Tag: Bible

Follow Messiah Jesus and Become Part of His Family

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An excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton:

2:13  And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

2:14  And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

Slowly but surely the synagogue door was shutting on Jesus He could have smoothed things over but He is forcing the guardians of Jewish orthodoxy to make some personal decisions and take sides.  He is going to keep stirring things up and He is the one who is actually in control, not they.  Now He is teaching by the lakeside and letting the Synagogue simmer.

As He was walking by the lakeside He was teaching.  This was a common way for the Jewish Rabbis to teach.  As they walked the roads from one place to another their disciples grouped around them and walked with them and listened as they talked.  Therefore Jesus was doing what any Rabbi might have done.

The tax collector’s booth where Jesus found Levi was on the major international road that went from Damascus through Capernaum to the Mediterranean coast on to Egypt.

It was a saying that “Judea is on the way to nowhere; Galilee is on the way to everywhere.”  The great Road of the Sea led from Damascus, by way of Galilee, through Capernaum, down past Carmel, along the Plain of Sharon, through Gaza and on to Egypt.  Another road led from Acre on the coast across the Jordan out to Arabia (Petra not Mecca) and the frontiers of the empire, a road that was travelled by the regiments and caravans.

Capernaum was by its very nature a frontier town; because of that it was a customs center and the import and export taxes were collected there.  That is where Levi worked.  While it is true that he was not like Zacchaeus, working directly in the service of the Romans; he was working for Herod Antipas, and therefore he was a hated tax-collector, also referred to as a publican.

Levi was not a good person or he would not have been a tax-gatherer.  Still Isa choose to call this person to be part of His core group.  This does serve to demonstrate to us that Isa can change the character of anyone if they will only commit themselves to Him.  The Scripture tells us about another person who was also chosen by Jesus but who offered excuses for waiting until a more convenient time and therefore he lost out on his unique opportunity.  Levi did not risk the chance of having the offer pass him by to become a disciple of Jesus but responded immediately, wholeheartedly, and without reservation.

2:15  And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

In 1st Kings 19:21 Elisha gave a farewell feast for his friends when he went to follow Elijah.

Of all the disciples Matthew is the one who gave up the most at the very outset in his making the commitment to follow Jesus.  Matthew in giving a farewell feast for all his friends shows thereby that with cheerfulness and thankfulness to God he has committed himself completely, and without reservation, to Christ.

Andrew and Simon and James and John could easily go back to their boats but Matthew had burned his bridges behind him as far as his livelihood was concerned and could never go back.  He left everything but his pen.  He did try to invite his friends to join him in the journey and maybe some of them did later on but probably not at that particular point in time.  Some of Matthew’s friends may have been among those converted at Pentecost; we won’t know until after our own arrival in heaven.  His friends were no doubt curious and some of them would have tried to talk him out of this move even as they may have themselves wondered whether there were any hope for them and Jesus’ presence and demeanor at the feast no doubt gave them a glimmer of hope that they also were eligible to be included in God’s forever family.

Do not be a disbeliever in Messiah Jesus

I Am Somebody

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I am somebody.jpg –Pastor Ward Clinton

The God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Loves

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An excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton:

2:7  Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God only?

In Jewish theology even the Messiah could not forgive sins and they were sure that Jesus was committing shirk.  However if He really is who He claimed to be then disbelieving is the worst type of shirk of all.  Al-Masihu-Isa (Jesus) is kalimat Allah and wadjih (worthy of esteem in this world and the next) according to the Quran.

2:8  And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

2:9  Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

Since they believed that a person’s sins needed to be forgiven before they could be healed He has chosen to force them to engage their brains.  One purpose of the miracles was to testify to the people precisely who Jesus truly is.

2:10  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

2:11  I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

2:12  And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Jesus saw their faith, He may have smiled as he looked at a faith strong enough to overcome the obstacles and then He looked at the Scribes – the ones who should have had faith.  Now, in part, these fellows were doing their job; they were scrutinizing this itinerant Rabbi to make sure his teaching was okay.  But these were sitting there watching for what they considered to be the slightest mistake so they could blow it all out of proportion rather than allowing themselves to be moved by the working of God which was happening right before their very eyes.

The religious leadership made a connection between sin and disease, not entirely unfounded, but they were a bit misguided.  To them a sick man was a man who had sinned.  They had already heard Jesus preach; they had already seen Jesus heal.  Still they seemed quite unmoved.  Now Jesus won’t allow anyone to remain neutral towards Him.  He has decided to up the ante, therefore he said, “Child your sins are forgiven.”  He has just challenged them head on with that phrase.  They were of the belief that the sin had to be forgiven before one could be healed.  But anyone is capable of saying “your sins are forgiven” and how can it be proved whether the statement was effective or not?  Now on the other hand, to tell the man to get up and walk would demonstrate then and there the authority, effectiveness, and reliability of His word.  Therefore in the tenth verse Jesus lets them know they have to make a choice to either believe in Him or disbelieve.  He has hoisted these experts in the law on their own petard.  It is on their own traditions and stated beliefs this man could not be cured unless he was forgiven.  In effect Jesus has said, “you say I have no right to forgive sins?  You believe that if this man is sick, he is a sinner and cannot be cured until he is forgiven?  Okay, watch this!”  Jesus spoke the word and the man was cured, therefore he must be forgiven and Jesus’ claim to be able to forgive sin must be true.

Jesus probably left them in a baffled rage.  Here was something that had to be dealt with; if this were allowed to continue all their rules and regulations would be turned on their head; maybe even worse, proven to be completely out of step with their Holy Scripture.  So, with this incident, Jesus has signed His own death warrant and He is fully aware of it.  However He is also trying to correct their understanding of God.

They had the Torah (the uncorrupted holy word from the one true God), they knew that God will not let sinners remain unpunished, but they had forgotten that the Torah also showed them a God who desired to exercise mercy and forgiveness.  Remember the pouting prophet in the Old Testament who whined, “I didn’t want to warn those people because I knew You are a merciful God”?

Today, most seem to know that God forgives but they forget there are conditions that must be met… God is holy and just, as well as merciful and forgiving.  He calls us into a holy, loving relationship with Himself which requires that sin be shunned, not embraced with a “Oh well, I’m only human” shrug of the shoulders.

The Holy One of God Heals

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Excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton:

In the Injil (New Testament) there is no disease regarded with more terror and pity than leprosy.  When Jesus sent out the Twelve he commanded them “Heal the sick, cleanse lepers.”  (Matt 18:8)  The fate of the leper in that day was truly hard.  There were some other skin diseases which were mistakenly classified as leprosy such as ringworm or psoriasis and when they went away there was a prescribed ritual to go through to be declared “clean.”

The leprous person could not come closer than a stone’s throw to a non-leprous person and if they did people would typically react in fear and drive them back with stones.  From Peter’s recorded perspective it appears the leper came closer than allowed but it is also likely he actually did not, only coming as close as he could before falling to his knees and making his plea.  Whether he came closer than allowed by law or stopped short isn’t important; what is important is that Jesus cared enough to reach out and tenderly touch the untouchable one as well as completely cure.  It was a demonstration of the one true God’s compassion; if we will only approach and humbly request He will bridge the remaining gap because He longs to establish/restore the fellowship that has been broken by the barrier of sin between an unholy being and the thrice Holy God.

Many a man on the face of this planet ignorantly and arrogantly thinks he will be able to approach God and plead the case that he himself is not so bad as some of his fellows and for that reason alone he must be allowed into heaven.  Many a man thinks that so long as his good deeds outweigh his bad deeds then he must be accepted but that also is a corrupt teaching from sinful man.  Sadly, he will be met with justice rather than mercy because he has chosen to act in pride rather than humility.  It is only those who by faith apply to Christ Jesus for mercy and grace who will find that He is quite willing and capable of providing the mercy and grace they need and seek and he will bring them into the presence of the one true God.

Jesus then sent the man to go fulfill the prescribed ritual.  We need not see this man as failing to obey, for he probably completed the task assigned except that he simply could not keep silent for the joy of deliverance.  How can a sin-sick soul that comprehends the cure which has been effected by the power of such a gracious, loving God (yes, the one true God really does have compassion on us) be silent regarding the cure?

The One True God is the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

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That ain’t allah…Don’t like it?  Tell it to the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…or are you afraid to because you are afraid to know the truth?

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Seek the Holy One of God

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Excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton

1:33  And all the city was gathered together at the door.

1:34  And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

They knew and understood Him to be the Messiah, the one true and holy Messiah; Isa, Al-Masih, is kalimat-Allah and wadjih according to the Quran and for that reason they were powerless against Isa.

Many that were possessed with devils – Dr. Lightfoot gives two sound reasons why Judea, in our Lord’s time, abounded with demoniacs. First, Because they were then advanced to the very height of impiety. See what Josephus, their own historian, says of them: There was not (said he) a nation under heaven more wicked than they were. See on Rom_1:1 (note). Secondly, Because they were then strongly addicted to magic, and so, as it were, invited evil spirits to be familiar with them. It seems strange to find men at this distance of time questioning the truth of that which neither scribes nor Pharisees then doubted; nor did they ever object against the pretensions of Christ and his apostles to cast them out. And, if the whole business of demonism had been only a vulgar error, (as “wise” men now tell us), what a fine opportunity had the “wise” men then, to unmask the whole matter, and thus pour contempt on the pretensions of our blessed Lord and his followers, who held it to be one proof of their Divine mission, that demons were subject to them! – Adam Clarke

It has been said, “Build a better mousetrap and the public will beat a path to your doorstep even if you live in the wilderness.”  Unfortunately the crowds were only coming because they wanted something; unfortunately the crowds only thought they were coming to see a wondrous physician; fortunately the crowds were coming.

Sadly, for one prayer that goes up to God in days of prosperity ten thousand go up in times of adversity.  Many a man who has never prayed when the sun was shining begins to pray when the cold winds come.  So many people regard religion as belonging “to the ambulance corps and not to the firing-line of life.”  Therefore religion, to them, is merely a crisis affair.  Only when life has got into a mess do they begin to remember God but it is in the sunshine that we need to polish the communication lines so that when the darkness settles over us we don’t find ourselves trying to figure out how to establish a connection.  God is not someone to be sought only in the day of misfortune; He is someone to be loved and remembered every day of our lives.  Although the recognition of one’s failure to come to Him during the sunny time should not be allowed to hinder the seeking of Him in the dark time – it is just so much better, so much wiser, and so much safer to remember Him in the sunny time when one may be assured of finding Him.

Messiah Jesus is the True One of God

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Looked on His disciples – That they might all the more closely pay attention to what He was about to say.  He knew that Peter was not alone in his failure to correctly comprehend Christ’s commission.  Just because all men choose to walk a different path than what God requires doesn’t mean the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will change His standards to accommodate them.  Man-made kingdoms may modify their laws when all fail to comply.  He is God, we aren’t; we get heaven God’s way, not ours.  Generality in sins is no means by which to escape God’s judgment.  Remember the account regarding Noah as recorded in the Al Kitab ul Muqaddas.  God does not change and although He desires that all should be saved, the wicked, as defined by His standard which is revealed in the Injil, will be punished unless they repent and comply with His commands.

8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

8:37  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

“Martyr” yourself on the word of some Imam and you will be trapped forever in the abode of the jinn with no way to escape.  The One True God, the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who loves and does not deceive.  It is the god of death who deceives and destroys.

8:38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me (Messiah Jesus) and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

The Holy One Called Isa

 

 

Messiah feeds a Multitude

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6:30  And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

6:31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

6:32  And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

They head out for some R&R (rest and relaxation) on the north east side of the lake near Bethsaida.  The wind may have been calm or they experienced a bit of a headwind which gave those who guessed or may have even overheard their intended destination a chance to go around the head of the lake and arrive shortly before or about the same time as Jesus and the disciples.  As they were going, the numbers have swelled.

6:33  And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

6:34  And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

When Jesus stepped ashore, He could have been annoyed, instead, He recognized their need and began to minister to them.

6:35  And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

6:36  Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

After Jesus has been teaching for a few hours, the disciples tell Jesus that He better let these people go so that perhaps they may be able to go find some food.  Jesus says, “You feed ‘em.”  Actually, He is reminding them that they need to perform the duty of hospitality.  The disciples probably all blanched and experienced something akin to a panic attack at this point.  The mission they had been on expected them to depend on the law of hospitality and Jesus has just told them that it applies now, with and for these people.  They know He has spoken accurately.  Therefore, it is a wide-eyed, nervous, response that is uttered when they tell Him it would take six month’s, or more, wages to be able to pay for the food to feed all these people.  Additionally the nearby villages most likely could not have accommodated this crowd.  As for the food, all they have been able to come up with is one person’s lunch consisting of 5 small buns and the equivalent of two sardines.

6:37  He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

6:38  He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

6:39  And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

When Jesus told them to have the people sit down the disciples, probably hesitated, thought about some of the things they have already seen Jesus do as well as what He has enabled them to do, and then they followed His instructions.

6:40  And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

6:41  And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

Jesus did not distribute the food Himself.  He allowed His disciples to do this.  He allows and desires that we should do (Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”).  He’s still got this habit of allowing us to be participants in the work He does on this earth and in our fellow man.  We are expected to do good works for the glory of God and the benefit of our fellow man.

6:42  And they did all eat, and were filled.

They had plenty to eat.  Attempts to explain away this miracle by those who harbor disbelief in their heart are completely inadequate.  If Jesus really was who He claimed to be then the miracle presents no difficulties whatsoever.  God had promised that when the true shepherd came the dessert would become a rich pasture where the sheep would be gathered and fed (Ezekiel 34:23-31), and here the Messiah feasts with followers in the desert (Isaiah 25:6-9).  Jesus is the Shepherd who provides for all our needs so that we lack nothing (Psalm 23:1).  The Holy One Called Isa

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Worship God

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worship god.jpg

–Pastor Ward Clinton

The Holy One of God is wadjih

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Jesus preached the good news of peace (Eph 6:15)  The penalty of being a fallen human being is to have a split personality.  In fallen human nature the beast and the angel are strangely intermingled.   Man’s trouble has always been that he is haunted both by sin and saintliness.  Robert Burns said, regarding himself, “My life reminded me of a ruined Temple.  What strength, what proportion in some parts!  What unsightly gaps, what prostrate ruins in others.”  The coming of Christ Jesus cures that disintegrated personality and enables victory over the warring self through being conquered by Christ.

Jesus preached the good news of God’s promise (Eph 3:6).  It is true that men have always tended to think of God as a God of threats rather than a God of promises.  Look at the way some say the God of the Old Testament was mean – it demonstrates they still fail to understand who God is.  God’s grace (i.e. unmerited divine favor) is demonstrated in that portion of The Book, it is just much harder to see than it is in the latter portion which begins with the Gospel (Injil) accounts.

Jesus preached the good news of immortality (2nd Tim 1:10)  To the pagan and the Sadducees alike, life was the road to death; man was characteristically a dying man; but Jesus came with the good news that through Him we are on the way to life.  The pagans that did believe in an afterlife had a rather dark view of what it amounts to.  But, of course, disbelievers in Isa, as revealed in the Holy Bible, should have a dark view of what the afterlife will be like for them.  The fact of the matter is that there was a time when you were not, but now there will never be a time will you will no longer be.

Jesus preached the good news (Eph 1:13) of salvation.  Salvation is not simply liberation from penalty and escape from the consequences of past sin; it is the power to live life victoriously and to conquer sin.  That makes the message of Messiah good news indeed.

Jesus preached the good news of Repentance.  Unfortunately, repentance is not as easy as we tend to think.  The Greek word metanoia literally means a change of mind.  That is part of the reason a new follower of Isa has such a difficult time trying to walk in holiness of heart and life; he knows he is a new creature, but he still has the old habits and needs help.  Of course, it does not help when the tradition of men gets in the way by suggesting that it cannot be done.  As for traditions, the earliest hadiths are only the result of traditions and created by men over a hundred years after Muhammad. – exceprt from my book “The Holy One Called Isa”

–Pastor Ward Clinton