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Proverbs 21:21-31
21 He who follows righteousness and mercy Finds
life, righteousness and honor.
22 A wise man
scales the city of the mighty, And brings down the trusted stronghold.
23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his
soul from troubles.
24 A proud and haughty man—"Scoffer"
is his name; He acts with
arrogant pride.
25 The desire of the lazy man kills him, For his hands refuse
to labor.
26 He covets greedily all day long, But the
righteous gives and does not spare.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; How much more when he brings it with wicked intent!
28 A false witness shall perish, But the man who
hears him will speak endlessly.
29 A wicked man hardens his face, But as for the upright, he establishes
his way.
30 There
is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the LORD.
31 The horse
is prepared for the day of
battle, But deliverance is of
the LORD.
Father God, I pray for our family and friends that know you
with their minds; that you will take that knowledge deeper within them to their
heart so that a relationship will bloom that they have never known before; a
relationship of salvation through Faith and Grace. Thank you Jesus for laying
down you life for us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Gospel of John 10:13-23 NKJV
This week we continue with Jesus stating
who He is and that the Jewish leadership was not leaders at all of the flock.
They were mere hirelings leading the flock to spiritual death of fire, pain,
grinding and gnashing of teeth. What Jesus and the Apostles taught some two
thousand years ago still applies today. It is amazing and so evident that the
inherited sin nature still has a tight grip on humanity.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care
about the sheep.
Jesus is our shepherd, He is
no hireling. He cares for those that come to Him and will provide for them. The
“hireling” is not there for the sheep but rather for himself, whether it be
money, position, pride, unsaved lack of knowledge, or whatever. The Spirit
filled churches of the Apostles time sought the Spirit of God for leadership,
whereas the guidance of the Pharisees and Scribes was by man and what man
thought. Sure the churches that Paul and the other Apostles started had
difficult times due to false teachers coming into their churches and pulling
the people away from the truth, but Paul and the other Apostles would hear of
such things and write a letter (Epistles) to them and set them straight or
visit them and see how they were doing. Acts 15:36 Then after
some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our
brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing."
The
Pharisees and Scribes were all about hierarchy and preserving their religion,
which still holds true today in some religious denominations. The inherited sin
nature puffs up the chest and head of some denominational leaders when position
status is present.
I
have not read where there is suppose to be a hierarchy in the Church, based on
the Bible. If this were the case then Jesus would have exalted Himself and His
Apostles, and not considered Himself lowly. The Apostles would consult one
another when issues came up and being led by the Holy Spirit they would come to
a solution. Many claim Peter to be the leader, but Peter was corrected from
time to time by Paul. All the Apostles and elders were on an equal level,
consulting or correct each other. Paul confronted Peter with his errors. Galatians 2:11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood
him to his face, because he was to be blamed. Also see Acts
15, where the advice of
James, and not that of Peter, was followed.
What has misled many is when
Jesus called Peter the rock, and with misinterpretation, man claimed him to be
a pope; Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you
that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of
Hades shall not prevail against it.
Cephas is a Syriac word,
meaning the same as Peter - a rock, or stone. The meaning of this phrase may be
expressed as Peter being the first to confess Jesus as the Son of God and by
proclaiming this revelation, Peter would grow in faith and grace and become a rock
of faith, denoting firmness, solidity, stability. He would be worthy of the
name; would be a distinguished support of the Gospel; would be suitable for the
work of laying the foundation of the church; would be first in making known the
gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. This was accomplished see Acts
2:14-36, where he first
preached to the Jews, and Acts 10, where he preached the Gospel to
Cornelius and his neighbors, who were Gentiles. Peter had the honor of laying
the foundation of the church among the Jews and Gentiles; this is the true
meaning of this verse.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
I am the good shepherd; Jesus is saying that He is the Chief
Shepherd, with all other shepherds called by Him. This means that no particular
Church or Religious Denomination should claim they are the true Shepherd. It is
Jesus and Jesus Alone Who is the “Good Shepherd!”
And I know My sheep; The word “know” in the Greek is “ginosko,”
and means “to be approved.” In other words, the Lord approves those who are
His, because they have trusted Him for Salvation. However, the relationship
implied may involve “chastisement,” for God takes such action regarding those
He loves Hebrews 12:6–8.
And am known by My own; Jesus
is known by those who accept Him as their saviour, and desire to be led by the
Spirit Romans 8:1–2
.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay
down My life for the sheep.
As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; Here Jesus is proclaiming equality of
knowledge with the Father, which is a declaration of Deity. In effect Jesus is
claiming Omniscience exactly as God, for He is God!
And I lay down My life for the sheep; Meaning, I give my life as an atoning
sacrifice for their sins; to die in their place; to redeem them from sin,
danger, and spiritual death (second death) John 10:17-18.
This
love that God has for us is beyond our human understanding. He gave His Son up to
die in our place, as a sacrifice, on the Cross of Calvary. A sacrifice so pure,
white, and horrific, that it put a stop to all other sacrifices, so that we
could obtain Gods Kingdom through it by Faith and Grace.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also
I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold; Meaning
the Gentile world. This was to be one of the purposes of the nation of Israel,
to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. However, they became so religiously bound
due to their self-righteousness, that they pretty much shut everyone out except
themselves, and then tragically, found themselves shut out.
Them also I must bring, and
they will hear My voice; This
phrase proclaims that the Gentile Church will be built, which it was, because
it responded to His Voice.
The
Church was supposed to be both Gentile and Jewish; however, even though it
began totally Jewish, it soon came to be nearly all Gentile. Of course there
are some Jews in the Church, but the number is insignificant in comparison to
the Jewish nation.
And there will be one flock; Meaning a True Church, a Bride made up
of Jew and Gentile.
And one shepherd; Meaning
Jesus Christ.
17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that
I may take it again.
Therefore My Father loves Me,
because I lay down My life; What
Jesus is saying here is that He gave His life freely to die as a sacrifice for
Jews and Gentiles. He offered himself to show the willingness of the Father to
save them; to provide an atonement, and thus to open the way for their
salvation. This proves that the salvation of man was an object dear to God, and
that it was a source of special gratification to him that his Son was willing
to lay down his life to accomplish His great purposes of benevolence.
That I may take it again; Be
raised up from the dead, and glorified, and still carry on the work of
redemption. Philippians
2:5-11.
The
phrase, “Because I lay down My Life, that I might take it again,” has been
judged by some skeptics as suicide. However, being the Creator He had the power
of giving His life and taking it up again.
By
contrast, a creature’s life is not his own. He can destroy it, as some do by
suicide, but he cannot resume it. Christ’s Death was wholly voluntary. He did
not die from weakness, as some assert. (Williams).
The
entire idea of Jesus incarnation was to purposely lay down His Life in order
that man could be redeemed. Jesus perfect life in the form of His shed blood
had to be poured out, along with His unblemished body offered in sacrifice as a
sin offering. Just as His death was an absolute necessity, so was His Resurrection
to give life to a believer. Without His resurrection there would be no Blessed
Hope.
His
death and burial at Calvary guaranteed man’s redemption, by Faith, which meant
that the old man of sin (sin nature) was destroyed, while the resurrection
guaranteed the victorious new life in Jesus Romans 6:3-6. As stated, all of this was done for
sinful man, and not at all for God or His Son.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have
received from My Father."
No one takes it from Me, but I
lay it down of Myself; This
phrase tells us that Jesus is all powerful. No one could take His life by force.
He had power to preserve his life as He demonstrated so often by escaping from
the Pharisees. He voluntarily went up to Jerusalem knowing that He would die; He
knew Judas would betray him; and he expressly told Pilate at His trial that he
had no power at all over Him unless it was given to him by His Father, John
19:11. A dying world
needed such an atoning sacrifice. This shows the special love Jesus has for all.
His death was voluntary.
I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father;
This shows that Jesus
was divine. A dead man has no power to raise himself from the grave; Jesus had
this power.
19 Therefore
there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.
Jesus has been saying some
powerful statements in the previous verses. These sayings caused a division in
the Jewish people, mainly the religious leadership of Israel.
So if a person was in a town
square preaching today and proclaimed to be Jesus, would you believe him? If
observing this person’s miracles from a distance, would you believe he was
Jesus? What would the pastors and priests of a town think? I believe it would
be no different today there would be division, scoffers, and believers just as
it was 2,000 years ago.
20 And many
of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?"
Jesus
was accused of having a demon within by the leaders; they thought He was crazy,
deranged, or a maniac, and lost His mind; they were nonbelievers that clung to
their sacred religion; they couldn’t swallow their pride, how they were raised,
and their sacred laws, rites, rituals, etc. and come to the conclusion they
were wrong in their belief of what salvation was. The leaders of their religion
was doing all they could scheme up to keep the people following them. It is no
different today; people still have that blindfold of pride and deception around
their hard hearts.
21 Others
said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open
the eyes of the blind?"
This
verse tells us there was some believing in Jesus. They had removed that
blindfold and examined the hard facts of what they witnessed and heard. Their
reasoning was spot on. Why would a demon possessed person, cast demons out of
another person? After all they are of the same spiritual world and if that were
the case then Satan would be divided against himself. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 12:24-32.
We
need to make a deep down examination of our beliefs; verify our beliefs by what
God’s Word states; and then chose between everlasting life or death. If your
religious beliefs are all verified by a denominational thick book, then a
decision must be made on who you will believe; God or man.
22 Now it
was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
This
particular Feast was appointed by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC to commemorate the
purification of the Temple, after Antiochus Epiphanes had defiled it by
sacrificing a pig on the altar of burnt offering; it took place in December and
actually was not a Biblical Feast.
23 And Jesus
walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.
Solomon's
walkway was a roofed walkway supported by large stone columns, just inside the
walls of the Temple courtyard Matthew 21:12.
This looks like a good place to stop for
this week. Next week it appears the Jewish leaders follow Jesus in Solomon’s
porch and continue asking questions of who He was.
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)
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