Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 211

What Giannis said is equally true. Every major trauma the Lord went through He was hounded; such as with the death report of John the Baptist. He had perhaps a brief moment with the Disciples but attempting to be alone with them was rapidly ended with the throngs that came to Him for healings; etc. There is the very real possibility that although Christ was struggling to meet His needs in human form but He had to struggle further relying on the Spirit.

What I am saying is thinking about Job for instance we see the same sort of scenario. For bigger purposes Satan is allowed to buffet us when already weak when the Lord has the Spirit strengthen us because of purposes beyond our grasp. It is like Moses as well who was overwhelmed by the masses he was trying to appease; although the one time he succumbed to anger in human weakness it cost him from physically entering in the Promised Land in this life.

Clearly then it is most vital for us to pray for and support others who are in the ministry. We see that from Peter escaping from prison. Lack of such prayers also could allow some to die or struggle more than they would otherwise. How God works through prayer is a mystery; He of course intercedes for us and makes the prayer acceptable to God through His priestly ministry in heaven.

I can't help but think of what happens if we have a power grid failure; for instance. Suddenly we will suffer from long term issues. Those of us who are wise and can afford things such as solar energy or have their own farm; etc of course will do better.

Persecution as well could certainly deprive us of sleep not to mention other things often taken for granted today. May we all be as Christ who said meat for Him that the Disciples didn't know about was doing the will of God. ( John 4:34). In such a situation I would rather be the head than the tail so to speak. We will need to parcel out resources for our family but trust God for wisdom for others in need.

Hello Richard, I was just thinking the other day about what Scriptures say about putting a guard on our eyes, lest we look upon evil, or guarding our heart, lest we stray from our love of God to love other things that cannot satisfy as God can.

So this verse in Proverbs is a good one to learn from. I like what Giannis quoted from the Septuagint (Greek) about with all guarding guard your heart. This is very strong statement that instructs us to use all methods we have in our spiritual armory to guard our heats from the enemy who desires to destroy our faith, kill us, and rob us of what is good and dear to us. The malevolence of the enemy is unquenchable and the deceptions he can employ are quite varied. The sins we can be tempted by are so vast in number. We need to know our enemy and also the wickedness of our own sinful nature so that we can realize that the battle to guard our hearts will use ALL things that the Holy Spirit has equipped us with to set this guard strongly around our hearts so as to overcome whatever evil desire that would spring from our sinful nature or come before our senses. It takes practice and determination to change sinful habits of the mind and heart as well as the flesh, and above all, it takes submission to the Holy Spirit as Jesus always was in His humanity.

Glory

( Col. 3:4) "When Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in ((glory))".

( 1 Pet. 5:4) "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of ((glory)) that fadeth not away".

( Phil. 3:20-21) v21 "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his ((glorious)) body,"

( 1 Cor. 15:42-44) v42 "So also is the resurrection of the dead, It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption"

v43 "It is sown in dishonour; it is ((raised in glory)): it is sown in weakness; it is ((raised in power))":

v44 "It is sown a natural body; it is ((raised a spiritual body)). There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body".

( 1 Cor. 15:51-52) v51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed".

v52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and ((the dead shall be raised incorruptible)) and we shall be changed" (we will be fashioned like unto his glorious body) (we receive a crown of glory) (we appear with him in glory)

( 1 Thess. 4:16-17) v16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and ((the dead in Christ shall rise first)) (the dead shall be raised incorruptible) (sown in corruption, raised in incorruption) (sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory) (sown in weakness, it is raised in power)

Jesus comes back in ( Mt. 24:29-31) v29 "Immediately after the tribulation"

v30 "and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with ((POWER)) and great ((GLORY))".

This is the resurrection of the dead, the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we are caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds, we are all changed in the twinkling of an eye, fashioned like unto His glorious body, we receive a crown of glory.

The return on a white horse in ( Rev. 19:11-16) says nothing about clouds, trumpet sound, a gathering, or nothing about power and glory.

have you noticed the first beast comes out of the "sea". the one that looks like a lamb but "speaks" like a dragon comes out of the "earth"?

for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them,as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape.

Hi Richard,

People in our lives can be very unwise and selfish in what they demand of others, such as the example from your pastor. Being firm and denying such requests are not selfish on our part if the other person wishes us to help commit harmful actions. Often times parents of adult children will 'guilt' their children into complying with their wishes. This is selfish behavior and we can speak up and talk about how gladly we do want to help or spend time with them, but their demanding of it or guilting us into it is manipulative behavior and we will not enable that. These are hard conversations to have and can either improve a relationship or put distance in such a relationship. But creating sound boundaries in relationships is not selfish. it benefits both parties.

As to Jesus sleeping on the boat, I think that He was confident in His Father to keep Him until the time was right for His sacrificial death. He also knew that while He slept in His human nature, His divine nature never needed sleep or rejuvenation that comes from such respites. Jesus' humanity was tested each day by the needs and interactions of the throngs of people he encountered daily. He and the disciples needed time away from this intensity to be together in intimate conversation and fellowship. Being on the boat afforded this. It also afforded the opportunity for sleeping or praying together. It was not selfish for Jesus to sleep or get away from the crowds. He always followed the lead of the Holy Spirit and His own divine nature to do all things perfectly righteously. He always did the will of His Father and the Godhead was always in agreement and unity in all things. However, Jesus' human nature needed all the things we do, sleep rest, food, variation in activities to keep us healthy mentally and physically. In His humanity, Jesus prayed as we all do. He worshipped the Father, as we all are called to do. He obeyed the Father, as we all are called to do. And learned the Scriptures.

Hello Giannis.

It is my oldest and youngest sons that are married and my oldest son came back with his wife from Singapore at the end of June when she received her permanent visa. My middle son is not married yet, I keep praying for God to bring his wife into his life soon. And thank you for praying for their spiritual health. They all need to come back to Jesus and one wife needs to be converted from Islam and the other is from a Christian home.

It is always good to hear from you.

Hello Jimbob

1. About archangel Michael and Israel. I agree with you that this refers to the persecution of Jews by antichrist. God will send Michael to protect them, this is the incident whit woman in the wilderness, a figure of speech for keeping someone away to protect them.

2. About life just before rapture when I said it will be a normal life I meant about material things not the spiritual condition of the world. Paul tells us that the people of the last times will be the worse of all. It seems that the material condition of people is the opposite of their spiritual condition. The richer they are the less moral they become. It is true that when people suffer then they show more sympathy and mercy to others. That's why the previous generations were poorer but at the same time more moral than today's world

In Matth 24:29 says that immediately after the tribulation the sun, moon, stars will go dark and the powers of the heavens will be shaken and then Jesus comes. So the tribulation is after or at the same time as God's wrath, not before. and just before Jesus arrival

In Matth 24:38 says , "38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39

And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Eating, drinking, marrying, building (says another gospel). These are activities of a normal life. People seem to be careless and unprepared and Jesus' coming will surprise them. This is not obviously the condition of the world during the time that the Revelation describes.

The above 2 scriptures seem to contradict each other if we assume a single coming of Jesus. So it has to be 2 separate comings. When is the first? Before the tribulation starts, ie normal life

The second? After the tribulation ends.

When is the tribulation? It cannot be before God's wrath because after the trib. Jesus comes.

Happy birthday to your son, GiGi. May the Lord bring him and his wife back to their spiritual home soon.

CSmith happy birthday to you as well as, may the Lord keep you till the end.

GBU

Hi again Richard.

About Matth. 7:6.

I have been taught that this has to do with talking about our faith and tell our testimonies to people who we know or find out that they will behave like dogs or pigs. In such case we stop talking and go away. There is no benefit in talking to such people as long as they stay like that. If the change then yes, but not for the time being.

About Timothy 5;22, what I know is about laying hands to people who are not proper for a ministry because they are not really spiritually clean . Laying hands has to do, apart from other things, with anointing a deacon, an elder, a pastor or a minister or to acquire a gift like it was done to Timothy. If those people commit sins all the time and one has anointed them with light heart, then it is like partaking in their sins.

Hi Richard.

The Septuagint has it as " By all guarding guard your heart..." I don't know if this proper English but it is as written.

Similarly my Bible says the same, which is based on the Masoretic.

Hello Richard

My belief about Jesus sleeping on a boat.

Jesus was often praying till late at night or very early in the morning. Often He stayed up during the whole night praying especially when the following day He would had to take a serious decision or face a serious challenge. During the day He could hardly find some time to rest, with all the multitude going after Him to listen to Him and get healed. So He rested any spare time He could find, even on boats, even during storms. He was so exhausted He couldn't wake up, unless His disciples woke Him up.

Of course this is not an example for all of us, but definitely is an example for those who want to serve the Lord in a ministry.

Further thoughts on "selfish" behavior

Today at church our Pastor shared the sad but true story of his dad who couldn't drive but who he wouldn't take to the bars to get drunk (apparently he eventually died because of his alcoholism). The world certainly will find excuses to make us feel guilty for not doing what they want us to do. This can range from occasional abstinence from social activities that aren't necessarily wrong but take from more productive time with the Lord to permanent severance from those who clearly are on a destructive path. I am assuming here this person is not in our church and subject ot church discipline. Prayer clearly is in order; and of course individual situations may differ-having a close friend in the Lord to advise us also is quite helpful in those situations.

The struggle; of course exists between what we want for ourselves and what the Lord would desire. Waiting on the Lord can be a virtue and needed when there is no clear answer; but of course we can sit forever on the sidelines and never be ready and willing to be the hands and feet of Christ. Take the idea of rest; for example. We certainly need to be trusting God in all things; but also through the example of Christ and the Disciples we need to be willing to be inconvenienced; with either getting up before we feel like it for prayer; or taking extra time to help others. The other extreme is almost making a religion out of self sacrificial service. The example of Christ sleeping in the boat ( Matt. 8:24) is a good example of how to properly trust God. It is certain the Lord knew that He would make it successfully; and therefore actually set a good example there. We need to recognize when it is our own self destruction that is preeminent over God's will; and when the Lord shows us as in Phillipians 2:27 that He wants us to chill out we should pay attention. Overall; of course we should expect our lives to be uncomfortable more often than not.

Is it selfish to guard your heart?

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. ( Proverbs 4:23).

Normally I prefer KJV (and after all that is the focus here) but in this case I prefer the word "Guard" to begin the sentence found in several other versions. In the case of dying to self; and focusing all our energies into serving the Lord several statements below may seem to contradict behaviors normally associated with being a Christian.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. ( Song of Solomon 8:6).

Granted; the whole book of Song of Solomon is focused on the story of human love but surely we can glean some meainings from this book which is included in the accepted Canon (although probably the most reluctantly by the early church). In any case; our God is a jealous God; and we can also apply this to the Spirit which contends against the flesh ( Gal. 5:24).

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. ( Matt. 7:6).

This can perhaps be best understood in conjunction with the admonition in Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. ( 1 Tim. 5:22). There are several meanings for laying on of hands which could relate to delegating a promotion of church office or imparting spiritual gifts (I would suggest both would happen simultaneously). In any case; within the house of God we must be discerning enough to recognize those with bad fruit who are going to take whatever they have and use it for nefarious purposes. We also need to be careful that we aren't tempted by the sins of others who wer are attempting to help; whether by reason of our own weaknesses or those who are devious enough to entice us or unwary victims of Satan.

Congratulations most mercifully, may your days be many and your strength last for the day and the rest. God strengthens us all In Jesus name.

Hebrew 6

Hi Jimbob

Greatings In Christ JESUS

You wrote>>Satan is the one who gives the beast power and his seat, and great authority in ( Rev. 13:2) also in ( Rev. 13:5) the beast is given power to continue ((forty and two months or 3 1/2 years)) I believe this will be when the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place which will start great tribulation.

Yes Brother Carleton we're fine,

I'm home enjoying the family!

Hopefully I can finally get on my desktop and do some posting.

I hope you enjoyed your camping.

God bless

CSmith,

Will do, and Happy Birthday. It is my middle son's birthday today and he is 36. May the Lord bless both of you richly and fill you both with much joy and peace.

Dear brother Spencer, Without question every abiding Christian should have peace in their hearts and lives towards the neighbor no matter what they believe. I went out of service for a little camping. Hope you are well this day too!

Giannis again thank you for your reply. ( 2 Thess. 2:6-7) The word (withholdeth) is #2722; it means to hold down (fast)

I am not sure what the withholdeth, or the restrainer is Giannis, but see what you think of this. I have heard many say its the Holy Spirit but I don't think it is the Holy Spirit.

I have heard some say its Michael the archangel. This seems to be a more logical answer to me, here's why.

When this is happening that will definitely be the Lastdays, Satan is cast out of heaven to the earth by Michael in ( Rev. 12:7-9)

Satan is the one who gives the beast power and his seat, and great authority in ( Rev. 13:2) also in ( Rev. 13:5) the beast is given power to continue ((forty and two months or 3 1/2 years)) I believe this will be when the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place which will start great tribulation. That would put great tribulation at a 3 1/2 year time period (not 7 years) and it will be shortened for the elects sake. I do believe the time of the beginning of sorrows in ( Mt. 24:4-14) is the first 3 1/2 years and I think we are living it right now.

Also if we look at ( Dan. 12:1) We see "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: ((and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation)) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book".

A time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation sounds a lot like ( Mt. 24:15) and ( Mt. 24:21-22) v21 "For then shall be great tribulation ((such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be".

I'm not really sure about this, what do you think Giannis?

Also if you don't mind, would you please provide those verses that show a normal life on earth before the rapture?

We are living in a time period right now Giannis where nothing is normal anymore! evil has taken over!

Blessings to you.

Thank you Brother Jesse.

I've been copying them for soon to be future studies!!

God bless you.

hi Ray

2 Pet 1:19 does not refer to the letter, Peter explains it further 2 Pet 1:20,21 the Spirit, the Light John 1:9 Titus 2:11 is 2 Cor 4:6,7 the sure Word of Prophecy within us, by the Spirit of Prophecy Rev 19:10 the testimony of Jesus Christ

The rule & guide of a Christian life.

Friend consider;

Here on this site is evidence enough, all the different opinions concerning the meaning of the Scriptures, where are all these opinions coming from? Is Christ divided?

Where as if everyone would be led by His Spirit, He speaks the same thing to all, according to their measure of Grace received, yet it's the same word according to each one's measure.

Acts 2:1 Acts 4:32 this is the fruits we shall see when its Christ who speaks, bringing His church to the Ephesians 4:13

The Spirit alone can accomplish this. John 17:21-23 1Cor 6:17 1Cor 12:13

in love & truth

"Hi Ronald

I am also so sorry in telling you that you are completely wrong.

Revelation 19:15KJV speaks of the one from whom the own JESUS said he has a NAME that no MAN knew, EXCEPT he himself".

Yes, EXCEPT himself, so you are twisting the own word of JESUS who testified about this one that you call as being him JESUS, erroneously.

For what do you contradict JESUS and get preaching saying the NAME of this one is JESUS?

Actually he is only likeness JESUS- Revelation 1:13-,but he is not JESUS Himself, no,absolutely. And JESUS said that this one doth Judge and make WAR, in fact he is an ambassador of the Lord- Jeremiah 49:14 and Obadiah 1:1KJV- and he bears the insignia of JESUS Himself on his garments as an ambassador of the King Of kings, and Lord Of the lords, according prophecies he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a NAME,yes, a NAME written,that is King Of Kings, and Lord Of Lords.



It is he who was with Moses in flame of fire in the Mount Sina in the name of GOD Almighty in the OT, saying to be the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob- Acts 7:32-33. Take a look. And he was with Moses until his death, and after appeared to Joshua,saying: Joshua 5:13-15

13Joshua was by Jericho,he lifted up his eyes and looked,and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his Sword drawn in his hand:and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him,Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

14And he said,Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?

15And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua,Loose thy shoe from off thy foot;for the place whereon thou standest is holy.And Joshua did so.

Balaam also saw this one of the Lord standing in the way, and his Sword drawn in his hand,saying:behold,I went out to withstand thee,because thy way is perverse before me.

Be careful so, what matters and prevails is the Word of GOD

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 10):

Fascinating study! One last thing I want to share with you before I end this introduction is the section outline of the Gospel of Mark:

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 1 TO 13 - is the prologue.

CHAPTER 1 VERSE 14 THROUGH THE END OF CHAPTER 9 - is The Service of the Servant, His ministry in Galilee.

CHAPTER 10 - is the Submission of the Servant, His ministry in Judea.

CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 16 - We have The Sacrifice of the Servant, His ministry in Jerusalem. And as you can see, it is divided up into the three geographical locations that the Lord was in, Galilee, Judea, and then Jerusalem.

I realize this was a long introduction. The book (Mark) actually moves very fast. It is presented in a way as if we don't know anything about Jesus, or we are a doubter, or we have heard about Him, but He got crucified. How does that work out with the King of kings and Lord of lords? And as we read through Mark's gospel, even if we are a believer, we are going to know even more and more who Jesus is.

I will share my introduction to Luke next.

God Bless!!!

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 9):

VII. THE THEME OF THE BOOK:

Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." That is the theme of the Gospel of Mark.

VIII. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN:

It was written to the Romans and written in a style to reach the Roman mindset.

HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE INTRODUCTION:

The Roman mindset was one that followed the judicial system. You had to prove everything by the law. If you couldn't prove anything by the law, they didn't buy it. It was strictly judicial. That's why the book of Romans, which is called the Constitution of the Christian faith, every doctrine is found in the book of Romans. The book of Romans is written like a legal brief. Romans is written like a lawyer would present a case in a courtroom.

And that is how he is talking to the people in Rome. Well, that is what Mark does also. I don't know if you have noticed or not, but Mark's gospel is pretty short and pretty blunt. He doesn't give a lot of details. If he didn't think something was necessary to prove a point, he left it out.

Mark does not give it to us because it is not necessary for proving the point. Mark presents his gospel like a script, fact after fact, and he is presenting it like a legal brief to the court. Jesus Christ will be presented to us as the Suffering Servant. Mark says I'm going to prove it to you, so that you people in Rome that have this mind that is governed by the judicial system, you'll find evidence. You are going to have to figure out what are you going to do with this Jesus? He didn't come as a king. He came as a servant. But I am going to prove to you that He is the Messiah.

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 8):

And you and I need to take stock of this book because Mark is presenting to us a Messiah who refused to let the world make Him a king. Jesus Christ will never let this world make Him a king, period! He will not allow this world to honor Him as a king. He will come back at His second coming, and He will defeat all the enemies, and then (He) will set Himself up as king. But He won't let the world do it.

Even now, in many instances, the world honors Jesus Christ. But when He came, He was born in a cave, and He took the low road. He is presented as the Suffering Servant. Can you imagine God Himself coming in human form and you are one of His disciples, and you are looking forward to Him ruling and reigning out of Jerusalem, and He takes off His robe and wraps Himself with a servant's towel, and He begins to wash the disciples' feet?

Our man Peter says "You're not going to wash my feet. You are the Lord." And Jesus said if you don't let me wash your feet, you have nothing to do with me. Peter says "Well, then bathe me all over if it is going to be that important!" It was humbling and humiliating to have the Messiah come to be the servant of all, rather than say "I am Messiah," and get the applause and get set up as king.

The way you and I can learn from this book, is that we too do not yet rule and reign with Christ upon this earth. There are some teachers through our culture that will present the fact that we need to take the world now. No, we are just passing through. We are just servants. We are the lowly. We are not kings and queens. We are servant's following in the path of our Master. But one day, we are going to rule and reign with Him. I'll wait for that day because it's frustrating to do it any other way!

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 7):

He is going to set His kingdom up on earth just like Isaiah said. "Oh, this is a great day!" Except once they got into town, they listened to His teachings, but by the end of the week He was nailed to a cross. They were devastated. Their hopes were gone, dashed!

And one of the reasons that Paul was so angry against the Christians was because the Christians were presenting this man who died on the cross as a criminal, as being the Messiah. That is blasphemy. Paul's thinking was that He died between two thieves because He Himself was a criminal, and only criminals get crucified. That is what made him angry, that people would make the Messiah out to be this type of a person.

Some Jewish scholars actually believed that there would be two messiahs. Some Jewish scholars say, well, we read certain portions of the Old Testament, and it looks like the Messiah is going to come and suffer. But the majority said no, the Messiah is going to come, and He's going to ride in on a white horse and He is going to become victorious.

You see, you had two groups of scholars that were saying how can He be both? What is He going to do? Is He going to ride in, suffer, and then jump on the white horse? I mean, how is this whole thing going to work? One guy suffers the whole time, the other guy conquers, which is why when John the Baptist was put in prison, he sent his disciples to Jesus and says are you the coming one, or do we look for another?

The word "another" in Greek means another of the same kind. So, he figures this must be the suffering Messiah. Are we expecting the next one to come too? They were not too far off! But you can imagine the confusion and all that they were going through. Little did they know that Messiah would come as the Suffering Servant, He would come not to rule and to reign, but to serve.

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 6):

That's why in Luke, Luke records for us that Jesus, when He wept over Jerusalem, He said if you only knew this your day of visitation. In the Greek text, it's very emphatic, not just a general "Well if you knew what a special day this was!" He is making an allusion back to Daniel's prophecy. He's saying you guys are up on it. You should know that this is the 178,880 day. It is your day. Messiah is riding in. But He said you didn't. You rejected Him.

It also helps us, and I'll explain later why different people would come out, like with John the Baptist would come out and they would ask Him, what are you doing? Who are you? Because many Jewish scholars believed that sometime around that time in history, the Messiah was coming.

And there were actually quite a few people that presented themselves as being the Messiah about the same time that Jesus did. And they sent a delegation out to check John out. Who are you? Who do you say you are? And they would watch him, just like they did Jesus.

So, it is interesting that some Jewish leadership at that time were actually aware that around that time in history, the Messiah's supposed to come. And if they were really up on their scriptures, they would have known it was to the exact day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. They should have known from Daniel's prophecy.

But He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (the beast the burden), as a sacrifice. That week was Passover week. So, Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb who would sacrifice His life for the sins of the world. But when He rode into Jerusalem, all the Jews were reciting the Hallel Psalm ( Psalm 118), that the Messiah is riding into Jerusalem, blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord, because they're anticipating that once He gets into town, this Roman government is going to be defeated.

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 5):

Justin Martyr, in 150 A.D. stated "Mark's Gospel was the memoirs of Peter." Iranaeus, in 185 A.D. said that "Mark was a disciple and interpreter of Peter." There are some areas they would go to that Peter was speaking Aramaic, and the people didn't understand him. So, Mark was there to interpret, and he was the helper to Peter. And then he wrote the Gospel from Peter's testimony.

V. WHEN IT WAS WRITTEN:

It was written around the mid 60's A.D.

THE RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER BOOKS:

It is believed to be the first gospel written because of the history and the data that we have. Mark's Gospel was the first gospel written of the four, because as I shared with you in the introduction to Matthew, both Matthew and Luke, they follow the outline of Mark. And out of the 665 verses in Mark, 500 of them are exactly quoted in Matthew. And again, Luke follows the outline, but he has a little more detail to add in.

VI. WHY IT WAS WRITTEN:

It was written to present Jesus as the Suffering Servant. Now that is not just a phrase. You have to understand that this is a problem. To say that the Messiah came to be a Suffering Servant created a problem for the Jews. The Jews were not looking for that. The Jews were looking for their Messiah to come, set up His kingdom in Jerusalem, free them from the Roman government, and set up His kingdom on the earth.

Remember, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He rode in to the exact day of Daniel's prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. All prophecy centers around Daniel 9:24 to 27. It maps it out to the day. From the time the decree was made for the rebuilding of Jerusalem back in Nehemiah's day (March 14, 445 BC), from that day, it would be 69 sevens, or 483 years, or 178,880 days (to the day) that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, 178,880 days later.

INTRODUCTION TO MARK (Part 4):

We are up to the point now where Peter, in 1 Peter 5:13, he calls Mark "my son." Many historians believe that Peter actually led Mark to the Lord when he was in Jerusalem. And Mark may have figured that he needed some grounding, some foundation or something, some establishment in the Lord. So, when he came back from the second missionary journey, he says "Peter, I am your son in the faith. Let me be your disciple. Teach me." So, he travels with Peter. Later on, we see a quote about his relationship with Peter.

But apparently after Peter dies, around 63 to 64 A.D., Mark joins up with Paul. Now that is not a good combination at all. Paul did not want this guy around! Well, Mark is now changed. He is now matured in the Lord. Later, we see that Paul found him helpful to the ministry. As a matter of fact, in Philemon, Verse 24, Paul calls Mark "my fellow worker."

And then right before Paul died, and 2 Timothy is Paul's final letter that he wrote before he died there in Rome, but Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark with him because "he is useful to me for ministry." So, at the end of Paul's life, and at the end of his ministry, John Mark was somebody who was a strong pillar in the church and very effective for Christ. Hopefully that gives you hope.

IV. THE AUTHOR OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK:

Mark wrote his Gospel from the testimony of Peter. So, when Mark traveled around with Peter, he gained the information from Peter himself. Mark was not there to witness. In fact, he's the only one that did not have this historical presentation of what Jesus said and did. Papias, the Bishop of Hierapolis, wrote in 140 A.D. that Mark's presentation is like a lecture. So, John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark. What a brilliant statement! I mean who else would write Mark? But I guess there were some people that doubted it.