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About-Him.Com Devotional 09-04-2009
http://about-him.com/ Search the Scriptures John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. Jesus saw an impotent man at the pool of Bethesda and commanded him to take up his bed and walk. Big miracle? Not to the onlooking Jews. They persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had healed on the Sabbath day. They knew the letter of the law intimately but had never comprehended the spirit in which it was written. When Jesus told them that God was His Father and that He had healed on His authority, their desire to kill Him was intensified because he had made Himself equal to or the same as God (John 5:18). Jesus continued explaining His relationship to His Father and said that all men should honor Him just as they honored the Father. If they did not honor the Son they were not honoring the Father (comp. I John 2;23, 5:20). Jesus acknowledged that they were diligent in searching the scriptures and were resting secure in the belief that they had eternal life. They knew all of the laws and rituals but they did not know the author of the text. They had overlooked the scriptures that pointed to God coming in the flesh to redeem His creation (Isa. 9:6, 40:9-11, 42;1, 52:13 and many many more). They couldn’t comprehend the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. Who was this man who would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities? They didn’t know and like much of the world today, they really didn’t want to find out. I wonder what they thought when they read Psalms 2. Did they ever ask, who is this Son that the Psalm is referring to? Who is the Lord’s anointed who would rule with a rod of iron? They firmly believed that they had eternal life, but they refused to know the Giver of life. So it is with men today. I recently read comments by a man who wasn’t sure if there was a God, but just is case he attended church and said the Lord’s prayer. He stated that when he died and found that there was a God, it would be a pleasant surprise. If not, no harm would be done. It’s obvious that this poor deluded man has never searched the scripture. I wonder if we today don’t repeat the errors of the Jews who were accusing Jesus . We rest secure in our doctrine, while ignoring the doctrine giver. We, like they, often lose the vision that God is the Savior of all men, not just our select few (John 3:16-17). Like the Pharisee of Luke 18:11, we justify ourselves in our works while looking down on the sinners around us. The scriptures that Jesus referred to were the Old Testament. The apostles used it to preach salvation. In Acts 2, Peter stirred an inquiring crowd by preaching Jesus from the Psalms. Phillip used Isaiah 53 to preach Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8). Paul went to the synagogue each Sabbath proclaiming that it was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die and that indeed He was the Christ (Acts 17:3 ). Just as the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus, The New Testament points back to Him. Luke compiled his gospel from eyewitness accounts (Luke 1:1-2). John wrote his gospel as an eyewitness and declared that it was written that we might believe that Jesus was the Christ and that believing we might have life through His name (John 20:31). Contrary to what some claim today, Peter stated that he had not followed cunningly devised fables (II Pet. 1:16-18). He recalls that he along with James and John, had been with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and had heard the voice from heaven declaring, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” All of the apostles except John died a martyrs death preaching the gospel. For a myth or fable? I don’t think so! The eyewitness accounts of the New Testament point back to Jesus as one born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:23), who suffered and died for us. He didn’t stay in the grave, but was raised by the power of God. They saw Him ascend to heaven and heard His promise to return again. II Timothy 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 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. When we read the scripture under the influence of the Spirit of God, our thinking and assumptions and doctrine get challenged. We are corrected and reproved for wrong practices and instructed in the true righteousness that God requires. Every time we read of Jesus, we see Him in a new light and gain insight into His Divinity and our will becomes challenged to become submissive to His will. Sometimes we find out that we really don’t know as much as we thought we knew. I Corinthians 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Psalms 1:1 ¶ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Free Ebooks That You Can Download. An Expository Study on the Book of Colossians The I AMs of Jesus Your thoughts and Inquiries Contact@About-Him.Com Subscribe to this devotional? Subscribe to About-Him Devotional Keep Looking Up! Don and Marie Spooner About Him! Ministries The purpose of About-Him.Com is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ whom we preach as the Almighty God manifest in the flesh. It is our desire that everything presented on these pages increases your faith in our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Home About Us About His Word Bible Studies Flash Movies Guest Writers Humor Links Midi Music Songs of the Church Thoughts on the Life of Christ Weekly Devotions Audio Devotionals Topical Studies Contact Last modified: 10-09-2011 Contact us About Him! Ministries |