| Author | Message | ||
| Dljc Registered user Username: Dljc Post Number: 346 Registered: 7-2010 |
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:1-12) Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:1-6) If you contrast these two passages where doctrine is concerned, you will be able to see just whom you serve. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father except by Him.” Compare that to Genesis 3:4-5 where the serpent says “Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Did Adam and Eve die? Yes, they did spiritually die, that day, and literally at a later date. That's why Jesus came in the first place. Man had fallen due to this act of disobedience on Adam's part, through the deception on the serpent with Eve. By the statement the serpent made we can see that the purpose of this deception was to take the focus off of God and put it on man. As if man could become greater than God Himself, just by knowing good and evil. Thus pointing to man as a “god”, meaning that man could accomplish, what in reality only Jesus could. All have sinned and fallen short of His glory. (Romans 3:23) In John 14:1 Jesus tells the disciples to not let their hearts be troubled. He is telling us that too. “Don't worry, I'm coming back to get you.” As we see in the very next verse in the phrase “I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I Am, there may you be also”. In John 14:12 Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” Can man do greater things than God? No, this verse is pointing to the greater works that He will do, not men. Satan wants us to think we are gods remember? In Matthew 24 Jesus warns us of things concerning the end times. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: ) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:3-27) Despite all the things Jesus talks about that may be going on around us, He points out there will be deception up to the very end. Remember what Jesus said? “If it were not so I would have told you.” In John 13 and 14 Jesus makes two identical comments Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. (John 13:19) And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. (John 14:29) There have been and continue to be false prophets. There are those who claim to be Christ, with the sole purpose of deceiving people into following them. If satan can get your focus off of Jesus Christ and onto a false prophet or false Christ, you've fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Lets look at that trick again: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Isn't that what the person has done? Set themselves up as the authority? Satan's job is deception. One instance of this coming to pass was in the late 1970's and a man named James Warren Jones or Jim Jones. He led a group of people to their deaths in November of 1978 in Jonestown Guyana in South America. He led 914 people to their death either by suicide or murder. This instance ranks among one of the largest incident's of mass murder in history. Jim Jones made the mistake of thinking he was God. Jesus said, ”I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” No prophet needed, only Jesus. Jesus is the only way to the Father. You see, satan would like for you to think that there is another way, or that someone else can show you the way. Jesus said He is the way. One of the first things a false prophet is going to tell you is you can't trust God's Word. That it has been corrupted over the years and who really knows what it originally said. Satan would love for you to believe that. Because if he can get you to believe that, then you will listen to him through his false prophet. Look back at the passage from Matthew 24, Jesus told us they'd be here, and that it would be through deception that they conduct themselves. Don't be fooled, we can only see that we have been deceived, we can't always see the deception as it is taking place. Once we discover it then we know, but not until, right? Jesus told us all of this was going to happen. I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to believe Him. Believe His words, not mine. He is the only way, the only truth and the only life; no one comes to the Father except through Him. Remember what Jesus said in John 14:2 “...if it were not so, I would have told you...” Nothing man can do can earn favor with Him. All our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) we all have sinned and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23) So the question you have to ask yourself is, “Who do you serve?” If the message you hear points to man and his ability to achieve something on his own, then you must consider verses 4-5 from Genesis 3. If the message you hear is pointing to Christ and the finished work on the cross then you must consider John 14. More specifically John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Not Buddha, not Muhammad, not Jim Jones, not Joseph Smith, nor Ellen White etc. etc. Only through Jesus can you come to the Father. Don’t let anyone deceive you. (Matthew 24:4) | ||
| Dljc Registered user Username: Dljc Post Number: 347 Registered: 7-2010 |
Here's a link to a more highlighted version that points out the verses from Matthew 24. http://dljc.info/studies/?p=100 | ||
| Skeeter Registered user Username: Skeeter Post Number: 1245 Registered: 12-2007 |
Thank you for posting this. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 12251 Registered: 12-2003  |
Thank you, Dljc. Very good insights. Colleen |
