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: Monday, October 04, 2021
Chapters: John 1, Matthew 3-4
Message: You Are The Light
Hello My Friend,
[Jesus; Jehovah is salvation. Christ; Anointed, that is, the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus:] If you ever wondered why Jesus has two names, and why Christ is not really His last name, this is the reason why. Jesus, who is God in the flesh, is salvation for everyone who believes that He is the Messiah, the anointed one. It had been told of old that the Messiah would come here in the flesh not to save the Jews only, but all who believe in and received Him as well. And it did not matter if they never had seen Him, their faith saved them just like ours does today. We do not need to physically see Jesus to know that He is true, nor do we need to understand everything about God in order to believe that Jesus is true. We just need to believe that God is true, that He sent His Son to save those who truly believe in who He is.
[Matthew 18:10-14 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. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.]
It is an interesting thought to realize that Jesus actually searches for His lost sheep, well, He actually sends willing saved souls to search for them. As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, we are going to back track a little bit, and start at the beginning of John Chapter 1 regarding John the Baptist. John himself told everyone that while he baptized them with water, Jesus would come and baptize them with His Spirit, should they believe in the Messiah and repent of their sin, even though he had strangely never met Jesus yet.
[John 1:6-9,15-18 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.]
[to bear witness of the Light,] All of us who are saved and born again are sent by Jesus Himself to bear witness of the Light, that others might believe through our testimony. We cannot personally save anyone, we are merely seeds or the ones who water the seeds with the Light of Christ, He is the one who saves them, [1 Corinthians 3:7-9 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.]
Well, like every witness of the Light, we are going to get questions for our faith, and why we actually do what we do. You see, what John actually did was preach that Jesus was coming, when he used the term Christ, they knew right away that he was talking about the Messiah. Those who did believe that the Messiah was coming to save them eagerly confessed that they were sinners, and to prove their faith, they got baptized.
[Matthew 3:1-6 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.]
[confessing their sins.] Now, those who believed John came to him, not for an atonement or redemption, they had to go to a priest for that, they came to him to make a public profession that they were trusting in Jesus to come and save them from their sins. And of course, that did not stop the “religious” Jews from sending some actual priests and Levites to see what John was doing when he was baptizing these people.
[John 1:19-26 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;]
[that we may give an answer to them that sent us.] These were the Jews they were referring to, known as the Sanhedrim, who are what we would call the Supreme Court, only there were a group of so called priests and scribes who supposedly had knowledge of the Scriptures in order to judge the people according to the Law. They insisted that John would honestly declare who he was and what his business was so that they could represent him in a true light to these Jews who sent them. What John did was call them out for who they were.
[Matthew 3:7-12 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.]
[every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,] This is actually similar to what Jesus said, [Matthew 7:18-20 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. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.] They were both referring to the Jews rejecting Jesus, the Gentiles receiving Him, and being graphed into the family of not only Abraham, but Jesus Himself, [Galatians 3:6-9 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.]
Do you see how their faith saved them as well? While works are actually what determines our faith (remember, good fruit), they have never been about saving anyone, and this goes all the way back to Adam. Our salvation is and has always been about our faith in God, If we have faith in Him and truly want Him in our lives, then repentance is the only option, period, [Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.]
[whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:] Let me tell you, we are much stronger than we think we are, especially those who have faith in Christ, our bodies are capable of enduring some truly horrific ordeals. However, there is nothing more horrific than what Jesus had to endure when He went to the cross for us. And even if it were possible that we could endure it, it would not be enough because we are sinners and are disqualified from being able to endure the cross that Jesus bore for our sins, [Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
I try to shorten the devotions the best I can, but when God wants me to show that what I am explaining is true, He will make me use the Scripture to prove it. So, now we come to the day that John finally meets Jesus, He immediately knew it was Jesus, and what is the first thing Jesus does, ask John to baptize Him, [Matthew 3:13-17 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.]
[and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove,] Now, this would actually be when Jesus Himself would receive the Holy Spirit. Up until now, He had been like an ordinary man, having been raised in a God fearing Jewish home. Jesus knew exactly who He is, and yet He never gloated about it, He never taunted His earthly half siblings, although I am pretty sure they taunted Him as many did not receive Him themselves until after His passion, from what we are told anyway. And if John was not amazed enough at what he saw, he heard a voice, and I imagine it was quite loud, [This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.] Jesus went to John to be baptized to show that the Holy Spirit fully emerges in those who receive Christ, in whom God is well pleased. Water baptism is a public profession of faith in believing that we are trusting Christ alone for our salvation. We are already baptized with the Holy Spirit the second we receive Christ as our Saviour, which John himself had said, [Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.]
Now, this would also be when Jesus would start His ministry, and it was kind of instant, some of the men that were with John, actually followed Jesus, and not only that, brought their friends to Him as well, [John 1:35-41 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.]
[And he brought him to Jesus.] Before Jesus actually did start His ministry, He did spend forty days and nights in fasting and prayer by Himself, in which He would be tempted of the devil, but we will save that for tomorrow. When Jesus did return, He quickly gathered up who were Andrew and Peter, and a few more men as well, [John 1:43-49 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.]
[The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee,] Again, this would be after the forty days that Jesus would be led of the Spirit into His fasting and prayer. Something else happened while Jesus was away, John had gotten arrested and was thrown into prison, that was when Jesus decided to go home where He had grew up.
[Matthew 4:12-17 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.]
[The people which sat in darkness saw great light;] The nature of true believers is following Jesus, they see the Light through the witness, and when they do they gladly and quickly follow Him, devoting themselves to Him. Most of the Jews denied Jesus as the Messiah, but those who did believe followed Him as fast as their feet could move, and Jesus accepted them just as quickly, [Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Matthew 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for bearing the shoes that I would never be worthy enough to fill. Thank You, also for lighting Your way to me with the help of some God fearing souls who You shone through. Now, I am the light that shines Your Light through my good works. As much as I enjoy being a part of Your ministry, I know I could never do one things without You, let alone serve You. I want You to be more than my Saviour, I want You to be LORD of my life, which I give solely to You. I want to be the faithful witness that You need me to be ti shine Your Light on those who walk in darkness. Lord, Lead me, and guide me, give me Your strength to walk and talk as You do. Put Your hedge of protection around me, and keep me looking to Your Light myself, and let me not fall into the temptations of the devil as he tries to get me to lose focus on the light. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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