SEPTEMBER 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

 

SEPTEMBER 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29  

“What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  

(Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord You and the Holy Spirit are to be Praised for 

Your Holy work in our lives. Lord I prayed several days ago for

 You to “help” me with a “flesh” problem and You directed me

 immediately after my prayer to two verses that specifically

 told me to “walk in the Spirit” and the second said that God gave

 us the Holy Spirit as a “Helper” that would dwell within us “forever” — 

I read Your Words and I welcomed the Holy Spirit and I have 

been “walking” with Him since I received Your answered prayer 

and all I can say again is “Prayer Works” and GOD IS GOOD!!

 I had my first “missionary” dream last night and in the dream 

there was this “hard case” young man that came to know Jesus 

through a program offered at the church and to see the “change”

 that Jesus made in his life was amazing and even though it was

 a dream, I still could feel the “JOY” of sharing Jesus with others

 and as soon as I awoke I remembered the dream and KNEW that

 I was serving Jesus and that “serving” Him is now so deep 

in my soul that I am having dreams of “Serving the Lord”

 instead of fulfilling the “lust of the flesh” — 

only God can answer prayer like that and that comes 

from “walking daily with Him” —

and I give Him ALL THE PRAISE, GLORY, and HONOR!!!   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is pronouncing “Seven Woes” on the scribes and Pharisees

 because of their “hypocrisy” and He has just pronounced “Woe #3”

 where Jesus announces to the scribes and Pharisees that their “hypocrisy”

 makes those that follow the scribe’s and Pharisee’s defiled doctrines

 “twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15)  

and therefore all that follow the “doctrines of men” instead of the

 “Commands of God” condemn themselves to “hell”.

 “Woe #3” is a repeat of a previous lesson where the Pharisees had 

“plotted against [Jesus], [and] how they 

might destroy Him…”(Matthew 12:14) 

and Jesus answered the Pharisees accusations that He was

 “casting out demons…by Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24) 

but  Jesus corrected them and stated that He was casting 

“out demons by the Spirit of God” 

and reminded them that because they could see the

 Spirit of God working that “surely the kingdom of God 

has come upon you.” (Matthew 12:28) 

But Jesus wasn’t through with the Pharisees as He said,

 “if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom 

do your sons cast them out” 

which basically meant that Jesus 

called the Pharisees sons of Beelzebub!

 (Matthew 12:27) 

Jesus ended that Lesson with

 “He who is not with Me is against Me, 

and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” 

(Matthew 12:30)

 Jesus was still not through with the Pharisees for after Jesus pronounced

 “Woe # 3” He then tagged an additional “Woe” to “the sons of hell”

 as Jesus continued, 

“Woe to you blind guides, who say,

 ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; 

but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, 

he is obliged to perform it.’” (Matthew 23:16) 

and Jesus immediately corrects their “defiled doctrines” as He continues

 “Fools and blind! For which is greater, 

the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” (Matthew 23:17) 

This Lesson is much like the Lesson God had Taught the Israelites 

as they were taking possession of the “Promised Land of Canaan” 

and had drifted from following God and started taking “pride”

 in their personal “victories” instead of giving credit to God.

 The Israelites went out in their own strength and misplaced pride

 to face the Philistines and God did not go with them ——— 

once the battle was joined the Israelites suffered great losses 

at the hand of the Philistines. Then one of the Israelites said that the

 problem was that they had not brought the Ark of God with them

 so they went back and got the Ark and returned to battle; 

however, God allowed the Philistines to not only defeat the nation Israel 

but God allowed the Philistines to capture the Ark,

 Teaching the Israelites that True Power 

is not in the

 Ark of God,

 but

True Power is in the 

God of the Ark!!! 

(see 1 Samuel 4:1-11) 

So Jesus is again Teaching that same  Lesson to the scribes 

and Pharisees by showing them that they are blinded by their

 stolen power for True Power is not in their “doctrines or gold” 

even if they swear by the “temple” —

 the temple of God is not the True Power, 

True Power is the God of the temple!!!   

We must continually remind ourselves that 

it is God HIMSELF that is 

the TRUE Source of all Power 

and without Him,

 we can do nothing ——— 

but with Him, 

we can do anything!!!   

SEPTEMBER 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

 

SEPTEMBER 27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29  

“What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  

(Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Precious Jesus, Lord it is so wonderful a Privilege to be

 able to call on Your Holy Name. Our God is so Gracious that He says 

to call Him “ABBA Father” (Romans 8:15)  and then He sent 

His Only Begotten Son so that we might call the Son “friend” 

and “Brother”! Our Lord gives us the Rights and Privileges of Heirs 

therefore we are also called “children of God”! (Romans 8:14) 

Oh Precious Jesus, how great a Love that God, very God, 

can do these marvelous things for a lost and dying world of 

sinners living in rebellion against this Holy God! 

Praise be to God Most High and His Only Begotten Son 

that was Obedient unto a cruel death on the cross 

in order that sinners through “Repentance” 

shall inherit the Kingdom of God!!! 

Lord, we exalt Thee above all names for You ARE the 

ONE TRUE LIVING GOD — The HOLY TRINITY: 

The FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT!!!   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is sending more than just one message when He pronounces

 these “Seven Woes” on the “scribes and Pharisees” addressing

 the major problem of their “hypocrisy”. Besides the obvious 

message that defiling a “Holy office” is not acceptable behavior 

for one called by God to represent Him and His Commands to 

the nation of Israel, the scribes and Pharisees were also familiar

 with the prophesy of Ezekiel 34 where God states clearly 

“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, 

prophesy and say to them”, ‘Thus says the LORD God 

to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel 

who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds 

feed the flocks?”’…and “For thus says the LORD God: 

‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep 

and seek them out…I will establish a shepherd over them…’” 

(Ezekiel 34:1-2,11,23). 

Jesus also makes it clear that God is still active and paying attention

 to His world and that in His Sovereignty and Immutability 

that God will “reward obedience” and “punish disobedience”!

 A.W. Tozer in his book “Knowledge of the Holy” devoted a whole 

chapter on “The Immutability of God” to help us understand that God

 never changes nor does God after fourteen hundred years 

or so (the time between Moses and Jesus) decide that His 

Commandments are no longer viable. Tozer writes: 

“To say that God is immutable is to say that He never 

differs from Himself.” 

(Page 49, Knowledge of the Holy paperback Copyright 1961) 

and then Tozer elaborates as he quotes Anselm ({ref…}):

 “‘All that God is, He has always been, and all that He 

has been and is, He will ever be.’ 

Nothing that God has ever said about Himself will be modified; 

nothing the inspired prophets and apostles have said about Him 

will be rescinded. His immutability guarantees this.” 

(Page 50, Knowledge of the Holy paperback Copyright 1961) 

So Jesus is Teaching the nation Israel that God meant what He 

said 1400 years ago when He gave Moses the Commandments 

and Jesus is Teaching us that God is Eternal and He is Unchanging 

and that His commands will be applicable for ALL of time 

therefore everyone, regardless of the “time” or “generation” in which

 they are born, all souls are born into God’s creation and are 

subject to His Will, which as Tozer explains, God’s Will is “Immutable”!

 God was Sovereign BEFORE the creation existed 

and God will remain Sovereign AFTER the creation 

and time itself comes to an end 

(From Genesis to Revelation) — 

however; there is NO END to the ETERNAL GOD

 and HIS SUPREME AUTHORITY!!! 

Jesus makes a point of the “Consequence” of “hypocrisy” 

and “disobedience” as He pronounces “Woe #3”:

 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel 

land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, 

you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” 

(Matthew 23:15) Jesus reminds us that “He who is not with Me

 is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me

 scatters abroad.” (Matthew 12:30)  

The scribes and Pharisees (the “shepherds of Israel”) were using 

their “Holy office” to make converts to “doctrines and traditions” 

that did not bring Israel to the Holy God that gave Moses the 

Commandments but instead of leading the converts to God, they 

placed the “burden” of the “Law” on Israel’s backs and enslaved 

them to following the “doctrines of men” which was exactly what Ezekiel 

had said about the “shepherds feeding themselves”! Jesus is clear 

that this kind of “hypocrisy” makes those participating in keeping 

others away from God are “sons of hell” — and it doesn’t take much

 explanation to understand that “sons of hell” are NOT “sons of God”

 — my advice is to consider how serious God is about “hypocrisy” 

and to pay attention to these “Seven Woes” 

and use them to evaluate  your answer to:

 “What do you think about the Christ?

 Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)