DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS #31)

In Galilee (See John 6: 22-71)

When Christ forbade the people to declare Him king, He knew that a turning point in His history was reached. Multitudes who desired to exalt Him to the throne today would turn from Him tomorrow.

From the start of His ministry Jesus had held out to His followers no hope of earthly rewards.

If men could have had the world with Christ, multitudes would have proffered Him their allegiance, but such service He could not accept. Of those now connected with Him there were many who had been attracted by the hope of a worldly kingdom. These must be undeceived. The deep spiritual teaching in the miracle of the loaves had not been comprehended.

The fact that He claimed to be the Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel’s king, was a mystery which they could not fathom.

Had they understood the Scriptures, they would have understood His words when He said, “I am the bread of life.” Only the day before, the great multitude, when faint and weary, had been fed by the bread which He had given. As from that bread they received physical strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might receive spiritual strength unto eternal life.

Christ appealed to those stubborn hearts. “They that come to Me I will not cast out.” All who received Him in faith, He said, should have eternal life. Not one could be lost.

Jesus did not explain the mystery of His birth. He made no answer to the questionings in regard to His having come down from heaven. Voluntarily He had made Himself of no reputation, and taken upon Him the form of a servant.

Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him.

It is through the spirit that Christ dwells in us. And the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal.

The manna in the wilderness could sustain only this earthly existence. It did not prevent death, nor insure immortality. But the Bread of Heaven, Jesus, would nourish the soul unto everlasting life.

To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Savior, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him.

It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Savior.

A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart. His love, His grace, must be assimilated.

Is your zeal languishing? Has your first love grown cold? Accept again the proffered love of Christ. Eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, and you will become one with the Father, and with the Son.

Every soul is to receive life from God’s word himself. As we must eat food for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word of God for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit.

The word of God, received into the soul, molds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character. By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened.

Because they were too vain and self-righteous to receive reproof, and too world loving to accept a life of humility, many turned away from Jesus. Many are still doing the same today.

The consciousness that His compassion was unappreciated, His love unrequited, His mercy slighted, His salvation rejected, filled Him with sorrow that was inexpressible. This is what made Him a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God, we can discern His great love, which underlies all his dealings with humanity.

Compassionate Redeemer, who in the full knowledge of the doom that awaited Him, tenderly smoothed the way for the disciples, prepared them for their crowning trial, and strengthened them for the final test!

Tradition (See Matthew 15: 1-20, Mark 7: 1-23)

The scribes and Pharisees, expecting to see Jesus at the Passover, had laid a trap for Him.

As before, the ground of complaint was His disregard of traditional precepts that encumbered the law of God.

Whenever the message of truth comes home to souls with special power, Satan stirs up his agents to start a dispute over some minor question. Thus he seeks to attract attention from the real issue.

The questions that should most concern us are, do I believe with saving grace, and faith on the Son of God? Is my life in harmony with the divine law? “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life.” “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (John 3:36, and 1 John 2:3)

Jesus explained that defilement comes not from without, but from within. Purity and impurity pertain to the soul. It is the evil deed, the evil word, the evil thought, the transgression of the law of God, not the neglect of external, man-made ceremonies, that defiles a person.

Every human invention that has been substituted for the commandments of God will be found worthless in that day when “God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

(WRITER’S NOTE: Bible prophecy is not just something in the future that we can’t really understand, or that has been falsely, and fictionally portrayed in popular books and movies. As a matter of fact, most prophecies have already taken place. We just need to understand a little history, as the last are getting closer to being fulfilled before Jesus returns. If you would like to understand what the Bible actually teaches about prophecy, here is some suggested viewing on YouTube: ‘Unlocking Bible Prophecies’ with Cami Oetman, and ‘Bible Flock Box’ with Greg Sereda.)