Even Jesus Can Have a Bad Day in the Pulpit – A Meditation on the Gospel for the 14th Sunday

The gospel today portrays the Lord Jesus as preacher and prophet. But as we shall see, even the greatest preacher in the world (Jesus), can find his powerful and precious words falling lifeless on the rock hard surface that is the heart of many a soul. Yes, even his words can meet resistance and hostility, indifference and ridicule. Indeed, the gospel today shows forth the ruinous result of rejection.

We sometimes think that if Catholic priests were better preachers, all would be well. But that is only half the battle, for the Catholic faithful must have ears to hear and hearts that are open and eager to hear the truth. A well known preacher and fine Protestant teacher, William Barclay has this to say:

There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere. Our churches would be different places if congregations would only remember that they preach far more than half the sermon. In an atmosphere of expectancy, the poorest effort can catch fire. In an atmosphere of critical coldness or bland indifference the most spirit-packed utterance can fall lifeless to the earth. (Commentary on Mark, P. 140).

Yes, of this I am a witness. I have preached before congregations that were expectant and supportive, and watched my words catch fire. I have also preached in settings where “I couldn’t hear nobody pray!” And Oh the difference!

I have been blessed to serve most of my priesthood in African American settings and there is a deep appreciation that the preaching moment is a shared moment with shared responsibilities. The congregation does not consider itself a passive recipient of the word, but an active sharer in the proclamation.

There is an air of expectancy in the Church as the faithful gather and listen and begin to sing and pray. This air of expectancy is sometimes called “the hum.” And, during the reading of the Word and the sermon there are nods, hands may go up, even a stomp of the foot, and an acclamation or two pock the air: Amen!… Yes, Lord!…Well?!…Go on now!….Take your time!…Make it plain preacher!…You don’t mean to tell me! Ha!, My, my my!

And as a preacher too I can call for help: Are you praying with me Church?!….Somebody ought to say Amen!…..Come on Church!…..Can I get a witness?!……Kind quiet in here today….Amen?! Yes, together we craft the message as inspired by the Holy Spirit. And while it belongs to the priest to craft the content, it belongs to the congregation to affirm the truth and acknowledge the Spirit.

How precious and necessary is the preaching task. But the preaching task, as today’s gospel affirms, is more than the preacher. But before looking at the text itself, a few more insights about both preacher and congregation from Pope (Saint) Gregory the Great.

First on the obligation of the preacher and the solemnity of his task to preach:

Pastors who lack foresight hesitate to say openly what is right because they fear losing the favor of men. As the voice of truth tells us, such leaders are not zealous pastors who protect their flocks, rather they are like mercenaries who flee by taking refuge in silence when the wolf appears.

The Lord reproaches them through the prophet: They are dumb dogs that cannot bark. On another occasion he complains: You did not advance against the foe or set up a wall in front of the house of Israel, so that you might stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord. To advance against the foe involves a bold resistance to the powers of this world in defense of the flock. To stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord means to oppose the wicked enemy out of love for what is right.

When a pastor has been afraid to assert what is right, has he not turned his back and fled by remaining silent? Whereas if he intervenes on behalf of the flock, he sets up a wall against the enemy in front of the house of Israel….[But] they [who] are afraid to reproach men for their faults…thereby lull the evildoer with an empty promise of safety. Because [such preachers] fear reproach, they keep silent and fail to point out the sinner’s wrongdoing.

The word of reproach is a key that unlocks a door, because reproach reveals a fault of which the evildoer is himself often unaware. That is why Paul says of the bishop: He must be able to encourage men in sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For the same reason God tells us through Malachi: The lips of the priest are to preserve knowledge, and men shall look to him for the law, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Finally, that is also the reason why the Lord warns us through Isaiah: Cry out and be not still; raise your voice in a trumpet call.

Anyone ordained a priest undertakes the task of preaching, so that with a loud cry he may go on ahead of the terrible judge who follows. If, then, a priest does not know how to preach, what kind of cry can such a dumb herald utter? It was to bring this home that the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues on the first pastors, for he causes those whom he has filled, to speak out spontaneously. [Gregory the Great, Pastoral Guide].

Beloved brothers, consider what has been said: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. Pray for us so that we may have the strength to work on your behalf, that our tongue may not grow weary of exhortation, and that after we have accepted the office of preaching, our silence may not condemn us before the just judge.

For frequently the preacher’s tongue is bound fast on account of his own wickedness; while on the other hand it sometimes happens that because of the people’s sins, the word of preaching is withdrawn from those who preside over the assembly.

With reference to the wickedness of the preacher, the psalmist says: But God asks the sinner: Why do you recite my commandments? And with reference to the latter, the Lord tells Ezekiel: I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. He clearly means this: the word of preaching will be taken away from you because as long as this people irritates me by their deeds, they are unworthy to hear the exhortation of truth.

It is not easy to know for whose sinfulness the preacher’s word is withheld, but it is indisputable that the shepherd’s silence while often injurious to himself will always harm his flock. (Ibid.)

Note well then, the shared task and responsibility of the preacher and the people. And let these texts serve as a worthy back ground to what is now to come in this gospel which we can see in three stages:

I. Real Rejoicing - The text says, Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!

Thus the initial reaction of Jesus’ hometown is positive. They are filled with amazement and joy. And the text sets forth two sources of their joy:

1. His Wise Words - and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? Yes, what a blessing it must have been to hear Jesus preach. Could Jesus preach! Scripture says of his preaching:

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Mat 7:28).
Sent to arrest him the temple guard returned empty handed saying: No one ever spoke like that man (Jn 7:46)
And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; (Luke 4:22)
And the common people heard him gladly. (Mark 12:37)

2.His Wonderful works – They also say: What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Yes, Jesus had worked many miracles up to this point:

Cast out demons
Turned water to wine
Raised up paralytics
Cured the man with a withered hand
Cast out blindness
Healed deafness
Multiplied loaves and fishes
Calmed storms
Raised up Jairus’ daughter from the dead

And so we see that the initial reaction to Jesus preaching is good. Their remarks and rejoicing are a sign that the Spirit is working and prompting them to belief.

Yet as we shall see, things are about to turn sour. For it remains a sad but prevailing truth that the word of God can fall on the rocky soil of some hearts where it springs up but soon withers because the soil is rocky and shallow. Or the Word of the Lord can sown on the paths of some hearts where the birds of the sky come and carry it off. Or the Word of the Lord can call on divided hearts and where the thorns of worldliness and anxieties of the world choke it off. And yes, sometimes it falls on good soil where it yields thirty, or sixty, or a hundred fold. (cf Matt 13:1-9). Sadly things are heading south.

II. Rude Rejection - The text says [But some began to say] Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Notice how sudden their change is. There is an old spiritual that says: Some go to church for to sing and shout, before six months theys all turned out!

They harden their hearts – Yes, the tide mysteriously and suddenly turns against Jesus. Sin has set in and hearts have hardened and the joy is jettisoned. Though the Holy Spirit prompts them to faith and to call Jesus Lord, they harden their hearts. It is a grim and tragic sin.

They also exhibit a kind of prejudice or unjust discrimination, dismissing him as a mere carpenter and a home boy. It is an odd kind of thing that the poor and oppressed sometimes take up the voice of the oppressor. And thus, these simple people of a small little town of only 300, take up the voice of the Jerusalemites who regarded Galileans as “poor back-woods clowns” and as unlettered people. Yes, his own townsfolk take up the voice of the oppressor and say to Jesus, in effect, “Stay in your place. You have no business being smart, talented, wise or great. You’re just one of us and should amount to nothing.” It is the same sort of tragic rebuke that sometimes takes place among minority students who excel in school. Some of their fellow minority students accuse them of “going white.” Tragic and sick. And thus for Jesus, they ignore his actual words and his works and focus only on appearances and background.

They also exhibit the sin of envy. Envy is sadness or anger at the goodness or excellence of another person because we take it to lessen our own excellence. The text says here, And they took offense at him. St. Augustine called envy THE diabolical sin. This is because it seeks not to posses the good of another, (like jealousy does), but it seeks to destroy what is good in others so that the destroyer can look better.

The result of these sins was that Nazareth was NOT a place where excellence was known, even among its own! Indeed, John 1:46 records Nathanael as saying of Nazareth “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” It would seem even the townsfolk of that place would agree” (But Philip who surrendered his prejudice said to Nathanael, “Come and see.”).

III. Ruinous Result - The text says, Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” SO HE WAS NOT ABLE to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

So as we see, they judge him to be nothing, so they get nothing. They have blocked their blessings.

Jesus says, He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward (Mat 10:41). But they will get nothing. When we banish or discredit God, we should not expect to see many and mighty works. These things come only from faith.

Miracles are the result of faith not the cause of it. Thus the text says, So [Jesus] was NOT ABLE to perform any mighty deed there…He was amazed at their lack of faith.

There are some things even God can’t do not because he has no power but because he respects our choices. Pay attention. The Lord is offering us salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven. And either we reach out to take it or we don’t. But the choice is ours. If we take it, He’ll go to work. But if we refuse, he who respects our freedom will “not be able” to perform any mighty deeds.

And what a ruinous result for Nazareth and all who reject the prophetic utterances of our Lord and His saving help. Scripture says:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would have none of me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last for ever. I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:10-16)

Either we will accept God’s word and yield to its healing and saving power or we can expect little or nothing but ultimate ruin. It is as though you or I were in a raging stream heading soon over the falls to our death. And then a hand is stretched out to save us, the hand of Jesus, but mysteriously we reject that hand and ridicule its power. And the ruinous result of our hideous and foolish rejection is only one thing: our death. The text says, He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Pay attention, God is preaching a word to you every Sunday, every day. Will you heed and be healed, receive and be rescued, or reject and be ruined. Will the Lord be able to do mighty deeds for you? Or will he be amazed at your lack of faith? The choice is yours, it is all yours.

Even Jesus can have a bad day in the pulpit. Make sure you’re not the reason why.

Parables were never intended to reveal truth but to hid it from the reprobate ...Over and over in the OT and the NT we see that only those that are His can her His word..

I recently heard that the reason the unsaved can not understand the scriptures is because the Bible is written for the saved

Luk 8:9 ¶ And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?

Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Luk 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Luk 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and [he] to whom the Son will reveal [him].

Luk 10:23 And he turned him unto [his] disciples, and said privately, Blessed [are] the eyes which see the things that ye see:

Luk 10:24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen [them]; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard [them].

Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Mat 13:16 But blessed [are] your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Jhn 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with [their] eyes, nor understand with [their] heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Col 1:26 [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

Rom 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Rom 11:9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:

I use to think the big lie...er heresy was “Bible Alone” but no, it’s “Faith Alone.” Non-Catholic Christians believe “Faith Alone” does everything, there is no cooperation on our part. Messes them up on all matters of faith James 2:24 Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only?

Funny it seems Catholics think they are saved by faith in Rome alone.

Sola Ecclesia Romanus Only the Church of Rome is the Rule of Faith

.Given the choice I will place my faith were the Bible tells me..Jesus Christ

Now perhaps, if you can rightly divide the word of God you might want to look at James again

If one believes he is saved or damned by his works , then one comforts oneself with the idea that "I am not as bad as my neighbor"

The Bible tells us "ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." That is the inspired word of God . It does not say that some have fallen short and some are "close"

May I quote James to you?

Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

So the thief is also a murder in Gods eyes.

No where does Jesus say or imply that one is saved by works.

The book of James was written to a converted church , not heathens seeking salvation . It tells them how their conversion is seen by the unsaved world . It is not about becoming saved or being saved. It is about the fruit of your salvation.

Jam 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Jam 2:18 Yea, a man may say,/B> Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

This is an amplification of the teaching of Jesus that we know a tree by the fruit it bears. It is how we know the saved from the unsaved. It does not declare that the man has faith ...but that he SAYS he has faith.

This addresses a hollow profession of faith , not a saving one
.Can a hollow profession save him? NO, any more than works can save.This scripture says to the church that this faith is non existent , it is dead.

The bible is clear that it is God that gives the faith and it is God that ordains the works of the saved

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Hbr 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Phl 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

Matthew 13: 58 gives the reason

And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Did not many mighty works - Miracles. This implies that he performed some miracles. Mark tells us what they were: “He laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them,” Mark 6:5.

Because of their unbelief - That is, it would have been useless to the great purposes of his mission to have worked miracles there. We are not to suppose that his power was limited by the belief or unbelief of people; but they were so “prejudiced,” so set against him, that they were not in a condition to “judge of evidence” and to be convinced. They would have charged it to derangement, or sorcery, or the agency of the devil. Compare John 10:20. It would have been of no use, therefore, in proving to them that he was from God, to have worked miracles. He did, therefore, only those things which were the proper work of benevolence, and which could not easily be charged on the devil. He gave “sufficient” proof of his mission, and left them in their chosen unbelief without excuse. It is also true, in spiritual things, that the unbelief of a people prevents the influences of the Holy Spirit from being sent down to bless them. God requires faith. He hears only the prayers of faith. And when there is little true belief, and prayer is cold and formal, there the people sleep in spiritual death and are unblessed.
(barnes note)

With all due respect, the point of my post is that the misperception that free-will exists is the error at bottom. If you disagree, please give us the passage where it is taught that man's choosing is free from God's influence. I believe it is possible to provide upwards of 50 passages wherein man's choice is directed by God.

All one needs to understand is the philosophy (I will provide sources)... tell me, how valuable is love that is not freely given? I mean I can make my computer print "I Love You." a hundred times, a million, what-ever I want... and how much is that worth compared to a friend saying it?

There is no comparison precisely because there is no obligation or even predisposition for it (as there would be in familial relations) because he is my friend. Freely chosen and freely given.

God, in the form of His son Jesus, has called us friends: John 15:15-17
"I don't call you servants now. A servant does not know what his master is doing. But now I call you friends because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and make fruit. I want this fruit to continue {in your life}. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. This is my command: Love each other." (ERV)

Furthermore, to posit that man has no free will is to posit that God created intentionally flawed people (Adam and Eve) and therefore predestined them to sin. But we know that is against God's character, for if he does not even tempt us (James 1:13-14) then how could he predestine out forefather Adam to sin, and thereby infect us all with sin-nature? That is, if free will does not exist, then God is evil in that he purposely made man to sin; but if free will does exist then it was given fully and perfectly (James 1:17); and if it was given fully then the possibility that we would chose to sin must be included therein.

Deuteronomy 30:19 and Joshua 24:15 both deal with choosing; if free will does not exist then the conditional promises are of a fact utterly meaningless. Would you call God's promises nothing? When you deny free will you do so.

Furthermore, the Psalms declare free will (which Jesus recognized as being scripture needful of fulfillment [Lk 24:44]):
Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offering of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgments. -- Psalms 119:108

I read your entire post, but am very interested in the request for you to provide a passage where man’s choices are free from God’s influence. The passage about the “freewill” offerings (notice one word), and the dozen or so other uses of this in the OT are in regard to the sacrafice called, “The freewill offering”. It was called such because there was no written or verbal (from another authority figure) which mandated the giving. A man could give it, if he chose to. The question you must answer, however, is what would cause him to choose? Is the man’s choices unaffected (or perhaps more biblically, “uneffected”) by God?

Your claim that love “...not freely given,” (the old CS Lewis argument) is not biblically supported. You were compelled to use a computer analogy. Please give us a biblical reference to the “philosophical” perspective you claim derives from Scripture. You may have needs to be loved. God does not have that need. What He desires is to display His glory to all of creation. That is its purpose...not to return love to Him. Love existed adequately within the Triune Godhead long before creation.

Additionally, you must deal with
Job 37 – 41
Job 42:2
Jer. 32:17
Prov. 16:9
Is. 45:1
Prov. 16:4
Eccl. 3:1-14
Prov. 21:1
Dan 4:35
Prov. 20:24
Job 14:5
Phil 3:12
Eph. 2:10
Ex 4:11
Ex. 35:35
James 4:13-15
Lam. 3:37-38
Is. 53:10
Acts 4:27-28
I Kings 22:19-23
I Sam 16:14-23,
I Sam 18:10
I Sam 19:9
II Sam 24:1
(1 Chronicles 21:1)
I Cor. 14:33
Ex 14:24
Ex 23:27
Deut 7:23
Deut 28:20
II Thess 2:11
Rom 11:8
II Chron 34:24
Is 37:26,
Amos 3:5,
John 6:44
John 6:65
Isaiah 43:6-7
Rom 14:4
Jude 24, 25
Ephesians 1:11-12
Jeremiah 31:34ff
Phil 1:6

and lot of others making the same claims. God fashioned creation ex nihilo...out of nothing (John 1:1ff). The origin of evil and everything else is obviously from Him. Why does that bother you? He has determined not to use it unfettered, the way you think He must if He created it. Why is that? Because it comports with your categories? Because the philosophers say so, (Bertrand Russell, Epicurus, et al). God has determined to restrain its effects and use after the counsel of His own will...the only “free will” in existence. This is at least one reason to “fear” God. He can do anything He wishes.

And, of course Adam and Eve were created with the propensity to sin. That is what James 1 describes. The extant lust (appetite) was on board at creation. When the opportunity for it to express itself arose (Satan: Has God really said...), it was carried away, conceived and gave birth to sin. Please tell us where the Scriptures say Adam had “free will”? James is dealing with God not “tempting” by dangling a thing in front of you and watching what you will do? It is planned, orchestrated, executed in every man. At least that is what the text says.

I say again, the “calls” for a man to choose (as Joshua said, “Choose this day whom you will serve...” are conditioned upon God directing the man to choose (or not). That is why the prophets would cry, “Why have you caused us to rebel?” and other such tragic truths. If you notice a man “choosing”, you are seeing the operation of God upon His creation. Check Vincent Cheung’s work on the origin of evil.

You may not like it, you may dislike its philosophical implications, you may not even “feel” the effect of God performing His amazing work...that does not change what the text says about man being managed by God. Again, please tell us where the Scriptures teach that man is free from God’s influence.

please tell us where the Scriptures teach that man is free from God’s influence.

Never did I claim, or even hint at, man being free from God's influence.
I fully believe that if God "recalled his spirit" from mankind we would cease to live; that is actually irrelevant to free will though.

God fashioned creation ex nihilo...out of nothing (John 1:1ff). The origin of evil and everything else is obviously from Him. Why does that bother you? He has determined not to use it unfettered, the way you think He must if He created it.

And evil must have the good already present to exist. A lie is meaningless without the Truth; rottenness is meaningless without the fruit; a rust-hole cannot exist independent of the thing rusted.

But to say that God created evil is quite akin to the unforgivable sin: to attribute to God's Holy Spirit the work/evil of Satan.

Your claim that love “...not freely given,” (the old CS Lewis argument) is not biblically supported. You were compelled to use a computer analogy.

Because I happen to be a Computer Scientist; Jesus himself recognized we speak of the things we know.

You may have needs to be loved. God does not have that need.

I never said that God had that need; I said that our love would be utterly worthless if not given freely.

This was not a general declaration..HE WAS ADDRESSING HIS DISCIPLES He did not call YOU His friend..

Ah, so then he didn't intend for them to tell others about his work on Earth? (You know, the thing He said made them his friends.) Wow, so much for the Great Commission.
He's not a personal savior? Guess the group-salvation stuff of liberation theology must be right after all.

Do you even think about the consequence of your theological positions?

And besides that; if things are as you say and I have no free will, then what does it matter that I do or don't? If God is not my friend, then why shouldn't I tremble in terror at the Great Despot? If God is as you paint, giving me no free will and not being my friend; then why should I believe that He intends any good thing for me?

But hey, maybe you're right. Maybe God created me to hate. Maybe God made me simply so he could laugh at my pathetic attempts at life.
After all, your God, being perfectly free creates man in his own image, but without any freedom and with an inherent sin-nature.

No, you must be right and the apostles wrong; surely God did not send his son to die for my sin because He loved me. Surely Jesus never thought of me at all, despite being God himself, and despite him forming me in the womb.

Ah, so then he didn't intend for them to tell others about his work on Earth? (You know, the thing He said made them his friends.) Wow, so much for the Great Commission. He's not a personal savior? Guess the group-salvation stuff of liberation theology must be right after all.

HUH?

You used that scripture to imply that Jesus was speaking about YOU..he was not ..unless you are saved you are an enemy of Gods..not His friend. .

And besides that; if things are as you say and I have no free will, then what does it matter that I do or don't?

If you are not saved it does not matter what you do.. every thing you do is sin.. EVERYTHING even works the world calls good

If God is not my friend, then why shouldn't I tremble in terror at the Great Despot?

Because He is Holy and Righteous and will oe day be your judge.. He can send you to hell..

If God is as you paint, giving me no free will and not being my friend; then why should I believe that He intends any good thing for me?

If you are not saved he has no good intent for you..

But hey, maybe you're right. Maybe God created me to hate. Maybe God made me simply so he could laugh at my pathetic attempts at life.

The purpose of creation is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.. Men will never choose to love God without a movement of His grace on them first..Free will? Man will NEVER choose God.. so his "free will " is no gift .it damns him

After all, your God, being perfectly free creates man in his own image, but without any freedom and with an inherent sin-nature.

Is man still in the image of our Holy and perfect God now? What does the bible tell us?

Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

You need to learn to read scripture..all promises in the scripture do not belong to all men..they were specific to the audience.. and Jesus called the disciples His friends..not you

If you are not saved he has no good intent for you..

Wow! How utterly repugnant, and how utterly stupid, and how utterly contrary to the whole of the bible: If God has no good intent for me then he did not send Jesus to die for my sins, BEFORE I WAS SAVED, in order to save me -- such would be good intent and, according to you, require me to already be saved.
(Indeed, the New-covenant [Jesus], the Abrahamic-covenant, the Noah-covenant, the Adamic-covenant ALL require God's good intent.)

1 John 4:19 (KJV) -- We love him, because he first loved us.
Romans 5:8 -- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

But God does have good intent toward me; He sent Jesus do be the propitiation for my sins. Now let me ask: Who are you to tell me that I am not saved? And who are you to tell me that God has no good intent for me?

No, I think that it is you who has no good intent for me.

"Never did I claim, or even hint at, man being free from God's influence."

Certainly you did. The term "free will" has no meaning if it does not mean that man can make choices completely free from the God. Otherwise you are back to that hybrid, "limited free will" which is not free, at all.

"But to say that God created evil is quite akin to the unforgivable sin: to attribute to God's Holy Spirit the work/evil of Satan."

How is it that God possessed a "knowledge of good and evil" when He ordered Adam to not eat from that tree, if the concept did not exist until creation and someone other than God invented it? Did God "learn" something new? Gen. makes clear, God said that the man had "...become like one of Us, knowing good from evil". If we agree that the Scriptures claim God is immutable, unchanging, thus has always known what He knows, what did He know about evil if it did not exist?

If a man is going to pick red or green sox out of the drawer tomorrow at 10am, free will requires that God not know what choice He would make. Otherwise, God is seeing something which cannot possibly occur differently. If it cannot occur differently, then exactly how "free" is the man? And, if God does not know, are you claiming that God has no foreknowledge? Does He not see what will happen tomorrow? That is a pagan god, not Yahweh, the God of Heaven & Earth.

What is it about the need to be free from God that even those who call themselves believers cling to such a concept? The Scriptures plainly say He turns the hearts of Kings, He causes the dice to roll a certain number, He sics Satan on men, He controls who believes. What is it that makes this an unwelcome truth? Here is my suspicion: They possess a reward system theology, rather than grace.

"Never did I claim, or even hint at, man being free from God's influence."

Certainly you did. The term "free will" has no meaning if it does not mean that man can make choices completely free from the God. Otherwise you are back to that hybrid, "limited free will" which is not free, at all.

Saying that free will does not exist if there is any influence is absurd. Is your choice to, say, paint your house red or blue, or green suddenly not your choice if your mom suggests blue or purple? She certainly has influence, but you have the choice.

Knowledge of something does not necessarily mean the implementation thereof; that is to say that the knowledge of something not the same as the doing of it. You're falling into a mode of thinking similar to those who say one cannot condemn something if they haven't tried it.

Gen. makes clear, God said that the man had "...become like one of Us, knowing good from evil". If we agree that the Scriptures claim God is immutable, unchanging, thus has always known what He knows, what did He know about evil if it did not exist?

Again, you are confusing existence with the possibility of existence; the practice with the theory.

No, that's wrong; that's like saying that you knowing your drug dealing mouthy brother is going to get himself killed [if he doesn't stop] invalidates your brother's choice to stop or continue. Furthermore, it assumes that knowledge of the future invalidates the choices of the present. (This is hard to convey properly precisely because we are temporal beings, bounded by time.)

What I'm saying is that God's foreknowledge does not invalidate free will; they are not mutually exclusive.

Ha! You really seem hung up on the concept that "free will" means "free from God [and all of God's power]" that is not so, God supports and sustains the whole of the Universe.

Why do you claim that the belief that I am responsible for my own actions, having free will, utterly negates a claim that I exist/am-sustained (as all in the universe are) because of God? It's akin, to use the computer metaphor, to saying that I believe that computers don't use electricity because I believe that they can compute; but the truth is that w/o electricity the whole thing is moot because that necessary component is missing.
Just because God keeps me in existence does not mean that I do not have free will. Not any more than not being arrested means that I have committed no crime.

God sends rain to the just and the unjust? (Yes or no).
How can a man be just [or unjust] if he is not responsible for his own actions? and if he is responsible for his own actions, how can it be just for God to punish him if he had no free will? (After all, if he has no free will then he had no choice but to act in that unjust manner and therefore holding him to account for them would be just as absurd as trying to hold a computer to account for following its program.)

Here is my suspicion: those who deny free will make excuses to sin. ("Oh, but Trayvon couldn't help attacking Zimmerman, it was his being raised in a poor neighborhood!")

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