Sermon On the Net

THE WAY AND THE TRUTH

 

JOHN 14: Verses 1-14. Here we see Jesus encouraging His disciples telling them; “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” He tells them that He will return for them to take them where He will be. Thomas asked Jesus where He was going and Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Because the disciples still had doubts, He told them to believe in His works if they couldn’t believe in what they were witnessing. Jesus told them that anyone who believed would be able to do the works that He was doing, and possibly even greater works. Jesus said, “You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

 

Verses 15-26: These verses involve the Holy Spirit; Jesus told the disciples “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” He would send the Holy Spirit to them after His ascension to Heaven. The Holy Spirit would teach them and cause them to remember all the things that happened when Jesus was with them.

 

VERSES 27-31: Jesus is soon going to be leaving His disciples and He tells them that He is leaving them peace and they should not be troubled because of the events of the world that are going to come to confront them in their crusade to establish His Church.

 

Today we live in a world that is probably very different than the time of  Jesus’ ministry on earth and yet it is probably the same in many respects. The reason we were created, the reason we are here is the same since the beginning of Adam and Eve. God wants to fellowship with His people and He wants all the people to be ‘His people’, but history tells us the way it is, the way it was and the way it’s going to be. Some will choose to go the way of Jesus while others will choose to remain on the path to which they were destined at birth. But know this, John 14:6 is very clear and uncompromising; Jesus said that He and only He is the Way, there is no other. I pray daily for you all that you will examine your beliefs and take the simple faith step and accept Jesus as your personal Savior. It’s very easy, just tell the Lord that you are a sinner and you are lost, and ask Him to come into your life. My friends, you can believe that He will and you will know when He does.

 

 

 

Sermon On the Net

HUMILITY & LOVE

 

I have decided to change the format of Bible study to a combination of Bible study and Salvation (the most important consideration of Christianity). I will write two parts to each message, the first will be an overview of the chapter and the second will be a salvation message lifted from the chapter being discussed.

 

John 13 has two major issues: First we see a demonstration of the humility of Jesus as He washes the feet of His disciples; verse 8 says, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” This is the kind of forgiveness and humility Jesus wants us to possess in our everyday lives. Jesus does mention that saved people should confess their sins to Him because sin will happen in our daily walk. We have been cleansed once and for all but we should always confess our sins.

 

The second point of this chapter is the demonstration of a love that only God has. Jesus chose Judas and gave him plenty of opportunity to believe, but Judas chose to fall prey to the deception that Satan had placed in his heart. When Jesus told the disciples to love one another (and we are to follow the same example), as He loved us (verse 34). We do not possess that kind of love, (His love is unconditional), but we can sure try and always pray to God He will help us to achieve that goal.

 

John 13:38: When Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times in this verse  He was well aware of the inherent weakness in mankind, (“…before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”) In spite of man’s weakness Jesus still offers salvation to anyone who will take a faith step and believe in Him. This is truly a God of love and forgiveness. To know that we were separated from Him at birth because of the fall of Adam and Eve, and the sin that we commit in our lives, and to have salvation offered to us is simply an astounding fact of life. John 13:8: Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” We need to consider the washing of our sins with His blood on the cross, because that is exactly what He did, if only you will believe it.

 

 

Sermon On the Net

THE BETRAYER

 

 

John 12: We find Jesus in Bethany six days before the Passover, sitting at the dinner table with His disciples. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with a very expensive perfume and it caused Judas (the betrayer) to become angry. Judas thought this was a waste of money and could have been used for the poor: actually he was probably more concerned because he stole money from the money box from time to time. Here we have a man who was not only a betrayer, but a thief as well and who knows what else. Jesus told Judas to let Mary do what she wants, as the poor would always be around, but not so with Jesus ( He was predicting His crucifixion). Verse 7: “Leave her alone, it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”

 

The multitude of Jews learned that Jesus and Lazarus were in the area and began to devise a plan to put Lazarus to death as well as Jesus, because many were beginning to believe in Jesus because of the He miracle performed on Lazarus. The next day the crowd gathered palm branches to place on the road where Jesus would appear riding on a donkey to go into town. This is a prophecy found id Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt,” The disciples were at a loss as to what all this meant, but realized its meaning later. The Pharisees were becoming more agitated with Jesus because more and more people were beginning to believe.

 

There were some Greeks who came to see Jesus and when He was told they wanted to see Him, He told them that the time of His glorification was at hand. He used a parable to explain that He must die and would rise again and many would come to believe in Him because of it, verse 23-26. He also told them that people who love their life on this earth would lose it and those who hate it would find eternal life. He continued, saying that the Father would honor people who serve Him; “…My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

 

At this time Jesus began to feel the stress of the coming events. Verse 27 says, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father glorify your name.” And as He said that, a voice came with a thunderous sound, saying that He had glorified it and would glorify it again. Jesus explained to those near Him that the voice was not for Him, but rather for the benefit of the people, He then told them that judgment was upon the world and that satan would be cast away at the appropriate time. He told them of His being ‘lifted up’   (crucifixion), which would provide the way of salvation. The crowd questioned His meaning of being lifted up. As was His way at times, He simply stated that people should believe and follow Him while He is still here, and they will become members of the family of God. However we continue to see so many, many people refusing to believe.

 

John 12:37-40 need clarification as it can be somewhat confusing and misleading. Isaiah 6:10 is a prophecy of this section: the nation of Israel is now in judgment because they have refused to believe and their hearts have been hardened because of their continued stubbornness through out the ages, and now He turns His attention to the Gentiles. We are in the time of the Gentiles and our opportunity for salvation. There were many Jews who did believe in Jesus but were afraid to admit it because they did not want to be put out of the synagogue. Jesus told them that anyone who believed in Him actually believes in God the Father: “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me,” verse 44. He told them that He came to open their eyes, but for those that don’t believe, He says His Word will judge them on the last day. As Jesus is God’s representative, He is stating all of God’s wishes, the most important one being, believing in Him and having eternal life.

 

The meaning to me in this chapter is as follows: Verses 1-9 presents the opportunity for Judas to believe and be a true disciple and follow Him faithfully. However Judas allowed satan to influence and control Him to the point of betraying God. We must be careful of satan and the ways in which He can deceive us. He is a master at deception.

Verses 9-11: Here we witness how some will go to any extreme to prevent people from believing in anything other than what they desire.

Verses12-19: The fulfillment of this prophecy supports the validity and accuracy of the Bible as a whole entity, nothing to be exclusive in and by itself. We see prophecy being fulfilled in this section.

Verses 20-26: again we see prophecy made and fulfilled within the lives of the disciples to encourage them as they see these things unfold in their life times. We, also, should be encouraged.

Verse 27: In spite of what was coming, Jesus did not back down for our sake. Truly this is an inspiration to me.

Verse 43: Such a gracious and forgiving God we have, as He overlooks our weaknesses as He did for those who were afraid to state their convictions.

Verse 48: the world is going to be judged by the words contained in the Bible. Jesus said it and I believe it.

 

My application of the words in this chapter is to believe it, trust in it and follow His Word, Amen and amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon On the Net

TO NEVER DIE

 

John 11: Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus was very sick and his sisters sent word to Jesus to come and help him. Upon receiving word of his friend’s distress He told His disciples in John 11:4, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” When Jesus decided to go to Judea, two days later, His disciples reminded Him of the danger He would be facing, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. Jesus told them that everything would be all right because He was doing His Father’s will and walking in His strength. He told them that Lazarus had fallen asleep and He was going to awaken him. The Disciples thought He was referring to literal sleep, but He was referring to his actual, physical death. The Disciples belief and conviction increased following the resurrection of Lazarus, because of the fact that Jesus was not available when Lazarus died. 

 

When Jesus approached the area, Lazarus’ sister, Martha went to Jesus saying that if He had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus told her not to worry for Lazarus would rise again. She thought He meant he would rise on resurrection day in the end times. Then Jesus told her in verse 25, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”   

 

At this point, Martha left Jesus to return home to tell her sister Mary that Jesus had arrived. She went to meet Him and told Him that every thing would have been okay if only He had been there. Jesus got very emotional when He saw Mary and the Jews who had accompanied her to comfort her. ‘Jesus wept;’ verse 35, the shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus went to the tomb where they had placed Lazarus and told them to remove the stone from the mouth of the cave. He then engaged in prayer directly to His Father, actually for the benefit of the of the crowd, and then in a loud voice: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. Then He said: “Lazarus, come out! When he appeared he was bound hand and foot with grave wrappings and Jesus told them to unbind him and let him go.

 

This scene caused many of the Jews who had been there to believe in Jesus, however some were still not convinced and they went to tell the Pharisees all that happened. The Jews were perplexed and formed a council to determine their course of action. They were very concerned about Rome and the reaction Rome would have when they discovered the Jews were not able to control their nation. They feared Rome would take away their place and nation. The high priest, Caiaphas, without realizing his words was prophesizing the death of Jesus in verses 51,52, and also the gathering together of all the children of God into one place. As he said it will be better for one person to be sacrificed than a whole nation. So from that day forward they began to plan to kill Him. Jesus ceased to walk in public at that time. He went to the country to a place called Ephraim and there He remained with His Disciples. At this time the Jewish Passover was at hand and many Jews went to Jerusalem for cleansing and purification. They began to wonder if Jesus would show up. The chief priests and Pharisees gave orders for anyone seeing Jesus to report to them immediately so they could seize Him.

 

The meaning to me of this chapter: people get sick and die in this world and we can’t stop it. Death (separation from God) is final for all non-believers (verse 25) but not for believers. Here again, we see the power of Jesus’ praying to the Father, raising Lazarus and causing his dead body to come alive, all for the glory of God. I become further convinced of eternal life being granted to every believer from the moment they accept Jesus as Savior and join the ranks of those who will never experience spiritual death; but for their spirit to live forever with the Lord, Verse 26). Now we see for the first time what is motivating the Jews to want to kill Jesus, in verse 48 they admit their reason; fear of Rome taking their place and nation. It’s hard to believe they would take this course of action for their own self- preservation. Actually the high priest was encouraging His death saying it would be expedient for one to die for all. It appears that man is capable of any thing, especially when we see men who want to kill their own Savior, the only person who could save them from eternal loss.

 

What I intend to do about what I read is to trust the Lord, not man. I know the Lord will never let me down. I will continue to walk in His Light, Amen.