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: Saturday, October 22, 2022
Chapters: MATTHEW 17-18
Study: When Offenses Come
Hello My Friend,
Yesterday at work, the company had provided pizza for lunch, I did not realize it because they rarely give us anything. Nevertheless, when I did find out everything had been cleaned up and put into coolers, and if we wanted any we could just serve ourselves. Well, there were dozens of boxes left, and announced (not to my team though) that we could take some home. I really did not want any, but thought my team would like to know so when I took my last break I went over there to see how many were left. What I saw was about ten people grabbing as many boxes as they could carry. That bugged the fire out of me as to how greedy they were, and my very first thought was when God sent the manna for the Israelites and told them to only take what they needed, and what happened to it when they could not and left it for the next day. [Exodus 16:20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.]
I tell you what, my very first reaction was for God let the pizza be covered in worms, and I know that was not a very Godly thing to think, but my goodness, how can people be that greedy? Then God so graciously reminded me of what happened when He sent the quails because they were complaining about the manna, [Numbers 11:33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.]
I have always been the type of person to be the last in line, I hate being in crowds, I hate people fighting over things, and would rather do without that be that greedy. That does not mean that I would not like the same opportunity or do not get a little disappointed when I get my turn only to find nothing left. I guess you can say that I have come accustom to being left out. Sometimes I feel like I do get passed over and no one even considers me, then again, people who are greedy rarely think of others, and usually do not need what is being offered. Then again, I am not always very generous in my giving either so what does that say about me? Does that make me selfish? Maybe envious? After all Jesus did say that many of the last will be first. Then again, He also said that many of the first will be last? [Matthew 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.]
Does is sound like I am rambling? Maybe it does. I do not know what I sound like, but I do know that I never lack anything I need with God, and I do know that whether I am the first or last one to be resurrected, at least I know that I will be resurrected. Now, as we continue in the reading of the Gospels, Matthew also gives the account of Jesus transfiguring as Peter, James, and John watched this incredible event.
[Matthew 17:1-7 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.]
[up into an high mountain apart,] This is probably Mount Tabor as it was a very high mountain and about ten miles from Caesarea Philippi which is where Jesus was headed. Mount Tabor, was also referenced by Jeremiah, which I found interesting. Jesus, telling of the day when He would reign as King, [Jeremiah 46:18,25,28 As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him: 28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.]
[and his face did shine as the sun,] This is similar to what happened when Moses was up on a mountain and his face shown after having been in the presence of God. It was so bright that he had to put a veil over his face, [Exodus 34:29-30,33 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. 33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.]
Do you understand why Jesus and Moses’ faces glowed after spending time with God? His glory fills them so much that they literally shined. The same thing happens today when God fearing faithful Christians get around Jesus, we glow, even though we may not see it, they do and that scares them to death. Why? Because when they see Jesus they see their own sin, [1 Corinthians 15:55-57 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.]
Many people are good at portraying the life of a Christian, perhaps they go to a church, give tithes, donate to charities, are the first to volunteer, and some may even speak of Jesus and how amazing He is. Anyone can look like a Christian, but not everyone who says they are are. We must open our hearts to Christ if we want the Father to hear us. A father takes care of all his children, but particularly is tender of the littlest ones. Likewise, God takes care of all of His children, that is, the little ones that believe in and accept His Son. Matthew, also gives the account of the man who pleas with Jesus to heal his son who was possessed by the devil.
[Matthew 17:17-23 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. 22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.]
[And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief:] It does not matter how faithful we are or even that we believe that all things are possible with God, we all have doubt sometimes, especially when it is something that concerns our own well being. It is doubt that keeps us from receiving many things that God is willing to give us, which is why we need to ask Him to even help our unbelief. I imagine with all the miracles and amazing things that the disciple witness Jesus do, whether they believed Him to be God or not, even they began wondering just exactly who would be in heaven, perhaps wondering if they would even be in heaven themselves. They came up to Him and asked Him the question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a child over and began to explain who exactly gets into heaven.
[Matthew 18:1-7 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!]
[Except ye be converted, and become as little children,] Have you ever watched little children naturally doing the things they do? Playing, learning, getting into things? There is such trust and innocence about them, they do not see color, race, or gender for that matter, all they see is people, and they can sense bad people in a heartbeat. Of course, when they get older and learn more, without even being taught what sin is, that sin nature kicks in, and they know when they have done something wrong. This is how we must be in order to accept that we need Jesus and ask Him to save us. And by the way, a milestone is a huge stone wheel used for grinding grain, it so heavy that several donkeys or other large animals are attached to it and walk around in circles as it turns the dried grain into a powder, back then, they were really cruel and would put people in place of the animals for their punishment. When you belong to Jesus you are protected by Him, and if anyone is offended by us, then they have to answer to Him, and this includes the devil, [2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:]
[but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!] [Offense; Any transgression of law, divine or human; a crime; sin; act of wickedness or omission of duty. Offend; To pain; to annoy; to injure; To draw to evil, or hinder in obedience; to cause to sin or neglect duty.] People get offended by anything these days, we cannot even address someone as he or she anymore. And this is why Jesus said what He said here, [Matthew 18:8-11 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.]
[cut them off, and cast them from thee:] I will be honest with you and tell you that it took me a while to figure out that Jesus means here, but now it is coming to me. Think about it this way, we do not even know what we are doing half the time as life is just one big game of Minesweeper. Do you remember that game? You take these steps, in hopes that you can avoid the mines that are hiding on the ground. Make one wrong move and you step on a mine and end up killing yourself. That is what sin does to us, it literally kills us and that is where Jesus comes in. While it is very important that we get rid of what we know is sin and cast it away, Jesus, is our advocate and does what we cannot do, and that is to keep us from being destroyed all together, [1 John 2:1-3 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.]
I will tell you this, when we do accept Christ as our Saviour, the suffering we face for sin at our present state is the most we will ever suffer, which is why our judgment comes while we are still here. Do you think that God is just going to let us get saved and live a life of sin? Absolutely not. He may be long suffering in that He gives us some time to figure out if something that we are doing is sinful, but once we know it is sin, we need to cut it off. Jesus, goes on to explain this, and how we can keep ourselves from suffering more, [Matthew 18:18-22 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.]
[Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:] [Bind; To confine or restrain, as with a chain, fetters or cord; To confirm or ratify.] The Gospel, which comes from heaven, confirms that KING Jesus, the Messiah Himself, came to earth as more than just a man. Under the term of binding and loosing are contained all those acts of discipline which Peter and the other apostles taught as they began to build the Church when Jesus ascended back to heaven. It is impossible to get to heaven on our own because of our sin, Jesus, made it possible by giving His own life to save us. Why would we offend God by continuing to live a life of sin? [Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.]
[Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.] Now, it is a different story if are repentant of our sin, and working to cut it off. Boy, this trumps those who are quick to put you in the judgment seat and constantly remind you of your sin, which God had already forgiven and forgotten. It is one thing to actually ruin your testimony by remaining in sin, it is another to be repentant and using that loss as a gain as Jesus gives you a better testimony, [1 Corinthians 6:9-11,20 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.]
I do not know why, but it has taken me so long to write this, I spent so much time looking up Scriptures, reading different commentaries, and the meanings of these words that time has gotten away with me. I started out by my complaint of greedy people, and here we come to Jesus saying that we need to forgive those who offend us, and that includes greedy people as well. While these people really did not offend me personally, I did take an offense to it because they did not even consider anyone else as they unashamedly carried off three whole pizzas out the door. And forgiving those who offend us is not something that we in our own human capability can do, this is the forgiveness that can only come through Christ. To illustrate this, Jesus spoke a parable about a man who sought forgiveness to pay his debt.
[Matthew 18:23-27 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.]
[and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.] I have to admit that there was a time in my life when I had gotten so far in debt that I lost my house, car, and dignity too. I was slapped with lawsuit after lawsuit, forced to pay much more than I owed, but since I had no documented job at the time they could not garnish my wages. For years I was self employed, paid taxes yearly so I would not get in trouble with the government, but was afraid to get a job that showed my creditors that I was working for fear they would come after everything I made. Well, guess what? As the years went by those debts I owed began to subside because thanks to a law that actually came from the Law, after seven years they came off. All of a sudden my debts were gone, they disappeared and I was released from them, [Deuteronomy 15:1-2 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release.]
God forgives us for the sin debt we owe when we go to Jesus and ask Him to pardon us. Jesus paid the price for our sin debt with His own, sinless blood, and once we receive Him we are able to stand before God debt free. What happens to those who are not forgiving? Watch what happens to the same man that was forgiven of his debt when he would not forgive someone who could not pay a debt owed to him.
[Matthew 18:30-35 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.]
[and delivered him to the tormentors,] So, why does God not forgive us if we do not forgive those whom offend us? A little something called grace. God’s grace is what brings Him to forgive us for our offending Him, and it is that same grace that we need to have to forgive those who offend us, [Matthew 5:43-45 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You are my witness that I not only believed in Your Son, but received Him as my Saviour, I am trusting only in Him to take me to heaven. Until that time comes I want to live the best life that I can live here on earth with You leading the way. Lord, Lead me and guide me, show me thy ways, and help me to continue walking the path You gave me without fear of stepping on any mines, but by faith knowing that my best possession is Your Son guiding me. Let me not be deceived, easily offended, or afraid to tell those I know or come into contact with that Jesus lives in me and I am living my life the way He wants me to live. Also, when offenses come, let me be forgiving as You are forgiving to me when I offend You. I love You Lord, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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