Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
Acts 13:38-41
Law of Moses
All Things Fulfilled
And He said unto them,
“These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me.”
Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
“Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
Luke 24:44-49
Beware of the Hypocrite Authorities
“Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.’” Matthew 23:1-12 (KJB)
The “Seat of Moses'” was the authority given to the teachers of the Law of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). These teachers had the responsibility to teach it. They were responsible for being able to quote it without reading it. They need to be applauded for the work of memory required to do that. However, they laid a load of condemnation on their people, and did little of nothing for their own holiness, and sanctification.
Most of the good works they did was for popularity with the people; to be seen of them. They sought the higher places to be seen of men.
Jesus tells His disciples, the multitude, and us, “Do what they teach according to the Law of Moses; but do not as the Pharisees do.” Instead of exalting God; they exalted themselves.
As Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ we are to live to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. When we exalt Him we exalt the Father.
Believe Him
This Present Evil, and Our Prayer
We are looking at a recorded prayer of Daniel today. Daniel is confessing the sins of his people, his nation while they are held captive in Babylon. He has read the prophet Jeremiah (Daniel 9:2), and saw the great need for the repentance of the people. The place to begin repentance is with myself.
Hear the heart of Daniel and read through chapter nine, but for this post hear the heart of the man:
“As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand Thy truth. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all His works which He doeth: for we obeyed not His voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought Thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten Thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.” Daniel 9:13-15 (KJV)
Daniel sees that the LORD is righteous, and that He watches over us even when evil is prevailing; so that the evil that is upon His people might work to make His people a holy, and righteous people.
One of the things that seems apparent to me is that evil is its own destruction. Evil never triumphs at anything. Evil causes fear in the hearts of people, and God’s people too. Evil causes us to move away from God, then it is brought to destruction; and the people of God return to Him.
We must confess our sin; for we have sinned. We must ask for forgiveness from God. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Through the cross, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His burial, and bodily resurrection there is forgiveness, and everlasting life in the presence of the Lord our God.
Day 72 – The Son of Man and The Scriptures
In reading the gospels, especially Matthew, one cannot help but notice the importance the writers place on showing that the Scriptures are fulfilled. One cannot help but notice, also how much Jesus Himself refers to the Scriptures, the prophets, and in Luke 24 Jesus even mentions the Psalms. I am going to post a few of those verses concerning the Scriptures today, pray you will look them up and read the context of their writings.
This first excerpt of Scripture is from the story of the rich man and Lazarus,
“Abraham saith unto him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.’ And he said unto him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.'” Luke 16:29-31 (KJV)
The next quite obviously is of Jesus’s coming crucifixion,
“Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise again.” Luke 18:31-33
The next excerpt is as Jesus appears to the two on the road to Emmaus and explains the Scripture to them;
“Then He said unto them, ‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:25-27
The final one in Luke is when Jesus has appeared to all the disciples together in one place, and it is here that He mentions the Psalms;
“And He said unto them, ‘These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-49
We need to ask ourselves, “Do I put enough relevance upon Scripture?” After all the Scriptures are they which testify of Jesus.
-Tim A. Blankenship
The Fire and Hammer 