Hello, welcome today, Today we are continuing our series that could simply be called “Jesus.” I know, I know, that covers a lot of ground. Better title? Maybe “Jesus vs”? We already discussed the very distinct difference between authentic faith in Jesus and a man-made tradition called religion. We discussed last time the very distinct difference between Jesus and Christianity. Yes, there is a difference.
I can hear some people reading this thinking, or even coming right out and saying something like this. “You are trying to defend your religion using your religious book. There are many out there. What makes you think yours is the truth and all others are false? I do not have to believe what your book says. It is the same as all the others.”
Well? There are many differences. However, there is one that makes it absolutely final. Let’s talk about this today. Everything you need to ever know is right here {Holding up the Bible.} Now what about those who are going to feel the Bible is nothing more than just another "religious book" and means little to nothing? Some will tell you that the Bible is full of contradictions and false information. Not true. There is not one single contradiction in the Bible. No not one. There are misunderstandings, differing points of view, and poor translations, but zero contradictions. Then you are going to have those who honestly ask, why should we believe the Bible? Why should we put the Bible over every other religious book? How do we know for a fact, that the Bible is true?
One of the easiest ways to disprove the Bible is also one of the easiest ways to prove the Bible is the Truth. You see. there are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament for a total of 1,817. This is according to “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy” by J. Barton Payne.
If the Bible makes all these predictions, and they are proven false, then the Bible is indeed false. However, if the Bible makes all these predictions, some 26 percent of the total Bible is made up of prophecies, then predictions that have been proven correct prove the bible true. Here are some examples. General, Babylon Will Rule Over Judah for 70 Years.Jeremiah 25:11-12. Babylon then began to take many Jews as captives to Babylon and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. This domination of the Jews ended in 539 BC, when Cyrus, a leader of Persians and Medes, conquered Babylon, bringing an end to the empire. This was predicted in Isaiah 45:1. Jeremiah 49:15-20; Ezekiel 25:12-14 both tell of how the luscious and beautiful land of Edom, today a part of Jordan, would become a desert and wasteland.
Isreal itself is a prophecy fulfilled. Isreal? As we know it today? The exact location and construction sequence of Jerusalem's nine suburbs was predicted by Jeremiah about 2600 years ago. Jeremiah 31:38-40, Ezekiel 37:21-22. Isaiah 66:7-8 describes this taking place in one day. This rebirth became history in 1948, in one day, and the construction of the nine suburbs has gone forward precisely in the locations and in the sequence predicted. Jesus and His life? Isaiah 53. To name one.
Scientific? How about Covid 19? Quarantine is needed to keep the majority safe. Leviticus 13:45-46. Let's stick with health for a sec. Also in Leviticus, Leviticus 17:11, again, Leviticus was written somewhere between 538–332 BC. During that time and many years after, it was thought to heal a sick person would be to bleed them. Actually removing their life force instead of attempting to heal the disease. While we are at it. Was Jesus sweating blood? Luke 22:44
Commonly referred to as Hematidrosis or Hemohidrosis, this condition results in the excretion of blood or blood pigment in the sweat. Under conditions of great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can rupture, thus mixing blood with perspiration. This condition has been reported in extreme instances of stress. 76 cases of Hematidrosis were studied and classified into categories according to causative factors. The most frequent causes of the phenomenon were found to be “acute fear” and “intense mental contemplation.” So yes, Jesus facing all He was about to, including the Cross, did indeed sweat blood.
God created animals “after their kind.” Genesis 1:11-13 Nineteenth-century biologists argued that animals evolved from other, very different animals, but today biology confirms that creatures reproduce within their own kind. Mankind? Genesis 3:20, 1 Corinthians 15:45, The Bible claims that all humans are “one blood” descended from one man and one woman. Some nineteenth-century biologists argued that different races descended from lower animals, but today genetics has verified that there is only one human race.
One of my favorites? How about the flat earth? The flat earth model is an archaic conception of the earth's shape as a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period 323 BC, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period 31 BC, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD), and China until the 17th century. Believe it or not, there is still some today that believes this to be true.
What does the Bible say? Isaiah 40:22
"It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;"Wait, it says "he who sits above the circle of the earth" The Circle. No question there. We could go on and on. Every prediction that the Bible has predicted has come to pass. If so, then we had better be looking forward to those still to come. Don’t you think?
Then you have Jesus Himself. Who is he, Where does He come from? How does He live? How does He die? How does He raise from the dead? These are all in the Bible, Thousands of years before Jesus is even born. In extreme detail. As a matter of fact, Jesus is in the entire Bible. Yes, the Old Testament as well as the New. Without Jesus, there is no Bible. No other “religious book” can say this. Others are written telling stories of their leaders, teachers, and messiahs. But the Bible IS Jesus. Therein lies the difference. Jesus IS the Bible. He IS The Word of God. He was with God, is with God, and IS God. There is no Bible, New or Old Testament without Jesus.
Here is something that some have a hard time understanding. Jesus was there in the beginning.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3"All things were made by him;" The Word is a Him??? "and without him was not anything made that was made." "Without HIM, was NOTHING Made." Then a little bit later, John makes it clear. , Look here,
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14.Jesus even tells us directly that the Bible is all about Him.
"And the Father himself, who has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form. And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he has sent, him you believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life." John 5:37-40What is Jesus saying here? He is saying, you, the religious folks, look to the Bible, for salvation, yet reject Jesus Himself. He said you can't do that. Why? Because all Scripture point to Him. He is saying that if you reject Him, then you must reject the very Word of God because HE is the Word of God. He, Jesus, IS the Word of God in the flesh. The Bible IS the very Word of God, who IS, Jesus in the flesh. Are you following??
Paul even tells us that it was Jesus that created all things.
"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:" Ephesians 3:9In his letter to the Colossians, he wrote this.
"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." Colossians 1:16.Jesus IS God. Jesus IS the Holy Spirit. We have discussed this before. Here is a brief summary.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18He said "I" shall come to you. He is already there? Of course. So what He is telling them, is that the Holy Spirit is Him, He is God. Three yet one. That when the flesh dies, and He goes to be with the Father, the Spirit, who never dies, will come and dwell in us.
“Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” John 14:19-20Again, "I" in you. Not some spook. "I." Jesus. The Holy Spirit is equal to Jesus. He IS Jesus. Jesus IS God. Are you following?
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”John14:21-23Read that again. "If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and WE will come unto him, and make OUR abode with him." What is He saying? Remember, OUR means three or more. Jesus said WE will make OUR abode with him. The very real person Jesus, the very real person the Holy Spirit, and even God Himself will live in us.
You cannot separate God, The Son Jesus, and the Spirit of God, for they are all one. You cannot separate God, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible, because the Bible IS the Word of God and IS Jesus. All three are Jesus. This is the main reason that the Bible is the living Word of the Living God and all other “religious books” are that, religious books.
To recap a bit,
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John14:6-7Jesus is the Way;
Not Religion.
Not Christianity.
Jesus is the Truth;
Not religious books.
Not man-made religious traditions.
Jesus is Life.
We will be talking about this next time. You cannot get to God if you leave God out of the equation.
Do you know Jesus? The real Jesus. Say this prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us pray.
"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I believed He rose from the dead. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"
That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, You shall be saved." Romans 10:9. You need to find a Church that God leads you to and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."Colossians 3:10
May the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the peace of our Lord Jesus, be with you all. May God bless and be with you, always.
Until next time, be blessed, be a blessing, and Jesus is Lord!
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