God and Truth, Satan and Lies, You Choose.
Many considered Jesus a crazy man in His time. And Jesus said...
John {4:44} For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
It's safe to say that many felt about Jesus the way many feel about anyone today claiming to be Jesus. Totally different you say? How so?
They're not Jesus. Right, I agree, and yet many thought the same of the real thing, of the real Jesus. You see, God doesn't use magic to sway people. God did give Jesus this mystical ability to wave his hands and everyone believe in him. As it was then it is now, God never forces anyone to believe, He doesn't use trickery.
While the Jewish people back then longed for the Messiah, the majority longed for Him in their perceived way. They wanted Him to come and raise himself up a king and set them all free from their earthy tyranny. They didn't perceive Jesus as one coming and being lowly, seemingly without much power. Sure he could do a few things but the messiah they had in mind could do things amazing and showy, that messiah could draw crowds of people and with great power over throw the enemy.
Did any Jewish people believe in Jesus? Of course they did. Jesus was a Jewish person and so were His disciples.
Were there others? Yes...
John
{8:31} Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
{8:32} And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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There it is again- knowing the truth and being free by knowing the truth. If the truth is that Salvation is found in Jesus, then it does set you free from sin.
John
{8:33} They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
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Heh, today a lot of people feel the same don't they? They are their OWN person. They control their OWN destiny. They don't need freedom, they're not captive. We hear it all the time, 'I'm my own person. Not one tells me what to do. I'm in charge of my own life.' We have seminars and retreats all geared towards empowering oneself, teaching self-reliance, self-awareness...self, self, self. Not the reality of how we are all captives, even if our captors lets us keep the illusion we are not. It's a sweet illusion of Satan's deceiving so many. All are in bondage because all are sinners and there is only one way to be free and that's through Jesus Christ.
John
{8:34} Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
{8:35} And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
{8:36} If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
{8:37} I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
{8:38} I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
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Jesus wasn't mincing words here. Jesus sent by God His Father was speaking only truth. Those who speak lies, those who won't embrace the truth, those who shun the truth in Him have a Father too, but it's not God.
John
{8:39} They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. {8:40} But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
{8:41} Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
{8:42} Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. {8:43} Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
{8:44} Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
{8:45} And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
{8:46} Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
{8:47} He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
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Wow!
He's telling it like it is.
The Jewish people there claiming their proven genealogically line through Abraham were being told what? That their father was the devil! They weren't of Abraham! And yet physically they were and it mattered not to Jesus why? Because they didn't want the truth.
Have we exhausted the importance of truth? I don't think that's ever going to be possible.
Jesus said- 'because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.'
He was speaking the truth!
Have you ever tried to tell the truth to someone who refused to believe what you said was true? I know I have and it's so frustrating! You can't convince people to believe you, they have to choose to believe you. You want to think that the truth stands on its own merit, but sometimes it doesn't. Imagine the wrongfully convicted criminal who tells the truth and is put in prison or worse, put to death for crimes he never committed. We want the truth to come out to be believed, you can imagine how badly those people want it to be believed and yet people don't always believe the truth, sometimes the truth sounds to fantastical to be believed and yet it's the truth.
Jesus was telling it plainly but He also knew that there were people who would never see or believe in the truth because they weren't of God at all, they were under another's rule and that other had them totally blinded to the truth.
Just like in a courtroom where a broken, battered victim takes the stand and points a finger at the falsely accused swearing they're the one that hurt them. The witness is believed, the witness even unwittingly is blinding the jurors to the truth. Understandable you say? Anyone would be fooled? It's possible in that scenario but with Jesus the truth is there for all to see if they would just desire to be with God, really desire to be Gods.
John
{8:48} Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
The people he was talking to were quick to turn it around on him, calling him a Samaritan, telling him he had a devil. Oh if only they really knew what they were doing. If only we really understood that even today we fuss over rules and regulations, we fuss over so much, rituals, ordinances, church statement of beliefs, sacraments, we get so caught up in so much that has very little to do with the truth. Not that those things are good in their place but they should never be the end all, Jesus is the beginning and the end of it all, He is the truth.
What did Jesus say to those accusing him of having a devil?
John
{8:49} Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.
{8:50} And I seek not mine own glory there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
{8:51} Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
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Never see death and what death is He talking of? The death that there is no returning from. Even Jesus died. All men die. Never seeing death means that Jesus defeated death at the cross. Death will not be a permanent sleep for those that die in Him, for those who keep His sayings. Death as the ultimate punishment is non-existence, and that death Jesus won the battle over. There is a death that all men face which is a sleep until judgment and then there is a permanent death which isn't something any will ever be woken from, it's being destroyed forever. Realizing these truths are so important. Jesus knew what he was saying then... read on...
John
{8:52} Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
{8:53} Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
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They were amazed and you know the scriptures pointed to a Messiah, to one greater than Abraham and the prophets but there they were not believing any could be greater, and yet those they spoke of as great pointed to one greater. Amazing how blind they were. How blind we can become when we refuse to believe in the truth, to believe in God.
John
{8:54} Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
{8:55} Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
{8:56} Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
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All glory to God! Jesus wasn't tooting his own horn trying to gain attention for himself in honor, not at all. He wasn't shouting and screaming and demanding glory from others, not at all. God honored Jesus, God honored His Son.
John
{8:57} Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
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More confusion. You'd think they'd realize the Messiah would be of such that every word spoken was truth. That the Messiah they longed to come and save them would have to be from God, would have to have such oneness with God.
{8:58} Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
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They couldn't understand. He was a lunatic to them, his words blasphemous, he was crazy to spout such things. They couldn't understand, it was as Jesus said, they didn't want God, not really. They wanted a form of religion that was more selfish than Godly. They followed their true father- the father of lies because the lies suited them so much better than the truth. They could understand lies, but they couldn't understand the truth.
John
{8:59} Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
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How many people today would rather believe lies than Jesus? How many think they follow God but really serve Satan? Too many, way too many.
May God protect us from the lies of Satan, may we seek the truth, find the truth, follow the truth as it is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by His Grace and Mercy forever!
Amen.
10/24/09-
As most of you know I'm a fan of the works C.S. Lewis. The following are quotes from him and my thoughts on the quotes.
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"We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin."
--The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis
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How true. Sins we've commited years ago seem like they've been buried under a thick layer of dirt, put to rest so to speak and no longer bothersome. Debts dead people owe can never be repaid. Sins we've buried don't seem to need any bothering about. Unfortunately that's not how it works at all.
Rom 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death...'
The price to be paid for our sins is death. Each sin warrants death. There is no level of sin in the sense there are sins that don't warrant death. I hear the gasps now. It's true. the wages of sin is death, not the wages of some sins is death. And more consternation rears up because surely a vile torturing murderer should be given more punishment than one who blasphemes God. I fully believe when the wicked are thrown into the lake of fire at the end of all sin to be burned up into everlasting nothingness that each one will suffer according to the severity of their sinfilled acts. And yes, the murderer will get a longer punishment than the person who told white lies. It's wrong to believe that any sin doesn't warrant death. Jesus died an innocent, paying that death penalty for us sinners. There isn't a single person that is sinless, not a single person who doesn't have the need for the sacrifice offered at calvary.
When C.S. Lewis wrote this- "We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin."
--The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis
He was speaking truthfully, a fact that many of us rather not look at.
In the Bible David lusted after another man's wife and committed adultery with her then had her husband killed so he could have her. Talk about guilt! Did David ask for immediate forgiveness? No.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
2Sa 12:11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
2Sa 12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
2Sa 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
2Sa 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
2Sa 12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
2Sa 12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
There ARE NO secrets from God! We can pretend we're hiding things from God, we can pretend we've gotten away with some misdeed. We can believe that the sins committed were done so long ago they no longer matter, but God doesn't believe the same. All sin we commit has been committed in God's sight. There is no hiding it, not one single sin, not one tiny pinprick of sin can be swept under the carpet and kept from the eyes of God. Our mistake is trying to hide it, trying to brush it off as if it doesn't matter. There is no expiration date on sin. A sin committed fifty years ago is still as potent as the sin committed yesterday. The sins still warrant death if they are not repented of.
Psa 32:1 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psa 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Psa 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Psa 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Psa 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Psa 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Psa 51:19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Let us cry out to God as David with a broken and contrite spirit, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with htey free spirit.' 'Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.'
When we pray, let us pray for forgiveness from ALL our sins and if we can't remember them all and it's highly unlikely anyone can, let us acknowledge that failing in ourselves as well. Let us ask for forgiveness for the sins we can't even remember knowing that all sin is worthy of death, all sins have slain the innocent Son of God.
By the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we find forgiveness in Him.
Amen.
10/24/10
10/24/11