil, resisting Satan.
Holiness is His name. Mary mother of Jesus qualified God thus,'Holy is his name'. From whence came this knowledge? The Spirit moving upon the waters (v.2) sensitized every vapor that God is knowable. "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly" accordingly gave Mary a measure of the invisible quality of God. How do we differentiate between good and evil? There is only one standard which is what we can infer from this short colloquy. "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."( Mark 10:18). When God settled for light as good who shall contradict him? He as the Father of lights saw the light, that it was good. Amen.
Light and darkness are alike unto him. His Son consequently is the true Light which has a great consequence. He named the light as His own. He called the light Day which from henceforth shall signify his holiness as radiating from His godhead, from his force of will. It is set as the law. "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."( John 1:5). So children of light cannot remain hidden but shine forth boldly. "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"(Ph.2:15)
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
God separated two nations, children of light and children of darkness on the basis man responds to His holiness."But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."( John 3:21) Adam hid from the presence of God knowing that he disobeyed him.
Inversion is expressed as a narrative mode where two unequal entities are set on the basis of the Word. Thus blessing come from God to Man and not other way about. The Word is God.
Whereas God the Son becoming man explains one aspect of the Sovereign will of God. Free will on the other hand gives man the choice: either or. In believing the Apostle of God he is adopted in the Son into the Fellowship of God with Man. Here we have the Word freeing man so may be lifted up by faith in the Son. The Word became flesh.
"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me ( John 6:38-NIV). "Motive force of Jesus was squarely set on the bedrock of the Father Son relationship.
Consequently he humbled himself as man, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross./ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name (Ph.2:8-9)." The Spirit has set this example of God the Son for our instruction in righteousness, "But many that are first shall be last; and the last first."( Mark 10:31)
Denying the free will to man is a heresy because just as his Son freely chose to be the slain Lamb, -and before the worlds began, the same liberty is given man. This empowerment places man who reveals the same DNA of faith outside the earth time and space limitations. As it is the eternal Word that is the Law or Constitution of the kingdom of God, we understand the rationale behing the Law of Gradation.
His name Abram signified 'exalted father' and considering God would change his name to Abraham to mean ' father of a multitude.' he had to walk before him and be perfect. Despite of his wife's barrenness and advanced age, his faith had to be of much sterner stuff. Many events in his life tested it. One explains the wife-sister puzzle occurring in Ch.20.
King Abimelech was in mortal danger for taking Sarah from her husband. Abraham presented his wife as sister as he did before Pharaoh on an earlier occasion. He supposed that he could get around difficulties as before. Technically Abraham was telling the truth. But both cannot be right.
Marriage was instituted owing to the flesh that is weak. When the Spirit describes the creation of Eve gives it primary sense, which what Jesus explains, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. / For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;/ And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh."( Mark 10: 6-8) What therefore God hath joined together has one single head, which is of Christ. The will of God does not change.
The Spirit presents Abraham as a double for the Son and his wife as the Bride of Christ (See under A-Abigail) Among the heroes of faith Sara stands in her own right along with Abraham. "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."(He.11: 11) Her faith was her own over which she was answerable to God alone.
Let's step back and think for a moment. What is heaven exactly? Surely a large factor there is that we will SERVE God forever.
John 12:26 says in KJV: If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Let us examine the same verse in the amplified version:
If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me [without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven's glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
I am not an expert on translations but it would seem eternally serving God is a theme here! Revelation 7:13-15 and Revelation 22:3 make this abundantly clear as to the serving of God eternally of His saints. Worship is also inextricably tied to being a servant; and the ruling and reigning with Christ is part and parcel with the destiny of the church as Kings and Priests before the throne as well ( Revelation 5:10; etal).
Now as we assess this life; surely we see this attitude of service begins here; and Christ of course laid out the perfect example with His life. Mark 10:45 shows how Christ came not to be served but to serve; if God incarnate followed that principal surely His disciples must do the same.
As to work in heaven; surely it won't be a drudgery. The curse with the thorns and sweat on the brow will be gone that we inherited in the garden. We won't have unreasonable taskmasters; stressful deadlines; and other difficulties. Work no doubt will be a cooperative effort since we will all be together in performing tasks. No doubt individual things will be suitable for us as well.
The world at large cannot serve without some benefit for themselves; just like we can't love unconditionally (see Matthew 5:34).
The last enemy destroyed is deateh (1COR15:26
You are Absolutely Right that God is JUST! Yet, I ask this question: who is responsible for sin? Answer: satan. Justice demands that the one responsible Pays for what he has done. We are vessels, is a vessel responsible for what someone put inside of it? Satan is responsible for evil, John 8:44 ; and God is Responsible for good, Mark 10:18.
Ronald, your faith is your faith. Whether you believe or don't believe is up to you and God but I ask you to LOOK! What I proclaim is MERCY, what is being used to combat MERCY? Hatred and wrath. I say "God is GOOD!" And the response is "NO!" I've explained and am willing to continue to explain, but just as Christ had to bear the hatred BECAUSE He taught mercy, I as His servant will have to bear hatred and wrath for proclaiming MERCY.
The Message that I proclaim is that sinners WILL go to hell and Suffer, yet there is Salvation for them also!
When Christ says, "Depart from Me, ye cursed" could it be that He is speaking to the demons that are inside that Made them act evilly?
And, yes there are some who will go to the lake of fire, but I point to, Psalms 104:4. For the lake of fire is eternal, yet God is able to make His ministers a flaming fire; can you think of the one thing that fire doesn't burn? Answer: Fire.
Romans 8:35-39. Nothing can separate us from The Love of God.
VII. THE THEME OF THE BOOK:
Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." That is the theme of the Gospel of Mark.
VIII. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN:
It was written to the Romans and written in a style to reach the Roman mindset.
HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE INTRODUCTION:
The Roman mindset was one that followed the judicial system. You had to prove everything by the law. If you couldn't prove anything by the law, they didn't buy it. It was strictly judicial. That's why the book of Romans, which is called the Constitution of the Christian faith, every doctrine is found in the book of Romans. The book of Romans is written like a legal brief. Romans is written like a lawyer would present a case in a courtroom.
And that is how he is talking to the people in Rome. Well, that is what Mark does also. I don't know if you have noticed or not, but Mark's gospel is pretty short and pretty blunt. He doesn't give a lot of details. If he didn't think something was necessary to prove a point, he left it out.
Mark does not give it to us because it is not necessary for proving the point. Mark presents his gospel like a script, fact after fact, and he is presenting it like a legal brief to the court. Jesus Christ will be presented to us as the Suffering Servant. Mark says I'm going to prove it to you, so that you people in Rome that have this mind that is governed by the judicial system, you'll find evidence. You are going to have to figure out what are you going to do with this Jesus? He didn't come as a king. He came as a servant. But I am going to prove to you that He is the Messiah.
Think about the evidence Christ presented that He was indeed the Messiah. Indeed; supernatural blindness HAD to be given; for Jesus even told people to believe Him even for the sake of His works ( John 14:11). And the verse was indicative of His being part of the Godhead. There were HUGE numbers of people being miraculously fed at least twice; people healed of blindness which had NEVER occurred even with the Old Testament miracles ( John 10:21); people who had demons cast out of them; as well as the miracles entrusted to the 12 Apostles and the 70 sent out two by two ( Luke 10:11). There was the undeniable proof of natural phenomenon at the crucifixion ( Matt. 27:54); as well as the 500 witnesses that saw Him; including the Apostles AFTER He was Resurrected and they all died except for John as martyrs; clearly they knew and believed the truth since denial would have saved their lives.
Unbelief therefore is something learned. Children are all born into sin; but scripture makes it clear that they have angels beholding the Father continually and that they were drawn to Christ (see Matt. 18:10). Children came to Christ ( Mark 10:13-16) and praised Him as a fulfillment of Psalm 8:2 and mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 21:16. To deny the obvious requires a hardness of heart and soul; and deliberate rejection of known truths; which of course made the condemnation of the Pharisees greater than most; and was much of the reason Jesus excoriated them in nearly the entirety of Matthew 23. They knew the prophecies but were blinded because of their obsession on the law and all other traditions that were added to put men in bondage and to render mercy and justice meaningless ( Matthew 23:23) with their myopic tunnel vision. The rest of the world if NOT enlightened by the Spirit only looked at Christ as some great miracle worker but didn't worship Him as God in the flesh.
Hence Matthew 16:17 must occur for true salvation.
John 14:9 shows how Christ rather emphatically questions Philip as to his compression of God the Father when in the presence of His Son. This verse is by no means isolated where He states what seems to be obvious as to His inevitable death on the cross; as well as His divinity. Matthew 16:17 shows what seems to be an incredible swing in Peter's life from supernatural wisdom from the Spirit; to being influenced by Satan himself just a few verses later in Matthew 16:23 when Jesus says "get behind me Satan."
Mark 10:33 as well as an equivalent passage in Luke and others in Mark 9 make it clear that Jesus repeatedly explained His fate.
This should serve as a warning to us; along with of course Peter's prophesied betrayal and denial of Christ (which BTW also was what the other disciples did; without making such a bold proclamation of loyalty as Peter did).
The Pharisees; clearly should have known who Christ was; as well as those residents of Chorazin; Bethsaida and Capernium ( Matt. 11:21-22) whose judgments were to be greater than Sodom and Gomorrah who apparently would have repented seeing such things. This is; to say the least a sobering statement. Clearly apart from Divine Revelation we all are blinded.
Romans 5:7-8 shows how although someone may die for a righteous man; for wicked rebels as us who would want to do so?
But the Father from the beginning had some who would be called His own; and chosen (see John 6:37 and many other verses in John on the subject of Predestination also some of my segments on that subject in discussing John).
As the Spirit strives against the flesh ( Galatians 5:17); we realize that we don't love God in our old nature once the Spirit takes residence. We understand not only consequences of our sin; but that we don't want to grieve the Spirit ( Ephesians 4:30). It must be love which leads us to obedience ( John 14:15). Apart from grace our efforts are in vain.
Mark 10:17-18
"And when He was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to Him, and asked Him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"
And Jesus said unto him, "Why calleth thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God."
This is the story of the rich man who said he had kept the commandments since he was a child.
This verse came to mind today along with the title of my post.
It made me think about the fact that God is good all the time. He never ceases to be good.
He is even good when He allows or even brings catastrophic events upon people or punishments such as taking Israel and Judah out of the land when they would not cease to revert back again and again to idolatry. He was following through with what He promised would happen if His chosen people did not worship Him alone.
He was good when He poured His wrath for sin upon Jesus on the cross. He was good when He allowed the persecution of the church under repeated Roman emperors leading to the martyrdom of millions. He is good today, even in our hardships, sufferings, and trials.
But, His goodness extends to us in the giving of His grace and mercy; in His patience in order to bring us to Christ; in HIs providence that He supplies daily for our needs; in His protection from the many times we experience a "near miss"; in the creation of family and friendships ; and in the beauty of this natural world that we can readily enjoy firsthand and now through film and photos taken by others.
When Jesus said that God alone is good, He was attesting to His deity in a somewhat round about way. The rich man knew to come to Jesus and kneel before him in order to find eternal life, which only comes from the goodness of God.
So, today I think on this topic. I would love to hear from others how God has bestowed His goodness on one's life.
John 14:6 kjv
The Bible does not specifically mention the word abortion. However, if we look at Exodus 21:22-25, it looks to me that God's view is that if you kill an unborn baby, the penalty is death.
A baby in a mothers womb is a living being. Aborting that baby is considered murder. It baffles me that people who commit murder, in many cases, they receive the death penalty. But what about murdering an unborn child?
This topic should touch the heart strings of every believer. Again, the closest thing I see that would give God's view on abortion (other than you shall not murder) in Exodus 20:13, would be Exodus 21:22-25.
Other verses to consider are: Deuteronomy 5:17, Matthew 5:21, Leviticus 24:17, Mark 10:19, Leviticus 24:21.
No, I don't believe we're supposed to wear crosses. Leviticus 26:1, nowhere does it say wear a cross, as jewelry. However it does say not to make idols.
Recently I thought, if a person had a friend that was killed by gunshot & had a miraculous recovery. How would he feel, if when he returned to his friends & family, they had an image of the gun or bullet around their neck, to honor him. I would think it would be upsetting to say the least. Wouldn't he say, "your missing the main point." isn't it the life lived?Jesus himself being the example of a loving life, helping others in need? & the hope & promise of resurrection. John 5:21-29, 1Corinthians 15:42-58, John 11:25, Ecclesiastes 5:15, 1Timothy 6:7,
Bare your cross: Luke 14, looking at context, whole chapter Jesus in doing the better thing by healing, suffered rejection, hate, wrongful judgement.
A cross is painful, it's obvious, on view for everyone to see, not something we can hide in our pocket. It causes ridicule & even division. Luke 14:11, Luke 14:12-14, Luke 14:17-20,24, Luke 14:26,27, also Matthew 10, note Matthew 10:36, Matthew 10:17,18, Matthew 10:21, Matthew 10:22, please read in context Matthew 10, Matthew 10:32-42, & Luke 9:22-26, also Matthew 16:21-28, Mark 8:29-38, Mark 10:14-52,
Philippians 2:1-15, Colossians 1:10-29 ,
Matthew 25:31-46, James 1:5,
Hopefully these are helpful
Genesis 2:22-25 kjv.