Daily Bread 11-29-16
John 11:47,48
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? For this man doth many miracles?
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
ref. - Matt 26:3 - Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.
Jn 12:19 - The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world has gone after him.
Dan 9:26 - And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Zech 13:7,8 - Awake, O sword against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
When Christ gains strength, they who choose to oppose him will try to rise up. Not to show their power or might, but because they know that they are about to lose what little they have. Their hearts are in the worldly possessions that they have and the attention and affection of men. When men cannot replicate or copy things that the Holy Ghost can do they will try to go to war. They know that if the people see a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit that their game will be up. What these men saw Jesus doing was undeniable and it was something that they could not do themselves. They knew that the people were going to follow Jesus because of the obvious facts that he was performing miracles among them. They could not stand the thought that God had sent the one they were looking for and it would take away their power. This occurs today with men who teach and preach false doctrine. When the truth comes near they will join up and try to overcome it. Only thing is, there is nothing that can overcome the truth in Jesus Christ. Not even when they murdered him did it stop. No, there were disciples and Apostles after that. Now, as according to scripture, there are Apostles, Evangelists, Missionaries, Teachers, etc. All of these called by God still spreading this powerful gospel, performing miracles, and still facing great opposition inside and outside of the Church. Today, my Brothers and Sisters, we must look at what category we fall in. Do we follow Christ or do we covet the things that are his? Do we want the power and the followers, or are we truly receivers of the power, demonstrators of the power, as we follow him? You see, the "chosen" ones have been cut off for a time and this fine Gospel, the everlasting Gospel, has been entrusted to us. What we do with it will determine what God does with us. We can either use it to gain worldly things and worldly followers, or we can use it to draw closer to God and to learn how He wants us to follow Jesus. We can try to manufacture the power of God, or we can be genuine partakers in it. They who endure to the end shall be saved and this is God's will for all of us. Not to try to kick against the Gospel or God's messengers of it, but to fall in line and follow Christ. The men in this scripture lost their battle and so will we if we are worried about what we are going to los if the world turns to Christ. So let us get on the right path as followers, and leave the leading to the one who was born to lead us!! Jesus Christ!!!! Have a great day!!!