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The Heart Matters
John 7:22 'Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers
and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.'
JOHN 7:21-24
The covenant of circumcision was given to Abram in Gen. 17:9-14. In v. 14, the Lord said that any man who did not carry this sign of the covenant in his flesh was to be killed. This placed a great importance on the act of circumcision. Paul says in Rom. 4:3-13, that Abraham had already been justified by faith before he was circumcised. It was Abram's faith that saved him at least 13 years before the Lord commanded Abram to be circumcised. The Jews had...
Rebirth
John 7:19 'Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?'
JOHN 7:16-19
These Jews prided themselves on their observance of the law, but they were keeping the letter of the law and missing its true intent. The greatest of all the Old Testament laws was to love God and then to love your neighbor as yourself. The Jews were violating these laws by having hatred in their hearts toward Jesus and wanting to kill Him. They denied that they desired to kill Him, but the scriptures declare that they had already plotted or tried to kill Him three times.
They also knew much about God. It was required of the Jewish men to memorize large portions of the Torah (the first five books of...
Holy Ghost Teacher
John 7:15 'And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?'
JOHN 7:14-15
Jesus received His wisdom and knowledge by direct revelation from the Spirit of God rather than by the teachings of man. Jesus had been learning, but not through man. The Holy Ghost was His teacher. Jesus had to be taught the things of God. This looks contrary to Colossians 2:3, which says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus. If Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, why would He have to learn or be taught?
The harmony between these apparently opposite statements is that Jesus' spirit man was 100% God and had all of the wisdom and understanding of God in it, but it was...
Limitless Forgiveness
Matthew 18:33 'Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?'
MATTHEW 18: 21-35
Peter thought he was being very generous by offering to forgive his brother seven times in one day, but Jesus said he should forgive him 490 times in one day. It would be impossible to have someone sin against you 490 times in one day. Jesus is actually saying that there should be no limit to our forgiveness.
When we are offended or hurt, we often feel justified in holding a grudge. The Old Testament law expressed this when it stated, 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth' (Ex. 21:23-25). Until the offense was paid, we did not feel free to forgive. However, God dealt with all men's offenses...
Discipline Brings Life
Matthew 18:18-19 'Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.'
MATTHEW 18:15-19
Verses 18 and 19 have many applications, but taken in context, they are specifically referring to church discipline. Some might think that church discipline is only symbolic and carries no real weight; however, Jesus is making it clear that in the spiritual realm, discipline that is directed by the Holy Spirit has much power.
The scriptural commands concerning...
God Likes Us
Matthew 18:14 'Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.'
MATTHEW 18:12-14
One of the greatest truths of the Bible and also one of the hardest to comprehend, is that we are the objects of God's love. God didn't just pity us or feel some sense of moral obligation to save us. He saved us because of His infinite love for us (Jn. 3:16).
God loves people. He even loves those who have gone astray. As Jesus said in a similar parable (Lk. 15:7), 'I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.'
Once we experience the life-changing power of Christ,...