His Love Ministries

JOHN 13:36-14:6 JESUS SAID LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED; YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME.

John 13:36 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward." 37 Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake." 38 Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. 14:1"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
 Today’s Scripture deals with the time in the upper room where Jesus and the disciples are having the last supper. Jesus is giving final instructions to them before He leaves earth so they can deal with all that life will throw at them.  Peter does not understand why he cannot go with Jesus; he has gone with Him everywhere for 3 years and does not want Jesus to leave him and the disciples. Peter goes so far as to say he will die for Jesus.  Jesus then tells Peter that he will deny Him three times before the rooster crows.  He then begins to tell them it is going to be alright and they need not be troubled.  He tells them to trust in Him and believe in Him as they already do in God the Father, because He is God and is equal with the Father. Jesus knows they are in a really bad place and He wants to assure them that it will be okay and that He is going to prepare a place for them so they can be with Him forever.
 36 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."
I think Peter was so shocked by our Lord’s words in verse 33 that he just couldn’t get past them. Peter “locked in” on what Jesus had said about going away. He wanted to know where Jesus was going and why he could not go with Him. He had followed Him all this way, all the way to Jerusalem. There was no turning back for him. He was committed to follow Jesus. And now Jesus is talking about going somewhere where he cannot follow? No way! Not for Peter.
Jesus answers Peter’s question indirectly, but even this oblique reply should have given Peter some comfort. Jesus was going somewhere where Peter could not follow Him now, but he will, Jesus said, “follow later.” That is not good enough for Peter. The word “now” is foremost in Peter’s mind. He does not want to wait. He wants to follow Jesus now, wherever that might be.
Peter does not seem to have a clue that Jesus is talking about going to the Father in heaven. He seems fixed on the idea that Jesus is going to change His place of residence on earth. Peter seems to be reasoning something like this: “Jesus says He’s going somewhere, and I can’t follow. He won’t say where, and He won’t say why. It must be the danger. He doesn’t want me coming along because it’s too dangerous. He doesn’t think I can take it. Well, I’ll let Him know that I can handle anything anyone dishes out …”
 37 Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake."
 38 Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. (NKJV)
In his excellent commentary on the Gospel of John, William Hendriksen points out some very informative facts about Peter’s words here and in the Synoptic Gospels. Let me cite them:
In connection with this boast a few additional facts must be noted:
Peter spoke these words both before and after Christ’s prediction which is recorded in 13:38, as is clear from Matt. 26:33-35; Mark 14:29-31. Evidently, at the time, the words of Jesus, telling Peter that in spite of his boasting he would do the very thing which he promised so emphatically not to do, failed to register. Peter was too sure of himself.
He used very emphatic language. Note the double negative in Matt. 26:35, so that the boast may be rendered: ‘I will certainly not deny thee.’ And compare: ‘I will never be ensnared.’
He spoke with great vehemence (Mark 14:31), evidently not at all pleased with the fact that Jesus had a different opinion.
The passage here in John indicates that Peter’s boast was not only negative ‘I will not be ensnared,’ ‘I will not deny’) but also positive: ‘My life for thee I will lay down.’ Luke 22:33 supplies the commentary.
His self-reliant exclamation was copied by the others: ‘Likewise also said all the disciples.’ Not a single one among these disciples knew his own heart. Notice the three ‘all’s’: ‘You will all be ensnared (Mark 14:27), said Jesus. They all said, ‘Impossible’ (for exact words see Matt. 26:35). ‘Then all the disciples left him and fled’ (Matt. 26:56).
Though not one of the disciples knew his own heart, yet while all were ensnared, Peter went much farther: he denied that he even knew the Master at all; see on 18:15-17; 18:25-27; cf. Matt. 26:69-75.[1]
Here, then, is our first lesson, is it not? The one who is most confident that he will not fall is the most likely to fall.
The second thing that I find emphasized in this text is that Jesus is in complete control.
I believe the most important lesson in our text is about true love. This chapter virtually oozes with the love of our Lord for His disciples (e.g. 13:1). Placed neatly between our Lord’s words on His imminent glorification and departure and His prophecy of Peter’s denial are verses 34 and 35, which contain our Lord’s instruction to His disciples to “love one another.” Was Peter’s problem not a lack of love? I would simply remind you that after Peter’s denial, our Lord’s death, and His resurrection, Jesus addressed Peter directly about his love and his service (John 21). Love seems to be a major issue for Peter. The thing he passed over so abruptly in our text, he must deal with much more seriously at the end of this Gospel.
As I close, let me do so with the words of the late Dr. John G. Mitchell:
There are three measurements of a disciple. We had the first in chapter 8: ‘If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ (8:31-32). The second measurement is here. ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’ Remember, ‘love suffers long, and is kind’ (1 Corinthians 13:4). The third measurement of discipleship is in chapter 15. ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples’ (15:8).
God grant that we Christians, we who love Him, we who have been redeemed by His precious blood, may wear the badge of discipleship. It is genuine love one for another and especially with frail, stumbling believers.
My friend, this rules out all divisions. It rules out all bitterness and jealousy and envy among God’s people. It rules out all pettiness and smallness and shallowness. How much are we to love each other? As Christ loves us. This is the measure of it.[2]
So what are the implications of this scene for us today, do you think?
 I think there are two big lessons. 
Number one, we have to look beyond suffering in this world to the face of the Father.
"This physical infirmity is nothing compared to what Christ endured not only physically but spiritually, in a way we can't comprehend."
 And so, for me it's a very powerful reminder. You have got to look beyond the life now and the suffering you endure and try to look in the face of the Father that somehow He's going to use this. I don't know how. I don't like it, but that's faith and it's a requirement.
 And secondly, I think when, not if, when we deny Christ, He extends mercy. He extends forgiveness. He gives many opportunities again and again and again for us to repent, but the issue becomes, will we, like Peter, go on record saying you know, "I love You. I love You. I love You. I'll do whatever You ask me to do. Forgive me for my sins."
 And what a great way Christ restored Peter after his denial.
And in some cases our denial is not the kind of active denial that Peter displayed where we say, "I don't know you."
 It's a more passive kind of denial where we simply failed to respond in obedience. Where we don't do what we know we ought to do. That's denying Christ as well.
Peter's question was only the first of several that the disciples proceeded to ask Jesus. This shows their bewilderment and discouragement. They should have been comforting Him in view of what lay ahead of Him (12:27; 13:21), but instead Jesus graciously proceeded to comfort them by clarifying what lay ahead of them.
Jesus was troubled because of what lay before Him, and the Eleven were troubled (Gr. tarassestho) because they did not understand what lay before them. Jesus had just told them that He was going to leave them (13:33), but they had forsaken all to follow Him. Jesus had said that Peter would deny Him implying that some great trial was imminent (13:38
Trust my Presence
1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
Joh 14:27; 16:22-23
1Pe 1:8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Probably in both clauses Jesus meant to give an imperative command: "Believe in God; believe also in me." This makes the most sense in the context, as most of the modern English translations have concluded. He meant, "Stop being troubled." Jesus was telling the disciples (plural "your") to trust in God and to trust in Him just as they trusted in God. This was a strong claim to deity and a great comfort. They could rely on what He was about to tell them as coming from God.
The NASB translates the singular "heart" (Gr. kardia) that Jesus used collectively. The heart is metaphorically the center of personality.
“Don’t be distressed that I am going away, and that you cannot come with me right now. You believe in God, don’t you? Can you see Him? Does He have a physical body that you can see and touch? No. I am going away, and you will not be able to see Me as you have for these past three years. I challenge you, therefore, to believe in Me in the same way that you believe in God the Father, as your unseen Lord. I will be just as real in My absence as I have ever been while dwelling among you.”
The disciples don’t want this to change. They want a God who is not only near them, but one who can be seen and touched.[i] It is better that Jesus returns to the Father, and that they begin to worship Him just as they do the Father. Strangely enough, while He will no longer be with them as He once was, they will come to know Him more intimately than they ever did while He was with them.
What we read in verse 1 is not really that difficult for us, as Gentiles, but let us remember that our Lord’s words would have stuck in the throat of a Jew. As early as John chapter 5, the Jews are violently reacting to our Lord’s claim to be equal with God. The Jews did not (and do not) believe in the Trinity, and thus our Lord’s exhortation to His disciples to believe in Him as they did the Father would sound blasphemous. Our Lord’s claims and teaching are revolutionary to the Jews living in those times, including our Lord’s disciples
Let me sum up a very important principle which Jesus is teaching His disciples in the first verses of chapter 14: The relationship which Jesus sustained for a few years with His disciples was temporary and exceptional. In the light of His imminent death, burial, resurrection, and return to the Father in heaven, they must now relate to Him in a very different manner—the same manner in which they relate to God the Father.
Carson writes, “Despite the clarity of Jesus’ claim, the apostles cannot accept it at face value. Steeped in Jewish heritage in which monotheism played so strong a part, they could scarcely conceive of a Trinitarian monotheism like that which Christians came in time to confess. They were still maintaining a fundamental chasm between Jesus and the Father. Sad to tell, some of Jesus’ most bitter opponents discerned what Jesus was claiming more swiftly than did his apostles. We seek to stone you, they said, ‘for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God’ (10:33). But at this late date, Philip can still ask, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us’ 14:8
The “Jesus” that Peter rebuked and resisted (Matthew 16:21-23; John 13:6-8) came as one whose deity and glory was “veiled” (not set aside), and who was not recognized for who He really was:
Isaiah 53:1-4, NKJV 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
The glory which the disciples beheld was not evident by His physical appearance or earthly form. When Jesus was transfigured, His glory was seen by the inner three, but there His appearance changed or was transformed, so that they saw Him differently than they usually did. Jesus, as He appeared at His transfiguration, was like the One who appeared to John in Revelation. Those who desire to “turn back the clock” to the “good old days” when we would have been able to walk and talk with Jesus wish for something that never was, and can never be. When we see our Lord at His second coming, He will not look like the Jesus we read about in the Gospels. Let us therefore be careful not to wish for a return to the “good old days” of our Lord’s presence as the disciples experienced it when they followed Him on this earth. Times have never been better for true believers than since our Lord’s departure, and they will be even better yet when He returns!
Trust my Promises
 2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 13:33, 36
To be in the Father’s house is to be in Christ
The emphasis is not on the luxuriousness of the facility as much as its adequacy to accommodate all believers. Other revelation about heaven stresses its magnificence (e.g., Rev. 21:1—22:5).
Another son would be married and he would attach another wing to the same house. Pretty soon they would marry and they would close it in almost so that the patio was in the middle and everyone lived around the patio...the father, the sons all the way around and the relatives. Now that's what it's talking about and it's not talking about tenement rooms, it's the idea of total dwelling, like a very full and complete apartment but all surrounding the same patio.
Verse 16 of Revelation 21, "And the city lies foursquare and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal." Now that's 1500 miles approximately, 1500 miles in every direction of a cube. An Australian engineer named Thomas calculated that would be two million, two hundred and fifty thousand square miles. To give you a reference point, London is 140 square miles. That city is two million, two hundred and fifty-thousand square miles. And at the ratio of population in London, it could hold a hundred thousand million people unglorified. Glorified, who knows? It could hold thirty times the population of our world right now and still have plenty of room to spare. Now that's many dwelling places.
The bad news for the disciples (so far as they perceived it) was that Jesus was going away without them. The good news puts all this into perspective. He is going to His Father’s house; He is going back to heaven. He is going there to prepare a place for His disciples, so that they can be with Him for all eternity. His Father’s house has plenty of “dwelling places.” The word “mansions” is not really accurate, as both Leon Morris and D. A. Carson point out to us:
The Greek word translated in the King James Version as ‘mansions’ is found only here and in verse 23 in the New Testament. It is connected with the verb that means ‘to abide, dwell,’ which is used quite often in chapter 15. It points to places to stay. The translation ‘mansions’ is due to the fact that when Jerome translated the New Testament into Latin he used the word mansiones at this point, and the King James translators used the English word that came closest to that. But the Latin word means ‘lodging-places’; it refers to places to stay and not to elaborate houses. 
The King James Version promises ‘many mansions’ rather than ‘many rooms’; and no doubt the prospect of an eternal mansion is more appealing to many than the prospect of an eternal room. The word mansion has called forth quite a number of songs which picture eternal bliss in largely materialistic categories: ‘I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop,’ we sing, scarcely able to restrain our imaginations from counting the valets at our beck and call. ‘A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They’re building a palace for me over there.’ Here we even manage to upgrade ‘mansion’ to ‘palace.’ 
Jesus had previously spoken of His departure as including His death, His resurrection, and His ascension (13:31-32, 36). Consequently He probably had all of that in view when He spoke about going to prepare a place for believers. His death and resurrection, as well as His ascension and return to heaven, would prepare a place for them. The place, the Father's house or heaven, already existed when Jesus spoke these words. He would not go to heaven to create a place for believers there. Rather all that He would do from His death to His return to heaven would constitute preparation for believers to join Him there ultimately. The idea that Jesus is presently constructing dwelling places for believers in heaven and has been doing so for 2,000 years is not what Jesus meant here. Jesus' going itself prepared the place.
 3 "And if I go (When I go- 3rd class condition) and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Joh 12:26; 14:18, 28; 17:24; Ac 1:11; 1Th 4:17
Our knowledge of Heaven is limited as was Thomas’ knowledge, John 14:5. Jesus told him that we don’t need to know because He will personally come to get us.
The question must occur to the reader, “But why is it taking Him so long to prepare this place for us? After all, doesn’t the Father’s house already have many dwelling places? Is Jesus taking up carpentry again, in heaven, and busily building rooms for His followers?” I think we know better than that. It only took seven days to create the heavens and the earth, so why is it taking Him so long to make a place ready for us?
While on this earth, Jesus referred to the temple as His Father’s house (John 2:16; 14:2). Now, it is apparent that He is speaking of His heavenly “home” and not the temple in Jerusalem. In heaven, there will be no temple, for God’s place of dwelling will be with His saints:
Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. 2 And I saw the holy city—the new Jerusalem—descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among men and women. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist anymore—or mourning, or crying, or pain; the former things have ceased to exist.” … 22 Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur into it. 25 Its gates will never be closed during the day (for there will be no night there). 26 They will bring the grandeur and the wealth of the nations into it, 27 but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Compare this passage in Revelation with these texts from Ephesians and 1 Peter:
Ephesians 2:19-22 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and non-citizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
1 Peter 2:4-10 4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 5 you yourselves as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in Scripture, “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” 7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy but now you have received mercy.
If the “place” our Lord is preparing is this heavenly temple, a house made up of living stones (saints), then this “house” will not be completed until the last of His saints are brought to faith.
God is delaying the outpouring of His wrath on guilty sinners, destined to condemnation, so that He might manifest His grace by saving those who are His “objects of mercy.” The punishment of guilty sinners is delayed until the full measure of those prepared for glory are saved. This, in my opinion, is what our Lord is presently preparing—a holy temple, a congregation of believers in whom, and among whom, He will dwell for all eternity. When the disciples comprehend what Jesus is saying here, they will look on His “absence” in an entirely different light. It is better for them that He leave them, for a time, so that they may dwell with Him for all eternity.
Since Jesus spoke of returning from heaven to take believers there, the simplest   explanation   seems   to   be   that   He   was   referring   to   an eschatological bodily return (cf. Acts 1:11). Though these disciples undoubtedly did not realize it at the time, Jesus was evidently speaking of His return for them at the Rapture rather than His return at the Second Coming.
Other Scripture clarifies that when Jesus returns at the Rapture it will be to call His own to heaven immediately (1 Thess. 4:13-18).479  In contrast, when He returns at the Second Coming it will be to remain on the earth and reign for 1,000 years (Rev. 19:11—20:15).
It is important to note that Jesus did not say that the purpose of this future coming to receive believers is so that He can be where they are—on the earth. Instead, He said that the purpose is so that they can be where He is—in heaven."
This the purpose of the departure and the return of Christ. And this is heaven for the believer to be where Jesus is and with him forever.[ii]
Here in John 14 the Lord gives a new and unique revelation; He speaks of something which no prophet had promised, or even could promise. Where is it written that this Messiah would come and instead of gathering His saints into an earthly Jerusalem, would take them to the Father's house, to the very place where He is? It is something new. . . . He speaks then of a coming which is not for the deliverance of the Jewish remnant, not of a coming to establish His kingdom over the earth, not of a coming to judge the nations, but a coming which concerns only His own."
 The emphasis in this prediction is on the comfort that reunion with the departed Savior guarantees (cf. 1 Thess. 4:18). Jesus will personally come for His own, and He will receive them to Himself. They will also be with Him where He has been (cf. 17:24). Jesus was stressing His personal concern for His disciples' welfare. His return would be as certain as His departure. The greatest blessing of heaven will be our ceaseless personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus there, not the splendor of the place.
Trust My person
 4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know."
Jesus could say that the Eleven knew the way to the place where He was going because He had revealed that faith in Him led to eternal life (3:14-15). This had been a major theme of His teaching throughout His ministry. However, they did not understand Him as they should have (v. 5).
These four verses answered Peter's initial question about where Jesus was going (13:36).
 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
14:5     Thomas   voiced   the   disciples'   continuing   confusion   about   Jesus' destination.  Apparently the “Father’s house” did not clearly identify heaven to them. Without a clear understanding of the final destination they could not be sure of the route there. Thomas' question was a request for an unambiguous explanation of Jesus' and their destination and how He and they would get there.
Jesus has just told His disciples that He is going to “His Father’s house” so that they can be with Him there. He then tells them that “they know the way where He is going” (verse 4). Thomas chooses to differ with His Master. He says, in effect, “Master, we don’t know your destination, so how can we possibly know the way to get there?” But Thomas was wrong. They did know where Jesus was going. They had simply forgotten it, or at least put it out of their minds. Over and over again Jesus had told them that He had come from the Father in heaven, and that He was going to return there: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me” (6:38).
 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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
 
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 
 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953-1954), vol. 2, pp. 255-256.
[2] John G. Mitchell, with Dick Bohrer, An Everlasting Love: A Devotional Study of the Gospel of John (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1982), pp. 261-262.
[i] This seems to be the case with Mary Magdalene as well, as can be seen in John 20:11-18, especially verse 17.
[ii] Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 14:3). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

INVITING THE LORD TO EXAMINE ALL THAT WE ARE

          Psalm 26:2-4 says Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. 3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. 4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, Nor will I go in with hypocrites. Have we done as David did and invited the Lord to examine our innermost motives, thoughts, and what we stand for? David did and could say before the Lord and others that he knew how loving the Lord is. He could also say that he had walked in a proper manner according to God’s word. David knew he was not guilty of what others had said about him and he asked God to vindicate him.  David had not been hanging out with the immoral and hypocritical people and making a mockery of who God is.  Can we ask God as David did to search us and try us and see if there is any wicked way in us knowing that it is not so? Oh God may it be so in my life today.
     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

JOHN 13:27-35 SO, WHEN HE HAD GONE OUT, JESUS SAID, "NOW THE SON OF MAN IS GLORIFIED, AND GOD IS GLORIFIED IN HIM

John 13:27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." 28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. 29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. 30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. 31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. 33 "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you. 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
 In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has given Judas the bread and at that point, the devil enters Judas.  Judas willingly invited the devil into his life and it cost him all of eternity in hell.  Jesus tells him to go ahead and betray Him since that is what Judas intended to do. When Judas has left Jesus states that now He (the Son of Man) is glorified. What Jesus means is the way He is going to be glorified is by dying on the cross for our sins. Jesus speaks of it as if it had already happened, since it was going to and He knew it would.  Judas goes out and it is night, there is a double meaning here since John always speaks of darkness as error, lies, and sin.  Then Jesus proceeds to tell them He is going to heaven even though He says it in terms they don’t understand.   Lastly, Jesus gives us that famous statement a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  We are to love one another no matter what happens is what He is saying.  He then says it will be known that we belong to Jesus is by the way we show our love to each other.
 27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
In effect, Jesus dismissed Judas from the table. Judas may not have intended to go out till later. It seems to me that it was necessary for Judas to leave at this time. First, it would assure that the timing of His death was right—something more important to Jesus than to Judas, or even the Jewish religious leaders. Second, it would remove Judas, so that Jesus could speak intimately and openly with His true disciples. In some ways, Judas had already been gently excluded from certain things. He was not one of the inner three: Peter, James, and John. He surely was not one of those sent to make preparations for the Passover celebration. This would have enabled him to betray Jesus at the wrong time and place. Now, Judas is excluded from our Lord’s final words to His disciples. They certainly did not apply to Judas. He does not even seem to be alive by the time our Lord is crucified (see Matthew 27:3-10). The truths Jesus is about to share with His disciples pertain to things in which Judas will not, and cannot, have any part. These are the very things on which Judas has turned his back.
Joh 17:12 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
 Php 1:28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
 2Th 2:3 ¶ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
 1Ti 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
 Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
 2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
 Re 17:8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
 Re 17:11 "And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
 28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him.
 29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.
The fact that Judas was the treasurer of the Twelve shows that the other disciples trusted him implicitly. He was a perfect hypocrite. Jesus' trust of him shows the Savior's grace.
 30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.
Lu 22:53 "When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
The feast in view (v. 29) must have been the feast of Unleavened Bread that followed Passover immediately since Jesus and the Twelve were then celebrating the Passover. Giving alms to the poor was a common practice in Jerusalem on Passover evening.
13:30   Judas   obeyed   Jesus'   command   (v.   27)   and   left   the   upper   room immediately. He missed most of the meal including the institution of the Lord's Supper. John's reference to it being night would be redundant if all he wanted to do was give a time reference. In view of his light and darkness theme, it seems that he wanted to point out the spiritual significance of Judas' departure both for Judas and for Jesus (cf. Luke
Luke 22:53; John 1:4-5; et al.).
He then, having received the sop, went immediately out and it was night." A solitary figure, leaving the room, to enter into the eternity of hell. 'The Bible doesn't say where he went, but evidently he went to finalize his deal with the Sanhedrin. And when he went out, it was night. And friends, it was more than physical night, it was eternal night, it was night in the soul of Judas. And I'll tell you something else. It is always night when a man goes out of the presence of Jesus Christ.
You say, "What does this say to me, all this?" It says, be sure that you make the most of your opportunities. Be sure you're not a hypocrite. Be sure than you're warned, my friend, that the greatest spiritual privileges might be neutralized by illicit passion. And a life which is lived in the face of the unclouded sun may set in a night of despair. There are Judases in every age, and there are Judases today. There are people who are selling out Jesus Christ, did you know that? There are men who have eaten at His table, and lifted their heel against Him. But the tragedy of it is, their end is death and disaster. And these words are still true, and true of more than one Judas: "Still as of old, by himself is priced, for thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ."
First, Jesus is in complete control, including the one who will betray Him. In making arrangements for this meal, Jesus makes sure that He will not be interrupted or arrested—not until it is “His time.” Jesus knows that Judas will betray Him, and our Lord orchestrates every event in these last hours so that He can fully accomplish all that He has set out to do. This includes the time, manner, and instruments of His arrest, trial, and death. It includes a private time with His disciples, when He can prepare them for what lies ahead. Though it is but a few hours until His death, everything is under control—His control.
Having emphasized that our Lord is in complete control at this meal (as at all times), let it be noted that Judas is represented as a man who is responsible for his actions. Jesus did not choose Judas for salvation, but neither did Judas choose our Lord. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility are both evident in our text.
Second, this text instructs us regarding the purpose of prophecy. Many Christians look at Bible prophecy as a kind of puzzle—something that we can figure out if we’re smart enough or persistent enough. Jesus’ words in our text inform us that there are many prophecies that we do not even recognize as such until after they have been fulfilled (such as the prophecy concerning Judas in Psalm 41:9). Prophecy is not given to us so that we can know exactly what will happen in the future. Much prophecy is written so that when God brings about His plans and purposes, we will realize that He has already told us this would happen, and that it has happened just as He said it would. Prophecy is one way that God promotes and protects His glory. He tells us what He is going to do ahead of time so that when He does it, it is all His doing.
Third, at a time when our Lord could have been obsessed with His own imminent suffering and death, He devoted Himself to serving His disciples by preparing them for the things which were to come. I think of Paul and Peter, as they wrote their last Epistles, knowing that the time of their departure was at hand. They did not focus attention on themselves, but upon others. They sought to prepare the saints for the time when they would be gone. That is what I see in our text. Our Lord is here preparing His disciples for what lies ahead. When one sees suffering (for God’s sake) as glory, then one need not dwell on his pain or sorrow. He or she is freed to focus on others, even in the last hours of our own life.
Fourth, our text suggests to us that there is a time when it is better for the scoffer to be removed. The Bible talks about times when someone needs to be removed from the assembly of the righteous (Proverbs 22:10; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Titus 3:10-11). Some folks call this “back door evangelism.” In a day when the church seems to be seeking to increase its numbers, let us not forget that there are some folks whose presence contaminates the saints, and impedes the work of God. It is time for Judas to go, and Jesus dismisses him. It was night, but only for those who rejected Him who is the source of light and life. Jesus dismissed Judas to go where he had already chosen.
Fifth, we should not think only of Judas as we read our text—Judas is but one example of many who, like him, choose to reject the light and to dwell in darkness. Specifically, Judas is a dramatic picture of the rejection of Jesus by the nation Israel. Over and over again, God had spoken to this people. Finally, God spoke to Israel through “the Word,” the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 1:1-3). They did not believe His words, in spite of all the miraculous works He performed. They seized Him, accused Him of crimes He did not commit, and killed Him, all to further their own interests. Is this not what Judas did as well? What a tragic picture. What darkness the nation Israel is about to experience, after their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.
It is no different today. Judas is also a picture of all who hear the gospel and cast it aside, by rejecting Jesus as the sinless Son of God, who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). It is possible that you may not have believed in Jesus as the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). You may be consoling yourself that you did not betray Jesus, as Judas did. If you have not received Him as God’s only cure for your sins, then you have rejected Him. According to the Bible, you are lost and living in darkness. As our Lord urged Judas to repent and believe, He is urging you to do the same.
Sixth, for every man and woman who hears the gospel, there is a point of no return. There is a point of no return, a point in time after which it is forever too late to repent and be saved. In the New Testament, it will soon be that point in time for Israel, as the apostles indicate by the urgency of their preaching. There is a time when you will turn away from Christ for the last time. No man knows that time, but it is a deadline you do not want to ignore. As the Scriptures say,
1 Now because we are fellow-workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “I heard you at the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
I cannot miss the fact that John has placed two men in close proximity to each other in John chapter 13: Judas and Peter. Judas was an unbeliever, who betrayed the Lord of Glory. Peter was a believer, who denied His Lord. What is the difference between the two? All the difference in the world. In some ways, Judas looks like “Mr. Perfect” in the New Testament—up till the time that he betrays our Lord. But over and over again in the Gospels, Peter seems to be messing up, doing or saying the wrong thing (even as he initially refuses to let Jesus wash his feet in our text). But while Peter often sinned, each occasion of sin was for him a point of repentance and return. How quickly Peter repents of his foolishness in chapter 13. It is true that Peter failed many times, just as we do, but each failure was a point of return. For Judas, his apparent failures seem to be few, but in spite of all the opportunities he was given to repent and turn to the Lord, he never did. Far better to fail often and return to the Lord, than to appear to do well, and never turn to Him at all. What a difference there is between Peter, whose sins were a “point of return,” and this final sin of Judas, which was his “point of no return.”
John introduces this new paragraph with the notation that what Jesus says here is spoken after the departure of Judas. Jesus had to guard and to qualify His words when Judas was present. He had to guard His words so that He would not give away any information that would facilitate Judas’ betrayal in a way that would produce His death at a time or in a manner different than what the prophetic Scriptures required. Jesus had to qualify His words to show (later on) that the comfort and assurances He gave to His true disciples were not meant to apply to Judas (e.g., 13:18-20). The departure of Judas sets in motion the events which assure our Lord’s death at the appointed time. Now, alone at last with His true disciples, Jesus speaks more candidly with them than ever before.
First, since the glorification of the Son of Man is the ultimate goal of history, Jesus welcomes it willingly, joyfully, triumphantly. Some people live under the false impression that God’s ultimate purpose in history is to make them happy and to make their lives free from pain and trouble. So the disciples seemed to think as well, until after the cross.
Second, the glorification of our Lord is realized both in His suffering and in His resulting exaltation. The glory of God is achieved at a very high price. The Father will sacrifice His own Son. Who can imagine the agony in that? The Son will lay down His life, dying on a Roman cross, and suffering separation from His Father—as the payment for our sins. And afterward the disciples will undergo their own suffering, which we see throughout the Book of Acts.
It would be wrong to speak of our Lord’s glory, apart from His suffering. It would likewise be incorrect to speak of His suffering apart from His glorification. Jesus here informs His disciples that His glorification is imminent—“right away” (verse 32). His glory begins at the cross, but it does not end there. He is glorified by His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. Our Lord’s suffering and His glorification cannot be separated. This is what the prophets of old struggled with: How can Messiah be both a suffering Servant and a triumphant King? The answer is found in the person and work of our Lord. Paul speaks of it this way:
Philippians 2:5-11 5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. 9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord.
5 times Jesus uses the word glory or some form of it in two verses of 38 words total
 31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
Son of Man - This term is connected to His suffering on the cross
 The title "Son of Man" unites the ideas of suffering and glory, as mentioned previously. This is the last of 12 occurrences of this title in John's Gospel.
"In its general usage it is the title of the incarnate Christ who is the representative of humanity before God and the representative of deity in human life.
How did Jesus glorify the Father? He explained how later: by finishing the work the Father gave Him to do (17:4). That is also how we glorify the Father.
"Little children" (Gr. teknia,dear children – Christian converts)
At the Passover Feast the Father would invite the children to ask questions and answer them for them.  Here at this supper Jesus sees Himself as the father and the disciples as His little children who need to be taught and cared for.
 32 "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.
Third, the glorification of the Son is synonymous with the glorification of the Father. Notice the manner in which our Lord intertwines His glorification with that of the Father. Jesus does not seek to be glorified apart from the Father,[1] but with the Father. Both Father and Son are glorified by what takes place shortly. This is consistent with the message of John’s Gospel. Throughout the Gospel, our Lord has emphasized not only His unity with the Father, but also His subordination to the Father. In chapter 1, Jesus was intimately involved (as was the Father) in the creation of the world.
In chapter 2, at the cleansing of the temple, Jesus is looking after His Father’s house. In chapter 5, Jesus claims to be working on the Sabbath (by healing the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda) because His Father is also at work. Over and over again, our Lord stresses His union with the Father. It should therefore come as no surprise when we read that the time has come for Father and Son alike to be glorified, through the death and resurrection of the Son.
 33 "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.
Does not say you will not find Me though as He did to the Jews
John 7:33-34 33 Then Jesus said, ‘I will be with you for only a little while longer, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’”.
John 8:21-22 21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will look for me but will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” 22 So the Jewish leaders began to say, “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’”.
Fourth, the glorification of the Son necessitates a separation from His disciples. Jesus has a way of introducing future events gradually, especially those to which the disciples are resistant. So it was with His going to Jerusalem, His rejection, crucifixion, and death. So now it is also with His “departure.” Earlier, Jesus had spoken to the Jews about His physical absence from this world:
Now He says nearly the same thing to His disciples. He is going away, and His absence from them is the backdrop for all that our Lord is about to say to His disciples in the Upper Room Discourse.
Any such misunderstanding was now corrected. When Jesus told the Jews that He was going away, He meant that He was returning to heaven, to be with His Father. There, they certainly would not find Him, because they would not be there. Heaven is a place for those who believe in Jesus; hell is the place for those who reject Him (see John 3:16-18; 10:25-29; 1 John 5:10-12). The shock was that Jesus was going away, and yet not taking His disciples with Him.
 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jesus is saying, "Look, no matter what happens over the next 24 hours, love one another
And it begins the "One Another" expressions that, of course Paul will pick up. We'll have many in the New Testament: love one another, encourage one another, be patient, admonish, rebuke, teach, on and on "One Another" phrases go.  And this new commandment coming, of course, on the heels of the new covenant that this is the way you're going to relate to each other after I have been resurrected.
Yeah, and this is very timely for us within the so-called evangelical Bible believing church even in our own country. I am all about doctrinal purity and fighting for the truth of Scripture. What’s the famous reformers axiom about in all things…
 In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity, and in all things, charity.
 So we can fold that out of here. The new commandment, that you love each other, so that the world's going to see this. So think of world religions. Think of the way some “isms” and “ologies” fight and hate and even kill one another.
 Evangelical, Bible believing, Christ following Christians should be known for their acceptance, their mercy, their love. Yes, we deal with sin. Yes, we must confront and help those who get in trouble; but in the main, do they look at your church and my church and the place we fellowship and say, "Wow! Those people really love each other, and love me."
And when we look at our own unkindness or lack of compassion or lack of forgiveness for others, it's not just about relationships. It's about what we are saying who our Savior is, isn't it?
but in the Mosaic Law the standard was "as you love yourself" (Lev.19:18). Now there was a new and higher standard, namely, "as I have loved you." It was also a new (Gr. kainen, fresh rather than different) commandment in that it was part of a new covenant that Jesus would ratify with His blood (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). In that covenant God promised to enable His people to love by transforming their hearts and minds (Jer.31:29-34; Ezek. 36:24-26). It is only by God's transforming grace that believers can love one another as Jesus has loved us.470
We all know that there is a sense in which this “new” commandment of our Lord is not entirely new. The Old Testament law could be summed up in two commands: (1) Love God; and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself (see Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13:8-10). What, then, is so different about our Lord’s command here that He can call it “new”? First, we should note that it is a command given by our Lord to the church, and not a command given to Israel. In this sense, it is the first of the “new commandments” that our Lord will give to the church through His apostles.[2]
Second, it should be noted that this command is specifically directed toward the disciples and their relationship with one another (surely this takes us back to the lesson of foot washing). It is therefore the first of the “one another” commands of the New Testament (see, for example, Romans 12:10, 16; 13:8; 14:13, 19; 15:5, 7, 14; 16:16). This command does not address the love that we have for unbelievers, though others do (see Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:17-21).
The most important “new” dimension to our Lord’s command here is the standard which He sets for the love He requires: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” It is one thing to love one another as we love and care for ourselves. It is a vastly greater love that gives up one’s own life for another, that sacrifices self-interest to promote the interests of another (John 15:13; Philippians 2:1ff.).
The sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary is the “new” standard for the Christian’s love for fellow-believers.
[1] “This is the one place in this Gospel where Jesus uses this word for ‘new’ (it is used also in 19:41 of the ‘new’ tomb in which he was laid). There is another Greek word for ‘new’ that means ‘recent,’ whereas this word has about it the notion of ‘fresh.’ It is not so much that the commandment has not been given before as that it has a different quality about it, a quality of freshness that differentiates it from any other. The commandment to love was not, of course, in itself a novelty. There was a very old commandment that we should love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev. 19:18). But this commandment is that we should love each other as Jesus loved us.” Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, vol. 3, p. 484.
 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
The Greek words for "love" appear only 12 times in John 1—12, but in chapters 13—21 we find them 44 times.
The “newness” our Lord’s “new commandment,” then, was not in its originality or novelty, but in its extent. It was the practice of this kind of love that would cause the world to recognize these men (and us) as the disciples of Jesus (verse 35):
That supernatural love would distinguish disciples of Jesus. Love for one another  would  mark  them  off  as  His  disciples.  It  is  possible  to  be  a disciple of Jesus without demonstrating much supernatural love. However that kind of love is what bears witness to a disciple's connection with Jesus and thereby honors Him (cf. 1 John 3:10b-23; 4:7-16).471  Every believer manifests some supernatural love since the loving God indwells him or her (1 John 3:14). However, it is possible to quench and to grieve the indwelling Spirit so that we do not manifest much love.
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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
 
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] Is this not what the temptation of our Lord was all about—Satan seeking to tempt our Lord to gain His messianic glory independently of the Father?
[2] It is my understanding that many—perhaps most—of the Old Testament commands are renewed in the New Testament. As Dr. Bruce Waltke used to put it, “When we look at the Old Testament commandments, we must ask whether the New Testament ratifies, modifies, or abrogates (negates) them.” The command to “love” is “ratified” or “renewed” by our Lord here, and upgraded.

WE NEED TO LISTEN TO AND OBEY THE VOICE OF GOD PART 2

 
Exodus 23:29-31 says "I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you.  30 "Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. 31 "And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. I believe these verses have a second application for us today in that it speaks of how God works in our life in using us in ministry and His will for our life.  He doesn’t tell us all He wants us to do at one time, but asks us to do things one at time until we get to the ultimate goal of His will for our life.  God doesn’t show us all of His will at one time as one guy said I wished He did and gives us steps one-10, but I believe this would probably scare most of us to death, but keeps giving us tasks and as we step out and do them He gives us another.  If you don’t do step one you can’t ever see His will for step two and so on.  We have to obediently step out as God shows us His will and we will end up where He wants us.  Is this your desire?
   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

JOHN 13:18-30 NOW I TELL YOU BEFORE IT COMES, THAT WHEN IT DOES COME TO PASS, YOU MAY BELIEVE THAT I AM HE

                       In this section of Scripture we see Jesus pointing out that Judas is the one who will betray Him and that He is telling this so they will believe He is the I AM God of the Old Testament who has come in the flesh.  He also tells them that it will fulfill the Scriptures to show how accurate they are and that all that is said in them is true and will come true if it is a future prediction.  Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies when He came the first time and will fulfill at least that many when He comes again.  If you haven’t believed on Him, the question is why not?  Who fulfilled prophecies and done as many great signs that show He is God? No one, so believe on Him today and be saved. 
We have seen the divine origin of the betrayal.
Now we see the declaration of it
 19 "Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.
He' is in italics; it's not there in the original. "That ye may believe that I am." 'I am' is whose name? God's name. Jesus says, "I want you to know that I am God."
That I Am GOD
 20 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."
While Jesus is indirectly exposing Judas as an unbeliever here, His emphasis is on believing, believing in Him. This is the thrust of verse 20.
This seems at first to be disconnected, but I'll try to connect it for you at best I can. He continues to declare this betrayal by saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He whom receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me. And He that receiveth Me receiveth Him who sent Me." You say, "What's that doing in there?" And, initially, it doesn't seem to fit. It seems like it's pulled out of some other chapter or something. But it fits. Oh, it fits beautifully. We don't know what went on in the gap between verses nineteen and twenty. But you could imagine that when the disciples would have known about the betrayal, they would have all said, "Oh, man! That's the end of the whole show. I mean, one lousy disciple blew the whole deal. Jesus goes to the cross. The whole thing's going to fall apart." And so, what Jesus is saying here is this: "No matter what happens, men, that doesn't lower your commission. No matter what happens, betrayal or no betrayal, hypocrite or not, no matter what happens, it doesn't lower your commission one whit. Not at all." The Lord has been teaching them to humble themselves in the manner He illustrated by washing their feet. The Lord has been teaching them that they are to preach the Gospel. And when they see the apostasy of the betrayer, they may begin to think, "Well, maybe our commission is over with. Maybe our work has ceased. Maybe it's all done now." And so Christ is saying, "Not so. Nothing changes. You are still my representatives. Though there's a traitor among you, that doesn't lower your high calling. That doesn't reduce your commission. The treachery of Judas must never lower your estimate of Apostolic responsibility."
Just because it's going to be diffi­cult and just because there's going to be opposition doesn't lower your calling one whit. Nor your commission. These disciples were still Christ's ambassadors in the world. And this verse says that "When I send you brother, you represent Me and God in this world." And that's as high as you can get. But did you notice that the verse has a general content, way beyond the disciples. It uses the word 'whomsoever.' "Whomsoever I send." You know that that refers to you and me, ambassadors of Jesus Christ in every age? When you move out into this world, Christian friend, you represent Jesus Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ, and we beg you in Christ's stead. Be reconciled to God." Do you know that when we go out and ask men to come to Jesus Christ, we are doing it in the place of Jesus Christ? We're his ambassadors, his representatives. When a man rejects your witness, he rejects Jesus and he rejects God. You as a Christian absolutely represent Christ. In Galatians 4:14, the apostle Paul says this, "You received me as an angel of God even as Christ Jesus." And that's the way everybody ought to receive a believer. When you walk into a situation, my friend, you are there in the place of Jesus Christ. That's how high your calling is. And whoever in this world receives you, receives Christ and God Himself. And whoever refuses you rejects Christ and rejects God. That's how strategically important you are.
 21 When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."
This is the third time in John’s Gospel that Jesus has been described as being “greatly distressed.” He was “intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed” at the burial site of Lazarus (John 11:33). Later on, in chapter 12, the soul of our Lord was greatly distressed at the prospect of His coming “hour” of suffering the penalty for man’s sin (12:27). Now, our Lord is greatly distressed at the thought of one of His own followers betraying Him (13:21). As I read the text, our Lord’s distress is not self-centered; He is distressed over the spiritual condition, conduct, and destiny of one of His own.
Joh 11:33 ¶ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
 Joh 12:27 ¶ "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Jesus was greatly distressed over the destiny of Judas. Is this not an example of what Jesus Himself had taught?
Matthew 5:43-48 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? The tax collectors do that too, don’t they? 47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? The Gentiles do that too, don’t they? 48 So then, you be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (
While Jesus is said to be distressed three times in John, this term is also used by our Lord when instructing His disciples not to be distressed (John 14:1, 27). How can Jesus tell His disciples not to be distressed, when He is? In the case of our Lord, He is distressed in spirit (11:33; 13:21) and in His soul (12:27). His disciples are told not to be distressed in heart (14:1, 27). This forbidden distress seems to be that of unbelief (14:1) resulting in fear and the loss of courage (14:27).
You could probably list twenty-five things that troubled Him. Here's a few: He was troubled because of the unrequited love of Judas; He was troubled because of the ingratitude in Judas' heart; He was troubled because He had a deep hatred of sin and it was sitting right next to Him, sin incarnate; He was troubled because He was shrinking about from contact with the one about to betray Him; He was troubled because He knew of the eternal destiny in Hell; He was troubled because He could see with His omnipotent eye Satan moving around Judas; he was troubled because He had a knowledge of the sin of the betrayer and the terrors of his eternal punishment; He was troubled because He sensed all that sin and death meant; He was troubled because He had an inner awareness that Judas was a classic illustration of the wretchedness of sin, sin which He would have to bear in His own body on the next day, sin for which He would be made responsible, and would die for. He was troubled. He was in deep sorrow.
You remember at the tomb of Lazarus, as He thought about sin and death, He groaned in His inner man. He's in deep sorrow later in the garden of Gethsemane as He even sweats drops of blood, his whole system breaking down in the agony. And here He is, troubled, deeply, over sin and death and all that Judas is about to do. And in His trouble, he bursts out and says, "One of you is going to betray Me." And the statement is a shocking statement. Their hearts must have raced. Their pulses must have been frantic. "One of you at this table, one of you whose feet I washed, one of you who have had the honor of being my first ambassadors, one of you will betray Me. One of you will use your intimacy of Me to guide the enemy, to take Me and kill Me." "Mine own familiar friend," the psalmist said, "has lifted up his heel against me." "One of you."
22 Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.
The Synoptic Gospels provide us with a most significant detail. When informed that one of them would betray Him, the 11 disciples responded one way, while Judas responded differently:
Matthew 26:21-25 21 And while they were eating he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” 22 They were deeply grieved and each one began to say to him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Then Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself”.
Each of the believing disciples asks his Lord if it is him; Judas asks the Rabbi. After all Judas has seen and heard, Jesus is still only a teacher to him.
And so, we see the divine origin and the declaration, and then the doubt. The disciples don't know who He is talking about. And in verses 22-25 they express that. They're shocked. Who is this? Matthew says they all said, "Is it I? Is it I?" And Judas even said, "Is it I?" Hypocrite. That's how it is; the hypocrites are around, aren't they? I told you that only Jesus knows who they are.
For the moment, Jesus focuses His attention on Judas. Jesus dipped a piece of bread in the dish and handed it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. What an incredible, defining, moment this was! Jesus and Judas must have locked eyes. Judas had to have known that Jesus knew everything. Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer. He knew Judas did not really believe in Him. He knew Judas had already reached an agreement with the chief priests. He knew that Judas would soon go to the Jewish authorities, and lead them to Him, to arrest Him. In spite of all this, Judas reached out and took the bread, knowing what that meant. It forever sealed his doom.
If Judas and Jesus knew exactly what was going on, the rest of the disciples were without a clue.
In Matthew 13, when Jesus gave the parables of this age, He described this age in an interesting way. And I want you to listen to this. Matthew 13:24: "Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the household came and said unto him, 'Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in the field? From where then hath it tares?'" What's the false doing among the true? "He said unto them, "An enemy hath done this." See, wherever God sows His good seed, Satan sows his tares, doesn't he. If there is truth in the church, there are hypocrites, people playing a game. "The servant said to him, 'Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?' But he said to them, 'Nay. Lest while you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat with them.'" In other words, you can't tell the difference at this point of growth. You have to wait till it's dry and ready to harvest, then the difference becomes obvious. "'Let both grow together until the time of the harvest, and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, 'Gather together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."' There's coming a day, friends, when Jesus is going to decide who is the true and who is the hypocrite. I can't tell. I wish I could. If I could, I'd go to every hypocrite individually and warn him of his hypocrisy. And invite him to leave this fellowship unless he was legitimate. But I can't do that, because I can't read people's hearts. There are some telltale signs. But someday Jesus is going to know who's true and who's false. And divide accordingly.
 23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
This is John's first reference to himself as the beloved disciple. Rather the description reveals his appreciation for God's grace in loving him as He did. He focused the reader's attention on Jesus more forcefully by omitting his own name.
 24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
 25 Then, leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"
Now this brings out the loveliness of Jesus. Isn't it interesting that the disciples were so perplexed. You know what that proves to me? That shows to me that Jesus had shown love to Judas for three years. Don't you know that they would have detected if Jesus, you know, Jesus could have been very bitter about Judas, right? All the way along, just resenting him, resenting him, resenting him. And it would have come out, in the way he talked to him. But, evidently, for three years He'd been gentle, loving, and kind to Judas in exactly the same fashion that the other eleven had experienced it, so that they didn't see any difference at all. In fact, Judas even was treasurer of the group. They trusted him. And so, evidently, that's the loveliness of Jesus, he had been constantly kind to Judas, privately rebuking him from time to time. But publicly showing him love. And hard-hearted Judas had just played his game, all the way along. He had the behavior of a saint, and the heart of a sinner.
 26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Passover participants normally did this early in the meal. The host would sometimes do this and pass a morsel of bread and meat to an honored guest. Jesus did this to Judas.
Judas must have sat near enough to Jesus for Jesus to do this conveniently (cf. Matt. 26:25). Possibly Judas reclined to Jesus' immediate left. If he did, this would have put him in the place of the honored guest immediately to the host's left.
Perhaps it was the apparently high honor that Jesus bestowed on Judas by extending the morsel to him that counteracted what Jesus had just said to John about the betrayer. Could Jesus really mean that the disciple who was the guest of honor would betray Him? This apparent contradiction may explain John's lack of response to Jesus' words to him about the betrayer.
Jesus' act of friendship to Judas triggered Judas' betrayal of Jesus' friendship. This was Jesus' final gesture of supreme love for Judas (cf. v. 1).
Then, point number four, Jesus gives the display that reveals the betrayer. And I believe that this was reserved for Peter and John. I believe they're the only ones who caught the message here, because later on it says that the other disciples didn't know what was going on. But Peter and John saw what happened.
Now, you say, what is sop? Sop would be a piece of unleavened bread, broken from some of the unleavened cakes that would be on the table having broken it off, there would be on the table in very many places a dish. And there was a dish called cheshireth, and it was filled with bitter herbs, vinegar, salt, mashed fruit consisting of dates and figs and raisins and water, and it was made kind of like a dip. And they would put the unleavened bread in there, and absorb some of that dip, and then they would eat it. And now it was always a mark of honor for the host to dip a sop and give it to the guest of honor. And Jesus, lovingly, kindly, in a gesture of love toward Judas, dips the sop, and gives it to Judas on His left, as if Judas was the guest of honor. I personally would not be surprised to find out some time in eternity that Jesus even asked Judas to sit beside Him, hoping that somehow He could communicate love, and break that impenitent heart. And so, Jesus did everything He could to show His love to Judas. He even gave him the token which signified him as the guest of honor. And incidentally, the one who sat on the left was number one guest. And Judas had that seat. You would think that this would have broken Judas' heart, wouldn't you? All of this on top of washing feet and everything else, but it didn't. You see, Judas was an apostate. By this time Judas was hard, and all the sweet love of Jesus couldn't recall that one whose salvation was now impossible. He was a Hebrews 6 case. He was impossible.
You notice that-he gives his full name there. That's so all posterity will remember the name. Judas, from the town of Carioth, son of Simon, the betrayer.
     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

WE NEED TO LISTEN TO AND OBEY THE VOICE OF GOD PART 1

Exodus 23:29-31 says "I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you.  30 "Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. 31 "And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. I believe these verses have an application for us today in that it speaks of our sanctification, God will give you the ability to drive out the sins in your life as He puts His finger on them and says they must go.  We have to be obedient to do this when He tells us to or else there will come a time when we will not be able to drive them out. Later on the Israelites had not obeyed the voice of God and He told them because they would not drive the out they could not and they were plagued the rest of their days and to this day by the inhabitants of the land.  We need to listen to God when He says get rid of a sin and then we will not have to deal with it the rest of our life.
 
     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

JOHN 13:12-18 MOST ASSUREDLY, I SAY TO YOU, A SERVANT IS NOT GREATER THAN HIS MASTER; NOR IS HE WHO IS SENT GREATER THAN HE WHO SENT HIM.

John 13:12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'
                 In this very familiar passage of Scripture, we see Jesus having set the example for Servant Leadership in the first eleven verses asking them if they know what He has done.  Then He explains what He has done and why He did it. Jesus says Most Assuredly (i.e.; Listen Up What I am about to say is very Important).  He says that if He the Lord and God who created everything washed their dirty nasty feet, then what ought they to do?  Jesus is saying that we ought to do whatever it takes to help others become who they ought to be in Christ.  That we are to help everyone in spite of what they look like, smell like, talk like, act like, or anything else that we may not like about them.  Jesus says a blessing comes not by knowing what you ought to do, but by doing the very thing we most dislike doing sometimes, helping others who are not like us. Mt 25:40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' He also tells them about Judas who has betrayed Him even after having fellowship with Him.
 And, thirdly, is humility in verses twelve to seventeen.
 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?  13 "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. Jesus says you say I am the Teacher and the Lord, in other words I have a great authority over you and others and if I in great authority do this to you, what ought you to do.  14 "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  
15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Like as I have –in the same manner – means do whatever it takes to serve other people – Stands for self-sacrificing service for the Lord.  Not to do the same thing I have done, but to serve as I have. 
1Pe 5:5 ¶ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
 16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
 17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus want you to wash His feet today by serving His People, Humility involves serving others, not just the Lord
Pride will keep you from doing so.
Joy comes not just from learning about humility, but by demonstrating it
Jesus wants to wash your feet today but your pride will stop you from letting Him do so.
Jesus’ demonstration of serving His disciples was more than a demonstration. It was really a call to service.
 You my brothers were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Rather serve one another in love.
 And he pointed out that people talk about, "I have freedom in Christ to do this and to do that” and most of the time they’re saying, "I'm free to do whatever pleases my flesh."
 But Galatians says our freedom in Christ is designed so that in love we can serve one another.
 Jesus and Judas, the epitomes of opposites. The Perfect One and the absolutely imperfect. The best and the worst. The absolutely perfect and the absolutely wretched. Jesus and Judas. And by contrast here the purity of Jesus, and the depravity of Judas become very, very obvious.
The perfect one and the polluted one
The Son of God and the Son of Perdition
The blessed one and the cursed one
The Holy One and the Hellish one
We come to the confrontation as it comes head to head between Jesus and Judas.
The name Judas itself bears a kind of a stigma which burns within us. He who betrayed the Son of God with a kiss has become the most despised person in the annals of human history. His personality is the darkest on the chronicle of the world. And in this passage, we see the blackness of Judas contrasted with the absolute pure whiteness of Jesus Christ. Jesus and Judas come head to head at this point, the deed which has been festering in the heart of Judas, and which he has begun to perpetrate is now pushed to its climax and Judas is exposed as the betrayer.
Well, there's no question about the fact that the man was an ultimate tragedy. He was probably the greatest tragedy that ever lived, because he is the perfect and prime example of what it means to have opportunity and then lose it. He is the greatest example of lost opportunity the world ever saw. Three years, he moved and walked with Jesus. And ended in absolute disaster. He initially shared the same hope of a kingdom that the other disciples shared. He likely believed that Jesus was the One who was going to bring it off. He, too, after all, had left all and followed Jesus. And it's obvious that he initially didn't join the apostles for the money involved because they never really did have anything. Certainly along the line he became greedy, but perhaps his motive on the outset was just to get in on this kingdom that Jesus would bring.
Whatever was his character at the beginning, it was a gradual process that turned him into the treacherous man that he was, a man who had no thought for anybody but himself, a man who finally only wanted to get as much money as he could and get out. Strangely enough, he followed the same Christ as the others, for three years. Just think about that. For three years, day in and day out, he occupied himself with Jesus Christ. He saw the same miracles, he heard the same words, he performed some of the same ministries, he was esteemed in the same way the other disciples were esteemed, yet he did not become what the others became. In fact, he became the very opposite. He was the cleverest hypocrite that we ever read about in the Scriptures. Nobody ever suspected it. And while they were growing into true apostle-saints of God, he was progressively forming into a vile, calculating tool of Satan. And as we come to the thirteenth Chapter of John, Satan literally enters right inside Judas. That's how prepared he is to do Satan's bidding. And when you look at the life of Judas, he becomes all the more terrible because of the glorious beginnings which he had. But greed, ambition, worldliness crept into his heart and avarice became his besetting sin. The failure to struggle with his own temptation, the disappointment that he had about every expectation of an earthly kingdom, the intolerable and unbearable rebuke of the presence of Christ. Just imagine that. Walking around all the time with sinless purity, while you were infested with vileness as Judas was. The sense, too, that perhaps the eye of the master was beginning to see who he was, and what he was. All of these things really began to eat away at him. And by the time we come to John 13, he's ready to do anything.
A few days before this in Bethany, he perpetrated his dirty deed by meeting with the leaders of Israel and bargaining for thirty pieces of silver, something around twenty to twenty-five dollars. The price of a slave was thirty pieces of silver. And Judas has already begun the deed, but now it comes to full fruition on the eve of the crucifixion.
 18 "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'
Prophesied in Ps 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
The idea of the heel lifted up, is the idea of brutal violence. It is the brutal kind of violence designated by the lifting of a heel and driving the heel into the neck of the individual. A neck-breaking heel. And that's the picture of Judas, brutal. Having wounded his enemy, lying on the ground, he takes the giant heel and crushes his neck.
Now, we realize one thing, a little footnote before we look at verse 18. We realize one thing, that unless Jesus in some way prepares the disciples for what is about to happen, it could affect them very, very seriously. For example, if Judas rises up all of a sudden and betrays Jesus, right out of the blue, the disciples may conclude that Jesus wasn't all He claimed to be, or He would have known that Judas was like this, and He never would have chosen him. Jesus wants to be sure that they don't think He is going to be surprised by what Judas does. Because that could be the loss of their faith. And so, to show them that Jesus is no surprise victim, that whatever happens, He knows about it, and it is all in the plan of God, He says what He says in verse 18. And what He says here is that even the betrayal of Judas has a divine origin. It fits into the master plan of God.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions
In the ancient Jewish (and perhaps more broadly, the Near Eastern) culture, inviting a man into one’s home and to his table was a most significant act. If the host made such commitments to his guest(s), one would expect the guest to reciprocate in some way. And yet the one who sat at our Lord’s table and ate His bread actually betrayed Him. What a horrible thing Judas is about to do to His Master, and immediately after eating His bread.
To share a meal with guests was to offer them not only provisions, but protection.
You remember that David had a bad son. His name was Absalom. And Absalom decided to start a rebellion and to overthrow his father and take over the throne. Now David had a counselor and a friend named Ahithophel. But Ahithophel turned against David, joined Absalom's rebellion. And here in Psalm 41 David is saying this of Ahithophel. "You mine own familiar friend whom I trusted, you've eaten bread with me, close fellowship, you've turned and taken your heel against me." That picture of David and Ahithophel is fulfilled in a greater sense in Jesus and Judas. Jesus, the greater David, Judas, the greater Ahithophel.
Over in Psalm 55, we see another prophecy, clearly a prophecy of Judas and his betrayal. Psalm 55:12. Listen to how this describes Judas. "For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it." Imagine Jesus speaking these words. "Neither was it he that hated me who did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, my familiar friend. We took sweet counsel together, walked unto the house of God in company." Now verse 20. "He has put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Over in Zechariah, next to the last book in the Old Testament, and in the eleventh chapter even more detail is given about the betrayal of Christ by Judas. In fact it even gives the exact price. Right as exactly you see it in the New Testament. Zechariah 11:12: "And I said unto them, 'If ye think good, give me my price.'" And this is Judas talking. Prophetically, this is Judas talking to the Jewish leaders. "'If you think good, give me my price, and if not forbear.' So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, 'Cast it unto the potter, a lordly price that I was prized at of them.' And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." And you know what Judas did after the death of Jesus Christ? He took the thirty pieces right back to the house of the Lord, threw them down. The thirty pieces were picked up, Matthew 27 says, they took them out and bought a potter's field, exactly, to the letter, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 11. And there's a picture of Judas.
Long before Judas was ever born, his hatred of Jesus Christ was master planned by divine authorship into the activity of the cross. Jesus choosing Judas was no accident. In John 17:12, listen to this, Jesus says to the Father, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name," talking about his disciples. "Those that thou gave Me I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition," that's Judas, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Judas didn't surprise Jesus one bit. He knew every move Judas ever made. It was predestined in the plan of God from eternity past. It was woven into the prophecy of the Old Testament at least three places as clearly as it could possibly be there. Now may I add quickly this statement: Judas' part was not apart from Judas' own will. Even though God master planned it, even though it was of divine origin that Judas would fit into the body of the twelve, and betray Christ. Yet it was not apart from the desire of Judas.
Judas was no robot. The idea that our Lord simply allocated to an unwilling Judas the part of the villain in the crucifixion is inconsistent with Jesus Christ. And it's inconsistent with the constant rebukes Jesus gives to Judas. All the way along the ministry of Jesus, he rebukes Judas. He endeavors to drive him to repentance, time and time again. And so we conclude that even though Judas' treachery fit into the plan of God, God did not design him as a treacherous man. That he became by his own choice. God merely designed his treachery into His plan. He didn't design the treachery.
Isn't it marvelous, again we come to the Old Testament principle that says this: "You meant it for evil, but I meant it for good." And God again took the wrath of Judas, to praise Him. And through the deed that Judas did, brought salvation.
I think also there are other reasons why Jesus chose Judas. As I analyze the life of Judas, there are so many profound lessons that we learn from Judas. What are they? Number one, we learn that Judas fit in as part of redemptive planning. We learned that God can use anything in His plan. And as I said He takes the wretch to praise Him. Then I think Judas was chosen because he became an impartial witness to Christ. It's one thing for John the Baptist to witness to Christ and all the apostles and all the people who believed in Him, but do you know one of the greatest witnesses that's ever been given in the history of the world, was given by Judas? Judas, if he could have found one thing wrong with Jesus Christ would have played it up to the skies, wouldn't he? If Judas could have found one error in Jesus Christ, he would have seized on it and capitalized on it. If Judas could have found one thing wrong at all, he would have blown it all over the place. Do you know what Judas said? His dying words were these, "I have betrayed innocent blood." That's one of the greatest testimonies to the truth of Jesus Christ that any man ever gave. And he was an impartial witness. He was biased the other way.
Another lesson I think that Judas teaches us is that he gives us the opportunity to uncover the awfulness of sin. Sin is never as black as it is in the life of Judas. The blackest kind of sin. And to really understand the cross, you have to see a Judas, because then you know what that cross can accomplish in forgiving that kind of sin. Then also I think that Judas and his life of treachery teaches us to supply sinners with a solemn warning. We ought to learn from the example of Judas, my friend. You ought to learn that you can be very near to God, very near to Jesus Christ, and yet be lost and damned forever. Nobody ever got closer in this world than the twelve. And Judas was one of them. And he's in hell today. Fifthly, I think the story of Judas teaches another lesson. It teaches us that there will be hypocrites among the brethren. You know something, Judas wasn't deceived, did you know that? He was a fake, that's all. He posed as a believer. And he was good at it. He was the best. And mark it, wherever God's work is done, there are hypocrites. Satan always uses them.
Another lesson that I think we learn from Judas is the fact that the devil is at work among the Lord's people. Here they are gathered around at the table, the last supper, and moving among them is Satan himself. Be sure of it friends, it's true. Many lessons from the life of Judas. Wherever God's work is done Satan will be there. First of all, Jesus says that it was all in God's plan, that He was not being taken by surprise. And so we see the divine origin of the betrayal.
 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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32
 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.

SPENDING TIME IN THE WORD WITH THE WORD OF LIFE

Matthew 20:33 says They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”  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.
 
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

JOHN 13:1-11 JESUS SAID TO HIM, ”HE WHO IS BATHED NEEDS ONLY TO WASH HIS FEET, BUT IS COMPLETELY CLEAN; AND YOU ARE CLEAN, BUT NOT ALL OF YOU.”

John 13:1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this." 8 Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." 9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean."
 
             In today’s message we will see Jesus humbling Himself and showing us the attitude of Servant Leadership.  This is a concept that is shown by Jesus the whole time He is here on earth.  He was humble in the fact that the God who created everything came to earth to die on the cross for our sins (Philippians 2:5-11).  Jesus said in Mark 9:35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Peter gets proud and doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet so He tells Jesus "Lord, are You washing my feet? So, Jesus begins to say that Peter doesn’t understand all this right now, but will later on.  Peter strongly protests again. So, Jesus tells Peter that if He is not allowed to wash his feet that He cannot have anything to do with Jesus.  So Peter replies wash all of me then.  Jesus lets Peter know that a saved person (those that are completely clean) only needs to clean their feet.  In other words a saved person has been completely washed clean by the Blood of Jesus and only needs to daily ask for forgiveness(wash their feet) to maintain fellowship with God.  1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. As we walk through this world we get dirty from being exposed to the sin around us that contaminates us.  He then tells Peter that Judas is not saved by saying all of you are not clean.
The opening section stands out with three dominant thoughts in John thirteen, the first three verses. The first is that Jesus Christ knew His hour had come. He knew it was the time. Secondly Jesus Christ loved his disciples until the end and thirdly Jesus Christ knew that Judas would betray Him. We are going to try to apply as we set a foundation for looking at this whole section of “How to prepare for My departure,” Jesus says. “How to get ready for when I'm gone. How to continue once I leave you.”
1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 3rd Passover in John
And the way the original language would be read, and the way the first century would hear it, would be more of, "He loved them to the full extent. He loved them comprehensively. He loved them completely. He loved them perfectly. He loved them, not just to the end when He died. He loved them fully."  So He came unto His own, His own new Him not. Those who were chosen responded and He loved them to the full extent.
 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him,
 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, It is our Lord’s sovereignty that is being stressed here, and not His suffering.[1]
John wishes us to understand that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet at a time when others would not have been inclined to do so. Jesus was in complete control. Jesus was God’s CEO. When men find themselves in this position, they are tempted to behave very differently: “Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them’” (Mark 10:42). In spite of who He was; in spite of the fact that all authority had been given to Him, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. In spite of the fact that He could have required men to minister to Him, catering to His every whim, Jesus humbled Himself by washing the feet of His disciples. This was truly an amazing thing! Jesus humbled Himself, knowing that He was soon going to be exalted higher than anyone in all of human history.
In chapters 1-12
“love” occurs 12 times
 1 time per chapter
In chapters 13-17
“love” occurs 34 times
 approx. 7 times per chapter
It is obvious, is it not, that John wishes to emphasize the love our Lord has for His own? Mitchell observes:
It is remarkable that in this section, starting in chapter 13, begins with the statement, ‘Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end;’ (13:1). This section ends in chapter 17 with Jesus praying, ‘that the love wherewith thou has loved me may be in them, and I in them’ (17:26). He begins and ends with His love for His own. It’s just like the Savior! And down through these five chapters we have the marvelous revelation of His love, of His concern for His own.[2]
Here is the amazing thing. Jesus loves His own. Jesus loves His own, knowing everything. He loves His own, knowing that He is sovereign, and that He is about to leave this earth and return to His Father. He loves His own, knowing that they have been arguing (or will shortly do so) about who is the greatest, knowing that they are about to forsake Him and flee for their lives, knowing that Peter will deny Him. It is one thing for people to love us, who do not know all of our wicked deeds, thoughts, and motivations. It is another for the Holy God of heaven to love us, knowing every wicked thing we have done and will do. This is, indeed, amazing love. What a comfort to the Christian, knowing that our Lord’s love is constant and unchanging, knowing that He chose to love us—and to keep on loving us—purely out of His grace, and not based upon our performance. Jesus loved His own; He loved them to the “end”—to the uttermost degree, and to the very end.[3] What security! What grace! What a Savior!
 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
The washing of the feet of one’s guests was expected in Jesus’ day, as we can see from Luke’s Gospel:
44 Then, turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil (Luke 7:44-46).
Normally, the host would not do this washing himself, because it was regarded as a very demeaning task. We get some idea of just how menial it was from the comment Abigail makes to David in the Old Testament: “Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, ‘Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord’” (1 Samuel 25:41, NKJV).
Foot washing was understood in the same way by John the Baptist:
When John the Baptist desired to give expression to his feeling of unworthiness in comparison to Christ, he could think of no better way to express this than to say that he deemed himself unworthy of kneeling down in front of Jesus in order to unloose his sandal straps and remove the sandals (with a view to washing the Master’s feet).”[4]
I believe our Lord’s washing of the disciples’ feet in John 13 is further explained by a comment that is found in Luke’s Gospel:
24 A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 So Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But it must not be like that with you! Instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:24-27).
It would not at all surprise me if this dispute occurred just as the disciples were entering this upper room. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. 9 So the host who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then with shame you will start to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host comes he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8-11).
I believe that when the disciples entered this upper room, they were all intent on sitting in the places of honor—at our Lord’s right and left hand (see Matthew 20:21-23). I can almost see them pushing and shoving their way into the room, hurrying past the basin of water, where a servant normally would have been present to wash the feet of the guests as they entered, in preparation for the meal. This may well have been the time that the disciples argued among themselves about who was to be regarded as the greatest. After all, every one of them would have to establish their “ranking” among the 12 if they were to be seated according to their greatness. I can see our Lord, quietly observing His disciples as they squabble. I can imagine Him making His way to the washbasin, and filling it with water, while His disciples continue to argue with each other, completely oblivious to what He is doing. And then they suddenly become silent as they realize that He has taken the lowest position of all—lower than the lowest of the 12—the position of a servant (and not a high-ranking servant, either). To their amazement, they observe Jesus, working His way from one of them to the next, first washing a pair of dirty feet, and then drying them with the towel that is wrapped about His waist. The argument seems to end with the words of our Lord in verses 12-17. They may not understand all that He has done, but they must have had enough sense to know it was time to be stop bickering and be quiet.[5]
Two verses out of five focus on the actual washing of the disciples’ feet by our Lord. Three of the five verses provide us with background information, which John believes his readers need to know in order to properly understand the Lord’s actions. We might say that verses 1-3 provide us with information that gives us insight into our Lord’s “state of mind.”[6] This “state of mind”[7] of our Lord is expressed by John, both in terms of what Jesus “knew” (see verses 1, 3, 11), and in terms of why He did what He did (namely, His great love for His own).
It would seem to me that the lack of a servant to wash the disciples’ feet was deliberate on our Lord’s part. First of all, it was the host’s responsibility to provide this (see Luke 7), and Jesus was the host. Furthermore, throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus very carefully arranging for things in advance (the procuring of the donkey and its colt, and of a place in which to celebrate Passover, etc.). I cannot imagine that our Lord—who is omniscient (knowing all)—would forget to provide for the foot washing. And finally, all the things that were necessary for the foot washing were present (the basin, the water, the towel). I am therefore inclined to think that Jesus purposefully arranged for a servant not to be present, so that He could wash the disciples’ feet, knowing (as He did) all that would take place during this meal.
Those of you who've studied the Bible in detail and know a little bit of how to use the concordance and language tools, this is a wonderfully rich study for you to do on your own. Just look at these seven verbs. How they're used in the Gospel of John and how they're used elsewhere in the course of the New Testament.
 And one I want to point out is the one secondly, "laid aside." It also shows up in John chapter ten verses eleven, fifteen, seventeen and eighteen. And that's where He's going to lay down His life for them. The same word John uses here. So Jesus, when He lays aside His garment, is showing them a picture of laying aside Himself for them. He's laying aside His position for them. He's going to lay aside His life for them.
 Now if John gives us a parable that is acted out by the Lord, Paul gives us the theology of the Lord in Philippians chapter two and many of you are familiar with that passage of Scripture sometimes called the Kenosis; the emptying of Jesus Christ.  He emptied Himself and took on the form of a bondservant. So in part of your study this week you might want to look at these seven verbs and you also want to compare with the theology of Philippians chapter two where Paul explains the why of what Jesus did.
 Now Jesus Christ is not self promoting. In fact he is self humiliating. He condescends because he garbs himself like a slave to wipe off the grime of humanity. When we read over it the first time, we might wonder what's missing in the story. The tools are all there:  the basin, the pitcher, the water, and the towel are all present in the story. They're not missing.
 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?"
 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this."
 8 Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Strongest negative in Greek Language - This is a triple negative, no never, ever will you wash my feet   If I do not wash “You? Are You going to wash my feet?"
Joh 3:5; 1Co 6:11; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; Heb 10:22
 McGregor writes, "Peter is humble enough to see the incongruity of Christ’s action, yet proud enough to dictate to his Master."
 you - Entire Bath Spiritually means have been saved
Peter is protesting against divine grace. Think of it for a moment. Peter is, with a fair measure of false humility, rejecting our Lord’s actions as though he is undeserving (which, of course, he is). That is the point. What Jesus does for His disciples, He does out of love and grace. And this is precisely what Jesus is about to point out to Peter. Would he resist having Jesus wash his feet, on the premise that he is unworthy? Then he must also reject having his sins washed away by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, for he is unworthy of this as well. To reject grace in principle is to reject all grace, period. And so Jesus says to Peter: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
 9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"
 10 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."  Bathed  - Part of a body cleaned – daily cleansing of sins – 1John 1:9 – get dirty as we walk through this world What does it mean to be cleansed by Jesus? First of all it’s the atonement. There is the fundamental requirement that a person who trusts Christ is the tone for by His blood for our sins. This is a complete action. When you trust Jesus Christ, He takes care of all of your sins, all of my sins. No matter how wicked in the past, no matter how grotesque we are presently involved in him; when we are at tone for by the blood of Christ, He cleanses us from all of our sins. That's a profound truth, men and women.
 But there's a second layer of that, if you will, and that's the need for forgiveness. Yes, we have positionally and perfectly been atoned for by Christ's work, but we need ongoing forgiveness by Christ when we sin. I John 1:9 would be an example. We have a positional cleansing, but we need ongoing forgiveness.
 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean." Judas is not saved
 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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] Being omniscient, Jesus knew everything. He knew that Judas had decided to betray Him to the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus would also have known that all of His disciples would abandon Him and that Peter would deny Him, but in verses 1-3, this is not John’s emphasis.
[2] John G. Mitchell, with Dick Bohrer, p. 248.
[3] “… (this noun only here in this Gospel) is ambiguous, meaning both ‘to the end’ and ‘to the utmost.’ It is likely that here we have a typical Johannine double meaning, with both meanings intended. But the aorist, hgaphsen, is more consistent with love shown in a single act than with the continuance of love (imperfect).” Carson, p. 614, fn. 8.
[4] Hendriksen, vol. 2, p. 228.
[5] This entire paragraph is speculative, and thus the reader should beware, but it does at least suggest how things may have happened.
[6] In a criminal trial, the state of mind of the accused is usually given considerable attention, especially in crimes which have different degrees (first, second, third) of guilt, and therefore of punishment. Here, while it is unusual perhaps, John describes our Lord’s “state of mind” so that we can determine the degree of goodness of this foot washing. I think we should conclude from what we are told that Jesus is to be assessed with “first degree goodness.”
[7] “I am of the opinion that this was added for the purpose of informing us whence Christ obtained such a well-regulated composure of mind. It was because, having already obtained a victory over death, he raised his mind to the glorious triumph which was speedily to follow. It usually happens, that men seized with fear are greatly agitated. The Evangelist means, that no agitation of this sort was to be found in Christ, because, though he was to be immediately betrayed by Judas, still he knew that the Father had given all things into his hand. It may be asked, How then was he reduced to such a degree of sadness that he sweat blood? I reply, both were necessary. It was necessary that he should have a dread of death, and it was necessary that, notwithstanding of this, he should fearlessly discharge every thing that belonged to the office of the Mediator.” John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume 7: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors Inc., n.d.), p. 821.

LOVE IS AN ACTION

   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

JOHN 12:44-50 THEN JESUS CRIED OUT AND SAID, ”HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME, BELIEVES NOT IN ME BUT IN HIM WHO SENT ME.

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

TRUE WISDOM IS ESSENTIAL

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

JOHN 12:37-43 FOR THEY LOVED THE PRAISE OF MEN MORE THAN THE PRAISE OF GOD

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

WINNING THE BATTLE

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

JOHN 12:27-42 BUT FOR THIS PURPOSE I CAME TO THIS HOUR

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

BEING THANKFUL FOR WHAT GOD HAS ACCOMPLISHED

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

THAT WHICH WAS FROM THE BEGINNING

                      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

JOHN 12:9-19 FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SITTING ON A DONKEYS COLT

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.
 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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
 
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.

30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL GREAT AND MIGHTY THINGS

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

JOHN 12:4-10 THEN SAID JESUS, LET HER ALONE: AGAINST THE DAY OF MY BURYING HATH SHE KEPT THIS

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

REFLECTING GOD’S GREATNESS AND HOLINESS

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

JOHN 12:1-3 THEN MARY TOOK A POUND OF VERY COSTLY OIL OF SPIKENARD, ANOINTED THE FEET OF JESUS, AND WIPED HIS FEET WITH HER HAIR.

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
 

GOD’S LEADING

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

JOHN 11:45-57 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

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

DIVINE GUIDANCE

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

JOHN 11:36-44 JESUS SAID TO HER, DID I NOT SAY TO YOU THAT IF YOU WOULD BELIEVE YOU WOULD SEE THE GLORY OF GOD

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.
 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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.

SYMBOLS OF BLESSING

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

JOHN 11:26-36 JESUS SAID WHOEVER LIVES AND BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS

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.
 

30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL WE NEED TO ASK GOD TO HELP US SEE THE WORLD LIKE JESUS SEES IT

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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

JOHN 11:17-26 JESUS SAID TO HER, I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME, THOUGH HE MAY DIE, HE SHALL LIVE

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.
 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
https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555
 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.