29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Key Observation:
John the Baptist testified of Jesus, but even greater God the Father bears witness.
Devotion:
Jesus is speaking of the two main resurrections. They both appear in Revelation 20. The first is the resurrection of life in verse four: “They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” The second resurrection is also called The Great Throne Judgment, and is found in verse twelve: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.”
There is a third resurrection not spoken of here; it is the Rapture. McGee says: “Rapture” is a good translation of the Greek harpazoµ. Paul used it in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where he says we shall be “caught up,” which means “to be raptured.” Paul teaches much of this additional resurrection in the books of Thessalonians. Paul tells us in the first book that “we are saved from the wrath to come.” He describes this resurrection specifically in chapter four: “15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16For 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:
17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
A further mention of this rapture is due here. In the second book of Thessalonians, Paul has to reteach the Thessalonians about the coming of the Lord. He carefully articulates to them that the Lord will not return until the man of lawlessness is revealed. (2 Thess. 2) But in the first book, he teaches saints that Jesus is suddenly appearing. But now he is teaching that Jesus is not coming until the man of sin is revealed first. How do we reconcile these different teachings?
It is easily reconciled when we look at two key verses in the first book:
1) 1:10, And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
2) 5:9, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Twice Paul teaches us that we will not suffer God’s wrath—the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble. He is sparing us from that wrath; instead we will go to that better place that Jesus is going to prepare for us. (John 14) The answer to the dilemma is that the saints get a “free pass” from the wrath of God and go directly to the place that Jesus has prepared for them. Thus a resurrection happens at the outset of the tribulation that will allow what I call “The Great Escape.” I hope you are planning on taking the great escape. The first step is to start believing God.
The irony of this passage in John is that the Jews thought they knew better. Even with Jesus, they thought they knew he was born in Nazareth; he was not. They thought they knew he was Joseph’s son; he was not. They thought that they knew the scriptures; they did not. They had spent much of their lives studying the scriptures, and when they met the Savior they knew Him not. All of their lives in tragic waste—for when the Son comes they could not even recognize Him.
McGee, J. Vernon (1990-01-30). Thru the Bible 1-5 (5 Volume Set) (Kindle Locations 100779-100780). Grupo Nelson. Kindle Edition.
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
1. He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands.
2. He's got the wind and the rain in His hands.
He's got the wind and the rain in His hands.
He's got the wind and the rain in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands.
3. He's got the little tiny baby in His hands.
He's got the little tiny baby in His hands.
He's got the little tiny bay in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands.
4. He's got ev'rybody here in His hands.
He's got ev'rybody here in His hands.
He's got ev'rybody here in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands.
Lyrics: Traditional
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