At the end of Mark, some false witnesses accuse Jesus of saying “I will tear down the temple…” but did Jesus ever say that?  In Mark 13 he says that “no stone will be left on another” but he didn’t say he would be the one to tear it down.   I can’t find in the gospels where he ever said that. It sounds close but the meaning is so different.  Amazing how words get twisted.  Ironically, THEY were the one who destroyed the temple to which he was referring.

te.

============

Hi Token,

No, Jesus never threatened to tear the temple down, either his own or any other one.  But those false witnesses used some of the words he said, which lent some credence to their lie.

The most effective lies always have elements of truth in them.  Two of the three things the serpent told Eve in the garden of Eden were factually true, and the third thing he said was kinda right.

Jesus didn’t fall for the trap.  He stayed quiet and let them do what they were determined to do to him.

Pastor John

Hey Brother John,

I was reading the story of Gideon in Judges.  I have a question.

Judges 6:12-14  And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.  And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?  and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.  And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites,  Have not I sent thee?”

My question:  When the Lord said “Go in this thy might,” what exactly was the word “this” referring to?  Was it his faith that the Lord was in control of every aspect of his life?

Thank you.

Billy H.

===========

Hi Billy,

This portion of scripture from Judges provides us with an interesting scene, and it is one that we can take much from if God opens our eyes.

Did you notice where Gideon was when this angel came to him?  He was hiding from the Midianites behind a winepress as he threshed out a little wheat to make himself some bread.  There he was, so afraid of what the Midianites would do to him that he didn’t even want to be seen threshing wheat and an angel suddenly appears and calls him a “mighty man of valor”.  We know from that, that God was speaking to the Gideon that He saw, not to the Gideon that anyone else knew – including Gideon himself !

God was about to bring out the Gideon that He alone could see, and then use that Gideon to deliver Israel.  The “might” that was in Gideon’s heart was his faith in the God that he had heard about, the God that had been testified about by his ancestors.  Gideon believed in that God, and he loved that God, but where was He?  Gideon wanted to know Him, but where was He?  That was Gideon’s question.  Nevertheless, Gideon believed in that God, and that genuine faith was the “might” that made Gideon a “mighty man of valor”, and man whom God would use to save His people.

How does God see us?  We may be in hiding, like Gideon, and oppressed, as Gideon and Israel were, but what does God see?  If God sees faith in His Son, and love for the truth, he will use us to bless His people.  And like Gideon, it doesn’t matter to God whether we can see ourselves doing that; it only matters what he sees.

Thanks for the question, Billy.

Pastor John

Hi Pastor John,

Am I reading this right, that the incense altar was in the Most Holy place?

Hebrews 9 (your translation.)

3. Then, behind the second veil, was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies,
4. having the golden incense altar, and the ark of the covenant, completely covered with gold and in which was the golden pot containing manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant,
5. and above which, overshadowing the mercy seat, were the cherubim of glory — of which things there is not now time to speak in detail.

I believed and thought I read in the O.T., where the incense altar was in the holy place before the veil, and not  in the Most Holy Place???

Thanks,

Billy

===============

Hi Billy,

Yes, you are reading that rightly, but notice that the author of Hebrews does not actually say that the incense altar was inside the veil; he only says that (1) the Most Holy itself was “behind” the second veil and that (2) the Most Holy “had” certain things, including the incense altar.  In other words, as I read it, the incense altar properly belonged to the Most Holy room; however, if God had placed the incense altar inside the Most Holy, the priests could not have burned incense on it every day as God demanded.  So, He commanded Moses to place it just outside the Most Holy, in front of the veil.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

This “Pearl” (below) would include the man Jesus, would it not?  John more than accepted Jesus when he came to him.

==========

Without a doubt, what Preacher Clark said in that Pearl would have included Mary’s son.

==========

I’ve been thinking about this.  The Law of Moses made sacrifices available if a person erred in certain ways.  Would a person who made the prescribed sacrifices then be regarded as perfect under the Law?

==========

Yes.

==========

And was that condition all that was required of the man Jesus?

==========

Yes.  Mary’s son was only required to keep the law that God gave to Moses, just like everyone else in Israel.  And as Preacher Clark’s Pearl suggests, John’s baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River was Jesus’ receipt from God, showing he had obeyed God, just as that baptism was everyone else’s receipt for obedience.

==========

Also, I’d been thinking about the things John the Baptizer said of Jesus, in particular, “Behold the Lamb of God” which he said at least twice.  Reading the passage just now I realized that whenever I have read, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him,” (John 1:29) I have assumed that it meant Jesus was coming to John to be water baptized but that does not have to be the case. In fact, the following verses really only make sense if the Son of God had already taken up his abode in the man Jesus’ body.  From the other gospels it seems Jesus went immediately to the Temptation after he was baptized by John, so perhaps Jesus was in fact returning to Galilee via Jordan (where John was) after the Temptation at the time of these verses in John.  Maybe I was alone in thinking that Jesus was coming to be baptized, but it showed me how I read things with assumed understanding.

Damien

==========

We certainly do have to stay alert to avoid assuming too much when we read the Bible.  I, too, have always thought as you did about John 1:29.  And I see what you mean about the following verses.  Very interesting!

Pastor John

Hi John,

Can you explain what “leasing” means as it is written in Psalms 5:6
“Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing.”

Thank you!

Patty

============

Hi Patty!

The word “leasing” is an archaic word for “lie”.  God will destroy liars.  That is what David is saying.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

I’m reading some good material by you concerning the Blood, and The Father & The Son, but I have a question.

Do you think Jesus had a sin nature? Because if he was in the Flesh (which he was) without a sin nature then he could have lived forever, I suppose?  I know that he could’ve sinned.  That’s not the question.  I hope you understand what I’m trying to ask.

By the way, you are hilarious!  Tonight was great!!  Oh shucks.  Ha.

John C.

===========

Hi John.

If Jesus had a human nature, then yes, he had a sinful nature.  At the same time, by the Spirit, he was a partaker of the nature of God.

I am glad you are able to watch the meetings and that you are enjoying them.  We are blessed!

Pastor John

Hi Pastor John,

I’ve been reading the George C. Clark story again and just finished the story of Sister Pyver and the dream your dad had of the grinding stone. The building into which the polished stones were being placed by the angel represented those who were “established in Christ”.  How do you know when you have become established in Christ?

Michelle

===========

Hi Michelle,

I imagine there are many ways the Lord lets a person know he is established. Sister May B. in Louisville, now with the Lord, told me of being established when my father laid hands on her in about 1935.  She was on her thirties then, and lived until she was very old, steady and grounded in Christ the whole time.  Sister Briley was established in her old age, in large part, by reading the manuscript of my book, Suffering and the Saints before it was published. After she was established (unknown to me), I went to visit her, and when I walked in her front door, I felt something I had never felt around her.  She was lying in bed, very feeble, but the glory of God filled her home so much you could feel it before you saw her!

I am sure others have their own testimonies, but the only sure thing about being established is this:  There are many more whom think and claim they are established in Christ than there are who have experienced the work of God in their souls that truly established them.

Pastor John