wayne brown ministries

last study was posted 9-26-09

” Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. “

I’ve recently learned that perhaps my studies are too long. Many people cannot absorb everything I say, since these studies are soooooooooo long. I will try to keep them shorter and hopefully do studies more frequently.

Let’s continue.

In the last study I discussed how Jesus made it clear these Jews were not children of God and how He wished they loved Him.

Let’s continue with the next phrase when He said; “for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. “ This is another time when Jesus declares His deity. This is a marvelous thing. Jesus said to His Father; ” And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. ” John 17:5 Yes, Jesus did say; ” which I had with thee before the world was. ” Yes, my friend… ” before the world was. ” This is why Jesus said in this verse we are studying; “for I proceeded forth and came from God; “ On another occasion we already learned Jesus made this declaration about Himself; ” I and my Father are one. ” John 10:30 My friend, always remember…we either believe Jesus at His word or we do not. Muslims believe Jesus was “beside Himself” when He made this claim. Jews write Him off as a deceiver. Hindus acknowledge Jesus as a good man. Satanists know who Jesus is: ” And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? ” Matthew 8:28-29 …but defy Jesus vehemently. This is why I say that we can believe Jesus is the Son of God and still not be saved.

And there are other religions which teach that Jesus was only a man…not God. These religions make Jesus out to be a liar. Catholicism does not believe Jesus Himself is enough for salvation but that it also requires His mother Mary, H20, forgiveness from certain “saints” and so on…to be saved.

Mormons believe Jesus was only a man…not God Even some evangelical Christians today are now questioning their faith and deciding that Jesus is ‘a way’ to Heaven, not the only way to Heaven as Jesus claimed. They now believe that God has alternative ways to make it to Heaven for people who do not believe Jesus at His word. Not only this, some evangelical Christians no longer believe Jesus when He spoke of an eternal hell and now believe that God is too good to let anyone go to hell forever with no hope of escape. Again, as with these other religions, this makes Jesus out to be a liar.

Again, it is a choice we must make for ourselves. The criminal who died on the cross next to Jesus decided in his dying moments to believe Jesus at His word. The other criminal did not. No one has ever come back from the dead with a movie camera or photos to prove that Jesus either lied or did not lie to this criminal when He told him; “…Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. ” Luke 23:43 If it was ever possible that any spiritual benefit could come out of such an ungodly place as Hollywood, California there is a movie that came out recently in which a woman scientist would only accept facts based on accurate and visible evidence. The person she was talking to said something to the effect of…”Some things one must accept by faith…” I thought wow! What perception and insight coming from heathen movie screen writers to come up with a line like that. Yes, my friend, we have no visible or tangible proof of what Jesus claimed. But let me ask you something. As you and I know, this earthly physical life is short. Every time I look in the mirror I realize I’m not getting any younger and I really doubt anyone is. So, when it comes time to die, as we all know death is inevitable, what are we going to gamble our faith on when we know death is just around the corner? This earthly physical life is short and eternity is long. Who or what will we choose to believe when we draw that last breath in this life?? For me, I rest my faith in Jesus and everything He said. This is why I do not fear death nor do I dread the fact that death is inevitable. The old saying goes…”The only things for sure is death and taxes.” Well, there are people who successfully avoid paying taxes. But no one can avoid physical death. Death comes to all.

I will continue with this soon.

Wayne Brown