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: Sunday, October 12, 2025
Chapters: Matthew 11, Luke 11
Message: Matthew/Luke: Come All That Labor
Hello My Friend,
As we continue in the reading of the Gospels we learn that Jesus encourages all who labor and are heavy burdened to come to Him for rest, [Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.]. We also learn of how those whom have never gotten saved can appear as Christians only to become more wicked than they ever were. There is a reason why Jesus said, [Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.]
It is easy to play the part of a Christian when things are easy, people are generous, and there are no conflicts of interest, but not so easy when trials and tribulation come, especially in the form of persecution. While no one, but God can know whether or not someone has sincerely received Christ as their Saviour, the truth usually comes out in small signs, [Matthew 7:16-19 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.]
Jesus, steps out from the crowd and begins to pray. As the disciples watch Him, John, the Baptist’s name comes up. Luke, also records how Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, but this was at a different time than when Matthew recorded it, [Luke 11:1-4 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.]
There are many who reject this way of praying, citing that God would never lead us into temptation, but fail to understand just what Jesus is referring to. There are two types of temptation, there are divers temptations, which are natural evils we face like sickness and poverty, [James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.]. Then there are the temptations of the flesh, which do not come naturally and are led by the lusts of the flesh, [James 1:13-14 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.]
This disciple, was probably one of John’s and started following Jesus after He had preached His sermon on the mount. Jesus, gladly repeats what He said, although He was not as quite wordy as the first time. However, Jesus goes on to include an example of how God responds to prayer.
[Luke 11:5-8 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.]
Jesus, is referring to our being consistent and fervent in our prayers, and if we are persistent, God will answer us. Believe it or not, God, does not get tired of our constantly asking Him for the same thing over and over again until we receive it. Now, in some cases God will not give us exactly what we are asking, He answers us with an alternate version, like a biscuit with butter instead of bread, but He knows what we have need of and will answer us according to His will, which Jesus goes on to explain.
[Luke 11:9-13 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?]
Do you see key here? I just realized this myself, [heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him]. Think about it, since the Holy Spirit lives in every saved, born again Christian it makes sense that God would give what we ask according to His Spirit, [1 Corinthians 3:16-18 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.]
The one being destroyed is not referring to the person who is saved, rather the one who deceived the person. What exactly defiles His temple apart from fornication? The wisdom of the world, through philosophy, and vain deceit, by bringing in false doctrines, errors, and heresies, which corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ, [Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.]
Do you know how many religions discredit Jesus for who He is? Oh, they like to talk about Him, but their knowledge of Him is so far off that they have no clue who they are talking about. And many of those so called “Christ” based churches lead more souls to hell than those who have no idea who Christ is at all. So, here are these so called religious leaders watching Jesus literally cast demons out of people and what do they perceive Him to be? The son of the devil.
[Luke 11:14-20 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.]
Do you realize that Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit just as we are? This is why God is in the form of three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and the reason why their accusation caused their own damnation. Of course, we cannot just touch someone and they be instantly healed, but we can teach someone about Jesus and be saved from hell, [Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.]
Before Jesus addresses those who were seeking a sign, He addresses those who accused Him. The Jews pretended to cast out devils, but used the names of the patriarchs such as Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, for example, “I cast thee out in the name of Abraham.” By their assumption of Christ’s power to being from the devil, they were condemning themselves under their own acts of deception, becoming their own judges. Jesus, goes on to point out what happens to those who are only deceiving themselves into believing that they have eternal life by pretending to be the model “Jew” that they were claiming to be. Jesus, goes on to show how dark a soul can become when the devil takes it.
[Luke 11:21-26 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. 23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.]
A lost soul is nothing to be excited about, it might be strong with works that appear Godly, like giving tithes and offerings, being generous with their money, and having some moral tendencies, but since their soul does not possess the Holy Spirit, the devil can easily step in. And this is why we learn of people who were once on fire for Christ turning on Him and becoming more wicked than they ever were. You see, several demons can possess one soul and Satan will not hesitate to use religion to lead people away from the truth, [1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.]
Now, the altercation between the Pharisees and scribes with Jesus after He had healed the one possessed had drawn a rather large crowd. Jesus, took the opportunity of speaking to them all, [Luke 11:29-32 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.]
The entire generation of Pharisees and scribes were evil, their hearts were darkened to the truth, and far from knowing where true morality comes. They sought a sign, but the only the sign Jesus would give them was that of the Prophet Jonah who spent three days and nights in the belly of a whale, [Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.]
Jesus, points out that if they had any of the scruples that the queen of Sheba had, referring to what she said, here then they would see the sign, [1 Kings 10:6-7 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. 7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.]. Likewise, those of Nineveh as well, [Jonah 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.]
It was not uncommon for the unbelievers, skeptics, and religious crowd to try to bate Jesus to see if He would do or say something they could use to catch Him breaking the Law. So, when Jesus, was invited to dinner at a Pharisees house, they took the opportunity to see if they could trip Him up. The Pharisee, was appalled that Jesus did not wash himself off before He sat down to eat.
[Luke 11:39-42,44 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. 42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.]
In other words, They are actually walking, talking corpses because they refuse to believe that Jesus is the Christ. Religion, places the leader of the church on the level of God, it enforces a bunch of laws that have nothing to do with His Word, many proclaiming Christ, but all they are doing is sending millions of people to hell with them, which Jesus is saying right here. Now, as Jesus us upbraiding the Pharisees and scribes, the lawyers in the crowd wanted to know if He had anything to say about them.
[Luke 11:45-48,51-52 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. 46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.]
Jesus has nothing against lawyers, but they are some of the worst offenders because they often represent those who are offenders trying to get out of facing punishment. Christians slapped with lawsuits because they decline to accept their service, people in debt being sued three or four hundred percent of what they owe, even the president being sued because he is enforcing laws. By the way, Jesus is our defense lawyer, we broke the Law through our sin, and deserve to be punished for it, but He took the punishment for us, paying for it with His life, [Colossians 1:19-21 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled]
When you think about all the miraculous and amazing things that take place every day (even with all the evil in the world) you cannot help, but wonder how people are so blind, they cannot see that these things were given by the Almighty Himself. Jesus heals people every second of the day, and yet very few see Him. Why? Only the poor see Jesus. Matthew gives his account of John the Baptist sending two of his disciples to see if all the uproar he was hearing about Jesus performing all these miracles was true. The sad thing is not their going to Jesus, it is their question.
[Matthew 11:1-6 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.]
Jesus, was referring to the conceited, self righteous, religious people who hide behind whatever knowledge they received and their religion. They saw Jesus right in front of their faces, witnessed Him performing miracles, yet never would believe that He is the Son of God, even though it was all written in the Scriptures. As Jesus observes the crowd, He goes on to point out that while John is a good man, he is only a man.
[Matthew 11:10-14 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.]
Jesus, was trying to show them that while John was a great and Godly man, he was not perfect and therefore came short of glory of God just like the rest of us, [Romans 3:9-12,23 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;]
Do you understand what Jesus is saying to these people? From the time that the Gospel had begun to be preached, first by John, then Jesus, and the disciples these religious rulers sought to take salvation by force. They convinced themselves that they would be doing the world a favor by ridding it of these evil men who were preaching about one man who would come to take away the sins of the world. Jesus, goes on to remind them that they have been attempting to get to heaven on their own terms from day one.
[Matthew 11:15-19 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.]
Remember, Jesus, often spoke through the prophets, and can be traced all the way back to the days of Adam. This is referring to both the first and second coming of Christ, which God has fixed the day of both. Those who do wickedly, who do not fear God’s anger, shall feel it. It is certainly to be applied to the day of judgment, when Christ shall be revealed in flaming fire and execute judgment on the proud, and all that do wickedly, which is why Jesus went from town to town where the disciples lived and started upbraiding them for their unbelief.
[Matthew 11:21-24 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. 23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.]
Those who think that their religion is going to get them to heaven, rejecting Jesus as the Son of God, or calling Him the son of the devil, are in for a huge shock when they stand before Him for their judgment. These towns prided themselves on their religion, yet none of them believed that Jesus is the Messiah the hoped for, even though He is right there in front of their faces. If we are not humble, we might as well be digging our own graves because the only thing that that type of pride will get us is death. Jesus, goes on to say why God hides the truth from the proud, who are also the wise.
[Matthew 11:25-30 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.]
You see, the Gentiles, those heathen nations that turn away from their false gods and self righteous attitudes know that they are sinners, and truly believe that Jesus is the only way. They are the ones who are justified rather than the religious, who actually have stricter rules than God. What happened to the days where numbers were not important, rather souls? It does not matter how many people you can get to join a church, if their souls are dead, they are dead, [James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, I may never understand everything that I have to go through, and I may look at You at times with only faith the size of a mustard seed, but as long as I have my breath in me I will keep resting in the hope that I will be with You always. Lord, Keep my faith strong, if that means that I must endure more pain or lose everything I have, then let that be the motivation to keep me pressing toward that mark. Fill me with Your mercy, grace, and power to keep going forward, never looking back, for I know that nothing shall separate me from You. Also, whenever get restless, hold on to me tighter so that I stay within the confines of Your arm where I do get the perfect rest. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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