Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth and the life"

Sunday 15th November 2020

Mark 8:34-38 - at start
Psalm 98:1-9
Psalm 89:1-18
John 14:1-9
Romans 8:35-39 - at end

2 Timothy 3:1-17

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet  from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

John 14: 1-9

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

All scripture is God-breathed

A few months ago, as I was on a Christian website reading items in a forum, one comment caught my eye. The guy was saying that you could not possibly believe all the events described in the Old Testament, and he was giving examples, picking the stuff that he did not like. Now, I found that extremely offensive because if everybody does that, believing in one book and not the other one, what's the point.

I would like to quote Pastor Steven Abram' thoughts on the integrity of the Bible:

 'In terms of dating, I subscribe to the conviction that the New Testament was written before AD70 - the fall of Jerusalem. It is my conviction that Scripture is not only God-breathed but also God-preserved. Why would the Lord reveal all he wants to reveal and then allows man to mess it up by forgetting it or changing it? I trust the integrity of the Bible and its writers as a true and honest record of what God wants us to hear from him, his ways and his purposes. There are things we want to know that if God explains them to us we would be unable to comprehend. When all is said and done, He is God, infinite, immortal and all knowing and we are not! I am adding his website for copyright purpose  www.abram.org.uk

In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul says : All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This could not be more explicit! In Corinthians 10 1-11, Paul goes over tragic events that happened to 'our forefathers' and he concludes : 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us..

Two weeks ago, in the staffroom, a colleague told me that he was a Christian but added to my dismay that the Bible was a collection of books solely written by men. 

This is not what the apostle Peter tells us : 

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit'

 2 Peter 1:20-21

There are many more quotations that point to the veracity of the Scripture. 

Jesus too refers to the Bible in many occasions. In Matthew 4 4, Jesus answered : It is written: Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'. 

The writer of Hebrews also mentions Jesus's amazing statement:

Hebrews 10: 7 Then I said, Here I am - it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.'

Any comments are welcome.