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  • 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

  • Just Like Us

    Good Morning,

    I was reading this morning and came across a Thought for the Evening, dated 1-16: Jesus was like Us. I thought you might want to read it. It talks about the temptation in the wilderness and your comparing it with Peter’s scene in Matthew 16. It was very good. Hope you have a great day.

    Love ya,
    Donna
    ===========

    Hi Donna.

    That Thought for the Evening was written by Taylor, and you are right; it was very good.

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/site/php/thoughts.php?tname=tfe01-16

    jdc

  • Stuart – The Son of God

    John,

    I have a question, is what happened to Jesus be different then what happens to us when we receive the holy ghost? I know that the Son of God left his place and came and took on the flesh of Jesus and lived through him, and I know it says that they saw the spirit descend on Jesus like a dove when the Son took up his abode. But that was not just like receiving the holy ghost right? I mean The Son of God actually lived through Jesus.

    And I know that when we receive the holy ghost that the Son said that he and the Father would come and take up their abode with us, so I don’t really know if I am asking this right, but the physical Son of God was in the body of Jesus right? And not in us right?

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

    Hi Stuart.

    This is a question that most of us have had when we became aware of the fact that God had a Son before Mary did. I don’t know that anyone can fully answer that question, but there are a few things we can say. How did those two sons, God’s and Mary’s, get together? And what happened to the one, or to either of them, when they became one person at the Jordan River? All we know for certain is that they were blended, body, soul, and spirit on that day, and from that time on, Jesus was Jesus Christ, or “Jesus, the Anointed One”. Nothing like that can be done or fully understood by humans; it is accomplished only by power and wisdom which is in God’s kind of life. And it is not unusual for a higher life form to be able to know and do things that lower life forms cannot comprehend or do. Can a turnip, or a bird, read the Bible as you do, or write a letter? So, for God to do something that we cannot do or understand is only to be expected. The good news is that He did it because He loved us and wants us to live with Him forever, happy, healthy, and free.

    How is Jesus’ experience different from everyone who has received the Spirit since Pentecost? One fact that comes to mind is that everyone in God’s kingdom receives life from God for a purpose; that is, to occupy a certain place in His kingdom. When Jesus received life, he received the life of the Son of God, which the Son also had received from God. The Son’s life had been given to him to reign over Creation as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and that is who Jesus became. You and I received the same kind of life but for a different purpose, for we are given different places in our Father’s kingdom. That is the best i can do with that one right now.

    As for the Son”physically” coming into Jesus, I know what you are trying to say, but there was nothing physical about him. He like his Father, was a spiritual being, not a physical one. But yes, the person of the Son came from heaven and made his home in the body of Mary’s Son. I would also say that the Father came, too, because the Father and the Son are one in spirit. Didn’t Jesus himself say, “The Father is in me, and I in Him”? So, what do we do with that?

    What God did in Christ is just beyond us, Stuart. And that’s a good thing. If it had not been beyond us, it couldn’t have saved us from sin.

    Pastor John

  • “how to”

    Pastor John

    I’ve been looking over your website and listening to the personal testimonies of receiving the Holy Spirit. I gotta say i love this site! I would like to learn more about receiving the Holy Spirit, specifically the ” how to “.
    Thank you.

    JK
    =============

    Hi JK!

    Thank you for writing. The apostle John wrote, “We love Him because He first loved us.” It is also true that if we want God, it is because He wanted us first!! On our own, human nature does not want God or love Him. If you have a desire in your heart for the Blessing of the Spirit, it is only because God wants you to have it! Isn’t that exciting!

    There is no formula for receiving the holy Spirit baptism. It is simply a matter of repentance, obedience, and faith. God has set up this New Covenant in such a way that He has to call each one of us, and each one of us has to seek Him for ourselves and have our own experiences with Him. There is no ceremony for you to perform, no scriptures to quote, and nothing that you can join that will make you acceptable to God. Simple faith in His dear Son is all that He demands.

    If there is anything in your life that He is not pleased with, he will let you know. Listen for His voice and follow it. If you do that, you will be guided along the path that leads to the baptism that His Son gives, the baptism of the holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. After that, all that He requires is that you continue to listen to Him and by the Spirit. And if you do that, you will meet God in peace in the end and live in peace with Him forever.

    We are excited about what lies ahead of you as you hear His voice and receive your reward. Let us know about your journey!

    Pastor John

  • Sweet experience

    Hey Pastor John

    I had the sweetest experience tonight. As I was watching everyone begin to pray for you I felt the most incredible love, it was overwhelming. I closed my eyes and begin to pray for you and then I had a vision. I saw you in a kitchen wearing a white apron. You were cooking the most marvelous meal and you we’re smiling and so happy I could feel it. I opened my eyes and I begin to speak in tongues and I heard the spirit say ” He is cooking the food I gave Him to feed you.” It was just so sweet!

    Michelle

  • Nebuchadnezzar – physical changes

    Hey Pastor John,

    When Nebuchadnezzar was cursed by God and given the nature of a beast, it changed his appearance. His body changed some what, to agree with it’s nature.
    Is this the same thing that happens when the Lord hands people over to [homosexual] spirits? Most of the homosexual people I have seen, physically, do not look either female or male, but a weird cross?

    Kay
    ==========

    Yes, Kay. One’s nature affects the body so much that one’s physical appearance often gives clues to what lie within.

    Pastor John

    ===========

    That’s interesting… kind of goes along with these verses. Never thought of it in that way, but it fits.
    Gary

    Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
    Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

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