John 12:37 But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. 38 This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted:
“Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?”39 But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said, 40 “The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts—so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand,and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.” 41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory.
You can see above that even though many people had seenn or even experienced the miracles of Jesus, most of the people still did not believe in him. The faith required for them believe in Jesus was the lowest level of faith, and yet He was standing in front of them and they still did not believe.
All of this was a the fulfilment of the prophecy by Isaiah and it is written in Isaiah 53:5-9 where it says But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. 7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
There is a famous quote by Erneset Ansley back in 1998, where He says "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it." The people in the above verses were nowhere near that in their response to prophecy being fulfilled before the eyes. Unbelief is a strange, weak way to look at our faith. We need to be red hot about what the Word of God says, and not try to hedge on those living words. But we do hedge don't we? We try to come up with some scientific explanation for miracles of healing we can't explain. We half believe at times that God is on His throne and in control. We also doubt and not follow the Word of God when we say it is our guide. Our guide to what? An abundant life in Jesus our Savior and Lord.
How much more do we need to see our experience to realize that we have the power to change the world in our circles and give the hope of eternal life to them? We need revival among those who have already experienced the mircale of salvation, and let that very experience walk us into a more victorious way of living. Even the midst of those still did not believe in Jesus, there were others the above scripture in John 12 continues on. John 12:42 Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God. Note self: Do not be ashamed of your belief in Jesus, so that the world will see it is real and true. The weakness in the modern-day church is we are half believers, and we are intimidated to follow the world and not Jesus. Time to stand up and stand out because the prophecies continue to be fulfilled every day and these prophecies speak to the second coming of Jesus. When He comes all the time be the church on earth will be over and all the people who could have been reached will be left to the judgment.
When Jesus shows up and God shows out I won't be surprised and I hope I can always say "I told you so" but you rejected the message. We should all never want to smugly look back and say to those we never reached with the gospel. Someone should have Told You So, cause I wasn't going to. Share your testimony of your faith in Jesus and study your Bible to get the whole story. Peter wrote this in 1 Peter 3:13 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
Today's Message,
David Warren
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