JESUS— KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS! And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. —Mark 15:16-20 And the inscription of…

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH GOD’S SON! Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”  “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” —Mark 14:61-62 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”  “The son of David,” they replied.  He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under…

INFLUENCERS FOR LOVING OBEDIENCE OR HATEFUL DISOBEDIENCE  Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.” —Deuteronomy 20:8              Negative attitudes of a person or group can have a permeating, negative effect on others as well.  We saw this when the twelve went into Canaan to scout out the land.  Ten of them said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored” (Numbers 13:31-32).  It was because of this “bad report” that— That night all the members of the…

GREED KILLS! Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly… Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. —Mark 14:4-5, 10-11 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” …

JUSTICE! Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. —Deuteronomy 16:19             Justice is not to be perverted.  We live in an age where justice is perverted greatly.  It seems there are those who are above the law and can do whatever they want and not be held accountable.  Positions of power and money are given partiality.  People are favored and justice is perverted and innocent people suffer.             Bribes happen all the time and are out in the open.  Our world is so corrupt and that is exactly what…

THE WORLD’S HATRED And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. —Mark 13:13 You will be hated by everyone because of me… —Matthew 10:22 Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. —Matthew 24:9 Everyone will hate you because of me. —Luke 21:17 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. —John 15:18 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. —I John 3:13             The world system is not our friend— “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the…

TRIALS MATURE Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands…. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.  —Deuteronomy 8:2, 16  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not…

LOVINGLY OBEDIENT So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. —Deuteronomy 5:32-33 “If you love me, keep my commands… Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” —John 14:15, 21        If I truly love God then I am going to…

DO NOT ADD OR SUBTRACT FROM HIS WORD! Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. —Deuteronomy 4:2 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. —Proverbs 30:6   I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city,…

HE WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO RUN THE RACE! These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” —Deuteronomy 2:7 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. —Luke 22:35             Where our Lord sends us He goes with us.  What our Lord wants us to do He does with us.  The resources we need to be and do what He desires He provides.  We are to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).  This…