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  • Chapter 6 – Two parts

    This [the latest excerpt of the Father and Son book that we received] is wonderful, John! One bows to another because they discern and recognize their authority over them, and so they bow.(The greater receives the lesser). When Jesus did not bow to Satan, he (Jesus) knew his authority(over Satan) and he knew what Satan was. It really pays to know who and who not to bow to, and only Jesus has that kind of wisdom from the Father. If Satan knew who really Jesus was, he would have bowed to Jesus. Thus, Jesus Christ was hidden from the world and especially, Satan. It is a different world before Pentecost; like the difference in this world before and after the flood. Without this Pentecostal experience, it would be like trying to live in this world before the flood, and that is what xty is doing,

    Billy M

    ==========

    Hey Pastor John,

    I am still thinking on this part of chapter 6. There is a statement on page 2 that struck me. “He (Satan) may have had no love for Christ but he loved God, at least the God he thought God was.” Never thought about Satan as loving God. Always seemed he wanted to advance himself. Also seemed Satan had no love for man at all! He loved his job as prosecutor. Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for the Love of God! These things are so good. I know I have loved things thinking it was God. I am thankful God has had mercy on me. I love learning more of God!

    Thank You Pastor John for your work.
    Sue

  • Proverbs

    Hey!

    I was reading in Proverbs this morning. It was something to read Chapter 8 and see the Son start speaking through Solomon in verse 22. The Son said he was daily his Father’s delight and had been rejoicing always before the Father, rejoicing in the habitable part of the Father’s earth – and his delights were with the sons of men!

    The Son (& the Father) really love us!
    🙂

    Amanda

    PS The woman in chapter 7 reminded me of Christianity: She was subtle and said she’d paid her vows. She used “fair speech” and she lies in wait at every corner.
    The way of Xty really is like the way of a harlot.

  • “Bishop”

    Pastor John:

    What is a Bishop, and what are his duties?

    George
    =================

    Hi George.

    Thanks for the question.

    The word “bishop” is a Latinized form of the Greek word for “overseer”. A bishop’s responsibilities in the kingdom of God are implied in the title (to “oversee” the welfare of the flock of God), but they are not specifically enumerated in the New Testament. An associated word, “pastor”, by the way, is also a Latinized form of a Greek word that is usually translated “shepherd”. Though the Bible does not give a specific list of duties for either a bishop of a pastor, the duties of each are easily determined from the context of scripture. There is no biblical hierarchy attached to those two titles. In Christian tradition, however, “bishop” usually refers to one in a a higher rank than “pastor”, as I am sure you know.

    In the King James Version, the word for “shepherd” is translated as “pastor” only once (Eph. 4:11). The other 17 times, it is translated as “shepherd”. The emphasis of that word is on feeding and caring for a flock, but there is also some significant authority attached. For example, when we are told that Jesus will “rule the nations with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27), the word is a verb form of the word, “shepherd”. In other words, Jesus will “shepherd” the nations with a rod of iron. The same word is used by Peter to tell elders of the faith to “feed the flock of God” (1Pet. 5:2). That word is the same verb form of “shepherd” that is in Revelation 2:27, which I just mentioned.

    The word for “bishop” (“overseer”) is used in the New Testament only 5 times, and the underlying meaning is simply to “take care of” or “watch over”, which is what a shepherd does.

    It may be that “pastor” (“shepherd”) is just a kind of bishop (“overseer”). I think of an apostle as an overseer of the household of God on earth, with “pastors” of specific congregations under them.

    Hope that helps.
    Pastor John

  • John 2:4

    Hi Pastor John-

    I don’t understand this verse from John 2:4. Would you explain it please?

    Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.”

    Thanks
    Michelle
    ==============

    Hi Michelle,

    This is our translation of that part of John 2:

    3. And when the wine had run out, Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no wine.”
    4. But Jesus said to her, “What’s that to you and me, mother? My hour hasn’t yet come.”
    5. His mother said to the attendants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”

    Jesus actually did use the word, “woman”, but that did not carry with it the sense of rudeness that comes across in English, so we just replaced it with “mother”, which is closer to the sense of what Jesus said.

    Pastor John

  • What about angels?

    Hey John,

    Thinking about the nature of man, I thought of another question this morning. What about angels of the Lord when they appeared before man, e.g. the angel appearing before Manoah. Were these angels divested into men’s bodies and if so, were these men already living on earth as was Jesus?

    Jim K
    ============

    No, Jim, the angels were not in human bodies at all. The bodies of angels are invisible, heavenly bodies. They are not made of flesh, but they are shaped like men’s bodies. Also as with the fleshly bodies of men on earth, there are minor differences in the bodies of angels. Some angels, for example, are taller than others. I know that is true because I saw three angels once, and one of them was a little taller than the other two. Samson’s parents, Manoah and his wife, saw the angel they saw because God allowed them to see him. Usually, angels are invisible to us, but when God wants us to see one, what we see looks just like one of us. That is why the author of Hebrews could say that “some have entertained angels unawares.” All of us have, at one time or another, have probably met and talked with angels without being aware that we were doing so.

    Thanks for the question.

    jdc

  • Mathew 5:12

    Hey John,

    How do the priests profane the temple on the Sabbath?

    Margaret
    =================

    Hi Margaret.

    Good question!

    If you are referring to Matthew 12:5, Jesus says there that the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath. I don’t recall a place where Jesus said the priests profane the temple itself on the Sabbath. Here is Matthew 12:5, from our translation:

    5. Haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

    The priests profaned the Sabbath by doing chores in the temple on the Sabbath. One of God’s Ten Commandments for Israel was that Israel should do no work on the Sabbath day. But the priests were also commanded to make sacrifices twice each day on the altar in front of the temple and to offer incense inside the temple twice each day, including the Sabbath, and to eat the “shewbread” and replace it with new bread in the temple every Sabbath day. So, sometimes, the priests had to choose which of God’s commandments to keep. Should they obey God’s commandment to do no work on the Sabbath, or should they perform on the Sabbath the ceremonies which He commanded the priests to do every day, and cook new bread and eat the old in the temple on the Sabbath? They chose wisely by electing to do the work God told them to do in the temple. That is how the priests profaned the Sabbath and yet, were counted “innocent” before the Lord, as Jesus said.

    jdc

  • Amanda – Luke reading

    I just read the last chapter of Luke, and it jumped out at me that the Son explained the scriptures about himself and then opened their minds to understand them (vs 27 & 45). It jumped out because it sounds and feels like the Son explained to them his coming and the timing of his life, etc., the way you have pulled the scriptures together in the Father and Son book.
    😉
    Amanda
    ==========

    Yes, I think that is what he was doing. The disciples were no doubt amazed to hear it.

    jdc

  • “son of man”

    Hi John,
    I have a question, I have been reading in Matthew and noticed that Jesus referred to himself a lot as the son of man. What is it that he is referring to? Is it because he was born of man? that he is the son of man? I looked up a lot of places where the son man was used and God referred to Ezekiel a lot as son of man, is it just of the flesh?

    Thanks
    Stuart
    =============

    Yes, Stuart, the Son of God is referring to the Son of Mary part of himself. In heaven with the Father, he certainly was never called “the son of man”. God also addresses Ezekiel as “son of man” quite often, as you said. The phrase in Ezekiel just means, “human”. It is, of course, very unusual for the Son of God to call himself that, but then, what was NOT unusual about what the Son of God did and said?

    jdc

  • Genesis question

    Pastor John,

    What was Lamech trying to convey to his wives? I am having a hard time figuring it out. Is he boasting or lamenting?

    Genesis 4:3-4 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

    Brittany

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

    Hi Brittany.

    Lamech was boasting. Seems like an evil character to me.

    Pastor John

  • Billy – repentance and baptism

    pearl 061712

    Hi, Pastor John:

    Todays Pearl, goes so well with the scripture, below.

    I have read over this verse in Mathew,many times. Other than keeping the law of Moses, would their repentance be to submit to John’s water baptism? I thought this was something; people were getting healed, fed, and raised from the dead, but they really didn’t want Jesus or what he was preaching (the Kingdom of God). They just wanted their belly fed, and their bodies healed, and just go on their way. It broke my heart for Jesus, but I’m on this side of Pentecost, as you have said many times.

    Mathew Ch:11 vs:20
    Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles were performed because they did not repent.

    —
    Billy M.

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

    Hi Billy.

    John’s baptism was not part of repentance. It was the proof that one had already repented. Jesus’ baptism is the same.

    jdc

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