Mark 9: 1-7 commentary: the transfiguration

1 ¶ And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

What happens next, in this paragraph, is the fulfillment of this statement. The kingdom of God comes with power when Jesus is revealed in His glory. They are getting a glimpse of what will happen at the end. This is a picture of what is going to happen as revealed by the following verses from the Old and New Testaments.

Zechariah 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Revelation 19:11 ¶ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

Revelation 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

Elijah represents the living saints and the prophets as he did not die (2 Kings 2; 11, 12) while Moses represents the dead saints and the Law. Their bodies were searched for but were not found and Satan disputed over the body of Moses. They will return in the Tribulation to come.

Revelation 11:3 ¶ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Regarding Moses’ body;

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Regarding Elijah’s body;

2 Kings 2: 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.

5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

He will return in His glory to reign on earth, perhaps at the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall of the year. Run all of the verses on the Feast of Tabernacles at the end times.

Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

6 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. 7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

This happened at Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist when the concept of the Trinity of God, the body, soul, and Spirit of God acting in unity, shows up in the New Testament as it had done in the Old (Genesis 1:2, 3, 26; 3:22);

Matthew 3:16 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.

Mark 1:9 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Luke 3:21 ¶ Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

The doctrine of the Son (capital S) of God is a very important one. The Son of God refers to God’s sojourn on the earth in the flesh. Jesus is the physical image of God, the body of God.

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Who is the angel, or appearance, of God;

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

Galatians 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

The Son, capital S, of God is equal with God;

John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

And even though men like Alexander the Great and Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus Caesar declared themselves to be the son of god or the son of a god the Bible says that the only time God came in the flesh was through Jesus Christ. He, not any of them, was the “only begotten Son of God.”

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

1John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Jesus is also the spoken word by which the universe was created. He created it and He, not Dark Matter or Dark Energy, holds it together. He is the “and God said” ten times in Genesis, chapter one.

John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 ¶ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

And there is no other way to be saved from a lost, agonizing eternity except through Him.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

You can’t even approach the Godhead except through Christ.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

In fact, looking at Jesus is looking at God the Father in the flesh;

John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

And not believing what Jesus has said about himself is the reason that the unsaved will face God’s wrath.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Mark 8:37-38 commentary: ashamed of Christ?

37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Doctrinally, this is a Tribulation statement. When Christ returns in glory, the church will be the holy angels that had already been translated (rapture is not a word found in the Bible) and enjoyed the marriage feast of the lamb, that are come to judge and to reign with Him for a thousand years. But, practically and inspirationally, this is a great statement that should give us all pause. Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ and His Bible? What has the typical person of the world taken in exchange for his soul? A mess of pottage? What has the Christian taken in exchange for God speaking to him through His word? The pleasure to sit as a passive audience in churches across the land being spoon fed lies and distortions while they sit smiling and thinking about yardwork or what the person is wearing in the pew in front of them?

Here, Jesus Christ returns with;

1Thessalonians 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

2Thessalonians 1:7 – 10 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Notice the parallel phrasing in these two letters to the Thessalonians. Unless you believe Christ is returning with two groups of people then you can see that “all his saints” is synonymous with “his mighty angels”.

Remember, an angel is an appearance of something that is somewhere else. It could be likened to a hologram only it is the person, thing, or place, for all intents and purposes with the ability to exert that person’s power or to receive judgment.

Here is a definition of an angel;

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

An angel can look like a man. Notice the parallel phrasing from Daniel to Luke with angel and man as the key words;

Daniel 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Notice in Revelation this measurement;

Revelation 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The angel of the Lord is an appearance of God the Son, the Living WORD who created all things and by whom all things are held together.

Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

At the very least, churches and children have angels, appearances, before God in heaven.

Matthew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Now, the theological twinkies that infest our seminaries and pulpits like devils across the land, corrupting the minds of their congregants so that the Bible is reduced to a complex mess or the Roman Catholics who borrowed their angels from the Persian religion and other various pagan edifices will object.

They will say that the word angel in both Hebrew and Greek means messenger. Well, apparently, the message they’re delivering is “here am I.” Seriously, what message was the Lord Jesus Christ’s angel delivering here?

2Kings 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

No angel in the Bible has wings. An argument against this by the aforementioned theological twinkies is that cherubim and seraphim are “angelic creatures” and they have wings. There is no phrase “angelic creatures” in the Bible, nor is the concept even present. A cherub is a living creature, the obvious pattern from living creatures on earth. It is not a fat, little baby, with tiny wings floating around looking sweet and it is not an angel.

Ezekiel 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

Now, it’s up to you to actually read Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 10, and then Revelation 4. Another of the classic mistakes of the non-Bible believing “Christian” is the notion that Satan is a fallen angel. The problem is that Satan is a reptilian cherub (Ezekiel 28:14 and Job 41) who can only appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) to deceive. Note the word “ transformed”.

When Christ returns in glory with his holy angels, who are the spirits of “just men made perfect”, the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:23), Christ will take his vengeance on a wicked world (Revelation 14:10; Revelation 19). The marriage supper of the Lamb takes place first and that is spoken of in Revelation 19 before the return of Christ.

The Bible teaches very clearly, in a number of verses, that the church, which is always the people and never a building or an organization, is to be translated, removed from this present world, partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb with Christ as his wife, and that it will return when Christ returns to take over the kingdoms of the world. That’s what the Bible says and that’s what the early church believed, Pagan Christianity’s protestations and the confusion of so-called Bible scholars notwithstanding.

I am not scholar by the world’s definition. I have no advanced degree in Hebrew or Greek. I am not well-versed in philosophy, evolution, or “new age” religion. But, I can read sixth grade English. I can pray. I can hear. So can you.

Now, what does it mean to be ashamed of Christ and His words? In the Bible shame brings with it sorrow (2 Kings 8:11), people are brought to confusion and dishonor (Psalm 35:26). They are confounded (Psalm 70:2). Peter denied Christ three times. But many times, people who are not ashamed can speak boldly.

Psalm 119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

I can remember one time, as a child, having the adult I was with stop me from praying in a restaurant to ask God to bless the food which I always did at home. The person, the adult I was with, was embarrassed that I was praying in public.

I know people today who are ashamed of Christ because the way he teaches us to live and to treat other people makes them feel weak. They don’t want any of that “turn the other cheek” stuff. They don’t trust Christ to protect or avenge them and they’re ashamed of Him.

In verse 35 the implication is that a true follower of Christ is willing to give up his own physical life and all he holds dear and valuable for Christ. That is going to be a hard row to hoe if you are so ashamed of Christ you won’t thank Him for the food He gives you in public.

It would be awfully difficult to be willing to die for Christ if you are always becoming enraged that you don’t get the proper respect from others or think that revenge, “get-backs”, is the price people pay for messing with you.

2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Many Christians are ashamed of Christ, sadly. If you were told you were dying would you praise God in front of the doctor for taking you home? If “the desire of thine eyes” (Ezekiel 24:16-18) goes before you will you still praise God and thank Him? Where does your faith end and your membership in the world begin? At what point will your “Praise God” and your “AMEN!” be silent. Death of a child? When are you ashamed of your faith?

What if, when reading the Bible over and over, you realized your political views were wrong, your enjoyments weren’t pleasing to God, your favorite possessions were in the way of your relationship with Christ, or even that your view of Bible doctrine was wrong in some way? Would you surrender to Christ or be ashamed of Him and just pretend everything was fine so you didn’t rock the boat at church, at work, or in your family?

What is your tipping point? At what point would you be ashamed of Christ? It’d be awfully hard to stand strong in the faith if your child was being tortured in front of your eyes, pleading for your help. This happens in some places in the world today. Would you be willing to suffer anything for Christ when you aren’t even willing to follow Him if it means currying disfavor with your church, your friends, or your family? Losing your job?

1 Peter 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

Are you not expressing shame for Christ and His words when your actions, thoughts, and words imply that you don’t really believe they’re true or He’s real?

I know, for us fundamentalists, the usual talk about being ashamed of Christ runs to not being willing to preach on a street corner or knock on someone’s door. I’m just trying to dig a little deeper. In America we’re very fortunate. We’re free to stand for Christ in public. We’re also free to be ashamed of Him in private.

Why You Must Be Saved

The Book is the Holy Bible, also known as the Holy Scriptures, the words of the living God. This is the God who created you, the God who sustains you and keeps your body functioning, and who will one day stop that body from functioning, and take your life or allow it to be taken. You’ve heard of Him. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. You’ve been ignoring Him all your life. You don’t have any time to seek His face in worship because your worship of yourself takes all of your time.

This Book reflects you, what you are. It’s a mirror that reflects your innermost person and it has some very definite statements to make about what you really are. In one verse, Jeremiah 17:9, it says;

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Your heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately wicked. Do you know what it means to be deceitful above all things? It means that there is nothing so perverted and twisted on earth as the human heart. There is no poisonous snake, no jackal, no creature or thing more deceitful or full of lies and treachery than your heart. You are human aren’t you? Your heart is an engine of deception. You don’t tell others the truth and you don’t tell yourself the truth. In fact, you spend more time lying to yourself than to other people.

What about desperately wicked? Have you ever been desperate to do something? When you step out today from wherever you are reading this you’ll just leave, casually, maybe humming or whistling as you go, thinking about tomorrow or maybe the events of the night to come. But, if the place you’re staying right now catches fire and the flames are hot and the smoke is thick, you and everyone else there will be desperate to get out. You’ll step on the faces of other people to get out. You’ll tangle your limbs up with other desperate people. And if someone from outside comes in to try to help you, you and your desperate friends will grab him and hold on to him and destroy him, as well. That’s desperate.

Your heart is desperate to be wicked. It is desperately wicked. Your heart has a craving to be dishonest and to sin. You’re wicked. Jesus even called His disciples, His most intimate friends, evil, in Luke 11:13;

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

But, God has provided a remedy for your wickedness. He’s offered to you a free gift of salvation by coming to earth, living as one of us, sharing in our hunger, thirst, fatigue, and temptations but living a sinless and perfectly obedient life, then permitting us to kill Him on the cruel cross at Calvary, and rising three days later from the grave. By believing that and that He is truly God and putting your trust in His finished work on the cross and in His righteousness to get to Heaven, we can be saved by Him. He will save us and seal us with His spirit until the day He comes for us or we go to Him and there isn’t anything we can do to earn it ourselves as it makes so clear in Ephesians 2:8,9.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

He died for your sins. A song goes, “…living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freely forever, One Day He’s coming, Oh Glorious Day.”

But, if you reject that free offer of amnesty and peace from the one who made you, what then? So what, you say, if you can’t be bothered with the gospel of Jesus Christ? What am I being saved from, anyway? Well, the Book says God’s wrath is upon you in John 3:36;

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

and that He’s set you in “slippery places”;

“Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.” Psalm 73:18

and that your “foot shall slide in due time”;

“To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.” Deuteronomy 32:35

Note that the day of your calamity is “at hand”. Furthermore, the Bible tells us there is a place called Hell, which was prepared for the Devil and his angels in Matthew 25:41.

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

The entire human race is destined for Hell and it’s not a good place to be, as Jesus Himself tells us in many places. It is a place of torment and want, thirst and agony, according to Luke 16: 23, 24;

“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

It is a terrible place but Hell is not the final destination of those that reject Christ. For Revelation 20:14 tells us that both Death and Hell will eventually be cast into the lake of fire.

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

This lake of fire is spoken of in Isaiah 66:24 and in Mark 9 as a place where “their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.” You’re going to burn and burn in agony, a soul agony because your body is already destroyed, in fact, its dying right in front of your eyes, and your soul will burn in the fires that will not ever be quenched for ever and forever as in everlasting. When you’ve been there a million years you will have no less time to spend in that misery. This lake of fire is called the second death. The saying goes, “born once, die twice, born twice, die once”. You are going there as “The wicked shall be turned into Hell and all the nations that forget God.” says in Psalm 9:17.

There is no reason why God must keep you from that fate another moment because, remember, He’s furious with you as it says in John 3:36 and other verses. You are walking on a burning tightrope which, even if you were able to keep your balance, will one day snap and give way and you will descend into that bottomless pit. If you’ve rejected Christ you are going to burn. Turn or burn, they say. You can’t imagine the misery and hopelessness you will feel along with that agony in that miserable place called Hell and then that even more miserable place called the Lake of Fire. After all the trouble you’ve had in your life is this what you want?

It’s your duty to turn to Christ. Jesus says you must be born again in John 3:3; and in verse 7.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

There is only one Saviour, Jesus Christ, as in John 14:6 He Himself tells us He is the only way to God the Father, He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man sees God without Him. When we believe that He is the Son of God, the very God, God lives in us as it says in 1 John 4:15 and if we don’t have His spirit dwelling in us we are not His as it says in Romans 8:9. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God as Colossians 1:15 tells us. You have to receive Him it says in John 1:12 and He will give you the power to become a son of God. There is only one name, Jesus Christ, whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:12 tells us. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. The only way. The one way to eternal life. John 10:28 tells us about eternal life that you can never lose.

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Imagine no more pain, no more heartbreak, no more tears, no more sorrow, nor death, no goodbyes.

In Revelation 21:4 we are promised this. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

He promises among many other things in His word that in eternity we shall be like Him.

1John 3:2 says; “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

He stands at the door of your heart and is knocking. Won’t you let Him in?

In Revelation 3:20 He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

And we will sit with Him in His throne.

Revelation 3:21 says “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

There are so many more promises that God has blessed us with, so many more than I can tell you about.

Why have I written this? The same reason why John wrote John 20:31; to get you saved, and 1 John 5:13 was written to give you assurance of that salvation and why 1 John 5:4,5 tells you how to overcome this wicked world. I want you to get saved. God wants you to get saved as it says in 1 Timothy 2:4. Hell was created for the Devil and his angels and not for you. You are not supposed to go there. Why are you heading there? Paul says in Acts 17:30 that God is calling all men to repentance. Repent of your dirty sins. Repent of your wicked heart. Come to Christ. Receive Him as your Saviour. Believe on Him. Trust Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Don’t deny God’s will that you should be saved. Do your duty, what you must do.

John 3:16-21 says;

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Romans 10:9-13 says;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 ¶ For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Do it now, before its too late. Do it now before you are called out of here. Do it now before you drop into Hell for eternity. Believe and be saved. Believe and be saved.

Admit that you are a sinner and repent of that fact, believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, the Son of God, and the only Saviour, that He died for your sins and rose again on the third day, and trust in His righteousness to get to Heaven. Confess Him now, speak your belief now back to Him, and be saved by Him.

Worthless

Without value, good for nothing, useless

One of the great ways to determine the value of a person IN GOD’S EYES is how they view God and God’s word.

“To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it” Jeremiah 6:10

-or-

“I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” Psalm 119:16

What have some of the famous people of the world said about the Bible or about God, Christianity, and Christians?

Ian McKellen, the actor who plays Gandalf the wizard, in the acclaimed Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies and in The Hobbit said on the TODAY SHOW, that the Bible should have a disclaimer in it stating that it is a work of fiction.

Do you enjoy his work on the screen, because as a person, he’s worthless?

Clarence Darrow, the lawyer who defended the school teacher pushing evolution in the Dayton, Tennessee Scopes Monkey Trial of the 1920’s, said;

“I wish I could believe in the Bible, like you people—I just can’t. And I wish I could get hope out of it like you do. I’ve got no hope. “

Brilliant man, huh? Great mind? I’ve got no hope? Totally without value.

The great Albert Einstein, widely considered by many to be history’s most brilliant scientist is reported by a confidant, Peter Bucky, in his book The Private Albert Einstein, written in 1992, to have told him many times that he did not believe in a single god. He most certainly did not believe in a personal God. He absolutely did not believe in the God of the Bible. He was an idiot and a mentally handicapped child who believes in, believes on, and believes the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely more brilliant the great Albert Einstein. At this moment he’s burning in Hell wailing and gnashing his teeth, cursing and screaming.

Gore Vidal, a famous and influential author, is quoted as saying:

“Christianity is such a silly religion.”

Influential man of letters, world class commentator on world affairs? Good for nothing.

Ted Turner, notorious drunk, one of the richest men in the world, philanthropist, founder of CNN, and sailing legend, said this;

“Christians are losers.”

Philanthropist? Visionary? Man of the world? Useless. Absolutely useless.

Here we have a representative of the entertainment world, science, the law, literature, and business. Role models for us all. People that the news media puts up for us to emulate and admire. They’re junk. Pond scum. Hellbound and worthless by their own choice and their own words.

They think you as Christians are silly and stupid, not to mention ignorant, so why do we keep putting money in these people’s pockets.

George Clooney, famous and popular, actor, heartthrob and also a philanthropist, is supposed to have said;

“I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t know if I believe in God.” Moviegoers have given this idiot millions of dollars.

How about heartthrob and role model for every girl who values the morals of an alley cat over the Ten Commandments, Angelina Jolie?

“There doesn’t need to be a God for me.” Absolutely, without any redeeming value whatsoever. Worth-less.

For people who like funny stuff, while I’m on the subject of being entertained, did you like the comic strip, Bloom County? Well, maybe you should send a tract to Berkeley Breathed, before he dies and explodes into flames for his atheist’s rejection of Christ. Did you like Billy Joel in the old days? What about Jack Nicholson? Do you or do your children need to hear anything that these Christ rejecting atheists say or do?

Finally, let’s see what Princess Leia of Star Wars fame, aka Carrie Fisher, had to say;

“I love the idea of God, but it’s not stylistically in keeping with the way I function.”

Bill O’Reilly, the conservative Catholic news commentator, is supposed to be one of the good guys in our culture today according to conservatives. Ha Ha. However, he was quoted in the Opinion section of our York Sunday News on June 10, 2007 as saying, “I’m not positive that Jesus is God…” I saw him tell an atheist that you don’t have to believe that Jesus is God to be a Christian. A perfect, blithering idiot.

In a radio interview with Jerry Falwell on April 29, 2004, conservative hero and radio commentator and author, Michael Savage, disagreed with Falwell's view that people will go to Hell if they do not believe in the doctrine that Jesus is the unique Son of God. Savage says that he believes that religion is "a wheel" with God at the center and the world's major religions as "five spokes": Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. In a July 18, 2006 radio show he expressed some admiration for atheists who lived by a moral code over Christians who feared God.

These are the good guys folks. The bad guys are so far over the line they’re out of sight.

We pay these people millions of our dollars collectively to entertain us and teach us. Why? They know nothing. The Christian religion has been in practice for nearly 2,000 years. The King James Bible has been with us for nearly 400 years and before that there were many English versions, the Reina-Valera Spanish Bible, Olivetan’s French Bible, the OLD Latin Bible, and the Syriac versions of the Bible all the way back to the original writings. How could they not know?

1 Corinthians 1

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

I bring up the mighty and noble because former President George W. Bush said right before my very eyes on a TV news interview show that “The Muslims are on their own path to the Almighty” and in a Presidential debate he said that “Jesus is my favorite philosopher”. I wonder if he and O’Reilly ever attended the same church.

The December 29, 2004 issue of Newsweek quotes this man as saying to a former terrorist leader, who became high ranking Iraqi official, about another terrorist leader, a Muslim leader; "Dr. al-Rubaie, I want you to convey this message to Mr. Sistani. Tell him that I pray to the same god he prays to... Tell Sistani I have nothing but praise for your religion. I have many millions of Muslims in my country back home."

He worshipped at a pagan Shinto shrine in Japan, he has appointed numerous perverts to high positions of authority in his administration, and while he touted the Koran in his second inauguration message crosses were banned from the inaugural parade route, according to World Net Daily.

Here’s another Bush quote from the Agape Press;

"Miracles happen as a result of the love of the Almighty, professed, by the way, taught, by the way, by religions from all walks of life whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu,"

The Muslims are on their own path to the Almighty? Jesus is a philosopher? He prays to Allah, err, I mean Satan? Since this kind of garbage came out of his mouth, he’s one of the good guys, and there are far, far more worse goons in government than him, what hope do we have in the world?!

I know, I know, someone is thinking, but he has to do this and say these things for politics’ sake. Okay, so when is he going to convert to Islam and make it the state religion for politics sake? Prince Charles of England, “defender of the faith”, seems prepared to do just that by some of his statements and actions. It’s just wicked. That’s all it is. There are no excuses. Even the good guys are lost as a goose in a horse race.

Like Clarence Darrow, we have no hope, in the world that is. For remember what 2 Corinthians 4:4 says;

“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.”

Paul is referring to Satan here as the “god (little g) of this world”.

Listen to me, Christian, you are not to be so foolish as to put your hopes in any of these stupid people, saved or lost, who don’t believe the Bible, who call Jesus Christ a liar, and deny even the existence of God.

I’m sorry if one of these people is a kind of hero to you, because none of these people should be your hero. Only Jesus Christ is worthy of that title.

You know, ever since the Reverend Billy Graham, talking to interviewer David Frost in the 1990’s said, “America is not a Christian nation” and in other venues that Hell was only a separation from God and not an eternal fire, and after he encouraged Mexican converts to go back to their Catholic church, and after he received an honorary degree from a Catholic college I have been suspicious of all celebrities, Christian or otherwise.

You see, it’s the Book that is to be our final authority in all matters of faith, practice, and doctrine. We trust the Book. We trust the Lord Jesus Christ. We are neither to put our trust in nor to teach our children to put their trust in Satan’s world or any famous person rather than what is right here in this book.

Norman Geisler hates your Bible. He thinks it’s wrong. He thinks it’s in error. Norman Geisler is a Baptist who has written over 50 books on the Bible. Norman’s problem, besides unbelief and having the wrong Bibles, is that he received his earned PH.D. from Loyola University in Chicago, a Jesuit institution. Can you see now why he learned to detest the Bible of the greatest missionary period the world has ever known?

I’m sure his Pope isn’t a big fan of the Authorized Version either as its translators referred to the Pope as the “man of sin” in their dedicatory to their earthly monarch.

There are a lot of worthless people in the world. God doesn’t think much of the things in this world that we think much of. Let me read Luke 16:15.

“And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

Now, let’s face it, mankind is desperately wicked. As the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9;

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

And the Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 12:34;

“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

How can they help but saying stupid, worthless stuff?

Christian scholars are not exempt from apostasy and unbelief. Benjamin Jowett of the 19th century was the Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford, Master of Balliol, and Vice-Chancellor of the University. He said in Life and Letters that the atheist Voltaire did more of value than all of the Church Fathers. Just before his death he claimed to be agnostic. He rejected the idea of a personal god. The man was a blooming idiot. A braying donkey. And yet he is considered one of the greatest of Bible scholars by some.

Great leaders can be greatly stupid. Thomas Jefferson supposedly did not believe the Bible was true although he believed it could be a good influence. President John Adams, his wife Abigail, and his celebrated son and president, John Quincy Adams, were Unitarians. In case you didn’t know a Unitarian doesn’t believe Jesus was the Saviour and, in fact, I know several Unitarians that are atheists. These people, no matter what they may have accomplished in life as supported by the history books had no value to God. They are chaff on the summer threshing floor. The wind blew them away.

The famous Mexican leaders, Benito Juarez and Porfirio Diaz, were said to have been atheists. General Allenby, who brilliantly delivered Jerusalem to the British from the Turks in WWI preparing the land for the return of the Jew was quoted as saying that faith would not help in building a better world. So, his kind gave us the next world war. Thanks, you miserable worthless, useless, and godless reprobate.

Horace Greeley, the newspaperman who said, “Go West, young man” in the 1800’s, thought the Hindu Vedas superior to the Bible. He’s toast now. Steve Allen, called an innovator, a comedian, talk show host, and all around man of the world discounted the the God of the Bible as being a murderer. For all his brilliance, he was a complete dunce.

Sex pervert Charles Dickens gave us Scrooge, A Tale of Two Cities, and David Copperfield (the book, not the magician). This raving lunatic is in Hell as we speak, screaming in agony and gnashing his teeth. God isn’t impressed with his literary prowess or his memorable characters. Sex pervert Emily Dickinson might be somewhere nearby gnashing her teeth and crying out in thirst. Comedians Woody Allen is headed there and Phyllis Diller is already there, too. These people are creatures of no value, suitable only for burning. They can’t see past their own self worship.

Do you remember from history the great ex-slave and black orator, Frederick Douglass, whose speech on the 4th of July’s meaning to the slave I required reading in my American History class I taught homeschoolers? It’s a great piece of speechmaking but he was a perfect mushbrain when it came to God. I know where he is at this moment.

These people are mini-gods to historians. They are without any redeeming value to God. They should be as such to us, as well, if we love God.

1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

For all of the sports figure idolaters within hearing let me point out the absolute meaninglessness of the life of say, the famous bicyclist, Lance Armstrong, who has been quoted by Time Magazine in Sept. 29th of 2003 issue as being an agnostic and referred to by the UK Times online in Feb. 28, 2004 as being an atheist. Certainly, he is not a believer in Christ’s deity or the truth of the Bible. Who’s a fan?

Were any of you older people a fan of Ted Williams, the baseball great? In a July 8, 2002 Sports Illustrated article, former teammate Johnny Pesky notes that Ted, the great hitter, was an atheist. Well, he’s struck out now for good. Does anyone here have a picture of him? Throw it out.

Former Minnesota Vikings Robert Smith is an atheist, as is golfer Annika Sorenstam. Did you ever cheer these simpletons on? What about General Choi Hong-Hi, founder of Tae Kwon Do?

Now, there are many people whom you will study in history and/or see in today’s news who aren’t worth the weight of Christ’s tears. Why do we give them money, vote for them, adore and praise their efforts, study their work or even remember their names? This is why generations of Christians in America haven’t reproduced themselves. Each generation from the late 1800’s on gets led further and further away from the Bible by the media celebrities that society teaches them to worship. This is America’s true religion right now.

Let me give you some names, some people worth admiring, worth learning about, names you will never hear in a classroom in any public school or university unless they are being mocked. These men and women fought tooth and nail for Christ. The world, whose god is Satan, doesn’t want to discuss their efforts. They weren’t perfect. Some of them had personal failings, some were divorced before it was over, but all of them were dedicated to the gospel of Christ.

Take Jonathan Edwards, 1700’s Congregationalist minister who wrote and delivered the greatest sermon ever written outside of the Bible entitled Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, George Whitefield who preached the Great Awakening in England and America and preached the need to be born again to people of every denomination, or Shubal Stearns who became a Baptist in 1751 and preached hard sermons, gave alter calls, and walked among the congregation begging sinners to get saved. What about Preacher John Gano who baptized by immersion our first president, George Washington? What about blind Fanny Crosby who wrote 8,000 hymns and, in my American History class, is held up as America’s greatest poet, NOT Robert Frost or Carl Sandburg?

Why are we allowing ourselves to hold worldly celebrities up as worthy of anything other than contempt and pity? Why are we allowing our children to put their posters on the wall, listen to their music, or pay to watch them perform? Maybe no one here is doing that? Perhaps not. But, I have overheard conversations about this sports great’s latest accomplishment or some game that’s coming on later in churches I attended.

People automatically think I’m interested in professional boxing because I taught young people to box. The fact is, I detest professional sports entirely, including boxing, as the epitome’ of praising self-worship and the exaltation of pagan religious festivals under the guise of harmless fun. I’m in touch with people engaged in street preaching around the country via the internet and I’ve been told that some of the nastiest crowds to try to street preach to and to hand out tracts to are the ones entering into a NASCAR event.

Folks, the world is worthless whether it is the world of sports, the world of entertainment, the world of politics, or any other world of people. It is a pathetic and very unfunny joke, full of people trying to fill their time with stupid, meaningless junk until they die, having no concern about what is to happen to them after that sad event. We know what’s going to happen.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Hebrews 9:27

Imagine one of you adults going up to a silly acting child and praising them, telling them you want to be just like them, and hanging on their every word and action as if they were a god. Well, that’s the picture when a saved Christian idolizes an unsaved, hellbound, wicked, adulterous, drunken, sinner whether he’s wearing a suit and goes by a title like Hizzoner or whether he plays third base on some professional team with a pagan animal totem as its symbol.

You can’t have one foot in the world and one foot in the New Jerusalem. There is no compromise with the truth of the gospel or with God.

Dwight L. Moody may have led literally millions to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dewitt Talmage for whom my grandfather was named was a great preacher whose sermons were published weekly in over 3,000 newspapers around the country. Bob Jones, Sr., by the time he was forty years old had preached to 15 million people face to face and without a microphone. Do you have any pictures of these men in your homes?

All I’m saying is to listen to what the world is saying. Listen carefully how they view your Lord. Discern whether or not they are worthy of your attention. With people dying and going to a burning Hell every moment do you have time to waste in the adoration of such celebrities?

Come on, Ladies, Oprah Winfrey is a new age, pagan priestess for all the offal she spread around on her show, leading millions to Hell who would never pick up a Bible but would listen to her and that Dr. Phil character encourages you to find your “authentic self” when Jesus Christ tells you to deny yourself. So who you going to listen to? These people are all about self worship. Their trinity is me, myself, and I. Why do you listen to anything they say? Please don’t tell me you heard her say “God” once or that she has a favorite hymn or that Dr. Phil is listed on some list of influential Christians. They aren’t Christians, they are pagans. Is the Pope Christian? Does he believe this Book? Is Jesus his only way? No and No.

Anyone who does not believe in who the Lord Jesus Christ is, the Son of God, God in the flesh, and anyone who does not believe what He has said, that He is the only way to eternal life, and anyone who does not uplift the written word of God as being their final authority in all matters of faith, practice, and doctrine is a moron, an idiot, without any worth whatsoever. We should not even be regarding what they have to say as having any more importance than that of a dog barking in the distance. They are braying donkeys and bleating sheep.

It is incumbent upon Christian parents, before they permit their children from following sports heroes, to find out what that athlete’s condition is before the Lord. And I still wouldn’t put a dime in Peter Angelos’ pocket or George Steinbrenner’s.

What about the secret Bruce Willis fans out there? You can’t wait to see the latest “Die Hard” installment, can you? You’re going to put money in the pocket of the man who told the New York Post in an interview in 1998 what he thought of religion and then your Bible;

“Organized religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms. They were all very important when we didn’t know why the sun moved, why weather changed, why hurricanes occurred, or volcanoes happened. Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. Literally! I choose not to believe that’s the way.”

How about “Die Hard and Bound for Hell”?

These people are garbage, I’m trying to tell you. At best they merit our pity and an effort to witness to them which will never get past their publicist. At worst they encourage millions to go to Hell right along with them. Come on, folks, you thought Andy Rooney cute, the old curmudgeon. Don’t you?

“Of course, I don’t believe in God and anyone who tells you that there is a god who makes his or her presence known to him or her is hallucinating or not telling the truth.”

Useless, worthless, without value, and totally morally and spiritually bankrupt.

There must come a time in your life when you make a choice, make a stand; the Lord Jesus Christ or the world. You can’t have it both ways. You need to turn off the glass toilet, that monster in your living room, and turn to God.

I’ll finish with this from God. Psalm 14:1

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

Get right with God. Stop applauding the greats of the world, Satan’s hall of shame. Get in the Book and stay there.

Mark 8:36 commentary: what shall it profit you?

36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Here is a classic example of the Bible defining itself. Notice the previous verses. What is the follower of Christ called to deny? Soul is self identity. It is self; self awareness, our emotions and intellect.

Luke 9:25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

“Himself” is inserted in Luke for “his own soul” in Mark. I once heard a Biblically illiterate preacher with a PH.D., which means nothing in regard to spiritual discernment by the way, say that spirit and soul were the same thing. These fools are everywhere in Christianity. Make it up as we go along because we have rejected the words of God like Peter has just done. Get thee behind me, Satan.

A human being and the animals are composed of three integral parts; a body, a soul, and a spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Animals, of course, have bodies so I don’t need to show you that self-evident fact. But, the higher animals also have a sense of self, a soul.

Numbers 31:28 And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:

Job 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

I’ll save the spirit of man and of animals and God’s Holy Spirit for a different time.

So, after telling His followers in the last verses that to follow Him they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, and to lose their lives for His sake in order to live, He now asks the rhetorical question. What is the good of worldly wealth, success, prosperity, luxury, approval, enjoyment, pleasure, self-satisfaction, etc. etc. if the end result is that you lose your soul?

What does the world offer you? Why, the very same things Satan offered Eve. She saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was “good for food” (Genesis 3:6) which corresponds with the “lust of the flesh” in 1 John 2:16. She saw that it was “pleasant to the eyes” which corresponds to the “lust of the eyes”. She saw that it was “desired to make one wise” which corresponds to the “pride of life.”

So, Jesus asks them and by extension, you, if you desire to follow Him, what good is it to get all of those things you want, all you can stomach and more, if it means an eternity in agony and pain, without Him?

You stuff your face and your belly because your belly is the god you actually serve.

Phillippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

You look upon things and desire what you do not have.

Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

And you honor things of this earth that have no value in God’s eyes.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

And doing so, what effect do you think this has on your relationship with Christ, if you even have one?

I know people who say they are Christians who don’t eat to live but rather live to eat. They exist to consume. In fact it makes them feel good to eat, drink, shop, consume, that essence of “I’m alive because I can have stuff.” Their idols are their bellies and the junk they can amass in their short, miserable lives.

I know people who call themselves Christians who think nothing of viewing pornography. They would say they weren’t hurting anyone and that it’s a man-thing, you wouldn’t understand. Or they are addicted to television or movies, constantly having to watch some little drama, some theater or they will be forced to examine the insufficiency of their own lives. They are spectators; spectators of sports, of drama, of life in general because, to paraphrase a famous saying, the unexamined life may not be worth living but it is relatively painless. What’s worse is that they watch things as entertainment that it is forbidden for them to do, living sinfully and vicariously through a fictitious person.

I know people who call themselves Christians who admire celebrities, the wealthy, or anyone of any fame that isn’t a notorious figure and, amazingly, even some of those are admired. So-called Christians who worship the government, powerful captains of industry, the lifestyles of the rich and famous or they pay homage to the great generals, the conquerors, the warriors of any rank, no matter how profane, athletes, movie, and music stars. They worship sex, education, status, and wealth. They don’t encourage their children to study the Bible or to serve God but rather to study the ways of the world and to serve themselves. They may even extol the godless; on the left they’ll spit out the bones of the meal that Karl Marx ate and on the right, of Ayn Rand.

You want it? Go ahead. It’s there for the taking. But, are you really a Christian? Do you really believe in Christ, what He said about who He is, and do you trust Him? Or are you merely a philosophical Christian, a misguided fool like many of our Founding Fathers or conservative celebrities like TV commentator, Bill O’Reilley, who believe that buying into a little of Christ’s philosophy is a good thing, and being a Christian gentleman or lady is exemplary but you certainly aren’t going to be superstitious enough to believe all of that stuff about Jesus being God in the flesh!

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Mark 8:35 commentary: losing your life for Christ

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Jesus has just preached that to come after Him, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. What does it mean to take up your cross, or in this case, to lose your life for his sake and for the sake of the gospel? Most of us will never be called upon to physically die for Christ or for the sake of the gospel. Paul explains this concept to us Christians, about our death for Christ and being dead to sin in Romans, chapter 6. It is good to take the time to read that chapter.

A couple verses to note in particular in that chapter are;

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

-(note the symbolic nature of baptism by use of the word “like”), and-

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapter 8 of Romans teaches us also that sin has no more power over the Christian. A Christian sins against God of his own free will and has no excuse, although even the excuse of an unsaved man won’t help him.

Paul himself says in another set of verses which I’ve mentioned earlier and which bear repeating;

1Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

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.

So, in order to have eternal life, we lose our life in Christ and Christ makes us alive.

Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Christianity isn’t merely a Stoic-minded philosophy of good, moral living as many of our country’s Founding Fathers believed nor was or is Jesus a philosopher as former President Bush declared. Christianity is a dying to Self and living for Christ and Christ is God by whom the universe was created and by whom it is sustained as you can see by reading Colossians, chapter one.

In the BBC documentary about the 1900s entitled A Century of Self it was noted how the ideas of Sigmund Freud and his nephew, Ed Bernays, who invented modern advertising and public relations in 20th Century America, turned us inward, and, I would add, encouraged us to worship our flesh and ourselves. Before Bernays’ influence advertising was about what a product would do. After Bernays advertising was how using a product made you feel or what it said about who you were or your status.

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

A century of Self had to do with the things we possess and, in reality, worship in place of God, and are taught are good. There are some idiots who actually think they can judge whether or not a person is saved by how neatly trimmed he keeps his lawn or how clean he keeps his car. I’ve heard that with my own ears.

Being a Christian requires that you die to self and live in Christ. Think about that the next time you look at yourself in the mirror or strut around like a peacock in your new glad-rags. Think about that the next time you get angry for not getting your “propers”. Think about that the next time you are tempted to look at pornography, read a romance novel, buy that bikini, or wear that muscle shirt to the grocery store. Think about that the next time you want to talk about someone else in your family or in the church family or obsess over money or gloat about how righteous you are.

Remember what Christ said about the things of this world that man holds up as good?

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Notice how the apostle John illuminates the things of the world we desire, the very things that Satan in the guise of a serpent tricked Eve over in Genesis 3.

1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Inappropriate sexual obsessions, education, wealth, success, athleticism, worldly power, physical beauty, and all of the things that man holds in high esteem are just so much garbage with God. If you live for them, you will lose your life. If you life for Christ, you will live forever.

Instead of trying to make the gospel more acceptable by watering it down so you can enjoy your war, horror, action-adventure, romance, and western bang-bang-shoot-em-up movies, your porno, your violent athletic sporting events, your liquor, your cigarettes, your trips to the beach, your luxuries, and the unnecessary food that feeds your expanding waistline you better start thinking about what it really means to be a Christian. The Bible isn’t Emily Post’s Book of Etiquette and your faith is not here so you can just live a more respectable life in the eyes of the world.

Mark 8:34 commentary: Whom do you worship?

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.

The Christian must die to Self daily.

1Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

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.

We know that the basis of unbelief is worship of Self, but Self worship is also the curse of most Christians. We seek to serve our flesh through food, comfort of living, pleasure, and entertainment. In fact, it appears to be the focus of our lives. We are running errands for a corpse. Our lives have no eternal value because we have made a god of our flesh, which will die forever one day in its present form, and although our body will be redeemed and united with our soul and spirit in heaven, its present form, for all its miraculous abilities and components, is dying. We fundamentalists even glory in whatever suffering we can cause our flesh to appear spiritual, thereby glorifying ourselves and not Christ. When I hear a Christian say that they deliberately stayed up most of the night to pray and they didn’t mind being exhausted because they were doing it for the Lord I want to puke because they were, in fact, doing it for themselves, their own feeling of spirituality, and those feelings of superiority that a Pharisee so smugly holds, just by virtue of their telling everyone.

Matthew 6:16 ¶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Let others praise you.

Proverbs 27:2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

Better yet, let God praise you at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Read 1Corinthians, chapter 3.

2Corinthians 10:18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth

Read His Book and allow Him to change your affections and your hearts and quit trying so hard to do things in the flesh, thinking yourself so spiritual. Then, come together with a body of believers to worship Him in spirit and in truth. What we have done is to create ministries and edifices that must be fed like our flesh and we can’t even begin to give preeminence to the Holy Spirit because we have chained ourselves to the demands of our carnal worship.

To serve Satan one only has to serve one’s self. We are all Satan, in type, aspiring to be our own god at some point, thinking of ourselves as higher than the Highest. Satan is not only an individual who really exists, but is a representative of mankind’s highest aspirations, ideals, and morality without the God who created them. Notice to get our compliance, he need only offer a suggestion or pose a question like “yea, hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1) Not a lot of arm twisting there, is it?

Although I am no fan of the Puritans, who executed religious dissenters and publicly whipped and banned Baptists from the church-state run Massachusetts Bay Colony, the great English Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell, spoke a great truth when he said the following in a different context; “I know a man may answer all difficulties with faith, and faith will answer all difficulties really where it is, but we are very apt, all of us, to call that faith, that perhaps may be but carnal imagination, and carnal reasonings.” (http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2183&chapter=201030&layout=html&Itemid=27 At the General Council of Officers 1 at Putney, 28th October 1647. - Puritanism and Liberty, being the Army Debates (1647-9) from the Clarke Manuscripts with Supplementary Documents)

To deny one’s self requires the mortifying of the flesh and reckoning one’s self dead to sin and the excessive pleasures of the flesh, certainly.

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

But, to deny Self also requires that all things be done for the glory of Christ and not ourselves. At what point, a Christian must ask him or herself, does something I do for God become, not about Him, but about me? This is a great puzzle for those who claim to follow a risen, living Saviour rather than a dead idea of what it means to simply be a philosophical Christian.

Many people have done great things for Christ which weren’t for Christ but for themselves. We can see their celebrity status in how the world approves of them or, even if it disapproves of them, how much attention it gives them. No man or woman can be unaffected by this attention. Most glory in it.

But,what about you? Will your works for Christ be exposed at His Judgment Seat as a vain representation of self-worship? Are you sure?

Why We Must Read the Bible.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee” Hosea 4:6a

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11,12

1. Because God has told us to do that; to study it – 2 Timothy 2:15, and read it aloud, and meditate on it – Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:13, 15, 172.

2. Because it will help our walk with Christ – 2 Timothy 3:15,16 (Notice from verse 15 that translations, not merely the originals are included in this as we can be sure that Timothy didn’t have the original of Moses’ books and that some of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures were translating what was actually said in other languages as in from Egyptian into Hebrew under the authority of Genesis 42:23 and from Hebrew into Greek under the authority of Acts 21:40. In addition, the wording of the originals God can change if He desires to add to it as per Jeremiah 36:32 perhaps to bring it into line with what He has written in heaven – Psalm 119:89).

3. Because it is a principle means by which God sanctifies us or makes us useful for His service – John 17:17; (of which verse 20 proves it’s also talking about you and me.)

4. Because God’s word is important to Him – Psalm 138:2

5. Because it will keep you from sinning against God – Psalm 119:11

6. Because it will make you praise Him – Psalm 119:7.

7. Because it will clean up your act – Psalm 119:9, 101.

8. Because it will cause you to rejoice and give you delight – Psalm 119:14, 16 , 47, 72.

9. Because it will open our eyes – Psalm 119:18.

10. Because it gives us life – Psalm 119:25, 50, 92.

11. Because it will help us choose what is right – Psalm 119:30.

12. Because we will love it – Psalm 119: 47.

13. Because it gives us songs in our hearts – Psalm 119: 54.

14. Because it tells us of the nature of His mercy – Psalm 119:58, 116

15. Because it prompts us to spontaneous prayer and praise – Psalm 119:62.

16. Because it lights our way – Psalm 119: 105, 130;

17. Because it changes our affections- Psalm 119:113.

18. Because it gives us hope and causes us to seek God’s protection – Psalm 119:114.

19. Because it is pure – Psalm 119: 140.

20. Because God has taken care to preserve His word for us – Psalm 12:6,7

21. Because God’s power works through it so much that it is linked to Himself – Romans 9:17 with Exodus 9:16 and Galatians 3:8 with Genesis 22:18.

22. Because it speaks of Jesus – Luke 24:27

23. Because we are going to reign with Him as per 2 Timothy 2:12 and Revelation 20:6 and rulers are called to do so – Deuteronomy 17:19

24. Because Jesus is called the Word (capital W) of God – John 1:1-3; Revelation 19:13; 1 John 5:7.

25. Because Satan doesn’t want you to have it – Genesis 3:1; Matthew 13:18, 23.

26. Because it is true - John 17:17; Psalm 119:142, 160.

And there are many, many more reasons to read God’s word but I’m sure you will find them out on your own.

Daily Bible Reading, reading aloud, and listening.

Mark 8:32-33 commentary: whom do you serve?

32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Peter, like Satan, wants Jesus to forsake His mission. In Matthew and Luke, chapter 4, Satan makes his effort to get Jesus to turn away from His mission. Here, Peter is doing the work of Satan or Satan has influenced him.

There are powerful forces at work in the universe that are not subject to the laws of the physical universe that corporeal entities like ourselves are subject to.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I realize that much Christian teaching has become contaminated with atheist materialism and doesn’t admit to any unseen intelligences although they can believe in all manner of so-called scientific particles that no scientist ever claimed to have seen. Sub-atomic particles are believed in because of the effect they allegedly produce. But, the Bible explains the cause of effects in a different manner. It is impossible to be a Bible believer if you don’t believe in the world of the spirit.

Jesus rebukes Peter because Peter is taking on the work of Satan. It is interesting to note how we learn about Satan from the Bible by how God describes human characters as like him. Here is Peter likened to Satan. Why? Because he wishes to thwart God’s plan of redemption for mankind and keep Jesus from going to the cross.

We can see the king of Tyrus likened to Satan in Exekiel, chapter 28, which gives us a description of who Satan is and what he has done, where he came from, and when he fell. We see the king of Babylon used in the same way in Isaiah 14. Read those two chapters. Bible passages are written in such a multi-dimensional manner as to describe something literally and yet to describe something that isn’t directly referenced in the passage, as well. Sometimes, there are clearly two and three layers of meaning, not to mention all of the inspirational messages people get out of the passages that were not an intentional part of the passages’ literal meaning, direct allusion, or prophetic reference.

You will get the suggestion of this best by reading the Bible over and over again. In fact, you have no excuse if you haven’t listened to or read the entire Bible through at least once for every year you’ve been a Christian. If you’re behind because you just recently realized what a Bible is and how much power God has laid on it, then you can make every effort to catch up. A seminary education is no substitute for reading the Authorized Version from cover to cover on a continuous basis. In fact, I would pick a preacher who can read and understand English and has read the Bible through many times from cover to cover over someone with a Ph.D. in Theology any day, providing, of course, he’s saved.

One thing to note here is that you don’t have to literally worship Satan by name to serve him. You only need to be against God’s purposes and to serve man’s and your own to do his bidding. Satan doesn’t need your worship to accomplish his purposes. He only needs you to worship yourself.

You can’t serve Christ if you submit your will as a slave to the world system;

1John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Nothing that the world holds up as good and right is from the God who created you.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

That includes the economic system and wealth.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Think about these things the next time you watch the fine homes of the rich and famous paraded on television or find yourself parked in front of a professional football game held in some giant stadium with thousands of adoring fans screaming their approval.

But, in the next verse, Jesus will tell us whom exactly we must deny to serve Him.

Mark 8:30-31 commentary: and he began to teach them

30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. 31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Notice the foretelling here of the gospel and the forth telling in these verses;

1 Corinthians 15:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

The apostles were dull in their thinking because, like a modern Christian, their thinking had been corrupted by all of the false things they had been taught by Biblically illiterate preachers and commentators who had rejected READING the Bible in preference for reading about the Bible. By not permitting God to change their hearts through His words they elected to worship intellect and scholarship, theirs and others, including any rabbi, or teacher, whose teaching caught their fancy. Modern Christians are for the most part humanists. It’s amazing what a fundamentalist can accomplish without Christ.

A fundamentalist will mock an evolutionist and say how deluded they are but will, at the same time, lift up a Bible that never existed on earth in one book, that doesn’t now exist on earth, and which no one he knows in the flesh has ever seen; that inerrant, perfect Bible in the original manuscripts. This is a book that the Bible itself never even discusses or places importance on above translations or copies which are “given by inspiration”. In the Scriptures, the word "scriptures" never refers to the original manuscripts. The Bible is not inspired by God. These 40 or so men aren’t writing about someone that inspires them like Hemingway or Faulkner might have done. When you are inspired by something you have no obligation to it to be faithful as it merely provides the spark and the motive for your writing which is generated by your own intellect and emotion. The Bible isn’t God-breathed, as God did not dictate every word as is clear by Job 32:8; Jeremiah 36:32; and 2 Peter 3:15. God gave men wisdom and understanding to write His Bible, and then He preserved it (Psalm 12:6,7).

Modern Christians are practicing atheists because they don’t believe that a living God actually has a hand in Bible preservation. Its only unbelieving scholars that do that, they think. Modern Christians simply don’t believe that God has the power to preserve the Bible that He wants them to have. I wonder how they believe He can save them.

Here is further evidence that people in the Old Testament were not looking forward to the Cross. They didn’t even understand it. They did not understand Isaiah, chapter 53. They did not understand Psalm 22; Zechariah 12:10; Psalm 41:9; Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 7:14; or Isaiah 9:6.

Mark 8:27-29 commentary; Who do you say Jesus is?

27 ¶ And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

“The Christ” is the Messiah or Messias.

John 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

Interpretation is the translation of a human language. Think of an interpreter at the U.N.

John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

The question of who you believe that Jesus Christ is, that is the most important question you will ever answer because on it depends where you will spend eternity.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

If you reject what Christ said about Himself then you can expect no mercy when your soul enters the spiritual world after death.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

So, what do we make of the theistic Unitarian who believes that Jesus is not God but simply a great teacher? Since Jesus declared Himself to be God the Father in the flesh we can say with certainty that the Unitarian is not a Christian and therefore not saved, but bound for Hell. He is no less in need of the gospel than the most desperate drug addicted prostitute.

What about the Jehovah’s Witness, who is a modern day Arian? The Jehovah’s Witness doesn’t know that in the Old Testament God has said;

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

In the New Testament Gospel of John, when speaking of Jesus;

John 19:36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

As the Philippian Jailer was told in Acts how to get saved;

Acts16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

And the Romans were told how to get saved;

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

In all these verses you can find the conditions for salvation; believing what Jesus said about Himself and believing in His resurrection. If you can find any other conditions for salvation please give me chapter and verse.

Jesus is the appearance, the presence, of God, which is what is meant by angel.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Notice how the angel of the Lord takes God’s place in this verse in Judges;

Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

The angel of the Lord, the angel of God, the appearance of God, is Jesus Christ.

Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

He is the visible image of the invisible God and just as we and the higher animals are composed of a body, soul, and spirit (1Thessalonians 5:23; Numbers 31:28; Job 12:10; Ecclesiastes 3:21) so is the God who created you, one difference being that His component parts can operate independently while you would die if separated from your flesh (Genesis 35:18).

God is spoken of as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the soul of God, the seat of self-identity and will, God the Son is also called the Living Word by which God spoke the universe into being, and God the Spirit is how God acts on His creation and yet all three are one.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

As “the only begotten Son” in John 1:18 Jesus represents the only time in history that God walked the earth as a flesh and blood man, not Alexander the Great who had himself declared the son of God in Egypt or Octavian Augustus who signed his documents Deus Fide, the son of God, after declaring that his adoptive father, Julius Caesar, had ascended to heaven.

As the physical image of God;

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

So, these three parts of God, able to function independently but still being one;

John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Are revealed throughout the Bible, in the New Testament;

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

And in the Old, as here we see God the Father and the Holy Spirit in action;

Genesis 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Here is the preincarnate Jesus Christ in action;

Judges 13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

So, who is Jesus Christ? He is the Jewish messiah. He is the anointed one of God. He is the only begotten Son. He is the Word by which all things were created and by which they consist. He is God in the flesh.

Believe that Jesus Christ is God, that He lived as a man, that He died for your sins, and that He rose from the dead. Trust in His righteousness to get to heaven and not your own. Your eternal destiny depends on it.

Mark 8:22-26 commentary: opening your eyes in steps

22 ¶ And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

Earlier, back in chapter seven, he had healed a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, using spit.

Here is the first time where Jesus heals in steps. There are many who teach that this is a type of the Christian who is growing. You don’t see everything clearly at first. Slowly, as you read the Bible daily, and often, and pray, waiting on the Lord to lead you, the Holy Spirit to guide you, as you hear and see Him speak line upon line, precept upon precept;

Isaiah 28:9 ¶ Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing:…..

The eyes of your understanding are enlightened;

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Because this is the way you are set apart, or sanctified (blessed – Genesis 2:3, washed – Exodus 19:14 and see Revelation 19:8, you’ll meet with God – Exodus 29:43, anointed – Leviticus 8:10, purified – Leviticus 8:15, come close to God – Leviticus 10:3, you’ll redeem your family – Leviticus 27:15, etc. etc.), for His purpose;

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Others say, that, as men are like trees all through the Bible, that you are better off seeing them as trees and not to be fooled by their outward appearance.

Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Ezekiel 20:46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field; 47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. 48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.

Ezekiel 31:2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? 3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

Jesus leads the blind man by the hand;

Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

He leads him out of town, out of Bethsaida, as not worthy of having this miracle done within her coasts or borders or even being told about it;

Luke 10:13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

We know from the Bible that Jesus didn’t have to even touch the man to heal him so there must be a purpose in doing it this way, for our sake. Perhaps, the Lord wanted him to see the spiritual side before he saw the physical side. Before you see anything you must be willing to be led by the Lord.

26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

He’s not looking for the publicity here. They’d miss the point anyway.

This verse is corrupted in our two apostate manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, which are given precedence in all modern versions after the heresies of Westcott and Hort and the perfidy of the Vatican. The part after the last comma is removed. As Dr. Ken Matto points out it is Tyndale’s Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the King James Bible which maintain the clarity of the passage and its continuity. Jesus did not want Bethsaida to be enlightened with knowledge of this miracle. The modern versions, based on corrupt manuscripts, don’t even include this part of the verse.

Mark 8:19-21 commentary: how is it ye do not understand?

19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

As Jesus continues with this response to the cluelessness of His disciples he brings up some important considerations for us. Twelve is associated with the twelve tribes of Israel and seven is associated with God’s number of completion and perfection as in the seven days of creation.

Jesus is upbraiding them for their forgetfulness and their inability to understand. This is the root of all unbelief, not remembering what God had done previously, and a mind closed to the truths that God wants to reveal. It is much the same way with modern men. Scientists insist on denying God’s part in creation and prefer to explain away the existence of life itself by fantastic, mechanical means without any part played by the God of the Bible.

The fact is, though, that if they weren’t so hard hearted they would understand. For one instance, geneticists who deal with mutations will write papers filled with astonishment at how quickly we, as a species or as an individual, deteriorate over a relatively short time such as Cornell University’s Alexey Kondrashov’s 1995 paper published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology entitled, “Contamination of the Genome by Very Slightly Deleterious Mutations:Why Have We Not Died 100 Times Over?” or James Crow of the University of Wisconsin’s Genetics Laboratory who wrote an article in 1997 published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled, “The high spontaneous mutation rate: Is it a health risk?” These scientists appear to be amazed at the rapid rate at which mankind is falling apart, the rate of devolution, not evolution.

Harmful mutations over the past few centuries have been accumulating. The scientist, like the disciple hard of heart and hard of hearing doesn’t hear a distant voice in his head reminding him that the Bible implies only a 6,000 year old existence for mankind. At the rate we are going, as these scientists point out without meaning to, we couldn’t have been around much longer than that. People find out such interesting facts and forget in their dull minds what God has said and done. No, rather, they would prefer to pretend He doesn’t exist.

God will say to them, perhaps, “When I made the heaven and the earth in six days, when I destroyed life on earth with a Flood, when I scattered the families from Babel all over the earth, when I led the Hebrews through the Red Sea, when I rose from the dead and offered all men salvation how is it ye do not understand?”

What about the Christian who has been delivered time and time again by God’s hand of protection and mercy but forgets each time just how much he or she is totally dependent on God’s mercy and grace? Think about the last time you were certain that you would not have made it without God’s help and then ask yourself how is it you do not understand?