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“in the last day, the great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of Living Water. But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they who believe on Him should receive . . . (Jn. 7:37-39).
The scene that opens before us is magnificent, to say the least. The Temple Mount could have held as many as a half million people. It was the eighth day, the great day of the Feast, and it was a Sabbath. It was a day of ecstatic joy, of loud jubilation, and of sounding of trumpets. On this day, this great day, a Priest, bearing a golden vessel full of water, which had come from the Pool of Siloam, would approach the Altar in front of the Temple, while the rejoicing people sang: “With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of Salvation” (Isa. 12:3).
At the appropriate time, with the Priest holding up the golden vessel full of water above the great Altar, the people would have grown silent for a few moments, observing the very solemn but joyous scene, watching as the water poured from the golden vessel to the great Altar.
It was at this supreme moment that Jesus stood, no doubt on some elevated position, and shouted, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink” (Isa. 55:1). These Words of the Lord were given, and they rang out over the tremendous crowd there assembled, with a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit, that must have shaken the entire vast assemblage. That day, all who heard that great invitation would have to choose between two alternatives — either to say, with Caiaphas, “He is guilty of death,” or to exclaim, with Thomas, “My Lord and My God.”
To believe on Him and what He did at the Cross is to drink of Him. In Truth, this great cry of Christ harked back to the smitten Rock, when the river of water poured out, as Moses smote it in the wilderness (Ex., Chpt. 17).
The quotation in Verse 38 refers to the Messiah and not to the Believer. Christ is the Eternal and Inexhaustible Source of all Spiritual Blessings (Isa. 12:3; 55:1; 58:11; Ezek. 47:1; Joel 3:18; Zech. 13:1; 14:8). The Cross, of which all of this is a type, made possible the forgiveness and cleansing of sin, the giving of Eternal Life, and the Believer having now the privilege of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Of all of this, Christ is the Source and the Cross is the Means.
The contrast here is between the lifeless water, quickly exhausted, which a mortal Priest carried in a golden vessel, and the life-giving water flowing in eternal and inexhaustible fullness from out of the Divine and human affections of the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The lesson to be learned is that ceremonies, however magnificent, venerable, and Scriptural, can never satisfy the deep thirst of the soul. That thirst can only be satisfied by personal union with the Lord Jesus by faith. For He Alone is the Smitten Rock, Who, in Resurrection Power, sends forth a stream of life to dying men and to a thirsty world.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day” Donnie Swaggart
There is coming a day and there is coming an hour when the world will meet the true King of Kings. This title has been inappropriately attached to quite a number of men down through the centuries. But there is only one man who truly qualifies as the King of Kings. His name is Jesus of Nazareth. He was born of a virgin. He lived a perfect and sinless life. He is the Son of God! He came to earth for the specific purpose of carrying out God’s redemption plan. He did this by freely giving Himself as a sacrifice for sin and dying as a payment for the sin of men. Those who have accepted Him by faith know Him for His majestic power and His merciful heart. To those who know Him, Jesus is still the broken-heart healer, the water walker, the miracle worker, the all-knowing, all-powerful, never ending source of strength, and hope of all mankind. He has never failed, never quit, never been stopped, never stalls, and cannot be defeated. His victory is sure, the fall of his enemies swift, and the security of His people assured! Do you know Him? I am so glad to be able to say that I do!
Revelation 19:16 - And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Proverbs 24:12
If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth thy soul, does not he know it, and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
Referring to the previous verse, God is saying that if we refrain from helping those who are lost and dead in their sins, OR saved, but turning from the Way of Righteousness (2 Peter 2:20-21), and we make the excuse that we didn’t know it, we are going to be rewarded according to this very thing He calls works.
Christianity is more than doing that which we feel is right, but experiencing and expressing Christ in our daily lives. We are around people quite often and they need to see the Light of Christ through us. Paul says that we carry this aroma unto God of this knowledge of Christ with us and that it affects others on the inside (2 Corinthians 2:14-16), and this is the very reason some are edified, but rather some also become angry and avoid us. Let your Light shine today as you share the Truth of Jesus Christ!
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the Law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what do You say? (Jn. 8:4-5)
As Jesus taught that morning in the Temple, probably in the Court of the Gentiles, He was interrupted by the Scribes and the Pharisees. That’s about all that religion does, interrupt Him!
They had brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery, thinking to embarrass Him, or to force Him to take a position which would bring Rome, or even the people, down on His Head. Whatever decision He rendered would put Him in a vulnerable position, or so they thought. They seemed never to learn Who He really was; He was miles ahead of them in every respect!
Here stands the little, trembling creature, dying in shame, expecting to be stoned at any moment. There was no doubt about her guilt! And yet, why didn’t they also bring the man? The Law of Moses demanded that both be stoned!
Here stands the woman and her accusers in front of the great crowd who had come to hear Jesus teach. The Pharisees demanded of Him, “What do You say?”
The crowd grew silent, wondering what He would say and do. He stooped down and wrote in the dust on the pavement at His feet — for the Temple Court was paved. His action in stooping down to write in the dust recalled His action in stooping down from Heaven to Mount Sinai and writing with His Finger upon the stone tables of the Law, for He was the Author of the Law (Ex. 31:18). Almighty God, now manifested in the flesh, once more stooped Earthwards; once more He wrote upon stones — but now not that which condemned to death, but that which ordained to life. How the heart wishes that the Spirit had willed to record what was written!
The Pharisees brought forth this woman in the hope of confounding Jesus; for He was not a Saviour if He condemned her — the Law did that — and if He let her go, He despised and disallowed the Law. How foolish they were!
His action in writing on the pavement should have opened their eyes as to Who He was. He did not excuse or deny the woman’s guilt, or the fact that the Law justly doomed her to death, but He announced that only those who were themselves innocent of the sin of which she was condemned could accuse her and execute the sentence of the Law.
The words in Verse 7, “without sin,” do not mean “sinless,” but they mean “without her sin.” How could accusers guilty of the same sin as the accused carry out the sentence of a sinless Law?
Accordingly, these impure hypocrites, by slinking away, convicted themselves, and so were themselves found out “in the very act” of which they triumphantly accused their victim. Confused, they separated from one another, each caring for character rather than conscience, he who had the most reputation to save being the first to retire.
How could men who were themselves sentenced by the Law to be stoned to death for adultery, stone another for the same sin?
The Lord wrote twice on the stones at His Feet. He wrote twice at Sinai. One table related to the God; the other, to man, as to obedience and responsibility. But yet, Christ could not break the Law. So how did this dilemma solve itself?
He said to the woman the greatest words she had ever heard, “Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more” (8:11). How could He justify that in relationship to the Law, which demanded her death?
He justified His decision regarding her in the same manner that He justifies His decision concerning us, concerning all who ever have believed in Him, by going to the Cross and paying the price that she should have paid, that we should have paid, but couldn’t pay.
On the Cross, He, in totality, fulfilled the requirements of the Law, and in every respect (Col. 2:14-15).”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day” Donnie Swaggart
The story is told of a little girl in “aftercare.” Both her parents worked and one parent or the other would pick her up from her school’s “aftercare” in the late afternoon. On one particular day she was very eager to go home. While longing for the comforts of home, she gathered together a few of her favorite toys and tried to entertain herself. She tried valiantly to distract herself in this way but was anxiousl...y waiting for the arrival of one of her parents. When her Dad finally arrived to pick her up that afternoon she ran from the corner of the room where she had been playing and cried, “Oh Daddy, let’s go home!” “Wait just a moment,” said the daycare worker in charge. “You know the rules. You have to put your toys away before you go.” The little girl seemed close to panic and with the faint glimmer of tears forming in her eyes she looked towards her Father and said, “Oh Daddy, don’t leave without me!” Her Dad just smiled and said, “Oh honey, I didn’t come to leave you. I came to pick you up.” My weary friend, be encouraged. Jesus did not come to leave us. He came to pick us up!
Revelation 22:20 - He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Proverbs 24:13
My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
God’s Word declares that honey is good, even the honeycomb, which is sweet to the taste, and this is used toward the next verse of scripture that relates honey being sweet to one’s taste to the knowledge of wisdom to the soul when it is found. This surely allows us to see that the soul of man is the place in which the knowledge of God’s wisdom is found and imparted. All the treasures of God’s wisdom are found In Christ (Colossians 2:2-3), and the Apostle Paul refers to that wisdom being revealed in the work of Christ on the cross (1 Corinthians 2:4-8).
Faith in the cross, allows the Holy Spirit to reveal the wisdom of God’s Word to us, but outside of this faith, it is not the Holy Spirit, but the wisdom of the world, the devil and the flesh (James 3:13-16). God offered wisdom to all, as He offered His only begotten Son (Proverbs 2:6, John 3:16), and when He finds faith, He imparts this wisdom.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“he answered and said, Whether He be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see (Jn. 9:25).
Williams says, “The Light that justified the adulteress and exposed and confounded her accusers (Jn., Chpt. 8) now enlightened the blind man and put to shame his haters; having brought these lost sheep into the fold, that same Light revealed their safety, and the Grace and Truth of their Shepherd. So Grace saved them, and Truth enlightened them.
“This woman and this man symbolized Israel — as a Church, adulterous; as a nation, blind.”
The man of our Text was blind from birth, which, of course, means that he had never seen anything and had no way to relate to anything except by touch and feel. Israel was morally blind; so are all men. But Jesus gave this man sight. He produced in him that which he previously did not have. He was darkness, but now became light in the Lord because enlightened by the Lord.
When the Disciples observed this man born blind, they asked the question, “Why is he blind?” thinking that his parents had done someterrible thing to occasion his malady. Jesus put that thought to rest by exclaiming that the man was blind, not because he had committed some terrible sin known by the Lord even before his birth, neither had his parents. So, with this one statement, Christ puts to rest the foolish, erroneous doctrine of the family curse.
In essence, He told His Disciples to forget about that. Whatever the problem, and whatever the cause, which, in effect, was original sin, would be set straight by “the works of God which would be made manifest in him.” And Jesus Alone would manifest those works, for He Alone is “the Light of the World.”
Our Lord then did something very unusual; He “spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle.”
Why did He do this?
In this case, the clay symbolized His Humanity, and the moisture of His Lips, the Life that animated it.
The Lord then “anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.” However, just as the man saw nothing after the clay had been put upon his eyes, so men are blind to the Person and Work of Christ, though He places Himself right before their very eyes.
The Work of Christ in the changing of men’s lives, symbolized by this man born blind receiving his sight, can only be completed at the Cross, which is symbolized by “the pool of Siloam.” This is a great truth which must not be forgotten; regrettably, it seems to be forgotten in most Church circles presently.
When the blind man went and washed, as commanded by Christ, the Scripture says, “he came seeing.” When, for the first time in his life, his eyes were opened to all the beauty of nature, what thoughts and feelings must have entered this man’s heart and mind? Those of you who are washed in the Blood of Christ know exactly how this man felt. Before you were saved, you had no knowledge of all that the Lord is. But upon conversion, as instantly as sight came to this former blind man, spiritual sight came to you.
Spiritual sight cannot be imparted without the action of the Cross, no matter what is done previously. Hence, the man had to go wash in the pool of Siloam.
The Pharisees were angry that Jesus had opened the eyes of this formerly blind man, because it was the Sabbath Day. To confirm the miracle, they went to the man’s parents. The parents, it seems, waffled in their recognition of Christ, probably because anyone who confessed Christ would be “put out of the Synagogue,” which meant to be excommunicated, which carried all type of penalties (9:22).
The Pharisees then went to the former blind man, asking him to identify the One Who had healed him. The man, it must be remembered, had never, as of yet, seen Christ. So he did not know Him by sight. When the religious leaders began to malign Christ, actually calling Him “a sinner,” etc., the man answered, saying, “Whether He be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (9:25).
The courageous testimony of this man to these Priests and rulers of the Synagogue is inspiring; it also contrasts with the cowardice of his parents. Transported with rage, the rulers had him thrown out into the street, no doubt proceeding to excommunicate him from the Synagogue. But then he met Jesus!
The man now received, as well as his glorious miracle, Eternal Life.
Let it be understood:
It was either Christ or the Synagogue. It could not be both. One or the other had to go. Regrettably and sadly, it is very similar presently!”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day” Donnie Swaggart
Every spark of independence from God will stoke the fires of rebellion and sin. God did not create humanity for the purpose of becoming independent of Him. Quite the opposite is true! Man was created to become ever increasingly dependent upon God and to learn to trust Him to supply for every circumstance and need that might arise. In the fall, man became independent of God and reliant upon self. He focused upon pleasing himself, nurturing himself, elevating himself, and advancing himself above others. If one honestly overviews the world’s system, one will find that the key elements that occupy the world reflects the principles of force, greed, ambition, pleasure, and power. These are the elements that the world and its godless system (which is governed by satan and spiritual powers of darkness) promote and strive to maintain. Those within desire to live free from God, His rule, and His strict guidelines for life, especially anything that might be esteemed as stifling, restrictive, or repressive. But pleasing ourselves outside of God’s guidance, His goodness, or His grace will always result in sin and lead us further down the pathway of rebellion. Isn’t it time we surrender our lives and begin to discover the true and unadulterated joy of a life submitted exclusively to God?
Luke 17:33 - Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Those who believe in Jesus Christ have to make a daily decision to live by faith. Faith is the key element of the Christian experience. Faith is the greatest asset to the individual Christian. We are saved by faith. We are called upon to live by faith. The Word of God says that, “the just shall live by faith.” So it should not come as any surprise that Satan works overtime to destroy the faith of the believer. He is an expert at discouragement. He thrives by planting lies in the minds of those who love God. He raises doubts and concerns and builds “mountains out of mole hills.” He distracts through mirages and smokescreens that produce fear, discouragement, doubt, and unbelief. These are his weapons of choice and he yields them with devastating ferocity, shooting his fiery darts towards the heart and mind of the unsuspecting believer. Faith looks at the lies, the mirages, the myths, so carefully fabricated, and declares them for what they are. No matter how real the enemies’ work may feel or seem, we are not to fail to believe God for a way through the darkness. Discouragement, doubt, and unbelief can not coexist with faith; so I choose to believe!
Hebrews 10:38 - Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Proverbs 24:15
Lay not wait, O wicked man , against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
Here the Lord warns the wicked not to lie in wait with the expectation to attack the dwelling place of the righteous. This righteous place mentioned is In Christ, which was granted us through the faith of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16, 20). The Christian’s resting place is In Christ, and is experienced as their faith remains in His atoning work at the cross, which is exclusively what granted them this resting place in Him. The wicked man is the man who attempts to through false doctrine and heresy, to remove the child of God from “The Faith” by which they live (Galatians 2:20), and the experience of this resting place.
God’s Word tells us not to allow men to beguile us, deceive us, nor to take our crown (Colossians 2:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Revelation 3:11). Men can take our homes, our families, our monies or anything material away from us, but if we are deceived, beguiled or allow them to take our crowns, we will not be able to blame them.
Do you know these things? Most of the modern church thinks that once they say a prayer they are secure for eternity. It is only those who believe upon Christ and continue to abide in Him, the fruit bearing and resting place, that will endure until the end and make it to the finish line.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
Proverbs 24:14
So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it , then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
There is a knowledge of wisdom that must be found, and when found, God has promised that to the soul, it will be as sweet as the taste of honey and its comb. God’s wisdom must be found, and there’s only one place to search for it, and that is God’s Word. He is the One who told us He has Wisdom for us, therefore we must hear Him as He guides us into His wisdom. All of God’s wisdom is found only In Christ (Colossians 2:2-3), and the Apostle Paul spoke of this wisdom being a mystery, yet revealed In Christ at the cross (1 Corinthians 2:4-8).
“In” Christ speaks of the work of Christ at the cross, for there and there alone did God choose those He saw that would believe upon His Son even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Romans chapter 6 verse 3 reveals to us that because we believed upon Christ and His atoning sacrifice for our sins, that we were baptized INTO His death. This is where we were immersed INto the body of Christ, not when we joined a church, and this is when the Way of Life raised us up above the hell that is below (Proverbs 15:24).
Praise God!!
The reward here mentioned is referring to the hereafter, or rather after this life as we know it now that our expectation to be with the One who saved us we shall surely have, and will not be cut off as will be the wicked.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“and when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them, Loose him, and let him go (Jn. 11:43-44).
The impotent man (Jn., Chpt. 5), the blind man (Jn., Chpt. 9), and Lazarus picture Israel as morally impotent, blind, and dead. Of these three demonstrations of Christ’s Deity, the last, as would be obvious, was the greatest. The sick may be healed, but there is no remedy for death.
Death convicts man as being a sinner and conducts him to judgment, for, because of sin, original sin, it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. So Jesus waited for sin to do its utmost in Lazarus’ body, and then went to manifest His Divine Glory in raising it to life.
When told of Lazarus’ sickness, the Master said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the Glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (11:4). The Greek Text actually says, “he shall not fall prey to death,” which is the way it should have been translated. The Lord does not get glory out of sickness, but He most definitely does get Glory out of the sick being healed.
Now He will raise Lazarus from the dead, a miracle of astounding proportions, especially considering that Lazarus had been dead for four days. No one ever died in the Presence of Jesus, not even the two thieves.
As Jesus was on the way to the home of Lazarus, Martha went to meet Him, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died” (11:21). But Jesus calmly told her, “Your brother shall rise again.” Martha answered by saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the last day” (11:23-24).
Jesus probably had Martha stand before Him and He may have put His Hands on her shoulders so she would look straight at Him, even though the Bible does not clearly say this. Then He, in essence, said to her, “Martha, you are looking at the Resurrection. I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (11:25).
Our Lord was telling Martha that the Resurrection is not a philosophy or even a doctrine or dogma, but rather a Person. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Resurrection, exactly as He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6). This means that all the power of Resurrection, all the power of Life, is lodged in His Person.
Resurrection is the end of death; consequently, death has no more to do with the redeemed. It has done all it can do. It is finished. The redeemed live in the Life that put an end to it. For them, the old life and its death and judgment no longer exist.
When Jesus was on His way to the tomb, and when He stood before the tomb, five things happened:
1. “He groaned in the Spirit and was troubled”: He literally groaned indignation, most probably because of the malice of Satan in bringing such sorrow upon man.
2. “Jesus wept”: Once again, this was for the plight of the human race because of the Fall. Man was never meant to die, but sin brought death, with all of its attendant horror.
3. “Jesus said, You take away the stone”: It might be said that one can take away the stone, or one can throw stones. Which are you doing?
4. “Jesus prayed”: He didn’t have to pray at this time, because He already knew the Will of the Father; however, for the people’s sake, He prayed. Prayer must ever be our mainstay.
5. “He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth”: As someone has well said, “There was such power in His Command, that if Jesus had not called Lazarus by name, all of the Righteous in the graves would have come forth.”
The Scripture then says:
“And he who was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them, Loose him, and let him go” (11:44).
So this great Miracle portrays the fact that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life; as such, He is also able to raise man from spiritual death, thereby giving him Eternal Life. For all who will believe, the Word is: “Loose him and let him go.”’
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day") Donnie Swaggart
“verily, verily, I say unto you, He who enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters in by the Door is the Shepherd of the sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the Door of the sheep (Jn. 10:1-2,7).
The Scribes and Pharisees claimed to be shepherds. Jesus contrasted Himself with them. He was the Good Shepherd. He came in by the door into the sheepfold, and He was Himself, at the same time, the Door of the sheep.
Let it be understood:
The Door of which He spoke was a blood-splattered Door; it was typified by the blood-splattered door of the first Passover in Egypt (Ex. 12:7).
The True Shepherd came in by the Door. That is, He submitted to all conditions ordained by Him Who built the sheepfold. These conditions were given through Moses. Accordingly, Christ was born of a woman under the Law, was circumcised, and fulfilled all that the Law demanded and predicted concerning the Messiah.
He was Jehovah’s Perfect Servant, living by every Word that proceeded out of the Mouth of God, continually doing those things that pleased Him. Consequently, on presenting Himself at the Door, the doorkeeper, i.e., the Law, immediately admitted Him, and the sheep recognized His Voice. He, therefore, had access given to Him and to His sheep, despite the Pharisees and Priests.
Out from under the condemnation of the Law, He led His sheep — He Himself going before them to Calvary. The sheep followed Him, for their safety consisted in knowing the One Voice which was Life to them.
Further, He was the Door of the sheep. He was their authority for going out and their means for entering in. The sheepfold, which to them had been a prison, He turned into a refuge; so they went in for safety and went out for pasture. The sheep enjoyed safety and liberty.
He plainly said, “I am the Door.” This means that the Church is not the Door to Christ, as the Roman Catholic Priests teach, but Christ is the Door to the Church, one might say! Salvation is, therefore, very simple! He promises Eternal Life to all who base their claim for entrance upon Him Alone.
The Good Shepherd died for the sheep; the Great Shepherd lives for the sheep (Heb. 13:20); and the Chief Shepherd comes for the sheep (I Pet. 5:4).”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day” Donnie Swaggart
Have you ever been betrayed by someone whom you trusted? Perhaps it was a friend, a co-worker, a loved one, or, God forbid, even a spouse. There is nothing more hurtful, more painful, more devastating than to have been dishonorably treated by someone you care about. This evil leaves you breathless. If we are not careful, the hurt we feel, which is very real and spiritually “numbing,” can produce a heart and mind filled with anger and bitterness. If either of these is allowed to remain it will defile the heart and soul. Therefore, the event can take on a double negative because of not being handled correctly. In the initial experience we are hurt by the loved one. By the wrong reaction we hurt ourselves and allow the devil to plant a seed of destruction within our souls. What's a person to do? The answer is sure and scriptural. We have the right to forgive those who have trespassed against us. In fact, the true believer has been given no choice. Are you holding a grudge today over what someone else has done? You have no option but to release the situation to Jesus and forgive them even as God, in His great mercy, has forgiven you your trespasses! Amen!
Mark 11:26 - But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Proverbs 24:16
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
This is one of the marks of the man who is following after peace and holiness (Hebrews 12:14), as his faith remains in Christ’s atoning work at the cross, which is the only thing that justifies man in God’s sight. Through faith in Christ and His Justifying work at the cross for us, we find His strength being made perfect and are able to continue to rise up time after time.
The wicked man doesn’t get up when he falls, but rather just keeps on falling deeper and deeper into mischief. Since man fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, he has continued to fall deeper and deeper into mischief for almost six thousand years. This is why we see such depravity among the wicked. God has delivered those who have trusted Christ through faith in His crucifixion, and we are now crucified unto the mischievous and sinful world and the mischievous and sinful world unto us. Cling to Christ through faith in His cross and you will find the justifying power of God empowering you to rise up again today and march on!
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His Feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment (Jn. 12:3).
Before the Crucifixion, it seems that Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, was the only one who actually believed that Jesus would rise from the dead. What she did that day, in taking this very costly ointment, which some believe would be worth approximately $10,000 in 2005 currency, i.e., using it to anoint the feet of Jesus, was totally misunderstood by even His closest Disciples. Man may have misjudged her, but Jesus vindicated her and understood her.
By doing what she did, she unconsciously erected to herself an eternal monument as lasting as the Gospel and linked with it. Jesus predicted the enduring remembrance of Mary’s action, which Matthew recorded (Mat. 26:13). Somehow she learned the fact that on the third day He would rise again. So the spikenard she had prepared for His dead body, she now poured “beforehand” on His Living Body.
It was a testimony to His Resurrection, and she knew that she would have no other opportunity. She was not found at the empty sepulcher; she was too intelligent to be there. Judas objected to this anointing, claiming that it was a waste, proclaiming the fact that he had no understanding at all of Who Jesus actually was and What Jesus would actually do.
It’s amazing! The news media says not one negative word about the millions of elderly people who take their meager income and purchase lottery tickets; however, they have much to say about elderly people who give to the cause of Christ! The only thing that is truly not a waste is that which is given to the Lord.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day” Donnie Swaggart
