Snapshot7 Mark 3:22-30
Vrs 22 the accusation of Jesus was that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan. (In essence He was on Satan’s side)
Why Beelzebub?
Quick History 2 Kings Ahaziah was reigning in Israel and he became sick so he asked His messengers to “Go ask Baal-zebub god of Ekron if he was going to recover” But an Angel of the Lord went to Elijah and told him to go meet these messengers and ask them and Ahaziah “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you inquire with Baal-zebub?” Baal-zebub is no god in fact he is Satan “Lord of the Flies” And guess what? You will die. And he did.
(I haven’t read this anywhere but I like it) As we go through Mark we will see people say Jesus is Elijah or a Prophet. So I think that these scribes were saying because most people know this account and what happened.
“Jesus is so far being on Elijah’s side that He is on Baal-zebubs side” and what they were actually doing was Attributing evil to the Lord.
Interestingly enough these religious leaders attribute evil to Jesus after He did something good. Normally people attribute evil to God when something bad happens. But people in this case are saying He is evil when He stopped evil. It actually shows how lost they really are.
Vrs 23-27 Jesus’ response is almost like saying you guys are fools…
1. Vr 23 Satan will not leave on his own. How can Satan cast out Satan? The reason He asked this was because He was reminding them when Satan takes residence He sticks around and continues. That is why in our society you see areas in particular in rough city sections where things are dark continue that way for so long. That is why you see darkness and evil continue in some families (abuse and broken relationships). That is why criminals continue in their evil ways. Satan is not going to chase his own away where he has a foothold or leave on his own
2. Vr 24-26 Division will eventually take its toll. We don’t mix Jesus with…anyone else. COEXIST sticker Plotr Mlodozenieic first came up with the design to promote religious tolerance in 2001 Over 100 people have claimed to have invented this design and there has been lawsuits as well.
Yes we are supposed to be tolerant…”they can believe that and I will not rob them of their rights” but my responsibility to the Lord and love for human beings should tell them the truth of where there broken system will bring them in the end. GOSPEL
Another note…Churches will always have issues on how we do things. Remember as long as we agree on the big things…like the Gospel, calling Sin..Sin and following the Bible.
3. Vrs 27 Jesus came to the strong man’s house. That is why He is doing things like casting out demons. (they all realized the power of Satan.) The strong man is Satan and Jesus enters in and through His blood is setting us free. GOSPEL
Vrs 28-30 The unforgivable sin. (attributing God’s work to Satan)
-They knew who Jesus was but still rejected Him. Some people are at the point in which they are so far gone, their view of the Lord is wrong and not only is it wrong they persist and develop arguments against Him, Jesus is not saying it is not possible for these people to ever be forgiven but if they persist down this same road and die in that rejection there is not hope or forgiveness for them.
In some senses we can go back to the account of Ahaziah, It seems he knew who the God of Israel was but he chose Baal-zebub over Him and he physically died, but we realize that he did not go to be with the Lord.
If we dissect this verse further is illustrates that a person who knows the Lord is already forgiven and no matter how we fall, it is covered under the Blood of Jesus but a person who never enters into a relationship with the Lord has committed the eternal sin of rejection.
Back to the issue of attributing evil to God, now in 2011, as Christians are we ever tempted to attribute evil to God.? When evil comes it is not from the Lord (don’t blame Him) Deut 32:4, Gen 18:24, Job 34:10, James 1:13
Maybe you realize that God did not cause the evil but…
Here is the way the argument goes…if God does not stop evil then He is not good.
When evil comes remember. (from this passage)
-Satan hates you, he wants the evil to continue by you having a bad response to it .
-Stick with Jesus. Dabbling in other explanations besides the truth of the Lord will confuse you and get you off focus.
-Jesus loves you and He is stronger and He shows us that through the Gospel.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Why Do You Follow?"
Snapshot 6 3:7-21 “Why Do You Follow?”
Vrses 7-8 We see that Jesus’ popularity had spread to the surrounding regions
“When the crowd heard all that He was doing they came to Him” This is an interesting statement because we see here that people were following after Jesus because what He had to offer…in this case healing and deliverance from demons.
In this first section these people are following after because there is…
-A possibility of their immediate needs being met.
The question becomes…did these people even understand who they were following and what He really had to offer?
It makes me think of today when people come to Christians or the church for help and assistance. So many people call and ask the church for help with certain things and it is usually followed by statements like “I am going to start coming out on Sundays” or “I would like to help and give back” or “I was thinking of becoming a member” these are probably well intentioned statements but it is not what we or Jesus is looking for.
The church is here to be what Jesus calls the salt and light
Verses 9-10 show us that Jesus is not mad at the fact that their intentions are to have their immediate needs met.
At this point He is concerned for His safety and protection.
Again when we as Christians or the church are approached with need we should not be critical or mad at the peoples intentions but we should make sure that they are not going to harm us. (for the church sometimes we need to evaluate, if someone is taking advantage of us and using up all our resources and making it difficult for us to help other people as well.
Vrs 11 the irony that the demons realize who Jesus was but the people did not, they just thought He was a miracle worker and they wanted a miracle to happen to them.
We are here to help others but it should always be in the Name of the Lord Jesus because He is who they really need. We are not a social service agency. Guess what the demons would love us to have a church with only a message that says we help other people with immediate needs.
So when we do help people it is in the Name of the Lord Jesus and we do our best to spell that out.
Vrs 12 Jesus orders the demon possessed not to make Him know. It seems that He says this because it was evident the demon possessed people were not trustworthy testimonies of who Jesus was. It was bad press to have a demon running around talking about you.
But we see these people are only following after Jesus because of the possible benefit to their immediate needs.
Many people do not realize their real needs so they may follow but it is with wrong intentions or they are uninformed of the real reason to follow Jesus
Reminds me of a picture I say floating around Facebook .
Commentary of our society and what it means to follow, basically is “I check out what you are doing every once in a while and if it benefits my immediate needs I will draw closer”
If we follow because we think that we are going to get something out of it we will not follow when our expectations are not met.
The real need that everyone on the planet has is Salvation and only Jesus can meet that need. GOSPEL
But now we are going to enter into a leg of the Mark’s gospel which really challenges all of us to what true followership is all about. And we will only scratch the surface today.
At this point in the Gospel I don’t think the disciples really understood what it meant to follow Jesus, but this is the beginning for them to understanding that.
The first thing we will see is that…we follow because…
-He seeks us out. Or in this specific case He seeks them out.
Vrs 13-19
Vrs 13 “and He called to Him those whom He desired”
There is a term called “irresistible grace” that we can use here. Attributed to John Calvin’s Theology.
Irresistible Grace Expressed
The Westminster Confession of Faith expresses this doctrine by saying, "All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." (Chap. X, Sect. 1)
Vrs 14-15 Notice it is Jesus the one who calls, appoints and give the authority to do His work.
Vrs 16-19 The Twelve
No one is willing to seek after God on their own Romans 3:10-12…it is a drawing of His power
We follow because He calls us to follow.
So…
How do we know we are following?
-We have the tools. Vrs 14-15
-When we realize the cost and keep following.
Verses 20-21 when you are called to follow people just don’t understand.
Matt. 13:55-56 Jesus’ brothers and sisters
In the negation form “Why do you follow?”
Vrs 21 Maybe you feel like this…because you follow Jesus you are the outcast of the family, you get mocked, you are misunderstood. The advice we can take here from Jesus is keep going, don’t be discouraged, they are blind. The comfort that we have is that Jesus was misunderstood and doubted by His own family.
Vrses 7-8 We see that Jesus’ popularity had spread to the surrounding regions
“When the crowd heard all that He was doing they came to Him” This is an interesting statement because we see here that people were following after Jesus because what He had to offer…in this case healing and deliverance from demons.
In this first section these people are following after because there is…
-A possibility of their immediate needs being met.
The question becomes…did these people even understand who they were following and what He really had to offer?
It makes me think of today when people come to Christians or the church for help and assistance. So many people call and ask the church for help with certain things and it is usually followed by statements like “I am going to start coming out on Sundays” or “I would like to help and give back” or “I was thinking of becoming a member” these are probably well intentioned statements but it is not what we or Jesus is looking for.
The church is here to be what Jesus calls the salt and light
Verses 9-10 show us that Jesus is not mad at the fact that their intentions are to have their immediate needs met.
At this point He is concerned for His safety and protection.
Again when we as Christians or the church are approached with need we should not be critical or mad at the peoples intentions but we should make sure that they are not going to harm us. (for the church sometimes we need to evaluate, if someone is taking advantage of us and using up all our resources and making it difficult for us to help other people as well.
Vrs 11 the irony that the demons realize who Jesus was but the people did not, they just thought He was a miracle worker and they wanted a miracle to happen to them.
We are here to help others but it should always be in the Name of the Lord Jesus because He is who they really need. We are not a social service agency. Guess what the demons would love us to have a church with only a message that says we help other people with immediate needs.
So when we do help people it is in the Name of the Lord Jesus and we do our best to spell that out.
Vrs 12 Jesus orders the demon possessed not to make Him know. It seems that He says this because it was evident the demon possessed people were not trustworthy testimonies of who Jesus was. It was bad press to have a demon running around talking about you.
But we see these people are only following after Jesus because of the possible benefit to their immediate needs.
Many people do not realize their real needs so they may follow but it is with wrong intentions or they are uninformed of the real reason to follow Jesus
Reminds me of a picture I say floating around Facebook .
Commentary of our society and what it means to follow, basically is “I check out what you are doing every once in a while and if it benefits my immediate needs I will draw closer”
If we follow because we think that we are going to get something out of it we will not follow when our expectations are not met.
The real need that everyone on the planet has is Salvation and only Jesus can meet that need. GOSPEL
But now we are going to enter into a leg of the Mark’s gospel which really challenges all of us to what true followership is all about. And we will only scratch the surface today.
At this point in the Gospel I don’t think the disciples really understood what it meant to follow Jesus, but this is the beginning for them to understanding that.
The first thing we will see is that…we follow because…
-He seeks us out. Or in this specific case He seeks them out.
Vrs 13-19
Vrs 13 “and He called to Him those whom He desired”
There is a term called “irresistible grace” that we can use here. Attributed to John Calvin’s Theology.
Irresistible Grace Expressed
The Westminster Confession of Faith expresses this doctrine by saying, "All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." (Chap. X, Sect. 1)
Vrs 14-15 Notice it is Jesus the one who calls, appoints and give the authority to do His work.
Vrs 16-19 The Twelve
No one is willing to seek after God on their own Romans 3:10-12…it is a drawing of His power
We follow because He calls us to follow.
So…
How do we know we are following?
-We have the tools. Vrs 14-15
-When we realize the cost and keep following.
Verses 20-21 when you are called to follow people just don’t understand.
Matt. 13:55-56 Jesus’ brothers and sisters
In the negation form “Why do you follow?”
Vrs 21 Maybe you feel like this…because you follow Jesus you are the outcast of the family, you get mocked, you are misunderstood. The advice we can take here from Jesus is keep going, don’t be discouraged, they are blind. The comfort that we have is that Jesus was misunderstood and doubted by His own family.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Made For You"
“Made for You” Mark 2:23-3:6
Tonight we are going to look at two accounts in which Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees for His actions on the Sabbath.
We will also find out what Jesus feels people are more important then the law. He show us this by what He performs on the Sabbath.
Works of necessity: 2:23-28 In this passage we see the Pharisees have a narrow interpretation of the Law and what was permitted.
First of all in Duet. 23:25 it was lawful to pass through another persons field you were allowed to pluck grain that you could carry and eat your fill.
The idea was that God cares about peoples needs so it is evident that if a person was hungry they could eat but the Lord does not want people to take everything their neighbor had.
But then we see that Jesus uses the account of David and his companions, the Lord allowed it because David and his companions had a need.
Jesus’ use of the account of David was communicating to the Pharisees that God cares about people and their needs
Then He reminds them that the real purpose of the Sabbath and it was made to serve us not us to serve it..
Ceremonial law in all its parts is established as a means to an end--the highest good of men. Maclaren, Alexander
In the next passage we see Jesus heal a man with a withered hand.
Works of Mercy 3:1-6 In this account Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
Vrs 4 The question they would not answer because they knew the could not saw it was ever wrong to do good. But for the Pharisees it was only lawful to help someone if their life was in danger.
The question rests on the principle that good omitted is equivalent to evil committed. If we can save, and do not, the responsibility of loss lies on us. Maclaren, Alexander
Vrs 5 Jesus’ anger over this. The reason for this is that He made the Sabbath to benefit people and they were twisting it and making it a burden rather then a pleasure. “The Lord’s commands are not burdenson” 1 John 5:3
Vrs 6 This is the first place in the Gospel that we see a plot to kill Jesus.
Back to the Sabbath issue.
Sabbath was made for man, what about for today? Isn’t that amazing, the Lord made all days and He wants us to make the best use of them because the “days are evil”. That means we should spend much time in service working for Him but here is saying, This day is on me, rest and recharge enjoy yourself, relax.
Now we celebrate the “Lord’s Day” Sunday because it is the day Jesus Rose from the grave.
What should a Christian be doing on the Lord’s Day?
1. Worship (this is why we did not do the 5 on Saturday as some suggested) One of the things I love about the 5 pm time is that it really caps off the end of the week and weekend. But in our church we have the opportunity to go at 3 different times.
2. Rest: This is not a new concept with the risen Lord or even the Law of Moses, this was something instituted from the creation account. God rested, we all realize that God does not need rest so we have to understand that God was setting an example to us.
3. Family time: In our hectic lives we need to spend time with the ones closest to us. What should that consist of? Fun & recreation. Many times people let their family dictate how their Sunday will be spent and they neglect worship for those who do not believe in the Lord.
4. Prepare: Mentally prepare yourself for the week ahead. This may be spending some time making a list. Who am I going to be around, how can I pray for them, what needs to be done, how am I going to accomplish those things etc.
So does all this mean you can’t work on Sundays if I have a job that demands that? Here is what I would say…
1. Yes… if you are not given any other day off.
2. Yes… if your work times do not allow you to worship at all.
3. Yes… if it means neglect of family time, this is where it gets tricky because if you are a parent and your kids are in school if you a have a schedule that does not allow you to spend quality time with them you are missing valuable opportunities to have an impact on your children.
But here is what I will say as well…it is not just work, if you are involved in something that takes you away from observing the “Lord’s Day” in a healthy way then that would be just as harmful to your walk.
I don’t think a lifestyle without Sabbath type rest will be spiritually, emotionally and physically unhealthy for you.
Jesus cares more about the person then the rule/law and that is why He gave us a means to rest and recharge so we can be more effective for Him.
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher.
Vrs 28 Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, we can take this statement and apply the fact that it communicates Jesus deserves a day and then notice what His day is…it is a day in which we can enjoy Him and everything He has blessed us with.
Tonight we are going to look at two accounts in which Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees for His actions on the Sabbath.
We will also find out what Jesus feels people are more important then the law. He show us this by what He performs on the Sabbath.
Works of necessity: 2:23-28 In this passage we see the Pharisees have a narrow interpretation of the Law and what was permitted.
First of all in Duet. 23:25 it was lawful to pass through another persons field you were allowed to pluck grain that you could carry and eat your fill.
The idea was that God cares about peoples needs so it is evident that if a person was hungry they could eat but the Lord does not want people to take everything their neighbor had.
But then we see that Jesus uses the account of David and his companions, the Lord allowed it because David and his companions had a need.
Jesus’ use of the account of David was communicating to the Pharisees that God cares about people and their needs
Then He reminds them that the real purpose of the Sabbath and it was made to serve us not us to serve it..
Ceremonial law in all its parts is established as a means to an end--the highest good of men. Maclaren, Alexander
In the next passage we see Jesus heal a man with a withered hand.
Works of Mercy 3:1-6 In this account Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
Vrs 4 The question they would not answer because they knew the could not saw it was ever wrong to do good. But for the Pharisees it was only lawful to help someone if their life was in danger.
The question rests on the principle that good omitted is equivalent to evil committed. If we can save, and do not, the responsibility of loss lies on us. Maclaren, Alexander
Vrs 5 Jesus’ anger over this. The reason for this is that He made the Sabbath to benefit people and they were twisting it and making it a burden rather then a pleasure. “The Lord’s commands are not burdenson” 1 John 5:3
Vrs 6 This is the first place in the Gospel that we see a plot to kill Jesus.
Back to the Sabbath issue.
Sabbath was made for man, what about for today? Isn’t that amazing, the Lord made all days and He wants us to make the best use of them because the “days are evil”. That means we should spend much time in service working for Him but here is saying, This day is on me, rest and recharge enjoy yourself, relax.
Now we celebrate the “Lord’s Day” Sunday because it is the day Jesus Rose from the grave.
What should a Christian be doing on the Lord’s Day?
1. Worship (this is why we did not do the 5 on Saturday as some suggested) One of the things I love about the 5 pm time is that it really caps off the end of the week and weekend. But in our church we have the opportunity to go at 3 different times.
2. Rest: This is not a new concept with the risen Lord or even the Law of Moses, this was something instituted from the creation account. God rested, we all realize that God does not need rest so we have to understand that God was setting an example to us.
3. Family time: In our hectic lives we need to spend time with the ones closest to us. What should that consist of? Fun & recreation. Many times people let their family dictate how their Sunday will be spent and they neglect worship for those who do not believe in the Lord.
4. Prepare: Mentally prepare yourself for the week ahead. This may be spending some time making a list. Who am I going to be around, how can I pray for them, what needs to be done, how am I going to accomplish those things etc.
So does all this mean you can’t work on Sundays if I have a job that demands that? Here is what I would say…
1. Yes… if you are not given any other day off.
2. Yes… if your work times do not allow you to worship at all.
3. Yes… if it means neglect of family time, this is where it gets tricky because if you are a parent and your kids are in school if you a have a schedule that does not allow you to spend quality time with them you are missing valuable opportunities to have an impact on your children.
But here is what I will say as well…it is not just work, if you are involved in something that takes you away from observing the “Lord’s Day” in a healthy way then that would be just as harmful to your walk.
I don’t think a lifestyle without Sabbath type rest will be spiritually, emotionally and physically unhealthy for you.
Jesus cares more about the person then the rule/law and that is why He gave us a means to rest and recharge so we can be more effective for Him.
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher.
Vrs 28 Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, we can take this statement and apply the fact that it communicates Jesus deserves a day and then notice what His day is…it is a day in which we can enjoy Him and everything He has blessed us with.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Snapshot Series: "The New Order"
Snapshot4 Mark 2:18-22 “The New Order”
Vrs 18 Fasting was part of a grievous time of mourning it was also a time of repentance (change of mind about sin) It was an expression of showing the Lord you were serious about your commitment.
According to the law in Lev. 16:29 the Jews were only required to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement as an act of repentance. The Pharisees as an act of piety promoted voluntary fasts on Mondays and Thursdays. The Pharisees believe that their fasting made them more godly then other people.
So here they question…”Why are you (Jesus) not promoting this or having your followers follow in this tradition or law?
Jesus then gives two answers and both staring with questions back..
1. It is not the right time. Vrs 19-20 When Jesus said this no one really understood what He was talking about…not even the disciples.
Jesus was speaking of Himself and How He was now with them and then He eludes to His death, which is the first mention of this in the Gospel of Mark.
2. There is a new order. Vrs 21-22
What is old? The Law John 1:17 “Law through Moses, Grace and truth through Jesus
The law is a Tudor or school master.” The Law was given to instruct people that they were not going to measure up.
So then that brings us to the question…did God deceive the people and make them chase after something that could never save them? The answer to that is no, the average Law abiding Jew had faith if they followed the law that God would deliver them. They were having faith in His promises. But the Pharisees took the law to a different extreme and added to the law and therefore they were the ones who were deceiving the people.
A healthy view of the law was to realize that they did not measure up and were in desperate need of the Lord.
What is the new? Grace & Truth This is a challenge to what we can “works based salvation” although we don’t have Pharisees today we have people who are deceived into believing if they do the right thing or are “good” God will accept them. GOSPEL
Old & New wine This is why we do not mix Judaism with Christianity. (Werner’s Illustration, eventually they lost sight of Jesus and who He is)
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with the old Jewish traditions
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with trying to be good to earn our way to heaven.
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with other religions and philosophies
So what do we do with this?
Should we fast? Yes we can…Biblically the occasion would be a mourning along with a plea to the Lord about sin in our lives or the suffering of another human.
Fasting possesses great power. If practiced with the right intention, it makes man a friend of God. The demons are aware of that. - Tertullian
Matthew 6:16-18 gives us some parameters. Don’t flaunt it, it is personal
There is a purpose for fasting. By Grudem’s Systematic Theology list
• Increases our sense of humanity and dependence on the Lord.
• Allows us to give more attention to prayer.
• Reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. And this helps us to be reminded of how we should give our entire lives to the Lord
• Exercise in self discipline. We refrain from eating food that we normally desire it strengthens are ability to refrain from sinful behaviors. Along with that if we expose ourselves to small sufferings like hunger we will be better equipped when other sufferings come our way. 1 Peter 4 and Heb. Reminds us that we will suffer for righteousness.
• Takes our focus off the things of this world.
• Communicates our urgency in prayer.
In closing I also want to bring up the fact that fasting can also be abstaining from any desirable activity.
Martin Lloyd-Jones said Fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not... be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special peculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That is fasting.
Vrs 18 Fasting was part of a grievous time of mourning it was also a time of repentance (change of mind about sin) It was an expression of showing the Lord you were serious about your commitment.
According to the law in Lev. 16:29 the Jews were only required to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement as an act of repentance. The Pharisees as an act of piety promoted voluntary fasts on Mondays and Thursdays. The Pharisees believe that their fasting made them more godly then other people.
So here they question…”Why are you (Jesus) not promoting this or having your followers follow in this tradition or law?
Jesus then gives two answers and both staring with questions back..
1. It is not the right time. Vrs 19-20 When Jesus said this no one really understood what He was talking about…not even the disciples.
Jesus was speaking of Himself and How He was now with them and then He eludes to His death, which is the first mention of this in the Gospel of Mark.
2. There is a new order. Vrs 21-22
What is old? The Law John 1:17 “Law through Moses, Grace and truth through Jesus
The law is a Tudor or school master.” The Law was given to instruct people that they were not going to measure up.
So then that brings us to the question…did God deceive the people and make them chase after something that could never save them? The answer to that is no, the average Law abiding Jew had faith if they followed the law that God would deliver them. They were having faith in His promises. But the Pharisees took the law to a different extreme and added to the law and therefore they were the ones who were deceiving the people.
A healthy view of the law was to realize that they did not measure up and were in desperate need of the Lord.
What is the new? Grace & Truth This is a challenge to what we can “works based salvation” although we don’t have Pharisees today we have people who are deceived into believing if they do the right thing or are “good” God will accept them. GOSPEL
Old & New wine This is why we do not mix Judaism with Christianity. (Werner’s Illustration, eventually they lost sight of Jesus and who He is)
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with the old Jewish traditions
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with trying to be good to earn our way to heaven.
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with other religions and philosophies
So what do we do with this?
Should we fast? Yes we can…Biblically the occasion would be a mourning along with a plea to the Lord about sin in our lives or the suffering of another human.
Fasting possesses great power. If practiced with the right intention, it makes man a friend of God. The demons are aware of that. - Tertullian
Matthew 6:16-18 gives us some parameters. Don’t flaunt it, it is personal
There is a purpose for fasting. By Grudem’s Systematic Theology list
• Increases our sense of humanity and dependence on the Lord.
• Allows us to give more attention to prayer.
• Reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. And this helps us to be reminded of how we should give our entire lives to the Lord
• Exercise in self discipline. We refrain from eating food that we normally desire it strengthens are ability to refrain from sinful behaviors. Along with that if we expose ourselves to small sufferings like hunger we will be better equipped when other sufferings come our way. 1 Peter 4 and Heb. Reminds us that we will suffer for righteousness.
• Takes our focus off the things of this world.
• Communicates our urgency in prayer.
In closing I also want to bring up the fact that fasting can also be abstaining from any desirable activity.
Martin Lloyd-Jones said Fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not... be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special peculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That is fasting.
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