Sat, Sep 28th - 7:12PM

GOD KNOWS THEM THAT ARE HIS

1Jo 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Jhn 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Jhn 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Brothers and sisters, we know that there is no mystery regarding who God considers His children. It is very interesting that those who oppose Christians as “bigoted” often cry that God is love and that is all that matters. The big problem is the kind of love they talk about is their nebulous, quirky, warmy smarmy construct that is dangerous and foolish because it has no filter, no discernment, no standard, no boundaries and claims people have the right to live as they wish without setting any boundaries or standards that limits their behaviors. This is a secular doctrine that the world would like to impose on Christians to command them to love what God forbids, which must be soundly rejected.

Dearly beloveds, it is the last days even as our Lord Jesus Christ has told us. We know we do not live by the personal opinions of the world or even our own. We have God’s everlasting approved plan the Bible for us to know Him, who we are in Him and how we are to live publicly and privately. We also are commanded by God to reject any and all those in and out of the church coming with private interpretations of scripture. Jesus Christ, our Saviour has shown us what true love is, the only kind that He approves of and accepts is the love shown through our willingly keeping His commandments. The kind of love that God wants and empowers us to have and give is eternally held within the unchanging truth and standard of the gospel of Jesus Christ and completely sealed within its boundaries.   

Holy people, we know God commands us individually to study His word: 2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

God tells us the purpose of our Bible study:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

All the overseers too are commanded by God  to teach, guide and instruct all the flock through scripture and the purpose: Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Love

serola

Wed, Sep 25th - 7:24AM

FRIENDSHIP EVANGELISM

Brothers and sisters, we know that God expects/empowers us to measure up to the everlasting standards of the new covenant over time, and to govern our lives within the boundaries of its eternal principals, just as Lord Jesus did before His Father. So, when Jesus tells us to pick up our crosses daily and follow Him, we know the way for He lived it and left His path in His word to guide us faithfully thereby: Luk 9:23 - And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me: Psa 119:105 - NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ; Mat 4:4 - But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

To deny:

A. to affirm that one has no acquaintance or connection with someone.

B. to forget one's self, lose sight of one's self and one's own interests.

Self-denial, brothers and sisters, we know has nothing to do with asceticism, or treating the body harshly, or denying ourselves from enjoying life in a balanced, disciplined godly way. We know that:  1Co 6:12 - All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

1Co 10:23 - All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Anything, dearly beloveds, that we know God forbids must absolutely be taken off of our tables, because they are not good for us or anyone else. Nor do they build us up as Christians, but have the capacity to bring us into bondage of habitual sin, and dishonor God.  The very heart of self-denial, is willingly done out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ, and puts Him first and above any selfish carnal desires that we might have.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the gospel message, which must be given just as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did, by His many examples. Those who promote the heretical doctrine of so-called friendship evangelism, which in truth is neither friendship nor evangelism claim it based on their corruption of scripture. For examples, They falsely claim that that Jesus and the Samaritan woman is an example of friendship evangelism, and 1 Cor 9 19For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save ssome. 23And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

The truth of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is that we are absolutely not to withhold the gospel message from people due to our own personal bias against people who do not look like us, have contrary beliefs, or not of our own ethnicity or race, economic status, appearance etc.

Paul never advocated compromising the gospel message with those who differ from us in some way, or who are of a different race or ethnicity. We are to give and teach the same gospel message to everyone, rather than look for reasons to avoid those who differ from us in some way: Act 17:26 - And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Those who are weak, saints (G40 hagios), although saved, have a poor understanding of all the freedoms of personal preferences that God allows to Christians, so the Bible tells us how to deal with them as long as it does not compromise the gospel message. This is, again, regarding Christian  personal preferences that God allows: ( See: Rom 14:  1 - 23; 1Co 8: 6- 13).  

The so- called friendship evangelists, however, will lie, use deception, and manipulation to pretend they are interested in and want to be friends with unbelievers, in order to gain their trust. Whenever they gain the unbelievers trust-no one knows how long this might take, but whenever, they will witness thinking that people are more likely to accept the gospel message from friends or those they trust. The friendship evangelists will be involved in ecumenical associations of many kinds for this purpose. Their churches, aka seeker friendly churches,  will have members openly practicing sins, whom are tolerated, so when the time comes that the church has finally gained their trust they can be witnessed to and accept the gospel. Anyone speaking against the sinful practices of such members are seen as unloving, judgmental and may be asked to leave the church. The friendship evangelists have no immediate need to witness to unbelievers, and will resist doing so as a good thing of not “forcing religion down people’s throats”.

Friendship evangelism is a heretical doctrine straight from the deceiver the devil and carried out by his false teachers. We know brothers and sisters; the righteous will repent upon learning the truth, the wicked never will.

By:William KellyFrom:W. KellyFrom:Notes on 1 Corinthian

It is important to see also that to preach is not a thing to boast of. It is an obligation—a duty to Him who has called one, and conferred a gift for this very purpose. It is thus a necessity laid on all such, not an office of honor to claim, nor a right to plead. Christ has the right to send, and He does send, laborers into His vineyard. This makes it truly a necessity laid on him who is sent. According to scripture, the church never sends any to preach the gospel. Relations are falsified by any such pretension.

See adding or subtracting from scripture: Gal 1:8 - But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 - As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

 Rev 22:19 - And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Dealing with heretics: Tit 3:10 - A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11 - Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Mt 10:14And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

love

serola

Mon, Sep 23rd - 2:43PM

FRIENDSHIP EVANGELISM

Imagine, brothers and sisters, how the Lord must have felt. His Father had given mankind a garden, and mankind turned it into a trash heap. God had watered His garden with the pure water of the earth He had made. Mankind by the time of Jesus’s ministry had watered the earth abundantly with the blood of men, not even the animals escaping. In the midst of the end times Jesus was not a friendship evangelist. He did not worry if people got offended with His message. Jesus never hesitated to tell people the truth of the kingdom, and to warn His opposers as well. Refusing to tell people the truth is not polite, it is cowardly, and Jesus was no coward.

The Levitical priesthood was in name only and had corrupted itself to the point that Lord Jesus had to warn the people and His disciples against them: Mt.23: Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, ² Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:³ All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. ⁴ For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

⁵ But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

⁶ And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

⁷ And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

During Passover, Lord Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and her colt, it was so wonderful how the people celebrated Him and welcomed Him. One would think Jesus would feel so warm and fuzzy, touchy feely and happy that the people seemed so fond of Him, He would have sat around so that they could continue to adore Him. Um hum, no, Lord Jesus got up off those animals:

Mt. 21: ¹² And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,¹³ And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

Nevertheless, Jesus remained faithful to Israel, He never ceased to teach in their synagogues, God’s plan of salvation to be ushered in by Him: Mt 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Rom 15 8Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.10And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.11And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.12And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

Brothers and sisters, we have to frankly oppose all heretical doctrines, one of which is the heretical doctrine of friendship evangelism.

There is no biblical doctrine that teaches that Christians need to or must become friends of the world first, before they can lead someone in darkness to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. If anything the opposite is true according to the Bible: Jas 4:4 - Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

We know, brethren, that the Bible teaches the gospel message of good news that every Christian can learn, and be ready at every opportunity to share with all that we can. Every body is not going to show up at the local church to hear the good news. Jesus makes it clear, brothers and sisters, we are to take the good news to the world not piece meal, not through man made methodologies, not silent witness, not personal testimonies, not to have folks live a better life, but to be forgiven of their sins through faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. Be wary of those who claim to be Christians but intentionally water down the message and won’t mention sin for fear of offending people. We have to give the message as commanded by God, whether people accept it or not that is between them and God.

We have to tell the truth, dearly beloveds, friendship evangelism is straight from the devil. The gospel message does not need any fixings at the hands of men, and there are absolutely no alternatives to its message.

love

serola

Sat, Sep 21st - 9:31PM

SAMARIA THE REST OF THE STORY-slander in the temple

John 8: ⁵² Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. ⁵³ Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? ⁴ Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: ⁵⁵ Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

Brothers and sisters, even though Jesus was being insulted, reviled and even provoked, He nevertheless truly desired that these Jews should repent and be saved through faith in Him. But they scoff at the idea of eternal life for having gone into apostasy, they believed the lie that the material world was all there was. They denied that anyone had the power to grant eternal life. It was preposterous to them that Jesus Christ presented Himself as God the Son, with that very power to overcome death itself to grant eternal life.

The Jews had the complete old testament record, with all the prophecies from God regarding His Son and were not ignorant of the prophecies of the Son of God to come, sent by the Father. However, they only wanted a God they could control so it is not in ignorance but in rebellion  that they chose to see and serve God in an outward ceremonial observing of various religious rites of the law they corrupted, without any willingness to embrace, believe or obey the truth of His new order to come through His Son Jesus Christ.

Unlike them Jesus knew God, with the fruit of evidence in fully embracing and obeying God His Father faithfully and unceasingly. Dearly beloveds, These Jews having failed to provoke Jesus by calling Him a Samaritan, resort to trying to hurt Him by calling Him a devil yet again. He responds differently this time in stating that He is not come to glorify Himself but it is His Father the Most- High God Almighty who has ordained Him to accomplish what they deny. Jesus is fully verified, by God and sent by God. It is clear these Jews wanted the temporal riches of this world over the world to come. Jesus makes a complete analysis and contrast of them with Himself for He is the standard of God. There can be only one conclusion, Jesus has observed and seen them for what they really are, Liars, in every sense of the word, and of the same nature as the devil. They were angry, not glad that God’s program was manifesting before their very eyes, they were nothing like Abraham. Jesus said to them:

^{John 8: 56} Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Yes, brothers and sisters, Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Jesus Christ. Moreover, saints (G40 hagios), we ourselves who love our Lord and Saviour rejoice with him and can say without a doubt with our brother Job as well:  Job 19:  ²⁵ For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

²⁶ And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

However, these Jews were hardened having cast their lot with this present world and said: John 8:57Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Amen. We have the very testimony of Jesus who cannot lie, He could not deny Himself, even as He told sister Martha one day:  Jhn 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Then too, brothers and sister, we have also the testimony of the  sweet psalmist, King David: Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

These Jews rejected Jesus’s preexistence, but Jesus boldly proclaims He is God the Son Incarnate by whom all things were made who predates Abraham and all mankind. In response to this the Jews erupt taking up stones to murder the Lord.

59Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 Brothers and sisters, these Jews wanted to replace God’s plan with their own human agenda. They blasphemed, threatened, slandered and insulted, and intended to murder Lord Jesus not out of sight in a back room somewhere, or in a back alley, or hidden in the dark, but wickedly, brazenly, in broad daylight, right there in the very temple of God!!

God is unconquerable, unbeatable, unlimited in power, whom no foe can ever defeat. The time would come we know, brethren, through the atoning work of Jesus Christ that God would dwell and rule in a new kind of temple not built with hands.

2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (God warns don’t mess with His people, in whom He dwells).

 2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

love

serola

Thu, Sep 19th - 12:48PM

SAMARIA THE REST OF THE STORY-slander in the temple

Brothers and sisters, In referring to these unbelieving Jews as devils, Jesus was not resorting to mere name calling. He discerned and frankly stated His truthful analysis of whose children these Jews really were, they did not meet God’s standard to be called His children by their very words of unbelief of Him and by their conduct they showed they did not operate within the boundaries of scripture.

However, in the case of these Jews in opposing Lord Jesus, they would go as low as they could go, without actually killing Him, although we would later see that this was on the table too. They laid bare their pure hatred of Lord Jesus bluntly- verbally as nastily as they could. Dearly beloveds, if we can term words as poison, these Jews spat out their venom in wrongful, inflammatory, blasphemous, vile name calling of Lord Jesus, totally devoid of even a shred of respect towards Him.

John 8: 48Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

Hmm, did they think they hit Jesus with a double whammy by calling Him both a Samaritan and a devil? Did they think they could shake Jesus up, provoke Him, make Him lose His composure, embarrass Him, frighten Him? Jesus knew that the Samaritans would come running into the kingdom when the gospel was preached to them, thusly,  He was never ashamed to call them His people but of the opposing unbelieving Jews He had said: Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

 Brothers and sisters, these Jews, rather than humbly receiving their promised Messiah Jesus Christ, instead kept bragging on their Abrahamic lineage, Jesus knew, although He did not point this out to them and as the Bible record shows,  that the Jews along with the high priest/Levites and kings were not always mindful or particular of their blood lineage for they often mingled their blood through intermarriages with the pagan godless idol worshipping people of the nations they were to conquer, that God forbade them to marry: Judges 3: Nations Left to Test Israel:

Judges3: 1Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; 3Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. 4And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: 6And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Furthermore, brethren, none of them had anything to brag about in the first place, because none of them, including their high priests and the whole order of Levi never kept the Law as God commanded:

Jer 11:10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Mal 2:7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

Act 7:53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

^{John 8:49} Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.

⁵⁰ And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

⁵¹ Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Jesus never responds to them in their calling Him a Samaritan. However, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that He absolutely has no devil in Him. Those who impenitently, malign, slander, and deny His deity and rightful place as the only Son of God are showing the highest form of blasphemy and contempt towards Him. Jesus never loses His composure, brethren, He has come to glorify His Father, He desires for them to live and assures them that if anyone will hear Him and do His will, although their bodies might die their spirit will live forever. In every sense, Jesus is not passive in the face of such outrageous disrespect, however, this is a paradigm of God’s love shown under extreme incendiary disrespect by those who should have known better. No one will arrive in heaven or hell by accident.

Mon, Sep 16th - 1:25PM

SAMARIA THE REST OF THE STORY-slander in the temple

These Jews, dearly beloveds, turned on a dime, back to unbelief because they did not want to believe nor receive Jesus Christ the Messiah foretold by faithful Abraham, all the prophets, and indeed was even present before them. Proof positive that they had none of the faith of Abraham who trusted to the end in God and the promises that could only come through and be obtained through the Messiah.

The Jews had the records and the promises, they knew through all of God’s prophets that a new covenant (Jer 31:31- 34)  was coming, the Deliverer would bring it and the Mosaic Law by which they were made powerful, rich and lived lavishly through corrupting the law to rob widows and the people would come to an end, and they would do whatever they had to do to prevent it.

John 8: 42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Indeed, brethren, if they or anyone claims to be children of God then it would absolutely be shown in their love for His Son Jesus Christ. The steadfast impenitent insulting and persistent slander of these Jews towards Jesus, their refusal to acknowledge the Anointed One is characteristic of those whose father is the devil. It would be a mistake to blame the devil for inducing these Jews to reject Jesus Christ. Uh no, they are of the same nature as the devil, hater of God, a liar,  slanderer, murderous, lustful, who wanted to be God and become the ruler of God’s kingdom, so these Jews too are of the same nature and wanted to overthrow the kingdom of God and rule over it themselves. Just like in the garden, brethren, Eve was deceived by the devil, but Adam was not deceived but willingly sinned and disobeyed God, bringing death and sin into the world. 1Ti 2:14 - And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

In every sense, brothers and sisters these Jews held the same belief as devils, they knew the truth and had no intent of exalting God above themselves: Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Truly the devils believe God, brothers and sisters,  and know His word is eternally true and tremble. Nevertheless, the devils hate God and the whole of them under Satan seek to overthrow the kingdom of God and rule over the whole earth-which will never happen by the power of God.

John 8: 45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Jesus will not make excuses for them; He will not sugar coat the truth. The devil was the first unbeliever, not because he did not know the truth but because he did know it in the very presence of God, and chose to reject the truth. These Jews did not hear the truth because they willfully did not want to hear it, even in the very presence of the Messiah. Jesus sets the standard and boundary for who is in Him and who is not in Him: All who hear and obey God belong to God, those who persistently and impenitently refuse to hear Him prove absolutely that they willingly reject Him and are absolutely not of God.

There is no “the devil made me do it card” that will serve as an excuse to deliver anyone from hell.

love

serola

Sat, Sep 14th - 11:39PM

SAMARIA THE REST OF THE STORY-slander in the temple

Brothers and sisters, Jesus clearly teaches that the reason that people impenitently reject the message of His gospel is because they have another father. These Jews believed, but changed their minds at the point where Jesus earlier declared to them the eternal truth of Himself being the sole eternal Agent with the power to set men free. Jesus sets the standard and boundary of faith to the Jews, gentiles and all men,  let us recall: John: 8: 31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Continue: To remain steadfast in person, time and condition, not to depart or think differently. These Jews would do no such thing for they replied:

John 8: 39They 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. 40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Dearly beloveds, despite the warnings of Lord Jesus, we see that these Jews keep falling back on their human lineage alone to falsely claim and validate their righteousness, but we know just as Jesus clearly declares, it is about much more than just being a blood descendant of Abraham to be made right with God.  Jesus soundly rebukes them and completely invalidates their false claims.  

Jesus repeatedly warns and tells them that their deeds- wanting to kill Him without a cause and to reject Him the only Saviour, did not measure up to God’s unchanging standard to be a true descendant of Abraham, therefore they are doing the deeds of a father other than God.

Again, it was sufficient for these unbelieving Jews, Brethren, to repeatedly falsely validate themselves as righteous merely by being blood descendants of Abraham. Brothers and sisters these Jews knew and Jesus knew too that God had a higher unchanging standard for anyone to be considered an authentic Jew:

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

God has set the eternal standard and boundary of salvation to gain the forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation-only through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Note, holy people, Jesus will absolutely not tweak the gospel to accommodate those who clearly and unrepentantly cherry pick the new covenant of Jesus Christ.  Ominously, brethren, at no time does Jesus Christ excuse or refer to these Jews as His brethren. But who are those whom Jesus calls His mother and brethren?

Luk 8:19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. 20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. 21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

love

serola

Thu, Sep 12th - 2:57PM

SAMARIA THE REST OF THE STORY-slander in the temple

Jhn 8:37I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

When it comes to witnessing the truth, brothers and sisters, no matter to whom it is given it has to be laid out frankly and clearly, just as God commands. Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, yet there are those who self- willfully reject this eternal truth because they do not belong to the kingdom of God. Now those who practice the false doctrine of so called “friendship evangelism”, will never speak the truth to people, preferring works of their own flesh, they would welcome them into the body of Christ, and hope, regardless of how long it took,  that by being nice and  “befriending” them that over time they might become more accepting of the gospel message they hoped to have the opportunity to give.

Obviously, saints (G40 hagios), Jesus is not having any of this nonsense. Jesus takes them to God’s school, the only one that matters is the doctrine of Christ. Jesus freely acknowledges their GENETIC DNA from Abraham, but these Jews by their, murderous spirit, and persistent rejection of Him showed they neither had nor desired the SPIRITUAL DNA of faith necessary to be true children of Abraham. No one can argue or befriend people into accepting the gospel message. Yes, brethren, we should be kind, but it is not kind to withhold the soul saving eternal truth of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Anyone doing so, unrepentantly, is operating by the doctrine of devils.

Then, Lord Jesus clearly states the reason for their persistent rejection of Him is because they actually belonged to their father the devil, not God the Father.

love

serola

Mon, Sep 9th - 8:24PM

SAMARIA THE REST OF THE STORY-slander in the temple

Saints (G40 hagios), let us dig into a portion of the gospel of John in the eighth chapter at the place of Jesus teaching the people the gospel in the treasury of the temple, noting that Jesus Christ never asked permission to do so, we do not have to ask why: Jhn 8:31 - Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 - And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 - They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

These Jews lied about never being in bondage and were trying to school Lord Jesus. Now Jesus did not laugh in their faces when He heard their reply. He was there, He knew their history of God sanctioned bondage in Egypt, where Almighty God showed up, showed out and threw down all the powers of Egypt, its gods including pharaoh, the world’s mightiest known fighting forces; and all the people of the land to free the Jews and bring them out of bondage. Jesus also knew that would not be the last time they would be in bondage. The Jews had the records because God had given it to them: Deu 16:12 - And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

Jesus knew their faithlessness and that they had been prevented from going back into bondage in Egypt because instead of the manna God gave them they lusted for the foods that had been so abundant back in Egypt.

Num 11:5 - We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: Num 11:6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

Brother Nehemiah left their record: Neh 9:17

And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

It was not by their hand that they were delivered, but by the hand of Almighty God, even though the nation was faithless, God never ceased to love and be faithful to them:

Deu 7:8But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

 However, saints (G40 hagios) Jesus would address the worst bondage of all, the bondage of sin whose unseen shackles are just as sure and binding of men and women too as those made of iron: 34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

God delivered the nation from physical bondage, now Jesus Christ the Son of God, the promised Messiah and only Saviour had come to deliver them from the bondage of their horrific Adamic sin nature, to throw down their idols of self, to take away hearts of stone, to give them life and spiritual hearts, to free them and all men to be true children of God by faith and not by works of the Law of Moses.

love

serola

Wed, Sep 4th - 12:37AM

SAMARIA, THE REST OF THE STORY

1Pe 1:18 - Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Brothers and sisters, I know some even today, wronglfully,  might not choose anyone like the Samaritan woman to go tell anyone the good news or frankly any news. We have to be careful, very, very careful of ruling out believers who do not quite fit our profile of what we consider as suitable people, people who don’t attend our local church,  don’t go to our local Bible schools, people who don’t talk like us, don’t share our heritage, dont live in the kind of houses we live in, don’t do the kind of work that we do, and who don’t go to our local church: Mk 9:  36And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 37Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

Intolerance Rebuked

38And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40For he that is not against us is on our part. 41For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Dearly beloveds, Jesus did not ask John a question, He was setting forth how we ought to receive the children of God. John answered hoping to get an affirmative reply from Jesus that it was good that a man who was not of their group was stopped from preaching the gospel message, casting out demons, and doing the work of the Lord.

Jesus Christ, the Lord, makes it absolutely clear, it is not about us, it is not about only hanging with people that follow us, or belong to our particular group, it is all about following Jesus Christ of whom we are all to be followers. This does not mean we should not love those we know, but it does mean that everyone who belongs to Jesus Christ, honoring Him, His people, and doing the work of God ought to be received with love and fellowship in the body of Christ.

We know Jesus would not leave John or any like minded disciple of His in that condition, because Jesus Christ changes everything, Jesus Christ changes us more and more to reflect His image.

BEFORE

Act 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

AFTER

Holy people, we know the day of Pentecost was coming:

Act 2: 1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Peter said: Act 2: 15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Peter full of the holy ghost preached to ALL the house of Israel: Act 2:36Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Brothers and sisters many of nation heard, believed and got saved. Now the apostles filled with the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ would go down to Samaria not seeing “those people”, but souls in need of the gospel message of salvation, and they would bring them into the family of God. The apostles would meet a sorcerer there, and we do not have to ask if they could handle him.

Act 8:5 - Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

Acts 8:14Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Act 9:31 - Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Act 5:42 - And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

Brethren, we know and it is absolutely clear, no apostle or disciple of Jesus Christ ever preached salvation through obeying the Law of Moses in any form whatsoever. Instead we find these Jewish apostles and other disciples going to the Jews, Samaritans and gentiles preaching salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ, as commanded by God, All who name the name of Jesus Christ must absolutely do the same:  Act 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Now that we also, saints (G4o hagios)  through faith in Jesus Christ are partakers of that same Holy Spirit and walk in full agreement with God that: Act 10:35 - But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

We also know full well brethren, that we do not all hold the same office, but all of us are equal in the Lord and: Gal 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

love

serola

Jhn 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Tue, Sep 3rd - 1:32AM

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

Brothers and sisters, what shall we say of the Samaritan woman? God is merciful to sinners and outcasts? Yes, this is true. Shall we say that God will accept all who believe on the Son? Yes, this is true regardless of anyone’s nationality, ethnicity, race, economic or social status. Jesus Christ is the Saviour, the promised Messiah and the sower of His gospel. In this sense we can also see the Samaritan woman as the good ground described in Mt 13: 23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

John 4: 39And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41And many more believed because of his own word; 42And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

The Samaritan woman, had run into the town with the word, the waters of life, the gospel message, the Messiah has come; the Christ is here! Having been convicted, convinced, and fully persuaded, she couldn’t keep the truth to herself, she had to share it.

When they saw and heard Jesus Christ they believed in and on Him. It no longer mattered to the Samaritans that they were a rejected group, it no longer mattered what sins they had done or what they had been, Jesus changes everything and everyone, and now He would tell them the eternal truth of all things, how to worship and please God, how to live, how to love, how to treat others and one another in love:  Jhn 10:28 - And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Jesus did not send them to worship in the mountain of Samaria or at Jerusalem, but to trust in Him and worship God from the heart everywhere they go as a people and individually. Lord Jesus would go on to finish His atoning work, no longer would the land be holy, but the people would be made new creatures in Him and would be holy, the triune God would  dwell in them and write His eternal empowering law of grace upon their hearts, they would all be chosen, and circumcised in their hearts in covenant with Him forever: 2Co 6:16 - And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Rom 4:8 - Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Rom 9:25 - As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

As far as Jerusalem goes, dearly beloveds, no one will be more holy by buying a plane ticket or going there to worship. It is true, holy people Jesus will return to the earthly Jerusalem in the last days to claim His rightful authority as the final eternal High Priest of the nation of Israel and the entire body of believers in heaven and earth. However, the true Jerusalem is above, it will never be built by man, but by God alone in the world to come. This will be the place of eternal direct worship of God and the Lamb in the world to come, and all nations will flow into it. Our worship, saints (G40 hagios), will in no wise be distant or indirect, but up close and personal: Rev 21:22 - And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

Rev 21:24 - And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Rev 22:4 - And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Rev 3:21 - To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

The many examples of the sad history of the earthly Jerusalem, brothers and sisters, is available for all to study in the Bible records. The same Solomon that built the house of the Lord at Jerusalem turned around and built horrific idols for  the many strange wives he had, and God took the kingdom away from him due to his disobedience in idol worship, except for one tribe for his father David’s sake: 1Ki 11:1 -1Ki 11:13. Abominations were done and Idols were built and worshipped in Jerusalem and also in the very house of the Lord: 2Ki 21:7;  2Ch 28:24;  Jer 7:30; Eze 8:16; Jer 7:30.

love

serola