King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Chapters: Matthew 16, Mark 8
Message: No Doubt In This Heart
Hello My Friend,
I was very emotional when I was praying this morning, and still am as I type this, I keep thinking about God’s mercies, how much I fail Him, and how He intervenes so much in my life. This word doubt keeps coming to my mind as I see my life coming together with everything I had hoped for falling right into place. For some reason that scares me because in the back of my mind I keep thinking that it is all going to come crashing down and what I have been praying for all of these years was nothing, but false hope. So, what exactly is doubt? It means to waver or fluctuate in opinion; to hesitate; to be in suspense; to be in uncertainty; to be undetermined. There is a reason why the Bible says, [James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.]
And that is exactly what doubt is, to be double minded. Now, we must never doubt our salvation, if we do, then we need to make sure that we understand that salvation comes by grace alone through our faith in the Gospel of Christ alone. As with everything else, we are actually going to have some doubts here and there, especially when the things we long for have some hope attached to them, but we have to remember what Jesus says about doubt, [Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.]
And speaking of the heart, I kept telling God that I feel these things that I have been longing happening from the bottom of my heart, but I also know that the heart can be deceitful and want to make sure that I am not deceiving myself. Well, once again, God answers my questions through His Word, well, some of them anyway. And you will see what I am talking about as we continue in the reading of the Gospels. Mark also gives the testimony of Jesus feeding the four thousand that followed Him in the wilderness.
[Mark 8:1-3,6-9 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.]
[and they took up of the broken meat that was left] Notice that it says that they took up of the broken meat that was left, this is actually a symbolization of the manna, [Exodus 16:15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.] This miracle, which was done while they were in the wilderness, was intended to demonstrate that Christ is the true bread that came down from heaven. This heavenly bread is not something that we can eat one time and be full, oh, we are complete in Christ, but we are to never be full, we need to come to Christ daily for each broken piece of that spiritual meat, [Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.]
There is a difference between someone who wholeheartedly follows God and one that halfheartedly follows Him. A person that is halfhearted only seeks help from God when they get into trouble and does not do one thing to turn their life around when He does. A person who is wholehearted recognizes that even though they doubt from time to time, they know that they can do all things through Christ. The Pharisees and Sadducee’s were always trying to find fault in Jesus, after they were fed and Jesus sent the multitude away, here come these fools, trying to tempt Jesus, [Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.]
[but can ye not discern the signs of the times?] Is this not what we are going through today? All of these fools telling us to get a vaccine, knowing that it does nothing to prevent you or anyone else from getting a virus that you may already have and not know it. Really? Do we not know when we are sick? Let me tell you, there will always be a corona virus as long as this earth remains because of the curse that sin has brought here, so, we need to look at the bigger picture of what is really going on here, [Matthew 24:6-8 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.]
[but the sign of the prophet Jonas.] Now, if they knew the Scriptures like they say they did, then they would have understood that Jesus meant, Jonah being in the belly of the whale for three days and nights. The world is truly blind to the truth about Jesus, and until we believe by faith, and not doubt that in our heart, we too are blind to Jesus as well. Jesus decided it was time to get away from the multitude for a while, He got into a ship with His disciples, but they were all complaining about not taking any of the seven baskets of bread that were left over, but Jesus said something to them when he heard their obvious questions as to what they were going to eat, [Matthew 16:5-8 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?]
[because ye have brought no bread?] The flesh has a way of escaping the things of God, when it is hungry it desires all sorts of things to feed it, and if we are not careful we will find ourselves getting sick from what we digest, and that includes spiritually and mentally. Now, Mark adds that Jesus asked them more questions, [Mark 8:18-21 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? 19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?]
[How is it that ye do not understand?] Jesus sounds a little perturbed with the miracles escaped them as well until they finally understood what Jesus meant about the bread of the Pharisees and Sadducee’s. You see, the Pharisees believed that their works were pleasing to God and He would accept them for payment of their sin, similar to what Catholics and Mormons believe. The Sadducee’s did not believe the Law was given to them by God at all and did not believe in resurrection, similar to what the Jehovah’s Witness believe. Our body needs more than physical provisions to sustain it, it also needs spiritual provisions, in fact, it needs the flesh and blood of Christ, [Matthew 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.]
Of course, the bread and the wine is a symbol of Christ giving His life and the blood to save us from hell, which is the punishment for sin. Those who believe this with their true heart, have a hope and joy inside of them that never wavers and it comes through our Saviour, Jesus Christ. His compassion for us should encourage us to be running this race with patience, and always rejoicing in Him. The devil is always going to find ways to try and place doubt in the back of our heads. Now, as Jesus came into Bethsaida, a blind was brought to Him to see if He could heal him, [Mark 8:22-26 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.]
[And he took the blind man by the hand,] Jesus took the man by the hand and walked him away from the crowd. I imagine it was similar to what we see when a blind person uses a guide to take them to where they need to go, holding on to their elbow. Why did Jesus choose to spit in his eyes first? I believe that He was looking for the mans faith. The people that brought him to Jesus had faith that He could heal them, but if the man doubted that for one second, He would never have seen Jesus. The second time, when Jesus actually touched his eyes, that was when he could see clearly. Doubt blinds our faith, but we must never forget that Jesus is the one guiding us, and He may have to spit in our eyes to get to get our attention, [Isaiah 42:6-8 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.]
Until we believe in Jesus by faith, we are blind to Him, it is only when we look up to Him that we can see Him, and that is when He will reveal to us who He truly is. One good thing about reading the Bible as the events took place is that you can see how each person saw Jesus and what they got out of witnessing His work at the same time. Matthew, which was directed to appeal to the Jews, goes into detail about a conversation Jesus had with His disciples, asking them who He thinks He is.
[Matthew 16:13-19 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.]
[and upon this rock I will build my church;] Jesus was not talking about Peter starting His Church as many believe, Jesus was talking about Himself, upon His Rock He will build His Church. Jesus gives all who believe in and receive Him as their Saviour the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which is the Gospel. Jesus knows that the world will never see Him as the Son of God, let alone that He is a living God. I was watching a TV show that introduced the Pagan religion, which has some ritual on Halloween that draws up all the dead spirits so they can spend time with their loved ones. Well, that is actually what Halloween is based upon, but reincarnation came up also came up, I was thinking just how clueless the writers were and the world to believe these things. They would rather believe in all Hallows Eve and reincarnation than the fact that eternal life is given through God’s Son. And of course, we come to the next block of Scripture of Jesus foretelling of His death, burial, and resurrection, which even the disciples had a hard time comprehending.
[Matthew 16:21-23 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.]
[Lord: this shall not be unto thee.] The devil will do anything he can to make us doubt by getting us to question the Word of God. If he messed with Peter, he will mess with all of Christ’s disciples, but as powerful as he thinks he is he is powerless the second we tell him to get behind us. So, who has the victory? We do! And it is in Christ Jesus!, [1 John 5:4-6 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You, for giving us hope beyond the grave and letting us know what we can expect to come so that we can reach others with the Gospel before Jesus returns. We do not always know where our steps will take us on life’s journey, but we do know where they lead, and that is to Your Son. Our steps here may lead to a cut in pay, broken buildings, and holes in our pockets, but ultimately we will have the victory because of our faith in Your Son. He do not have to fear and have no reason to doubt that everything will work together for good because we have put our faith and trust in Your Son to save our soul from hell. Now, because of this Satan will use every means to get us doubt Your promises, and that doubt often blinds us to see those promises. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your power, wisdom, and strength to stand strong in the strength of Christ until You come to get us. Put Your hedge of protection around us, and give us the power to rebuke Satan every time he tries to place doubt in our minds. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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