"The Rebuke"

"Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing." (John 18:20 KJV)

  "For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and the earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. "I am the LORD," he says, "and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and declare only what is right."" (Isaiah 45:18-19 NLT)

 As it turns out, most of what the devil does is to take as many people with him, as he possible can; as my mom would often say, "Misery, loves company." Here is the point in which Jesus speaks straight to the heart of the matter! God has never held back from trying to reason with us; it is His compassion for each and every one of to be saved, not that any should perish! (2 Peter 3:9)

 Hell was created for the devil and the angels that rebelled with him, not for man; it is God's great love for us, that caused for His Son to come, sacrificing Himself for our sins! And then here we have, dare I say, a man of the cloth, a man that is to be standing between the people and God, to honor God before the people, and to sacrifice and offerings to help with the burdens of their sins: who chooses now to convict the One that came into this world to save all, included himself! 

 It is really hard to understand, yet it is easy to see! This is about power and pride; nothing that Jesus says will satisfy the question that they ask, because they refuse to accept Who Jesus is or why He has come; no matter what He has done, it is impossible for them to believe, because they do not know Him! 

 Again, I was once there, living a lie, thinking that I knew the way, but heading towards the pit of hell! As I have said before, I had really no desire to change or move from my comfortable beliefs; those things were based upon something I thought I could do on my own! We are broken and condemned, right from the moment we entered this world; and there is nothing we can do to make things right! 

 That is why He reaches out to us, because He loves us and wants us to know Him! Not that we would just know of Him, but that we might have a personal relationship with Him, which only comes from us being free of our sins...

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced." Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call in him. For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved."" (Romans 10:9-13 NLT)