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| Do We Look For Another? |
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Do We Look For Another?
Unbelief. Unbelief will stop miracles. Jesus could not perform miracles in His own home town because of their unbelief.
Is belief the same thing as faith? I don't 'believe' it is. The word says we were each given "the" measure of faith. In Matthew 17 we are shown how the disciples could not cure the boy who was an epileptic. Why? Was it from a lack of faith? No. It was from their unbelief.
Mattew 17:19-20
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Does the spirit of your mind (Eph. 4:23) convict you at times becaue of your unbelief? Mine does. But the point that I want to share with you today is that even the disciples themselves, whom walked and talked with Jesus suffered from unbelief.
Look at John 14:7-8
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
The Lord just told the disciples that he was an exact replication of the Father. If they had seen Him, they had seen the Father. But look at their response.
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
They doubted. They could not grasp what he was telling them. Then Jesus said:
“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
That amazes me that after walking and talking with Jesus, after witnessing first hand all of his wisdom and miracles, they still doubted. But what amazes me even more so than this; John the Baptist Doubted. That's right, John the Baptist!
How so? Look at these verses:
Matthew 11:1-3
Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
What? John. John the baptist was asking if Jesus was the Coming One? How could this be? This was John. The only man that had been filled with the Holy Spirit since birth. Even Jesus wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit at birth. Johns sole purpose in life was to prepare the way for the Messiah. He knew of his coming. He was the one that baptized Jesus. He saw the Holy Spirit ascending from heaven in the form of a dove and land upon Jesus. He heard an audible voice from heaven declaring that this was God's son. He was quoted as saying "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!. He is the one who said "I am not worthy to even untie the straps of his sandals. Yet, after being imprisoned, John began to have his doubts. Why else would he have asked "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
That was undoubtedly the wok of the devil. He had been speaking to John. He had been planting the seeds of doubt into the spirit of John's mind. He is a liar.
The part of this message that I want to iterate on is not John's unbelief however. The point I want to impress upon is Jesus' reply. Let's take a look:
Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
That's interesting. Jesus sent the two disciples back to John with just these few words. But look at what he said to the multitudes about John after the two disciples departed:
Matthew 11:7-15
As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written:
‘ Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Wow! There is so much in those verses. But what amazes me is that Jesus himself called John the "greatest" of all men who had been born of a woman. That includes just about everybody, eh?
Why didn't Jesus tell the two disciples to tell John how much he thought about him? Would that not have been greater encouragement for John other than his relayed message of "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:"?
Why did Jesus choose to send this message to John? Here's what I "believe"
Jesus could have chosen to puff up John's ego. He could have told him thank you. He could have told him how proud he was of him. But he didn't. Why not? Because this type of reassurance is temporary. Soon compliments fade away, and we, in our flesh forget the admonition, and want more. Like a temporary fix to a drug addict, these quick fixes soon fade and we find ourselves wanting more.
So why did Jesus send the message that he did? What was his intent? Jesus was sending John a more permanent solution. He was pointing John back to the Word of God!
Let's look again at Jesus' response. He said "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them"
This is almost an exact quote that was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. Look at these verses:
Isaiah 35:4-6
Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “ Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
Jesus quoted almost verbatim the prophecy by Isaiah. He was pointing John back to the Word. John knew the old testament, Jesus knew that by pointing him back to the Word, that he was giving him a more permanent assurance than just a temporary word of encouragement. I am sure that when John got the message he eventually recalled what had been prophesied hundreds of years prior and was reminded that Jesus had indeed fulfilled that prophecy. How could he possibly not be the "Coming One"? I believe Jesus gave John the best piece of evidence he possibly could; The Written Word of God!
And so it is with us my friends. Who are you going to believe? Friends? Peers? Your MyChurch buddies? Those proclaiming that one denomination is superior to another? Or are you going to believe the Written Word of God?
What would Jesus do? He would, by this example, point you to the scriptures. He would show you, through the Word, that He Is the Messiah. He is the One who Has come! He is the Messiah!
The Word of God stands true above all else. Do not seek recognition from man. Do not look for compliments, or acknowledgement, or acceptance from man. But look for edification, assurance, confidence, and the truth that comes only from The Word of God.
Look at Psalm 138:2
I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name. For Your loving kindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
Wow. As powerful as the name of Jesus is, God's Word is magnified even above that. The Word Rules! I'll say it again, the Word Rules!
You may be looking for a sign from heaven. A lightening bolt or a glory cloud. Maybe even an audible voice from God. But I present this message to you today to say that nothing will conquer your unbelief more than a revelation directly from the Word of God. Unbelief was the topic from which this blog began. And I have chosen to end it with this question:
Do you believe?
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| Michael, I deeply appreciate your high view of scripture. Now that you point out the similarity between Jesus' encouragement and the prophecy of Isaiah (I've heard the same before), I see that as Jesus' way of reminding him that prophecy was being fulfilled, the Messiah had indeed come. Thanks for another great blog. GREAT to have ya back among us! ~mike |
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That's exactly the way I see it too Mike. Jesus was indeed reminding John what had been prophesied. If I am not mistaken, John never made it out of that prison did he? This happened shortly before he was beheaded. Wow. Jesus wanted to make absolutely certain that John knew that he knew that he knew that Jesus was The One! Amazing!
By the way, it's great to back, thank you! |
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Sharon |
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April 02, 2008 at 7:42am |
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| Good to see you back.We missed you.and great blog |
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Excellent blog Michael, While reading this blog a thought came to me (I was minding my own business). Jesus, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of the world.... chose to direct people to Scriptures..........very often quoting them. I cannot recall Him ever stating that His Father had not written them.
3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
To answer your question...........I do not seek another. I believe Jesus is the Christ ! |
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Deb |
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April 02, 2008 at 10:16am |
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Great blog Michael! Can we have faith without belief? And what are we putting our faith into? Can we have belief without faith? And what are we believing in?
Faith is believing in something we cannot see...Belief is putting our trust in something...
Belief: 1: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing 2: something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group 3: conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
Faith: 1 a: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1): fidelity to one's promises (2): sincerity of intentions2 a (1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs <the Protestant faith>
I don't think we can one without the other. We must have faith in a God we cannot see, and we must believe in what He can do and who He is.
And to answer your question, I BELIEVE! |
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Hi Sharon, it's great to see you too!
You also Paul, thanks for the great comment. It would be interesting to compile a blog which points out each time Jesus quoted scripture and or pointed someone back the the Word. In essence, pointing them back to himself. Jesus not only knew the Word, he is the Word. Simply amazing!
Wow Deb.Very interesting definitions you have presented. I look at how many times the word belief was used to describe the definition of Faith. I think faith is tangible. It is evidence. Evidence of the things we cannot see. Or evidence in the things of what we believe. This too would make a great blog topic. Thanks for your input! |
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Yes, Deb is one smart lady!!
Love ya, Michael!
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Cheryl |
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April 03, 2008 at 11:51am |
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Not much to add, I believe!
Great blog brother! |
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John was in prison when he began to doubt. Was He praising God? Maybe not when he said this, but I guarantee he was praising God after he got the response.
Paul was familiar with prison. What got Paul out of prison? Praise!
Praise will break the chains of bondage. Praise will free you. Praise will also conquer unbelief! |
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