Good morning,

I have a question about when Jesus descended into hell and preached to the spirits in hell.  Am I remembering correctly that Jesus preached to those in hell who lived before the law and gave them the chance to be saved?

Lyn

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Hi Lyn!

Yes, that is what Peter said in 1Peter 3:

18. Christ also suffered for sins once for all, a righteous man for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19. by the which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,

    20a. who once were unbelieving, when in the days of Noah the long-suffering of God waited while the ark was being prepared. . . .

Thank you for the question.

Pastor John

 

John,

     This past Saturday, I had Faith on my mind, like we all did!  I was thinking about how Luis was fasting and praying for Faith.  The verse, “this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting,” came to mind, so I went and read in Matthew 17 where that verse is found.  It is the story where Jesus casts the demon out of the epileptic man after the disciples were unable to do it.

    This morning, I was led to read the Thought for the Morning (3-30) which was a question, “How is the fasting that Jesus accepts?” (https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_thoughts.html?tname=tfm03-30)  You responded that fasting is in the Spirit, and when fasting is done physically, oftentimes, it is for show or purely in the flesh.  In the response, you also referenced the story that I mentioned above in Matthew 17.  You also mentioned that the kind of fasting that Jesus accepts is in Isaiah 58.

    After reading the Thought for the Morning about fasting, I went on to read Isaiah 58.  I knew that you always taught us that is where the true fast is described.  I began to read Isaiah 58 and started to read it as a checklist.  What is it that we haven’t done that could help bring about Faith’s healing?  I know that we have asked that question as a body, “God, what is it that you want us to do? or change? or not do?”   After describing the true fast in verse 8, it says “Then shall your light break forth as the dawn, and your healing shall spring forth quickly…”  And in verse 9, “Then you shall call and Jehovah will answer.  You shall cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am!’ – if you do these things: put away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, provide freely for the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul.”

    Many times throughout this chapter, it speaks of the “yoke”.  I see that as something that is oppressive, correct?  For example, the ceremonies that you would find in Christianity.  I feel like we have “put away” those yokes from the midst of us.  What other things are considered “yokes”?

    I don’t know what else it is that I am asking, except to tell you the rabbit holes that Jesus has led me through the past couple of days.  I just felt that it was the right thing to write my thoughts and questions to you.  I know that we all have been searching for answers concerning Faith’s healing.  We all want her made completely whole!

Love,

Carrie

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Hi Carrie,

     The yoke to which Isaiah refers is one’s will, which self-willed people would place around the necks of others so that they do what they want those folk to do.  Part of the true fast is to refrain from doing that.  Some people are accomplished at manipulating others to do their will, and they are miserable if others do not do what they want them to do.  But if you maintain peace in your soul even when others, especially those you love, do not do as you know that God wants – and you want – them to do, then you are fasting from something God wants you to fast from: self-will.

     Those who walk in the Spirit allow others the same liberty that Christ allows us all: the liberty to choose to be wrong and to do wrong if that is what we want (but there will be consequences).  Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden, light, and he invites us to put that precious yoke around our necks.  He does not force us to do so, but if we do take that yoke upon us, he gives us his peace and makes us happy.

    I hope that answers your question.

Pastor John

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    Yes, this was helpful!  Thank you!  The way that the Bible verses and Thought for the Morning lined up, I could feel there was gold in this.  I needed your help to find it! 

    I loved what you said this morning, too, about how this also applies to our relationship between God and us.  Do we want our way more than we want God’s way?  Can we stay happy and have peace if things don’t go the way that we think they should go?  Can we trust God that He has our best in mind?  It is all for our good!

    I also loved what you said about having an attitude of a servant.  The servant’s only concern is what the master wants or thinks.  We can’t even squabble with other servants about what they think.  It is ALL about the Master.

Carrie

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Pastor John

    I love this so much.  Jesus and I have been talking about this recently.  I had to stop the other day and wonder out loud to him why I feel such peace right now.  I almost feel lifted out of myself.  Jesus told me it’s because I trust him now.

    I actually had to pause and think about whether that was true when he said it.  I told Jesus I didn’t even know when that happened.  And I also know he did it.  Somewhere in the middle of me worrying myself to death, Jesus fixed something in me that has been broken since childhood — and I didn’t even know he did it.

    I don’t know what Jesus is going to do for Jerry, for Faith, or for any of us, but I do know this: I have an incredible peace inside, and I trust Him.  I trust Jesus with all of it.

 Love,

 Beth

 

 

 

Hello Pastor John,

     I hope y’all are having a sweet time at Vince and Amy’s this weekend. 

     Jamie and I were reading Psalms this morning, and a question came up as we were reading Psalm 74. In verses 3-10, it sounds as if some enemies of Israel had profaned and destroyed the temple.

3. O lift up your feet to these perpetual ruins, to all the evil the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4. Your adversaries roar within your place of assembly; they set up their own signs as signs.
5. One became famous as he brought axes up the ascent to your sanctuary, as against a thicket of trees,
6. and then, with hatchet and hammers, they smashed all its engraved works.
7. They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned to the ground the dwelling place of your name.
8. They said in their hearts, “We will subdue them altogether.” They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9. We do not see our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and none among us knows for how long.
10. How long, O God, will the adversary mock? Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

     But we weren’t sure when this could have happened, assuming that this psalm was written sometime around David’s or Solomon’s reign (during David’s time, there wasn’t even a temple, although there was a tabernacle). 

     So my question is: Was there a time during David’s (or Solomon’s reign) when a foreign nation destroyed God’s holy place in Israel?  Or is this a prophecy concerning the Assyrian or the Babylonian invasion and captivity that would take place hundreds of years later? 

Thank you.

Zoli

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Hi Zoli.

     We recently read through Psalms here, and we commented on those same verses.  This is obviously a prophecy of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.  One can only imagine what Asaph, who wrote this psalm, thought when the Spirit spoke those things through him.

Pastor John

 

Good morning Pastor John,

      I am not sure if I understand the full meaning of Matthew 2:3: “But having heard of this, King Herod was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him.”

      Was Jerusalem troubled because a king was born and the leaders were afraid to lose their positions, or was it that Herod troubled them with his actions?  I can see either or both.  I would hope, anyway, if I was there and heard a prophesied king was born, I would rejoice and not be troubled.  Not sure why this struck me today.  But I think it may have been the beginning of Jesus’ troubles with the Jewish leaders.

Mark W.

PS Sorry this is so brief but I am listening to this while doing maintenance on infusion pumps and did not want to forget my question again.

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Hi Mark.

      I am glad you are getting those infusion pumps fixed!  Ha.

      As for Matthew 2:3, we know why Herod was upset.  He was an extremely, murderously paranoid king.  Jerusalem was “troubled” only in the sense of being excited and mystified; a visit from foreigners wanting to find the king who had been born would have been an amazing event.  Herod had not yet done anything concerning the birth of a king that would have troubled the Jews; his killing of the innocents around Bethlehem came later.

      As for your comment about wondering how you would have done in that ancient situation, my father said there is a way you can tell:  Ask yourself, what am I doing with Jesus now?

     Thank you for the question.  Hope this answers it.

Pastor John     

 

 

 

Hi Pastor John, 

I just have a question about Kiriath Arba / Hebron.  In Joshua 14 we learn the town’s name was changed to Hebron. But some modern authors suggest they were separate cities. Do we know which is true?  Also I suppose if it’s the same town Abraham may have thus known the town to be called Kiriath Arba or something like it?  I guess we just don’t know, but it’s a curious detail I was wondering about.

Jenny

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Hi Jenny.

Good question, but your comment, “some modern authors suggest”, makes me think you are using commentaries, either online or in book form.  As you know, I warn my Old Testament students not to do that, but to just to know the Bible.  You asked me, “Which is true?”  My answer: The Bible is!  Also, I noticed that you spelled the word “Kiriath”, not “Kirjath”.  Would you mind telling me where you got that spelling?  It is not wrong; the word can be translated that way, but I just wondered which version of the Old Testament you are using  In our translation, we always used “Kirjath” not “Kiriath”.

To give you a fuller scriptural answer your question . . .

Kirjath- (or Kiriath-) is a Hebrew word which means “city of”.  And Arba was a man (a giant) who either founded the city or was famous and lived there.  Hence, “Kirjath-Arba” (the “Arba” should be capitalized), as in Joshua 14:15: “And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakim.”

Repeatedly, Jenny, and plainly, the Bible states that Kijath-Arba is Hebron: Gen. 23:2; 35:27; Josh. 15:13, 54; 20:7; 21:11; Judg. 1:10.  That being the case, why are you confused as to whether or not Kirjath-Arba is Hebron?  

Pleasse don’t let “modern scholars” confuse you.  By listening to them, you learn less of the Bible, not more.  That is why I caution my students to concentrate on getting to know the Bible very well – and learn to trust it – before branching out and listening to what modern scholars say about the Bible.  It is spiritually dangerous for students of the Old Testament to listen to them before learning the Bible well.

Your uncertainty about Hebron, in spite of what the Bible clearly and repeatedly says about it, is a case in point.  By listening to them, you have ended up knowing less, though the scholars would have their listeners think they are learning more.  Stay away from them.  You don’t know the Bible well enough yet to escape being confused by their erudite, unbelieving nonsense.

I hope that helps.

Pastor John

 

Granddaddy,

Concerning Mathew 19:3-9… please tell me you have an explanation for it, particularly verse 9.  That seems as plain as a field in Kansas…

JD3

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Hi there.  Thank you for the question!

Here is Matthew 19:3-9:

3. And the Pharisees came up to him, tempting him, and saying to him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

4. But he answered and said to them, “Haven’t you read that He who made them in the beginning ‘made them male and female’?

5. And then He said, ‘For this reason shall a man forsake his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one body.’

6. Therefore, they are no longer two, but one body.  So then, what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

7. They said to him, “Why, then, did Moses command the husband to give her a certificate of separation, and divorce her?”

8. He said to them, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but in the beginning, it wasn’t like that.

9. And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another woman is committing adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman is committing adultery.”

The key to understanding that portion of Scripture is in verse 6: “what GOD has joined together”.  What Jesus said in verse 9 applies only to that.   Sinners and backsliders marry all the time, and God had nothing to do with it.   Sometimes, it is a good thing for such a marriage to end.  Those people only went through a ceremony during which a man declared them to be married.  That does not make it so.  But if and when God puts a marriage together, what Jesus said in verse 9 applies – every time.

What a good thing it is for you to be asking such questions!   Thank you.

Granddaddy

 

 

 

Hey Pastor John,

Last night Alex and I read “Pillar #3: One Hope” in the Seven Pillars book.*  I have a question from the section titled, “We Must Do Good Works.”  In Revelation 20:13, it says, “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one, according to their deeds.”

What exactly is John saying when he refers to the sea, or do we know? Is he saying the sea also holds souls of the ones lost?

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There is no reason to think that solid ground can hold dead souls but water cannot.  I think John is referring to people who have died at sea rather than on land.

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Also, are Death and Hades in reference to the same thing versus two different places?

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Death and Hades are spirits, not places.  That’s why in John’s vision, Death could ride a horse and Hades could follow him.

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We are really enjoying reading this book.  So many light bulb moments and puzzle pieces that fit together.  A few praise breaks along the way too!  

One of my favorite “aha” moments last night was Acts 16:32 when I read,  “And then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house.” They spoke the word of the Lord.  They didn’t read it!  So many times, I have seen people try and convince others that the Bible is the word of the Lord.  What Paul and Silas had was a living and breathing gospel.  I don’t remember that scripture ever sticking out to me the way it did this time reading it.  I hope I remember that scripture now, if ever in a conversation about that topic.

I think that is all the questions I had from that chapter, that I can remember at this time, anyway.

Bye for now!

Margo

* Going to Jesus.com – The Seven Pillars of the Gospel: The Unifying Bond of Peace