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This was possibly the most potentially damaging temptation the scribes and Pharisees ever presented to Jesus. Much of Jesus' widespread popularity with the people was because of His examples of and teachings about God's mercy and forgiveness towards sinners. This was received with great enthusiasm by the people who, before this time had been presented with only a harsh, legalistic, judgmental picture of God.
The scribes and Pharisees had often tried to portray Jesus as condoning or practicing sin because of His association with sinners and His ministry to them when it violated Jewish traditions, such as the Sabbath. However, Jesus had successfully turned every attack into a...
These rivers of living water are referring to the Holy Spirit and the effects He produces in the life of the believer. Galatians 5:22-23 says, "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." These qualities should flow out of us as an artesian well. They should not have to be pumped. They will flow as we conform our thinking to God's Word.
Jesus speaks of bearing fruit in John 15 and declares that ". . . without me ye can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5). This fruit is the product of the Holy Spirit, not our effort. However, since "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17), then this fruit of the Spirit is also what our born- again spirit produces. Our spirit...
HAVE YOU EVER JUST SAT AND THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE? YOU PROBABLE HAVE, AS I HAVE, AND I KNOW WE CAN NEVER IMAGINE HOW GREAT AND WONDERFUL IT WILL BE. THE BEST WE CAN DO IS TO SEE WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT IT AND EVEN THEN I DON'T BELIEVE WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE FULL MEANING OF WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS. I FOUND NUMEROUS SCRIPTURES WHERE GOD TELLS THE ISRAELITES THAT HE WOULD BRING THEM TO "a land that floweth with milk and honey".
and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man." 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 focused on the outward act of obedience instead of the inward act of faith that caused Abraham to be obedient. This was the source of the contention...
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 the Bible). Their whole society revolved around God's moral standards and countless religious observances. However, they did not know God.
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YOU DO HAVE GODLY POWERS
HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THE POWER THAT WE HAVE? IF WE ALL COULD JUST REALIZE THIS AND REALLY GET IT INTO OUR WHOLE BEING, THERE IS NOTHING WE COULD NOT DO. I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT JUST A FEW THINGS THAT JESUS DID AND HE SAID IN JOHN 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. DID YOU SEE THAT....."GREATER WORKS SHALL WE DO".
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 manifest in natural flesh. It wasn't sinful flesh but it was flesh, nonetheless, and had to be educated. Jesus was not taught by man, but He was taught by the...
