John 14:22-28

Jesus promised that He would never leave us. The father sends the Holy Spirit to abide within believers to teach and guide us into His perfect will. He will take the things of the Father made evident in Jesus and explain them to us.

The way to the knowledge of the Father is through the Holy Spirit and we receive it with our acceptance of Jesus, the Father’s gift to His creation, mankind.

The Greek term used here, paraklētos, refers to a legal assistant in a court who pleads someone’s case before the judge. The judge is God, and people are judged based on whether they follow Jesus’ command to believe that eternal life comes through His death and resurrection. When on earth, Jesus was the means for believers to interact with God the Father since their sin prevented them from doing so directly. The Spirit is sent to do the same work. This is one of His many tasks.

The Spirit, as God’s means of communication on earth, instructs believers and leads them to follow God’s will. The Spirit gives them access to God, His plans, and His wisdom. He can do so because of Jesus’ sacrifice for sins. They now have a way (the Spirit) to reach God—unencumbered by rituals, sacrifices, or laws—and atonement for their sins (Jesus’ death and resurrection), so that they are free to communicate with God and be in His presence.

Jesus wants His disciples to know that His coming suffering and death is not the end of His ministry; it is the beginning of His ministry’s final purpose and the completion of God’s will for Jesus’ life. Faithlife Bible.

John 14:22–28 (NKJV)

²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered and said to 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. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ²⁸ You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

Luke 1:79 (NKJV)

⁷⁹ To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

John 2:22 (NKJV)

²² Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Ephesians 1:7-14

In the measure that you place your trust in Him is the measure that you can receive from Him.

The dear Holy Spirit will teach you all things pertaining to Christ and place you where you need to be in His Body. We were created to be doers and not just hearers of the Word of God. We who were once slaves to sin are made free and washed clean by the precious blood of the Lamb of God.

It is all about Jesus and the salvation that only He can provide!

The Greek word redemption used here, apolytrōsis, refers to the act of paying to free a slave. In Paul’s writings, the Greek word used here, mystērion, refers to God’s plan of salvation, which was formerly kept secret but is now revealed in Christ. This plan includes the unification of Jews and Gentiles into one new people of God. God’s work in Christ extends over all creation, including the heavens.

The gift of the Holy Spirit not only empowers believers to live holy lives, but also serves as a guarantee and reminder that God will one day fully complete His work in believers. Faithlife Bible.

In ancient times, one could buy back a person who was sold into slavery. In the same way, Christ through His death bought us from our slavery to sin. The blood of Christ is the means by which our redemption comes. The Old Testament  and the New both clearly teach that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Blood here is a vivid symbolic equivalent of death. It recalls the sacrificial system of the old covenant, which looked forward to the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ that took away the sin of the world.

The seal or mark of ownership in believers’ lives is the Holy Spirit.

Interestingly, the Greek word for guarantee can also be used to indicate an engagement ring. As Christ is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride, so the Holy Spirit is the down payment, the earnest money, in the long-awaited marriage of the two. NKJ Bible.

Ephesians 1:7–14 (NKJV)

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. ¹¹ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ¹² that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

John 1:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Acts 20:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Romans 3:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

Luke 9:18-22

Faith alone pleases the Father…faith in the birth, death and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Mary overshadowed by the Holy Spirit gave birth to Jesus. All God, all man and the only One who could save us, the gift of God, so that no one could boast.

To God be all the glory!

Following His resurrection, Jesus’ disciples would be commissioned to make known explicitly what His signs and wonders revealed—Jesus’ identity as God’s Son and anointed one. Faithlife Bible.

The emphasis here is on the messianic role of Jesus. He is the Promised One who was ushering in a new era. However, Jesus would soon reveal to the disciples that His messiahship would have elements of suffering that the disciples did not expect. The element of suffering that the Messiah would endure was not a part of popular expectation. Thus Jesus’ messiahship could not be openly proclaimed before the true nature of the Messiah was revealed.

The disciples struggled to understand what Jesus was saying. They could not comprehend how Jesus’ predictions fit into God’s plan. Only after Jesus’ resurrection and His explanation of the Scriptures to them did they begin to understand. NKJ Bible.

Luke 9:18–22 (NKJV)

¹⁸ And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

²⁰ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

²¹ And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²² saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Matthew 16:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Zephaniah 1:2-3

There will come a time when God will judge, not man. Those who turn to Him will live! God wants no man to perish but all to share eternal life with the Trinity. 

It is up to us to choose life or to choose death…

There will be a complete destruction of all who do not worship Yahweh. Faithlife Bible.

The message of Zephaniah begins with a pronouncement of universal judgment. These words not only introduce the particular judgment that would be pronounced upon Judah, but they also speak of the final judgment that will usher in the kingdom of God on earth. 

Stumbling blocks refers to idolatry, or substitutes for God in the life and affections of a person. Because there is nothing in the universe that really may be compared to the Creator, God abhors all forms of idolatry.

Zephaniah’s message had both halves of the bad-news-good-news equation. His first words were bad news indeed: The day of the Lord was coming and that meant terrible judgment. The Israelites had acted like their pagan neighbors—they had scorned God’s law, worshiped false gods, and sinned without remorse long enough. Now it was time to repent: They had to turn back to their God or face the consequences. 

It was the “turn back to God” part of Zephaniah’s message that offered a ray of hope. And to those who listened and responded to his call, the good news wiped out every line of bad. God would restore those who sought Him. NKJ Bible.

Zephaniah 1:2–3 (NKJV)

² “I will utterly consume everything

From the face of the land,”

Says the Lord;

³ “I will consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of the heavens,

The fish of the sea,

And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the land,”

Says the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

The Gospel of Jesus Christ…is the only way to the Father!

Just B.E.L.I.E.V.E.

Paul did not originate the proclamation of Jesus that he delivered to the Corinthians; he simply gave the Corinthians what he himself had received. He viewed himself as a link in a long chain of witnesses to the truth of the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ’s death dealt decisively with our sins. He suffered in our place to endure the just wrath of God against us. Christ lived and died in accordance with the prophecies about Him in the Old Testament.

The Resurrection verifies the fact that Christ’s death paid the full price for sin. The Greek term translated rose here is in the perfect tense, emphasizing the ongoing effects of this historical event. Christ is a risen Savior today. NKJ Bible.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (NKJV)

³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. ⁶ After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷ After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. ⁸ Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

Isaiah 53:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

Hosea 6:2 (NKJV)

² After two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight.

Matthew 12:40 (NKJV)

⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

John 2:18-24

Faith alone pleases the Father. 

Faith in His only begotten Son whom He sent to save the world and all who would accept His birth, death and resurrection, His life in exchange for theirs.

Just B.E.L.I.E.V.E.

As they had with John the Baptist, the religious leaders want Jesus to justify His actions. Jesus is divinely appointed, so the glory of other people is not His concern—He receives His glory from God the Father. Faithlife Bible.

The sign Jesus gave the Jews was the sign of His death and resurrection. John’s purpose in recording Jesus’ miracles was for people to believe and have eternal life.

These individuals trusted Jesus, but Jesus did not entrust Himself to them. Jesus fully understood the depth of trust of those who were following Him; some would stay, but many would fall away. NKJ Bible.

John 2:18–24 (NKJV)

¹⁸ So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰ Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

²¹ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. ²² Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,

Mark 14:58 (NKJV)

⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”

Ezekiel 34:25-31

As believers in Jesus Christ we are adopted into the family of God. We become children and heirs to the promises given to Israel. Through the precious blood of the Lamb there is no longer  Jew or gentile, slave or free, we are all one in the Body of Christ. His peace He gives you, not the peace that the world offers, His peace which transcends all human understanding.

In His Father’s house there are many rooms and He went to prepare a place for you and I.

Restoration of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh brings the covenant blessings promised in Leviticus. Ezekiel has skillfully reworked the blessings into a future picture of hope for Israel. Faithlife Bible.

The exiles were encouraged through this promise of a covenant of peace, characterized by these promises: (1) security from foreign aggressor nations, the wild beasts; (2) showers of blessing, meaning productivity and prosperity; and (3) the certainty that the Lord is Israel’s God and desires reunion with His people and a lasting relationship built on a new covenant. NKJ Bible.

Ezekiel 34:25–31 (NKJV)

²⁵ “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. ²⁷ Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. ²⁹ I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. ³⁰ Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God.’ ”

³¹ “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

Zechariah 8:13 (NKJV)

¹³ And it shall come to pass

That just as you were a curse among the nations,

O house of Judah and house of Israel,

So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.

Do not fear,

Let your hands be strong.’

Ezekiel 21:9-11

God created all men, some for honor and some for dishonor. Judgement comes to believers and nonbelievers, but especially those who call on the name of the Lord. In the manner that we judge and treat other people, other nations in his name…we will be judged. 

The word of God is sharper than a double edged sword!

These are evil times.

The sword is made ready for Yahweh’s use in judgment.

The connection between the sword and the flash of lightning may be based on a Babylonian literary motif. The Akkadian sign for “sword” and “lightning” are the same. A Babylonian poem also depicts a divine destroyer identified as both “torch” and “sword”. Faithlife Bible.

In this context, the words, my son, refer to Judah. If the people reacted with mirth, it would show that they mistakenly believed that such judgment would never come on God’s people and must therefore be meant for an enemy nation. NKJ Bible.

Ezekiel 21:9–11 (NKJV)

⁹ “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say:

‘A sword, a sword is sharpened

And also polished!

¹⁰ Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,

Polished to flash like lightning!

Should we then make mirth?

1 Corinthians

We are the hands and feet of Christ and through His Body, the Church, we carry out His love for His creation. His Church is not bound by walls nor inhibited by the dogma of men. 

His Body includes all denominations, all people who believe in His birth, death and ascension to allow us entrance into his eternal heavenly realm.

God is all powerful, all knowing and in ever facet of life. 

Trust in Him to do what we cannot!

1 Corinthians

The church at Corinth was a seriously troubled church. Infected with sexual immorality, split by factions that dragged each other into court, and crippled by abuse of the spiritual gifts, this church was in need of radical spiritual surgery. Though true believers, the Corinthians had a lot of growing up to do. They had to stop following the immoral, selfish, and contentious ways of their pagan neighbors in Corinth, the notoriously immoral city of that day. One can sense the disappointment of a hurt father in Paul’s stern words for the Corinthians. Yet Paul, like a surgeon, diagnosed the problem and aimed his efforts straight at the source: pride and a lack of true love in the church.

First Corinthians is a reply to two letters. Paul had left the Corinthian church under the leadership of Aquila and Priscilla in the spring of a.d. 53 to continue his second missionary journey. On his third journey, during his stay at Ephesus, he received two letters from the Corinthian believers. One was a disturbing report from the household of Chloe. The report detailed the divisions and immorality in the church. These problems arose because the young Corinthian church had failed to protect itself from the decadent culture of the city. The immaturity of the Corinthians had given way to sectarian divisions. The believers were identifying themselves as followers of specific Christian leaders rather than as followers of Christ.

Though the Corinthians were very gifted, in their immaturity and pride they had abused their gifts. Paul reminded the Corinthians that gifts come from God and are to unify and edify the church. In conclusion, Paul corrected a doctrinal matter by writing the New Testament’s most detailed explanation of the resurrection of Christ and Christians. Even though the church was riddled with problems, Paul ended his confrontational letter with a note of hope. The Corinthians could have victory over sin and death because Jesus in His death and resurrection had already decisively obtained it.

In this letter Paul proclaims the relevance of Christ Jesus to every area of the believer’s life. In the writer’s words, Jesus “became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption”. Paul goes on to assert (much as Luke did in the Book of Acts) that Jesus is living out His life in the world through the church. According to Paul, we are the body of Christ with individual gifts. As we discover our gifts and invest them in mutual ministry, Jesus continues to touch the world for which He died. NKJ Bible.

Luke 11:37-44

Making the teachings of Christ hard for all to understand defeats the intentions of God. He wants all of His creation to be able to grasp and then to accept or reject Him. Every teaching points to Gods’ great love for mankind. In giving us Jesus to die for our sins He gave us the most precious gift of all.  

The simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ saves lives!

Justice and love for God echoes the two greatest commandments (Luke 10:27–28), as well as the teaching of the prophets. Faithlife Bible.

Luke 10:27–28 (NKJV)

²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees concerned themselves with outward appearances and ritual cleanness, while what was inside, what really counts, was full of selfishness and evil. The Pharisees worried about tithing ten percent, even down to the smallest herbs, which were tithed according to the dictates of tradition, not the Law of Moses. Some Pharisees took the strictest interpretation and counted almost anything, including spices. However, they neglected two basic things that the prophets also had warned about: love and justice. 

The Pharisees, the paragons of purity, were in fact the height of uncleanness.

Luke 11:37–44 (NKJV)

³⁷ And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. ³⁸ When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.

³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

Matthew 23:23 (NKJV)

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.