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: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Chapters: Matthew Chapter 11, Luke Chapter 11
Message: The Key of Knowledge
Hello My Friend,
[Knowledge; A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or of truth and fact;] Noah Webster, who created the Webster’s dictionary as an accompaniment to the Bible, said this, “We can have no knowledge of that which does not exist. God has a perfect knowledge of all his works. Human knowledge is very limited, and is mostly gained by observation and experience.”
Think about it, we obtain knowledge from what we are taught, observed, and have done, but we do have the tendency to perceive things incorrectly sometimes and learn the hard way what the truth is. And well, by the time we figure it out we feel like heels. Did you know that it is actually the humiliating times in our lives that bring us to the truth? In fact, humility is what brings us to understand that we are, but sinners who need the Saviour like no tomorrow. I am not going to lie, more than half of what I know came first by me being humiliated. And let me tell you, anyone who believes in God is given the knowledge of Christ, but not all are wise enough to accept the truth.
[Matthew 11:27-30 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.]Key-
Did you know that those who accept Christ as their Saviour and live their lives through His example actually become a reflection of Him? Now, except for His passion, one who accepts Christ learns from the Word of God how He instructed the disciples and passed it all down to us. While we do not need the Scriptures to know how we ought to live through Christ, they do teach us more accurately rather than guessing at it. As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, 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.]
[one of his disciples said…teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.] This disciple, was probably one of John’s disciples and came upon the scene after Jesus had preached His sermon on the mount. Jesus, gladly repeats what He said, although He was not as quite wordy as the first time He said it. However, He does include an example on how God responds to prayer.
[Luke 11:5-9 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. 9 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.]
[because of his importunity he will rise and give him] Jesus, is referring to our being consistent and fervent in our prayers, 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, but He knows what we need and will answer us according to His will. And sometimes He will down right tell us no as in the case with Moses and God telling him that he could not step foot into the promised land, [Deuteronomy 3:25-26 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. 26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.]
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? Some man working for 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.]
[by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.] 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. Let me tell you, God, does not need to lift a finger to send judgment on the wicked, they do it to themselves because they literally kill each other through their pride, [Galatians 5:14-15 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.]
Just think of all the Jews who have come and gone since Christ came here in the flesh, they think that they are saved because they are Jews. Well, they have a huge awakening coming to them, they too must believe in Christ or they are not saved. Likewise, the Muslims, Buddhists, and every other religion that is offended in Christ. 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 supposed to be.
[Luke 11:24-28 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. 27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.]
[When the unclean spirit is gone…he walketh…seeking rest; and finding none,] A lost soul is nothing to be excited about as the devil can easily send his evil spirits into them as he pleases in fact, several demons can possess one soul. And he will not hesitate to use religion to lead people away from the truth, and this is exactly why so many people are not only walking away from the church, but becoming down right evil, renouncing Christ all together. Jesus, goes on to show how dark a soul can become when the devil takes it.
[Luke 11:29,33-36 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. 33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.]
[Take heed therefore that the light…be not darkness.] The entire generation was evil, their hearts were darkened to the truth, and far from knowing wherein true morality comes. They sought a sign, but the only the sign they would receive was that of the Prophet Jonah who spent three days and nights in the belly of a whale. 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 before He sat down to eat. Knowing their thoughts He never hesitated to call them out for the fools that they really were.
[Luke 11:38-41,44 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39 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. 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.]
[for ye are as graves which appear not,] 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. 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 11:45-47,51-52 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. 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.]
[lade men with burdens grievous to be borne,] Jesus, had 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 for their crimes. Let me tell you, Jesus is actually 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.]
[for ye have taken away the key of knowledge:] This is another way of Jesus saying that they kept the people from the truth, and they and their followers are going to hell because of that. Ignorance to the truth, even if it was taught by false religion saves no one! At some point every believer of God is introduced to the truth, they can either accept it or deny it, but their religion will not save them, [Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.]
I keep thinking of what it would have been like to be there with Jesus preaching, teaching, and scolding the Pharisee’s. That also brings to question of whether I would have been on team Jesus. Well, think about it this way, God, has to prepare our heart, and to be honest, the reason we came to know Jesus as our Saviour when we did it had to do with how He prepared our heart before we even knew Him to be our Saviour. Now, Matthew, gives his account of when John the Baptist sent some men to Jesus to find out if the rumors of His performing all these miracles was true.
[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.]
[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 wants to know what they thought about John.
[Matthew 11:7-11 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10 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.]
[A reed shaken with the wind?] [Reed: The stem of a plant or a branch.] In other words, Jesus, was asking them what they were looking for in regards to the words and works of John, the Baptist, were they just some babble that they paid no mind to or did they understand that he was written in the prophecies they so proudly proclaimed to know? When we read the Word of God are we trusting that every word is true or only trusting in what we want? It does not matter if we do not like all the words written, if we do not believe them all to be true than we are telling God that we do not believe in all that He is, [Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.]
[he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.] Jesus, is telling them that as great a man that John is, he no greater than the worst person to ever accept Him as their Saviour is. John, did not get to witness the entire fulfillment of the prophecy in which Christ would be crucified, buried, and resurrected because he was executed thanks to Herod, yet still believed in the promise.
Jesus, goes on to remind them that they have been attempting to get to heaven on their own terms from day one, [Matthew 11:12-15,18-20 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. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 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. 20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:]
[But wisdom is justified of her children.] It is one thing to use the knowledge we receive to make wise decisions in regards to Christ, it is another to change it, ignore it, or use it for evil. All mankind broke the Law through our sin, and deserve to be punished for that, but Jesus not took the punishment for us, He pardons those the second they believe in and receive Him as our Saviour. By our faith in Christ those who accept Him are by far the wisest people on earth for they are justified through their faith, [Romans 3:22-25 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 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: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Matthew 11:27 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. Luke 11:30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.]
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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