October 19, 2012

"Experts at Setting Aside the Commandment of God" (10/19)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 15; Mark 7.

After condemning the Pharisees for worshiping God in vain and elevating the commandments of men to the same status as the commandments of God, Jesus told them they were experts. Unfortunately, they were not experts in an area that was any good.

“He was also saying to them, ‘You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition’” (Mark 7:9).

Jesus was certainly not praising them for their expertise here. They had become highly adept at violating the commandment of God while still appearing to be religious. Sadly, many people today do the same thing. But notice how the Pharisees did this.
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October 18, 2012

The Faith to Move Mountains

Mountain fog

The gospels record many occasions of Jesus casting out demons. On one such occasion, a man came requesting that Jesus heal his son of his demon possession (Matthew 17:14-15). What was interesting about this example was that this man first brought his son to Jesus’ disciples, but “they could not cure him” (Matthew 17:16). But when Jesus told this father to bring his son, Jesus immediately cast out the demon and cured the boy (Matthew 17:17-18).

Afterward, the disciples asked Jesus why they had been unable to cast out the demon. His answer provides an important lesson for us about faith.

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not drive it out?’ And He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting’” (Matthew 17:19-21).

Let us notice what Jesus was teaching His disciples about faith and how it applies to our lives today.
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October 18, 2012

Intending to Make Jesus King (10/18)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from John 6.

Many religious people are looking forward to the time when Christ returns and establishes His kingdom here on the earth. The alleged reason why Jesus did not do this when He came the first time was because the people rejected Him and would not make Him their king. Therefore, since Jesus was rejected by His people, He ascended back to heaven, the church was established instead, and believers now look forward to the coming kingdom.

The problem with this the above theory is that it is not taught in the Bible. The following verse debunks the claim that Jesus could not establish His kingdom because the people rejected Him. After feeding five thousand, the people were willing to risk their lives in a rebellion against the Roman Empire with the goal of establishing Jesus as their king. But this was not part of God’s plan.

“So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:15).

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October 17, 2012

Marrying Another Man’s Wife (10/17)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9:1-17.

Many today have a casual attitude toward the institution of marriage. As a result, there are many divorces in our society. These divorced persons often end up marrying someone else. This is seen by many as normal and acceptable. Yet John the Baptist opposed such unlawful remarriages even though it ended up costing him his life.

“For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so” (Mark 6:17-19).

Though many today recognize the tragedy of divorce, once the initial damage is done, they believe that the slate is wiped clean and the divorced person – regardless of the cause of the divorce – is free to remarry whomever he/she chooses. Yet this is not what the Scriptures teach.
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October 16, 2012

Confessing Christ (10/16)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 9-10.

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Jesus teaches here that it is absolutely essential for His followers to be willing to confess Him before others. But what type of confession is He referring to in these verses?

This passage is sometimes cited to show that confession precedes baptism as a requirement for salvation. It is certainly true that one must confess his faith in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10) and that this confession comes before one’s baptism into Christ (Acts 8:36-37). But this is not the type of confession that Jesus is talking about here.
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October 15, 2012

“Take Care What You Listen To” (10/15)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 8:14-34; Mark 4-5.

“‘If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides’” (Mark 4:23-24).

Jesus made these comments after explaining the parable of the sower to His disciples. The four soils in the parable represented four different types of hearts that would hear the gospel. The type of heart one has will determine how he listens and what he chooses to listen to.
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October 14, 2012

Yielding a Crop (10/14)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 13; Luke 8.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus described four types of soils and how the seed responded to each one. The seed represented the word and the soils represented the different types of hearts that would come into contact with the gospel. The good soil – which stood for the good, honest heart – yielded a crop.

“And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:8).

Jesus explained this to His disciples to be sure they understood the meaning.

“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understand it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:23).

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