Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:14 pm
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The line about the blind who believed without seeing, but merely upon hearing his word, I never saw it that way. heart Love it.
Two small deviations, but worth correcting:
- [1] At one point he referred to Hebrews 12:2...
Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
...but that doesn't mean Jesus will force you to have faith until the end.
Just that he's the perfect example of faith to follow.
source: http://biblehub.com/text/hebrews/12-2.htm
source: http://biblehub.com/thayers/5051.htm
So, like Jesus, we resist sin and doubt to the point of shedding blood like Jesus, trusting what God commands even if it puts us in the hands of an enemy (someone who hates us) and who kills us (literally, shedding our blood, and spiritually, getting killed / getting insulted / getting murdered in our hearts).
Hebrews 12:4 (NIV)
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Romans 15:3 (NIV)
3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”[a]
Footnotes:
a. Romans 15:3 Psalm 69:9
So Jesus is the model of faith to follow, not that he'll pass on that developed and confident trust to you (same with any other person: for example, like the speaker wanted his grandma to pass on to him, but she can't. It's something we have to develop on our own with God. He's willing to put us through some things so that our faith/trust in Him doesn't fizzle out, but are we willing? and are we willing to go through it clinging to him all the while?).
- [2] And the second thing: like earthly relationships, the two can separate if one of the two people involved in the relationship is unwilling to continue. Just because he keeps his ring on, doesn't mean you will. But if you do stay faithful to him, willing to stay in relationship with Him, in accord with your vows (covenant), then yes, he's not abandoning anyone.
If Jesus does forsake us, then, to name a couple of examples, it will be because (1) we disowned him / didn't stay loyal after receiving the Holy Spirit / after being sanctified / set-apart to him, (2) sin hardened our hearts to unbelief after he softened it—despite him dying for us.
Mark 13:13 (NIV)
13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Hebrews 3:12-14 (NIV)
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.
Hebrews 10:29 (NIV)
29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV)
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[a] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 6:6 Or age, 6 if they fall
That said, the key in his message was to spend more time in His Word. Doubts will subside the more familiar we become with His mind. emotion_yatta heart edited to add Heb 6:4-6
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