Spence's Thread...Continued

Discussion in 'Your Religion & Spiritual Center' started by Henrysullivan, Nov 12, 2010.

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  1. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    #77
    If Jesus Christ
    had taken a poll
    he would have never
    preached the Gospel
     
  2. Titus

    Titus New Member

    Wow....that one made me stop and think.

    Jesus was my hero as a human being and my Savior, as God.
     
  3. hollymm

    hollymm Me, 'in' a tree.

    For some reason, it kinda struck an odd cord with me.
     
  4. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    I kinda like that one, very much, Holly. I like it because it places a mode of living that is questioned by a whole raft of people, living by principle. Jesus never compromised his principles. And for that reason, many people despised him, enough to kill him. Politicians who operate on the basis of pure principle, lose favor with their electorates. That is because, whereas principles do not change, opinions do. Eventually principles defy public opinion. That is when a principled politician, of whom there are few, fall out of favor as well.

    But what if the principles are worthy and the opinions of the public are not, or perhaps less worthy. The principle of fiscal responsibility can easily defy the opinion that government ought to be all things to all people. Then the politician who extols fiscal responsibility toward an electorate who wants government solutions for most anything and everything, gets booted out of office.

    In the case of Jesus Christ, He came to earth extolling principles. And as long as He was performing miracle healings and feeding the people who were hungry, He was in favor. But then one day He preached a message that fell out of favor with the people. After the day before feeding 5000 hungry people, out a few fishes and loaves, the crowd sought Him, wanting more free food.

    Jesus told them


    John Chapter 6
    45"It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
    46"Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.
    47"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
    48"I am the bread of life.
    49"Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
    50"This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
    51"I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."
    52Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"
    53So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
    54"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
    55"For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
    56"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
    57"As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
    58"This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."


    So Jesus told the crowd, and their religious leaders something that they did not want to hear.

    This was a most harsh sermon for their ears. So Jesus, who had been the most beloved individual the day before, became despised. THey stopped following Him and walked away, primed for the Jewish leaders to turn them away from Him. The disciples questioned the sermon themselves, saying, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" Now there is much meaning in the 6th chapter of John that I could go into, but the point with respect to Spence's saying is that, the truth is more important to hear than what pleases the senses. In langage that the people were not accustomed to hearing, Jesus told them the truth, that He came to earth to give mankind a way of redemption, a way to enter into God's Kingdom and be afforded eternal life. He told them that in order for this to occur, they had to become one with Jesus Christ, eating if His flesh and drinking His blood. He said that because, whereas the blood and flesh of men will surely die, the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ will not. We need His blood and His flesh to live and not die. But we must change in order to receive this gift. WE must initiate the change. We do this by asking for the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ, receiving it, and then becoming increasingly like Him. It is US who must change to receive the rewards of the Father.

    People do not want to change to please others. They want others to change to please them. So this was a most unpopular sermon. But there are those who will receive the message of principle, and adapt to it, rather than requiring the principle to adapt to their opinions. After the crowd dispersed, Jesus had a conversation with His disciples, that went like this:

    67So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"
    8Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
    69"We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."


    So no matter that the message was a difficult one to hear, Simon Peter acknowledged that it was the truth, and that they would themselves adapt to the truth, rather that require that their leader to adapt His truth to their opinions, as had the crowd that had just dispersed.

    So I believe that there are lessens for us today in all this. Our leaders need to extol the truth, no matter where the truth lies. And we must adapt to the truth rather than require our politicians to adapt to our opinions.

    That is what Spence's message says to me. I hope this makes sense to you.
     
  5. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    #78
    Does your life
    give occasion for
    applause from
    nail scarred hands?
     
  6. hollymm

    hollymm Me, 'in' a tree.

    Again, this strikes a strange cord inside. The one before made me sad that even in his day, the many could out weigh the few.

    This one tells me that we should rejoice that he went through the pain and suffering so that we could have everlasting life.
     
  7. CarolineJ.

    CarolineJ. New Member

    I didn't get this at first but Holly's post brought clarity for some reason although my take is a little different.

    This one says to me, does my life deserve applause from the nail scarred hands of Jesus.

    Is is so clear now I am not sure why I didn't get it at first.
     
  8. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    Yes, I will grant you, this takes some noodling around to get the appropriate meaning, if there is one. I'm interested on different takes on this. Remember, I didn't write these, and neither did Spence. But he compiled them.

    I think what this is asking is whether we are living lives 'worthy' of Jesus' sacrifice. I place 'worthy' in quotes because no one is worthy, but we would like to be. That is the goal, but it's kinda like the goal is to be perfect; we all fall short. So essentially, would Jesus be proud enough of our lives, as we live them, to Himself, applaud us? That is the way I read this question. It occurs to me that we should try to make Him proud, knowing what He did for us. But there is some theology in here that I hope others, and yourselves, can help with. And maybe there might be disagreement that this is even a valid question to pose. I don't know.

    What say, Rev, Titus, Jazzgirl, anyone?
     
  9. hollymm

    hollymm Me, 'in' a tree.

    I understand what you're saying Hank and your interpretation is, as always thought provoking "from these scarred hands" yeah, I can see where that would be meant.
     
  10. Titus

    Titus New Member

    None of us will EVER be worthy of His sacrifice. BUT....because He knows our heart, He understands our actions, our feelings, our hopes, and our dreams. I think what pleases Him is that we keep pressing on and handing our burdens to Him. We have faith in Him, not in ourselves. We deserve no applause from Our Savior but, knowing our hearts, He may give it to us anyway.

    And the Father sees Jesus in us. Jesus makes us acceptable through Him.
     
  11. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    #79
    Have you ever been
    terribly lost while
    sincerely seeking the
    right destination?
    Think about it
     
  12. Titus

    Titus New Member

    Most definitely.
     
  13. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    #80
    Jesus came to
    reveal God to us
    identify himself with us
    give Himself for us
    What a Savior
     
  14. carolyn33

    carolyn33 New Member

    Until I realized I was looking too hard
     
  15. CarolineJ.

    CarolineJ. New Member

    interesting carolyn
     
  16. hollymm

    hollymm Me, 'in' a tree.

    It's my quest...
     
  17. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    #80
    God does not
    love others less
    because he loves
    you much
     
  18. CarolineJ.

    CarolineJ. New Member

    Hi Hank, I am missing Spence's wisdom. Hope all is ok.
     
  19. Titus

    Titus New Member

    Me too, Hank. Must be that college football ;)
     
  20. Henrysullivan

    Henrysullivan New Member

    Sorry,been out of town. I'll be back with more soon. Spence would be so proud that he has so many friends online. Thank you all for giving Spence's efforts a place in your hearts
     

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