Bible Doctrine

“Has God said?” Those are three of the most destructive words ever spoken on planet earth! With those three small words Satan got mother Eve to question the veracity and trustworthiness of God’s Word. Satan knows if he can get human beings to question the words of their Creator then the battle for humanity’s spiritual destruction is pretty much assured. Satan has been using that tactic since the dawn of time and surprisingly he uses it against believers as well as unbelievers!

How can a believer doubt God’s Word? After all he, or she, is a believer Believers believe, don’t they? Isn’t that why they are called believers? Many believers believe the biographical facts about Jesus while disbelieving much of what He said and taught. Many modernist believers have an uncanny way of discounting much of what Jesus said and taught. They will say, “Well, He was speaking only to the Jews when He said that.” Or, “He was speaking to that dispensation only, only to those who lived during that time frame.” Or, “Much of what Jesus said is not to be taken literally.” Or, “He was speaking only to the twelve apostles when He said that.” The cost of such a mindset cannot be calculated. How many believers have died prematurely because they spurned a promise of Jesus Christ and chose rather to listen to men, many of whom were rank disbelievers themselves! Believe a man with a medical degree before you believe Jesus Christ is the mindset of many. To whom are they then assigning infallibility when they do that, man or God?

Ignorance of God’s Word has caused disbelief in God’s Word to flourish among many Christian denominations. Many believers fail to realize that there are ironclad, unbreakable conditions that a believer must meet in order for their prayers to be heard and answered by God. Failing to meet these conditions, they fail to receive answers to their prayers. They then lose trust in God’s Word, believing the breakdown to be in God’s Word instead of in themselves.

Do yourself a supreme, immeasurable favor. Read the Word of God – a lot of it, not just a verse today and a verse tomorrow. Read an entire book of the Bible each day. Many such books, or epistles, or gospel accounts can be read in less than thirty minutes. Faith is generated in the human heart and mind via the reading, or hearing, of God’s Word. Do you want more faith – READ! You’ll probably quickly begin to discern why millions and millions of believers down through the centuries learned to trust God and trust their lives, both temporal and eternal, to the teachings and promises contained in the Word of God.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Those who do not know God’s Word intimately well, and I mean exceedingly, intimately well – having a good understanding and memory recall of Ezekiel and Hosea as deeply as they have of Mark’s gospel account and the letters of Peter, Paul and John, have no idea how clever and powerful Satan is in his around-the-clock deceptions practiced upon the human mind and intellect. Most preachers feel somewhat comfortable delving into the pages of the four gospels or the writings of the apostles. When expounding upon these texts they do so with some fair degree of confidence. But when those same preachers are asked to explain or expound upon the writings of Nahum, or Zephaniah, or Jeremiah it is as though they have just stepped off a well marked familiar pathway and have plunged suddenly into a deep, dark jungle of an impenetrable rain forest. All their seminary training goes out the window and they must protest, “Oh, that’s the OLD Testament. I don’t get my doctrine out of the OLD Testament,” as though three-fourths of God’s sacred and holy inspired Word is to be ignored by truth seekers this side of Calvary.

The average believer has no idea as to Satan’s POWER to deceive. He is far better at this game than you will probably ever suspect or realize. The apostle Paul warns that those who do not walk in righteousness and maintain a pure heart are taken captive by Satan at his will. (See 2 Timothy 2:22-26). And, even those who walk in righteousness and maintain a pure heart – if they fail to study God’s Word, ALL of it, intensely and in depth – they, too, can be captured by Satan and deceived in some of their most basic beliefs. And a deceived person doesn’t know he is deceived. That is why he can be so adamant about the correctness of his beliefs and practices.

When the risen Jesus Christ appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, He said, “I have appeared unto you for this purpose, to make you a minister….to open their (the Gentiles) eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, AND FROM THE POWER OF SATAN unto God” (See Acts 26:16 and 18).

Satan’s deceptive powers are incredible. He has the power to blind even well-meaning clean-living, religious people into embracing the most profound errors, everyone from Mormons to Roman Catholics, and Methodists to Mennonites – and everything in between. And Satan’s powers of deception do not stop at the door to the pastor’s study or at the classroom door where theology is being taught in some Bible college or seminary. In fact, it is in such places he is most energetically active.

How do you think you would fare playing a game of chess with Albert Einstein or a world chess champion? Well, friend, you are no match for Satan either. “Oh, but I’ve got Jesus on my side!” Is that your answer? Well, it’s the same answer you will hear from the Jehovah’s Witness, the Roman Catholic, and the snake-handling mountain preacher. You had better be on Jesus’ side, saying what He says on every issue, in every matter. One day you will give account to Him if you are not.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

The apostle John wrote “Whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.” (See 2 John 9). And what IS the doctrine of Christ? John explains “for many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 John 7). Those two words “is come” in verse 7 are a translation of the one Greek word erchomai (pronounced ER’-khom-ahee), and that Greek word is in the present imperfect tense, and is better translated “is coming” in the flesh. John is not referring to Jesus Christ’s return, for when He returns He will not return in the form of a fleshly human being but in His glorified form described in Revelation 1:12-18. John is talking about what the apostle Paul speaks of in Galatians 2:20, when he wrote “Christ LIVES IN ME.” In fact, Paul wrote that it “is Christ IN YOU” that is your only hope of being glorified with Jesus Christ and the rest of the redeemed. (See Colossians 1:27). Paul told the Galatian believers “I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). That is the culmination of our sanctification experience, that we become Christ-like in every area of our being and in every facet of our character.

In I John 4, John wrote: “Beloved, believe not every spirit (manifesting itself through some preacher or Bible teacher), but try (test, weigh, examine, scrutinize) the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ IS COME (present imperfect tense) in the flesh (Jesus Christ manifesting Himself in and through a believer’s life and character) is of God. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (presently manifesting Himself in and through a believer) is not of God, and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that IS IN YOU, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:1-4). Again, Paul wrote “you also are built together FOR AN HABITATION OF GOD through the Spirit” (See Ephesians 2:22). And just as God under the Old Covenant would permit no defilement of His physical temple, under the New Covenant He will permit no defilement of His spiritual temple – the body of Christ, the church, but will move swiftly to correct and punish the offending member. (See Hebrews 12:5-14 and Acts 5:1-11).

That supposed Christian who sins day in and day out without receiving correction from God has been duped by Satan and Satan’s false ministers into thinking they are children of God when they are nothing more than religious folk.

Note well that John warned how many false teachers and preachers were proliferating throughout the world in his own day. Well, folks, Satan has had two thousand years to send out his deceived followers throughout the world we now live in. You can now find them every where you turn. And, of course, being deceived, they do not realize they are not true representatives of God but are of their father, the devil! “Many will say to me in that day (of judgment), ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (preached) in your name (by your authority)? and in thy name (by Holy Ghost power) have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I declare unto them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). Notice, the ones so deceived are not the few, the minority, they are MANY, meaning the majority! God help you to understand.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Jesus was as much a man as though never God, but He was always and ever the Son of God utterly, completely, totally, every moment submitted to the will of God and the task of bringing back a lost world to His Father. There was never a split second when that was not true not a billionth of a second. He was the Good Shepherd eager, willing, committed to giving His life for the sheep. The manner of His impending death did not phase Him in the least, nor did the duration of His agonies. It mattered not to Him whether the agonies of the cross would last three hours, three days, or the full length of a human life span, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY” (Mark 10:45). “Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I HAVE POWER TO LAY IT DOWN, AND I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT AGAIN. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17-18). That was one cup Jesus did not need to ask the Father to remove from Him. He had long before received from the Father the final say in that matter. He could go through with Calvary or decline the cross. It was His call alone.

The word “cup” was a Hebrew idiom much like our English use of such words as “lot” or “portion.” Jesus used that term to refer to two different events in His life. When using it in reference to Calvary, He said, “Shall I not drink it?” (See John 18:11). When using this word “cup” in reference to His betrayal and the loss of one of His beloved apostles, He asked the Father to remove it from Him if at all possible. 

Do you know how many times Jesus Christ is called “the Lamb” in the Book of Revelation alone? Twenty-nine times! When Jesus first appeared beside the Jordan River where John was baptizing, John, upon seeing Jesus could have referred to Him as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” or “the Messiah,” or “Immanuel,” or “the Alpha and Omega,” or “King of Kings,” or a host of other names or titles. But do you know what he called him? “Behold the Lamb of God…” (See John 1:29, 36). Of all born human, Jesus was the only man who was born TO DIE! That was His mission and that was His glory.

Jesus knew His death was unlike any other death any human had ever died. His death was a ransom to buy back a lost world. “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY” (See Matthew 20:28). Did you catch that? Your Bible says Jesus came to give His life a ransom, TO DIE! Yes, Jesus came to earth, taking upon Himself human flesh, for the purpose of dying! That was His primary mission, His main objective, His cherished goal!

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself took part of the same (that is, became human), that THROUGH DEATH (that is WHY He became human) He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels FOR THE SUFFERING OF DEATH, crowned with glory and honor that He by the grace of God should taste death (the second death, the death that pays the penalty for sin) for every man (dying for all the sins of mankind), for it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:9-10). This is but one of many scripture passages that state quite clearly that Jesus was born TO DIE – a death that would be the suffering of the second death FOR EVERY MAN, a death that would have the final result of bringing many sons and daughters to glory!

And notice that it says it was by the grace of God Jesus tasted death for every man. He considered Himself favored by the Father in being granted the supreme honor of bringing many sons to God by His sacrificial death on the cross, knowing that three days later He would be resurrected and shortly thereafter rejoin the Father in heaven. (Note the term “sons” of God in the scriptures when applied to humans always is inclusive of daughters, or females, also).

Again, “Wherefore when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering thou would not (or, did not really desire) BUT A (SACRIFICIAL) BODY HAST THOU PREPARED ME'” (Hebrews 10:5). That is WHY, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him at the Jordan River, He cried out, “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!” Jesus Christ ever was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (See Revelation 13:8).

And again, “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, knew that His shed blood would forever ratify the New Covenant, making millions, even billions, perfect. He knew also that He would be brought back from the dead by the power of the Father. To think that He would pray that the Father would remove this “cup,” this mission, from Him is absolutely ludicrous!

Jesus Christ was quite literally BORN TO DIE! In fact, Jesus birth was not the beginning of a life, but a transition, a transition from immortal to mortal, from spirit to flesh. When dealing with Jesus’ birth, we are dealing with something totally different from any other human birth. I repeat, Jesus was literally born to die – a Lamb separated for the slaughter!

Remember, Jesus Christ prophesied again and again throughout His earthly ministry that He most definitely would be killed only to rise again the third day. (See Luke 9:43-45 and Luke 18:31-34). Had he tried to evade the cross He would have proven Himself a false prophet! “While they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, ‘The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they SHALL kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again.’ And they were exceeding sorry” (Matthew 17:22-23). Do you really think your Lord for one moment entertained the idea of becoming a false prophet? If “take away this cup from me” translates to mean “save me from the cross,” then Jesus Christ DID pray that He would prefer to be a false prophet rather than to die for the sins of mankind! What a ludicrous thought! How satanic the idea, yet wholeheartedly believed and taught to others by many preachers – men and women who claim to be Christ’s true representatives.

Brethren, we must let the Word of God speak in these matters and glean our beliefs solely from Holy Writ and NOT from fellow human beings who can often be deceived and, thus, wrong. Our ways are not God’s ways. The “average” human doesn’t want to die, but Jesus was no average human.

“And as they did eat (the Passover meal),, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, ‘Take eat, this is my body. And He took the cup, and when He had GIVEN THANKS, He gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And He said unto them, ‘THIS IS MY BLOOD of the New Testament (covenant), which is shed for many..” (See Mark 14:22-24). Note well, Jesus said, “This IS my blood” and GAVE THANKS! Jesus was glad to die as a ransom for man. He GAVE THANKS to God that He could shed His blood for a lost and dying world. And this just hours before Calvary! Jesus eagerly wanted to die! For, as the apostle Paul would later discover, it was through Calvary Jesus “made peace through the blood of His cross” and that “by Him” God the Father was able “to reconcile all things unto Himself…whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (See Colossians 1:20). Jesus warned that “He that loves his life shall lose it…” (See John 12:25). In looking to Calvary, Jesus said, “The hour is come that the Son of man SHOULD BE GLORIFIED!” (See John 12:23). Calvary was Jesus’ glory. He eagerly anticipated giving His life to buy back mankind from Satan’s grasp. In suffering death on the cross, Jesus was thereby “crowned with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:9). The prophets had long foretold “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (I Peter 1:11). God…raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory” (I Pewter 1:21).

Our Lord knew that through the cross He would forever triumph over all the powers of darkness and put them to an open shame. Through the cross He would utterly spoil principalities and powers that had been assaulting His Father’s kingdom for ages! (See Colossians 2:15).

“Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power (authority) to lay it down, and I have power (Greek, “authority”) to take it again (or change His mind and NOT submit to death at the hands of the Jews and Romans). This commandment have I received of my Father” (See John 10:17-18). The cross was Jesus’ decision alone. He says He did not need to ask the Father to spare His life, to remove THAT “cup” from Him. He, Himself, had the authority to continue to the cross or to decline that glory. The “cup” He prayed would be removed from Him was NOT Calvary. Read your Bible. The “cup” that Jesus definitely did NOT want to drink was the bitter cup of having one of His own hand-picked apostles betray Him into the hands of sinners.

Jesus knew the cross was not a tragic end to His life: “Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…But He spoke of the temple of His body” (John 2:19,21). Jesus said, “Go ahead and kill me. I’ll Just come back to life and thereby open the gates for all mankind to inherit eternal life!!”

Anyone who says Jesus Christ tried to avoid the cross doesn’t know his or her Bible as well as they should. Jesus Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (See Revelation 13:8). Jesus made plans to die the moment Eve extended her hand to pluck the forbidden fruit. And it was said of Him, “the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up (consumed Him, His interest, His all)” (See John 2:17). Jesus zealously desired to redeem us from the enemy’s hands and present us to His Father as a sweet smelling offering.

If one will read closely the closing chapters of each gospel account, they will see that Jesus uses the term “cup” to refer to TWO different events, one being the cross, the other being betrayal by an apostle. (Judas is called an apostle in Matthew 10:1-4). The term “cup” was a Hebrew idiom much like our using the term “lot.” It was Christ’s lot to die on the cross – something He welcomed. It was also Christ’s lot to be betrayed by one of His own trained and lovingly nurtured disciples – something He shrank from and desired earnestly to see changed if possible.

Any suggestion to avoid the cross was seen as utterly satanic by Jesus Christ! Notice: “From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He MUST go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, AND BE KILLED, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.’ But He turned, and said unto Peter, ‘GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN: THOU ART AN OFFENSE UNTO ME, for thou savourest not (understand not) the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (See Matthew 16:21-23).

Had Jesus Christ tried to escape the cross He would have proven Himself a hypocrite. Howso? Because He said again and again, He that takes not his cross and follows after me (and my taking my cross), is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). Are we to believe the example He himself set was one of reluctance and hesitation? Again, “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, ‘If any man will come after me (be my follower), let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me!” (Matthew 16:24).

To even think the “cup” or “lot” Jesus desired to be removed from Him was the cross is ludicrous in the extreme – even a satanically inspired thought. Any time such a thought crosses your mind you need to rebuke Satan instantly and put it out of your mind, so clearly reads the Word of God. Yet how many pastors preach from the pulpit that Jesus Christ did exactly that. Satan’s powers of deception are staggering.

When the mother of James and John asked that her two sons be granted the right and left hand seats beside Jesus when He inaugurated His kingdom rule, which she thought to be imminent, Jesus answered and said to them, “You know not what you ask (as they were unwittingly asking to be crucified on his left and right hand). Are you able to drink of the cup THAT I SHALL DRINK OF, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They said unto Him, ‘We are able’ (again not realizing what this implied). And He said unto them, ‘You shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand, and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father'” (See Matthew 20:20-23). And just a few verses later we read these words: “the Son of Man came not be ministered unto, but to minister, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY’ (verse 28). Jesus Himself said He came to earth TO DIE!

When one says the cup Jesus Christ prayed would be removed from Him was the cross they are overlooking a plethora of scriptures scattered throughout the entirety of the Word of God. (Pause and read the entirety of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah at this point before reading any further). And worse, they are as much as saying Jesus Christ prayed that the Father would make Him a false prophet, as He had prophesied again and again that He would die and die on the cross! Think about that for a moment. No wonder scripture pointedly says any suggestion to avoid the cross was of satanic origin.

A mere seventy-two hours from the cross Jesus told His disciples, ‘The Son of man goes as it is written of Him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had never been born” (See Matthew 26:24) That was the bitter cup Jesus Christ did not want to drink. He knew the horrible fate that awaited Judas should he go ahead with his betrayal. Jesus knew that Judas’ offense was not merely the crime of the century, it was the greatest sin ever committed by a human being, a sin so great it would have been better if Judas had never even been born! Jesus was not willing that ANY should perish, especially the greatest sinner of them all. He desperately wanted Judas to rethink his course and come to repentance. (See 2 Peter 3:9) Jesus was very good at saving demon possessed men and women, regardless of whether they were possessed by seven demons, such as Mary Magdalene (see Luke 8:2), or a legion (thousands) of demons, such as the demented man who dwelled in the tombs (see Luke 8:30).

“Jesus knew from the beginning..who should betray Him” (John 6:64), and He worked long and hard to prompt Judas to rethink his course even appointing him treasurer for the twelve, perhaps to foster honesty in his heart. (See John 12:6 and John 13:29). He “began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (Mark 14:33) when He realized Judas was dead set on his course of destruction. Rising from prayer, Jesus then urged Peter, James and John to pray, too, lest they enter into temptation, like Judas. Subsequent events proved that Peter desperately needed to pray for divine strength to face what lay immediately ahead. (See Mark 14:33-38, 66-72).

Please read carefully Luke 22, verses 14 through 21. Note well that “He (Jesus) sat down and THE TWELVE APOSTLES (Judas included) with Him. And He said UNTO THEM (the twelve, Judas included), “‘With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…’ And He took the cup and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves (Judas included)’…and He took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for YOU (Judas included). This do in remembrance of me.’ Likewise also the cup after supper saying, ‘This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood, which is shed for YOU (for you twelve and all others, Judas included), but, behold, the hand of him that betrays me is with me on the table (partaking of this bread and cup).”

Jesus died for Judas as fully as for John and James and all others. He, therefore, longed to see Judas repent with life-changing godly sorrow and take full advantage of the sacrificial death He was about to die on Calvary. Judas failure to do so was the bitter cup Jesus did not want to drink, not even a tiny sip.

When in the Garden of Gethsemane the temple officers came to arrest Him and Peter tried to prevent His arrest by lopping off the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus said, “Put up again your sword into his place…Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently (instantly) give me more than twelve legions (72,000) angels, but how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be?” (See Matthew 26:51-54). Jesus did not need to pray three times for THAT cup to be removed. One small cry, “Father, save me” and tens of thousands of angels would have instantly appeared on the scene preventing any harm coming to Him. Jesus KNEW and had said before “the scriptures MUST be fulfilled.” Though it might have been possible for Him to be delivered into the hands of the enemy by some other personage than Judas, there could be no escaping the cross if scripture prophecy was to find fulfillment. No scripture prophesied that His betrayer must be one of the apostles – only a familiar friend. Man’s salvation depended on Jesus’ blood being shed, not on His betrayal by an apostle!

Even on the cross when they tried to give Him a stupefying mixture of vinegar and gall to ease His pain and torment, “when He tasted thereof, He would not drink.” (See Matthew 27:34). Gall, a product of the opium poppy, acted as an anesthetic, dulling the pain of crucifixion. Not only could there be no evading of the cross, there could be no lessening of the pain and suffering! Our Lord demanded that His faculties remain sharp and clear throughout the entire ordeal of crucifixion. THAT is the Christ who died for YOU! God forgive those blinded ones who preach He tried to avoid the cross altogether.

On His final trip to Jerusalem, knowing He was going to the cross, scripture reveals “they were in the way going up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed” (See Mark 10:32-34). He boldly led the way and they were amazed as He had already prophesied of the fate that awaited Him on this final trip to the holy city. They were afraid and amazed that Jesus wasn’t. But our heavenly Father had not given His Son the Spirit of fear. (See 2 Timothy 1:7). “Perfect love casts out fear” (See I John 4:18), and Jesus Christ ever and always had perfect love for His Father, saying, “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29).

Each and every time Jesus told a sinner, “Thy sins are forgiven,” He was confirming once more His death on the cross for without shedding of blood there could be no remission of sins. (See Hebrews 9:22). And, yes, it had to be HIS blood. Only the Creator’s life could suffice to atone for the sins of the whole world, the sins of all the ages. Jesus knew this to the core of His very being. I repeat, the cup He prayed to have removed from Him was NOT the cross! ANYONE who says or implies that it was is deceived. It doesn’t matter if he, or she, is a world-famed evangelist whose ministry is carried on a thousand radio and television stations. In that regard they are utterly and completely deceived.

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up (lifted upon the cross, resurrected and then to ascend back to the Father), HE STEDFASTLY SET HIS FACE TO GO TO JERUSALEM” (See Luke 9:51). He had long before counted the cost, and knew He had sufficient resources to finish His course. (See Luke 14:28). With the greatest eagerness your Savior hastened to Jerusalem and the cross. Never forget that.

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it?” (See Luke 14:28). I assure you Jesus Christ had counted the cost concerning Calvary, and I assure you He knew with every atom of His being that He had sufficient fortitude, commitment and faith to finish it. I pity the preacher who thinks otherwise. Even Jesus’ parables spoke of His sacrificial death and subsequent victory. (See Luke 10:9-19).

At the Last Supper Jesus told His disciples, “For I say unto you that this that is written MUST yet be accomplished in me, ‘And He was reckoned among the transgressors,’ for the things concerning me have an end (and that end was to buy back a lost world)” (See Luke 22:37).

Following the Lord’s resurrection, Cleopas and another unnamed disciple are joined by Jesus Christ as they walk on the road to Emmaus and discuss the recent events that have transpired in Jerusalem. Overhearing their doubts and perplexities, Jesus says to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself” (See Luke 24:13-27). Yes, ought not Christ to have suffered these things? He called them fools and hardheads (slow of heart) for not understanding this. Jesus would say the same to any who foolishly believes and/or teaches that the cup He prayed would be removed from Him was the cross!!

At the very outset of His ministry, Jesus had told His disciples, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread that I WILL GIVE is my flesh (His human body given as a sacrifice), WHICH I WILL GIVE FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD” (See John 6:51). Time and again Jesus prophesied that He would indeed die a sacrificial death on the cross. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…I lay down my life for the sheep…Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power (authority) to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received of my Father” (See John 10:11, 15-18). Jesus did not need to ask the Father to remove this up from Him. He had already been given charge by the Father to go ahead with Calvary or decline it. And He was champing at the bit to get to the cross.

Less than a week away from the cross Jesus told Phillip and Andrew, “Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn (grain) of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal…what shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour (to DIE and provide eternal life to billions)” (See John 12:22-27).

No, my friend, the cup Jesus Christ wished to avoid was NOT the cross. He had come into the world to die for the sins of the world and thereby to present to the Father much fruit, bringing many sons and daughters to glory through the cross. The thing that troubled Him greatly was the loss of Judas and His being delivered into the hands of the enemy by an apostle. “He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me” (See John 13:21).

Christ’s final words in the upper room before departing for the Garden of Gethsemane were “You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me you would rejoice (not be sad), because I said I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass (before His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension back to the Father’s side), that when it comes to pass you might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you for the prince of the world comes and has nothing in me (no place whatsoever to sow a second thought, a doubt, a rethinking of His commitment to die for the sins of the world). But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” And He led the way to the garden and thus to the cross. (See John 14:28-31). “Jesus therefore, KNOWING ALL THINGS THAT SHOULD COME UPON HIM (the beating, the rejection, the cross), went forth (meeting the arresting temple officers), and said unto them ‘Whom seek ye?'” (See John 18:4). And when they said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” His immediate, unhesitating reply was “I am He!” (verse 5). “That’s me, boys, Let’s go!!!”

If one will but read slowly and carefully the text of Matthew 26, verses 36 through 46 along with the text of Mark 14, verse 32 through 42, they will see that the cup (also called the “hour”) that Jesus prayed would be removed from Him was His betrayal into the hands of sinners by Judas. That was His most bitter disappointment. “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). That was the most bitter cup of all. The cup He so desired that He might not drink from – the loss of a hand-picked disciple.

In Mark’s account, we read, “And He went forward a little (ahead of His disciples), and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the HOUR might pass from Him” (Mark 14:15). What is troubling the Lamb of God so? He was eager to go to the cross and redeem mankind. After praying the third time that this “cup” pass from Him, He awakens His sleeping disciples telling them, “It is enough (or, you have had sufficient sleep) the HOUR (for Christ to drink the bitter cup) is come (present tense), behold, the Son of Man IS BETRAYED INTO THE HANDS OF SINNERS” (See Mark 14:41). He is still MANY HOURS from the cross. What Jesus calls “the hour” in verse 35, He calls “the cup” in verse 36. The cup He is then made to drink is betrayal by an apostle into the hands of the Romans. (Remember, Judas is called an “apostle” in Matthew 10, verses 1 through 4).

Never forget that Jesus Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (See Revelation 13:8). Calvary had been a foregone conclusion for thousands and thousands of years. Even Satan understood that truth and tried his best to sway Jesus into reconsidering that long established decision, even using Peter to suggest He rethink Himself as to offering Himself as a sacrifice on the cross. He failed. Thank God and Jesus Christ – he failed!

Jesus may have been as much human as if He were never God during His earthly sojourn, but He was the most noble, most courageous, most unselfish, most caring, most loving human who ever lived or ever will live. You detract from His glory when you say He didn’t want to die on the cross. That was His finest hour!

I repeat, when Jesus said that Satan had NOTHING in Him, He meant it: no place for fear, no place for doubts, no place for second thoughts. And, when on the cross, at the ninth and final hour of His agonies Jesus Christ cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,” it was due to the fact that at that moment in time He, who knew no sin, BECAME SIN for us! (See Mark 15:34 and 2 Corinthians 5:21). “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Becoming sin for us at at that moment, our Lord was then separated from His Father. Jesus KNEW this was what sin would do before ever going to the cross, causing even Him to cry out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But those were not the final words spoken from the cross. These were: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,’ and having said thus, He gave up the ghost (Greek, epneo, pronounced ek-PNEH’-o, meaning “to expire”).”

That’s what Jesus did for YOU and me. Think about it. The realization of what Jesus did for YOU ought to prompt you to cry out with Thomas, “My Lord, and my God!” It ought to foster in your heart, mind and soul a vehement desire to learn more and more about Him and just what He expects of those whom He has redeemed. There is a Christian song that has a verse wherein it is stated, “He paid much too high a price.” The song goes on to say that if we give Jesus Christ only token obedience and devotion, then He, indeed, did pay much too high a price. Jesus Christ counted the cost…….have YOU?

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

On May 26, 1908, a Tuesday, an event occurred in Persia (modern-day Iran) that would change world history. Oil was discovered. George Reynolds, an Englishman, had been searching for oil in that region for seven years without success. His backers in London informed him that they would financially back him for but one more well. That well was to be drilled for no more than 1600 feet. If no oil was discovered when that point was reached, there would be no more financial backing for him. He would have to throw in the towel and return to England. At 4:00 in the morning the well reached 1,180 feet below the surface of the desert and suddenly a geyser of crude oil shot 75 feet in the air, and world history was changed at that moment.

Folks, on Tuesday, May 26, 1908 the stage was set for the balance of power to shift from the Western world to the Muslim world. One lone event, the discovery of oil in Persia, precipitated a chain of events that will yet culminate in two worlds in collision and the earth in upheaval – the collision of the Western world and the Muslim nations of the Middle East.

One lone violent event, let’s say an assassination, can change history. A series of carefully orchestrated violent events can change world history almost overnight.

Today, Sunday, September 11, 2016, was the fifteenth anniversary of the destruction of the Twin Trade Towers in New York City. We are still waiting for the other shoe to drop – as drop it will. We are now living in the most dangerous era of world history. Many may not have the eyes to see it, but there is a gathering storm, what some wit might call the perfect storm. If the curtain cloaking the future from our gaze could be pulled back for a moment, I have no doubt that some men’s hearts would fail them out of fear as they peered upon what is coming on this earth.

In 1940, while still in college, John F. Kennedy wrote a book entitled “Why England Slept.” It spoke of events that occurred in Europe that set the world stage for the outbreak of World War 2. It is America that now is sleeping. In fact, it might be said that America is not asleep, but comatose. And just as England paid a dear price in World War 2, coming to the very brink of annihilation by Hitler’s Germany, America will now pay a dear price for allowing the Trojan Horse of Muslim immigrants to enter this country by the hundreds of thousands.

As I think of what the future holds for this country in the coming decades, I inwardly weep. Our Golden Age has long since passed. Unlike Japan, we are not the land of the rising sun but rather the land of the setting sun. It is dark outside, friends, and getting darker. I pity those who are not submitted to the LORDship of Jesus Christ in and over their lives. The ground upon which they tread is sinking sand.

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Aren’t you glad we are dealing with a God who keeps His word? Wouldn’t it be both horrible and pathetic if the God of this universe was a God who didn’t always keep His word? What terrible uncertainty would fill our hearts whenever we sought His help or assistance in some matter. We would always be plagued with the thought, “I wonder if He will keep His word this time.” Yes, the God we are dealing with always keeps His word, but He fully expects that we keep our word to Him, too.

“Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth, therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 4:2). Yes, let your words and your vows to God be few as He fully expects you to keep YOUR word.

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of promises in the scriptures, promises God makes to His faithful and obedient children. All too many try to claim and cash in on God’s promises while walking in disobedience or while exhibiting little if any faith. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” Faith and obedience are conjoined twins. They cannot be separated for if they are separated they both die. True faith cannot exist apart from full obedience. Full obedience cannot continue apart from living, vital life-changing faith.

A promise of God needs the energizing catalyst of faith to be joined with it in order to be claimed. The catalyst of faith is generated only through total obedience. True God-inspired faith is not merely believing. It is the certainty of knowing. Living faith is quite literally the very substance of things hoped for and the absolute evidence of things not seen. Substance and evidence denote something real and tangible.

Jesus is either who He said He was or He is the anti-Christ. If He is who He said He was, then every word He spoke was absolute, eternal truth. He said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” If you are not with Jesus Christ, saying what He said and doing what He said to do, then YOU are anti-Christ. You are not one of His sheep, rather you are scattering His sheep, bringing division, discord and confusion. If you ARE one of His sheep, then you hear His voice and hearing His voice you obey. Your obedience is then the key that unlocks the storehouse of God’s promises.

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Recent surveys indicate that there are 2.15 million adult Muslims living in America, the overwhelming majority of them immigrants. Immigration is the Trojan horse that permits sworn enemies of this country to enter by invitation and to reside wherever they wish. If nations could be adjudged as fools or wise, this country would be the world’s supreme jester.

This nation is going to pay a terrible, terrible price for both its corruption and its willingness, even eagerness, to invite hordes of Muslims to find residence here. The present generation may not pay so dearly, but the generation that follows, and the generation after that will pay a price in bloody horrors most cannot now even imagine.

I feel sorry for those not submitted to the total LORDship of Jesus Christ over their lives. They will be like soldiers who have laid down their weapons and their armor. They will be most vulnerable.

I now know how the prophet Jeremiah must have felt as he continuously sounded the alarm that doom and destruction was all that awaited Israel and Judah. The God who warns, “I change not,” will deal with the sins and corruption of America just as He dealt with the sin and rebellion of those two ancient nations. He is the same yesterday, today and for ever. He changes not.

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Some few years ago I wrote an article in which I mentioned how Satan, a super-intelligent spirit being – quite obviously had a master stroke of genius when he was able to confuse in the minds of Christians, true believers, the following four terms: 1) Old Testament, 2) Old Covenant, 3) New Testament, and 4) New Covenant. I asked my readers: Which of these four terms are synonymous? The answer: NONE! None of the four terms listed above are synonymous. And that’s where Satan had his master stroke of genius. He led Christians to believe the first two terms (Old Testament/Old Covenant) and last two terms (New Testament/New Covenant) are indeed synonymous – and they are NOT! The Old Testament is comprised of the books of the Bible (thirty-nine in all) that begin with Genesis and end with Malachi. But the Old Covenant is the covenant God made with ancient Israel and is only mentioned in a very few of those Old Testament books, primarily in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Likewise, the New Testament is comprised of the books of the Bible (twenty-seven in all) that begin with the Gospel According to Matthew and end with the Book of Revelation. But the New Covenant is the covenant God made with the church and is only mentioned in a few of those New Testament books, primarily in John’s Gospel account, and the books of Romans and Galatians. Satan knew the Old Covenant was superseded by the New Covenant and that the Old Covenant was done away with and abolished. He, therefore, considered that if he could deceive believers into thinking the Old Covenant and the Old Testament were synonymous, then believers would assume the Old Testament was also done away with, abolished – no longer to be used as a guide or considered for instruction and spiritual enlightenment. And that is exactly what has happened in the Christian world, and it happened a long time ago. Countless are the believers who will loudly affirm and declare that they do not get their doctrine from the Old Testament – the Hebrew Scriptures! They are utterly and totally blind to the fact that the apostle Paul plainly declared in writing that “ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE….” (See 2 Timothy 3:16). Remember that Timothy was a fellow minister and companion of Paul on his missionary travels, and writing to Timothy Paul urged him to “continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them (from an apostle’s personal instruction), and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures (the Hebrew scriptures, what are commonly called the Old Testament), which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture (and note well that Paul is here making reference to the Old Testament scriptures- the ONLY scriptures this grown man could possibly have known from childhood) is given by inspiration of God, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, for reproof (to show you where you err in doctrine), for correction (to reveal to you God’s truth in any given matter), for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect (complete) thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works” (See 2 Timothy 3:14-17). Beware of any preacher or supposed Bible teacher who says they do not get their doctrine out of the Old Testament. You are standing in the presence of a deceived man or woman when you hear those words.

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Let’s look at those verses wherein on the surface Paul seems to be saying the gifts of the Spirit would shortly cease, or be withdrawn. This is a passage that warrants our remembering Peter’s cautionary advice that Paul wrote some things difficult to understand, things that those unlearned in the scriptures and spiritually unstable would think said one thing when in actuality Paul was saying something entirely different.

Here is the passage many THINK proves the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the Bible was completed or the last apostle died: “Charity (love) never fails, but whether there be prophecies, THEY SHALL FAIL, whether there be tongues, THEY SHALL CEASE, whether there be knowledge, IT SHALL VANISH AWAY, for we know in part, and we prophesy in part, BUT WHEN THAT WHICH IS PERFECT IS COME, THEN THAT WHICH IS IN PART SHALL BE DONE AWAY. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things, for now we see through a (looking) glass (a mirror) darkly (vaguely, out reflection unclear), but THEN face to face. Now I know in part, but THEN shall I know even as also I am known. And now abides faith, hope, charity (love), these three, but the greatest of these is charity (love)” (I Corinthians 13:8-13).

Now many say “that which is perfect” refers to the Bible being completed or a mature church now being established and, thus, gifts were no longer needed as they were given to aid in establishing the church. Once the church had been established and was ongoing the gifts were withdrawn. Those who teach that are in gross error just as they are in error in several other doctrines they put forth as God’s truth. Let’s let Paul himself tell us what he meant by “that which is perfect” and maturing from a child to a full grown man.

“And He (the Lord) gave some (to be) apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers (my calling), FOR THE PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS, for the work of the ministry, FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULNESS OF CHRIST….but speaking the truth in love, MAY GROW UP INTO HIM IN ALL THINGS, which is the head, even Christ!” (See Ephesians 4:11-13, 15).

Paul, in this passage of Ephesians, tells us exactly what he meant in I Corinthians 13 when he wrote, “but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” He says that when every believer, every spiritual son or daughter of God measures up to the moral and spiritual equivalent of Jesus Christ THEN, and then only, shall the gifts of the Spirit no longer be needed. The pastor’s NUMBER ONE JOB is to bring the congregation over which he presides to moral and spiritual perfection wherein every member of the congregation is perfected in holiness. He is to be their example in such, being blameless and holy himself in his own personal life. Paul wrote Titus, “for a bishop (spiritual overseer, pastor) MUST BE BLAMELESS….just, HOLY” (See Titus 1:7-8). Those who are not are unfit for the office they have thrust themselves into while claiming “God called me to preach.” And those who tell their congregations that Paul himself was carnal, sold under sin, ever giving in to the passions of the flesh do the work of the devil and will answer to Jesus Christ someday for their folly.

Countless times the Lord has manifested the gift of the word of knowledge and spirit of discernment in my life, alerting me to the fact that misguided men were – and sometimes women – were conspiring against me, casting down the truth, calling me a deceiver and agreeing to stop me if I dared speak to a given congregation.  No, the gifts of the Spirit have not ceased.  Among the faithful they multiply continuously.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley