His Love Ministries
We spread the gospel to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Episodes
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
LOVE IS AN ACTION
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
1 John 3:18-19 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. John speaks here of love as an action as does 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter and also James and many other places in the Bible. Love never just says, it always is grounded in the truth of the word and results in a love that wants the best for others. When we have this love it gives us assurance that we truly belong to Christ and gives us confidence to come boldly into His presence with our prayers. The whole book of 1 John is a series of tests that are meant to show us we are true believers and how to spot the false professors, or to show us our need of salvation. This is the test of love and the whole Bible is based on a love that God in Christ showed for us. If He did it for us, can we not show it to others? Let us love in word and in action through the truth of Christ.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
John 12:44 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.
45 "And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 "And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 "And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."
Jesus really wants people to be saved. In Luke 19:10 it says "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. “The consequence of rejection is going to bring ultimate condemnation. John 3:17-19 emphasizes the same thing. Jesus the Word comes and people are condemned because they don’t believe it.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
TRUE WISDOM IS ESSENTIAL
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Wednesday Dec 27, 2023
Proverbs 24:3 says Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; If you read to verse 6 you find out that wisdom is essential if we are to live a life that is pleasing to God and is fruitful. All of life is dependent on wise decisions. "The wise man built his house upon a rock," and that Rock is Christ Jesus (cf. Matt.7:24-27; 1 Cor. 10:4). God is the source of wisdom, not the world. A wise person knows that he needs other people in his life to help him make right decisions. We are foolish when we don’t supplement our study of scriptures and every day decisions by first asking God and then when we are not clear on a decision to run it by others also. It is good to have godly friends who have knowledge in areas we don’t and can give wise counsel. Where do you get yours? Proverbs 24:3-6 Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; 4 By knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. 5 A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; 6 For by wise counsel
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
JOHN 12:37-43 FOR THEY LOVED THE PRAISE OF MEN MORE THAN THE PRAISE OF GOD
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
The theme of the whole book John 20:30-31 is that Jesus is God in human flesh because He is God over time, over death, over distance, over nature, over demons, over all creation. It also says all this was done that it might fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah, who said they would hear, but not believe. They would not believe so it came to the place where they could not believe. When God is speaking to your heart you had better listen because He may not ever speak to you again if you continue to reject Him. This prophecy was given when He saw Jesus (God) high and lifted up on the throne in chapter 6. Many believe in Jesus, but are not truly saved because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Who are you seeking to please? Jesus said in Mt 10:32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. Mt 10:33 "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. So whose praise are you looking for; Men’s or God’s?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
WINNING THE BATTLE
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
In 1 John 2:15-17 John says don’t love the world system of evil and wants that are always wanting more. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are the three ways the devil always tempts us. It was done in the garden with Eve, and many other places in the Old Testament. It was attempted with Jesus when He fasted 40 days and nights. He never fell prey to the devil’s temptations but fought them with scripture. He set the example of how we can win the battle with temptation too. We need to memorize scripture and remember who God is and that what He has is way better than the devil’s cheap imitation of satisfaction. The devil’s goodies always leave us wanting more. Let us remember the words of Ephesians 6:10 and following to verse 21. We are to be strong in the Lord and the power of His Might. Stand, withstand, having done all to stand, stand therefore. We don’t need to win the battle, Jesus already has, so stand strong in His power. Amen!
1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Dec 18, 2023
JOHN 12:27-42 BUT FOR THIS PURPOSE I CAME TO THIS HOUR
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Fellowship with Christ throughout eternity is promised here. With Him is the most significant location and relationship. Its not just living in heaven or hell, its living in location in heaven with Him for all eternity that is the benefit. And, it goes on to say, the Father will honor you. Not only will your reward in Christ be to be with Him, but the Father’s going to honor Him who honored His Son.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Dec 13, 2023
BEING THANKFUL FOR WHAT GOD HAS ACCOMPLISHED
Wednesday Dec 13, 2023
Wednesday Dec 13, 2023
As Christians we can thank God for the fact that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and when it was completely paid for, He said in John 18:30 it was finished and died in our place. Let us thank Him each and every day of the year and remember that a debt we could never pay was paid by the only one who could. The Bible says over and over again what was put into a great song, Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white a snow. If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, ask Him to forgive you and save you right now so you too can experience this glorious truth.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
John 12:20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
In today’s teaching we will see that this is the turning point of Jesus away from the Jews. The reason for this turning is some Greeks coming to seek Jesus and this apparently is a signal from His Father that Jesus is to completely turn away from them. They do not realize it but it is over for them and there are no more chances for these Jews (religious people) to trust Christ from now on. Jesus tells them that the way the Son of Man is glorified is that He has to die. This is where the Jews have it all wrong, they think Jesus is to come and be a Magnificent Savior the first time, but He has come to die for the sins of the whole world. The way we are please the Father and become ultimately glorified is through our salvation and becoming like God as we die to ourselves and then we can live for Him. Isn’t it amazing that God has given us seeds as an example of this great truth of dying, so we can really become who we really are made to be in Christ?
What Drives Your Life?
Baptism is a picture of our choice to be buried with death to self and to be raised with Christ as our focal point. That’s the point Jesus is trying to make in this passage, isn’t it?
There are those who are further along that road who understand, “My life is to be a thank you back to Christ. My life is to be a service to Him.” And there are those who are still fairly preoccupied with self.
Where in life and when in life do we stop to ask, “Am I following God?”
I hope God, in His kindness, is patient and longsuffering and merciful with us in that process. But the goal is that we’re serving Him, not ourselves.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.
With wonderful Johannine form and irony He links the previous section where the Pharisees say, “Look, the whole world is going after Him,” with the Greeks seeking Him. So, it’s a wonderful touch to the narrative. They were seeking God, they were seeking Jesus, but they’re not allowed in the temple complex. It’s an historical fact, incontestable, that at the court of Gentiles there were signs posted that a Gentile could not go further lest he face a death penalty. It was very strict in Judaism and the temple complex and even a God-fearing Gentile could not go further than that court of the Gentiles.
Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
If you know your Bible, you know in Romans we have a section where Paul talks about Judaism and the Jew having the Gospel presented and then the door closing and opening to the Gentile. Same issue. And this is a decisive move in His ministry.
If you’ve been with us in the study of John, you have heard when we’ve gone through those text about the hour. He says, “My time is not now, my hour has not yet come, it is not my hour.” Many times He has said this. With His mother at the Wedding at Cana. “It’s not my hour, it’s not My time. This is not the time.” About 10 times before Jesus goes to the cross
But now, verse twenty-four, Jesus said, “The hour’s come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
Let me give you five concepts that the Bible explains what the Son of Man means.
First of all, it means Deity. He equates Himself with God in John chapter 5:25 and John 5:27. Jesus says He’s God in an equation almost. So, its Deity.
Secondly, its royalty. This Son of Man, as the Son of Man, will receive royalty. He will inherit a royal lineage. He is part of royalty. Daniel 7:13 and Matthew twenty-six verses sixty-three to sixty-four speak of this. Jesus makes Himself equivalent in a royal fashion with God. He’s from nobility, we might say. Prince William is of a lineage, okay. Jesus Christ is saying, “I am royalty,” when I say, “Son of Man.”
Thirdly, He speaks of His humanity. John 3:14, John 12:23-24 He speaks of His humanity. As man He will suffer everything man suffers. There’s never been an emotion you’ve felt, a fear you have worried over, a joy you have celebrated, a pain you have experienced that He has not identified with. The incarnate part of Jesus Christ, if we can segment it out, the incarnation means He is fully man. He suffers in every way you’ve ever suffered. He understands that.
Fourthly, it embodies His glory. John 1:51, John 3:13 and others, Jesus declares that He is the only one who has descended from heaven and who will ascend back to heaven; therefore, He’s the only one who can have the glory of God.
And Fifth, and last, as such, He offers salvation. Because He’s the Son of Man, He can offer salvation to men. John 6:27, John 6:53 and 9:35. But the most important note of this, is that every time its used, except one, every time its used, Jesus is the one who uses it.
It’s a self-reference. Jesus is the “Son of Man.” He’s talking about Himself.
In John’s theology, the suffering of Jesus Christ and His glory are fused together. It seems strange, but that’s the way John gives us the picture. It is only through suffering will He be glorified. Think of it this way, as man, Jesus Christ came as a man, He was not accepted as Jesus. He was not accepted as King. He wasn’t followed as God’s Son. He was crucified as a man.
Jesus Christ, center stage, two criminals executed for shameful offenses. Whatever the offenses were, it required a death penalty. And they are ashamed in their exposure and beating and crucifixion. And so here you have framed shame against the ultimate shame which is the ultimate glory. These two deserve, He did not. And in that, He glorifies His Father. It’s the ultimate manifestation of His humility and glorification. Full shame, full glory, in John’s theology.
Now this is the most common title in the New Testament when it speaks of Jesus Christ. “Son of Man.” Greeks are asking to see Jesus at the Passover celebration. Why here? Why now? I think because God wants to show, and John wants to underline, that Jesus really is the king, not just of Israel, but of the “whole world”—here represented by the Gentiles, these foreigners. In verse 19 the Pharisees say, “The whole world has gone after him.” And now even Greeks are going after him.
21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
At His birth, Gentiles came from the east; now at His death, Gentiles come once again. Why does John mention them at this point? Because the King has now been rejected by Israel. The Jews had said, “We want to see a sign!” (Matt. 12:38, NKJV); but the Gentiles said, “We want to see Jesus!”
Does Jesus show himself to them? Physically, we don’t know. John doesn’t say. But this may be for our sake. Because Jesus does show himself to them the same way he shows himself to us.
He speaks truth about himself that becomes a truth about us. This is how Jesus shows himself in power: he gives truth about himself that becomes truth about us.
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
It is the hour of His death, but He calls it the hour of His glory!
Signifies that Jesus has turned from the Jews to the Gentiles, the whole world
John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Here is the truth about me that matters for Greeks—and for all people—who want to see me and know me:] In other words, I am on my way to glory. I really will be something to see. They are right to want to see me. I will pray for this—that they will see my glory (John 17:20). I will be the most glorious person in the universe when my Father raises me from the dead and gives me a name that is above every name so that at my name every knee will bow—including Jews and Greeks and Americans. Yes, they are right to want to see me—and even want to be identified with me.
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a (definite article THE speaking of Jesus) grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
whenever you hear, “truly, truly,” the words Jesus speaks have eternal consequence.
Christ is the grain of wheat that must die before there can be fruit and the world given the opportunity to be saved.
Notice the article in English. You have the little article “a.” It’s a definite article in the original. it is “the grain of,” Jesus says, “of wheat.” He’s talking about Himself. Unless “the” grain of wheat dies, there will be no harvest.
He sees these Greeks as the first fruits, the symbol of the great harvest of earth for which he came.
The world would not see the full outcome of his work and his life until he went to the cross.
My pathway to glory is through death. Do you want to see that? I will indeed bear much fruit—including Greeks. But I will not and I cannot bear this fruit any way but through dying.
That is the truth about Jesus that he reveals to the Greeks—and to us. But now it also becomes a truth about them—and about us. He says in verses 25 and 26: my dying for your salvation is also my design for your imitation.
If you want to see me, be prepared to become like me. Prepare to follow me on the road I am going.
So he says, verse John 12:25,
25 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Then he makes the truth about himself a truth about us. Will we hate our lives in this world? Will we follow him on the path to Calvary? Will we serve the Son in this way? Will we let the truth about the Son of Man become truth about us? Will we identify with the one we are so eager to see?
Paradox of Christianity, Life of Opposites
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live., 18
Ga 5:24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Col 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Ro 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Ro 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ga 2:19 "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
He tells His followers, “You’re going to suffer like I did.” And in fact, we have some indication historically, maybe not Biblically, in the Bible context, but we do have some fairly good history that some of these men died horrible deaths for the cause of Christ. And so there was an immediacy in the prediction of His suffering that, “You, too, will suffer.” But a disciple is to hate his own life. What does that mean?
We’re to hate our life in comparison to our love for Christ. Remember when Jesus says, “If you don’t hate your mother and father, you’re not fit to follow me,” basically.
Does He mean you hate your parents? No, of course not. What He means is, “If your love to me is not such a wholehearted love that it almost looks like you hate your family, its no love at all.” The love that you have for Jesus Christ should be so overwhelming that it looks like everything else is unimportant to you. And if you love your life, you’re going to miss - if you love your things more than anything else, you will miss Him.
Two things become unmistakably clear. One is that this is hard. And the other is that this is glorious or about significance
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
THAT WHICH WAS FROM THE BEGINNING
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
1 John 1:1-2 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. These verses say this one from the beginning is a Real Person, and he has been seen and heard and handled. In other words, Christian faith rests upon the great facts of the life and acts of the God Man in history. The Apostle Paul stresses this a lot in his writings. Our Christian faith does not rest simply on ideas, or doctrinal statements. That is why becoming a Christian is not simply a matter of joining a church, or believing a certain creed, or signing a doctrinal statement. That has nothing to do with becoming a Christian. John points out that becoming a Christian is to be related to a Person. This is the point to which all objections to Christianity are ultimately directed, and attempt to destroy this basis of fact. The forces which seek to overthrow Christian faith today try to undermine our confidence in the facts of Scripture, these great historical truths about a Person who appeared in time.
Jesus is both the messenger and the message. The message and the messenger are identical. He is the one that IS and gives us eternal life. He has always existed and came down to be shown to us so that we might know who God is.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
John 12:9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. 12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" 14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt." 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. 17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
In this section of Scripture we will see that many of the Jews came to see Him and also Lazarus because he was no longer dead, but alive and well. The chief priests not only want to kill him, but Lazarus also. When Jesus comes riding into town on a donkey’s colt as Zechariah 9:9 predicts. Also Daniel 9:25-27 predicts the exact day He will do this. The people do not understand, they are quoting the wrong verses, it says in verse 12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" They are quoting Psalms 118:25-26 which is a verse that speaks of Jesus’s second coming, not His first coming. The first time Jesus comes it is to die on the cross, the second time He comes as a conquering King. They want a political Messiah, a conqueror who will deliver them from Roman rule, not save their souls. I think that is like us so many times, we want a Jesus who will deliver us from trouble, but not one who will deliver us from sin.
The curiosity of the people.
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. Says this three times
There they are again, the Jesus watchers, same ones. Back in verse 55 of chapter 11 doing the same thing. Where is He? Oh let's see Him. That's where it's at, Jesus always provides so much entertainment at the Passover and they wanted to see Jesus and they wanted to see Lazarus, this guy who was raised from the dead. Curiosity. Thrill-seekers, sensation-seekers, careless, indifferent, could care less really about the person of Christ, they just swung with the crowd, the mood of the mob just carried them whichever direction.
The vast majority of people who attend churches in America today are Jesus watchers and nothing else. They're spectators. They don't hate Him, they're not hostile Judases and they don't love Him, they're not Mary’s. They're watchers and they sit there and look. And it's a sad thing because the crowd that sits and watches became the crowd that crucified Him.
In Acts chapter 3, this kind of a crowd is designated to us by an illustration. In Acts chapter 3 verse 6 Peter says to this particular man who was lame, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he did and he was leaping and praising God, you know, and it was really exciting, all the things that he was doing. And then you come to verse 14 of chapter 4 and you read an astounding statement. Now the man is jumping around and having a great time and the people are there and they see him. It says in verse 14 of chapter 4, "And beholding the man that was healed standing with them, they could say nothing... against it." Now isn't that interesting? What did they want to say? They wanted to say something...what?...against it. You see, they didn't want to believe. They never wanted to believe. Even when they watched, they were only looking for some way to disprove it. You see the negative of it. They saw that the guy jumping around leaping for joy who had been lame and they said, "Um, now how can we say something against that?" see. That's looking at it with the evil eye.
They really like Him." Yeah, well you want to meet them again? Look at them in chapter 19 verse 14, it says this, "And it was the preparation of the Passover about the sixth hour and he saith unto the Jews...Pilate says...Behold your king. And they cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him.' Pilate saith unto them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priest answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" Hypocrites. They hated Caesar. But you see the same crowd watched Him, threw palms at His feet, crucified Him. The mood of the mob. The Jesus watchers. They don't have any thoughts of their own; they just sway along with whichever way the theology goes, knowing nothing. And the tragic comment on them is in Matthew 27:36, they all gathered around the cross and you know what it says? It says this, pathetic, "And sitting down they watched Him there." Still doing the same thing.
Don't just sit there and watch Jesus. That's deadly. Receive Him into your life.
The cruelty of the priests
10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,
The leaders are really in trouble now. I mean, they've got a live man who used to be dead roaming around and he's gathering crowds to Jesus.
Number one, they were threatened politically because, you see, if all these people gathered around Jesus, they might start an insurrection and then the Romans would come down and squash it. Go back to verse 48 of chapter 11. If we let this thing go, they say, all men will believe on Him and the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation. They were afraid that Jesus might get a revolution going and Rome would crush it and throw them all out.
TWO, They were really threatened theologically because......the Sadducees had for years been teaching there was no such thing as resurrection. And here they've got to contend with a guy who resurrected. They were on theological thin ice, friends. I mean, they had been propagating their doctrine of no resurrection and here's a guy who has come back from the dead. So they've got one choice, destroy the evidence.
In these verses, we see the hatred and the love reaching a climax. They're the categories of reactions to Jesus. You can react like Martha and Mary; you can serve Him and love Him. And is it exciting! You can serve Him and love Him. Or you can react like Judas did and just live for materialism, maybe once in a while look to religion and be hypocritical. But it's all a Judas kiss. Or maybe you'd just rather be indifferent, just kind of stand in the back and just kind of look at it all, and that's just as tragic as anything. Or maybe you've even gone so far as to be like those false leaders, you're a false teacher teaching lies and defending yourself by destroying the evidence.
Where are you? You're already somewhere, you've already made a choice. Maybe you can still make another one and choose Christ and remember, Mt 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Those who enthusiastically welcome Jesus to Jerusalem as the “King of Israel” are some of the same people who, in a week’s time, will be crying out, “We have no king, but Caesar!” (John 19:15). Those who cry out, “Hosanna!” (Save now!) in our text, will be shouting, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”
11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
Lu 16:31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"
Five Days Before the Cross
12 ¶ The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Now by the time we come to verse 12, it's morning on the next day. During the middle of the night Judas has already plotted with the leaders of Israel to betray Jesus. It's only now a matter of finding the right moment at which time Judas can betray Christ into their hands, point Him out, tell them where He is so they can capture Him. But Jesus is not a hunted criminal. Jesus is neither at the mercy of Judas, nor at the mercy of the leaders who want to kill Him. Jesus is no criminal to be subjected to a plot, He is in absolute control of everything that's going on.
Now He knew it was time to die. The time had come not when the world decided He would die, but when He decided it was time to die. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, had not wanted Christ to be crucified during the Passover time because they did not want unnecessarily to stir up the multitude of people that would have been present. They would much rather have waited till after the Passover when it was a little quieter and that way handle Jesus. But Jesus did it in His own time and forced the whole issue, brought about the whole thing in order that it might happen exactly on the Passover day, fitting that when all the other lambs were being sacrificed, the One true Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world would be sacrificed on the very same day that all the rest of the sacrifices were going on. So Jesus was not at the mercy of the plots of men, but rather was bringing about the forcing of the issue of His own death so that it would happen on a day when He planned it and God planned it before the world began, not when the Jewish leaders decided it would happen.
You remember that prior to this time Jesus did not allow Himself to get put into the position where He could die. He avoided very, very strategically the forcing of His death and He did it basically three ways. First way that He avoided death was by avoiding a public display unnecessarily. For example, in Matthew chapter 12 verse 14, "Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against Him how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew Himself from there and great multitudes followed Him and He healed them all and then charged them that they should not make Him known." In other words, one way that He tried to eliminate the confrontation before the right hour, the right time, was to tell people not to say anything or to avoid public display. He went outside the city and did His miracles. And also, I think, is important in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, the twentieth verse gives us a little bit of the same idea. Matthew 16:20 says, "Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ."
So first of all, He avoided the issue by avoiding public display unnecessarily. Second way that He avoided the issue was just by escaping out of their hands. Back in chapter 6 it tells us in verse 15, John's gospel, "When Jesus therefore perceived they would come and take Him by force to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone." He just disappeared. Then later on a same thing happened in the eighth chapter in the fifty-ninth verse, "They took stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed by." Second way that He avoided the issue was to just directly move right through the crowd and they didn't even know where He went. Miraculous.
The third way, and this perhaps the most interesting of all, the third way that He avoided the confrontation before the right hour was by restricting the ability of His enemies to lay their hands on Him. They couldn't move. They couldn't take Him. They were restricted from doing it. Perhaps the classic example being in chapter 7 when the Jewish leaders sent the temple police to get Him and they couldn't lay their hands on Him, they came back dumbfounded. And all they could say was, "Never a man spoke like that man." And Jesus again and again restricted them from being able to get Him.
So you see at least those three ways Jesus was waiting for the right hour, the right day and the right moment in which He would die, all according to a divine timetable mapped out and planned before the world began. And no plot or plan of man would alter that. And now it was the hour and now it was the time. He is soon to die for the sins of the world at the hands of the world, a strange kind of paradox. And He's going to die on His own time schedule, not theirs.
He deliberately plans and masterminds a demonstration. And as you begin to read through all of the four gospels which record this, you find how Jesus had this demonstration all mapped out. He deliberately presents Himself to Israel for the final time as Messiah. And what Israel had done in rejecting Him up to this point is now crystalized into a kind of permanency because what they do with Him now seals it. And in a last great move, He presents Himself as Messiah to Israel and their final act of rejection just crystalizes all the previous rejections.
Now He knows that the massive demonstration with all of the hosannas being thrown at Him, and all of the people singing the words from the Hallel, Psalm 118, is going just to infuriate the Jewish leaders and He knows it's going to cause them to desire to kill Him more than ever and that's exactly what He wants. He wants to bring their hatred to its own head because it's now time to die. And so here Jesus forces the Sanhedrin to change their timetable and execute Him right in the middle of the Passover, even on the very day of the Passover, contrary to what they had originally desired.
Even in the foolishness and the evil of man, God has the initiative. Like the Old Testament says when God was speaking, He said, "You meant it for evil, but I meant it for good." See. God can actually take the plans of men full of hatred, full of Satan, full of sin and move them for His own glory and honor, the greatest illustration being the cross and all of these events that we're talking about. For example, you have His words in the tenth chapter of John, profound beyond our grasp, where He says in verse 17, "Therefore doth My Father love Me because I lay down My life." Did you get that? Then in verse 18, "No man...what?...taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." And then over later on in the nineteenth chapter of John, in the tenth verse, "Then saith Pilate unto Him...poor misguided Pilate, a wretched character...Pilate saith unto Him, 'Speakest Thou not unto me?'" In other words, Jesus had the audacity not to answer Pilate. "Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee and have power to release Thee?" And Jesus gives him a devastating answer saying, "Thou couldest have no power at all against Me except it were given thee from above." Somehow the heinous sin and hate of a depraved man operates within the framework of a sovereign God. Jesus with the Father master planned His own death to coordinate with the hatred of men. And now it was time to make His move, calculate it, lay it out, planned in eternity past.
This was a tearful entry by Jesus, not a triumphal entry
13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"
They grab palm branches which are always the sign of a conqueror. They're the sign, the symbol of strength, no stronger branch than that palm branch, the symbol of strength and the symbol of salvation, the great salvation that a conqueror brings, one who is coming to save the nation,
Used on this occasion they probably signaled popular belief that Israel's Messiah had appeared
Re 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
Jesus does not back off from these Hosannas, He accepts them because they are legitimate, they are justified. He is indeed the King of Israel who cometh in the name of the Lord. He is indeed the only Savior. And He is presenting Himself as Messiah. This is His last great presentation and, in fact, He's introducing them to a Messiah in a completely different way than they anticipated because they were anticipating purely a political Messiah. They were thinking, "Oh, here He comes and at last our political Messiah, He's going to...He's going to throw the yoke of Rome off of us and here we go and we're off and running, national freedom," and all of this. But Jesus even tries to show them that He's not a political Messiah by the way He enters the city, riding on the foal of an ass, the most humble kind of animal, an animal historically had been used as a symbol of peace. He is, in effect, saying, "I'm not your great war hero, I'm the prince of peace," but they don't get the message. He comes as a prince of peace, not to make war but to die. And so He rides into the city and they hail Him.
The words, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," are directly out of Psalm 118, the Hallel, Verse 26, the last of the Hallel Psalms, the praise Psalms. Jews sung them all the time. They still do. And 118 is called "the conqueror's Psalm." So they know this is their conquering Messiah. They are singing the Hallel. They are reciting the words of the conqueror's Psalm while He, in posture, is fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
John 1:49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
Revelation 19:11, it says, this, "Behold a white horse and He who sat on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness He judges and makes war."
Hallel being the Psalms 113 through 118 and those are the Psalms that praise God, Hallel from which we get the word hallelujah which is praise. And the 118thPsalm out of the Hallel Psalms, incidentally, every Hebrew boy when he was just a child learned the Hallel, it was so much a part of Jewish life, but the 118thPsalm was the conqueror's Psalm. It was the one that was sung when Simon Maccabaeus came back during the inter-testamental period, the 400 years between the Old and the New Testaments. Simon Maccabaeus had conquered the Syrians and shattered their dominion over the portion called Acra. And when he came back to Jerusalem they call cried out and sung to him Psalm 118. So it was the conqueror's Psalm.
Also, Psalm 118 is a messianic Psalm because it is in that Psalm that it says, "The stone which the builders rejected," talks about that and that's Christ, isn't it? So it's the messianic...they're singing the right Psalm,
John gives us in this text the two greatest proofs of the Messiahship of Jesus Christ and they're woven right into the very historical account.
There are many ways to prove the Bible is the Word of God. We talk about a lot of them. We talk about experience. We talk about science. We talk about a lot of things, archeology. The two greatest proofs that the Bible is the inspired Word of God are, number one, fulfilled prophecy and number two, miracles. They are the two supreme proofs, the greatest fulfilled prophecy, the second, miracles. Since those are the two greatest proofs of the truth of the Word of God, they are also the two greatest proofs of the truth of the Messiah of God. So what we have here in the presentation of Christ is an emphasis on number one, fulfilled prophecy, and number two, miracles. And by those two emphases John is declaring to the world, "This is Messiah, the Christ of God and it can be verified by His fulfilling of prophecy, and His ability to do miracles." Those are the two classic supreme proofs of deity Messiahship. So we want to see two proofs that verify the claims of Christ: number one, the words of prophecy; number two, the works of power. And that's the outline, just two points...the words of prophecy and the works of power together prove Jesus to be Messiah.
It must have been a massive mob, there's no way to really calculate except there's one account in history around this period when a census was taken in Jerusalem at Passover and when that census, the number of lambs slain at the Passover feast was 256 thousand, five hundred. That's a lot of lambs. That's over a quarter of a million lambs slain at Passover. Now the law of the Passover lamb said that there had to be a minimum...a minimum of ten people per lamb which would make the population of Jerusalem in a conservative figure during Passover somewhere around two million, seven-hundred thousand people. Now that's a massive amount of people and it was spilling out all over the place
And so they cry, and notice what they cry...one word, what is it? "Hosanna," that word means this, it means two words in English, "Save now," that's what it means. This is not a praise nearly as much as it is a prayer. They are saying to Jesus, "O great conqueror, King of Israel, save now," and they're not talking about spiritual salvation, they're talking about political revolution. "Save now," a prayer for deliverance, "Hosanna, save now." Matthew adds that they even called Him "Son of David" so they knew He had the messianic right to be the King. They knew a lot about Jesus. They knew He had the right to be the King, they called Him King. They knew He came from the Lord, "He that cometh in the name of the Lord," they believed...perhaps we ought to say they believed He came from the Lord. It looked like their Messiah had arrived politically.
It's a joyous occasion, the Messiah has arrived. That's their feeling. God's anointed is here. David's heir is here. Anybody who could raise the dead can handle the Romans. At last we're going to see revolution. Messiah is going to lead a great conquering victory over the Romans. And so all of this massive demonstration takes place while the people in their brain have the idea that Jesus is arriving as a political revolutionary, that the Messiah is going to lead a revolt on a political level. And it's all keyed on the fact that He raised Lazarus from the dead, a monumental miracle. And as we saw last week, when He enters the city He fulfills messianic prophecy, indeed He is the Messiah, just not the Messiah they thought He was. Zechariah said He would ride the foal of an ass, a colt, and that's exactly what He was riding.
Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. said when He arrived the gathering of the people would be to Him and He arrived and sure enough the gathering of the people was to Him, just exactly as the book of Genesis said.
Ge 49:4. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, till Shiloh come, Ge 49:10. Jacob here foresees and foretells,
(1.) That the scepter should come into the tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family the crown was entailed.
(2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe--his seed, that promised seed, in whom the earth should be blessed: that peaceable and prosperous one, or the Savior, so others translate it, he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob, at a great distance, saw Christ's day, and it was his comfort and support on his death-bed.
(3.) That after the coming of the scepter into the tribe of Judah it should continue in that tribe, at least a government of their own, till the coming of the Messiah, in whom, as the king of the church, and the great high priest, it was fit that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine. Till the captivity, all along from David's time, the scepter was in Judah, and subsequently the governors of Judea were of that tribe, or of the Levites that adhered to it (which was equivalent), till Judea became a province of the Roman empire, just at the time of our Savior’s birth, and was at that time taxed as one of the provinces, Lu 2:1. And at the time of his death the Jews expressly owned, We have no king but Caesar. Hence it is undeniably inferred against the Jews that our Lord Jesus is he that should come, and that we are to look for no other; for he came exactly at the time appointed. Many excellent pens have been admirable well employed in explaining and illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ.
Daniel 9:24-27 said that exactly 483 years from the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. Jesus would enter into Jerusalem, and exactly 483 years to the very day on the 360thday of the 483rdyear, and you remember the Jewish calendar was 360-day years, on the very day Jesus entered Jerusalem, that was the very day that Daniel 9:24-27 had prophesied 483 years from the decree of Artaxerxes. THE day, the sixth of April, 32 A.D. when Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem was exactly 173 thousand, 880 days from the decree of Artaxerxes, you divide that up, that equals exactly 483 years of 360 days each, to the very day. If you want to read about it, Sir Robert Anderson, his book The Coming Prince, he marshals all the proofs that Jesus came into Jerusalem exactly on the 360thday of the 483rdyear of that prophecy. So Jesus when He entered into the city fulfilled to the very letter the messianic prophecies regarding the arrival of God's anointed. And the people were sure that the kind of power that Jesus displayed could only be displayed by one from God. And they felt this must be our Messiah, even though Jesus tried to illustrate something to them by riding on this colt of a donkey, rather than on a white horse, He was not coming as a warrior, He was coming as a prince of peace. But they didn't get the illustration, they didn't understand it, not even the disciples understood it. And they continued to hail Him as a conquering hero who was going to be the political ruler who would overthrow Rome and oppression and set up the great Kingdom through which the Jews would rule the world.
Luke 19:39, just listen to this, some of the Pharisees from among the multitude, really shook up, so they say, "Master, rebuke Your disciples...stop all this nonsense, see, don't let them hail You like this. Tell them to be quiet." Oh, they don't like it a bit. Oh I love the answer of Jesus...oh, powerful. "He answered and said unto them," and I'm sure He had to say it loud because everybody was yelling. "I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Oh don't you like that? I mean, this is the day to hail the King, friend, and if you shut the mouths, the rocks will shout. This is God's day.
Lu 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 "and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
It was Titus Vespasian who came and leveled the city and murdered one-million-one-hundred-thousand Jews. And Daniel 9:26 even prophesied that, doesn't it?
But when Jesus came, in fulfillment of the prophecies that he would come as King, he was not riding on a war horse but on a donkey, a symbol of peace. His only scepter was a broken reed, his only crown a crown of thorns, his only throne a bloody cross. This whole scene is telling us that outward appearance means nothing to God when the heart is defiled and unyielded to him.
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these
things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. .
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL GREAT AND MIGHTY THINGS
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Hi, this is Marty McKenzie with His Love Ministries. There are many people standing in line to do the “great and mighty things” of this world, while countless “little things” for His Kingdom go undone. What you do for “the least of these” may seem a little thing, but it will likely go undone unless you do it. What an opportunity God has given us to make a difference for eternity. Wow, how true that is. Are you waiting in line, or are you willing to be like Jesus who humbled Himself and made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a servant. Are you willing to do anything God asks you to do?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Monday Nov 27, 2023
In This message we will see Mary and Jesus rebuked by Judas and the disciples for her anointing the feet of Jesus for His burial. Judas speaks for the first time in the Scriptures and shows his true nature. He pretends to care for the poor, but God through the pen of John tells us this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. Here we see Jesus tells them you need to get your priorities in order because I always come first in everything. Mark 12:30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. Have you given Jesus first place in your life today? If not, why not?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
REFLECTING GOD’S GREATNESS AND HOLINESS
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
David expresses his trust in God several times in this Psalm and also asks that he not be ashamed. He truly trusts in God as he says and has gone public in affirming his trust in the Lord. If the Lord lets him down and his enemies triumph over him not only will his honor, but the Lord’s honor will be at stake. So what David is saying is don’t let me be ashamed because if I am, your name is going to be dishonored too. Do we feel the same way about the Lord and His honor and name? Everything a Christian does reflects on who God is and what He stands for. So, let us make sure the way we live and when we make decisions that these reflect how great and holy our God is.
Psalm 25:20 Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
We are looking at a passage today that is very familiar to us, but as always we need to make sure we don’t think that we know it all, none of us do. Jesus is down to the last week of His life and He is having supper with Lazarus and the sisters Mary and Martha. Martha is serving as usual and Lazarus is being honored by being at the table after having been raised from the dead. The keystone of this passage is Mary takes a very costly perfume, breaks the bottle and pours it all out on Jesus and wipes His feet with her hair. First of all, she gave her best and greatest gift when she poured out her costly perfume, probably worth $20,000 - $25,000 at our rate of exchange today. Also, this was her whole wealth and all her savings she had in this world. Then, she also used her hair which speaks of a woman’s glory. She humbled herself and anointed Jesus for His burial with her perfume and her hair. How about you, are you giving Jesus your best and your all?
John 12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
GOD’S LEADING
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Psalm 119:104-105 says Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore, I hate every false way. Thy word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet. It has been said if we walk in the light that we do know, the light being the will of God, then God will show us how and where to make the next step in His will. It is impossible to steer a stopped car and so it is with our lives. When we move in the direction we are led by God, then He can steer us in the right direction. Let’s take that first step and see where God takes us because God does not need our ability, He wants our availability.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Monday Nov 13, 2023
In this section of Scripture we see the result of the Pharisee’s hatred for Jesus. He has raised Lazarus from the dead and instead of them being happy for Lazarus and excited about what Jesus had done, they decide that this is the last straw and they want to kill him for all His miracles. It is amazing how people will react when their authority, prestige and power are threatened. These Pharisees cannot let Jesus take these away from them. They have to be the great and mighty Pharisees. We see some believe, but they are like those in Chapter 6 who after being fed with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread go looking for Jesus again the next day and Jesus says to them you are not looking for me for the right reason, you just want more food. They like Jesus as long as He heals them, or feeds them, or satisfies some need they have, just like most of us today. We like that Jesus, but we don’t like the Jesus of the Bible, Him you can keep. We like His miracles; we just don’t like His message. Just like they decide to kill Him, many today want to wipe out all remnants of Jesus in our society. They don’t want to hear that name or even the name of God which is who Jesus is.
John 11:45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 "If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation." 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, 50 "nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish." 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. 53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples. 55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think--that He will not come to the feast?" 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him. (NKJV)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
DIVINE GUIDANCE
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Psalm 25:5 says Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. David knew he needed divine guidance and instruction to be able to walk in righteousness before the Lord, but needed help in knowing exactly what to do. Every day is a new day and opportunity to walk worthy of the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we seek His guidance as David did before we start and as we go about our day? Because we all need it, let us remember that.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Nov 06, 2023
Monday Nov 06, 2023
John 11:36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" 37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
Today we will see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. Even though he has been dead four days, it is not too late. Did you know that it is never too late for Jesus to do His work, when we give up and give in we have missed God’s best, because He wants us to trust Him in Faith. Jesus tells them they will see God’s Glory, that was the message all along, but they missed it and many times so do we. We are looking for a way out and God wants to show us His Glory. Jesus allows them to participate by removing the stone and removing Lazarus’s grave clothes. God wants us to serve Him and gives us the privilege of helping Him if we will only be obedient. Jesus prays and calls forth Lazarus to come forth. Lazarus is a picture of us who are dead in our trespasses and sins and unless God calls us out of that life, we will continue to be spiritually dead forever. Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That is what Jesus did for Lazarus and is what He will do for us if we will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Have you done that? If not, why not do it today?
36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"
All of this is to let us know that our Lord is greatly affected by the sorrow of those about Him. He does not dab away at a tear or two; He visibly trembles as He weeps. This is observed by those there at the burial place of Lazarus, along with Mary, and they say to each other, “Look how much he loved him” (verse 26). This is now the third time that mention has been made of our Lord’s love for Lazarus. The first is when Martha and Mary remind Jesus of His love for Lazarus, when they send word to Him of the illness of their brother (verse 3). The second is in verse 5, when John makes it clear with the strongest term for love (agaph) that Jesus deeply loved Lazarus, and his two sisters (verse 5). Now, those standing by Mary can see our Lord’s love for Lazarus themselves (verse 36).
37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"
Men say, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” The Christian can say far more: “Where there’s death, there’s hope.” In fact, this is not even going quite far enough. It is not enough to say that God gives life to us in Christ in spite of death. It is far more accurate to say that God gives eternal life to men in Christ by means of death. It is by means of His death on the cross of Calvary that the penalty for our sins has been paid.
(Ephesians 2:1-10).
I am saying that it really was necessary for Lazarus to die here, so that true biblical faith can be produced in many. It was necessary for all hope of Lazarus’s human recovery to die with him, so that the resurrection power of our Lord can be demonstrated. This is no mere healing; it is a raising of a body so dead that it smells.
One of the greatest hindrances to spiritual renewal is that people refuse to die, or better yet, they refuse to admit they are dead. Too many Christians are trying to wring something good for God out of their fallen flesh, as though their bodies were weak, needing only a little divine help. We are dead with respect to any good works. It is His resurrection power which we all need to live the Christian life:
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:8-11).
You may have a marriage that is in trouble. Rather than looking at it as sick, perhaps you should look at it as dead. I do not mean that you should pronounce it dead and get a divorce; I mean that you should see that it is humanly impossible to save, and that God must give it resurrection life. Biblical faith is resurrection faith, it is trusting in a God who can produce life where there is only death. This is what we are told about Abraham’s faith:
15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either. 16 On account of this it is by faith, that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham (who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) before God whom he believed, who makes alive the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 23 But it is not written that it was credited to him only for Abraham’s sake, 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was given over
Biblical faith is resurrection faith, faith which trusts in a God who is able to raise the dead. How many Christians are trying to “keep something alive” that God has declared to be dead? We do not live by the principle, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” We live by the kind of faith which believes that God brings about life through death. Let us not strive to keep alive what should be laid to rest. Let us not strive to preserve life when God means to produce it. It all begins when we acknowledge, with God, that we are sinners who are dead in our trespasses and sins. We must cease striving to produce “dead works,” which we hope will please God, and confess that our finest deeds produced by fleshly efforts are an offense to God. Death is not the end of our hope, but its starting point. It is by means of the death of our Lord that we die to the guilt, penalty, and power of our sins. When we trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, we acknowledge our own sin and inability to save ourselves. Because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification (Romans 4:15-25).
John 12:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
No one could be on more intimate terms with God the Father than was Jesus, His Son. And yet no one has ever suffered more than the Son of God, and this (ultimately) at the hand of His Father. Suffering is a part of God’s “school” through which every saint must pass, even our Lord:
7 During his earthly life he offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. 9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 and he was designated by God as “high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-10).
Suffering is proof of our sonship: Hebrews 12:3-13
2Ti 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
When God sends suffering our way, it comes for His glory, as well as our good; it springs from His love for us; it comes from One who Himself suffers with us in our suffering. The tears of our Lord at the grave of Lazarus tell it all. Suffering does not come to the saint from a callused God, who is insensitive to our pains. Suffering comes from Him who has suffered more than we shall ever know, from the hand of One who is touched by our affliction. The verse, “Jesus wept,” may be short, but it is very significant. It is worthy of much meditation on our part. Let us remember that all the blessings into which we have entered as Christians have come as the result of His suffering:
Isaiah 53:1-12
Trust God's will, trust God's power, trust God's timing...you trust those three things and you're a trusting soul. God knows what He's doing. And He knows when to do it. And it's so easy to sit back and say, "Well, God has gone so far now," you're really messed up, "You're not going to be able to do anything about it now." And you start wavering into doubt. I like what it says in John 13:7. Peter, he was always asking questions. The Lord was always telling him, you know, to remember his place. Verse 7, "Jesus answered and said unto him," after he had asked a particular question about washing feet, "Jesus said,, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
As the great God-man, he had deep, strong emotions that always accorded perfectly with every situation. And this revelation, too, is an act of love. Even anger at unbelief and suspicion and questioning is an act of love. Because these are the very things that keep us from seeing the glory of Christ in our pain.
39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." Dead men don’t have names, When He is raised he has a name.
40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"
Mary is a picture I think of those of us who always think there is something we can do, to get to heaven, to fix things, to help God, but Mary is one who comes to Jesus and gets at His feet and knows that only Jesus can do something.
True Faith relies on God’s promises and releases God’s power
Here's the key thought. "Jesus saith unto her," Jesus talking to Martha, "Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Now you remember that I told you last time that that statement is the statement of principle. In other words, He's saying this, "If you want to see the most out of this miracle and see it in its true value, you've got to come to the miracle in the right frame of mind." Right? If you come to the miracle believing that it's going to manifest God's glory, then when it happens you're going to say, "Oh look, there's God's glory." If you come to the miracle preoccupied with a corpse, all you're going to see is a living corpse and you won't really reflect on the glory of God. If you come to the miracle blinded, totally unbelieving hardened heart, you're going to walk away, "And so I don't know what happened but obviously it didn't happen like it looked."
This is absolutely fundamental to the main purpose of this Gospel—and the whole Bible. In John 1:14–16, John writes, “The Word [the eternal Son of God] became flesh [became human] and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Then in verse 16, he relates the demonstration of that divine glory to us. Verse 16: “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” So the pattern is this: Jesus reveals his divine glory—glory as of the only Son from the Father—and we behold it, and from its fullness we receive grace.
So the incarnate revealing of the glory of God in Christ, climaxing with the cross and the resurrection, and our seeing it is the way we receive grace—that is, the way we are saved and receive all the promises of eternal life.
Christ says, "In this miracle, Martha, I don't want you to see a corpse made alive, I want you to see the Son of God glorified." Do you see the difference? The difference is just this, if you keep your eyes on the corpse, when the corpse comes alive all you're going to see is a living body. If you keep your eyes on Me, when the corpse comes alive all you're going to see is My glory. Do you see the difference? You see, what you carry into the miracle, Martha, is what you're going to get out of it. That's exactly what He's saying.
Oh, this is a tremendous principle. And He says I want you to see the glory of God. Now the glory of God is everything, isn't it? Everything that is, is what it is because of the glory of God. That's the theme of the universe, the glory of God. Everything is for God's glory...everything.
"What is the glory of God?" The glory of God is the revelation of all of His excellencies ... all of His attributes, all the fullness of His person. For example, His glory takes many, many facets. Moses said in Exodus 33:18 "Show me Your glory." And what did God show him? His goodness, His grace and His mercy. See. Those are just three of God's attributes. All of God's attributes or excellencies make up His glory.
Did you know that resurrection life was one of the attributes of God's glory? In Romans 6, listen to this, tremendous truth, verse 4, "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death," that's speaking of our death with Christ, we died with Him. Now watch this, "As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life." What raised Christ from the dead? The glory of the Father. What is the glory of the Father? That manifestation of it in resurrection power. One of the excellencies, one of the manifestations of God's glory is resurrection power. Therefore, Jesus says this miracle is for you to see the manifestation of God's glory in resurrection power. "Martha, I'm not so concerned that you be preoccupied with Lazarus. I want you to be preoccupied with Me and My glory."
If Martha sets her heart on Christ and then the miracle happens, she's going to see a glorified Christ. Right? That's the key.
But you know what happens to the Christian who keeps his eyes on Jesus Christ? When the solution comes, what does he see? He sees the glory of Jesus Christ. And you know, every time a problem's answered, you say, "Hey, praise the Lord, this is terrific." See. It's terrific. I've seen the glory of God.
Second Corinthians 3:18, it's a key verse. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all with unveiled faith," since we've been saved the veil is off, we can see it now, "beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord." What are we supposed to be looking at in our Christian lives, our problems? No, no, no, we're looking into the glory of the Lord. And what happens to us? We are, listen to this one, terrific, changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. You know what that verse is saying? That's saying that when you gaze into the face of Jesus Christ, you're going to see His glory. And not only that, you are literally going to be changed into His image from glory to glory. His glory is going to become your glory. You're going to be Christ-like and actually giving off His attributes.
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
His prayer was not a request for Lazarus' resurrection. Such a prayer would have glorified the Father. It was rather a prayer of thanksgiving for what the Father would shortly do. It had the effect of focusing attention on the Son as God's agent in
performing the miracle. Jesus' prayer had the effect also of drawing the onlookers into His intimate relationship with the Father and proving that He really did do nothing independently of the Father (cf. 5:19-47).
42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."
42 times Jesus says He has been sent by the Father in the Book of John
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"
Lazarus was dead and he is a picture of us being spiritually dead, just as he could not do anything until Christ called him out, neither can we do anything to achieve holiness or heaven. Eph 2 – We are Spiritually dead
1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
The dead heard the voice of the Son of God and lived, as Jesus had predicted (5:25, 28-29). If Jesus had not specified Lazarus by name, every dead person might have arisen at His command. Jesus probably cried out loudly to make clear that this resurrection was not an act of magic. Wizards typically muttered their incantations and spells quietly cf. Isa 8:19 And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?)
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
SYMBOLS OF BLESSING
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Exodus 25:30 "And you shall set the showbread, the"bread of the Presence" on the table before Me always. These loaves were laid in the tabernacle in God’s presence for 7 days. They were changed out every week and were not laid there as a sacrifice to God for Him to eat as the idol worshipping people did for their so called gods. This represented several things: First it was symbolic of Israel’s calling from God as His people. It was symbolic of Jesus the Messiah’s bread of life presence with them as one who sustains them. Third it was to represent their continual thanksgiving for all of the blessings of God they received each and every day. It also was a symbol of God’s providing and that Israel was supposed to be a source of spiritual food for the world. These things hold true for us today, we (if we know Christ) are His tabernacle and we ought to remember as they did, all these great things that God is and has done for us.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
John 11:26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." 28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 ¶ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"
In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has just told Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life. Then He asks a very important question. He says do you believe whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die? Then she makes a great confession of who He is. She gives Him three titles; He is the Lord, the Christ, and the Son of God. First she says He is the Master and King over everything, He is Lord; and then she says He is the Messiah, the Anointed One, and then lastly the Son of God which speaks of His humanity. He is all God and all man, that is what the Bible teaches. We then see her go get her sister Mary and then she falls at Jesus’s feet and says that if only statement. If only, we need to realize that the if only’s do not matter in God’s economy. Then the famous statement of Jesus weeping over the effects of sin and death that have come into this world, even though they accomplish the purposes of God. We need to remember that God uses all things to accomplish His purposes, even the bad things are being used to bring it all to the place where it all turns out just like He said it would in His Word, the Bible.
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL WE NEED TO ASK GOD TO HELP US SEE THE WORLD LIKE JESUS SEES IT
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Matthew 14:14 says And He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. We need to ask God to help us see the world as Jesus sees it. There must be a radical difference between what He sees and what we see because we don't act like He did. What He saw produced compassion in Him. Sick, lost, hungry and homeless people ... these were not just things to be avoided. These were real people with real needs. Jesus always gave….His time, His power, His wisdom ... and ultimately He gave His life. What is your response? Are you willing to give like Jesus?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Monday Oct 23, 2023
John 11:16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
I believe this is a declaration of strong devotion to Jesus.
He did not understand that the death that Jesus would die was a death that His disciples could not participate in with Him (cf. 1:29, 36). Nevertheless he spoke better than he knew. John probably recorded his exhortation because it was a call to disciples to take up their cross and follow Jesus (cf. 12:25; Mark 8:34; 2 Cor. 4:10).
This whole Gospel is built around revelations of the glory of God in Jesus. And what we saw last week is this new emphasis that this is the way Jesus loves us. He does not mainly love us in this life by sparing us suffering and death. He mainly loves us by showing us and giving us himself and his glory. God loves us mainly by giving us himself and all that he is for us in Jesus. Jesus loves us mainly by giving us himself and all that God is for us in him.
Don’t measure the love of God for you by how much health, wealth, and comfort he brings into your life. If that were the measure of God’s love, then he hated the apostle Paul. Measure God’s love for you by how much of himself he shows you. How much of himself he gives you to know and enjoy.
Ps 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
Died the day the messenger came to see Jesus
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Martha and Mary must be mystified as to why Jesus is taking so long to get back to Bethany—if not to cure Lazarus, then at least to comfort them.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
three times in our text we read, “If only You (or “He”) had been here
Why do you call that half faith?" Because she only believed, He could help Lazarus when he was sick not when he was dead. That's why it's only half faith. She had confidence in Christ, yet she limited His power. She believed that, nothing could kill her brother when Jesus was there but that once her brother died even Jesus couldn't change that.
In your mind, doubt, you know, and fear and anxiety and terror. You trust God, don't you, when everything is going good? Sure. The Lord provides, isn't He wonderful, He provides. When you really have to trust God, then you find out the measurement of your faith. Sure, it would have been all right if he was just ill, but now ... oh no, it's too much for you, Lord.
22 "But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
She has doubt but she's not about to let go of all her faith. Martha turns out to be a pretty good theologian. She was dead center in that verse. I know that even now whatever Thou will ask of God, God will give it to Thee. That's exactly what Jesus had said all through His ministry, right? Everything I do I do by the will of the Father. Didn't He say that? He said that so many times. Listen, Martha knew who He was. And Martha even understood His relationship to God. She knew. Why Jesus had spent times in their home. They knew who He was. They knew His claims. And she says, "I know," how does she know? "Because You said it so many times, Lord, that whatever You ask the Father He gives You." She understands something of the relationship between the Father and the Son. Down in verse 27 she says, "I know You're the Son of God." She understood the relation between the Son and the Father. She knew that. She believed it.
The other is the word, which is used here, and it is not to ask on an equal basis, it is the word aitĕōmeans "an inferior asking a superior."
Mary was acknowledging by using the word aitĕō? She is acknowledging the humiliation of Christ. Listen, she was a theologian. She had it all down. She said to Him, "You have to ask the Father, I know, You said that."
You say, "Well, if He was equal to God, why did He have to ask the Father?" Because Christ voluntarily made Himself, the Bible says, a little lower than the angels even. You say, "Well, what is this thing about calling Jesus the Son and God the Father, and how come Jesus has to ask the Father?" Don't you understand that when Jesus was in glory before He came to the world He was face to face with God and equal with God, John 17? You know that? But when Jesus came to this earth, Philippians 2, He gave up the exercise of all of His attributes and limited them to the Father's will.
In other words, He still had all of His power but He only used it in the framework of the predetermined plan of God and Himself in heaven before He came. But she's emphasizing His humanity because, after all, as a person to her He appeared to be a person and was in His humility.
23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
But in Martha's case, she seems to have too little faith in what Jesus can do at the moment, while she has greater faith in what He can do in the distant future. But run into a problem today and it's "OH, OH
Martha knew more than most Jews knew. They didn't understand that. Martha was pretty good on the Old Testament. Maybe she had read Psalm 16, I'll read it to you, don't look it up. Listen, "Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices, my flesh also shall rest in hope," why? "For Thou will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither wilt 'Thou permit thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life, in Thy presence is fullness of joy, at Thy right hand are pleasures forever more." That's resurrection, isn't it?
And maybe she remembered old Job back there who expressed the same kind of thing in the nineteenth chapter, twenty-fifth verse, "For I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for myself.' Now Martha knew the theology of resurrection. So she says, "Lord, I know that he's going to rise at the last day.
If you can trust God over there, you can trust Him here. If His power is going to be exhibited there, it's the same power right here. And it's very easy to postpone all our belief in the power of God to some nebulous future when we don't even identify with it and very easy to doubt it today ... and needless
Do you realize that God still has the wonderful task of raising the Old Testament saints who have been dead for thousands of years? Their souls are with the Lord, their bodies He's going to raise some day at the end of the Tribulation, did you know that? And they've been dead a long, long time. If He can handle that, friends, a four-day corruption is a small detail. It's interesting to look at Martha's faith from that angle.
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
David said in Ps 30:3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
He does not say, I raise the dead; I perform the resurrection, but I am the resurrection. In His own person,
representing humanity, He exhibits man as immortal, but immortal only through union with Him.
He is saying, "It is immaterial whether you're talking about past, present, future. There is no time involved. I am resurrection and life." You see, she's saying, "It's wonderful, Lord, I know in the future ... He's saying, "Right here, Martha, see, Me. I am resurrection, not I will resurrect, I am resurrection." What a tremendous statement. She's got it all off in the future and He says it's here right in front of you, Martha. It's Me and it doesn't matter when, I am resurrection and I'll resurrect whenever I design to resurrect. And He will. And He has.
And so, He says I am. "I am" is the name of God, isn't it? Here is the revelation, this is it. Christ says I am resurrection and the life. Isn't that what we wanted to hear, friends? Isn't that the message the world wants to hear? Who cheated death and did he make a way for me to cheat it? There's the message. I am resurrection and life. And it's not a belief in a theology; it's a belief in a person, isn't it? Martha's thinking about an event. Jesus says no, look at Me a person, see. Salvation doesn't come in a system, friends, and it doesn't come in a religion and it doesn't come in a code, it comes in a living person, Jesus Christ who is resurrection and life. You will not have victory over death by going to church. You will not have victory over death by thinking religious thoughts. You will not have victory over death by doing good works. The resurrection and the life is an "I am Jesus Christ." And so Jesus is the full blessed life of God. He is the resurrection at any time in history: past, present, future ... an unconditional statement that knows no time bounds.
The life. The life is the larger and inclusive idea. Resurrection is involved in life as an incident developed by the temporary and apparent triumph of death. All true life is in Christ. In Him is lodged everything that is essential to life, in its origin, its maintenance, and its consummation, and all this is conveyed to the believer in his union with Him. This life is not affected by death. “Every believer is in reality and forever sheltered from death. To die with full light, in the clear certainty of the life which is in Jesus, to die only to continue to live to Him, is no longer that fact which human language designates by the name of death. It is as though Jesus had said: In me death is certain to live, and the living is certain never to die” (Godet).
26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
You say, "What is faith?" Faith is believing, that's right. At the end of verse 26, what are those three words? "Believest thou this," that's the invitation, that's our invitation. Do you believe it? Believe that, that's all He asks. Faith, that's it.
And once you believe, death is abolished totally. Then with the Apostle Paul, you can say this, and I like it because what he's doing is standing there mocking death. First Corinthians 15, "0 death, where is thy sting? Did you get it? "Ah grave, where's your victory?" See. He's mocking it. The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God...what? ... Who gives us the victory. Hey death, where is your sting? I like that. Big deal, death. Go ahead, get me and see what happens. Instant glorification.
What does it mean to believe God? It means to say, "God, I accept what You have to say and I'm going to just flop on it, it better hold." Just trust, that's what believing is. It's commitment; throw your whole self on God.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Every day we miss the mark on the greatest commandment to Love God like He deserves. He deserves first place in all we do and the way we do it should be pleasing to Him. The second, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" is quoted from Leviticus 19:18 and is the most often quoted OT command (8 times in the NT), 3 in Matthew alone. This is one of the most fundamental laws that God has ever given! Who is my neighbor: all people whom I come in contact with and have a chance to help spiritually or contribute to their well-being. These two commands sum up the 10 commandments and should be our first and greatest desire as we start and go through each day.
Matthew 22:36-40 " 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 16, 2023
JOHN 11:5-15 RESPOND TO JESUS WHILE YOU CAN
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." 12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has received the message that Lazarus is sick, but Jesus knows that he is dead at this point in time. So, Jesus waits two more days to test the sisters and the disciples. God loves to test us by making us wait on Him so our faith can grow and mature. Then He tells them lets go to Judea and scares the disciples because they know the Jews want to stone Him and they are in danger too if they go. Jesus tells us in the main point of the passage that there is only so much time for each of us to do what God has called us to do and so we better get busy while there is time to do His will. Then He tells them that Lazarus sleeps, they misunderstand, so He tells them plainly that he is dead. The last point of this section is Jesus testing them again because He says He is glad that He was not there when Lazarus died because He has something greater in mind. Did you know that God doesn’t always do what we think He ought to do because He has a greater plan and a greater purpose than any we can imagine? Faith means we trust God no matter what happens.
5 Now Jesus loved(agape) Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
He waited till the right moment in the Father’s plan. This is God’s Timing –Never late
Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death, that is, in permanent death. Instead Jesus would be glorified in this incident (cf. 9:3). This statement is ironic. Jesus’ power and obedience to the Father were displayed, but this event led to His death (cf. 11:50-53), which was His true glory (17:1).
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
As we come to verse 6, we have a real tension with which we must grapple. John makes a point of telling us that Jesus deeply loves Lazarus and his sisters. His love for Lazarus is mentioned by Martha and Mary in verse 3, and John then repeats it even more emphatically in verse 5. In spite of this, and the urgency of the situation, Jesus deliberately delays His return to Bethany. He waits two full days, so that when He does arrive in Bethany, Lazarus is “good and dead.” How can Jesus love these people so much and yet speak and act in a way that causes them such pain? it seems that since Lazarus has already been dead four days when Jesus arrives, that he must have died shortly after the messenger was sent.
In other words, it was more loving to put Lazarus through death and his sisters through grief, if that would reveal more of God’s glory to them and more of the glory of Christ. Jesus loves us by showing us himself.
When delay occurs God has a better time and a Better way – grows their faith, love sometimes has to be tough
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
When these two days are completed, Jesus says to His disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” Notice, He does not say, “Let us go to Bethany, again.” To go to Bethany is to go to Judea, which is virtually the same thing as going to Jerusalem, a mere two miles away. To go to Martha and Mary in Bethany is to return to that place where the Jewish religious leaders want Jesus dead. The disciples know this only too well. They are amazed that He even considers returning to Judea, and they remind Him of the dangers awaiting Him there. No matter how ill Lazarus might be, no matter how much these women feel they need Jesus, the disciples do not seem to even entertain the possibility of returning to Judea.
8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"
3 times they sought to kill Jesus: John 5;16-18, 7:1, 10:27-30, 39-40
The “you” here is singular, not plural. At this point in time, any discussion about going back to Judea was, in the minds of His disciples, a personal trip for Jesus. They seem to have no intention of accompanying Him at this point
Martha and Mary must be mystified as to why Jesus is taking so long to get back to Bethany—if not to cure Lazarus, then at least to comfort them. Those four days after the death of Lazarus must have been especially difficult for them. The disciples have a different problem, however: they cannot understand why Jesus is even considering returning to Bethany, no matter what the circumstances. A return to Jerusalem would seem to spell certain death for Jesus, and for them, if they choose to accompany Him. I am not at all certain they are planning to do so—at least not until verse 16.
9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Joh 9:4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
This is walking in God’s will, His truth, As long as I and you are doing God’s will we are okay they can’t kill us because we are on God’s timetable. My hour has not yet come
Joh 2:4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
Joh 7:30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Joh 8:20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
Joh 12:23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
The Jews and the Romans commonly regarded the daylight hours as 12 and the nighttime hours as the other 12. Literally Jesus was referring to the daylight hours. Metaphorically the daylight hours represented the Father's will. Jesus was safe as long as He did the Father's will. For the disciples, as long as they continued to follow Jesus, the Light of the World, they would not stumble. Walking in the night pictures behaving without divine illumination or authorization. Living in the realm of darkness (i.e., evil) is dangerous (cf. 1 John 1:6). "When there is darkness in the soul, then we will stumble indeed."
As long as He followed God’s plan, no harm would come till the appointed time. Applied to people then, they should have responded to Jesus while He was in the world as its Light (cf. 1:4-7; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5). Soon He would be gone and so would this unique opportunity.
Their problem is they don’t know the truth and they will die in their sins
11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."
Jesus then said, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. The word “friend” has special significance in Scripture (cf. 15:13-14; James 2:23). Not only their friend, but His also.
Jas 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."
As was often the case in the Gospels, Jesus was speaking about one thing but the disciples were thinking about another.
The raising of Lazarus is not a “first” in the Gospels. Jesus had already raised the dead son of the “widow of Nain,” as recorded in Luke 7:11-16. He did so on that occasion as they were taking his body out to be buried, and without being asked to do so by anyone. (Who would have thought to ask Jesus to raise a dead man?) This was followed by the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43). In this latter raising, Jesus tells those who are mourning her death that she is not really dead, but is merely “asleep” (5:39). Our Lord’s disciples and others seem to have forgotten these earlier raisings, nor do they seem to recall our Lord’s use of the term “sleep” to describe a temporary lack of life.
The idea that people would awake from this sleep, while revealed in the Old Testament (Dan. 12:2), was not the common perception of the outcome of death. Normally people thought of those who fell asleep in death as staying asleep 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
The New Testament writers commonly referred to death as sleep for the Christian because our resurrection to life is a prominent revelation and is sure (cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). That Jesus was not teaching soul sleep should be clear from Luke 16:19-31.403
The doctrine of soul sleep is the teaching that at death the soul, specifically the immaterial part of man, becomes unconscious until the resurrection of the body. The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 shows that people are conscious after death and before their resurrection.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. – There is no hope now in earthly terms, it’s too late
This is a picture of us being dead in our sins and trespasses,
15 "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
Wants them to have more faith
When death occurs God has a better plan and a better purpose
His absence, He tells them, is for their benefit. His delay has been by divine design, so that they might believe. Frequently in the Gospel of John, reference is made to the fact that our Lord’s disciples “believed” in Him (1:50; 2:11, 22; 6:69; 13:19; 14:1, 29; 16:27, 30, 31; 17:8; 20:8; 20:25-29). It is apparent that the faith of the disciples continues to grow, the more the person and work of our Lord becomes evident to them. It is my conviction that our faith, likewise, should never be static, but that it should always be growing as our knowledge of Him increases.
Jesus was glad that He had not been present when Lazarus died because the disciples would learn a strong lesson from his
resurrection that would increase their faith. The sign that Lazarus' death made possible would be the clearest demonstration of Jesus' identity so far and would convince many people that He was God's Son.
Unto him (πρὸς αὐτόν). Most touching. To him, as though he were yet living. Death has not broken the personal relation of the Lord with His friend.
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
I believe this is a declaration of strong devotion to Jesus.
He did not understand that the death that Jesus would die was a death that His disciples could not participate in with Him (cf. 1:29, 36). Nevertheless he spoke better than he knew. John probably recorded his exhortation because it was a call to disciples to take up their cross and follow Jesus (cf. 12:25; Mark 8:34; 2 Cor. 4:10).
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
WHO OR WHAT IS YOUR GOD
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
In Exodus 19 God used Moses to speak to them all the information (The Word of God) they needed to live in such a way as to please Him. The people affirmed all that God said was good and said they would obey the commands. They made two mistakes as we often do too. First they underestimated their ability to keep the covenant and secondly they underestimated God’s standards for them. God is holy and says be holy as I am holy, but on our own we cannot do this, that is why we need to trust in Christ for salvation so we will be able to live for Him. Even then many times we try to rely on our own strength and not the strength of the Holy Spirit that comes from God. One man said when I try I fail, but when I trust I succeed. Whose strength are you depending on to live like Christ? Do you know Him as Savior?
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. (Exodus 19:7-8)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
This is another section of Scripture which we find to be so familiar to us, but as in all Bible Study we need to look deeper than the surface of what is going on here. Lazarus is a man that Jesus loves, as He does all of His children, the ones who have trusted Him as Savior. But he also loves the sisters Mary and Martha, yet he allows them to go through trouble because ultimately He will be glorified in the end. That is why the Bible says we exist. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. One man put it this way, we exist to glorify God and praise Him forever. How do we do this? By first of all reverencing God and keeping His commandments. Second we do this by becoming more like Him every day. Romans 8:28-29, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. God is bringing us back to the place we were at in the Garden of Eden before man’s fall and our sinfulness dragged us down. The only way God can do this is by allowing us to go through trials that make us more like Him. So, have you looked at your situation and said that this is not something that is ultimately bad, but through it God is going to be glorified because I am trusting in Him and He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5)
Death is the great horror which sin has produced (Rom. 5:12; James 1:15). Physical death is the divine object lesson of what sin does in the spiritual realm. As physical death ends life and separates people, so spiritual death is the separation of people from God and the loss of life which is in God (John 1:4). Jesus has come so that people may live full lives (10:10).
This chapter with Lazarus being raised is the demonstration of John 10:10
Rejecting Jesus means that one will not see life (3:36) and that his final destiny is “the second death,” the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15).
1 ¶ Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus (name means one whom God Helps) of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
This Bethany ("house of the suffering) is about two miles (11:18) east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of Olivet and is now called El Azariyeh, from the name Lazarus. Lit. Place of Lazarus
When John wrote, it was as Jesus had foretold (Matt. 26:13), for the fame of Mary of Bethany rested on the incident of the anointing of Jesus.
Luke 10:38-42, where Martha was distressed because Mary was not helping her prepare the meal.
Lu 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
It is true the Martha and Mary do not specifically ask Jesus to do anything, but the word “look” or “behold” is not used lightly (see John 1:29, 36, 47; 3:26; 5:14; 7:26; 11:36; 12:19; 16:29; 18:21; 19:4, 14, 26, 27). They expect Jesus to drop everything and come to Bethany to heal him.
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." John 1:14
The words recorded in verse 4 are not spoken solely for the benefit of those who overhear this conversation between Jesus and the messenger, but as a message for this messenger to take back to Martha and Mary. Notice our Lord’s words to Martha later in this same account:
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” V11:39-40
Verse 4 is our Lord’s response to Martha and Mary, sent back by the same messenger who brought word to Him of Lazarus’ grave condition.
This crisis has a divinely intended purpose—to bring glory to God the Father through the glorification of the Son of God. If we grant that the words of verse 40 are also sent to the women by the messenger, Jesus also encourages them to have faith, so that they too will see God glorified in all these things.
I am convinced that this is not what the women “hear” the messenger say when he returns without Jesus. I believe they “hear” (i.e., understand) the messenger say, “Jesus told me to tell you that Lazarus will not die.” The problem is that by the time the messenger returns to the women, Lazarus may already have died. Can you imagine their bewilderment if this is the case? They have already suffered the torment of Lazarus’ death and burial. Then, the messenger returns with word from Jesus which appears to assure them that Lazarus won’t die! Their faith in Jesus is really put to the test.
In this Gospel, God's "glory" is usually a reference to His self-revelation rather than the praise that comes to Him (cf. 1:14-18; 5:23; 12:28; 17:4).401 Ironically this miracle displayed Jesus' identity as God's Son, but it also led to His death that was the ultimate manifestation of His identity and glory.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
In Exodus 16 God fed the Israelites with the food that came down from Heaven. Jesus said He was the bread that came down from Heaven (John 6). This manna was the only food they had for the 40 years of wilderness wandering. Christ is the only (spiritual) food we need during our earthly “wilderness wandering” on the way to the promised land (heaven). Nothing else satisfies, nothing else gives spiritual strength and life. It also represents his humiliation as His body was shattered before and after He was put on the cross. He gave His flesh that we might have life and we remember that each time we celebrate the Lord’s supper. They went out early to get it as we need to feast on Jesus’ word and Spirit before our day starts. Let us start each day with time in the Word and with the WORD OF LIFE.
They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” (Matthew 20:33)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 02, 2023
JOHN 10:29-42 JESUS SAID ”I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE”
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 "I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? 35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true." 42 And many believed in Him there.
In this great section of Scripture we see the eternal security of the believer expressed again as Jesus says, No one is greater than God, so they cannot take anything away from God that belongs to Him. Then Jesus tells them again that He is one with the Father. In every way possible Jesus is like God the Father because He is God in human flesh. Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. These verses tell us that Jesus is God, He created everything, He holds it all together, and He is the preeminent one (the one who has first place in everything). Then the Pharisees want to stone Jesus and He asks them why, for what good work do you stone Me. They understood He was saying He was God, so they say it is not for a good work, but because you claim to be God. Jesus tries to tell them again He is God and came from the Father, but they still won’t believe and so they try to seize Him and He escapes from them because it is not time for Him to die yet. He then goes to where John had baptized and many believe He is the Christ and are saved at that location.
“Snatch” (“ravenous wolves, robbers”). This is a fitting word here for the same verb is used in 10:12, “the wolf attacks” (lit., “snatches away”).
The sheep feel secure (3:16; 6:39; 17:12; 18:9).
29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
The greatness of the Father, not of the flock, is the ground of the safety of the flock.
He makes it very clear that the salvation and (eternal) security of the sheep are not the result of our sheepish efforts, but rather the sovereign will and working of God.[1] The Father chose us for salvation and gave us to the Son. It is the
No one overrules His will. No one overpowers Him. No one nullifies what He has achieved. No one takes away those He has purchased.
Jesus had promised this security in Galilee (6:37, 39). No wolf, no thief, no bandit, no hireling, no demon, not even the devil can pluck the sheep out of my hand. Colossians 3:3–4 (ESV) 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
It is obvious that the only one who can separate us from God’s love is ourselves (cf. Rom. 8:38–39; Gal. 5:2–4).
30 "I and My Father are one."
Not one person but one essence or nature. Colossians 2:9 (ESV) 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
They have the closest possible unity of purpose. Jesus’ will is identical to the Father’s regarding the salvation of His sheep. And yet absolute identity of wills involves identity of nature. Jesus and the Father are One in will (and also in nature for both are God; John 1:1, John 5:18, John 8:58, 10:18
He meant that He and the Father were one in their action. This explanation also harmonized with the context since Jesus had said that He would keep His sheep safe (v. 28) and His Father would keep them safe (v. 29).
The Jews had asked Jesus for a plain statement about His Messiah ship. Jesus gave them far more, a claim that He fully and completely carried out the Father's will that strongly hinted at Jesus' deity
This statement is the climax of Christ’s claims concerning the relation between the Father and himself (the Son). They stir the Pharisees to uncontrollable anger.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
It is not the word that is used before (ch.8:59), but great stones, stones that were a load, such as they used in stoning malefactors. They brought them from some place at a distance, as it were preparing things for his execution without any judicial process; as if he were convicted of blasphemy upon the notorious evidence of the fact, which needed no further trial.
32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"
it was not for His works but for His words that they were going to kill Him. The reader should realize by now that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be, one with the Father and more than a mere mortal. A man was not making Himself out to be God, but God had made Himself a man (1:1, 14, 18).
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."
The response of the Jews to our Lord’s challenge is amazing. In effect, they are saying, “Oh, we don’t look at your words in relation to your works; we view them separately.” Only those who are great hypocrites find this feat easy to accomplish. Their words and their works are not related (Matthew 23:1-3), and so they do not care that Jesus’ words and works are completely consistent. They are not about to be confused with the facts when their minds are already made up. They conclude (wrongly, of course) that Jesus is merely a man, and thus His claim to be God must be blasphemy. In their minds, He deserves to die.
If Jesus did not really claim to be God, He could easily have corrected the Jews' misunderstanding here. The fact that He did not is further proof that the Jews correctly understood that He was claiming to be God.
34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?
35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
The psalm ends: “Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.”
Can they not see what both our Lord and this psalm are saying? This psalm is not just a text Jesus has chosen to stump His adversaries. It is not a cute trick, which shames those who would pose trick questions to Messiah. He is the fulfillment of this psalm, as they are. They are the “gods” whom God is coming to judge. They are the “gods” who will die like men; He is the God who will die to save His sheep, only to rise again from the dead. This text says it all, but they cannot see it, for they are blind, while He is the light of the world. They cannot hear, for He is not their shepherd.
His critics. He wanted them to see that the divine terms that He was using to describe Himself were terms that the Old Testament itself also used of human beings. They could not logically accuse Him of blasphemy because the Father had set Him aside and sent Him into the world with a special mission. He was a legitimate Son of God for this reason.
If your judges could be called gods, are you going to call Me a blasphemer because I say I'm the Son of God when your judges were here on earth and the word came to them, and I came from there with the Word? Don't I deserve even a greater title?"
As the Jews had sanctified their temple after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanies, so God had sanctified His Son. The Jews celebrated the sanctification of their physical temple with the Feast of Dedication, but they were unwilling to accept the spiritual temple that replaced it, namely, Jesus.
36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
The response of the Jews to our Lord’s challenge is amazing. In effect, they are saying, “Oh, we don’t look at your words in relation to your works; we view them separately.” Only those who are great hypocrites find this feat easy to accomplish. Their words and their works are not related (Matthew 23:1-3), and so they do not care that Jesus’ words and works are completely consistent. They are not about to be confused with the facts when their minds are already made up. They conclude (wrongly, of course) that Jesus is merely a man, and thus His claim to be God must be blasphemy. In their minds, He deserves to die.
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
John presented Jesus' departure from Jerusalem as the result of official rejection of Him. The event had symbolic significance that the evangelist probably intended. Jesus withdrew the opportunity for salvation from the people there because they refused to accept His gracious offer of salvation. Evidently, Jesus went from Jerusalem back to Bethany in Perea on the east side of the Jordan River where the Jewish rulers had no authority to pursue Him (cf. 1:28).
41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."
42 And many believed in Him there.
It is not yet His appointed time to die for His sheep, and so Jesus retreats to the more desolate and distant places along the Jordan river, which John the Baptist used to frequent in his ministry. We do not know exactly where this was, and likely, our Lord’s enemies do not know either. That is the point of His retreat. While our Lord’s enemies do not come to Him there, many others find Him in this place. It would seem that Jesus performed a number of miracles there from the words of those who compare His ministry with that of John: “John performed no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true!”
These words are recorded by John here for a reason that is very much related to the point of this passage. I have suggested that while the theme of shepherding is prominent, so is the relationship between our Lord’s words and His works.
My point is this: Many of the Jews believed that John the Baptist was a true prophet (see Matthew 21:26). They believed his words, even though he did not perform any miraculous works. And yet the Jews in Jerusalem (especially the religious leaders) will not believe Jesus’ words, even though He does many miraculous works. What a contrast John draws between these “Jordan River” Jews and the sophisticated Jews of Jerusalem. In contrast to our Lord’s rejection in Jerusalem, many are believing in Him who come to Him at the Jordan River.
And so we see that those who are His sheep have more than enough reason to believe, and that those who are not will never have enough evidence to believe.
First, this text strongly teaches the sovereignty of God, especially as it relates to the salvation and the security of His sheep. Those who resist such teaching should consider the fact that the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is not a flattering one. Is this not the principle reason we are inclined to reject it? The doctrine of God’s sovereignty glorifies God, and not men. It stresses His work, and not our works. It is this very teaching that the Jewish opponents of our Lord react to so strongly. Does this not serve to warn those who would seek to reject this teaching today, here in our text? This does not mean that the Bible ignores human responsibility, but it does mean that our salvation and our security are in His hands, and not ours. For that we should rejoice, not resist.
Second, this text reminds us of the necessary link between what we say and what we do, between our profession and our practice. Jesus constantly challenges His adversaries to consider the relationship between His words and His works. He also rebukes the Pharisees for their lack of consistency in these matters. Let us take heed. Let us be sure that what we say we believe is also what we behave.
Third, this text says much about leaders and leadership. It reminds us that leaders have been given their place of authority to carry out their roles as God’s agents. It certainly indicates to us that those of us under such divinely ordained authority should submit to it, as to the Lord. But in addition, the message is loud and clear that those leaders who fail to fulfill their mission as “good” shepherds will someday stand before the Great Shepherd and give account for their deeds. In this day when leaders seem to be getting away with murder, let us never forget this truth.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] Morris puts it this way: “It is one of the precious things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on His firm grip on us.” Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971) p. 521.
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
GOD’S GRACE
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
The law was given through Moses, but the truth (the law) can only condemn. It is God alone who can see us for who we really are inside and yet give us the grace that we don’t deserve. Sometimes it is hard to remember that this is true. Later in Mark 9:24 a man says to Jesus, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Do you ask God to help you as this man did to help you daily to trust in Him, to believe His promises, to know that even though you are not perfect and make many mistakes as Peter did, He says to you I have prayed for you that you may not fail? (Luke 22:32) Remember believer, you are His and He will never leave you nor forsake you and nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Heb 13:5, Ro 8:35-39
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
In this famous section of Scripture Jesus, the Light of the World is walking around at the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah). The Pharisees confront him and ask Him again, who are You, tell us plainly? They ask this as if they don’t know, like He hasn’t already told them time and time again. They have seen the signs, they have heard His Words, and yet they WILL NOT believe. Jesus says that all the signs that He has done for His Father in Heaven prove He is God (the Messiah) and they will not believe because they aren’t His Sheep. You see in this section Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. God calls people to be saved and they cannot be saved unless He draws them (Divine Sovereignty), yet God says we are all responsible because the Scriptures says whosoever will, let him come, whoever believes. (Human Responsibility). He tells them that they cannot hear Him because they aren’t His Sheep because His Sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Then He finally tells them that if we are saved we are eternally secure for all time. Romans 8:31-39 confirms this, as do many other places in the Bible. It says whoever believes HAS eternal life. John 17:3 says eternal life is KNOWING the true God and Jesus whom He sent. Nobody is greater than Jesus and so no one can snatch them out of His Hand.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
25 YEARS OF MINISTERING TO THE FORGOTTEN
Please help us reach out to those the World has forgotten. Everyone we minister to is locked up in some way, shape, or form. Those in Nursing Home facilities are locked up in bodies that do not work, in a wheelchair or in a bed. We minister to children and youth who are locked up because of behavioral problems. Some have told us, “We want to have a Real Family”, because their parents have lost or given up custody of them. Other kids are locked up because they have committed crimes. We also minister to those locked up at the jail/prison; to those locked up in addictions to drugs, alcohol, depression, and suicidal thoughts; to those locked up in a variety of other things that keep them from becoming who Jesus wants them to be. He came to give us abundant life, joy, and set us free, and these people that we minister to are not free. Our desire is to show them whatever their background, no matter what they have done, to see how much God loves them; We seek to help them receive forgiveness and freedom from their sin in Jesus Christ. We minister in the local area of Savannah, Georgia and surrounding Effingham and Chatham area. We have recently expanded our ministry to the Lexington/Columbia SC area. We do over 700 services every year. We hope and pray that you will support us in some way so we can continue our mission. Go to His Love Ministries.net and Click on the Donate Now button or send it via regular mail to PO Box 1881 Lexington, SC 29071. We hope and pray that you will do that. Thank you and God bless you.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
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