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Proverbs 19:20-29
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, and
in the end you will be wise.
21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it
is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
22 What a man desires is unfailing love; better
to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one
rests content, untouched by trouble.
24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he
will not even bring it back to his mouth!
25 Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn
prudence; rebuke a discerning man, and he will gain knowledge.
26 He who robs his father and drives out his
mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace.
27 Stop listening to instruction, my son, and
you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the
mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
29 Penalties are prepared for mockers, and
beatings for the backs of fools.
Father God, help us to prepare our hearts this Christmas
Season. I pray Lord that with the hustle and bustle of this season, all will
keep you in the foremost part of their mind, because it is all about YOU! In
Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Gospel of John 8:35-47 NKJV
Last week’s lesson was about the sin nature and being a
slave to sin. Anyone that practices sin is a slave to the creator of sin, the
devil. A slave to sin does not belong to God’s family. This week we have more
of Jesus attempting to convince these leaders that He is the long awaited
Messiah.
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever..
And a slave does not abide in the house forever; This phrase
means a slave or a servant of sin has no place in the family of God, just like
a slave has no inheritance in the family they are serving. If a slave or
servant isn’t faithful to their master, they will be rejected; it is the same
with a sinner.
But a son abides forever; Meaning an individual that has given
their heart to Jesus and is living for Jesus; belong to God’s family as long as
their faith remains in the Cross of Christ.
36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free
indeed.
The
Son of course is Jesus the heir of all things and He has the right and power to
redeem mankind of their sinful state of being. He and only He can deliver a
person from the bondage and dominion of sin; a state of freedom not from the
chains of earthly master and monarchs, but from the bondage of sin.
37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek
to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
Here
Jesus even agrees with His listeners that they are descendants of Abraham, but
yet they do not know Him. They don’t know His doctrine; the principles of what
He is teaching; they had no room in their heart for His doctrine. They heard
with their mind only, in fact they hated what Jesus was teaching and therefore
sought to kill Him. They were so filled with pride, and prejudice, and false
notions, that they would not receive his truth.
What
is so sad today is that the world is the same as the Jews of Jesus time. People
believe, but only with their mind. What is necessary for salvation is to
believe with the heart through repentance. A person needs to push aside pride,
heritage, customs, and religion and accept the Word of God in totality with their
heart, and deny the teachings of self and man devised denominational religion.
38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you
have seen with your father."
I speak what I have seen with My Father; Time after
time Jesus tells these people who He is and where He came from, yet it falls on
deaf ears because they practice a religion of death.
And you do what you have seen with your father; Here Jesus is
telling these Jews that even though they are descendants of Abraham, they do
not conduct themselves as children of Abraham. Abraham listened to God and
obeyed; his faith was in God, but these people obey the Devil; their faith was
in self righteousness, deceit, lies, etc.
39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is
our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
These
Jews were persistent and what they were claiming was true physically meaning
heritage, but not spiritually. Speaking spiritually, if these Jews practiced
what Abraham did, they would recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Abraham loved God,
had faith in God, and looked for God’s Son to come. He had a spiritual
relationship with God that these Jews didn’t have, if they would have, they
would have believed what Jesus said.
40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth
which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
But now you seek to kill Me; If these people really knew Abraham and
the relationship and disposition Abraham had with God, they would have been
able to see the sinful life they were living. Jesus also knew what was in their
hearts by making this statement.
A man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; All that Jesus
was teaching was truth not just because He heard it from God, but also that He
is God.
Abraham did not do this; What Jesus is referring to here is that
the attitude and conduct of these Jewish people would not have been the
attitude and conduct of Abraham if he had been present. Therefore they couldn’t
be his children, spiritually speaking.
41 You do the deeds of your father." Then they said
to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God."
You do the deeds of your father; Jesus is plainly saying, that they were
doing the deeds not of Abraham, but rather the Devil, which was obvious to all
who truly followed the Lord.
Then
they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God;
This
phrase could be taken several ways. 1.) Were they referring to Jesus possibly,
did they know Mary was pregnant before Joseph married her? 2.) Were they
referring to themselves since Jesus was accusing them of not being like Abraham
so Abraham couldn’t be their father? 3.) Or were they speaking figuratively,
that they were not the children of idolaters like those of the past; idolatry
being called fornication in Scripture; spiritual idolatry; but that they were
the holy seed of Israel, and children of the prophets, who had retained the
pure word, and the true worship of God?
Most
likely they were referring to 2 & 3 because of the conversation that was
taking place. Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years, still today many
people practice spiritual adultery/fornication. They say they are believers,
but yet they practice idolatry and following man’s doctrine and not the Word of
God.
42 Jesus
said to them, "If God were your Father, you would
love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself,
but He sent Me.
Jesus
said to them, "If God were your Father; What Jesus is
referencing here is a spiritual birth; being Born Again.
You would love me; In the previous verse these Jews stated, “The only Father we have is God Himself.”
If they were Born Again the love of God would be in their hearts and they would
know who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit would be convicting these people and the
hatred they had in their heart would be changed to love. In a
regenerated heart, love of Christ is always implanted: it is a fruit of the
Spirit, which always comes along with the super abounding grace of God in
conversion. Where there is no love of Christ, there can be no regeneration:
such a person is not born again; nor is God their Father.
Also
those who reject the Bible cannot be friends of God. If they loved God, they
would love Him who came from Him, and those who bears His image.
For I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself,
but He sent Me; Here again Jesus restates where He came from, who sent Him,
and who He is.
43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able
to listen to My word.
Why do you not understand My speech; Jesus asks a
question here and proceeds to answer it.
Because you are not able to listen to My word; Actually what this phrase is referring
to is this; they
had no spiritual discernment and understanding of the doctrine of Christ, which
showed them to be carnal natural men, and not regenerate ones as the children
of God are. So they had a dislike to what Jesus was teaching and could not bear
to hear it.
Again
it is no different today than it was two thousand years ago. The unsaved will
argue about the meaning of scripture, for instance, forgiveness. Many believe
they don’t have to forgive or can’t find it in their heart to forgive so they
base their faith on the mercy of God and that He will forgive them for not
forgiving. Scripture states: Matthew
6:14-15 "For
if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you. 15
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither
will your Father forgive your trespasses. Colossians
3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has
a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. James
2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment. 1 John 3:10 In
this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever
does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. Scripture is
quite clear on forgiveness.
The
reason why sinners do not understand the Bible and its doctrines is because
they cannot bear the truth, which was the disposition of these Jews. They detest
some if not all scripture and their hatred produces unbelief and a disposition
to quibble over scripture and to pervert the truth. They take an obstinate stance
that it shall not be applied to their life. Therefore, they embrace false
doctrine, and choose error rather than truth, and darkness rather than light. A
disposition to believe God is one of the best attitudes for understanding the
Bible.
44 You are of your
father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the
father of it.
You are of your
father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do; What this phrase is saying about these
leaders is that they are portraying the characteristics of the devil. They have
the temper, disposition, and spirit of the devil. They are influenced by him,
imitate him, and therefore called his children. 1
John 3:8-10; Acts
13:10
He was a murderer from the beginning; Satan is a
lair, deceiver, murderer; and the one that caused death to come about. He
deceived Adam and Eve resulting in the sin nature which brings about spiritual
death unless one is Born Again. Genesis 2:17 Physical death
also came because of the devils deception Genesis
3.
Because he was the cause why death came into the world, he can be called a
murderer from the beginning.
Satan has in all ages
deceived men, and been the cause of their spiritual and eternal death. His work
has been to destroy. It was by his instigation, also, that Cain killed his
brother, and is the instigator of all murders for all times. As the Jews plotted
to kill the Saviour, they showed that they had the spirit of the devil.
And does not stand in the truth; The KJV states this as, “and abode not in the truth.” The
meaning of this phrase is that at one time Satan abided by the truth, but then
rebelled, and since that time he is a deceiver of the truth.
Because there is no truth in him; There has been no truth in the devil
since his fall.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it; Satan is the
originator of the “lie”; consequently, his entire kingdom of darkness, in
totality, is built on the “lie”. He is the father or originator of falsehood. As
the Jews refused to hear the truth which Jesus spoke, so they showed that they
were the children of the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
The attitudes and actions of
these leaders clearly identified them as followers of Satan. They may not have
been conscious of this, but their hatred of truth, their lies, and their
murderous intentions indicated how much control the devil had over them. They
were his tools in carrying out his plan; they spoke the very same language of
lies. Satan still uses people to obstruct God's work and when he uses people,
the truth cannot be heard, seen, or comprehended. (Genesis
4:8; Romans 5:12; 1 John 3:12)
46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why
do you not believe Me?
Sin,
meaning immorality in life or of any imposture, corruption, or falsehood in
doctrine. The argument of our Saviour is this: A doctrine might be rejected if
it could be proved that the one delivering it was an impostor; but if you
cannot prove this of Me, you are bound to receive my words. Again this shows
their true state of spirituality.
47 He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not
hear, because you are not of God."
A
person that has a personal relationship with God hears God. Any Born Again
person knows this is true. After a person is regenerated there is a
communication channel that is opened up that was never heard before. It is an
awesome thing.
Colossians
1:16
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans
3:23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans
6:23
For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most
assuredly, I say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you
believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John
3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8;
10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10;
1 John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom. 1:22-32; Gal.
5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
