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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Rabbi K.A. Schneider » Rabbi Schneider — Overcoming a Passive Spirit

Rabbi Schneider — Overcoming a Passive Spirit



God bless you and Shalom, beloved ones. My name's Rabbi K.A. Schneider. Welcome today to this very important edition of Discovering the Jewish Jesus.

We're in season 2 of a very important series through the Gospel of John. I want to pick up today where I left off last week. We're in the Gospel of John, chapter number 1.

Now I ended last week by talking about John the Baptist introducing Jesus to the world as the Lamb of God. I want to continue now today as we see Jesus begin to gather his disciples together.

We're gonna go now to John, chapter number 1, and I want to pick up here in verse number 45. We see that Jesus had called Philip to be his disciple, and then Philip went an told Nathanael about Jesus. Jesus is just beginning, beloved ones, to put together his team. I want to read this account to you because there is application that I want to make for your life today.

Hear the Word of God: Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. So once again Philip is saying to Nathanael, we found the One who Moses and the prophets wrote of.

Once again I want you to get the fact that the Gospel comes to us, listen now, from a Hebraic and a Jewish context. I said last week, I'm gonna say it again, we can't just read the Gospels from a 21st century perspective.

We want to as must as possible go back in time 2,000 years and put ourself in the shoes of a Jew living in Israel 'cause this is how it happened and this is where it happened. So Nathanael says to Philip or Philip says to Nathanael rather, we found the One, Nathanael, of whom Moses and the prophets wrote of. Note the Jewish context here. Let's continuing on: Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.

Some of you probably feel like that about the home town that you came out of, right. But God can do anything, right, with any of us. Is anything too difficult, Hallelujah, for the Lord? Perhaps that's why the Lord brought Jesus from Nazareth, such a small place, to show us that God can do anything with anyone. Let's continue on. Once again, Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

Philip said to him, Come and see. Philip was pretty sure of himself that he had found the One. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. Now that verse puzzled me for a long time. Jesus, Yeshua, looks at Nathanael and says, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.

That verse really was troubling for me because the Bible says how evil is the human heart? Who can know it? You know, the Bible says that Paul said, for example, within us dwelleth no good thing. So reading all that I read about, you know, the corruption of the human heart, that there is none that doeth good, the Scripture says, no not one, etc.

I was wondering how Yeshua said of Nathanael he was an Israelite in whom there is no guile. But what I believe is going on here, beloved, is that Philip in his heart was a very sincere, transparent person that didn't operate through deception and manipulation. He was just what you would call a very down to earth, honest person.

Still had sin, still, you know, had a lot of the other issues that we deal with that come from the realm of darkness, but deep inside Philip, was a, was a, was a very transparent individual. Jesus said, he doesn't have any deceit or guile in him. You've met people like that. Even sometimes people that don't know the Lord, some of those people can still be pure in heart but they can be innocently deceived.

You know, Paul said this about Israel in Romans, 9-11. Paul said concerning Israel, he said, I bear them witness concerning their zeal for God, but it's not in accordance with knowledge. So if some of them had a very sincere zeal for God, but because they were trapped in darkness it wasn't in accordance with knowledge, and the path of it led to death.

So let's continue on here. Jesus points to Nathanael. He said, you're an Israelite. There's not a lot of guile in you. You're an Israelite in whom there is no guile. Continuing on: Nathanael said to Him, How do you know me? In other words, how can you say these things about me? Jesus was giving a word of knowledge.

Jesus spoke concerning his life, and yet they had never met. Nathanael said to Him, How do You know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree, I saw you.

Now obviously what we're seeing here is Yeshua operating in the spiritual gifts. He's operating in the spiritual gift that Paul calls the word of knowledge. He's operating in the spiritual gift that we sometimes call the word of prophecy, or the prophetic gift. And I want you to know, these same gifts that Jesus operated in, his church today operates in.

In fact, Jesus said, greater works than these, Jesus said of his church, will you also do. In other words, Jesus said, the things that I've done, my church shall do even greater things. And Paul goes through all the gifts of the Spirit in the Book of Corinthians listing gifts of healing, gifts of miracles, gifts of, of prophesy, gifts of prophetic words of the Lord, etc., etc.

This that we see here is Yeshua, Jesus, operating in the gifts of the Spirit. He had the word of foreknowledge. He had the word of prophesy. He saw Philip under the fig tree, even before Jesus could physically see Philip under the fig tree. He had this word of knowledge, supernatural knowledge concerning Philip.

What I'm wanting to stress, beloved church, we need to be open to God operating supernaturally through our lives. We read about these gifts in the Book of 1 Corinthians. And I want you to know, these gifts, all of them, are still for today. Some people teach that once the Bible was written the gifts of the Spirit passed away. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

The gifts of the Spirit, beloved, endure until Jesus's return, until the fullness of the body of Christ, until we've matured into a complete man. It would make no sense that the gifts of the Spirit would pass away.

In fact, Peter tells us in the Book of Acts, chapter 2, that those that have been baptized in the Holy Spirit would walk in the gift of prophesy. God would speak to them in their dreams at night. They'd have supernatural visions of the Lord.

I'm gonna be teaching about these in another series, but I just want to encourage you today that Jesus operated in supernatural spiritual gifts, and because you're anointed with the same Holy Spirit that Jesus was anointed with, you also can operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but you have to look to God.

You have to believe God. You have to let go of your fear. You have to trust him. You have to step out and act on these gifts when you feel that he's showing you something. And as you do you'll learn that truly you are anointed in the Holy Spirit and you can operate in the supernatural gifts even as Jesus did.

Now don't misunderstand. The gifting that we have comes to us through Jesus. But he has anointed us, beloved ones, with his Spirit. That's why the Bible says God has given gifts to men by his Spirit some the word of knowledge, to some the gift of miracles, to some the gift of healings, to some the gift of prophecy, to some the gift of faith, to some the gift of teaching, etc., etc.

You have to operate though, listen now, in the anointing that God has given you. Many people have been given opportunity to operate in the spiritual gifts, but because of fear, because of lack of faith, because of pride, because of the fear of being embarrassed, they've not stepped out to operate in the anointing that's on them.
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  1. davis
    10 December 2019 23:04
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    Am rilly blessed by your teaching