The Seven Signs

Rev. Michael T. Nelson

Description

What do a headwaiter, an officer of the king, a deserted cripple, a starving crowd, twelve men in a boat, a man blind from birth, and a decaying corpse all have in common? Join Pastor Mike on a journey to discover the answer to this question. Don’t be surprised if along the way you find your own faith being strengthened and your ability and motivation to share it with others greatly enhanced.

What do a headwaiter, an officer of the king, a deserted cripple, a starving crowd, twelve men in a boat, a man blind from birth, and a decaying corpse all have in common? Join Pastor Mike on a journey to discover the answer to this question. Don’t be surprised if along the way you find your own faith being strengthened and your ability and motivation to share it with others greatly enhanced.



The Seven Signs is a practical commentary written to help laypersons and ministers alike to better understand and communicate this amazing Gospel to others, especially to those who have not yet put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Its purpose is to bring to light the spiritual truths of John’s Gospel and their application to our lives in a clear, concise, and thought-provoking manner.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Biblical Commentary
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 31 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664293083
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Seven Signs
A Practical Commentary on the Gospel According to John
REV. MICHAEL T. NELSON


Copyright © 2023 Rev. Michael T. Nelson.
 
First edition published 2010 by Tate Publishing, LLC., in two volumes titled The Seven Signs: A Spirit-filled Look at the Gospel According to John.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture quotations marked “KJV” are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge, 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from the Authorized (King James) Version (AV) of the Bible.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9309-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9310-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9308-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023903295
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 03/30/2023
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Part 1: The Seven Signs
Chapter 1: Jesus Was God in the Flesh
Chapter 2: Jesus Begins His Ministry
Chapter 3: God’s Plan of Salvation
Chapter 4: Salvation Is Open to All
Chapter 5: The Warnings
Chapter 6: Jesus’s Full Ministry Is Revealed
Chapter 7: Jesus Rebukes Unrighteousness
Chapter 8: The Truth about Sin
Chapter 9: Spiritual Blindness
Chapter 10: The Good Shepherd
Chapter 11: The Resurrection and the Life
Part 2: The Final Preparation of the Disciples
Chapter 12: Good vs. Evil
Chapter 13: Humility, Forgiveness, Betrayal, and Love
Chapter 14: The Assurances of the Lord
Chapter 15: The Assurances of the Lord (Continued)
Chapter 16: The Assurances of the Lord (Continued)
Chapter 17: The Lord’s Intercessory Prayer
Part 3: The Ultimate Demonstration of His Power
Chapter 18: His Abandonment
Chapter 19: His Suffering
Chapter 20: His Victory
Part 4: The Epilogue
Chapter 21: The Reminder
 
Endnotes
Bibliography
Endorsements
Pastor Mike Nelson loves the Word of God and the sheep of his pasture. From a shepherd’s heart, you will discover the Chief Shepherd in a wonderful and unique way as you read and study this excellent devotional commentary. You will find it to be of great value as you are challenged by its content to walk in a manner worthy of your calling.
—Ed Ethridge
Director of Missions for the North Texas Baptist Area Association
Pastor Mike Nelson has labored intently to offer readers a commentary on the Gospel according to John penned out of the grist mill of a contemporary shepherd’s heart and ministry. Written from his understanding of Scripture, the crucible of his own experience with God, and with the convictions of the old time preacher, his field-tested study offers thought-provoking insights and illustrations guaranteed to bless and enrich preachers, teachers, and students of the Bible.
—Dr. Richard T. Vann Jr.
Professor of Christian Ministry
Graduate School of Ministry
Dallas Baptist University
… Michael Nelson serves as the preaching bridge between scholarly biblical exegesis and engaging Christian application…. You will be blessed, as I have been, when you read what this minister of the good news has to say and you will be challenged to believe, in the full sense of the word, the truths of God’s Word without any reservation whatsoever.
—Dr. Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Research Professor of Theology
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Fort Worth, Texas
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my precious wife Sharon
who made countless sacrifices to afford me the time
necessary to write it. Her patience and loving
support is what made this possible.
Foreword
It is somewhat startling to hear an orthodox Christian preacher, who affirms that the entire Word of God is thoroughly inspired by the Holy Spirit, proclaim that the Gospel according to John is “the most important book in the Bible” or that the third chapter of John is “the most important chapter in the Bible.” However, from the perspective of an evangelistic pastor concerned for the eternal state of every human soul, Michael Nelson’s emphatic claims carry a certain relevant validity. In a day when so many Christians frantically seek ways to justify the avoidance of sharing their faith, whether through some wine-and-cheese theology or through a non-proclaiming social ministry, Nelson bucks the prevailing trends and prophetically demands Christian fidelity to the message and means specifically given by our Lord. Believers must not only recognize but also embrace and live out this truth: that a personal encounter with Jesus Christ is “the most important meeting in the history of humankind.” In other words, Nelson argues from Scripture and with compelling illustrations and application that it is our responsibility as Christ’s followers to present Jesus, from the Bible, to every lost man, woman, and child on the planet.
I first met Mike when he was an entering graduate student in theology at the seminary, and I knew from that point on that he would never accept anything I taught as truth unless it could be demonstrated according to the Word of God. Mike, in this book, has sought to hold himself to that same standard, and has fundamentally succeeded in doing so. Another thing I learned about Nelson during those exciting years of pleasantly boisterous give and take with an unpretentious yet precocious theologue, and have since rediscovered in these pages, is that Nelson possesses a genuine love for people. There is a pastoral sensitivity here, coupled with a rare ministerial gravitas, that accompanies God’s Word as it reaches down through the webs of personal deception that too many of us have erected in our own lives and that touches the soul where that defiled image of God is at its most crucial point in its precarious existence. Mike allows the biblical text to speak and then proceeds to explain the meaning of the text with logical clarity. With dependence upon the Holy Spirit, Nelson then illuminates the text with illustrations from Scripture, from the critical events and commonplaces of his own interesting life, and from many other places.
As you will soon see, there is much here that the reader should appreciate, but we must speak a word to the unduly squeamish: Nelson recognizes that his idiosyncrasies may not be your “cup of tea,” to employ a common British idiom. However, for the most part this is not germane, for Nelson’s overarching goal is to make sure that you meet and appreciate the Lord who created you and who will judge you instead. His immediate desire is to see the body of Jesus Christ incarnated before the world, so that, as a result, lost people everywhere may have opportunity to hear that Jesus Christ should be their cup of tea and, more profoundly, their Lord and Savior. And everything written here is filtered through the sieve of that principal concern. We rejoice in the fact that Nelson cares more about presenting the compelling attractiveness and inviting openness of his Savior than he cares about making a short-lived and dubious name for himself. That loving and selfless boldness—some wimpish worldly-wise ministers would dismiss it as heedless recklessness, but the wise in the ways of the God of Scripture would laud it as a holy temperament—is one of the virtues that sets Nelson apart as a minister of the Gospel and as an upcoming popular theological writer. May his tribe increase!
From a more academic methodological perspective, Michael Nelson serves as the preaching bridge between scholarly biblical exegesis and engaging Christian application. With regard to biblical exegesis, Nelson utilizes currently well-respected and quite often long-established evangelical scholars to aid him in the process of interpreting the Gospel of John. With regard to ministerial application, he provides a superb example of how theological interpretation is best done by the pastor who lives among his people, prompting them orally and demonstrating to them visually how they may and must reach out to the world with the life-giving Word of God. Though I personally might have phrased some things alternatively or presented a distinctive theological nuance or come to a slightly different conclusion, there is no doubt whatsoever that this book comes from a like heart desiring entire submission to Jesus and a keen mind dedicated to the utter reliability of Scripture. You will be blessed, as I have been, when you read what this minister of the good news has to say and you will be challenged to believe, in the full sense of the word, the truths of God’s Word without any reservation whatsoever.
In Christ,
Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Research Professor of Theology
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Fort Worth, Texas
Introduction
In 1995, Dr. Bob Pitman, the pastor of Kirby Woods Baptist Church in Memph