Jim's Footnotes

Monday, May 15, 2006

Power from on High (5-21-06)

Power from on High
Bible Study Time 5-21-06

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, saying:

Galatians 4:4-6 (NKJ)
4 . . . when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

From this we see that Jesus Christ was born of a woman so that we might be born of the Spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus:

John 3:6-7 (NKJ)
6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

In the first chapter of Matthew, Matthew gives the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, saying that Jesus Christ was the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Then he goes through the lineage of Christ, saying that Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah, and so forth and so on until we get to the birth of Jesus. At that point, Matthew says:

Matthew 1:18
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

All of the men listed in the genealogy of Jesus were born according to the flesh, but Jesus Christ was born on this wise: Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

God gave a hint concerning the virgin birth of Christ in Genesis, Chapter 3, when Adam and Eve first sinned. The Lord pronounced a curse upon Satan, saying:

Genesis 3:15 (NKJ)
15 . . . I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

God said that it would be the seed of the woman who would bruise the head of Satan, not the seed of the man or the seed of the man and the woman. From the time of that first sin, God patiently waited as mankind grew more and more sinful and farther and farther from God, but as we saw in Galatians 4, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman to redeem those who were under the law.”

In I Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul spoke of Christ and referred to Him as the last Adam. He said, “The first man, Adam, became a living being, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

When Adam came into being, he was born of the Spirit. He did not have an earthly father. The Bible says that God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and then Adam became a living being.

Adam lived for 930 years, and can’t you just imagine Adam telling his children and grandchildren and many generations of great-grandchildren all about the creation story? What a wonderful story that must have been to listen to.

But, as we know, the story had some sad news too. Adam and Eve sinned and lost the life that had been given to them by the Spirit of God. They could not pass on to their children the life of the Spirit of God. All men who came after Adam were born according to the flesh, and Romans 8 says that the fleshly mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be.

When Christ came, however, He was not born according to the flesh. He was born according to the Spirit. Now this does not mean that Christ was just a spirit being any more than Adam was just a spirit being. They both had bodies of flesh, but their bodies were given life by the Spirit of God, and in that sense, they were not born of the flesh, but they were born of the Spirit. Where the first Adam had failed to live according to the Spirit, Jesus Christ, the last Adam, would dedicate Himself completely to the Spirit of God, and He would make it possible for all believers to be born again by the working of the Holy Spirit.

Notice that Paul did not say that Christ was the second Adam. That would imply that a third or a forth Adam might come after the Lord Jesus, but Paul was emphatic when he said that Jesus Christ was the last Adam.

Jesus Christ came to live a perfect live, in perfect obedience to the Father and in total submission to the Holy Spirit. He came to destroy the curse of sin and the power of Satan. There would be no need for another Adam. There would be no need for another virgin birth.

As Christ took His last breath while hanging upon the cross, He exclaimed, “It is finished!” He had fulfilled all of the righteous requirements of the Law. He had fulfilled all that the prophets had written. He had done all that was necessary to break the curse of sin and the power of Satan.

The Seed of the woman had bruised the head of the serpent. This wound, as of yet, is just a bruise. Satan is still functioning in our world today, but he has been wounded. Someday, God is going to take the Church of our present age out of this world. Then He will turn this world over to Satan and the antichrist. At the end of the seven-year tribulation period, Jesus Christ will catch up the tribulation saints, and then return to the earth with all of the kingdom saints from Abraham to that time.

He will cast the antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire. He will bind the devil and cast him into the bottomless pit. After a thousand years of peace on the earth, Satan will be loosed to stir up one final rebellion against Jesus Christ. At that time, Satan’s rebellion will be destroyed with fire from heaven, and Satan, Himself, will be cast into the lake of fire.

The entire spectrum of this future scenario has been made sure by the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, for by His death He paid the penalty for sin, and by His resurrection He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them.

Therefore, Jesus Christ is the last Adam, and He is a life-giving spirit. He was born of the Spirit, and lived by the Spirit. He was raised from the dead by the Spirit, and He gives the life of the Spirit to all who believe in His name.

When Nicodemus came to the Lord by night, he said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

In His reply, Jesus did not beat around the bush with Nicodemus. Immediately, He said, “Most assuredly, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said unto you, 'You must be born again.'”

After His resurrection, the Lord spent 40 days with His disciples, teaching them about the kingdom. Luke says that Christ commanded His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father. He told them that John truly baptized with water, but they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a short time.

Because of Christ’s death burial and resurrection, those men were ready to be born of the Spirit, and shortly thereafter, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God was poured out upon them. Acts 2 says:

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Luke goes on to tell how the people who gathered outside the house thought the disciples were drunk, but Peter stood up and explained that this was the fulfillment of the prophet Joel who said:

Acts 2:17-21 (NKJ)
17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days . . . that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Clearly, Peter was expecting the kingdom to come at any moment. He was expecting the events, which we now know, will happen at the end of the tribulation period. As far as Peter knew, he was in the last days just before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Peter went on to tell the crowd that they had crucified the promised Messiah. He reminded them that Jesus did miracles while He lived among them, and now they, the apostles, were doing miracles to prove that Jesus was alive and that He was the Messiah.

Those who heard Peter’s message were convicted of their sin, and when they ask what they should do, Peter said:

Acts 2:38-39 (NKJ)
38 . . . "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Notice that Peter never said a word about Jesus dying for their sins. Peter simply told them that they had killed the Messiah and that they should repent and get right with God.

Today we preach a different message. We preach that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And this is the gospel message which was given to the Apostle Paul.

In Paul’s earlier ministry during the Acts period, He proclaimed this message as he went preaching the gospel of the kingdom. During that time, there was a different program for the Jews and the Gentiles as was acknowledged at the Jerusalem Council in Acts, Chapter 15. However, throughout the Acts period, Israel steadfastly refused to accept Christ as her Messiah, and as a result, God set Israel’s kingdom program aside.

At that point, God called out the Apostle Paul to reveal the Church which is the Body of Christ. In Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul revealed that on the cross, Christ broke down the middle wall of separation between the Jew and the Gentile, and He brought the two together in Himself in one new man. He revealed that now Christ has reconciled both Jew and Gentile in one body through the cross.

Today, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit but without the miracles which were so evident during the time of Israel’s kingdom program. Those signs were given for the Jews to leave them without excuse when they stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgment.

Today, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Paul says in Colossians 2:

Colossians 2:11-13 (NKJ)
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

This is the means by which we are born of the Spirit today. We are raised with Christ through faith in the working of God who raised Christ from the dead. In Ephesians 5, Paul says:

Ephesians 5:8,14-17 (NKJ)
8 . . . you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
14 . . . "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, who was born of a woman but conceived by the Holy Spirit of God. God sent forth His Son so that we might receive the Spirit of God and be born again.

If you don’t know the Lord Jesus today as your personal Savior, you are still walking in darkness with no ability to understand what the will of the Lord is. The Lord Jesus said:

John 11:9-10 (NKJ)
9 . . . “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

God wants to illuminate your path so that you can walk uprightly without any fear of stumbling. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. In Him is life and the life is the light of men. There is no light apart from Jesus Christ. Put your faith in Him today and your will experience what it means to be born of the Spirit.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’s been a pleasure studying with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

Monday, May 08, 2006

Choices (5-15-06)

Choices
Bible Study Time 5-14-06

Joshua of the Old Testament is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. In fact, the name Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name Joshua which means Savior. When the angel told Joseph that Mary had conceived a child by the Holy Spirit, the angel concluded:

Matthew 1:21 (NKJ)
21 " . . . she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

As you read the Old Testament, Joshua first appears on the scene in Exodus, Chapter 17, while the children of Israel were traveling from the Red Sea to Mt. Sinai. The Amalekites had gathered to attack Israel at Rephidim, and Moses called upon Joshua to gather his men for battle. Moses stood at the top of a nearby hill and held his staff high in the air as Joshua defeated the Amalekites. For Joshua, this was but a taste of things to come for Joshua would later lead the nation of Israel to victory over all of the pagan nations living in the land of Canaan.

The life of Joshua is generally divided into two parts. First, Joshua served as Moses’ assistant. When God called Moses up to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive the Law, the Bible says that Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and then Moses went up to the mountain of God. This is a picture of Jesus Christ in His first advent because Jesus Christ came as the servant of God. Jesus said:

John 6:38 (NKJ)
38 " . . . I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

The Apostle Paul admonished the people in Philippi with these words:

Philippians 2:5-8 (NKJ)
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

But then Paul says:

Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJ)
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This brings us to the second aspect of Joshua’s life which covers that period of time after Moses’ death. This is the time in which Joshua served as the Commander in Chief of the Army of God, leading the nation of Israel to victory over the pagan nations of the land of Canaan. Of coarse, this pictures the Lord Jesus at His second coming when He will return from heaven on a white horse with His robe dipped in blood. Revelation 19 says that in righteousness He will judge and make war against the antichrist and his army of unbelievers.

Now, we know today, because of the writings of the Apostle Paul, that believers of our present age will be taken up into heaven at least seven years before the Lord Jesus returns to defeat the antichrist. We, as members of the Church, the Body of Christ, will be taken up into heaven, then there will be the seven years of the great tribulation period during which the antichrist will rise to power. Toward the end of the tribulation period, Christ will catch up the believers of the tribulation period, and they will return with Christ to the earth to wage war with the antichrist and then rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years.

The book of Joshua describes the various battles that took place as the nation of Israel conquered the land of Canaan. It describes the division of the land among the twelve tribes of Israel, and it also describes Joshua’s final words to the nation of Israel. Joshua was a hundred and ten years old by this time, and he spoke to the people as the prophet of God. Joshua, Chapter 24 says:

Joshua 24:1-2 (NKJ)
1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

God wanted to remind the children of Israel that Abraham and his father and brothers were idolaters. They had worshiped the idols of the Chaldeans on the other side of the Euphrates Rivers up until the point when God called Abraham out of paganism to follow the true and the living God.

It was important for Israel to know that their many victories over the Canaanites were not just because of their own faithfulness to God, but they were also a result of Abraham’s faithfulness to God. God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, and God was fulfilling His promise to Abraham. In this we see an example of how God blesses even the generations that follow those who are faithful to the Lord.

God continues in Joshua 24, saying, “I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them.”

Even the plagues that God sent upon Egypt through Moses were specific judgments upon the pagan gods of Egypt. God is a jealous God, and He will not share His glory with another. The plague of flies was a judgment on the god of the flies. The plague of the frogs was a judgment on the god of the frogs, and so forth and so on.

In Joshua 24, God goes on to remind the children of Israel that He was the One who had led their fathers out of Egypt and had brought them through the Red Sea. He was the One who had destroyed the Amorites and the Moabites before the Jews even got to the promised land. He was the One who had delivered all the land of Canaan into their hands and had driven out the pagan nations. God said:

Joshua 24:12-13 (NKJ)
12 'I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow.
13 'I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'

At this point Joshua speaks for himself, saying:

Joshua 24:14-15 (NKJ)
14 "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!
15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

The nation of Israel had a decision to make. It was a decision that would affect their lives and the lives of their children for many years to come. Would they be willing to put away the pagan gods and serve the Lord? This was a very important decision.

As I read this account, I can’t help but think of the people who say that they don’t want to influence the beliefs of their children when it comes to religion. They say that they will raise their children the best they can, and then their children will be able to decide for themselves about religion when they get old enough to understand.

Well, Joshua was speaking for the Lord when he presented the children of Israel with this decision, but God was not about to put this decision upon them without giving them the information they needed to make a good decision. God knows that good decisions are based on reliable information, so God reviewed the whole history of the nation of Israel before asking them to decide. Then, in the light of this glorious history, Joshua asked them to choose for themselves whether they wanted the blessings of God or the misery and suffering that comes to those who refuse to follow the Lord. With this information, the Jews were able to make a good decision, and they said:

Joshua 24:16-18 (NKJ)
16 . . . "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods;
17 "for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.
18 "And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."

So the children of Israel renewed their covenant with the Lord that day, and the Bible says that Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

The Jews made the right choice because they had good, reliable information upon which to make their decision, and they had effective leaders like Moses and Joshua who were willing to teach them the truth and then live by the truths they taught. Oh, how much we need effective spiritual leadership in our homes, in our churches and in our country. Leaders who are willing to stand for the truth.

What a difference it makes in a home when the parents are willing to stand up for the truth of God’s word and teach their children about the righteous God who created all things and then gave His Son to die for the sins of the world so that those who believe might have eternal life.

What a difference it makes when churches have pastors who are willing to stand up for the truth of God’s word. Who fight spiritual battles with the spiritual weapons provided by the Holy Spirit of God: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and the sword of the Spirit.

What a difference it makes when a country has leaders with a firm commitment to the principles of truth and honesty. Who are led by the Holy Spirit to protect those who are defenseless and provide for those who cannot provide for themselves.

God had blessed Israel with strong, effective leadership in Moses and Joshua. They taught the truth and lived by the truth, and the Bible says that:

Joshua 24:31 (NKJ)
31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

However, as time went on the children of Israel did turn away from God. During the time of the judges, Deborah sang a song which said:

Judges 5:7-8 (NKJ)
7 Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; then there was war in the gates; not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

The nation of Israel chose new gods. They forgot about the history lesson that Joshua taught them or maybe they just stopped believing it. Either way, they chose new gods, and there was war in the gates. Israel was defenseless before her enemies.

People today have the same choice to make that Israel had to make. Will we serve the true and the living God or not. God has given us a free will, and we are free to choose. However, today, we have an advantage over the Jews of the Old Testament because today we have the completed word of God. We can see the purpose of the Old Testament Law and the fact that it was given as a tutor, or schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ.

The Old Testament Law promised physical blessings on this physical earth, but today, we have the opportunity to receive eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus said, “I did not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill the Law.” He lived a perfect life and then offered His life upon the cross of Calvary as the spotless lamb of God so that all those who believe might have everlasting life.

If you have never trusted Christ as your personal Savior, won’t you make that decision today. God has given us all of the information that we need to make a well-informed decision. He has given us the word of God, and He has given us pastors and teachers to explain the word of God to us. If you choose to follow Christ, then you will know what a blessing it is to be able to say as Joshua did, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

I see our time is gone. It’s been a pleasure studying with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Behold the Glory (5-7-06)

Behold the Glory
Bible Study Time 5-7-06

Moses first caught a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ while he was herding his sheep in the back side of the wilderness. Off in the distance he saw a bush which was engulfed in flames. This was not so strange in itself, but what caught his attention was the fact that the bush was not consumed by the flames. The bush just kept on burning and burning.

As Moses approached the bush to investigate, a voice called out to him, saying, “Moses, Moses!” (Exodus 3)

Moses said, “Here I am.”

The voice said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

At that point, the Bible says that Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

I have often wondered how well Moses knew the Lord before this time. We know that he lived the first forty years of life in the house of the King of Egypt. How much Moses knew about his people or their heritage we can only speculate.

But here in the dessert, as Moses stood before the burning bush, God told Moses to go back to Egypt and bring the Jews up out of Egypt to the land of Canaan. At this point, Moses asked, “If the Jews should ask, what is Your Name?” This would indicate that if Moses knew God, he didn’t know Him very well, and we can be fairly certain that Moses had never had such a one on one meeting with God before.

What a difference this personal encounter with God was going to make in His life. Even as Moses stood talking to the true and the living God, he could not have imaged all that he was going to see and all that he was going to accomplish because of this one on one encounter with God.

Many people today know about God, but they’ve never had a personal encounter with God. Simply knowing about God will never bring a change in our lives. It’s not until we get one on one with God, confessing our sins and trusting Him for forgiveness, that God is able to make us a new creation in Jesus Christ.

Armed with this personal relationship with God, Moses was now ready to stand before the most powerful king in the world. He was positioned to deliver the entire nation of Israel out from under the bondage of slavery. He was ready to separate the waters of the Red Sea and hold them back while the nation of Israel walked across on dry land. By simply opening his heart to God, he had positioned himself to be the one who would give the greatest set of civil and moral laws that the world has ever known. All of these things lay just ahead in Moses life as he moved from knowing about God to knowing God.

Notice what it took for Moses to get to know God. First, he observed what was going on around him. Second, he listened to the word of God as he investigated the things he observed. Third, Moses believed the word of God, and he did what God told him to do.

Many people today never seek to know God because they fail to observe what is going on around them. They just go about their everyday lives, making money, marrying and giving in marriage as the people did in Noah’s day, but they never stop to see the incredible things that God is doing all around them.

One doesn’t have to read the papers everyday to notice that the world we live in is getting worse and worse. There are wars and rumors of wars. We see famine and disease. We see corruption and every sort of immorality. The global weather patterns as well as the global economy seem very fragile.

And yet in the midst of all this instability, we see the nation of Israel which according to all reasonable probabilities should have disappeared from off the face of the earth thousands of years ago. But here we are in the year 2006, and Israel is still alive. In fact, she continues to dominate the headlines. Israel is like the burning bush. She continues on through the fire, and she has yet to be consumed.

People who take an honest look at our world today will find themselves drawn to the voice that came from the burning bush. They will listen to that voice as they investigate what they see around them, and the Bible says that those who seek the truth will find it. Jesus Christ is the truth, and all who seek Him will find Him.

God has not make it hard for people to be saved. He has made it perfectly clear in His word what it takes to be saved. As Paul told the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

As we have seen, Moses observed what God was doing, he listened to what God was saying, and he believed what God was saying. Then after he believed, he did what God told him to do. As a result, God was able to change his life from a life of frustration and disappointment to a life that was nothing short of spectacular.

However, Moses did not find it easy to trust the Lord. When God challenged him to return to Egypt, Moses was skeptical. He had lived for forty years with some bitter memories of his last days in Egypt, and he had some agonizing conflicts when it came to his Jewish brothers back in Egypt.

Sure, Moses had killed an Egyptian, but wasn’t that Egyptian beating a fellow Jew? Wasn’t Moses simply trying to protect a Jewish brother. When the Jews who knew about the murder threatened to expose Moses, Moses had to run from Egypt, and he must have felt betrayed by his own people.

As we go out and talk to people about Jesus Christ, we can expect to find some people who are like Moses. When they look at their past experiences, they may feel nothing but frustration and disappointment. They may feel like they are living their lives on the backside of the desert. These past experiences may hinder their faith when they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You may have noticed that God didn’t really ask Moses if he would like to go back and deliver the Jews from slavery. No, God simply informed Moses that this was what He was going to do. However, in spite of this proclamation, Moses was reluctant. He didn’t really know God well enough to trust Him, so Moses asked, “Who am I that I should do this?” And then he asked, “What if they don’t believe that You are the One who has sent me?”

God told Moses to cast his staff down on the ground. When he did, his staff turned into a serpent. God said, pick that serpent up by the tail. When he did, the serpent turned back into a staff.

God told Moses to put his hand inside his shirt. When he pulled his hand out, it was white with leprosy. God had Moses put his hand back inside his shirt, and when Moses pulled his hand out this time, his skin was like normal skin. God was willing to give Moses these signs to bolster his confidence in the power of God.

Now this willingness on the part of God to give signs to people, is something that is unique to the Jews. The Apostle Paul said, “The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.” (I Corinthians 1:22)

God has never given Gentiles signs. He never gave the Gentiles of Noah’s day a sign to prove that the flood was coming. He never gave the Gentiles of Nineveh a sign to prove that they were on the verge of destruction. When the Gentiles experienced the miracles of the Acts period, even those miracles were given as a sign to the nation of Israel so that they would believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

Now don’t get me wrong, God does not expect us, as members of the Body of Christ, to believe in Jesus Christ without any evidence. God does give us plenty of evidence to substantiate our faith, but the greatest evidence of all is the internal evidence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:

John 6:44 (NKJ)
44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father . . . draws him . . .

That means that those who come to Christ in faith have been drawn to Christ by some very strong evidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He is man’s only hope of salvation. However, today this evidence does not come in the form of outward signs and miracles. It comes by the conviction of the Holy Spirit as we respond to the word of God. Hebrews 11 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

If the Greeks seek after wisdom, then certainly this is the kind of wisdom that we should seek. The wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit will come from the word of God, and it will be confirmed by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

As Moses listened to the voice of God, he had some physical miracles to confirm the words of God, but I believe that it was the pulling of the Holy Spirit that really convinced Moses of the power of God. It was the pulling of the Holy Spirit that kept Moses from turning around and walking away.

It is interesting to note that even though Moses was given miraculous signs to verify the words of God, these signs did not reveal the glory of God. It was not until after Moses believed the word of God and dedicated himself to following the Lord that he saw the glory of God.

What a great privilege it is to see the glory of Christ, but that is a privilege that is available to all believers today. John said:

John 1:14 (NKJ)
14 . . . the Word became 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.

Here John spoke as one who had believed the words of Christ and had dedicated his life to following Christ. Those who believe God’s word and follow Christ will behold the glory of Christ.

From the time Peter first started following the Lord Jesus, he saw the Lord do many miracles, but it was not until after Peter made his confession, saying, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”, that Peter was allowed to see the glory of Christ.

Matthew says that six days after Peter’s confession:

Matthew 17:1,2,5,6 (NKJ)
1 Jesus took Peter, James, and John . . . up on a high mountain by themselves;
2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, . . . His clothes became as white as the light.
5 . . . (And) behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; . . . suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.

Peter saw the miracles, but He never saw the glory of the Lord until after he confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. When Peter saw Christ in all of His glory, it had a tremendous impact on his life. In Peter’s second epistle, he was speaking of himself and the other apostles when he said:

2 Peter 1:16-19 (NKJ)
16 . . . we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but (we) were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

If you don’t know Christ today, don’t let disappoints in your past keep you from seeing the glory of Jesus Christ and experiencing all that God has for you in this life and in the life to come. If you believe that Christ died for your sins and if you dedicate your life to following Christ, you can see the glory of Jesus Christ.

I see our time is gone. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

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