4-U WHO STRUGGLE

4-U who Struggle

(The Preaching of Jesus in Mark 9:1)

Mar 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. To whom specifically was Jesus speaking to? Was it the entire multitude present along with the disciples, or was He speaking to a specific few among the multitude?

Many knowledgeable minister' and preachers' struggles with this single verse. Before Jesus spoke the above verse He "set the stage" for His sermon by calling the multitude who followed Him into a group along with the twelve disciples and began to teach them.

The Set STAGE

Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, (Follow His Example) let him (The Follower) deny himself, (As though he/she had no other goal in life but to serve) and take up his cross, and follow me. To follow Jesus is to KNOW Jesus on a personal level. (Serve Me as I Serve the FATHER) John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

The Counsel

Mar 8:35-38 For whosoever (Anyone who) will save his life (or see his/her life as belonging to them to control) shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, (or see his/her life as belonging to God to control) the same shall save it.

Since no man has any power to save him/her self by any acts or good deeds that they may perform. How then would self-denial open the way? Wouldn't the action of individual self-denial be a choice of self-will made alone by the individual be an act? A willful action made by the individual's personal choice? To render one's life up to the control of another cannot be done without the willful consent of the individual. God will's yes, but He does NOT ever "force" the human individual's personal will or individual choice made concerning servant-hood to Him. Anyone who just thinks that "their personal choice alone" made with their mind to follow after Jesus as a choice made within their minds alone is sufficient to be accepted with God doesn't know either the scripture, or their spirit, or their mind, or God.

Simply choosing to do something IS NOT doing that SOMETHING simply because you (made the choice) if that something chosen allows any of the SELF to remain within the individual self. (YOU MUST ABSOLUTELY "RESOLVE" TO SEE NOTHING OF YOURSELF AND ONLY JESUS CHRIST IN EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE HENCEFORTH FROM THE TIME YOU MAKE THE CHOICE and yet function on an individual level every moment reflecting the God you have chosen to follow.) Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. WILL YOU THEN STILL SIN? YES, ABSOLUTELY but it should NEVER be willingly a choice to sin!

YOU will be a sinner until you're changed even if you're a devout follower to the best of your personal efforts NOT to SIN.

Does this then mean that one shouldn't make "any effort" to NOT sin in their lives since they cannot be changed in this life? Again ABSOLUTELY NOT! Remember friend YOU do NOT affect the change, you only are willing to be changed. The actual change doesn't ever come in this life in the flesh, it comes in the Spirit in your mind that contains the SPIRIT. It's the Spirit i.e. your MIND that chooses to surrender control over to God. This is where the change takes place (But YOU do NOT make the change It's ALL of God) and if the change is authentic in the mind, it's reflected outward in the body. This is why Paul stated: 1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The Question

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? This verse actually says: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life? One must understand the difference' between the "soul and the spirit." The soul is NOT the spirit of the individual. The soul is the life of the individual that contains the spirit of the individual in the mind of the individual. Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

The Admonition

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Do you friend, want to make Jesus "ashamed again?" After all that He has done to affect your salvation on the Cross, do you want Him to suffer even more shame? A shame He should never be subjected to because you thought His act on the Cross of self-denial to the point of death is not important to you.

When Jesus spoke these words the truth of these verses must have been in His mind as the "son of the carpenter' and the "Son of God. Heb 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Five separate distinct attributes making the single spiritual condition.

1. Enlightened, 2. tasted of the heavenly gift, 3. made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 4. tasted the good word of God, 5. the powers of the world to come. NONE of these spiritual attributes can be experienced without a personal belief IN and a knowledge of the true God AND His WORD. Simply going to church and listening to a preacher and making a decision IS NOT knowing God sufficiently to experience the above five attributes of the spirit within the individual. All of this just to get to the verse in question and the verse is at the beginning of this paper which is Mark 9:1. NOW the explanation of this not so easily understood scripture. JESUS is speaking!

Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

In order to fully understand this verse, you must have a knowledge of God's word. On first glance the reader sees JESUS telling those in the assembly that they would live to see Him "come with power" because they would NOT taste death (DIE) before that takes place. The statement was made sometime between 27-31 A.D.

QUESTION: Do you think any of those in the assembly are dead today? Answer: ALL of them are dead! WHAT THEN DID JESUS MEAN? This verse is NOT speaking of or addressing the saints of God, the redeemed of God. It's speaking of those who will NOT accept Jesus Christ as the redeemer. Jesus is speaking to the lost among the assembly NOT to those who follow Him.

Jesus is NOT speaking of His Second Coming either! He is speaking of His THIRD coming after the 1000 years to an assembly of the Jews and the disciples, to the whole of humanity from that time until the "the kingdom of God comes with power." Jesus referred to Himself as the "kingdom of God" more than once Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, {Himself] and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God [Himself] is come unto you.  Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God [Himself] shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. This happened and was fulfilled here: Mat 23:37,38 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God [Himself] is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

There is only ONE form, ONE kind of death to God and that's (eternal death, the second death) and for some of those in the multitude who heard Jesus speak Mark 9:1 did NOT know He was speaking of their final spiritual state in the second resurrection of damnation, that they would reject Him, be accomplices along with Caiphias the high priest and would never in their lives accept Him as their Savior and would not be in the first resurrection of the saints, but would "taste [eternal] death" i.e. eternal death at the second resurrection of the damned when Jesus i.e. (the kingdom of God) comes in power in His full Glory along with the FATHER, the New Jerusalem, and ALL heaven's host of angelic beings at the third coming after the 1000 years of Revelation 20.

Yes, they stood in the crowd, they heard Jesus speak, but they didn't know Jesus was speaking of their final spiritual state, nor did they know, even though they followed after Him and were present at this sermon, that they would be eventually LOST and miss the "kingdom of Heaven" for themselves, that nothing Jesus said to them would ever convince them to make any change towards following after Him in the spirit, or to obtain salvation through Him. They would taste DEATH i.e. eternal death which means they would be LOST to God forever.

Had they known this truth, they still would NOT have changed or made a choice to accept Jesus as their Savior. Why? Because Jesus had already seen their future DEATH the death they would TASTE. Jesus saw their present condition, as well as their future lives all the way to their graves when they suffered the physical death which Jesus calls "sleep." That death i.e. the physical death one can come back from through the power of God as many New Testament scriptures identify. Therefore, the death Jesus was speaking of here was the eternal death NOT the physical death. That is why He could say "Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." Not until Jesus comes the THIRD time after the 1000 years some call the Millennium would the "some of them that stand here" experience the eternal death and be forever lost when God destroys the wicked from off the Earth.

As you study God's word NOT simply [read it] you will discover that many things Jesus spoke to the people who heard Him speak did NOT apply to those who chose to follow Him among the crowd who did follow after Him to hear Him speak.

Just because one is a preacher doesn't mean he/she preaches the truth. Some see this verse as meaning that Jesus was speaking of His resurrection with the power of the glorified Son of God and that is a misinterpretation of the verse. Others still see it as referring to the Transfiguration of Jesus that took place six days later and then would only apply to just three of those present (the some that stand here) at the sermon who would be Peter, James, and John, however they overlook the context of the verse which is the tasting of death.

There are only TWO contexts which can be seen in the verse. The "deaths" of some of those standing and hearing at that specific moment in (Kairos) and the "the kingdom of God come with power."

QUESTION: When does the kingdom of God come with power? That's the question. It was NOT at the resurrection as some teach this verse. It takes place at the Second and Third Comings of Jesus Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The statement made of "see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory " applies to both the Second and especially the THIRD comings of Jesus.  At NO time did everyone standing in the hearing of Jesus preach on Mark 9:1 witness His resurrection so the verse cannot be taught as some teach it today from the pulpits and ONLY three present at the time Jesus said this verse witnessed the Transfiguration so it cannot apply either as Jesus did NOT come in power, He was already here.

It, Mark 9:1 has nothing to do with His literal resurrection or His Transfiguration. The only ones who did witness it were those Roman soldiers who fell down as "dead men" immobile but NOT dead. All others were NOT present at the moment in [Kairos]. So the statement made by Jesus of "That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power" has absolutely nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus or His Transfiguration on the Mount.

The key is the statement "shall not taste of death" which is the second context. The 1st being "tasting of death" the 2nd being the "the kingdom of God" i.e. JESUS Himself, and since God is the life-giver and the physical death He is more than able to bring one back from, the death spoken of here is the "second death, the eternal death which places the context then of the destruction of the wicked after the 1000 years i.e. the Third Coming of Jesus IN POWER in all His GLORY with ALL HEAVEN in His train. Jesus was NOT speaking to His followers in Mark 9:1 but was addressing the wicked among the multitude within the hearing of His speech who would reject Him through their lives, their deaths, and finally their final spiritual death the second death is when they would TASTE DEATH experienced after His Third Coming when He comes in POWER with the Kingdom of God i.e. the New Jerusalem.

The WATCHMAN !!!