John 16:1-4 NKJV — “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. “And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. “But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
In the hours before His betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sat with His disciples to deliver a message about the events to come and the cost for preaching the Gospel. As we read on in the Gospel according to Join, we will find that the message was not only for the disciples but also for those who follow Him. Not only then, but also in these troubled perilous times.
John 16:5-15 NKJV — “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: “of sin, because they do not believe in Me; “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
The message Jesus gave to His disciples was to prepare them for what was about to happen in the coming day. The trial and crucifixion of Jesus was at hand and for many this would be the defining hour of their faith. The Lord had warned them that they, the disciples and followers of Christ would be ridiculed and persecuted for their belief and the persecutors would actually believe that they were doing God a favor. Ironically, we witness the very same action today.
With missiles being launched from Gaza into Israel and retaliation from the Israeli military, actions are being taken to eliminate Israel from the face of the map. In an obvious attempt to test the embattled Biden administration and it’s hands off approach to foreign policy, Israel is having to defend itself against the terrorist organization known as Hamas and anti-semitic detractors, even from some members in the U.S. Congress.
Hamas’s decision to escalate the conflict by firing more than 1,600 projectiles into Israel was not about “protecting Jerusalem.” It was just another example of how violence and murder is the currency by which one gains credibility in the Palestinian political culture. Killing several Israelis and sending much of the country scurrying into bomb shelters was its way of competing with Abbas and other Fatah factions for popularity. That still raises the question of why both Abbas and especially Hamas, chose to ramp up the violence now after years of relative silence.
It remains to be seen whether President Biden can resist the Democratic party’s anti-Israel faction and their inherent belief in pushing for a two-state solution, in which the Palestinians have little or no interest at all.
With many in the media and the Democratic Party having already accepted the false narrative about Israel being in the wrong about the Sheikh Jarrah buildings or the Temple Mount, the role that Biden’s fumbling played in the events that have just unfolded will be obscured. The military conflict between Israel and Gaza is a disaster he could have avoided had he stuck to the previous administration’s policy on Israel.
By not realizing that his return to the more “daylight” policy, first introduced by President Obama, would encourage Palestinian violence, the president has taken a stable though unsolvable problem and turned it into a catastrophe. That serves the purposes of Abbas, Hamas and the growing anti-Israel faction among Democrats, though not the interests of the United States or peace.
Many skeptics will ask, “What does this conflict have to do with what Jesus was telling the disciples?” The troubles in the Holy Land are not unlike they were during the time of the Lord’s ministry here on Earth. Israel was under Roman occupation and the Jews were frightened by the way their religion, culture and way of life were being erased or replaced by the pagan society that had decided to make Judea home.
We see the same in our society today. The attacks on Israel by Hamas is the latest manifestation of the turbulent times we are experiencing. We are in an atmosphere of lawlessness, deceit and ungodliness. The political circus in the United States has distracted many from the troubled hot spots around the world. The lie of “there’s nothing to see here” is the agenda of the unrighteous to make people believe that there is no God and only “they” have the answers and plans for mankind. The list of unrighteous deeds seem to be growing daily.
A cyber attack on a major oil pipeline, the Biden administration shutting down the Keystone pipeline in the U.S. while lifting sanctions on a pipeline being built by the Russian government, clearing the way for Russia to have more economic control in Europe. This has caused higher energy prices and long gas lines up and down the east coast of the U.S. There have been pastors arrested in Canada for opening up their sanctuaries for worship services, a southern border crisis that the current administration is reluctant or at times refusing to address and members of the radical, left-wing progressive congress pushing an agenda filled with policies of uncontrollable spending at taxpayer expense, a racial intolerance not seen since the 1950’s and siding with the terrorist group Hamas against America’s closest ally in the Middle East, Israel. As a consequence of their anti-Israel rhetoric, there have been reports of assaults against jewish people in New York City, San Francisco and Miami. The violence against the jews appears to be spreading throughout the country.
Is there no hope? Many in this world would like to make you think so, but it is not true. If you recall what Jesus shared with His disciples, we must also be reminded that it is also a message for us and those who follow Him today.
John 16:7-15 NKJV — “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: “of sin, because they do not believe in Me; “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Jesus also shared this with His disciples, which is found in John, chapter 14. It is a message for us as well;
John 14:12-18 NKJV — “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, keep My commandments. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
We must remember;
Hebrews 13:8-9 NKJV — Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
The defining hour of our faith is upon us and we must choose in whom we will believe.
Matthew 6:24 NKJV — “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
We must put our trust and belief in God and His Son Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us through these uncertain times. There is no greater promise than what Jesus can provide. He will be returning soon for the ones He calls His friends, we must be prepared and strengthen our faith and not follow the foolishness of mankind.
Matthew 6:25-34 NKJV — “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; “and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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