KEY SCRIPTURE; Matthew 26:31. “Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad”.

During the discussions the Lord had with His disciples before his passion, he made it clear to them that, they would be offended in Him. They would all forsake Him to be arrested and killed ultimately. Just after saying this, He said afterwards, that He would meet them in Galilee after His resurrection. Matthew 26:32.”But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee”. It is always a very painful thing to have your close associates forsake you in trying moments. In Jesus case, He said they would forsake Him to His fate, yet He did not show any sense of anger, disappointment or worry. He rather added that, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. This meant what was to happen had no ill effect on Him. Why was this so? He had forgiven them in advance. I believe the Lord had forgiven Judas in advance. Judas did not know and he gave way to guilt and self condemnation to lead him to commit suicide. Dear one no matter what you’ve done, it is never beyond His ability to forgive you. Forgive yourself.

How could we also forgive our offenders in advance? The Lord Jesus had committed Himself to the will of God and so knew that no one had the power to change whatever God has said or planned about Him. Secondly, he knew that men were prone to error, and so was not surprised or to be worried when they expressed what was normal with them. Dear brother or sister, your friend as a man has a tendency to make mistakes, so please arm yourself with this thought, so you would not be devastated when he or she fails. Forgive him or her in advance. Husband be ready to forgive your spouse before she errs. The same goes for the wife. Some people get so shattered about the error of their neighbours.

The third reason why the Lord Jesus had to forgive His disciples, even before they committed the offence, was that, He needed them to continue with the task He had for them to do. I mean their relationship was so dear that, the offence should not divide them.

Beloved learn to forgive your neighbours even before they sin against you. Don’t allow temporal errors to create permanent separations and divisions. Your relationship has very important and lots of benefits to both of you. Jesus told Peter to forgive indefinitely. Forgiveness always makes you a stronger individual. Forgiveness liberates your heart from certain invisible prisons. Stay blessed. Amen.

THOUGHT; FORGIVENESS IS TO LET GO OF THE PAIN OF THE HURT IN YOUR HEART

FURTHER STUDIES

Matthew 18:21-22. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and forgive him? till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Ephesians 4:32 KJV And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:29. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom”.

After the Lord Jesus had eaten the Passover meal with His disciples, He said He would not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the day, when He drinks with them new in the father’s kingdom. What was the Lord talking about? In 2 Thessalonians 2:1 the bible says we would be gathered unto the Lord at the rapture of the church. There would be a marriage feast of the saints with the Lord. Let’s consider how the bible talks about it in Revelation 19:9. “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God”.

The above verse ended by saying, “…blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb”. This clearly reveals that there would definitely be some who would not be qualified, and so would not be among those who would be admitted to the marriage supper. The parable of the ten virgins, where five were fools and five were wise. The foolish ones were not accepted into the marriage supper, whiles the five wise virgins were admitted. These scriptural emphases establish the fact that this is real and would definitely come to pass.

Dear brother, are you going to be accepted into the great marriage supper which the Lord talked about in Matt 26? There are two important steps and actions that would surely give you perfect access into His marriage supper.

1. Love the Lord God with all your soul and your heart and your might. Mark 12:30

2. Love thy neighbour as thyself. Mark 12:31

The Lord says upon these two commandments hang the law and the prophets. Do everything for the Lord out of love for Him. Serve the Lord diligently. Anything done for personal glory has missed the mark. No matter who your neighbour is, he or she is in the very image of God, and whatever you do to that person, you have done it unto the Lord. Never hate or mistreat any human being. If you would do these then a great door would be opened to you in the father’s kingdom.

THOUGHT:  GOD ACCEPTS ONLY THOSE WHO SERVE HIM OUT OF LOVE.

FURTHER STUDIES

1 Corinthians 8:2-3. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Philippians 2:12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mat 26:26 KJV “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.”

At the Passover feast, the Lord informed His disciples about the establishment of a new covenant between God and men, yet He stood on behalf of all men to cut this covenant. The irony again was that He was the object of the covenant. The terms of this covenant were that, He would die on behalf of men. Man would therefore be reconciled to God as a result.

His blood took away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus’ blood obtained an eternal redemption for us. (Heb 9:12). His beaten and torn body was for our healing (Isaiah 53:5). All these benefits of the covenant can be ours if we know and believe that they are ours.

The observance of this sacred ordinance is so important to the believer and the Lord Jesus, such that the Lord revealed himself to Apostle Paul, some years after His death, and instructed him to inform the body of Christ about observing it 1st Corinth 11;23). According to the word of God, when the wine and the bread was blessed, it became a fellowship or communion with the blood and body of Christ.1 Corinthians 10:16. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? “This means anytime we partake of the bread and wine, during the communion, we share in the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus. The blessings involved is unimaginable so long as we take it with this understanding.

When one takes the communion without discerning that he or she is fellowshipping with the blood and body of the Lord, he brings damnation on himself. The scriptures said those who err in this way may result in, weakness, sickness and even death.1 Corinthians 11:29-30. “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”.

This implies those who partake of the body and blood of Jesus with that understand shall not be weak, sick and not die prematurely.

There are countless testimonies of healing for many who took the communion believing it is the body and blood of Jesus. The Lord said as often as you take it you are announcing His death till He comes back. 1 Corinth 11:26. Dear one, make the partaking of the communion very beneficial to you, by understanding these things.

CONFESSION

Each time I partake of the communion I fellowship with the body and blood of Jesus. I therefore receive the benefit of divine strength, health and healing as well as a preservation of my life. Thanks be to God for giving us His Son who died for us.

FURTHER STUDIES

Matthew 26:28. “For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. “

John 6:51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:25 KJV “Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.”

The word of God, said, Judas who betrayed Him, also asked, is it I? This was after Jesus had prophesied that one of His disciples would betray Him. Judas knew very well that he had even gone ahead and negotiated on how much he would take for giving the Lord Jesus over to the scribes and Pharisees. Why was he asking the Lord whether it was Him? This was a clear case of pretence. The Oxford learner’s dictionary defines pretence as the act of giving a false appearance. Another word for a pretender is a hypocrite.

A pretender or an hypocrite is one who is a deceiver and primarily takes advantage of others. Every deceiver is first and foremost deceived .2Ti 3:13 KJV” But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived”. Every deceiver carries Satan’s agenda. He or she communicates and acts out what the devil or his angels, that is his demons tell him. The devil is the father of all liars (John 8;44). Every pretender thinks he has the upper hand, yet none of them had a lasting celebration of their actions. They always think they have outwitted their victims, only to end up in sorrow after a time. Dear pretender, do not rejoice over your so-called successful schemes, for Satan is waiting to make a mockery of you.

Judas succeeded in betraying Jesus but he sorrowfully killed himself (Matt 27:5) Listen to what happens to hypocrites. Job 15:34 KJV “For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery”. Our generations have continually suffered from pretenders and hypocrites, who have never been truly satisfied over whatever deceit brought to them. Inspite of these men and women keep deceiving each other, why? This is so because men keep living according to the flesh. This is what the bible says about the flesh. Rom 7;18a, reads, ” For I know that in me, (that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing….”. If you are a child of God, yet living a life of deceit or pretence, then your way out is to live by and in the Spirit. (Gal 5:16) If you are not born again, then you need to make Jesus the Lord of your life today.

THOUGHT: PRETENDERS UNKNOWINGLY EAT THE POISON OF SATAN, AND ALWAYS END IN SHAME AND PAIN

FURTHER STUDIES

Job 20:5 KJV” That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite ,is but for a moment?”

Romans 8:9 KJV “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:21 KJV “And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me”.

The Lord Jesus announced at the Passover feast that, one of them would betray Him. These were men who have all appeared very loyal to Him. Jesus never told a lie, and so, for Him to state that one of them would betray Him was a very serious matter. Sadly, there are a number of Christians who are betraying the master in one way or the other. Anytime the child of God dishonours God’s word, he betrays the master. Judas was informed about his intended action, yet he went ahead and betrayed His. This is what is known as wilfully sinning against the Lord. Hebrews 10:26 KJV” For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins”

I ask again would you betray the Lord Jesus? When we deliberately sin against one another we are betraying the Lord of glory. Judas betrayed the Lord because his heart was over charged with the lust for money. Remember that, the love (lust) of money is the root of all evil. Any one filled with pride is a candidate to betray the Lord. A proud person would find it difficult to submit to the will and word of God. The proud does not just sin against God, he rebels against the very rule of God. (1 Samuel 15:23) The Lord said rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Witchcraft is basically the act of dominating another person. This is one thing no human should do to his neighbour. Any besetting sin, has a tendency to make you betray the master.

Dear one, our only way out of not being used to betray the Lord, is to surrender everything we cherish to the Lordship of Jesus. Surrender your pride to the rule of God. Nothing should be too dear to be placed at the master’s feet. The Lord said Satan comes, but He has nothing in me. Does the god of this world has something in you? If you can say as the Lord said, then there would be no occasion to betray the Lord in any way or form.

THOUGHT:   THE STRONG CHILD OF GOD IS THE ONE SATAN CANNOT INFLUENCE

 FURTHER STUDIES

John 14:30 KJV “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”

1Samuel 15:23 KJV” For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:18. And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.

It was time for Jesus to eat the Passover meal with His disciples. The Lord needed a place to celebrate this meal. He therefore asked his disciples to go to the city and that they would meet the man who has the hall for them to have the observance of this meal. This man could have met with Jesus earlier and discussed about this matter. The end of the matter was that the man made available His hall for the meeting.

What are the lessons that we learn from this encounter?

1.This man made good his agreement and his promise. Have you made any promise to do something for God, then honour it?

2.If there was no earlier agreement about the matter, then he gave it out as a result of submission and reverence for God. There are times that God demands certain things from us without any prior awareness yet He demands it with urgency. From this man’s encounter and submission to God, we must also be ready to give whatever the Lord would demand or ask from us.

3.Please note that, the Lord does not beg anyone for anything. Just consider how the Lord gave his instruction. Matthew 26:18 KJV “And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.” The Lord asked that the man be informed that it was time for Him to have the Passover meal with His disciples. Why would God not beg us. Well, how would you expect this almighty God to beg you. He does not beg us because He gave to us whatever we have. He only asks us to give back to Him what He gave to us. Lastly God requires things or services from us, so that He may bless us immensely. (Deut 28:47,48).

THOUGHT; GOD DEMANDS FROM US, BECAUSE WE OWE HIM EVERYTHING.

FURTHER STUDIES

1Corinth 4:7 KJV “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

Deut 28:47 ,48 KJV” Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:15. “And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.”

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’s disciples left the gathering of the disciples with the master, to negotiate the life of Lord Jesus Christ.

What on earth could move Judas to do that? It is covetousness that made him to go and negotiate for the life of the master. Judas could have intuited that he could easily make some money from no mean a person like the Lord Jesus. He believed Jesus would have escaped so he could wisely go away with the money, because he was a thief, Matthew 27:3. “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, “May be his plan did not work out for him. He brought back the money and went and hanged himself.

Dear one is there anything that you love more than Jesus? Judas loved money so much that, Satan deceived him through his lust for money to betray the Lord of glory. Anything that means more to you than Jesus can lead you to betray the master one day.  The Lord gives the answer as follows;

Luke 14:26. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple”. Nothing that we have, or can get can ever be compared to the Lord Jesus. We should be ready to lose anything, even our very lives for the course of our Lord Jesus.

I think, out of this study, we may define covetousness in another way. Covetousness is anything that we love more than Jesus Christ.  To love your life more than Jesus would cause you to covet for your life at the expense of Jesus. It is also applicable to anything including money. Dear one, would you be ready to give up everything in honour of our master and saviour? This is the only condition that makes you a real disciple of Jesus. Everything would pass away, but our Lord abides forever. The bible says all things were created by him and for Him, so that He may have the pre-eminence the first place in all things (Col 1:17-18). All things must be placed at His feet. Would you surrender your everything to His Lordship today? Would you be a real disciple from today?

CONFESSION

Lord Jesus, you are the first in my life. Everything in my life is secondary to you. Even my very life would not be compared to you. Have the first place forever and ever.

FURTHER STUDIES

Colossians 1:16. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Colossians 1:17-18. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:10. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. “

We understood from our previous study that worship is basically demonstrating our praise.in practical way. In worship, we bow before the Lord, or fall prostrate before Him. Dancing is one of the practical forms of praise. Clapping our hands is a means of demonstrating our praise The Christian’s whole life should be an act of worship unto the Lord. This means in our lives, we show our love for the Lord, which is seen in our obedience to His word. We must give our lives as a sacrifice and do everything unto God sacrificially This is what is called a living sacrifice. Rom 12:1.

Apostle Peter stated that, we live as worshippers in the following verse. 1 Peter 2:9. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’ ‘Showing forth the praises of the Lord is to demonstrate His praise through acts of worship. Every act of faith should be an act of worship. Going to church, praying, giving unto the Lord, or even giving to the needy. All these must be done sacrificially and to His honour, this is worship. This means whatever one does in the name of the Lord, which is not done sacrificially and solely unto the Lord, is not an act of worship. This action no matter what is, cannot be worship unto the Lord.

Jesus disciples, questioned the importance of what this woman did. The Lord answered that she had done a good thing to His body. Her action will be mentioned along the preaching of the gospel, all through the world. What are you doing now for the body of Christ?

It is time for you to give yourself and substance as an act of worship to the Lord. This must be done in love and fear for God. The favour of the Lord would definitely go along with you, in all that you do.

CONFESSION

God gave every blessing to me through Christ Jesus my Lord. I offer myself as a living satisfied Holy and acceptable unto Him. All that I am and have is, to glorify His name.

FURTHER STUDIES

Romans 12:1. “beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Philippians 1:20. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:10. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

What is worship? Someone said worship is singing songs unto the Lord in a slow pace, whiles praise is singing unto the Lord in a fast mode. Well, these answers are not praise nor worship. To praise is to extol, exalt or honour the Lord in words, either by singing or saying it. Worship is rather demonstrating your exaltation, or honouring the Lord in actions. Worship is simply acting out your praise. The Greek word for worship is “proskuneo” The word is from two Greek words “pros”, which means “towards or with regard to” and “kuon” which means a dog. Worship from the New Testament Greek is acting like a dog in the presence of its master. It bows, lies on the floor, dances and kisses its master’s hands. This is demonstrating praise.

In our story from the key scripture, Mary Magdalene, in an expression of her praise to the Lord brought a very costly ointment and poured it on the Lord’s feet. She used her hair which is her glory as a woman, to rub it and also kissed Jesus’ feet. This was an expression of true worship. Jesus disciples did not really understand what Mary was doing. God seeks those who would worship Him in Spirit and in truth. From Mary’s example what are some of the lessons we learn about worship. Worship is motivated by love and reverence for God. Worship is a sacrifice and must cost us something. Worship also means humbling yourself before the Lord. True worship is spiritual, because it considers only God, and gives all to God.

In 2 Samuel 6, the ark of God was brought into Jerusalem from the house of Obededom. David danced to the point that His cloths was almost off. This caused his wife Michal, king Saul’s daughter to frown at him, and to despise him in her heard. She even went ahead and expressed her dislike for David’s act of worship. The Lord was likewise displeased with her and so she never gave birth after that event. God is very pleased with such acts of worship. Anyone who lives in the flesh and so frowns on such acts of worship, will definitely attract God’s anger and wrath. May we always give the Lord, that sincere true and loving worship.

THOUGHT: WORSHIP IS A TOTAL GIVING OF ONESELF TO HONOR GOD

FURTHER STUDIES

Psalms 95:6. “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”

John 4:23. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matt 26:3.”Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas”,

In the earlier verse to our key scripture, the Lord Jesus said He will be betrayed, arrested and crucified. Just afterwards, the scribes and Pharisees met to plan out how to take Jesus by a crafty way. To them it was a secret, yet God knew it, and Jesus was also very much aware of their scheming. Dear brother nothing takes God unawares.

He knows every plan, program, and every timing of the evil one. One may ask if every evil agenda is plain before the father of lights, why does He not stop him?

These are questions that has bothered the minds of many children of God. The first point to make clear to all and sundry is that, God has eternally defeated the devil, yet he allows him so that we may fulfill God’s agenda in that circumstance concerning our lives. We bring glory to God, by doing what the word says, in that situation. Our business as children of God, is to deepen our fellowship with our father such that, we would always know what He would want us to do, and how He wants us to behave. The Lord Jesus had a very strong and cordial relationship with the father such that He was never found wanting. He was not moved, shaken, or worried about the outcome of whatever the enemy was planning against Him.

Many of us Christians have not developed our fellowship with the Lord, to the point of knowing the outcome and even the will of the Father concerning particular situations. The word has taught us what to do, to always defeat the enemy.

The following are some of the things to do, when the enemy rises against us.

1.Do not be anxious in any situation Phil 4:6,7

2. Pray fervently and may fast about the situation. James 5:13″Let him that is afflicted pray…”

3. Always put on the whole armour of God. (Eph 6:10-18)

4. Spend time worshipping and praising the Lord. Acts 16:25-27

 5. Have time to confess the word of God always. Rom 10:9 &10

 6. Be diligent in paying your tithe and offering, as well as sowing special seed offering to make a release  of God’s provisions. (Malachi 3:8-11).

7. Forgive anyone who has offended you. Mark 11;25

8. Stand on what the word says about that particular situation.

If you would keep to the above points, you would always come out victorious.

CONFESSION

By the word of God, I am informed about my victory over the enemy. I diligently depend and act on the word. I am always assured of victory through his name and by the blood of Jesus my Lord.

FURTHER STUDIES

Ephesians 6:11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.