Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

The sun is shining at present. But we won’t hold our breath. At least it offers a good chance to do a little jog without rain.

Becki will be running to Dallas soon to look after grandkids there while Andy and Delaine work together to finish an urgent sign job. I’ll remain here and grapple with my own work load.

The Gospel song we sing often with our seniors bears an important message—“EACH STEP I TAKE JUST LEADS ME CLOSER HOME”—meaning, each day I live just leads me closer to earthly life’s end and eternity’s beginning. So, have a blessed day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

The full verse reads this way: “The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do WE NEED more WITNESSES?’ he asked.” (I did the capitals for emphasis.)

The wording chosen by the high priest here is clear evidence that Jesus was falsely condemned before this council ever tried Him. They only NEEDED some kind of substantial convincing WITNESS or accusation against Him that would support and confirm the sentence they had already passed. Since these enemies of Christ really wanted Him dead, they then struggled to gather sufficient reason so they could make His murder look like a legal execution.

I’ve met a lot of people in my time who were absolutely delighted, for example, to point out all the hypocrites in Christian churches. They had already made a judgment that rejects God’s claim to their lives, so they were eager to use the ugly evidence of human nature within Christian churches to condemn the whole of the Christian faith. That way they could carry on living the way they wanted with some legitimate-sounding support.

Jeremiah 17:9 is certainly a revelation of God’s view of the deceitful and wicked leaning of the human heart apart from essential spiritual conversion and rebirth. And it’s clear that natural human hearts will never ever be able to arrive at TRUE conclusions about Christ and God and His Word on their own. For, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). Like begets like, truth begets truth, and spiritual light begets spiritual understanding. That’s why David declares, “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts” (Psalm 51:6). That is the one and only basis for establishing truth in choices and decisions. The person with truth and honesty inside is made absolutely free from the corrupt style of those who NEED WITNESSES to support what their dirty hearts desire.