241st Post Jesus Said About the Holy Spirit - New Topic Introduction.

New Topic Introduction concerning the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity; He has been the one promised by Jesus to be the disciples care giver and helper. If you know the Old Testament, you already know something about this member of the Trinity; however, in the Old Testament he would come over someone, stay for a time and then would leave. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit never leaves you, and he will be with you forever. It is important how you interpret forever, and the term will never leave. These terms come into play when you look at End Times. In this study, we are looking at what Jesus said; and He being only one of the Godhead, how His words fit in with the rest of God's Words. Jesus always represented Himself as being from and part of God. For this reason, everything He said went along with what the Law and the Prophets had already said. The Bible is God's Word, and as such it can not lie or contradict itself. You need to keep this in mind when you are studying the Bible. What will be the Helper's duties? He will continue to teach the disciples by telling them what they need to know, and explaining what Jesus had already taught them. The Helper will also give them courage, and take away all their doubts. The Holy Spirit is a very strong Helper, and we need to know when and where to ask Him to help. He will Always be there for us.

240th Post Jesus Said on The Proper Role of the Law Con't. John 7: 21 -24

John 7: 21 - 24.
I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
These words were spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2- 2 years into His earthly ministry. Notice Jesus said Moses gave them circumcision, and then said it came from the forefathers. This is exactly correct. The Jews only know their laws from Moses giving them these at Mount Sinai. Circumcision was reintroduced at that time along with the rest of the Jewish Laws. When the children of Israel were in Egypt, they did not practice their religion like they do now. This re-instating the Law will take place again when Joshua circumcises them at the Jordan River before the crossing. Circumcision only affects one part of man's body, yet when Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, He healed the whole person.

239th Post Jesus on The Proper Role of the Law Con't. - Matthew 12: 11 - 12

Matthew 12: 11 - 12; Mark 3: 4; Luke 6: 9 , 14:5
What man among you who has one sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
This was spoken by Jesus 1.1/2 to two years into His earthly ministry. One of the things you need you understand about Jesus, is He never wastes words. Every word He speaks was chosen carefully. In the last post Jesus accused the priests of profaning the Sabbath, according to their own rules the High Priests would be profaning the Sabbath by performing the duties of their office called on By God. They could not see the conflict. Jesus now uses a sheep in trouble for the lesson. The priests were to help the people. In this case the sheep would be the Jews coming to the Temple for healing. The men would save a sheep because they could understand the dollar value of the sheep. Jesus is telling them that men also have some value and are worth much more than a few sheep. The people can understand saving sheep, but men? Men don't need help. If you are having trouble witnessing, this could be the reason. Only broken people seek a Savior. We are called by Christ to be Salt and Light, anytime the need arises, no time off, or vacations.

238th Post Jesus on the Proper Role of the Law Con't. - Matthew 12: 3 - 8.

Matthew 12: 3 - 8; Mark 2: 25 - 28; Luke 6: 3-5.
Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Jesus spoke these words about 1.1/2 to 2 years into His earthly ministry. In order to understand this passage your knowledge of the Old Testament would be a big help. David is a reference to King David before He was King, but being persued by King Saul the story is found in 1 Samuel chapter 21. David and his men went to Nob, where the Tabernackel was, this is what is meant by the word temple. The showbread, are the twelve loaves, one for each tribe of Israel. These were baked and ate by the Priests only as per Law in Leviticus. The High Priest, who was related to Eli the High Priest (the man in that position when Samuel was born), had compassion on David and could see David was hungry and offered him and his men the bread to eat. Saul would later kill all of these priests for helping David. This would fulfill the prophecy that Samuel told Eli, that the Priesthood would be ripped from his family. Jesus tells them that He is greater than David and greater than the Sabbath. Jesus as God, indeed is greater than all created beings, Jesus being the creator and all.

237th Post Jesus on Proper Role of the Law Con't - Matthew 7:12

Matthew 7: 12; Luke 6: 31 Jesus Sermon on the Mount.
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
This passage was spoken by Jesus during His Sermon on the Mount; about 1.1/2 years into His earthly Ministry. This is the same teaching that the Jews received from Moses, if you look at the 10 Commandments they tell you this indirectly. This was the problem. The Jews would not look at the whole picture the Law was telling them. They tried to keep the letter of each Law instead of trying to understand the purpose of the Law. You should have recognized the passage mentioned above, it is also known as the "Golden Rule". This used to be taught in school, everyone knew this rule. Now we are taught a different "Golden Rule", the one with the "Gold" makes the rules! The latter is what the world teaches. Jesus calls us to be not of this world, this means we are to live by a different set of standards. The purpose of this class is to look at the teachings of Jesus and try to apply them to our lives. Jesus calls us not to be hearer's only but also doer's of His Words. In the Old Testament, the Jews got the part that they were to submit to God, they did not seem to understand that God wanted them to treat each other with love and respect. This is the part of the Law that Jesus concentrated on the most. We are to love one another.

236th Post Jesus Said on Proper Role of the Law Con't. - Matthew 5: 17 - 20

Matthew 5: 17-20; Luke 16:17 Taken from Jesus Sermon on the Mount.
Do not think I come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 years into His earthly ministry. Jesus in His usual way, said a great deal with out wasting a lot of words. New Testament Christians, need to look at this passage very carefully. Out of Jesus own mouth, He tells you the importance of not only knowing, but keeping the Old Testament Laws and Prophets. Then Jesus goes on to say that you must be more righteous than the scribes or Pharisees, if you plan to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus continues, by saying if you do and teach others to do the same, you will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is telling us that we have to be more righteous and teach others to be more righteous in order to receive the kingdom of heaven. This is no small order. These are not my words but Jesus.

235th Post Jesus Said on The Proper Role of the Law - New Section Introduction.

The Proper Role of the Law - New Section Introduction.
Jesus brought the same Words from God, that was given by God through Moses. The problem was that over the years since God gave the Law to Moses the people; they did not keep God's Spirit in the Law. They were teaching according to their own understanding and not God's. This is what Proverbs 3: 5 -6 teaches against. Unfortunately, we can fall into this same trap today; due to our sinful nature. It is this disconnect, that kept the Sadducees, and Pharisees from seeing Jesus as the True Messiah, and Son of God. They attributed Jesus miracles to the power of Beelzebul (Prince of demons) instead of God! Jesus could not be speaking of and from God because He was a sinner! Not educated by them!! Jesus did not have their stamp of approval on Him! This is why they did not believe. In the Old Testament, where did the prophets come from? What were their qualifications? They did not come from the ranks of religious educated, but were lifted up for the specific purpose of speaking God's truth and bringing the people back to God. God can not lie, this is how you will be able to expose the false teachers and false prophets. If you are really speaking for God, you are one hundred per cent accurate. If one profecy uttered by you does not happen, then you are a false prophet. If you have Old Testament prophets whose words are only 90% fulfilled, they are still waiting for completion. Jesus said it will be fulfilled completely, every dot of the (i) and cross of the (t). This seems pretty straight forward to me. Jesus also taught that the student is never greater than his teacher. This also is true!

234th Post Jesus Said on Giving Con't. - Luke 21: 3-4

Luke 21: 3 -4; Mark 12: 43 - 44 The story of the widow and the two mites.
Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all of these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.
This was spoken by Jesus during the last week of His earthly ministry before His crucifixion. After Palm Sunday, Jesus would visit the Temple everyday and teach. Jesus was teaching in the area of the Temple near the offering box, He was watching the rich come and put their offerings in the box, while the Temple was crowded, so that they could be seen. Then Jesus sees this old widow come and put two small coins in the offering box. Jesus, being God could see the heart of every giver, and this was why He spoke out. The rich had waited until the Temple area around the offering box was full of people before they put in their offering. They wanted their gift to be seen. The widow on the other hand came at this time, because she does not go out at night, and knows that no one pays any attention to a poor old widow. The people would see, but not see. She put in two small coins, compared to the rich, very small in compared value of money. Jesus looks at the whole story and this is what He exposed. The gift that the rich gave though high in money value, was low compared to what they could afford. The widow had truly learned to trust God with all and gave all she had, knowing that He would take care of her. She was old, she had been walking with God for a long time, and she put her complete trust in the Lord. We are to strive for that kind of faith that the widow has. Where are you on your walk with God??

233rd Post Jesus Said on Giving Con't. - Luke 6:38

Luke 6: 38 Jesus Sermon on the Mount.
Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
This is the same text as the one listed in Post #226. This text was taken from New King James Version and Post #226 was taken from the English Standard Version. That is the reason for the different words of the two texts. You need to keep in mind that Post #226, dealt with Judgment and this section deals with giving as a positive. Both are rewarded with the same amount of measure though. For this reason it would be in your best interest to give positive instead of negative things.
See giving does not always only include money. Jesus taught us and showed us by His example, that when we see someone with a need, we are to fulfill that need if we can. This goes against everything the world teaches. This is a hard thing for us to do, because it is much easier to pretend we don't see, and go ahead with our business. This is a big part of living the life of Christ. If you call yourself a Christian, this means "Christ- like", putting money in the plate on Sunday and saying you did your part is only half right. You must also help people you come in contact with. You can start with the people in your own Church fellowship, who are in need. This is part of what Jesus meant, when He said "They will know you are my disciples because you love one another." This is one of Jesus' commands.

232nd Post Jesus Said on Giving New Section Comment - Con't.

This is why, we as believer's must come along side of our weaker brothers and sisters and new believer's, in love and respect when we are correcting them. They may not know that they are sinning, and treating them like this is the hundredth time you have caught them, is not the way to approach the situation. As we learned in our last section we are not the judges, only Jesus and God the Father have that right. Now back to giving. Monetary giving is broken down into groups. The first is tithes. This is spoken in the Old Testament, but this word is not used by Jesus. However, Jesus alluded to it when He talked about Temple Taxes, or monies due the Temple. In the Old Testament it says you are to give ten percent of your income to the Lord as a First Fruit type Offering. The term offering, that you hear in Church speaks to special money, you may give, above and beyond your tithe. The next section of giving involves your "Spiritual Gifts". These gifts are given by God alone usually part of His equipping process before He sends you out to do His Will! These can be given you at birth, or you may acquire them as your walk develops. Some of these gifts, you may know you have others may still be hidden. God will make you aware of them when the time is right.

231st Post Jesus Said on Giving New Topic - Opening Comment

This new section of Jesus Said will focus on giving. Jesus outlines several ways we as follower's of His are to be giving. They are all found throughout the Bible, so what Jesus said was not new. However, the Church seems to harp on one form of giving more than any of the others. To be fair, the Church without tithes and offerings could not complete all the tasks, that Jesus has commanded them to do as part of their being "His Bride." We as Jesus' sheep are required to give in all of the ways that He outlined during His earthly ministry here. This is part of your walk with God. When you first came to the Lord, if you are like most people you did not know much about the Bible or Jesus either, for that matter. Jesus met you where you were, loved you, and you decided to follow Him. It is during this process of following Him that you started to become aware of what Jesus requires and what He hates. This part of the opening should be looked at for each of the topics we have studied already and will study in the future. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts you of your sin. Before He convicts you, you have no concept of doing anything wrong. This is what you have to remember when you are dealing with a new believer, or weaker brother. The Holy Spirit may use you to make them aware of their sin, He knows, you on the other hand may not know you are being used until later. Comment continued next post.

230th Post Jesus Said on Reproof and Forgiveness Con't. - John 8: 7

John 8: 7 Jesus in the Temple when the Pharisees bring the woman caught in Adultery.
He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.
This takes place after the feeding of the 5,000 about 1.1/2 - two years into Jesus earthly Ministry.
This story starts in John 8:1, this account has the most detail of all the Gospels concerning this. Our text comes toward the end of this story, so you should read the whole account to get a full feel for the teaching. Jesus arrived early this day at the Temple to teach, it was while he was there that the scribes (teachers of the law) and the Pharisees (teachers in the Synagogues) brought a woman caught in adultery into the midst of those gathered to hear Jesus. They tell Jesus they have the right to stone her based on the Laws that Moses gave them; but they asked Jesus what will you have us do? This is clearly a trap to try to catch Jesus so that they could start the things in motion to arrest Him. Up to this part of the story all accounts are the same, but in John, Jesus bends down and writes with His finger in the dirt. This is different, John does not tell us what Jesus wrote, or if the scribes and Pharisees could read what He wrote. All we know is that the crowd seems to go through some kind of change. It is at this point that Jesus utters the words of our text for today and pay close attention to what happens next. After Jesus speaks the crowd disperses with the elders leaving first. When Jesus told them the one without sin could cast the first stone, they realized that each one of them had their own sin, that is why the elders left first. They had lived the longest and had the most sin.

229th Post Jesus Said on Reproof & Forgiveness Con't - Mark 11: 25 - 26

Mark 11: 25 - 26; Matthew 6: 14: 15; 18: 25. Jesus teaching from the Sermon on the mount, and later.
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.
These words were spoken by Jesus during the the first 1.1/2 years of His earthly ministry, He taught on this again toward the end of His earthly ministry. Jews usually stand when they pray, look at the Wailing wall in Jerusalem. Jesus is telling the people that when you are praying, talking to God and remember that someone has offended you, you are required to forgive them. If you think about the Lord's Prayer, you are asked to forgive others with the hope that God will forgive you, which happens after you forgive first. To be Christ-like (Christian), you must do this. We all have stumbled here at some point in our walk with God. If you have fallen, get up and make it right, this is what God expects. This is what is meant by "walking with fear and trembling"; we are admitting that we are not perfect, and know that perfection is what God desires. God knows we are not perfect, but He wants us to try to achieve it. This is what makes us better over time, we are gaining ground.

228th Post Jesus Said on Reproof and Forgiveness Con't. - Matthew 18: 22

Mathew 18: 22; Luke 17:4. Peter asking Jesus how many times should he forgive someone.
I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
This was spoken by Jesus toward the end of His earthly Ministry. Jesus had been teaching His followers about forgiving one another. The Rabbis at the time (the religious teachers of the day) were teaching that it was only necessary to forgive up to three times each offense. Peter trying to show Jesus he was more pious (more holy) than the Rabbis, asked Jesus if seven times per offense was good enough. Peter totally missed the point of forgiveness, it is not about how many times, you forgive, it is about forgiving, period! God commands us to forgive our neighbors (everyone) always. We are to do this as remembrance that God forgives us! So don't calculate how much 70 times 7 is and then use that number for how many offenses you will forgive before you stop. The whole point is there is no stopping to the forgiveness, this is the teaching. God is the judge, not us. But what if the offense is not against you, but against God alone? Are we to just ignore it like it is not happening? Jesus calls us to come along side a weaker brother and try to correct them in love. How would you correct without looking like you are judging? These are questions I am struggling with myself. When I receive the answer I will advise you.

227th Post Jesus on Reproof and Forgiveness Con't - Matthew 18: 15 - 17

Matthew 18: 15 - 17; Luke 17:3
Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
This was spoken by Jesus toward the end of His earthly Ministry on earth. This passage is very serious and should only be used as a last resort. Look at the last line of this passage, let them be like a heathen or tax collector. This means that if it ends badly ex-communication is the only road to use in this case. Before even starting this process, you must see about the fault, is it bad enough to ex-communicate over? If the answer is no, than this passage should not be used. Jesus was using examples of extremes to make His point. The point of Chapter 18 is reconciliation not casting out. Read the whole chapter, Jesus says it is better for you to cut off a part of your body than to lose the whole body in hell. A Church must remember that when they use this verse, they are also part of the test. God will hold the Church accountable for casting out one who was not to be cast out! "To whom much is given much is required!"

226th Post Jesus Said on Reproof and Forgiveness Con't. - Luke 6: 37 - 38

Luke 6: 37 - 38; 3rd Post Concerning Judging.
Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
This is the third account of what Jesus said from His Sermon on the Mount. Of the three, Matthew 7: 1-5, is the most taught on, and I believe this account in Luke is the least. Mathew seems to concentrate on the negative judgment, Mark tells you that judgment could be positive or negative, but Luke, tells you that if good is given, look at the detail of description of the pay back. Pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap. I am dealing with a deciduous tree in my backyard. Those of you reading this in the east, in Southern California, our trees drop their leaves whenever they think it is winter, this can take place anywhere from fall when it is supposed to happen until as late as March. This just happens to be when my tree decided to drop its leaves. Anyway, to throw the leaves away, we are allowed one trash receptacle for pick-up. You fill the can to the top, step into the top of the can to make room for more, hit the sides of the can to make the leaves settle, so that more can fit into the can. This is the idea of how God will repay you for doing good. It shows how fallen we are, when we know this to be true, but still have a problem with doing it, even knowing the large reward for doing this.