praise_yeshua
Active Member
Throughout the Gospels of Jesus Christ in the NT we read about how Jesus was different than those around Him. So different that it cost Him his life. At many levels, His disciples didn't really understand Jesus. Over and over again, Jesus battled those among his own kindred. All because of unbelief.
For example. Read and pay close attention to John 8:31.
Joh 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Please notice "had believed him".
At every turn, those that claimed to believe Jesus ultimately showed that they faced a continual challenge to really understand Jesus. The same is true today. Even more so among all the nations of the earth.
Jesus continues
Joh 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Joh 8:33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
First lie. Notice the false claim "never been enslaved to anyone." Now the obvious is true. They were at that very moment the subjects of a ruling authority because they had sinned against God. Yet, that isn't really what Jesus wanted them to realize.
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
Joh 8:35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
Notice the appeal to those who practice sin being enslaved to sin. Both unknowingly and sometimes unwillingly, slaves to sin. Their lack of knowledge is what caused their problem.
Yet. Here is the solution right there in front of them....
Joh 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Once again. Over and over again through His ministry, Jesus is bringing them "face to face" with what they really thought about "Messiah". It is one thing to say "I believe" and another thing entirely to continually believe regardless of the impact of that belief.
From their hearts they clearly rebelled against the very person they said they believed.....
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
There is no difference today. All men are the same. They do the same things while claiming God is with them. We can know based upon what they say.
Mat 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Mat 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
What a person says about Jesus Christ is their "fruit of our lips" to God's Glory. Those that said they believed Jesus Christ sought to murder Him. Abraham having known Messiah, only sought to believe Him.
Don't believe that Abraham knew and believed Messiah? Read John 8:56 again. Over and over again.
Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
These same people sought to kill him again.
Joh 8:57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Joh 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Does anyone desire the death of the wicked? These people did. They thought that Jesus was wicked. Many seek the death of the wicked. Including Jews. They desire the death of those they deem wicked!
Did Abraham do this? NO. Not at all.
Some of you may remember the Scriptural narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah. You can read in Genesis 18 that The "Lord" had a friend in Abraham. So much so that he said these words....
Gen 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
This is same "Lord" that David appealed to in "kuros" in Greek.
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Notice the appeal. "kuros" of "kuros". Lord of Lords. Do you know anyone else by that title? Does it sound familiar. Does it stir your heart? Does your spirit leap within your chest when you hear those words?
Who does it represent?
Roll back the history. Roll it back to this "son of man" standing before Abraham. A Theophany. A Christophany. A pre-Calvary appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Here He is having a conversation with His friend. (2Ch 20:7) about sinners. Gentiles. The same people that some consider "Uncircumcised trash".
Here you read in Genesis 18 about the heart of Abraham. You start reading of how Abraham is interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah. "Judaism" would contend that Abraham is concerned about the righteous but they ignore the fact that if there were only less than 10 righteous in Sodom then Abraham could have easily "gotten them out". Abraham didn't even ask for it. Abraham was appealing to what he thought would stop God from destroying the wicked.
Now contrast this against a similar story in the little book of Jonah. Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh and reluctantly preaches to them to warn them about God's plan to destroy them. Jonah, like many, hated that God forgave all these "wicked people".
Jon 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Jon 4:2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jon 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jon 4:4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Notice this same "Lord" appealing to Jonah.
Jon 4:10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Jon 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand;
The end of Jonah the man isn't recorded. We don't know exactly what happened to Jonah. However, we do know what Jonah represented here and it isn't what you think it is.
During the Incarnation of Christ, this same Lord, Jesus Christ is now standing in front of "His own people" and they're demanding a sign from Him that He is really who He claims to be......
You read these sad words. Words I don't honestly believe they understood because of their evil hearts causing them to hate their fellowman.
Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
To set the "context" of such words. You can read in Matthew 12 that Jesus is speaking of His resurrection. His Eternal nature. Remember what else Jesus told these same people in John 7.
Joh 7:33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.
Joh 7:34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
Again in John 8.
Joh 8:21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
Do you see Abraham today in those who claim to be superior to all the other nations of the earth? Do you?
I'm not trying to single out any "ethnic/race". Just trying to preach the truth that all nations are joint heirs in Christ. Sometimes that involved rightfully witnesses the failures of "ALL MEN". When we admit we're just like everyone else, we can have the empathy to love like Jesus Christ. Till we see ourselves in others, we will never been like Abraham.
For example. Read and pay close attention to John 8:31.
Joh 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Please notice "had believed him".
At every turn, those that claimed to believe Jesus ultimately showed that they faced a continual challenge to really understand Jesus. The same is true today. Even more so among all the nations of the earth.
Jesus continues
Joh 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Joh 8:33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
First lie. Notice the false claim "never been enslaved to anyone." Now the obvious is true. They were at that very moment the subjects of a ruling authority because they had sinned against God. Yet, that isn't really what Jesus wanted them to realize.
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
Joh 8:35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
Notice the appeal to those who practice sin being enslaved to sin. Both unknowingly and sometimes unwillingly, slaves to sin. Their lack of knowledge is what caused their problem.
Yet. Here is the solution right there in front of them....
Joh 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Once again. Over and over again through His ministry, Jesus is bringing them "face to face" with what they really thought about "Messiah". It is one thing to say "I believe" and another thing entirely to continually believe regardless of the impact of that belief.
From their hearts they clearly rebelled against the very person they said they believed.....
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
There is no difference today. All men are the same. They do the same things while claiming God is with them. We can know based upon what they say.
Mat 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Mat 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
What a person says about Jesus Christ is their "fruit of our lips" to God's Glory. Those that said they believed Jesus Christ sought to murder Him. Abraham having known Messiah, only sought to believe Him.
Don't believe that Abraham knew and believed Messiah? Read John 8:56 again. Over and over again.
Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
These same people sought to kill him again.
Joh 8:57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Joh 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Does anyone desire the death of the wicked? These people did. They thought that Jesus was wicked. Many seek the death of the wicked. Including Jews. They desire the death of those they deem wicked!
Did Abraham do this? NO. Not at all.
Some of you may remember the Scriptural narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah. You can read in Genesis 18 that The "Lord" had a friend in Abraham. So much so that he said these words....
Gen 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
This is same "Lord" that David appealed to in "kuros" in Greek.
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Notice the appeal. "kuros" of "kuros". Lord of Lords. Do you know anyone else by that title? Does it sound familiar. Does it stir your heart? Does your spirit leap within your chest when you hear those words?
Who does it represent?
Roll back the history. Roll it back to this "son of man" standing before Abraham. A Theophany. A Christophany. A pre-Calvary appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Here He is having a conversation with His friend. (2Ch 20:7) about sinners. Gentiles. The same people that some consider "Uncircumcised trash".
Here you read in Genesis 18 about the heart of Abraham. You start reading of how Abraham is interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah. "Judaism" would contend that Abraham is concerned about the righteous but they ignore the fact that if there were only less than 10 righteous in Sodom then Abraham could have easily "gotten them out". Abraham didn't even ask for it. Abraham was appealing to what he thought would stop God from destroying the wicked.
Now contrast this against a similar story in the little book of Jonah. Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh and reluctantly preaches to them to warn them about God's plan to destroy them. Jonah, like many, hated that God forgave all these "wicked people".
Jon 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Jon 4:2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jon 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jon 4:4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Notice this same "Lord" appealing to Jonah.
Jon 4:10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Jon 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand;
The end of Jonah the man isn't recorded. We don't know exactly what happened to Jonah. However, we do know what Jonah represented here and it isn't what you think it is.
During the Incarnation of Christ, this same Lord, Jesus Christ is now standing in front of "His own people" and they're demanding a sign from Him that He is really who He claims to be......
You read these sad words. Words I don't honestly believe they understood because of their evil hearts causing them to hate their fellowman.
Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
To set the "context" of such words. You can read in Matthew 12 that Jesus is speaking of His resurrection. His Eternal nature. Remember what else Jesus told these same people in John 7.
Joh 7:33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.
Joh 7:34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
Again in John 8.
Joh 8:21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
Do you see Abraham today in those who claim to be superior to all the other nations of the earth? Do you?
I'm not trying to single out any "ethnic/race". Just trying to preach the truth that all nations are joint heirs in Christ. Sometimes that involved rightfully witnesses the failures of "ALL MEN". When we admit we're just like everyone else, we can have the empathy to love like Jesus Christ. Till we see ourselves in others, we will never been like Abraham.
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