"Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him,
'How long do you keep us in doubt?
If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.'
Jesus answered them,
'I told you, and you do not believe.
The works that I do in my Father’s name,
they bear witness of me.'"
John 10:24-25
The Jewish leaders were prodding him to declare that he was the son of God because they wanted to catch him in what would be "blasphemy" in their estimation, so that they would be justified in GETTING RID OF HIM.
vs 26:
“But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you."
John 10:26
You have to stop here and wonder WHY they were NOT of his sheep. Doesn't God want all to be saved? Yes, absolutely:
"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires ALL men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
1st Timothy 2:3-4
So if God desires that all be saved, then why aren't many saved, and especially religious men of position?
"And again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:24
Riches are not necessarily lots of money. There are other kinds of riches. The clergy of any religion are held in the highest honor among men. Their high positions and their adulation are their riches, and it is very hard for a man of high position not to be corrupted by pride, in fact, it's nigh to impossible. Pride is the deadliest of all sins. Pride was Satan's downfall which got him cast out of heaven, and it is pride that keeps men from salvation. When a man gains high position, he loves the accolades and the praise of men. He feels he has earned them. Such a man cannot be reached because he is blinded by pride which is the most blinding and damning of all sins. Jesus said, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Mark 2:17 Men of position consider themselves righteous and very few would ever admit that they are not. That's why they are not his sheep. Sheep are docile and tender, not corrupted by pride. The call of the Spirit of God is the call to repentance. Before one can repent, he has to see the truth about himself. The Holy Spirit starts here, because if the man cannot receive the truth about himself, then there's no point in going further, as the proud only desire to "get rid of him." One of the world's greatest but totally deceiving "riches" is the richness of "self esteem." The world tells us that we are wonderful, that we are good-hearted, and that we "deserve" good. But who is "the god of this world?" Where does this deception come from? Satan is "the god of this world" (2nd Corinthians 4:4) and Satan ...is a liar (John 8:44). We are NOT good, we have all broken God's commandments many times, and it is up to man to choose which voice he will receive, the voice of truth, or the voice that makes one feel good. “The heart is DECEITFUL above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9 “There is none righteous, NO, NOT ONE;" Romans 3:10 Who wants to believe that his heart is wicked? Who wants to hear that in spite of all the good he/she does, he is NOT righteous? Jesus did not come for those who already think they're righteous. Jesus came to bring sinners to repentance. What IS repentance? The Spirit of God shows man his sinfulness and calls each person to surrender himself and his life to the Savior. Repentance is the acknowledgement of the truth about oneself and turning to the Savior. Repentance is the surrendering of one's pride to the only one who IS righteous. How high is your estimation of yourself? The higher it is, the more your heart is deceived, and the more you'll want to "get rid of him." But if you ARE willing to turn to him - get to a quiet place and ask the Lord to show you what you really are, and be willing to believe the truth. He will not show you the truth to hurt you, he will show you the truth from his great love for you and his desire to save you. Pray with me: Father, the hardest thing in life is to acknowledge the truth about ourselves. It's excruciatingly difficult, Lord. Father, I recognize the calling of your Holy Spirit who has been showing me what's in my heart. I want to be ready to accept it, but I need your help to get there because it's very painful. Please help me. Help me acknowledge the truth. Help me to put down my pride and surrender to you. My standing in eternity depends on it. Please receive me. I need you and I'm willing to surrender if you will help me.
"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'” Exodus 32:1 This is a passage that can speak of the Rapture in a sense. Moses had gone away, telling the people to wait for him until he comes back. In like manner, Jesus has gone up to heaven promising he will come back and telling us to wait for him. After awhile - the people started wondering where Moses was because he had been gone a long time. Finally, they decided he must not be coming back and they made a golden calf to worship and follow. Forgetting about Moses they went on to "eat and drink ...and play." "Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Exodus 32:6 When Moses finally did come back he was enraged at what they had done. He was so angry that he made them grind the golden calf to powder, scattered it on the waters and made them drink it. When judgment fell later, thousands died. Today, many have forgotten about the promised coming of the Lord and they've just gone on "to eat and drink, and rise up to play." And because the Lord has not come after a long period of time many join the scoffers and forget about him saying, "yeah, right, we've heard that for years but he hasn't come. Let's just go our way, eat and drink and be merry" ...unaware that judgment is coming. "...scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'” 2nd Peter 3:3-4 The Lord gave us signs to watch for that we might know that the prophesied last-days Tribulation is approaching, and by that we will know we're in the general time-frame of his coming because the Rapture precedes the Tribulation. Among those signs he told us that conditions in general will be like the conditions were in the days of Noah, when the population of the entire earth was destroyed because of their great wickedness. "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, AND DID NOT KNOW UNTIL THE FLOOD CAME AND TOOK THEM ALL AWAY, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." Matthew 24:37-39 Brothers and sisters, let us not think that the coming of the Lord just isn't going to happen because we've heard about it for a long time. Let us not be among the scoffers who get tired of hearing it and who just forget about it and focus their lives instead on "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." Let us not stop watching for him, going about our daily lives as though he weren't coming back. Let our faith not go dull. For surely, SURELY, he WILL come, very suddenly, and only those who are ready will be taken by him. "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." Matthew 24:40-42 If we continue to wait for him, watching, being ready, then that attitude will motivate us to stay pure and to live our lives accordingly. "And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." 1st John 3:3
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 17:15 Years ago, righteousness reigned in America. Those who watched the television program, “Dragnet,” knew that in the end it was going to turn out right as it did in most television programs in those days. And so it was in life in America, things turned out right. Courts were just. The people had confidence in the courts, because for the most part, justice reigned. People didn’t have their careers destroyed for clinging to the Word of God. A terrible thing has happened to America. Right and wrong are no longer determined by the Word of God upon which America was founded, but now the American people as a whole no longer care about the Word of God, in fact, they hate it. America justifies the wicked and condemns the just. The very soul of America has died, and has been replaced with lawlessness. They mean to cast away all reference to God. "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.'" Psalm 2:2-3 What we are now seeing is what happens when God pronounces “WOE” upon America. We were warned, repeatedly, over a long period of time that judgment was coming. Now it's looming. We should not be surprised. Some may ask why upon America rather than upon countries who might even be worse? There is a principle concerning dedication, concerning covenant. When a nation has been dedicated to the Word of God, then that nation must never turn from it because dedication is a spiritual principle, and God takes that seriously. America was founded upon the Word of God, so America is held more accountable. On the other hand, contrast that with the nation of Haiti for example, which was officially dedicated by the Haitian government to Satan. Take a look at the poverty and suffering there. Satan does not treat his people well. America, has known tremendous prosperity by the hand of the God she was consecrated to, but now that America has spurned the Word of God, her judgment is coming and it will be terrible. He who justifies the wicked and condemns the just are in for a huge shock. Those who hold to the Word of God are called, “haters,” among other things. But watch and pay attention to the ones who are actually hating. It won’t be the people of God. Holding to the Word of God and speaking what he has said is not hatred. Satan is the author of hatred and he has arrayed his followers against those who hold to God’s Word, and he seeks to destroy their lives. He has succeeded in darkening the hearts of many of those in power and they are the ones who hate. What is so very obvious is their hatred of God himself. We watched it develop. Yes, it goes back farther, but in recent years it has accelerated with lightning speed. In an act of incredible defiance, on the day the highest court in the land approved sodomy, the White House turned on lights covering it with the colors of the rainbow. WHY THE RAINBOW? The rainbow was stated in the Word of God to be a sign of God’s covenant. In incredible hubris, the homosexual community took something specifically God’s and has turned it into the sign of the filth of that movement which is controlled by Satan himself. What a horrible thing to do, taking the rainbow which was God’s and turning it into the sign of defiance, the sign of contempt toward God. What a slap in God’s face! Many who take a stand for the Word of God have felt like Noah. Noah, whom the Scriptures say was “a preacher of righteousness,” preached righteousness all the years it took him to build that ark, but no one listened. In the end, only Noah’s family was saved. The rest perished. The story was the same when God brought Lot and his family out of Sodom. The rest perished. And this is what is coming to America – they will perish. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37 “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot… …on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30 But those who have maintained faithfulness to God even in persecution, have a glorious future to look forward to, beyond their ability to even imagine: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.” 1st Corinthians 2:9 The day will come when the faithful will go into the ark and the door will be closed behind them. All memory of the pain of this world will vanish, and God will wipe away every tear. That surely will be a glorious day, when all pain comes to an end for the faithful ones. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And he said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’” Revelation 21:4-5 For the faithful, there is a glorious future. Let that knowledge sustain each believer even in the days ahead which are becoming very dark. “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:2