And yet, how inconsistent it is if you call Jesus, Lord, and yet you don't obey. Now He is just giving you a lot of things here to consider as far as obedience is concerned. Now James says, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). As we read what Jesus ideally requiring of us, and commanding us to do and to be. And then we say, "Oh, Lord, I don't think I can do that. Oh, Lord, there is no way I can do that." And then His response is, "Why do you call me, Lord, unless you're going to do the things I command you to do? You see, if you're not obeying what I am commanding then I am really not your Lord." That's exactly what He is saying to you. (Commentary Chuck Smith)
You see, the title Lord implies mastery. It implies servant. I am the servant, He is the Lord. In our culture we don't understand what it was to be a slave. To not be able to own anything. To be the total property of another person. To be required to obey implicitly without question anything that was demanded of you. We independent Americans can't even conceive of this. And so we find it easy to say, "Oh, Lord, oh Lord."
And yet, how inconsistent it is if you call Jesus, Lord, and yet you don't obey. Now He is just giving you a lot of things here to consider as far as obedience is concerned. Now James says, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). As we read what Jesus ideally requiring of us, and commanding us to do and to be. And then we say, "Oh, Lord, I don't think I can do that. Oh, Lord, there is no way I can do that." And then His response is, "Why do you call me, Lord, unless you're going to do the things I command you to do? You see, if you're not obeying what I am commanding then I am really not your Lord." That's exactly what He is saying to you. (Commentary Chuck Smith)
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In answering Judas, Jesus repeated the themes from the previous verses. Jesus would be revealed to and among the disciples through love, obedience, and union with the Father and the Son. These were not and are not primarily mystical or ecstatic experiences, but real life lived out in the presence and work of the Holy Spirit with personal love. As believers are mixed with unbelievers in the world, and as they must be agitated by various storms, as in a troubled sea, Christ again confirms them by this admonition, that they may not be drawn away by bad examples. As if he had said, “Do not look upon the world so as to depend on it; for there will always be some who despise me and my doctrine; but as for you, preserve constantly to the end the grace which you have once received.” Yet he likewise intimates that the world is justly punished for its ingratitude, when it perishes in its blindness, since, by despising true righteousness, it manifests a wicked hatred towards Christ. (Calvin) These words may have respect both to external professors of religion, who being destitute of true love to Christ, though they outwardly observe his ordinances and commands; yet inasmuch as this does not spring from a principle of love to him, and is done only to be seen of men, or to obtain life for themselves, may be said, not to keep his words or commands, because they do not keep them aright; and to the profane world, who, as they have no affection to Christ, pay no regard to any orders or ordinances of his: and they may be considered as having in them a reason or argument, justifying the conduct of Christ, in manifesting himself to his disciples, and not unto the world; as the following words give a reason why the Father takes so much notice of, comes and makes his abode with such as keep the words of Christ. (Gill) "You are my friends" He does not mean that we obtain so great an honor by our own merit, but only reminds them of the condition on which he receives us into favor, and deigns to reckon us among his friends; as he said a little before,
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, (John 15:10.) For the grace of God our Savior hath appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and righteously, and piously, in this world, (Titus 2:11.) But ungodly men, who, through wicked contempt of the Gospel, want only oppose Christ, renounce his friendship. (Calvin) Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
This promise of God’s answer to the prayer made in faith was made to disciples, not to the multitude. “Nor should we interpret Mark 11:24 to mean, ‘If you pray hard enough and really believe, God is obligated to answer your prayer no matter what you ask.’ That kind of faith is not faith in God; rather it is nothing but faith in faith, or faith in feelings.” (Wiersbe) Matthew 10:37-39
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. The disciple must confess Jesus publicly – before men. If we will not be public about our allegiance to Him, we cannot expect Him to be public about His allegiance to us. Everyone Jesus called He called publicly. There is really no such thing as a “secret” Christian, at least not in a permanent sense. This is a contradiction in terms – an oxymoron. Each individual Christian life should supply enough evidence – evidence that can be seen by the world – that they are indeed Christians. It is to be feared that many modern Christians, if arrested for the crime of following Jesus and tried in a court, would have the charges dismissed for a lack of evidence. “What Christ is to you on earth, that you will be to Christ in heaven. I shall repeat that truth. Whatever Jesus Christ is to you on earth, you will be to him in the day of judgment. If he be dear and precious to you, you will be precious and dear to him. If you thought everything of him, he will think everything of you.” (Spurgeon) Romans 8:26-28 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. John Calvin on the Spirit interceding for us- But the Spirit himself intercedes, Though really or by the event it does not appear that our prayers have been heard by God, yet Paul concludes, that the presence of the celestial favor does already shine forth in the desire for prayer; for no one can of himself give birth to devout and godly aspirations. The unbelieving do indeed blab out their prayers, but they only trifle with God; for there is in them nothing sincere, or serious, or rightly formed. Hence the manner of praying aright must be suggested by the Spirit: and he calls those groanings unutterable, into which we break forth by the impulse of the Spirit, for this reason — because they far exceed the capability of our own minds. And the Spirit is said to intercede, not because he really humbles himself to pray or to groan, but because he stirs up in our hearts those desires which we ought to entertain; and he also affects our hearts in such a way that these desires by their fervency penetrate into heaven itself. And Paul has thus spoken, that he might more significantly ascribe the whole to the grace of the Spirit. We are indeed bidden to knock; but no one can of himself premeditate even one syllable, except God by the secret impulse of his Spirit knocks at our door, and thus opens for himself our hearts. “Coopitulatur “ is [Calvin ] ’ Latin — co-assist,” [Beza ] ’s “una sublevat — lifts up together,” that is, together with those who labor under infirmities. The Vulgate has “adjuvat — helps,” like our version. [Schleusner ] says, that it means to succor those whose strength is unequal to carry their burden alone. It is found in one other place, Luke 10:40. It is given by the Septuagint in Psalms 89:21, for אמף — “to strengthen, to invigorate,” and in Exodus 18:22, for נשא אתך — “to bear with,” that is, “a burden with thee,” — the very idea that it seems to have here — Ed. Mark 8:34-38 34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Everybody knew what Jesus meant when He said this. Everyone knew that the cross was an unrelenting instrument of death. The cross had no other purpose. The cross wasn’t about religious ceremonies; it wasn’t about traditions and spiritual feelings. The cross was a way to execute people. In these 20 centuries after Jesus, we sanitized and ritualized the cross. How would we receive it if Jesus said, “Walk down death row daily and follow Me”? Taking up your cross wasn’t a journey; it was a one-way trip. (Guzik) “Cross bearing does not refer to some irritation in life. Rather, it involves the way of the cross. The picture is of a man, already condemned, required to carry his cross on the way to the place of execution, as Jesus was required to do.” (Wessel) “Every Christian must be a Crucian, said Luther, and do somewhat more than those monks that made themselves wooden crosses, and carried them on their back continually, making all the world laugh at them.” (Trapp) Jesus makes deny himself equal with take up his cross. The two express the same idea. The cross wasn’t about self-promotion or self-affirmation. The person carrying a cross knew they couldn’t save themselves. “Denying self is not the same as self-denial. We practice self-denial when, for a good purpose, we occasionally give up things or activities. But we deny self when we surrender ourselves to Christ and determine to obey His will.” (Wiersbe) Denying self means to live as an others-centered person. Jesus was the only person to do this perfectly, but we are to follow in His steps (and follow Me). This is following Jesus at its simplest: He carried a cross, and walked down death row; so must those who follow Him Luke 14:33So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
We have a difficult challenge in understanding and communicating the gospel here; there are two extremes to avoid. We can never give people the impression that they have to clean up their lives before the come to Jesus; that is like washing up before you take a bath. But also, we can never give people the impression that Jesus won't want to clean up their lives after they come to Him. Being a disciple means that you help Jesus in that work instead of resisting it, or changing things back to the old way. When the ancient Greek phrase forsake all that he has was applied to people meant, "to say goodbye to." Jesus tells us to "say goodbye" to everything we have, entrusting it to Jesus. (Commentary David Guzik)
Child of God, do you know He loves you?
Psalm 72:5-11
They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations. 6 He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. 7 In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. 8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts. 11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him. Jesus is the King of Kings not because He is just a little better than the earthly kings, but because He rules with all authority and has victory over all. |
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