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

[Karl]

I thank the Lord for this short story, it has taught me a lot, first it taught me to believe what Father put in my heart to do, step out in faith and come to Tahiti, when I announced that at our church there were some that were very supportive and then there were some who I had served with, prayed with, broke bread with, that laughed at me, said it wasn't of the Lord and I was just going for a vacation, mockers, hurling flaming darts of the enemy, it hurt, it hurt deep inside my soul, ...now it looks like they were imitators, not really living in the emotion of the moment (love of Christ), however, wisdom is justified by her children, and yes, I'm on vacation in Tahiti for almost 24 years now, ...and for the rest of my life.

Second thing I learned is from observing what Jesus said about the little girl He had resurrected, along with the son of the widow in Nain and Lazarus,

The son, ...he sat up and talked,
Jairus's daughter, ...give her something to eat,
Lazarus, ...came forth walking, bound in his grave clothes, ...Loose him and let him go!

When Jesus called me into His Kingdom I came bound in my grave clothes, praise the Lord He has loosed me from them, ...evolution, reincarnation, New Age, just to name a few off the top of my head, ...then I was fed by faithful pastors, starting with the milk of the Word and going on to eat meat, which has enabled me to to sit and talk with others about the Love, Grace and Truth of my Lord, the One who said, "...Karl, come forth!"

Thanks Chopper for a good study,

Lord bless all of you.

 

[Chopper]

I thank the Lord for this short story, it has taught me a lot, first it taught me to believe what Father put in my heart to do, step out in faith and come to Tahiti, when I announced that at our church there were some that were very supportive and then there were some who I had served with, prayed with, broke bread with, that laughed at me, said it wasn't of the Lord and I was just going for a vacation, mockers, hurling flaming darts of the enemy, it hurt, it hurt deep inside my soul, ...now it looks like they were imitators, not really living in the emotion of the moment (love of Christ), however, wisdom is justified by her children, and yes, I'm on vacation in Tahiti for almost 24 years now, ...and for the rest of my life.

Second thing I learned is from observing what Jesus said about the little girl He had resurrected, along with the son of the widow in Nain and Lazarus,

The son, ...he sat up and talked,
Jairus's daughter, ...give her something to eat,
Lazarus, ...came forth walking, bound in his grave clothes, ...Loose him and let him go!

When Jesus called me into His Kingdom I came bound in my grave clothes, praise the Lord He has loosed me from them, ...evolution, reincarnation, New Age, just to name a few off the top of my head, ...then I was fed by faithful pastors, starting with the milk of the Word and going on to eat meat, which has enabled me to to sit and talk with others about the Love, Grace and Truth of my Lord, the One who said, "...Karl, come forth!"

Thanks Chopper for a good study,

Lord bless all of you.

Karl, as a side note to this study, would you please let us know how you ended up in Tahiti?

 

[Karl]

Sure Chopper, I have to say it was my Tahitian wife, ...back in '82 she prayed for an American husband that played an instrument and liked working with kids, ...that's me. At that time I was happy in my pagan bliss living with my "soul mate," she unexplainably left me and becasue of my teenage years of using LSD and it's after affects I went insane, ...schizophrenic, paranoid, depressive, the last thing I had to do to be certified sane was to take a vacation by myself, in '85 I came to Tahiti, but for some strange reason Tahiti turned my world upside down, sitting in the airplane on the runway to leave it was like I was leaving home, rather than going home to California.

In July of '86 I was born again, Lord moved me out of that church to a small church in Nevada with two pastors, one took me under his arm and it was there I learned about grace and experienced the love of Christ, in '90 He put on my heart to return to Tahiti, actually the sister island Moorea, I worked in the Hotels until Oct '94 when He told me to go to a certain church on Tahiti, I came on a Sunday and as I was sitting in the pew in walked a woman through a door down in front, Father spoke to my heart and said, "that is the woman I have chosen to be your wife," ...and I met my Eve who had prayed me into the Kingdom, we dated some, but from the first time she saw me she knew (Father confirmed it to her too) I was to be her husband, ...we married in April of '95.

 

[reba]

I love that story...
It speaks to His love as well as the romance ... most us girls like that stuff

 

[Chopper]

Day 85 Thursday 12/11/14 Matthew 9:19-22 Healed By His Cloths.

Matthew 9:19 "And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
9:20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
9:21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour."

For a long time I have I have treasured this portion of Scripture because of this woman's faith and Jesus' response. The following is Luke's response to this account.

Luke 8:43 "And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
8:44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
8:45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
8:46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
8:47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
8:48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."

IMO, this is a great lesson on faith. I have probably mentioned this before but I'll mention it again for anyone who doesn't understand where faith comes from and how to appropriate faith for themselves.Lets look at Galatians 2:20 and in particular, "the faith of" for a correct interpretation IMO.

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Now, the words "Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." First of all notice please that Christ lives in us. Did you catch that? Christ is IN us. We all should know that "faith" is a gift of God. Faith cannot be energized by us! Some people say, "if I only had faith, this or that would happen." Notice that in Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

So first of all we see that Faith, to unlock Grace for Salvation, comes from God, it is His Gift to us to begin the process of Salvation. Second, in the Greek language the word "by" in Gal. 2:20 should read "in", so it should read, "I live IN the faith of the Son of God." Since I discovered this change many years ago, God has blessed me so very much. I think it was then when He used to communicate to my mind, events that He wanted to change. I spoke, on Tuesday evening, to an old friend of mine who was the recipient of such a communication from God. It's a long story but I'll keep is short. Her name was Virginia or Jinny for short, God spoke to me and asked me to anoint her with oil and pray over her, that she would be healed of her migraine headaches. That was over 10 years ago, and she said, they have never come back. She had those headaches for about 60 years. Needless to say, she is so appreciative of our Lord for sparing her from such terrible pain and at times a prisoner in her own home.

Now we come to our woman who for twelve years has had this issue of blood. According to the Jewish Law, she was considered unclean. I can't even imagine how humiliated she must have felt those twelve long years. My friend Jinny was not considered unclean, but those headaches kept her inside her home, dark rooms and was in terrible pain. Our woman in this account must have spent a very large amount of time in her house because of this disease that couldn't be cured and she spent a huge amount of her money on doctors.

What I really like about this woman was she must have, in spite of this terrible disease, not given up on her devotion to God. I admire Christians who go thru terrible circumstances in life and still keep a solid trust in Jesus as their only hope. Our woman in this account must have had many thoughts running thru her mind about how to find a cure of this issue of blood. She eventually gave up on doctors. She learned that Jesus was in Capernaum, her home Town. She must have heard of Jesus' miracles of healing. As a Jew, she must have had many thoughts about the potential of His healing her. She apparently worked out a plan in her mind, considering the fact that her classification of being unclean must have weighed heavily on her mind as well. How was she going to mix with this crowd of people and not contaminate those she might have touched trying to get to Jesus.

Now, about her faith. Since I believe that all faith comes from God as a gift for all circumstances, God was in control of giving this precious "Apple of His eye" freedom at last. It is my opinion that God's will is to remove the humiliation of His children. It might take a while, like this affliction of twelve years, but He at just the right time, wanted to heal this child of His. She, because of the faith that she was getting from God, decided to draw as least attention as possible and approach Jesus from behind, if she could just touch the hem of Jesus' garment, she would be healed.

Jesus knew that healing power went out of Him and requested who it was. I have often wondered at the response of Peter. (my words) Jesus, we are mobed with people all around us and You ask who touched me? That sounded a little sarcastic to me. Anyway, our woman, now healed, could approach Jesus and testify of her healing. I really like Jesus' remark to her, "Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace." Isn't that just like Jesus? what a tender, loving response to this woman. Wow, "go in peace." Boy O boy, you talk about a happy woman, I wouldn't be surprised if she went home dancing, and praising the Name of Jesus, and for days and days. And she lived happily ever after....The End.

 

[Chopper]

Sure Chopper, I have to say it was my Tahitian wife, ...back in '82 she prayed for an American husband that played an instrument and liked working with kids, ...that's me. At that time I was happy in my pagan bliss living with my "soul mate," she unexplainably left me and becasue of my teenage years of using LSD and it's after affects I went insane, ...schizophrenic, paranoid, depressive, the last thing I had to do to be certified sane was to take a vacation by myself, in '85 I came to Tahiti, but for some strange reason Tahiti turned my world upside down, sitting in the airplane on the runway to leave it was like I was leaving home, rather than going home to California.

In July of '86 I was born again, Lord moved me out of that church to a small church in Nevada with two pastors, one took me under his arm and it was there I learned about grace and experienced the love of Christ, in '90 He put on my heart to return to Tahiti, actually the sister island Moorea, I worked in the Hotels until Oct '94 when He told me to go to a certain church on Tahiti, I came on a Sunday and as I was sitting in the pew in walked a woman through a door down in front, Father spoke to my heart and said, "that is the woman I have chosen to be your wife," ...and I met my Eve who had prayed me into the Kingdom, we dated some, but from the first time she saw me she knew (Father confirmed it to her too) I was to be her husband, ...we married in April of '95.

Thank you so much for that testimony of God's power and providence. Like Reba, I'm a sucker for romance and good endings. May God bless you and your wife.

 

[Chopper]

Tomorrow's Study: Day 86 Friday 12/12/14 Matthew 9:27-31 Guess What Jesus Did?

 

[Deborah13]

Luk 8:44 Came behind him, and touched the border [G2899] of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
G2899
κράσπεδον
kraspedon
kras'-ped-on
Of uncertain derivation; a margin, that is, (specifically) a fringe or tassel: - border, hem.

Num 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
Num 15:39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe [H6734], that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek (spy) not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
H6734
ציצת
tsı̂ytsith
tsee-tseeth'
Feminine of H6731; a floral or wing like projection, that is, a fore lock of hair, a tassel: - fringe, lock.

Today we see this word spelled Hebrew word spelled, tzitzit. So I think the scripture in Luke shows us one of the ways Jesus obeyed the Law of Moses, even to what He wore.
But what I find the most fascinating is that it was the tzitzit with the blue thread that this Jewish woman touched in faith. At least that is what it seems to point to by the words and what they mean in both languages.

 

[Karl]

What Deborah said, the Jews wore their rank on the hems of their robes (whereas we wear our rank on our sleeves or collars), Jesus was called Rabbi, so that means He wore a Rabbi robe with His rank, ...in wanting to touch the hem she was putting her faith into action, she was saying by this gesture, ...Jesus, You are Messiah! Proven by the fact that He was surrounded with people touching Him, but they didn't believe He was Messiah, when she came and touched His hem power went out of Him, ...the same power that comes into us when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, even though there might be 10, 50,100 people around us listening to the message.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Rom 1:16

This also teaches us why David was so distraught over cutting off the hem of Saul's robe. 1 Sam 24:5

 

[Chopper]

Luk 8:44 Came behind him, and touched the border [G2899] of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
G2899
κράσπεδον
kraspedon
kras'-ped-on
Of uncertain derivation; a margin, that is, (specifically) a fringe or tassel: - border, hem.

Num 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
Num 15:39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe [H6734], that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek (spy) not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
H6734
ציצת
tsı̂ytsith
tsee-tseeth'
Feminine of H6731; a floral or wing like projection, that is, a fore lock of hair, a tassel: - fringe, lock.

Today we see this word spelled Hebrew word spelled, tzitzit. So I think the scripture in Luke shows us one of the ways Jesus obeyed the Law of Moses, even to what He wore.
But what I find the most fascinating is that it was the tzitzit with the blue thread that this Jewish woman touched in faith. At least that is what it seems to point to by the words and what they mean in both languages.

Thank you Deb for that addition. I once preached a sermon about the blue ribbon. I gave each person who attended that Sunday, a blue ribbon to put around their wrist, to be a reminder of their belief in Jesus. I still remember some of the good comments about that message. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Chopper]

Day 86 Friday 12/12/14 Matthew 9:27-31 Guess What Jesus did?

Matthew 9:27 "And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
9:28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
9:30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.
9:31 But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country."



I find this account of what these blind men called Jesus, most remarkable. They called Him "thou Son of David" which is a Messianic Title for Jesus. It always amazes me when the "religious" of people who's job it is to know the great facts of the Scripture, they are clueless! BUT, the common folk have the information that the "experts" should know. It is only through God the Father, imparting Truth to people that they come in contact with Truth. In this case, these blind men knew who Jesus is, THE MESSIAH! As well as knowing that Jesus is the Messiah, they knew, based on some knowledge of what the Messiah would do, they were convinced that He could heal them.

V.28 shows Jesus entering a house. Since the owner was not mentioned, I'll assume that it is Jesus' residence while in Capernaum. From the distance of Jairus' house to this house, these blind men followed Jesus right into this new location. Some have wondered why Jesus did not stop along the way and heal these men. IMO, Jesus delayed because He was testing these men and their faith in Him as being the Messiah. I wonder at times what the unbeliever thinks of Jesus before he/she comes to Him for Salvation. I personally believe that who they think Jesus is, make the difference whether their profession is real or an emotional response to a preacher's invitation. I believe that in order for a person to be biblically saved, God must first extend to this person a measure of faith as a gift in order for justification to take place. By grace am I saved thru faith.

It is very evident that these two men had the right understanding to be healed and to be saved. When asked by Jesus if they believed He could heal them, their immediate response was yes.

V.29 "According to your faith. Wow, what a statement! This puts the responsibility of the miracle of healing solely in the minds of the blind men, IMO. So, the fact that Jesus healed them, their faith was ample for the miracle. Again, if that question was put to a person about to become saved, "Do you believe that Jesus is able to create in you a new person, forgive all your sins, and change your life from what it is now? Would that person say yes? Some people want desperately to be free from a wicked lifestyle and they think that it would be impossible for a real, lasting change to occur. Will that person really get saved? That's a big question in my mind.

V.30, 31 They received their sight with instruction not to spread it around. Jesus seems to say this on occasion because I believe that He wants people to come to Him for Spiritual advancement rather to come for a miracle....At any rate, they were so excited that they could actually see, that they just could not contain themselves. Actually, I can't blame them. If it were me, I think I would try and keep this good news to my family and close friends so I could be somewhat obedient to Jesus' instruction.

 

[Chopper]

Tomorrow's Study: Day 87 Saturday 12/13/14 Matthew 9:32-34 The Unforgivable Sin.

 

[Karl]

Matthew presents to us Jesus as the Messiah King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, we see in chapters 5-7 the principles or constitution of His Kingdom, in chapters 8 & 9 we see His power as the Messiah King, with people worshiping Him, calling Him Son of David or Lord,

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 1Co 12:3

 

[Chopper]

Day 87 Saturday 12/13/14 Matthew 9:32-34 The Unforgivable Sin.

Matthew 9:32 "As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.
9:33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
9:34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils."

V.32 I'm not sure if this encounter with this man who could not talk, occurred in the same house as the blind men were healed or somewhere else. If it was in the same house, the repetition of miracles in such a short time must have amazed the Jewish people exceedingly. Just how this speechless (don't like the word dumb) fellow got to Jesus is not told. Some say that a demon possessed person, if trying to get to Jesus for deliverance, the demon will try and defeat that purpose. Perhaps that's why several men had to escort him.

V.33 Reveals that this demon possessed man was delivered on the spot. The folk who knew this fellow were astonished when he began to speak. The statement amongst the crowd of people is in my opinion, a statement that might imply that they might have thought "is this the Messiah?" They were witnesses of the raising of a dead girl, two blind men receiving their sight, a man who had the palsy was healed, a tax collector who left his sinful practices to follow Jesus, a woman healed from her 12 year issue of blood, all happening within a very short period of time. All this, made them exclaim, "It was never so seen in Israel."

V.34 Now we come to a dreadful accusation by the pharisees. "He casteth out devils by the prince of the devils." They meant Beelzebub. There is another account of this statement in Matthew 12:24. I was thinking, "what made these Pharisees so against Jesus?" First of all I think they were extremely jealous of the attention that Jesus was getting from huge crowds where ever He went. Remember when we talked about the Pharisees praying in the public places just to be seen? They had to fake that all the time. Here is Jesus Who draws admiration from crowds where ever He goes. That admiration was what the Pharisees craved so very much. Jealous? O Yes!! Big time!

The Scribes and Pharisees were supposed to be the shepherds of Israel's people and they certainly failed miserably at that position. Here comes Jesus, the true Shepherd of the sheep. As Jesus went around healing the people, setting them free of demons, giving sight to the blind, and even raising the dead, that is what a true Shepherd should do. The great shepherd, David, if we could have observed how tenderly David watched over his father's sheep, we would see similar to Jesus, great care for the injured, protection from wild animals, dressing any wounds that the sheep would have gotten, care of their hoofs, and so on.

In stark reality between the Pharisees and Jesus, if there were a contest between the two of shepherding the Flock of God, the crowds would have voted in Jesus' favor. That was IMO, the main reason for the leaders of Israel to reject Jesus because He was showing all Israel what a lousy job the Scribes and Pharisees were doing as shepherds of God's people.

Now we come to this statement that Jesus casts out demons thru the prince of demons. Matthew 12:28 "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." With this statement of Jesus, He is setting the stage for the "unforgivable sin." Notice that Jesus says that He casts out demons by "the Spirit of God". Now, that would be impossible for the Pharisees because they were not in the Spirit.

Matthew 12:31 "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." Here we have the unforgivable sin. By the way, the unforgivable sin is not divorce! The unforgivable sin is contributing the works of Jesus to Satan.

Lets bring the unforgivable sin, a little closer to where we live today. How many times do we accuse a Brother or Sister in the Lord, for making a stupid statement. For me, I see this happening with my conversations with others about Calvinism. Lets just supposed that Calvin was writing his doctrine under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and it is absolutely true. Oh O, would that be the same? An unforgivable sin? Personally I don't think so, but it is too close for comfort. Get what I mean? I really have to be careful how I speak of other's doctrine's. I'm not really sure if I'm way off thinking the way I do or caution should take place. What do some of you think?

 

[Chopper]

Day 88 Sunday 12/14/14 Matthew 9:35-38 Where's The Shepherd?

 

[Karl]

Personally I have believed the unpardonable sin is rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life concerning/revealing to them Jesus as their Savior, that is, rejecting Jesus, ...however, what I'm seeing today causes me to wonder, maybe there is more to it than that, for example, attributing demonic activity in a person and calling it of the Holy Spirit, ...we are living in dark times, you people living in the States are just beginning to see what others, that are living in countries that have been in darkness for centuries, have known and experienced all along, blatant and in the open occultic practices, not just in the country, ..but in the professing church!

In saying that, I don't think calling someone stupid because of doctrinal differences is blaspheming the Holy Spirit, it is not showing brotherly love towards a brother or sister in the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will work that out of us, the fact that we are convicted in these matters is proof He hasn't left us or given us over to a reprobate mind.

What the Holy Spirit has been hammering home in me in these last days is, those that are perishing have not received a love of the Truth, they are church goers, but don't have a love for the Truth, which brings us back to how we are born again, by the Holy Spirit and the Word, the Holy Spirit is our spiritual papa and the Word is our spiritual mother, now we all loved our physical mothers, how much more should we love our spiritual mother, the Word of God, and when taken to the next step, became flesh and dwelt amongst us, ...Jesus declared, "I am (egō eimi, the Divine name spoken to Moses) the Way, the Truth and the Life, so then we have a love, not only for the Truth, but the Way to the Truth and the Life given to us from the Truth.

I believe satan has changed his tactics, rather that attributing the works of Jesus to Beelzebub, he is now saying the works of Beelzebub are of the Holy Spirit, and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit too, ...as we are seeing presently, in our days, ...which is just the same old lie to those that are perishing, presented in a different (Christianese) package.

My two cents.

 

[ezrider]

Personally I have believed the unpardonable sin is rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life concerning/revealing to them Jesus as their Savior, that is, rejecting Jesus, ...however, what I'm seeing today causes me to wonder, maybe there is more to it than that, for example, attributing demonic activity in a person and calling it of the Holy Spirit, ...we are living in dark times, you people living in the States are just beginning to see what others, that are living in countries that have been in darkness for centuries, have known and experienced all along, blatant and in the open occultic practices, not just in the country, ..but in the professing church!

In saying that, I don't think calling someone stupid because of doctrinal differences is blaspheming the Holy Spirit, it is not showing brotherly love towards a brother or sister in the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will work that out of us, the fact that we are convicted in these matters is proof He hasn't left us or given us over to a reprobate mind.

What the Holy Spirit has been hammering home in me in these last days is, those that are perishing have not received a love of the Truth, they are church goers, but don't have a love for the Truth, which brings us back to how we are born again, by the Holy Spirit and the Word, the Holy Spirit is our spiritual papa and the Word is our spiritual mother, now we all loved our physical mothers, how much more should we love our spiritual mother, the Word of God, and when taken to the next step, became flesh and dwelt amongst us, ...Jesus declared, "I am (egō eimi, the Divine name spoken to Moses) the Way, the Truth and the Life, so then we have a love, not only for the Truth, but the Way to the Truth and the Life given to us from the Truth.

I believe satan has changed his tactics, rather that attributing the works of Jesus to Beelzebub, he is now saying the works of Beelzebub are of the Holy Spirit, and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit too, ...as we are seeing presently, in our days, ...which is just the same old lie to those that are perishing, presented in a different (Christianese) package.

My two cents.

Good post Karl. I question a lot of the things that we attribute to the workings or the teaching of the Holy Spirit. I have started a new thread in the Apologetics forum that looks at John 15:26 as a starting point as to what Jesus declared to us for the reason that he would send forth the Holy Spirit, also called the Comforter and the Spirit of truth. And in the light of this particular scripture, why do we attribute to the Holy Spirit those the things we often attribute to the Holy Spirit? And what are the results of attributing things to the Holy Spirit that are not of the Holy Spirit? I invite you all to discuss this in my thread called the Spirit of Truth: http://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/the-spirit-of-truth.57101/

I ask a simple question. Why would a God who has said that you shall have no other gods before him, and a God that has declared to you that he is a jealous God, why then would He send forth His Spirit of truth to teach and testify to us about other gods and false gods?

 

[Deborah13]

Day 87 Saturday 12/13/14 Matthew 9:32-34 The Unforgivable Sin.

Matthew 9:32 "As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.
9:33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
9:34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils."

The Scribes and Pharisees were supposed to be the shepherds of Israel's people and they certainly failed miserably at that position. Here comes Jesus, the true Shepherd of the sheep. As Jesus went around healing the people, setting them free of demons, giving sight to the blind, and even raising the dead, that is what a true Shepherd should do. The great shepherd, David, if we could have observed how tenderly David watched over his father's sheep, we would see similar to Jesus, great care for the injured, protection from wild animals, dressing any wounds that the sheep would have gotten, care of their hoofs, and so on.

In stark reality between the Pharisees and Jesus, if there were a contest between the two of shepherding the Flock of God, the crowds would have voted in Jesus' favor. That was IMO, the main reason for the leaders of Israel to reject Jesus because He was showing all Israel what a lousy job the Scribes and Pharisees were doing as shepherds of God's people.

Well, Chopper when I read your lesson and I got to this part I was rather startled or something like that. How you described what a shepherd should be doing is the exact opposite of this scripture I had been reading just minutes before.
This is talking about when Judah and Israel were separated.
Zec 11:16 For lo, I am raising up a shepherd in the land, The cut off he doth not inspect, The shaken off he doth not seek, And the broken he doth not heal, The standing he doth not sustain, And the flesh of the fat he doth eat, And their hoofs he doth break off.
Zec 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, forsaking the flock, A sword is on his arm, and on his right eye, His arm is utterly dried up, And his right eye is very dim!'

 

[Chopper]

Hi folks, I'll be late posting the study. I'm attending a church out of Town. I''l post in the afternoon.

 

[Chopper]

Day 88 Sunday 12/14/14 Matthew 9:35-38 Where's The Shepherd?

Matthew 9:35 "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few."

In a way, this is a very sad account of the Jewish people who only had the very legalistic system of teaching that they had to endure as their only spiritual information to nourish their hungry souls for the bread of life. There are people today who know that they are not getting the solid teaching on the whole counsel of the Word of God. There were, at that time, folk who were sick and in need of bodily healing. There were folk who were trapped in a body that had been taken over from demons. There were just old plain people, not the educated who needed biblical knowledge on how to live pleasing to the Lord, and all they got from the Pharisees was more legalism.

From town to town, Jesus was confronted with folk who were products of what I call "Pharisaic abandonment." Jesus saw them as sheep. They needed what a true Shepherd sent from God would give them. These people from town to town would leave these false teachers, the Pharisees, and flock to Jesus because they knew that Jesus truly loved them for who they were, not what He could get from them. Compassion, O what a wonderful attribute of a person to another. Compassion is God's generator for great love expressed. A person can say that they love you, but if the person who is on the receiving end of that statement cannot sense compassion, it is just an empty three word statement. We must always remember that "love" is an action word, ACTION!

Jesus saw these people in every town, village and city as wasting away spiritually because they had no one that even came close to Jesus as a loving, caring Shepherd. Jesus so very much wanted not only His disciples to go out and shepherd the people like He was doing, but wanted many, many more men with a shepherds heart to go out and care for the children of God.