As It Were Appointed – I'm Following Jesus

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: Friday, November 08, 2019
Chapters: Matthew 26
Message: As It Were Appointed

Hello My Friend,

Appoint; To fix; to settle; to establish; to make fast; to purpose or resolve; to fix the intention. Believe it or not, God has appointed each and every one of us for one purpose, and whether He sees us as a disciple of Christ, or even an enemy of Christ (Romans 9:21). Now, we are all appointed once to die, unless Christ should return in this lifetime, but the second death, meaning the death of our soul, is appointed by the choice we make as we do have the freewill to choose or reject Christ. Nevertheless, those who do choose Christ are appointed to a specific ministry that He has chosen for them, whether it be a preacher, teacher, laymen, or just a witness. And let me tell you, no matter what you are appointed to do for Christ, you will be made a spectacle to the world.

“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” – I Corinthians 4:9-13.

“as it were appointed to death:” This means that whatever God appoints for us, good or bad, it will happen before we die, and there is no way around it. We may be fools for Christ to the world, but we are honorable to God. You see, God, may only appoint you to one thing in your lifetime, until it is fulfilled He will not bring you home. Jesus was appointed to be the sinless sacrifice that would bring salvation to man once and for all, that is, to all who would believe on Him. He knew that the time was drawing near, and while He was speaking about this to the disciples, there was a plot going on to capture and kill Jesus by the priests and scribes of all people.

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.” – Matthew 26:1-5.

“unto the palace of the high priest,” Think about where the high priest was living, and you can pretty much understand why they we so against Jesus, they were making a lot of money off God’s name, and Jesus was just exposing them for the frauds they were. While the religious and haters of Jesus prided themselves on plotting to take Jesus, little did they know that they were part of the plan for Jesus to fulfill what was appointed for Him to do. And the plot all began with an alabaster box.

“There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” – Matthew 26:7-15.

“What will ye give me,” Judas, spent three and a half years with Jesus, and it was not because he believed Him to be the Messiah, it was so that he could be fed. Sadly, this is the reason many do go to church, they do not really believe who Jesus is, they are just reaping all the blessings that come from the church. And they will not hesitate to betray the people of the church if the opportunity arose as was the case with Judas (Mark 13:22). Now, the appointed time of Jesus being captured was quickly approaching, Jesus wanted one last meal with the twelve disciples He spent three and a half years with during His ministry, and that was the Passover meal.

“Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” – Matthew 26:20-25,30-34.

“that one of you shall betray me.” How would you like to hear Jesus say that in a room full of people who are supposedly believers? “Lord, is it I?” By choice, we choose Christ, as we grow closer to Him we do become more like Him, this is not fate, rather our allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, and that is when we start to see our own fate unfold. The problem with becoming more like Christ is that we start seeing our flesh for how wretched it is, so, it is not uncommon for us to question ourselves when Jesus says He knows who will betray Him. This is still true today, just because He is not physically walking with us that does not mean traitors are not among the believing just waiting to find the right time to betray Him. “Master, is it I?” Of course, Jesus knew it would be Judas all along, and as you can see, while Jesus would have wanted him to be saved too, Judah was appointed to be the one who would betray Him to fulfill the purpose Jesus was here for. God does appoint unbelievers to fulfill prophecies. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:” – Romans 9:21-22.

“and another unto dishonour?” Yes, God does appoint some wicked people to make His power known to the world. Keep in mind that while God often does use reprobates to fulfill prophecy, bring believers to Him, and or showing His wrath upon other reprobates, some will be converted. We know this to be true as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar and Saul, who became Paul, whom Jesus would use to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. And it all has to do with their heart. “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” – Matthew 13:15-16.

“For this people’s heart is waxed gross,” You see, true believers will find Christ as God softens their heart once they are ready to receive Him. I can account for that myself, until I was ready to accept Him with all my heart, I was depending on my religion to save me, by the way, I did not depend on at all. After the Passover meal, Jesus went with some of the disciples up to Mount Olives, He left them to spend time with His Father in prayer.

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.” – Matthew 26:36-38,44-49.

“My soul is exceeding sorrowful,” Jesus, fully God, also fully man, giving all the power to the Father, knowing and accepting what He was appointed to do, but did not mean His flesh did not feel sorrow over what is to come. We do it ourselves, feel deep sorrow over something painful, something we know we cannot take control of. Sometimes, the will of God takes us to places we cannot imagine, and if not for the power of God, we would never be able to endure them. While God would rather see us receive His Son and trust Him with all things without any pain and agony in our lives, the majority of the time people do not understand the purpose of having received Him until they are faced with pain and agony. In fact, it is the pains and agony’s of life that not only draw us closer to God, but a deeper understanding of where He wants us to be in this life, and exactly what His purpose for us is. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” – II Corinthians 7:10-11.

Today’s Prayer: God, There are many things in this world that I do not understand, many times I see my life and wonder if it is really in Your will for me or just me trying to alter Your plan. Nevertheless, I know one thing is for sure, You have a purpose for me and You will keep me here until I fulfill that purpose. Thank You for watching over us and protecting us as we walk this journey with You. It is not always easy as there are many willing to sell us out for their own selfish greed. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us wisdom to know how to speak to everyone, discernment to know who is true, Your mercy and grace to see us through, Your strength that pierces through our weakness, and the courage to always proclaim You Son as our Saviour. With You by my side, I know I can do and endure all things. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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