Calvary Chapel of San Antonio

"You see, freedom is not freedom to do what we want. We have been set free to honor God, to love God, to live without fear of ever being judged for the sins we are guilty of. But (important), if you think you can continue to live in sin by counting on grace, you are not free."

Israel, the most persecuted nation/people group in the history of our world, could be excused for thinking they would never be free of their enemies. It would be VERY hard to believe God’s promises based on what each generation of people saw with their own eyes. Nation after nation coming against them with no hope of relief. We know all they had to do was repent and return to God and all would have been well. Even more to the point, the Jews in Jesus’ time needed only to believe what they saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears...They didn’t understand but they did believe.

"Whenever Jesus was speaking to large crowds, He wanted to be sure they knew what it really means to follow Him. He knew their hearts; most were following Him because of the miracles He was doing. Some followed because they believed/hoped He was the Messiah. But the Lord’s purpose here was to make sure that everyone knew that following Him was hard—very hard. They needed to understand they had to give up things from their old lives, things they valued."

"One of the reasons our relationship with God (as NT Christians) is superior to the Jewish priests was because when they entered their respective rooms in the tabernacle it was only to serve; they could/did not expect to enjoy fellowship with God. Their access was limited. You and I, according to what we’ve already learned in this chapter, have unlimited access to the presence of God every day for fellowship! That is a privilege!!"

The principle of sowing and reaping applies in spades here. The choices you make in your life to oppose God will always have consequences—sometimes (like right here) with fatal consequences. We long for fairness in this world; this is it! Historically, we know the terrible fate of every nation that has dared oppose Israel. From Assyria here, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome and, in more modern times, Poland, Germany, and Russia— all have been judged by God. Make no mistake—judgment against some of these nations is not finished and other nations (including ours) will also face severe consequences...