testimony – Praying Pint

48.z. Wilderness – 13.e. Cities of Refuge

Num 35:9-15 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

Num 35:29-33 And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

The purpose of the cities of asylum was to protect the manslayer who kills any person accidentally. They were to protect someone in the case of manslaughter as opposed to murder. In the ancient culture of Israel, it was not left entirely up to the government to avenge a murder. Each extended family had a recognized avenger who would ensure that one who murdered a family member would likewise be killed. The institution of the family avenger was never commanded in Scripture; it was a broad cultural practice that was regulated by Scripture. “It is quite possible to do unjust things in the name of justice. It was against such a possibility that these cities were provided.” Therefore, such a man could flee to a city of refuge – an appointed Levitical city, where he could stay, safe from the avenger of blood, until he could stand before the congregation in judgment and he could leave the city of refuge safely. (Guzik)

To show plainly the abhorrence of murder, and to provide the more effectually for the punishment of the murderer, the nearest relation of the deceased, under the title of avenger of blood, (or the redeemer of blood,) in notorious cases, might pursue, and execute vengeance. A distinction is made, not between sudden anger and malice aforethought, both which are the crime of murder; but between intentionally striking a man with any weapon likely to cause death, and an unintentional blow. In the latter case alone, the city of refuge afforded protection. Murder in all its forms, and under all disguises, pollutes a land.

Does not the highway of salvation, resemble the smooth and plain path to the city of refuge? Survey the path that leads to the Redeemer. Is there any stumbling-block to be found therein, except that which an evil heart of unbelief supplies for its own fall?

The gate of the city stood open night and day. Has not Christ declared, Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out? 5. The city of refuge afforded support to every one who entered its walls. Those who have reached the refuge, may live by faith on Him.

The city was a refuge for all. In the gospel there is no respect of persons. That soul lives not which deserves not Divine wrath; that soul lives not which may not in simple faith hope for salvation and life eternal, through the Son of God.

(Henry)

45.m. “Wilderness” – 9.s. The Tabernacle for service and reverence to God

Exodus 36:8  And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked.

Exodus 37:1  Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it.

Exodus 37:10  He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it.

Exodus 37:17  He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it;

Exodus 37:25  He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it,

Exodus 38:1  He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height.  He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.

Exodus 38:8  He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Exodus 38:9  And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

Exodus 38:21  These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.  Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

Exodus 39:1  From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.

And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle,…. Did the part assigned him, what he was fittest for, and most skilful in: particularly some

made ten curtains, &c. which were properly the tabernacle, and were made first, and then the several things appertaining to it; is only an account of the making of the tabernacle, its curtains, coverings, boards, sockets, and bars, the vail for the most holy place, and the hangings for the tabernacle, exactly as they are ordered to be made. The furniture is next made for it. The several articles and ornaments of this the people were not admitted to see, but the priests only; and therefore it was requisite that they should be largely described, as they are in this chapter, particularly to them. And Moses would thus show the great care which he and his workmen took to make every thing exactly according to the pattern showed him in the mount. The ark, with its glorious appurtenances, the mercy-seat and the cherubim, was the principal part of the furniture of the tabernacle. It was placed in the most sacred apartment of the house, and was the great symbol of the divine presence and protection. “It represented,” says Henry, “the glory of a holy God, the sincerity of a holy heart, and the communion that is between them by a Mediator. It is the glory of a holy God. The tabernacle and its court being now fitted for divine service, the next things to be wrought were the robes of the high-priest and priests, to be put on when they did service in the holy place. (Benson)

The priests’ garments were rich and splendid. The church in its infancy was thus taught by shadows of good things to come; but the substance is Christ, and the grace of the gospel. Christ is our great High Priest. When he undertook the work of our redemption, he put on the clothes of service, he arrayed himself with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, girded himself with resolution to go through the undertaking, took charge of all God’s spiritual Israel, laid them near his heart, engraved them on the palms of his hands, and presented them to his Father. And he crowned himself with holiness to the Lord, consecrating his whole undertaking to the honour of his Father’s holiness. True believers are spiritual priests. (Henry)

44.q. “Wilderness” – 8.w. “The law of the LORD is perfect”

Exodus 32:15-16  Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Deuteronomy 9:15    So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands

Psalms 19:7     The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

2 Corinthians 3:3   And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Hebrews 8:10    For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

“For as he is the sole author of law and justice, so he alone can write them on the heart of man.” (Clarke)

All law and morality must come from God’s standard and character and not be up to the opinion or changing values of men. (Guzik)

Note what was the sin here. It is generally taken for granted that it was a breach of the second, not of the first, commandment, and Aaron’s proclamation of ‘a feast to the Lord’ is taken as proving this. Aaron was probably trying to make an impossible compromise, and to find some salve for his conscience; but it does not follow that the people accepted the half-and-half suggestion. Leaders who try to control a movement which they disapprove, by seeming to accept it, play a dangerous game, and usually fail. But whether the people call the calf ‘Jehovah’ or ‘Apis’ matters very little. There would be as complete apostasy to another god, though the other god was called by the same name, if all that really makes his ‘name’ was left out, and foreign elements were brought in. Such worship as these wild dances, offered to an image, broke both the commandments, no matter by what name the image was invoked. The roots of idolatry are in all men. (MacLaren)

What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. (Henry)

The awakened conscience is said to “repent,” when, having felt its sin, it feels also the divine forgiveness: it is at this crisis that God, according to the language of Scripture, repents toward the sinner. Thus, the repentance of God made known in and through the One true Mediator reciprocates the repentance of the returning sinner, and reveals to him atonement. (Barnes)

44.l. “Wilderness” – 8.r. “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.”

Exodus 31:12-18 And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Orders were now given that a tabernacle should be set up for the service of God. But they must not think that the nature of the work, and the haste that was required, would justify them in working at it on sabbath days. The Hebrew word /shabath/ signifies rest, or ceasing from labour. The thing signified by the sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God; therefore the moral obligation of the sabbath must continue, till time is swallowed up in eternity. (Henry)

Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep—The reason for the fresh inculcation of the fourth commandment at this particular period was, that the great ardor and eagerness, with which all classes betook themselves to the construction of the tabernacle, exposed them to the temptation of encroaching on the sanctity of the appointed day of rest. They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit, an acceptable tribute, to prosecute the undertaking without the interruption of a day’s repose; and therefore the caution here given, at the commencement of the undertaking, was a seasonable admonition. (Jamieson)

This command was strategically placed – at the very end of all the commands to build the tabernacle. Though God gave Israel a work to do in building the tabernacle He did not want them to do that work on the Sabbath. The rest of God still had to be respected. Our rest in the finished work of Jesus is never to be eclipsed by our work for God. When workers for God are burnt-out, they have almost always allowed their work for God to be bigger in their minds than His work for them. The difference between what Jesus has done for us and what we do for Him is like the difference between the sun and the moon, and the sun is almost unbelievably larger than the moon. Yet if the moon is in the exactly right (or wrong) place, it is possible for the moon to eclipse the sun. Some Christians live in a constant state of total eclipse, allowing what they do for Jesus to seem more important than what Jesus did for them. (Guzik)

44.j. “Wilderness” – 8.p. “Pure Olive Oil”

Exodus 27:20-21 “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

Leviticus 24:2-4 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.

And thou shall command the children of Israel,…. Here begins a new section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and the furniture thereof, next the several parts of service done in it are observed; and the account begins with that of the candlestick in the holy place, in order to which Moses is directed to command the people of Israel, whose business it was to provide for it: that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light; for the light of the candlestick, to light up the several lamps in the several branches of it; and the oil to be brought and used there was not any sort of oil, as what is got out of fishes, as train oil, or out of nuts, as oil of almonds, but what comes from the olive tree; and this must be pure and free from lees and dregs, and must be beaten with a pestle in a mortar, and not ground in a mill, that so it might be quite clear; for being bruised and beaten, only the pulp or flesh of the olive was broken, but being ground in a mill, the stones were broken and ground, and so the oil not so pure.Jarchi and Ben Melech, from their Rabbins, observe, that after the first drop was pressed out, they put them into mills and grind them; but then, though the oil was fit for offerings, it was not fit for the light of the candlestick. Ben Gersom says, they put the olives bruised into a basket, and the oil dropped from them without pressing at all; and this was the choicest and most excellent for the light. The quantity to be brought is not fixed; but the measure fixed by the wise men of Israel, as Jarchi says, was half a log, that is, for every lamp; and this was the measure for the longest nights, the nights of the month Tebet, and so the same for all other nights: to cause the lamp to burn always night and day, continually, as it was proper it should, that the house of God might not be at any time in darkness; as it would otherwise be, since there were no windows in it; and his servants minister in it in the dark, even in the daytime, at the altar of incense, and at the shewbread table, which is not reasonable to suppose; and though there are some passages of Scripture which seem to intimate as though the lamps only burnt till the morning, and then went out, and were lighted every evening; this difficulty may be solved, and the matter reconciled by what Josephus (l) relates, who must be an eyewitness of it, that three of the lamps burned before the Lord in the daytime, and the rest were lighted at the evening. (Gill)

34.e. “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

John 15:19  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Revelation 2:10   Do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Revelation 2:13    “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith

Revelation 6:9-11     When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

Mark 4:17     And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

Revelation 3:15   “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!

This was the natural result of the condition of things implied in the “lawlessness.” The tendency of all such times, as seen in the histories of famines, and pestilences, and revolutions, is to intensify selfishness, both in the more excusable form of self-preservation, and in the darker form of self-reliance. (Ellicott)

It becomes Christ’s disciples, in times of public trouble, to be much in prayer: that is never out of season, but in a special manner seasonable when we are distressed on every side. But where the heart is fixed, trusting in God, it is kept in peace, and is not afraid. (Henry)

The fear of troubling times, death, and deluding influences of satanic led people has the opportunity to take captive any zeal timid, weak, and feeble Christians have. They drop by the wayside and follow the crowds in their worry, hatred, fear, anger, rage, self-perseverance, and self-reliance. People can be set in a false sense of security faith when it is never tried. Prosperity and peace have a way of lulling a person into a false sense of security that is based on prosperity and peace rather than on Jesus Christ and God’s will, purpose, plans, and promises. Love of this world and what it has to offer will lead many down false paths where there is no hope found in times of trials and troubles. Combine God’s work of famine, disasters in nature, sickness, and wars with people’s responses of confusion, worry, anger, hatred, fear, selfishness, and self-reliance it is no wonder the weak in faith are easily pulled into such behavior. Paul warned people that they should be eating the solid food of scripture and not living or relying on infants’ milk of it. He also said to be a workman that is not ashamed and able to rightly divide the Word of Truth. This does not come by osmosis. It comes from a seeking desire to know and understand the great mercy, grace, and love of Jesus Christ and through this understanding and knowledge be more able to be able, in all things, to honor and glorify Jesus Christ. It is then we will not be cast about and tossed here and there when trials, wars, disasters in nature, famine, sickness, poverty, etc…. occur that cause others to flee faith and grab hold of what the world offers as a remedy.

19.v. “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Romans 18:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Colossians 3:4  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-12     and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels  in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,  when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.  To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,  so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:14   To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 5:1    So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be reveale

1 Peter 4:13    But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Paul was not ignorant or blind to the sufferings of human existence. Yet he still considered that the future glory far outweighed the present sufferings. Without a heavenly hope, Paul considered the Christian life foolish and tragic. Yet in light of eternity, it is the wisest and best choice anyone can make. (Guzik)

God has put this glory into the believer right now. In heaven, the glory will simply be revealed. “The glory will be revealed, not created. The implication is that it is already existent, but not apparent.” (Morris) “Creation is not undergoing death pangs… but birth pangs.” (Morris)

It is in the waiting we currently find ourselves. We wait for the Glory of Jesus Christ to be revealed and in this revealing we also. Creation has waited since the beginning of time for this revealing to come. Our wait is but for a moment. Our wait is to be in the hope and assurance of this revealing Glory of Jesus Christ and our eternal lives with Him forever and ever. Let us not get weighted down by trials, troubles, and the chaos of this life. Keep your eyes on Jesus, look full into His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory and grace.

19.c. “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him”

John 19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Psalms 22:14   I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;

Psalms 34:20    He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Zechariah 12:10    “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Psalms 22:16-17   For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—  I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;

Revelation 1:7  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

This was brutal work for rough men. They likely used an iron bar or a heavy club. “To secure speedy death the crucifragium, breaking of the legs with a heavy mallet or bar, was sometimes resorted to: as without such means the crucified might in some cases linger for thirty-six hours.” (Dods) This breaking of the legs must have been terrifying for a man still alive on a cross.

Imagine the fear of being told you are going to be flogged and the fear while being tied up. Imagine also the fear of being told you are going to be crucified and then laid on a cross with a burly guy standing at the ready to pound nail spikes through your wrists and feet. Then imagine hanging on the cross and seeing a guy coming up to you carrying a big club to break your legs. All of this Jesus endured save for the breaking of His legs. He did this for all who would believe, trust, follow Him. His death on a cross is a historical fact.

Most modern scholars agree that while this Josephus passage (called the Testimonium Flavianum) includes some later interpolations, it originally consisted of an authentic nucleus with a reference to the execution of Jesus by Pilate. James Dunn states that there is “broad consensus” among scholars regarding the nature of an authentic reference to the crucifixion of Jesus in the Testimonium.

Early in the second century, another reference to the crucifixion of Jesus was made by Tacitus, generally considered one of the greatest Roman historians. Writing in The Annals (c. 116 AD), Tacitus described the persecution of Christians by Nero and stated (Annals 15.44) that Pilate ordered the execution of Jesus. Scholars generally consider the Tacitus reference to the execution of Jesus by Pilate to be genuine, and of historical value as an independent Roman source. And of course, this is recorded in all 4 Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Jesus endured all of this, save for the breaking of His legs. He did this for all who would believe, trust, follow Him. He did this for redemption, salvation, forgiveness. He did this in obedience to the plan and purpose of His Heavenly Father. He did this out of grace, mercy, and love. He did this so that those who believe (cling to, rely on, and trust in Him) would have eternal life with Him forever. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” By faith we trust. It is not by being good enough or doing good enough things in our life that makes the death of Jesus Christ a payment or substitution for our sin. It is faith in trust that what He did paid, in full, for our sin(s). It can’t be earned. It can’t be bought. Any hope in self must be surrendered. Any and all hope of being good enough must be cast far away from your mind. Only whey you fully trust, by faith, in Jesus Christ’s redemption will you be set free from guilt, shame, and self-reliance.

Too often we only think of this during Easter. This should be on our hearts and minds every waking moment so that we ever remember the price that was paid for our sins out of grace, mercy, and love.

15.r. “The very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me”

John 5:31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

Jesus speaks of three trustworthy witnesses who will testify that He is equal to the Father. Jesus found it important to give them a reason to believe beyond what He said about Himself. The Jewish leaders somewhat accepted the work of John the Baptist. “He said that John was the lamp which burns and shines.” The light John gave off had the function to guide and point men toward repentance and to God. These Jewish leaders were familiar with a coming Messiah and they expected Him to deliver them out of the hands of their oppressors, the Romans. Jesus spoke of spiritual deliverance of infinitely greater importance and they rejected it. The light should expose that which was once dark. It should reveal that which cannot be seen in the dark. They obviously saw the light but immediately closed their eyes to it because what it exposed was not what hey wanted or perceived needed to be exposed.

Jesus tells them that they rejected John but there is another witness, the very works that He was doing. This too is a light shining bright in the miracle of healing the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. This miracle done for a needy person out of compassion and mercy was not what they were looking for. Their hearts and minds were set on military and political deliverer. They obviously saw this light but immediately closed their eyes to it because what was exposed was not what they wanted or perceived needed to be exposed.

Jesus tells them that God the Father testifies of Him. Jesus Tells them they never saw God or audibly heard Him, but they had His Word. If His Word was abiding in them they would have believed in Jesus. They searched scriptures but searched them with a heart, mind, and soul closed to what it said. They had all the testimony one could have. “Spurgeon,” said; “Jesus made it clear that having life is found in fulfilling the command “come to Me.” “Christ is a person, a living person, full of power to save. He has not placed his salvation in sacraments, or books, or priests, but he has kept it in himself; and if you want to have it you must come to him.” The rejection of Jesus will leave the mind and soul open to deception, lies, and delusion. “Clarke,” said; “The grand obstacle to the salvation of the scribes and Pharisees was their pride, vanity, and self-love. They lived on each other’s praise. If they had acknowledged Christ as the only teacher, they must have given up the good opinion of the multitude; and they chose rather to lose their souls than to forfeit their reputation among men!” It is a very dangerous oneway road to Hell to seek honor and approval of man where the eyes become blind and the ears become deaf to things of God, rather than living to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.

15.n. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Mark 16:16    Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Romans 10:13    For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 John 5:11-13   And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

Death is the country where every Christless soul lives. The man who knows not God lives a dying life or a living death, but he who believes in the Son of God passes over from the empire of death to the empire of life.” (Clarke) I recently heard of a person saying “Pro-choice” (abortion) is a God-given right. He has given us the freedom to choose and that makes it ok to be “Pro-choice.” Part of this is true – God does give us free will to choose. The free will choice to believe or not to believe. The free will choice to right rather than wrong. The free will choice to speak the truth or lies. The free will choice to give generously or take greedily. The free will choice to love or hate. The free will choice to hope or fear. The free will choice to believe in Jesus Christ or not. Our free-will choices throughout life have consequences on this side of the grave. But there is one free will choice that will have eternal consequences. When the free-will choice is made to deny and reject Jesus Christ the consequence is eternal torment forever and ever. God gave us free-will to choose belief in Jesus Christ. Essentially, will you use this free will to choose eternity in heave through Jesus Christ or eternity in hell with Satan and the multitudes of other people who have made and died in their free will choice?