Tuff one for me personally this week. I strongly pray that God filters my words and presses in all of our hearts His message.
Extra Credit: Since I touched on the many different denominations I will add this short devotion I wrote Does it matter what you believe? This was in response to a statement I heard that it doesn’t matter what you believe, we are all going to the same place. Although my words may not always reflect, I humbly submit this for your reading.
Jhn 10:19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
Jhn 10:20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
Jhn 10:21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
- Can we glean anything from the difference between the many and the others?
We see a division among the people in the belief of what He has done and what He has said. Looking in the churches and synagogues today, does this cause any of us any surprise. Unfortunately we can look today and see division therefore again among them. It appears that this was as present then and through history as we see it now. 500 years ago Martin Luther found division preaching Sola Gratia (grace alone), 200 years ago Charles Surgeon used his pen and pulpit to denounce the division in the church and finally withdrew from the Baptist union. Countless others preceded and followed them and found division for preaching the gospel. Division has crept into ever denomination, church, creed, sect, and following. There are now literally thousands of different beliefs and denominations, but sadly many find themselves divided from or understanding His message. Now looking back at our text we see another familiar analogy. For many perverted what He said and who He was. It was the masses that followed a false doctrine, it was many of them that said.. But those true servants of Christ are we see are few, it was the smaller others that would stand and say.. It is the many that are separated from His gospel, that pervert His message, that try to taint His glory in every type of church weather it be Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, Pentecostal, Christian, or so called non-denominational. BUT OTHERS… What glory, what hope in those words. As to Elisha who found division in Israel from the God that brought them to there promise land, he found hope that there was 7000 that had not yet and would not bow their knee.
