King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2019
Chapters: John 20-21
Message: Jesus, The Christ
Hello My Friend,
When you stop to think of all the natural beauties of the universe that God created, the planets, sun, moon, and stars; the seas, trees, mountains, and animals, it is truly incredible. And as powerful as God is, with all His ability to make the earth quake, seas rage, and the heavens tremble, in all His wrath, His most valuable creation is man. God is a just God, and a jealous God, so we can expect order and judgment at rebellion and rejection, and yet, He truly loves man so much that He came here Himself, in the form of His only begotten Son to make it possible for those who do accept Him to live with Him forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – John 3:16-18.
“but he that believeth not is condemned already,” Anyone can quote John 3:16, in fact, the world does, but they fail to include the most crucial verses following that. You can believe that Jesus is a person, but that does not mean you are saved, it is what we believe He is that saves or condemns us. Each one of the four Gospels gives insight into what took place concerning Christ’s sinless death, burial, and resurrection. John tells us that on the day of His resurrection he and Peter ran to the tomb after Mary Magdalene found told them Jesus was gone.
“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” – John 20:1-9.
“and he saw, and believed.” This is John, and he did not need the Scriptures or to see Jesus to know that Jesus had risen from the dead. Think about it, out of all the Apostles, John was with Jesus wherever He went, and he was also the only one to die from natural causes unlike the rest who were martyred. Now, we know there were other women there too, but Mary Magdalene had a very strong connection with Jesus, after all, He did cast out seven devils, just as John did (Luke 8:2). However, Mary could not connect the two just yet, she stood at the tomb wondering who came and took the body of Jesus.
“But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” – John 20:11-17.
“But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping:” Something just occurred to me, where were the Roman soldiers that were guarding the tomb? They must have seen that big rock moving and took off running? But here is Mary, not only grieving at His death, but now His body being gone. She was devastated, only to turn around and find Him standing there. Talk about a testimony to run and tell everyone. “for I am not yet ascended to my Father:” This means that Jesus was literally dead for three days, having been in paradise with all the saints whom have died before, awaiting their ascension up to their Father as well. “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father;” Believing in what Christ did on the cross is the only way to become a child of God. What about those who died before Christ died? They too had the same faith. There are people who actually believe that those who died before Christ, really were saved by their works, but all you have to do is read the Old Testament through to discover that it was certainly not their works that saved them because they were all sinners too. Of course, faith brings obedience, and that includes all of us, but their faith in what was to come was their righteousness, and what saved them. “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” – Romans 4:2-3.
“Abraham believed God,” Of course, believing in God, and all that He is is the key to salvation. When we believe in God, and all that He is, we sincerely want to live in obedience to His Word. Let me tell you, just because someone says they believe that Jesus exists, and even died on the cross, that does not mean they accept Him as the Christ. For three and a half years, Jesus walked daily with the disciples, one never believed, and killed himself simply over the guilt of having betrayed Jesus. Now, after learning from Peter, John, and Mary that Jesus was not in the tomb, the were still trying to grasp what is going on, especially when Mary ran back and told them that she saw Him and He is alive. So, later that day as the disciples and other believers gathered hidden in a room from the Jews, to discuss the matter, Jesus, appears, and something incredible happened. He spoke to them, and breathed on them, literally giving life to their souls.
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” – John 20:22-31.
“he breathed on them,” I just discovered something else, God Himself, when He created Adam, breathed on him the breath of life so that he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). When Adam sinned, it was his soul that died, but Jesus, who died a sinless death, which by the way, was foretold to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15). It is Jesus who breathes that same breath of life into the soul of those who believe in and accept that He not only died a sinless death, but was buried, and arose three days later. “Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit,” Remit means forgiven, and pardoned of sin. God loves us, yes, but sin will always make us enemies with Him. The only way we can receive the breath of life into our soul is through our faith in the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ. His surname is not Christ, His name is Jesus, which means Saviour, and Christ, which means anointed. Jesus, the Saviour, was the one God anointed the second sin entered the earth to redeem and give life to all who believe that He is the Christ. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” – Romans 10:9-10.
Peter and John spent three and a half years ministering to Jesus, now that He was gone the only thing they thought to do was go back to the life they lived before Christ. They discovered, just like the rest of us, that once you receive Christ you cannot go back to the live you lived before receiving Christ. They went fishing with some of the other disciples, but could not catch any fish, until Jesus showed up on the shore and told them where to cast the net, and a hundred and fifty-three fish were caught up in the net. As they returned back to shore with the fish they already find Jesus there with a fire, and food ready for them. While dinning He speaks to Peter, three times asking him the same question.
“He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” – John 21:17-23.
“thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,” This is the great commission, you get saved, and baptized with the Spirit of God in you, and then you tell the next one how they can be saved. “what is that to thee? follow thou me.” Keep in mind that once we are saved, Jesus will keep asking us if we love Him so we do not forget that we are saved. Second, since He is not here physically, He calls on us to tell the world about Him. Third, God’s will for my life is not the same as His will for your life, every one of us has our own path in which God gives us, and while some of us are allowed to do certain things, others are not. I believe God does this because He knows how much each one of us can handle. We are to please God, and no one else, we are to follow the path that He has set for us, and not judge someone else for the things that God allows in their lives. “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:12-13.
Today’s Prayer: God, There is nothing more powerful that Your Word, no matter how many people try to alter it or alter our perception of it it always remains as it is written. It is comforting to know that when You have a plan You stop at nothing for it to come to pass, including Your plan for me. Thank You for loving me and not giving up on me, for waiting patiently for me to learn the truth about Your Son, and how important it is to have Him in not only in my life, but know that He is the only way, truth, and life. Thank You Jesus, for dying for me, for redeeming me, and for making me one of Your very own. I love You Lord, and pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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