{"id":2900,"date":"2021-10-19T15:23:11","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T23:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2900"},"modified":"2021-10-19T15:23:11","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T23:23:11","slug":"devotion-john-821-30-focus-on-the-narrow-gate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2900","title":{"rendered":"Devotion John 8:21-30 Focus On The Narrow Gate"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 8:21-30<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then He said again to them,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI am going away, and\u00a0you will look for Me, and\u00a0will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.\u201d<\/span>\u00a022\u00a0So\u00a0the Jews were saying, \u201cSurely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says,\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Where I am going, you cannot come\u2019<\/span>?\u201d<\/span>\u00a023\u00a0And He was saying to them,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cYou are from below, I am from above;\u00a0you are of this world,\u00a0I am not of this world.<\/span>\u00a024\u00a0Therefore I said to you that you\u00a0will die in your sins; for unless you believe that\u00a0I am,\u00a0you will die in your sins.\u201d<\/span>\u00a025\u00a0Then they were saying to Him, \u201cWho are You?\u201d Jesus said to them,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhat have I even been saying to you\u00a0from\u00a0the beginning?<\/span>\u00a026\u00a0I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but\u00a0He who sent Me is true; and\u00a0the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.\u201d<\/span>\u00a027\u00a0They did not realize that He was speaking to them\u00a0about\u00a0the Father.<\/span>\u00a028\u00a0So Jesus said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhen you\u00a0lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that\u00a0I am, and\u00a0I do nothing\u00a0on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me.<\/span>\u00a029\u00a0And He who sent Me is with Me;\u00a0He\u00a0has not left Me alone, for\u00a0I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.\u201d<\/span>\u00a030\u00a0As He said these things,\u00a0many came to believe in Him.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThen He said again to them,\u00a0\u201cI am going away, and\u00a0you will look for Me, and\u00a0will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come<\/i>.\u201d<\/span>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Most of us know that Jesus was speaking of His death, resurrection and ascension.\u00a0\u00a0What should have been ominous to all who He was speaking to, including all of us (via Holy Scriptures) was that most of them, and those in the succeeding ages, will not be able to go where He is going to.\u00a0\u00a0And His hour is quickly coming and He will be going to His Father, from whom He came.\u00a0\u00a0And our hour, our time of existence here on earth, is soon coming and our spiritual status at the day and hour, will remain forever.<\/p>\n

Notice that Jesus does not say that they will die in their sins. (As He said these things,\u00a0many came to believe in Him.\u00a0<\/i>(V21<\/b>)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0He specifically said that they will die in their sin, one specific sin.\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0V24<\/b>\u00a0Jesus told them that that unless they believe that He is the \u201cI AM,\u201d eg\u014d eimi, the one sin of not believing in Jesus, the one can keep a person out of eternal life is to not believe that Jesus is the great I AM of\u00a0Exodus 3:14<\/b>. To not believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord is to not believe either the words and signs of the Father or His Son.\u00a0\u00a0On those who do not believe the wrath of God that all people, when born in to this world, inherit remains upon them. (John 3:18, 3:36<\/b>) Be sure that Satan does not care what religion or philosophy a man adheres to as long it is not that Jesus is the Savior and Master of the world.\u00a0\u00a0Acts 4:12<\/b>\u00a0\u201cAnd there is salvation in\u00a0no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

In\u00a0V24\u00a0<\/b>Jesus twice warned them about dying in their sins, plural sins not singular sin as before.\u00a0\u00a0When he spoke of dying in their sins He was talking about all their sins, including rejecting Him as Savior and Lord.\u00a0\u00a0He was letting them know that not only would they suffer for rejecting Jesus but they would suffer for all the sins they have committed in their lives.\u00a0\u00a0Sins that could have been placed on Jesus and paid for on the Cross, but instead they would have paid for.\u00a0\u00a0They knew about hell, they knew what it meant.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus warned them, and He was warning us, to be sure to live as His obedient loving servant or live eternity in horror forever.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00a0the Jews were saying, \u201cSurely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u2018Where I am going, you cannot come\u2019<\/i><\/span>?\u201d<\/i><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0Jesus was telling them that they could not go to be with the Father and Him forever because they would not believe in Him and live for Him here on earth.\u00a0\u00a0They would not put their faith in Him and we know that those who do not have saving faith in Jesus will not have eternal life.\u00a0\u00a0(Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8-9<\/b>) All who reject Jesus on earth shall not live with Him and the Father through eternity.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus was going to be with His Father and they could not go with Him because they did not love His Son. (John 17:3<\/b>)<\/p>\n

The authorities were so blind that they had no conception that they were not worthy to follow where Jesus would go.\u00a0\u00a0They were so self-righteous that they thought they needed no Savior to save them from their sin.\u00a0\u00a0Pride kills in eternal ways, then and now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd He was saying to them,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u201cYou are from below, I am from above;\u00a0you are of this world,\u00a0I am not of this world.<\/i><\/span>\u00a024\u00a0Therefore I said to you that you\u00a0will die in your sins; for unless you believe that\u00a0I am,\u00a0you will die in your sins.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0\u00a0They needed to quit thinking as the world thinks, but to receive and worship God spiritually.\u00a0\u00a0The times had changed so that all must worship in spirit and truth.\u00a0\u00a0(John 4:23<\/b>)<\/p>\n

\u201cThen they were saying to Him, \u201cWho are You?\u201d Jesus said to them,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u201cWhat have I even been saying to you\u00a0from\u00a0the beginning?<\/i><\/span>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Jesus told them, in our vernacular \u201cI am what I have been telling you from the beginning that I am.\u00a0\u00a0When they are asking Him \u201cWho are you<\/i>?\u201d they were basically telling Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Who are you that we should listen to you?\u00a0\u00a0Again we see how prideful and arrogant they were.\u00a0\u00a0Who is He that they, they their own heroes should listen to Him?\u00a0\u00a0Terrifying.<\/p>\n

Sadly, they were not listening to Him, they were not believing what He had been telling them all along.\u00a0\u00a0He is the one sent as Savior to the world to redeem all who would come back to the Father.\u00a0\u00a0As the prologue to this Gospel has stated Jesus was God with the Father and had always been with God.\u00a0\u00a0Sadly the darkness did not grasp the Light of the World that came to save the world. (John 1:1-5<\/b>)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but\u00a0He who sent Me is true; and\u00a0the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\u00a027\u00a0They did not realize that He was speaking to them\u00a0about\u00a0the Father.<\/span><\/i>\u201d The Father sent Jesus and everything about who the Father is and what He says is true is truth.\u00a0\u00a0What Jesus heard the Father say is what He has shared with them.\u00a0\u00a0Therefore Jesus only speaks the truth.\u00a0\u00a0So anyone who will not accept the words of Jesus has likewise not accepted the Father and so He will not be found in the Kingdom of God living with the Father and Jesus.<\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cSo Jesus said,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u201cWhen you\u00a0lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that\u00a0I am, and\u00a0I do nothing\u00a0on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me.<\/i><\/span>\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0It will be clear that Jesus lived as the Father instructed Him when He is lifted up to be crucified on the Cross.\u00a0\u00a0Then people will come to believe.\u00a0\u00a0At the center of our salvation is the cross that Jesus was crucified upon and upon His resurrection after being murdered on the cross.\u00a0\u00a0There He bore our sins.\u00a0\u00a0That is why we must bring all who would come to salvation to the cross and let them gaze upon it, and to the empty tomb.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd He who sent Me is with Me;\u00a0He\u00a0has not left Me alone, for\u00a0I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0The Father was a good Father to Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0The perfect example of Fatherhood.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus emulated the Father in His love to us.\u00a0\u00a0Now we must emulate Jesus and be an example who Jesus was.\u00a0\u00a0There is no higher calling than to live as Jesus lived.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs He said these things,\u00a0many came to believe in Him.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0While it is true (as Jesus said) the gate (Jesus) to eternal life is narrow, we must always remember that the gate still exists.\u00a0\u00a0Not all Jews rejected Jesus then, not all Jews reject Him now, and not all unbelievers stay unbelievers.\u00a0\u00a0I am proof of that, as are many of you, praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/i><\/p>\n

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 8:21-30\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then He said again to them,\u00a0\u201cI am going away, and\u00a0you will look for Me, and\u00a0will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.\u201d\u00a022\u00a0So\u00a0the Jews were saying, \u201cSurely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says,\u00a0\u2018Where I am going, you cannot come\u2019?\u201d\u00a023\u00a0And He was saying to them,\u00a0\u201cYou are from below,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[1841,2257,100,94,1874,17,10],"class_list":["post-2900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-ephesians","tag-exodus","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2901,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900\/revisions\/2901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}