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Tag: John

A Love Letter from John

1 John 2: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin,we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Beloved brother, beloved sister in Christ: you are going to sin. I do.

We continue to need Christ as our advocate every day of our mortal lives.

2 He is the propitiation [the means of appeasing the deserved wrath of God] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

We know that we know Jesus: not only knowledge, but an intimate knowledge and personal relationship with Jesus as our Lord.

4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.

By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning.

The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

Hear this now of God’s unfailing love for us. Discern which brother and what sister now lives in the light. Understand who hides in the lies of the darkness and remains a slave of the sins of the world.

9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes…

We may not hate another of the family of Christ Jesus. For all who are saved are filled with His light. In us can be NO darkness at all.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires [lust], but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 3: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another...

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

The Apostle John, who with the Holy Spirit is also author of the Gospel of John, writes to the church of the high importance of the love of Christ Jesus for us.

Do you believe? Do you know how much God has loved us from the beginning?

For God sacrificed His Only Son on a Cross for you and for me.

Will you become His righteousness?

Dearly beloved, our Bridegroom sends you His love.

April 26, 2014
After the Resurrection

John 21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

My purpose here is not to convince you of proof of the resurrection, but to convict you with the command of our our risen Lord.

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned…”

We would do well to study all of the Gospel and what Christ Jesus, our Lord, has commanded His servants, those saved by the Blood of the Cross and sent into all the world as witness of God’s compassionate love for sinners like us.

Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Dr. Luke, historian recording his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles from the first hand testimonies of Peter and the Apostles probably records this with the most details:

Luke 24:

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”

37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Here is a lesson in Scripture from our risen Lord I would have liked to have heard.

Trust that Luke and the other scribes of the Gospel have accurately recorded much of this as part of what we have read from the life of Jesus Christ prior to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

One witness betrayed, then hung himself. Condemned to Hell, Judas was not present for these commands.

One witness to the dark night of Jesus’ trial did not flee, but remained near enough to have denied Jesus as His lord three times. John is witness of Jesus forgiving Peter, before sending Peter to follow in His way to the Cross.

One witness had to place his hand in the wounds of the resurrected body of Jesus.

But we would not have been any less skeptical than Thomas, who was also later martyred for His witness of these things.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

April 22, 2014
HIS Excruciating Death for My Sins!
What does does a scene of Jesus enduring excruciating when being NAILED to a CROSS have to do with us?
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At the urging of a beloved brother in Christ I will once again witness the ANSWER to my opening question in this UPDATED post ABOUT GOOD FRIDAY from A.D. 2014.

What happened April 18, Good Friday, 2014?

As for Good Friday ~30 years ago (a guess in recalling that eventful year):
I could NOT find any more significant event than this..
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Born again in the Holy Spirit!
Christ’s suffering for my sins was excruciating!
The Trial of Jesus
The Crucifixion
John 19:
XI Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
Isaiah 53
Good Friday Stations of the Cross
Born again in the Holy Spirit!

I am witness that God filled me with His Holy Spirit of new Life in Christ Jesus twenty years ago on Good Friday.
Roger@talkofJesus.com

The convicting evidence of my sin and Christ’s Sacrifice was given to me by the Holy Spirit as I prayerfully walked through the Stations of the Cross, when “Jesus is nailed to the Cross.”
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NOTE: YouTube labels the LINK ABOVE (same link below) 
Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines)

I recommend it for any TEEN and adult who wants to see a 'Passion of The Christ' violent representation of NAILING JESUS TO THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS! 
WE deserve what you see Christ enduring.
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Christ’s suffering for my sins was excruciating!

Our conviction for HIS trial in darkness and swift execution of injustice ought to point toward the darkness of our own souls as we consider the Sacrifice of this innocent Son of Man on a Cross for us.

The Trial of Jesus

IF you dare to look into the shadows of the dark mirror of your mortal soul consider the accounts of the trial, torture and excruciating death of Jesus Christ!

Mark 14: … Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders…

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.

And they all condemned him as deserving death.

65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!”

And the guards received him with blows.

ALL this took place during the darkness of night.

However because of Rome, their captive government and Herod their King did not have the authority to execute a man… no death sentence.

Mark 15:

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.

Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

And he answered him, “You have said so.”

… But the chief priests stirred up the crowd…

And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”

And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”

Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?”

But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”

(Is that not what the crowds of these last days shout at mention of the Name of Jesus Christ?)

So Pilate (politician & diplomat), wishing to satisfy the crowd…

having scourged Jesus,
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φραγελλόω - Lexicon :: Strong's G5417 - phragelloō
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AN EXCRUCIATING SCOURGING OF JESUS FOR OUR SIN!
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Understand the excruciating pain JESUS our Lord and Sacrifice suffered for our sins. From the Vine's Expository Dictionary PICTURE IT (even if you couldn't watch the video)
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Scourge (Noun and Verb):

(akin to A: Latin, flagello; Eng., “flagellate”), is the word used in Mat 27:26; Mar 15:15, of the “scourging” endured by Christ and administered by the order of Pilate. Under the Roman method of “scourging,” the person was stripped and tied in a bending posture to a pillar, or stretched on a frame. The “scourge” was made of leather thongs, weighted with sharp pieces of bone or lead, which tore the flesh of both the back and the breast (cp. Psa 22:17). Eusebius (Chron.) records his having witnessed the suffering of martyrs who died under this treatment.
Note: In Jhn 19:1 the “scourging” of Christ is described by Verb No. 2, as also in His prophecy of His sufferings, Mat 20:19; Mar 10:34; Luk 18:33. In Act 22:25 the similar punishment about to be administered to Paul is described by Verb No. 3 (the “scourging” of Roman citizens was prohibited by the Porcian law of 197, B.C.).

.. he [Pilate] delivered him [the unjustly scourged Jesus] to be crucified.

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.

17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him,

“Hail, King of the Jews!”

19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him.

Then they led him out to crucify him.

Truly, don’t you sometimes think that this is what you deserve for some of your sins?

Shouldn’t a Holy God punish ALL true sin?

How will we escape the wrath of God for so many sins of our past?

The Crucifixion

John 19:

So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read,

“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

XI Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Any Christian familiar with the stations of the Cross will recognize this moment commemorated.

It was the moment on a Good Friday about 30 years ago I was born again in the Spirit!
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At the conclusion of my updated GOOD FRIDAY post in the year of our Lord 2023 on TalkofJESUS.com I will include a text for you to prayerfully READ as if you walked through all of the excruciating agony Jesus suffered prior to being NAILED to the CROSS.

Roger@talkofJesus.com 
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Isaiah 53

… he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 ESV

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed,

and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter…

Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.
1 Corinthians 5:7

Good Friday Stations of the Cross

Jesus stands in the most human of places. He has already experienced profound solidarity with so many on this earth, by being beaten and tortured. Now he is wrongfully condemned to punishment by death. His commitment to entering our lives completely begins its final steps. He has said “yes” to God and placed his life in God’s hands. We follow him in this final surrender, and contemplate with reverence each place along the way, as he is broken and given for us…
A Printer-Friendly Version of the Stations of the Cross on the “Online Ministries” web site.
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations.html

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
April 18, 2014