Grace Bible Church Tree of Life A Weekly Review Week ending 061514 The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God manifested in the Fifth Saying from the Cross. The Fifth saying on the Cross is found in Joh 19:28, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. Our Lord was always concerned with performing the work God had called Him to do and to fulfill the Father s plan. Again remember what He said in passages like Joh 4:34, Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. In Joh 5:30, I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. In Joh 6:38, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. In Joh 19:30, When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. The point that I want you to perceive and understand is that in death or in life our Lord s desire was to fulfill the will of God. If the Lord had not thirsted for us, every one of us would be forever separated from God. And so this fifth saying of Jesus is really His only human expression of His physical suffering. He thirsts for the love of His Father, who has forsaken Him during this dreadful hour when He must fulfill his mission all alone. And he thirsts for the love and salvation of His people, the human race. Jesus practiced what He preached. Joh 15:12-13, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. In Joh 1:11, He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 1
The Lord of glory had tabernacled among men, but he was not wanted. Joh 1:14, And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. In Isa 53:3, He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. At his birth there was no room in the inn, which foreshadowed the treatment He was to receive at the hands of men. Luk 2:7, And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Shortly after His birth Herod sought to slay him, and this intimated the hostility His person evoked and forecast the cross as the climax of man s enmity. In Mat 2:16 we read Herod murdered all the male children who were in Bethlehem, two years old and under. Again and again, His enemies attempted His destruction. And now their hateful desires are granted to them. Is it any wonder why He did not say I am tired of all the lies that are being made against Me. Is it any wonder why He did not say I am tired of fact that the more He did for others, the more He was judged by them. Is it any wonder why stupid deceived individuals who had followed Him and His doctrines would be the very same ones who would listen to gossip about Him and cry out release to us Barrabas and crucify Him, (the lord jesus Christ) instead. Is it any wonder why we are told in Isa 11:3 that He would not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears heard;...and yet they turned on Him and judged Him as guilty and forsook Him. Is it any wonder why we are told in Joh 7:24, Do not judge according to appearance, and yet they turned on Him and judged Him as guilty and forsook Him. 2
Is it any wonder why we are also told in Mar 4:24, Be careful what you listen to, We are told in Luk 8:18, Be careful how you listen;...and yet they turned on Him and judged Him as guilty and forsook Him. For He was never innocent until He had His day in court and was proven to be guilty, but He was guilty without a day in court and the right to face His accusers, and therefore was never presumed to be innocent. Mat 25:40, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. Some so-called believers need to 2Co 13:5, Test themselves to see if they are in the faith; examine themselves! You need to ask yourself where you stand in relationship to 1Jo 3:14-16, We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The very same people who lied about our Lord were the very same ones He prayed for. These lies were from idiots who lied and who were are trying to destroy everything that He stood for...for years. Do you remember what they said about our Lord? They said He was of the devil, that He was an alcoholic, that He hung out with prostitutes. They said that He blasphemed, that He was insane, that He was demon possessed, that He stirs up trouble, and was a cult leader. By the way, in every case that I just mentioned, they, who said these things were religious people. Ever since Cain killed Abel, religion has been trying to kill the grace oriented believer. This is why the Lord said to the religious leaders in Joh 8:44, You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the father of lies. 3
Paul said it like this in Gal 4:29, But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. The point is that these things are hard to bear but the Christian soldier must endure through them. Let me give you some scriptural documentation of everything I just mentioned. Men said in Mat 9:34, that our Lord was of the devil, He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons. Ask yourself, if these things were said about me by the majority of people in my life, how would I react? Well, first of all, how did our Lord react? Well, he didn t, He responded, and there a difference between reacting and responding. Often time people don t notice the difference between responding to something and reacting to something. The difference between responding versus reacting means a bad situation can becoming worse or a bad situation can become better. Or the opposite can happen. The choice in behavior can make a good situation bad or a good situation even better. The importance of recognizing the two choices in your life is significant. The act of responding requires one to look at the circumstance, identify the problem or situation, hear what is happening and reflect. That reflection can be for a moment, five seconds, one hour, two days or longer. The time frame doesn t matter. What matters is that you stopped and put an effort to think and delayed immediate judgment. It is a conscious act and shows that you are willing to listen or observe. This `gap between the circumstance and your behavior is what contributes to gaining a sense of control in your life. Once a person can identify that in responding they actually have a choice in the manner, he or she will start to realize that they are able to make better decisions. The key is that pause. If the situation requires an immediate action, then just take a deep breath first. This alone can help one gain a semblance of control and make one choose an alternative statement or action that can make a big difference in an outcome of a situation. Reacting on other hand is the absence of this time gap. It is an immediate behavioral response and it is usually based upon emotions and not intellect. Reacting to events, reacting to comments from other people or reacting to sudden situations in an immediate way, can create unpredictable outcomes. When intellect or logic is bypassed for emotional vengeance, then there is a greater chance that irrationality will take over. Usually when you react you are unprepared and overwhelmed in feeling (i.e. anger, frustration, lust etc.) that your 4
intention becomes strictly one-sided. As a person has an immediate reaction it is unlikely that the person has even considered the other person s point of view or understanding. Immediately reacting can also mean that the person is not thinking about future consequences. The person is only identifying with his or her immediate emotions and using the emotions as a point of reference. Now, there are obviously certain times and places for reacting. Humans have this innate biological mechanism for a reason. If you were being attacked for instance, you would want to immediately react for survival. The problem arises when a person can only identify him with situation with emotions and not mindful reasoning and the need to react becomes a constant type of response mechanism. In the extreme sense a person who only uses reaction over responding can become emotionally overwhelmed thus producing hysterical or illogical behavior. Numerous and ongoing problems can arise for those having no impulse control or the ability to self regulate emotions. The benefit of understanding and identifying both these types of behavior in ourselves is immense for personal growth. For one, this knowledge shows you that you have options and more control over circumstances than you realize. The effect of going through life in a reactive mode ultimately becomes draining, difficult and can even bring about isolation. Making an effort to respond on other hand helps you establish control. Responding takes a conscious effort and builds mind control. Responding looks at others actions and consequences and provides a more holistic approach to behavior. Responding, not reacting will get you closer to what you want and ultimately who you desire to imitate, the first Adam who is of the flesh, or the Last Adam, Who is from above, our Lord Jesus Christ. 5