Christian Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Focus on the Family

    Strengthening families through biblical principles.

    Focus on the Family addresses the use of biblical principles in parenting and marriage to strengthen the family.

  • Guest, Join Papa Zoom today for some uplifting biblical encouragement! --> Daily Verses
  • The Gospel of Jesus Christ

    Heard of "The Gospel"? Want to know more?

    There is salvation in no other, for there is not another name under heaven having been given among men, by which it behooves us to be saved."

Bible Study WELCOME TO AN IN DEPTH STUDY OF MATTHEW'S GOSPEL.

2024 Website Hosting Fees

Total amount
$1,048.00
Goal
$1,038.00
Hebrews 9:24 KJV
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

I guess what I believe means little if it is not supported by scripture. I will
try.

The holy of holies is now a reality for us, with our high priest now permanently representing us in heaven. No need yearly to go there.

Revelation 21:22 KJV
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

IMHO, the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts is the promise of the word being in our mind. David is the precursor / example of our heart (with symbols), but the mind is the mind of Christ and does not need symbols. From Acts on the vision of heaven is a reality. Jesus is interceding for us.

The original heart was desperately
Wicked, but the new heart of the flesh still has changes that await the last trump (that statement may not
be popular).

So as we now have our existance, we are seated in heavenly places in our mind.

Redneck overload
eddif

To go along with your post, I like....
Colossians 3:1 "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Col 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (ESV)


O my, I am so very glad that my Heavenly Father does not observe me directly. He sees me thru His Son Who died for me. I AM FORGIVEN OF MY SINS, all praise to God the Father for His plan of Salvation that included me. All praise to God the Son Who endured the shame and cruel beatings of the cross, for the joy that was set before Him to save my, and others from the ravages of sin, and now be counted as Children of the Most High God.

I present my body (life) a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable thru Christ Who died on the cross, that I might live with all my sins forgiven. All praise to Him for His obedience to His Father, and He expects the same from me.
Col 3:4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
 
Boy are you right. Lately in my Old Covenant studies, I have come to a new appreciation of God's unfailing love for Israel in spite of their stiff neck and rebellion. That makes me want to love Him more and more. It also causes me to not want to sin against Him or grieve Him in any way. God is so good!!

We should understand that Israel did not have the full disclosures of the discourses of God, which were given in Christ. They were not meant to have or to hear. God purposefully blinded them in our behalves. Romans 11:8 & 12.

God has never abandoned them, but waits, patiently, just as God waits for all "natural men." In every way the scriptures show us His Divine Characteristic of Love, which includes patience and long suffering.

I'd consider mankind in general as a Garden of the Lord. Isaiah 61:11.

We are given many "pictures" of garden related matters in scripture. Seeds, growth, pruning, vines, trees, earth, weeds, dung, sickles, pruning hooks, harvesting etc.

These types of scripture groups extend across the 'creation spectrum.' We see sets of similar writings in the animal kingdom, the sea kingdom, the celestial kingdom, the insect kingdom.
 
Last edited:
I basically want to check out the study that is going on:

When did God get fed up with 1/2 (?) of the bad Jews?
What happened to them?

What did God do with the good jews?
Where were they?

Which group are the leadership from that are asking Jesus the leading questions?

Which group are the disciples from?
How do you use area to tell.

We just about need to know some of these things. I am full aware we see through a glass darkly, but are we blind?

Study to show yourself approved.
Dividing things into different piles.

Not divining, but dividing.

Chapter 21 will bring up good sons and bad sons. Good and bad keepers of the vineyard. Maybe even hint at what a living stone is.

Not debate but study. Now that is a big order.

eddif
 
Romans 1:20 KJV
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Israel may not have had the full revelation we have.
But
There is no excuse to miss Abraham's bosom.
And
Being there to miss the gospel sermon Jesus preached to the captives .

eddif
 
Can't really blame the religious authorities of that day for what they did. They had by that time of Jesus over a thousand years (by some estimates) of "law, ceremony, rituals" under their belts under the strict dictates of Mosaic Law and the levitical priesthood.

Of course they would question Jesus' authority. They had to under the requirements of the law. So we should not think it strange. The same thing would happen today if the setup was the same.

Jesus Himself advised them that He did not come to abolish or destroy the law. Matt. 5:17-18.
Jesus could have blamed them when he ran them out of the Temple for making it a marketplace instead of a place of prayer. I don't know but I think he did blame them. He called them a "bunch of vipers." They had the scriptures, the law, and the prophets. All of them told of Jesus coming. These hard hearted vipers just didn't want to believe it because He didn't come among them to elevate their power. They had Jesus crucified to get rid of Him, but Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to make things worse for them. In 70AD they totally lost their power when the Temple was destroyed.
 
Jesus could have blamed them when he ran them out of the Temple for making it a marketplace instead of a place of prayer. I don't know but I think he did blame them. He called them a "bunch of vipers." They had the scriptures, the law, and the prophets. All of them told of Jesus coming. These hard hearted vipers just didn't want to believe it because He didn't come among them to elevate their power. They had Jesus crucified to get rid of Him, but Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to make things worse for them. In 70AD they totally lost their power when the Temple was destroyed.

Their disruption was entirely predicted, Divinely Planned.

Leviticus 26:33
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
 
Their disruption was entirely predicted, Divinely Planned.

Leviticus 26:33
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
First red part:
The ones scattered among the heathers are the mourners for the sins of Jerusalem.

Second red part:
Those confessing their arrogance remained, while vengeance was brought against Jerusalem.

Right now I am not up on the cities.
..........
Two groups:
One group of mourners sent to the Gentiles.

One group of rebels remaining to be there for the destruction. I do not know what effect the destruction had on some.

I am always open to something I missed.

Mississippi folks. Reckon they know anything?
eddif
 
January 3, 2017 Matthew 21:28 - 32

Matthew 21:28 "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'
21:29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went.
21:30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go.
21:31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him."


I marvel at the way Jesus got His point across as He taught about repentance and true belief in God's future plans. The Old Covenant leaders of Israel were stuck in the way they had always worshiped God, or as they thought, and just couldn't believe that John the Baptist was introducing to Israel their Messiah.

In this parable, we have two types of people. First we have the despised, tax collectors & prostitutes. It's no wonder that the scribes & pharisees hated Jesus. Sometimes it even surprises me that such a loving Jesus would slap the faces of Israel's Leaders the way He did. Wow, Jesus is comparing the scribes & pharisees to tax collectors and prostitutes. Actually, Jesus is elevating the heathen over Israel's leaders. We can certainly learn boldness from the greatest Teacher of all time, Jesus.

Lets look at what these two groups of men believed and practiced....I will not - This had been the language of the publicans and wicked men. They refused at first, and did not “profess” to be willing to go to work but later repented and went....'I go, sir,' but did not go - these scribes and pharisees have always been about "show". They loved to make vows, and never live up to them. Many times they would say one thing and do another.

F.B. Meyer says....
"The parable of the two sons teaches that hard hearts may lie under fair words, while those of whom we expect least and whose first greeting is abrupt and disappointing, may later prove to be the most devoted and hopeful disciples. If a man repels the gospel with violence, he is more likely ultimately to be won than he who gives a polite and facile assent."

It is so interesting to me the attitudes of these two groups of people. It's similar to when I had a prison ministry. For several years I went into our local County Jail. All but a few knew they were sinners and needed to change. There were some though that felt they were innocent and didn't do anything wrong. Those in jail who knew they needed change were ripe for the Gospel, where the few innocent were not interested in hearing about Christ Jesus.

And so it is in our world today. The more I see how this old world progresses, the more I pray, "even so Lord Jesus, come!"


 
Romans 3:23 KJV
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 11:25 KJV
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Abraham is father of us all. Faith can come to all.

This passage does work first in Israel.

eddif
 
January 19th 2017 Matthew 21:33 - 46 Is He Talking About Us?


Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”


42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?


43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”


45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet."


This seems to be a complete story about the Nation of Israel from God's original design that the Nation would be a blessing to all other Nations in representing their holy God and His ways to the rest of mankind. The vineyard may represent Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

The Master of the house (God the Father) designed Jerusalem to be His witness to the Gentile Nations. They rebelled, were stiff-necked, and basically refused God's Commands, Statues, and rules. God sent prophets to the vineyard (Jerusalem) to warn His people of impending judgment but treated each prophet with extreme contempt.

Finally, God the Father sent His Son Jesus and they murdered Him by crucifixion on a cross. In verse 42 we have a picture of Jesus being refused by Israel's leaders. In verse 43 & 44 pictures the results of Israel refusing to accept Jesus as their Messiah. Verse 45 pictures the intent of Israel's leaders to put Jesus to death. They were delayed because they feared those who followed and believed in Jesus.

It's interesting to me as I have studied Israel's past from God calling Abraham, and their wilderness wandering, to both Israel and Judah going into captivity, how rebellious the Nation as a whole was, and blind to the will of God for their welfare. So many times I just can't believe how gracious and forgiving God was to Israel with the miracles on one hand and almost the next day, they forgot God's goodness and rebelled. I'm lost as to their reasoning.

Ok folks, I've just provided a simple outline to this last section of Chapter 21 of Matthew. I'm really interested in your views, doctrine, and understanding of what was happening in these verses. Please join me and add your needed interpretation of what I have missed or where I might be wrong. I'm especially interested in how you view verse 42. What exactly is being said here? HELP??
 
January 19th 2017 Matthew 21:33 - 46 Is He Talking About Us?


Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”


42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?


43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”


45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet."


This seems to be a complete story about the Nation of Israel from God's original design that the Nation would be a blessing to all other Nations in representing their holy God and His ways to the rest of mankind. The vineyard may represent Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

The Master of the house (God the Father) designed Jerusalem to be His witness to the Gentile Nations. They rebelled, were stiff-necked, and basically refused God's Commands, Statues, and rules. God sent prophets to the vineyard (Jerusalem) to warn His people of impending judgment but treated each prophet with extreme contempt.

Finally, God the Father sent His Son Jesus and they murdered Him by crucifixion on a cross. In verse 42 we have a picture of Jesus being refused by Israel's leaders. In verse 43 & 44 pictures the results of Israel refusing to accept Jesus as their Messiah. Verse 45 pictures the intent of Israel's leaders to put Jesus to death. They were delayed because they feared those who followed and believed in Jesus.

It's interesting to me as I have studied Israel's past from God calling Abraham, and their wilderness wandering, to both Israel and Judah going into captivity, how rebellious the Nation as a whole was, and blind to the will of God for their welfare. So many times I just can't believe how gracious and forgiving God was to Israel with the miracles on one hand and almost the next day, they forgot God's goodness and rebelled. I'm lost as to their reasoning.

Ok folks, I've just provided a simple outline to this last section of Chapter 21 of Matthew. I'm really interested in your views, doctrine, and understanding of what was happening in these verses. Please join me and add your needed interpretation of what I have missed or where I might be wrong. I'm especially interested in how you view verse 42. What exactly is being said here? HELP??
This begins to get to the heart of the matter of Jesus's adversarial relationship with the Temple administration of the kingdom and why I think this same theme runs through Matthew chapter 11 verse 12 " And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Jesus was talking about the Temple administration in chapter 11...the same as He was referring to it in these verses.
 

Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable.

It's interesting to me as I have studied Israel's past from God calling Abraham, and their wilderness wandering, to both Israel and Judah going into captivity, how rebellious the Nation as a whole was, and blind to the will of God for their welfare. So many times I just can't believe how gracious and forgiving God was to Israel with the miracles on one hand and almost the next day, they forgot God's goodness and rebelled. I'm lost as to their reasoning.

In order to "hear" the parable we have to "hear" first how Jesus told us to "hear" parables. That statement is found in a single line of scripture, Mark 4:13, and therein we have the advisement that to understand "ALL" parables we have to understand the "SEED" parable.

In the seed parable there are 3 PARTIES presented therein. God/Satan/Man. These 3 parties must therefore be present in order to obtain an accurate understanding of any parable. Now read your dissection. What you should find, nearly every time, is a conspicuously missing party. It's actually conspicuously missing in nearly every dissection, even of the most famous of the commentaries. When the 3 parties to the parable are missing in the dissection, the understanding is automatically void.
Ok folks, I've just provided a simple outline to this last section of Chapter 21 of Matthew. I'm really interested in your views, doctrine, and understanding of what was happening in these verses. Please join me and add your needed interpretation of what I have missed or where I might be wrong. I'm especially interested in how you view verse 42. What exactly is being said here? HELP??

Duly noted. Common hearing problem. And there are very solid reasons why it happens, shown by the parable, Mark 4:15.
 
Great study and such an indictment on Israel. God gave them everything and they rejected it. They rejected all the prophets God sent to them and eventually even rejected the Son himself. We need to be careful that we don't do the same thing in the Church today. The Church is now rejecting the prophets God sends them. When He comes again it will be as a lion, not a lamb. There will be no place of hiding for those who have rejected Him.
 
This begins to get to the heart of the matter of Jesus's adversarial relationship with the Temple administration of the kingdom and why I think this same theme runs through Matthew chapter 11 verse 12 " And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Jesus was talking about the Temple administration in chapter 11...the same as He was referring to it in these verses.

Thank you Dan for your perspective. As far as violence, there was plenty of that coming from the Scribes and Pharisees.
 
Great study and such an indictment on Israel. God gave them everything and they rejected it. They rejected all the prophets God sent to them and eventually even rejected the Son himself. We need to be careful that we don't do the same thing in the Church today. The Church is now rejecting the prophets God sends them. When He comes again it will be as a lion, not a lamb. There will be no place of hiding for those who have rejected Him.

We should maybe understand the condition of "unbelieving disobedient" Israel. It is also the same/identical condition noted here:

1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Here is the state that God, yes, GOD, has put upon not only unbelieving natural Israel, but upon all unsaved blinded natural mankind. IF we see these things THEN it will be no wonder to our sights whatsoever:

2 Cor. 4:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Romans 11:
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; ) unto this day.

Deuteronomy 29:4
Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Romans 11:
32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Acts 26:
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Eph. 2:
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience

Every scripture above is IN FULL ACCORD with Jesus' Statement of Fact, here:

Mark 4:
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

And here we sit and wonder WHY? The answers are obvious as to WHY! The WHY is as plain as the nose on our faces.

But the "natural man" can NOT SEE the WHY, Perfectly Plain, Perfectly Explained by The Word, because they too do not see the WHY upon their own flesh. 1 John 3:8, Gal. 5:17, Romans 7:17-21, 2 Cor. 12:7.

The natural man is blinded to this Spiritual Reality and can not see it. And they instead say: Why was Israel so hard of hearing, so disobedient, so resisting to God?

Why, it was NOT JUST ISRAEL, is WHY. Romans 9:6.

The natural man is under the control of the god of this world. The natural man is BLINDED by the prince of the power of the air, the SPIRIT OF DISOBEDIENCE, the spirit of slumber/stupor/blindness/deafness/lame/halt, the power of Satan, exactly as The Word says. It is SO.

Matthew 13:19
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Why? Just hearing people ask this, believers no less, is almost a joke, but it does speak to the WHY.
 
Last edited:
In order to "hear" the parable we have to "hear" first how Jesus told us to "hear" parables. That statement is found in a single line of scripture, Mark 4:13, and therein we have the advisement that to understand "ALL" parables we have to understand the "SEED" parable.

In the seed parable there are 3 PARTIES presented therein. God/Satan/Man. These 3 parties must therefore be present in order to obtain an accurate understanding of any parable. Now read your dissection. What you should find, nearly every time, is a conspicuously missing party. It's actually conspicuously missing in nearly every dissection, even of the most famous of the commentaries. When the 3 parties to the parable are missing in the dissection, the understanding is automatically void.


Duly noted. Common hearing problem. And there are very solid reasons why it happens, shown by the parable, Mark 4:15.

Very good. Thank you for your instruction, that adds a lot to this discussion. To understand the "Seed" parable is a good suggestion, makes sense.
 
God records history that we might learn what not to do
I Corinthians 10:6 KJV (area)
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
........
This is how he instructs:
Isaiah 28:16 KJV
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
.......
This is how God helps us inwardly through the indwelling Holy Spirit (new man).
Isaiah 28:26 KJV
For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
.......
Two covenants:
Choose better covenant based on promises of word in heart and mind.

In Heart: (for flesh)
Trust in crucified Christ - confess sins
In Mind:
He cleanses

Romans 7:25
I Peter 2:24

Real message to me

eddif
 
We agree. The prophets watched over Israel. Some prophets they put in prison and some they killed. Finally God sent his son, but they killed him.

The word became flesh (a stone that is a reality able to cast shadows). The natural pacemaker of our desperately wicked hearts speaks of our benefit of his crufication.

The cerebellum looking like a tree on either side of the spinal fluid speaks of the balance the Holy Spirit brings to our mind.

Romans 7:25 makes little sense without the reality of what Jesus did, and what the Holy Spirit does in recognition of sin, righteousness and judgement.

eddif
 
Back
Top