John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (KJV)
To me those are the saddest words in the whole Bible. There are several methods to "walk no more with Him", they involve rejecting what He said, to follow some other teacher who has a "better message". They stopped following because they believed not.
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. John 6:64-71 (KJV)
There are several ways to stop following Him, but we won't if He has hold of us. The twelve knew there was no other way but to believe Jesus, all of Him, and leave all the world and it's worldly wisdom because Jesus alone had the words of eternal life. Even Judas who would betray Him knew this, and yet still he held onto that part that would be the cause of his downfall. We won't find eternal life anywhere else, and they all knew this. We can delude ourselves into thinking we might find something better somewhere; but where can we go to find the truth about it?; let's be honest. So what if we think (mistakenly) that we have to change some things around in order to make them all fit the way we think it should, it is true we will NEVER figure it all out, so why try? Why not TRUST GOD, instead of trusting ourselves, or mortal men who think they have the answers? Why do we have to make God fit into our mold to make believe that NOW we can make it fit our ideas of what a "loving" God should be?
The people of John 6:66 didn't believe Jesus anymore, they didn't want to have it be "His way". They wanted to have it their own way, a way that fit their own ideas of what they wanted for themselves and their loved ones, and for everyone else in the world...because Jesus words weren't good enough. There has to be others with a better way who can explain it a little better than Jesus did, Jesus words were too difficult, they had to renounce themselves, and reject those who reject the Truth because Jesus words would bring division and strife... and who wants or needs all that? Jesus promised us peace, and now He says He doesn't bring peace but rather division and strife??? So which is it? It can't be both, can it? Yes...it can...because Jesus said it, I believe Him. My limited understanding doesn't make what He said not so, or contradictory. It just means He knows more about it than I do, and I need to trust HIM.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. Luke 13:24-30 (KJV)
There certainly are many false doctrines abounding, but let us hold fast to what we know to be true, regardless of whether it makes us feel good or bad or anything in between. What we want to feel means very little because our feelings will always steer us in the wrong direction. Our feelings are of our flesh. We are warned again and again of the deceptive nature of our flesh. We are warned several times over of how our desires that arise from our flesh need to be put down, to lay down our flesh and put it to death. Our flesh wants to find a way to be appeased other than the one and only way that Jesus has, through Him and through His words alone. The devil will use all sorts of flattery to throw us off the track of becoming born again, or if we are saved, to at least disable us from being effective in presenting the TRUTH of the gospel.
We run the race with Jesus as our strength and our shield so nothing that hinders us now will matter, therefore let us cast aside those hindrances which would hold us back in our flesh (1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1) , appeasing our flesh rather than casting it aside for our Lord. In our sorrow let us rejoice because the sorrows of this present time are nothing compared to the joy we have in store for us (Romans 8:18).
To me those are the saddest words in the whole Bible. There are several methods to "walk no more with Him", they involve rejecting what He said, to follow some other teacher who has a "better message". They stopped following because they believed not.
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. John 6:64-71 (KJV)
There are several ways to stop following Him, but we won't if He has hold of us. The twelve knew there was no other way but to believe Jesus, all of Him, and leave all the world and it's worldly wisdom because Jesus alone had the words of eternal life. Even Judas who would betray Him knew this, and yet still he held onto that part that would be the cause of his downfall. We won't find eternal life anywhere else, and they all knew this. We can delude ourselves into thinking we might find something better somewhere; but where can we go to find the truth about it?; let's be honest. So what if we think (mistakenly) that we have to change some things around in order to make them all fit the way we think it should, it is true we will NEVER figure it all out, so why try? Why not TRUST GOD, instead of trusting ourselves, or mortal men who think they have the answers? Why do we have to make God fit into our mold to make believe that NOW we can make it fit our ideas of what a "loving" God should be?
The people of John 6:66 didn't believe Jesus anymore, they didn't want to have it be "His way". They wanted to have it their own way, a way that fit their own ideas of what they wanted for themselves and their loved ones, and for everyone else in the world...because Jesus words weren't good enough. There has to be others with a better way who can explain it a little better than Jesus did, Jesus words were too difficult, they had to renounce themselves, and reject those who reject the Truth because Jesus words would bring division and strife... and who wants or needs all that? Jesus promised us peace, and now He says He doesn't bring peace but rather division and strife??? So which is it? It can't be both, can it? Yes...it can...because Jesus said it, I believe Him. My limited understanding doesn't make what He said not so, or contradictory. It just means He knows more about it than I do, and I need to trust HIM.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. Luke 13:24-30 (KJV)
There certainly are many false doctrines abounding, but let us hold fast to what we know to be true, regardless of whether it makes us feel good or bad or anything in between. What we want to feel means very little because our feelings will always steer us in the wrong direction. Our feelings are of our flesh. We are warned again and again of the deceptive nature of our flesh. We are warned several times over of how our desires that arise from our flesh need to be put down, to lay down our flesh and put it to death. Our flesh wants to find a way to be appeased other than the one and only way that Jesus has, through Him and through His words alone. The devil will use all sorts of flattery to throw us off the track of becoming born again, or if we are saved, to at least disable us from being effective in presenting the TRUTH of the gospel.
We run the race with Jesus as our strength and our shield so nothing that hinders us now will matter, therefore let us cast aside those hindrances which would hold us back in our flesh (1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1) , appeasing our flesh rather than casting it aside for our Lord. In our sorrow let us rejoice because the sorrows of this present time are nothing compared to the joy we have in store for us (Romans 8:18).
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