Words of Jesus Part 40

Luke 17:7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

The first few verses were skipped because the subject and some of the same verses were covered in the notes on Matthew's words of Jesus studies.

Jesus is teaching us here that we are to do what Jesus tells us to do and live like He tells us to live and then consider it our duty. We should not think we have done some great thing but only our duty without murmuring or complaining. We should not expect the praises of men but consider ourselves unprofitable servants.

I realize this teaching is hard for us especially in the United States where we try to encourage self esteem. However, Jesus did not teach pride and self-esteem believe it or not. He continually instructs us to walk in humility, not boastful pride. Our modern attitude of, "We are king's kids and deserve the best," is not the attitude Jesus taught. We are going to get in trouble spiritually if we don't return to preferring one another in love, humility and have a servants heart.

Luke 17:11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

This is a good example of true faith that causes a change or a reaction versus shallow faith that shows no fruits.

Ten men were healed of leprosy. Only one lingered to give thanks for his healing. He showed a true change in his life which resulted in his attitude of thanksgiving. This one happened to be a Samaritan which the religious crowd considered the scum. The people who were supposed to show faith were showing unbelief. They were unthankful and didn't even recognize who it was that walked among them.

This is why Jesus told us that we shall know them by their fruits. It is one thing to say, "I love Jesus," but quite another to live by the words Jesus taught.

Many say they believe in God but many lives do not reflect that they really believe in God.

Examples:

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Faith in Jesus is active, not passive. It is vibrant and alive. Our works follow true faith.

Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Following the majority is never the way to go. Follow Christ.

Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

These verses are not to point fingers at others but rather judge ourselves.

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

To be truly born again by God's spirit will result in a changed life. All changes may not occur all at once but sooner or later a true "born again" child of God will bring forth fruits in their lives that reflect what they confess to believe.

Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

At the time of Christ's first coming and even now the kingdom of God is spiritual. It is within those that have been born again and have become a new creature in Jesus Christ by faith. They couldn't see a literal physical kingdom. That one will appear at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Luke 17:22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

This is the time now. We desire to see Him but have to walk by faith until He returns.

Luke 17:23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

This is occurring even now. Many apparitions of Mary, Jesus and other strange things are appearing to some. Go not after them. Jesus said to not believe those things. He is not in those appearances. I don't know who or what it is but do not follow after those appearances. The next verse describes His true appearance.

Luke 17:24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

He is coming from Heaven the second time in power and glory. There is to be a quiet catching away 7 years prior to the Second Coming called the rapture but His actual coming will be with power and glory and every eye shall see Him. There will be no doubt who He is at that time. He is not any person that is born among us at this present or future time. He already came as a babe in the manager, born in the flesh and becoming one of us. He will not come that way another time.

He sacrificed His own body once and after that He is alive forevermore at the right hand of God the Father until His literal Second Coming to set up His kingdom that then and only then can be observed with our natural eyes. Until that day, do not believe any miracle, vision, appearance etc of Jesus or Mary. It may be false. Jesus said this Himself, do not take my word for it. He will come as lightning. He comes with the clouds and every eye shall see Him. No other way.

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

I like where one part of scripture will confirm another part. The bible brings to us it's own interpretation if we search and seek.

Luke 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

The first coming was the suffering, sacrifice, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus had to make an offering for sin. We have to be saved from sin in order to inherit eternal life. The sin question had to be dealt with before the kingdom could be set up. Right now the kingdom abides within each true believer in Jesus Christ. The second coming will be with observation in power and glory.

Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember Lot's wife.
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Some believe these scriptures refer to the rapture of the church. Others believe this is after the rapture when the second coming occurs and the disappearances are ones of judgment rather than salvation. Judgment does come before His visible second coming.

It does teach readiness though. Be spiritually ready for the Lord's coming faithfully watching and praying until He comes. If we think in our hearts that the Lord delays His coming and begin to show cruelty to our fellow believers in Jesus Christ, He will come when we least expect it.

This doesn't mean that we are to soft pedal the gospel and water down the word. This means that we are to teach, preach and serve God in love. We are not to force, ridicule, persecute and beat up those that disagree with us. We are not to Lord over other believers and force them to live how we want them to live. We are to walk in faith that works by love.

Some Catholic, Protestants, and other cults in the past ages did exactly what Jesus told them not to do. I say some because I know for sure that God always has a faithful remnant that stays true to the original word. It is usually the bad ones that get in the history books but knowing God, there is always the persecuted, the faithful and those that stay true to the Lord and love one another.

Matthew 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Lord did not tell us to put to death, burn at the stake or torture those that we think are heretics. He told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We are to say the same words Jesus said, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeith in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

We are to correct heretics in the spirit of meekness but never force, hurt or be cruel to anyone who disagrees with us.

We don't have to agree on everything and join into one big worldwide church with a pope at the head. That is no good and will not work. We are to work to spread the gospel that Jesus preached to all the world. It is not the church, rituals, rites, mass, communion, or works of men that save but only faith in Jesus Christ that saves individual souls.

It is good to attend church with those that believe in the word of God but the church itself is only a vessel. It does not save. Jesus saves the soul, we are just vessels to carry His message to the entire world. The church is not any man made organization but a body of believers from all parts of the world that have their names written in the book of life. It is not what church I go to that determines my salvation but only who I believe in and trust to wash away my sins and grant me eternal life.

That is only provided by Jesus Christ Himself the only mediator between God and man. No priest, rabbi, Mary, prophet or minister is that mediator but only Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Words of Jesus Part 41

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