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jude-praying in the holy ghost

6/24/2018

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​Jude – Praying in the Holy Ghost 
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  (Jude 1:20-21)
 
JUDE TELLS HIS READERS HOW TO LIVE during persecution and false teachers. When false teaching takes the place of truth, it is called apostasy. Apostate teaching, apostate teachers. The result is often an apostate church. If Christians are to avoid being sucked in by apostate teachers and apostate teaching, they must go after the Word of God with a passion. If you are lazy and careless about taking in the Word of God on a regular basis, you are meat for the buzzards. That’s just the way it is. A nice carpet and beautiful stained windows are not enough. You need a heavy diet of the Word of God.

WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO FOUR THINGS to keep ourselves strong: 1. Building up on THE most holy faith; 2. Praying in the Holy Spirit; 3. Keeping yourselves in the love of God; 4. Looking for the mercy of God. I’m going to quote McGee heavily today because I think he says it best.

 "BUILDING UP YOURSELVES ON YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH. What does he mean by that? Well, building up yourselves on your most holy faith means that you study the Word of God. It is my conviction that since God gave to us sixty-six books, He meant that we are to study all sixty-six of them—not just John 3 or John 14 and other favorite passages.

“OH, HOW MANY BIBLE CLASSES GO OVER AND OVER THE SAME BOOKS: John, Romans, maybe Ephesians, and they don't miss Revelation. Do not misunderstand me, all those books are very important, but what about the other sixty-two books? Why don't we study all of them? My friend, if you are going to build up yourself on your most holy faith, you must have the total Word of God. You cannot build a house without a foundation; then you will need to put up some timbers that will hold the roof; then you are going to need a roof on it and siding and plaster on the inside. And this is what the total Word of God will do for you. This is what we are to do in days of apostasy.

“BOTH PETER AND PAUL URGED BELIEVERS TO STUDY THE WORD OF GOD in days like these. Paul wrote in his swan song: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed …" (2Timothy 2:15). Then in the next chapter Paul said that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. My friend, the recourse that you and I have as children of God in these days is the Word of God.

“THE REASON MANY FOLK FALL BY THE WAYSIDE IS BECAUSE THE SEED (which is the Word of God) fell among stones. It didn't get deeply rooted. Unless you study all of the Word of God, get down in the good, rich soil, you are not going to become a sturdy, healthy plant. It won't be long until you will be stepped on and the sun will burn you out. You will not be able to stand in days like these.

“PETER IN HIS SECOND EPISTLE, WRITING OF APOSTASY, SAYS, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation" (2Peter 1:19-20). You cannot just pull out one or two little verses and think you have a good knowledge of the Bible. It is a tragedy to build a system of doctrine based on a few isolated verses drawn out of the Scriptures.

“MY FRIEND, CERTAINLY THERE ARE PARTS OF THE WORD OF GOD that youu will not enjoy reading. There are sections that will step on your toes, and you would like to avoid that. But today it is necessary to build up ourselves on our most holy faith because these are days of apostasy.

"YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH" does not refer to your own personal faith. Rather, it is the faith, the body of truth which has been given to us in the Word of God. When the church first came into existence, this was called the apostles' doctrine.

“PRAYING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT MEANS THAT WE PRAY BY MEANS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; we are dependent upon Him. Paul wrote in Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." You and I actually do not know what to pray for. We are like little children.

“WHEN I TAKE MY LITTLE GRANDSON TO THE STORE, HE WANTS EVERYTHING HE SEES. He asks for things that he shouldn't even have because they would not be good for him. Then I think, That's just the way we pray. We are like little children: "Lord, I want this—Lord, give me that." God doesn't always give us what we want. Why doesn't He? Because when we pray like that, we are not praying in the Spirit. We need to learn to let the Holy Spirit make intercession for us." (McGee)

 WE END TO SHY AWAY FROM "PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT."  In fact, we tend to shy away from any kind of praying unless we need something from God really bad. But, if we have to learn everything we know about prayer in our time of desperation, we may come up short on the best way to go about it. We need to study a lot about prayer and do a lot of praying on a regular basis so that we are familiar with praying.

THE DISCIPLES CAME TO JESUS AND ASKED HIM to teach them how to pray like John taught his disciples to pray. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.  (Luke 11:1)

SOMETIMES WHEN WE PRAY IT MAY BE HARD WORK. We struggle to get through. And sometimes, it seems like prayer just falls out of the ceiling and pushes us along. THAT is praying in the Spirit. We need to pray through the hard times of prayer until our hearts are warm and everything is out of the way that hinders us. Jude tells us to PRAY IN THE SPIRIT.

KEEPING OURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD means that we are to keep ourselves in the area where God’s love is operational. God’s love is constant, but it is not manifested in every place and in every condition of our lives. If we are to keep ourselves in the love of God, we must seek Him, seek His will, and obey everything He shows us. THAT is keeping ourselves in the love of God. It is not a matter of persuading God to love us. He loves us at all times. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)

WHEN GOD TOLD ELIJAH TO GO HIDE HIMSELF AT THE BROOK, CHERITH, he said the ravens would feed him there. If Elijah had decided to go to another brook that might suit him better, he would have been hungry soon. The ravens had been sent to a certain place and God’s provision for Elijah was going to be there and nowhere else.

ELIJAH KEPT HIMSELF IN THE PROVISION OF GOD BY OBEYING HIM. We keep ourselves in the love of God by obeying Him. Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.  And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.  (1Kings 17:3-4)

LOOKING FOR HE MERCY OF GOD UNTO, OR IN THE DIRECTION OF ETERNAL LIFE. False teachers are not very big about eternal life. Not when it gets right down to it. They don’t want anything to do with God in a personal way. Oh, they may lie to you about their walk with God and put on a big front. But, if they don’t love the Word of God, then they don’t love the God of the Word.

ETERNAL LIFE IS PRECIOUS TO THE TRUE BELIEVER IN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.  We are to stay active and vibrant in our looking for the mercy of God that ends up in the other room with God. Life is short. Life is troublesome. Life here is full of grief and pain. We are looking for the mercy of God that will usher us into His presence. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 25, 2018 – MONDAY       
A.M.  Job 4-6    P.M.  Acts 7:20-43
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 ●Good Memory Verse:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  (Colossians 3:16)  (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize.)
 
●Song for Today:
Pray ‘Till the Light Breaks Through (3:08) – (Man & Woman With Accordion)                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9m975_J3Pg  You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something you do not want to hear.
 
●Health Hint: Do not use hydrogen peroxide in your mouth for a mouth wash. It will thin the skin in your mouth and make you susceptible to mouth sores. If you get a mouth sore, try applying a blob of Aloe Vera jell in the sore area and close your mouth for a few minutes. (I have had several people ask me about the Health Hint we did some time ago. Will try it again and keep it short. Will still mail occasional page-long Health Hint articles in separate mailings.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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buttering up the prospects

6/22/2018

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 Jude – Buttering Up the Prospects 
    
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. 
 
But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.  (Jude 1:16-19)
 
ALL THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD AND PROFITABLE. But all the Bible is not equally enjoyable.   Enoch and Jude had their work cut out for them. Jude said he had intended to write something about the “common salvation” but the Holy Spirit directed him to write about the apostate devils that would be invading the little bands of Christians scattered in villages beyond Jerusalem. The problem of apostates invading the churches would begin then and would continue throughout the church age. Every church house with a steeple and bell on the roof is not living and preaching the Gospel of Christ.
  
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SPIRIT-FILED MURMURER or a Spirit-filled complainer. God’s people complained and murmured in the wilderness after God had delivered them from their Egyptian slavery in the mud pits. That did not go well, and the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them and they bit many of them.

When they cried out to the Lord, God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it on a pole. (Numbers 21:4-9) All who turned their heads and looked upon the serpent of brass on the pole would be healed. Jesus reminded Nicodemus about that story as they talked at night. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:14-15)
 
JUDE'S POINT IS THAT FALSE TEACHERS, THE APOSTATES, would be whiners and complainers, and they would elevate themselves into influential positions by buttering up certain ones. In today’s lingo, they were snowflakes, hypocrites and manipulators. They were not hard workers and made their living by deceiving the people and drawing their sympathies toward them. They were scoundrels. Their tactic was to spot the people who had money and butter them up. …and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. 
 
IN TODAY'S LANGUAGE, WE WOULD SAY that they played favorites with those who had money and position and would cozy up to them and compliment them in public. Today, we call that “stroking the ego; buttering them up.” In the process of showing favoritism toward certain ones, it wounded the church and developed divisions in the church. Showing partiality is a wicked thing and is highly unproductive. It’s not a good thing in families, in churches, in places of work. In the work place, advancement and benefits should be awarded on merit.
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO, I READ A BIOGRAPHY of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. When he was appointed as the Allied Commander-in-Chief of the war in Europe, he knew he could not play favorites in assigning battle roles for the various generals. He could not play favorites among different armies in allocating fuel and war materials necessary for fighting effectively. The generals under him were human and very jealous. They learned that when they were children. Fairness is important and playing favorites in human endeavors is a no-no. In summer vacation Bible school, children are very sensitive about who gets to ring the bell, who is carrying the flags, etc. These apostates operated by playing favorites among those who could benefit them, personally.
 
JUDE REMINDS HIS READERS THAT THE APOSTLES of the Lord Jesus had already warned them of dangerous people who would elbow their way into positions of leadership. They would be there to satisfy their own lusts for prestige and for whatever was available to satisfy their selfish desires. These apostates did not believe the doctrines of the church. They mocked the Lord that died and rose from the dead and His promise to come back again.  They mocked the seriousness of standing before God to be judged.

We learn much about these mockers by reading Jude’s quotations of Enoch. We can also learn from reading the writings of the Apostle Peter, because these two men had much in common. The mockers would not like the old hymns of today that are so rich in Scripture. Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
 JUNE 22, 2018 – FRIDAY
 A.M.  Esther 4-6     P.M.  Acts 5:17-42
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 Good Memory Verse:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)  (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did. Or, write on a half 3x5 card. I like the bright green cards I got from Amazon. I cut them in half and write them by hand or on my daddy’s 1935 Royal typewriter.)
 
Song for Today:
There is a Fountain (4:13) – (Gaither Group & Vestal Goodman)                              
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PasK3ZFAOPE
 You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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jude: enoch the prophet

6/20/2018

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          Jude –  Enoch the Prophet 
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince (convict) all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.  (Jude 1:14-16)

I CONTINUE TO BE AMAZED AT JUDE'S MESSAGE AND HIS STYLE OF WRITING. His descriptive words of the false teachers are like he was sacking groceries at the grocery store. He’s working to get everything packed into one sack. He borrows description and weight from old Enoch who was the great-grandfather of Noah. Enoch named his son: Methuselah (the oldest man in the Bible). Methuselah’s name means: “When he dies, it shall come.” And when Methuselah died, it wasn’t long until Noah had finished building the ark and the world-wide flood came as a judgment upon the whole earth.

WE DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE HOW JUDE KNEW ABOU ENOCH'S WORDS of preaching. Some prophets wrote and some prophets did not write. (A book is sold today, The Book of Enoch.)  Somehow, Jude knew, and he shared some of Enoch’s thunder with his readers. Enoch never had a pulpit or a building for his preaching. He was a street preacher. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.  (Hebrews 11:5)
 
McGEE MAKES THESE COMMENTS: "Now this prophecy of Enoch, and it is a great prophecy, deals with the judgment upon the organized church which will be in total apostasy after the Rapture. You see, the Rapture will rupture the church—the true believers will leave the earth, and the make-believers will remain and will be here when Christ comes to judge men in that day.”

“This prophecy of Enoch is not found in the Old Testament. In Genesis 5 we have the record of Enoch, but we are told nothing about his prophecy. Enoch is not a common name; so we may be sure that the man Jude mentions is Enoch of the antediluvian period, the man who walked with God and God took him.

McGEE CONTINUES: “Now let me quote what Dr. Wuest has written about this Book of Enoch: The quotation is from the apocryphal Book of Enoch. This book, known to the Church Fathers of the second century, lost for some centuries with the exception of a few fragments, was found in its entirety in a copy of the Ethiopic Bible in 1773 by Bruce. It consists of revelations purporting to have been given to Enoch and Noah. Its object is to vindicate the ways of divine providence, to set forth the retribution reserved for sinners, and so show that the world is under the immediate government of God.

“ENOCH PROPHESIED REGARDING THE FALSE TEACHERS OF THE LAST DAYS, and that is a remarkable thing! God apparently did not want the Book of Enoch in the canon of Scripture or it would be there—you may be sure of that. Godly men recognized that it was an apocryphal book, but here is one prophecy that God wanted put into His Holy Word. It is a prophecy concerning the coming of Christ with His saints.” (McGee)

JUDE HELPS US DETERMINE THE IMPORTANCE OF FALSE TEACHERS IN THE CHURCH, by injecting Enoch’s prophesy of  the Lord (Christ) coming to earth with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment and to convict sinners of their ungodliness. The seventh in the direct line of descent from Adam. (The line of descent is Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahaleel, Jared, Enoch.)
 
JUDE AND ENOCH, ARE LOOKING TO THE END OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD when the saints will come with Christ to execute a final judgment upon the rebels who are yet alive. Please note: if ten thousands of saints are coming back with the Lord to the earth, they had to have left the earth prior to this time. This is a pretty simple observation but it is exactly how Jude quotes Enoch.

SINCE ENOCH WAS ONLY THE SEVENTH FROM ADAM and people were living hundreds of years at that time, Enoch may have known Adam.  God’s judgment will be poured out upon the earth during the seven years of the Great Tribulation and it will be finalized by the Lord’s return with the saints to execute judgment upon the wicked who have managed to survive during the seven years of Tribulation. Among the wicked being judged will be the wicked church that has abandoned the Word of God.

BOTTOM LINE: WHEN YOU HEAR A SERMON OR SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON TODAY, check it out to see if it is in line with the Scriptures. Ω
  
Read Through the Bible in a Year
 JUNE 21, 2018 – THURSDAY
 A.M.  Esther 1-3     P.M.  Acts 5:1-16
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 Good Memory Verse:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)  (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did. Or, write on a half 3x5 card. I like the bright green cards I got from Amazon. I cut them in half and write them by hand or on my daddy’s 1935 Royal typewriter.)
 
Song for Today:
All Hail the Power (3:24) – (Blue Rock Mennonite Choir)                              
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPT3lVSpmo
You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something   
you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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jude: how to fix it

6/20/2018

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                  Jude – How to Fix It? 
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
 
But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
 
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.  (Jude 1:9-13)
 
JUDE, THE HALF-BROTHER OF JESUS SENT OUT A SHORT LETTER to be circulated among several new Jewish churches. Its message has been relevant through the centuries and remains relevant for us today, He was warning us about the problem of false teachers infiltrating and polluting the churches.
 
THIS LETTER MAY NOT BE THE BEST PIECE OF LITERATURE FOR A DEVOTIONAL before we leave home for work in the morning. Jude, himself, declared that when he began writing the letter, he had intended to write something more uplifting and helpful in their Christian walk. He had intended to write to them about the “common salvation.” But, the Holy Spirit interrupted his plan and prompted him to write about the danger of false teachers that would be coming their way.
 
DO YOU THINK WE HAVE OUTLIVED THE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE DANGER of false teachers invading our churches? I don’t think so. America has changed drastically in the last 50 years and we need to stand firm in the faith once delivered to the Saints. Thinking can be hard work, but we need to think some about Jude’s letter. Peter talked about stirring up Christians in his day by way of remembrance. And here, Jude is picking up the trumpet and blasting out some of the same warnings about the corruption of our faith.
 
JUDE PAINTS MORE PICTURES OF THE ENEMIES OF OUR FAITH than any writer I know. Just look at all the bad people he brings up to get his point across. False teachers in the New Testament were as bad as the false prophets of the Old Testament. They were as bad as the worst he could lay his tongue to. It beats anything I remember reading in the Bible, anywhere.
 
THEY HAD CHURCH DINNERS AND THESE PHONY RASCALS were right there to stuff themselves with the food and to use the church meetings in every way they could to benefit themselves. How are they to deal with these charlatans?  Jude doesn’t want to engage in a fist fight in their church meetings. And yet, these evil people must be identified and resisted. His main weapon is to expose them in the worst terms possible.
 
JUDE BRINGS UP MICHAEL, THE ARCHANGEL. Only two angels are mentioned by name in the Bible, Michael and Gabriel and they are archangels, leaders of angels. When Michael was contending with the devil over the body of Moses, Michael did not rebuke the devil but said: “The Lord rebuke you.” One of the characteristics of the false teachers was their critical mouth. They would speak evil of anyone in a heartbeat. Jude brings this up. As a Christian, we are not to throw our weight around in a verbal boxing match. And yet, at the same time, these evil people who were sneaking into their congregations had to be exposed and resisted.
 
WE ARE REMINDED BY PAUL, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  (Romans 12:19)

 BUT IN THIS SETTING OF OPPOSING FALSE TEACHERS, it’s not quite the same as going to battle over one’s private matters. Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem and turned over the moneychanger’s tables and publicly rebuked the offenders. He reminded them that the house of God was not a place of merchandise and making money nor a place of thieves. And, yes, He raised His voice.
 
JUDE WAS WRITING A LETTER AND WAS NOT IN THE PRESENCE of his readers. He identified the culprits that were to be resisted. In the days of the Old Testament Temple, there were door keepers who were responsible for crowd control and to protect the sanctity of the Temple. Jude’s people didn’t have that protection.  They met in houses and anyone could wander in and mingle among the little groups of people.
 
IN OUR DAY, WE HAVE NOT ONLY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KEEPING OUT out false teachers, but it has become necessary for enough people to carry guns to church to shoot any would-be murderer who might come in to kill people. This is a shock to my system because I’m not used to churches being a killing ground for mentally deranged people. I wonder what Jude would say about this? We know that Jesus told His disciples to sell one of their garments and buy a sword to carry with them (Luke 22:36). They would need to depend on the Lord to protect them, but they also needed to protect themselves.
 
THE SHORT BOOKS BY PETER AND JUDE ARE GOOD WAKE-UP BOOKS to warn us to be alert as we meet together to worship God and to fellowship with one another. How to fix it? What were they to do to counter false teachers? We’ll see more about that tomorrow, but at this point, they were to be aware of the danger. Identify false teachers and deny them the dignity of a place of influence and leadership. They were not having encounters and squabbles with these false teachers. A key word in their problem is “unaware.”  They had sneaked in so quietly that the church people were unaware of it.
 
IT IS GENERALLY THE POLICY OF MOST CHURCHES to allow anyone to sit quietly in the church services and listen if they do not try to take over the service or disturb the peace.
 
WHEN WE PREACH THE WORD AND STAND FOR GOD, it can result in bad reactions. I used to do a good bit of street preaching and that was…different. In Chattanooga, on 9th Street, one night in a mission, as one of the preacher-boys was preaching, a crowd gathered outside the door and someone was stabbed. We lost our crowd. They charged out the door to see what had happened. The police and ambulance came. But, that is not the problem Jude was having.
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL TELLS OF HIS BEING STONED and left for dead and Stephen was stoned to death. But that was not the problem Jude’s people were having. There’s no need to allow false prophets take over a service or to worm their way into church and take over the church. I’ve been told by bee keepers that if a strange bee gets into the hive, a few bees will kill the intruder and carry him to the door and cast him out. But the great danger to the people Jude was writing to was not personal attacks.
 
THE PROBLEM JUDE WAS TALKING ABOUT INVOLVED SLICK-TONGUED religious people who could sway enough people to cause a problem. They wormed their way into the congregation and the people never knew what devils they were at the beginning. God did not include the book of Jude in the Bible to take up space. It’s there because it’s needed.
I’ll repeat what Warren Wiersbe said about these false teachers:  1. They reject Divine authority.  2. They resort to deliberate hypocrisy.  3. They will receive their due penalty.” Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
 JUNE 20, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
 A.M.  Nehemiah 12-13     P.M.  Acts 4:23-37
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.
 
Good Memory Verses:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)  (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did. Or, write on a half 3x5 card. I like the bright green cards I got from Amazon. I cut them in half and write them by hand or on my daddy’s 1935 Royal typewriter.)
 
Song for Today:
Praise Him, Praise Him (3:13) – (Choir & Orchestra)                              
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_nIRLD_5gE
   Great song and good performance!  You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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jude: a catalog of evil doers

6/18/2018

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   Jude – A Catalog of Evil Doers
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
 
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.  (Jude 1:4-8)
​
THE WORLD WOULD LOVE TO HAVE AN ELEVATED BOOK OF POETRY that does not mention God’s disfavor with rebellious attitudes and degrading practices. But, alas, if we would like to know the whole truth about us and our Creator, we must have room for the sight of burning cities and water covering the tops of the mountains without the sound of a single bird.

JUDE TOLD US IN VERSE THREE THAT HE HAD PLANNED TO WRITE something about the common salvation; something that would be of value to all his readers who held the faith in common. But the Holy Spirit forbid him to write about that and he was directed to warn his readers about some men who were going to slip into their assemblies and corrupt their knowledge and faith. It is unpleasant to deal with people who smell bad, and even worse to deal with bad people who do not want to fit in to God’s order of things. But, that’s what Jude had to do.

YESTERDAY, McGEE MENTIONED: Apostasy was just a little cloud the size of a man's hand in Jude's day, but now it is a storm of hurricane force that fills the land.  Is that not the case today? A lot of moral rot in America today would be short-lived if the pulpits of our country were filled with thunder and a trumpet of “Thus saith the Lord!”

BUT, ALAS, SO MANY OF OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP HAVE NO MESSAGE from the Lord and instead, are houses of accommodation to whatever sin will drop money in the offering plate. We are bent on helping people feel good about anything that crosses their minds and we have no message from God. The Bible is a closed book and the crosses on the stained-glass windows and front doors of our churches mean whatever the paying people want them to mean.

JUDE PROCEEDED TO TELL HIS READERS THAT HE WOULD PUT THEM in remembrance of the people who came out of Egypt with God’s strong arm, but among those who were delivered were those who went along for the ride and were, unbelievers. That picture is not about eternal life but about the way things played out on their earthly journey. They were not “saved” in an eternal sense. They were saved out of the tyranny and slavery of Egypt. It was an earthly thing. God saved them out of the mud pits used for making bricks.

BUT, THEY WERE NOT ABOUT TO SUBMITE TO THE ETERNAL GOD any more than Pharaoh. Jude reminded his readers that God destroyed those unbelievers who went along for the ride. Jude was preaching no new thing. Everybody knew about it. He says he was just helping them to remember what they already knew.

THE ANGELS THAT JOINED UP WITH LUCIFER AND REBELLED AGAINST GOD were mentioned as an example of the high cost of turning against the Almighty God. Many of these angels are already bound with chains to keep them in prison until their day of judgment. Rebelling against God is a serious thing regardless of who does it, including angels.
 
JUDE BRINGS UP THE CITIES OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH and the neighboring cites that had given themselves over to sexual sin. He mentions that in their practice of sexual sins, they went after strange flesh. No need to go into detail here. Paul deals with this in Romans and it was male going after male and female going after female.

THEN JUDE TELLS HIS READERS THAT AMONG THE FALSE TEACHERS who are on their way to infiltrate their ranks, that they were filthy dreamers. The word filthy is in italics, meaning it is not in the original manuscript. It was added to give the opinion of the translators who felt that they were filthy. McGee makes a good observation about the false teachers.  “They are dreamers—they live in an unreal world, a world that does not exist. My feeling is that the theological liberal has never dealt with reality. Liberalism is rather romantic. It sounds good on paper. It is nice to be able to solve all your problems by positive thinking, but there is a lot of power in negative thinking also. We need today to learn how to say no as well as to say yes. Liberals are dreamers in the sense that they will not face up to reality.”

BUT DON'T FORGET THAT THE TRANSLATORS INSERTED FILTHY INTO THE TEXT.  I think they got it right. Years ago, I remember how the Baptists prided themselves in the idea that the Catholics were having all the unmentionable problems with their priests misbehaving, “but we don’t do stuff like that!” And then we got a little honest with ourselves and it turns out that Baptists have their own version of misbehavior among the leaders of our churches.

JUDE SAYS THAT THE DREAMERS WHO WOULD COME IN AMONG THEM would defile the flesh. They would defile the flesh by leading the church people off into their misbehavior.  The context of this verse is emphasized by the word: likewise.  That is, they would be like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

WE ARE NOW HEARING A LOT ABOUT THE INCLUSIVE CHURCHES WHO ACCEPT people who are engaged in sexual misbehavior and they are honored as regular members of the church. In the name of “love,” the churches no longer tell them that they are to repent of their sins and do not even tell them that their behavior is sinful.

WHEN WE DIG INTO THE MESSGE OF JUDGE AND THE MESSAGE OF 2PETER, we can understand how these two books are so infuriating to a lot of people who say that Christianity is a “hindrance to progress.” In all of this spin-doctoring by the false teachers in the churches, God is not threatened. He is going to have the last word and His word will prevail when they stand before Him to be judged. Jude is very strong in his message of judgment upon these false teachers.

WARREN WIERSBE SUMMARIZES THE FALSE TEACHERS WITH THREE STATEMENTS: 1. They reject Divine authority.  2. They resort to deliberate hypocrisy.  3. They will receive their due penalty.” Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
  JUNE 19, 2018 – TUESDAY
   A.M.  Nehemiah 9-11     P.M.  Acts 4:1-22
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 Good Memory Verse:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)  (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did. Or, write on a half 3x5 card. I like the bright green cards I got from Amazon. I cut them in half and use them for rewriting all my memory verses. I write them by hand or on my daddy’s Royal typewriter.)
 
Song for Today:
There’s A Great Day Coming (2:30) – (The Nashville Singers)                              
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4X8EblMNUo
 A little heavy on the rhythm, but the message is good and very clear. You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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jude - a call to arms

6/18/2018

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            Jude – A Call to Arms     
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
 
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.  (Jude 1:1-3)
 
JUDE WAS THE BROTHER OF JAMES AND BOTH OF THEM WERE HALF-BROTHERS to Jesus. As they grew up in the home of Jesus, none of his brothers thought about their oldest brother, Jesus, being the Promised One that Moses said would come to Israel to be the King of Israel; And certainly not the sacrificial Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world. (For neither did his brethren believe in him.  (John 7:5) It took Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to convince His brothers that He was, indeed, the promised Savior and Jewish Messiah.

JAMES (NOT A DISCIPLE) WAS THE OLDEST OF JESUS' BROTHERS and was the author of the short, New Testament book that bears his name. In case you’re interested, there are five books in the Bible that have only one chapter. If we go by the number of words, they would be listed as: Third John (219 words) Second John (245 words) Philemon (335 words) Obadiah (440 words) Jude (461 words)  This information comes from www.overviewbible.com but it doesn’t say which Bible version was used to do the counting.

JUDE'S 25 VERSES ARE VERY CLOSELY RELATED TO 2nd PETER, especially the 2nd chapter.  While Jude makes no references to Peter or the people to whom he was writing, yet many believe that Jude wrote  his book to be circulated to the same people as Peter’s book. Since it was not addressed to anyone in particular, it is assumed that it was to be circulated. Jude was certainly on the same page with Peter and reinforced what he had to say. It has also been discussed if his book came before or after Peter’s book.

JUDE'S BOOK WAS DISCUSSED BY THE CHURCH FATHERS UNTIL, at last it was recognized as canon, that is, one of the books of the Bible. Jude was familiar with the book of Enoch, which is widely recognized but never counted as a book of the Bible. He mentions Enoch as being the 7th from Adam, which means that Enoch may have known Adam. Enoch was a preacher of righteousness, wrote a book and never died but was taken by God into Heaven (Genesis 5:24). Enoch, Peter, and Jude all have strong opinions about the obnoxious characteristics of false prophets.  This is in stark contrast to the cultural political correctness that prevails in America, where anything goes, except…the Bible and Christianity.
 
McGEE MAKES AN IMPORTANT POINT on “the common salvation.”  “Now, Jude says here that he was planning on writing on some facet of our salvation. It could have been on redemption, on the person of Christ, on sanctification, or any number of themes, but he didn't write on any of those themes because "it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." The thought here is that the Holy Spirit detoured Jude from writing on some theme of the faith in order that he might sound a warning concerning the impending apostasy.” (McGee)

WARREN WIERSBE ADDS TO THAT: “I must confess that I sympathize with Jude. In my own ministry, I would much rather encourage the saints than declare war on the apostates. But when the enemy is in the field, the watchmen dare not go to sleep. The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground.”(Wiersbe)

McGee CONTINUES: “The apostasy is a departure from the faith, that is, from the apostles' doctrine. Apostasy was just a little cloud the size of a man's hand in Jude's day, but now it is a storm of hurricane force that fills the land. As Jude writes about the apostasy that was coming on the earth, we can see that many of the things he mentions are already taking place in the world in our day. My friend, the apostasy is not something we are looking forward to; the apostasy is here. It is all about us today.” (McGee)

FOR THE PAST HUNDRED YEARS IN AMERICA, we have agreed on five fundamentals of the faith as being essential for Biblical agreement. We believe in: 1. The inspiration, preservation and authority of the Bible as the Word of God; 2. The virgin birth of Christ; 3. His sinless life and vicarious atonement upon the cross for the sins of the whole world. 4. His bodily resurrection from the dead. 5. His glorious return to earth to reign with His own.

WHILE WE MAY DISAGREE ON OTHER LESSER IMPORTANT POINTS OF FAITH, fundamental, Bible-believing Christians agree on these things and it is proper for us to be in fellowship with each other upon the common belief of these things. When we read Jude’s words of contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints, we believe that is what we are doing today.

WE MUST CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WITHOUT BEING CONTENTIOUS, ugly, and bone-headed. We are instructed by Paul: And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.  (2Timothy2:24-26)
 
WE CANNOT CONVERT ANYONE. That is not our job. We are witnesses, teachers, preachers, praying people. I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.  (1Corinthians 3:6-7) Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
          JUNE 18, 2018 – MONDAY
       A.M.  Nehemiah 7-8     P.M.  Acts 3
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 Good Memory Verse:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)  (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did. Or, write on a half 3x5 card. I like the bright green cards I got from Amazon. I cut them in half and use them for rewriting all my memory verses. I write them by hand or on my daddy’s Royal typewriter.)
 
Song for Today:
Wonderful Words of Life (3:05) – (Gaither Group + Trio + Solo)                               
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q499q89HOpM
 You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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peter's last words

6/14/2018

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         Peter’s Last Words    
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
 
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 
 
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.  (2Peter 3:14-18)
 
PETER URGED THESE PERSECUTED PEOPLE to “be somebody!” In his two little books, he urged them to: BE WON (1Peter 3:1). To: BE GLAD (1Peter 4:13). To: BE ABLE (2 Peter 1:15). To: BE MINDFUL (2Peter 3:2). To: BE DILIGENT (1Peter 3:14).  To: BEWARE (2Peter 3:17)
 
HE DID NOT WRITE THEM TO ENTERTAIN THEM. His words were direct and to the point. He was a general giving direction to his troops. He didn’t wish for them a good job, good retirement and that their kids would all make good grades in school and marry well. He began by urging them to be diligent in holy living so that they would have peace and be without spot and blameless in their living. He was not there to “market” Christianity as is being done on a big scale in America today.
 
EVERYTHING HE WAS WRITING TO THEM WAS IN THE CONTEXT of the coming judgment of God upon the earth. He said, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent.  There would be no need to be diligent if these things were not coming their way. The same  applies to us today. If you believe the Word of God, it is a mindset, a framework in which to fit all the components of your life.
 
THE NEXT THING TO CONSIDER WAS THAT GOD'S DELAY IN CHRIST'S RETURN to earth is an exercise of God’s mercy and longsuffering (long-allowing) toward unrepentant sinners. There’s an old country ballad that is on-target of this idea:  “Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus” (to help us get our loved ones in.) I first heard this song on the radio when I was a young teen-ager and thought a lot about it. Would God really do that? Should we pray that kind of prayer?
 
I HAD HEARD THE BIBLE PRAYER: He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  (Revelation 22:20) Could it be that we can pray the prayer in Revelation and at the same time to consider Peter’s words: account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation (2Peter 3:15)? Peter mentions that Paul has written along the same line.
 
THE APOSTLE PETER AND THE APOSTLE PAUL AGREE, THEN, that we are to explain the Lord’s delay in pouring out judgment and the return of Christ by saying “it is the Lord’s longsuffering. (The Lord’s extended mercy.) I found that old song and put a link to it for today’s song. It was sung in earnest and it was received in earnest by the radio listeners (before the days of television.)
 
And NOW…I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY SANG THE SONG and why it was so well-received in radio audiences across America. (I doubt if the song was played on he “big band” radio stations that commanded a more sophisticated audience.) If Jesus returned today, I have loved ones to leave behind.
 
THE LAST THING PETER SAID WAS: “beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”  (2Peter 3:18)  Think! Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That was Peter’s best shot at helping these scattered Christians to be strong in the faith. Anything here that might relate to you? Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
 JUNE 15, 2018 – FRIDAY
A.M.  Ezra 9-10     P.M.  Acts 1
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.
 
Good Memory Verses:
For 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: Then 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.  (1Thessalonians 4:16-18) Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did.)
 
Song for Today:
Wait a Little Longer Please Jesus (2:50) – (The Louvin Brothers)                               
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD5VeteiOss   
 You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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the day of the lord

6/13/2018

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               The Day of the Lord   
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
 
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 
 
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.  (2Peter 3:10-13)
 
“THE DAY OF THE LORD" occurs 31 times in the King James Bible. The phrase applies to several different situations in the Bible, at which time God manifests Himself in unusual and powerful ways to a nation or group of people. Twice we read of a day of visitation.
In this passage, Peter “goes the distance” and speaks of the ultimate Day of the Lord, when at last, the heavens and the earth are transformed with fervent heat into a liquid state, accompanied by great noise. McGee makes a good summary statement in the next paragraph that is held by many Bible teachers today.

“BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT." There is some argument as to whether this takes place at the coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom or at the end of the millennial Kingdom. I am convinced that the Day of the Lord is an extended period of time which opens with the Tribulation, followed by the thousand-year reign of Christ, the brief rebellion led by Satan, and the judgment of the Great White Throne. Then, as we find in the Book of Revelation, the new heavens and the new earth come into view.” (McGee) McGee sees a very long Day of the Lord.

I TAKE THE POSITION THAT'S CALLED: Pre-millennial, Pre-tribulation rapture. That is, that Christ will return to earth before the His thousand-year reign on the earth; and that Christians will be raptured or withdrawn from the earth before the 7-year tribulation period.  
WE EXPRESS THE "COMING OF THE LORD" AS BEING IN TWO PHASES. The first is when Christ comes for the saints and we are suddenly taken away. This happens “in the air.” Christ will not set His feet on the ground to do this. There are NO SIGNS for this part of His coming. (The signs, or indicators relate to when He comes to set up His kingdom to rule and reign.)

Then, seven years later, Christ will come back with the saints and His feet will descend to Mount Olivet in Jerusalem; the mountain will split in half and a stream of water will gush from it to give water to the area. Christ will then be enthroned upon the Throne of David in Jerusalem and reign over the entire earth for one thousand years. These three paragraphs require a book to   explain and be properly referenced to Scripture. So, I’m not going to do much of that here.

WE ARE RELATING TO THE WORDS OF PETER AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. Peter goes beyond the thousand-year reign of Christ at which time the earth will be burned with fire and a new earth and the heaven around the earth. There will also be a new city that we call Heaven that will descend from God that is a cube of 2,500 miles and will hover over the earth.

PETER ADMONISHES HIS READERS (which includes us today) to live right, seeing that ultimately the earth is going to burn and be recreated. In other words, don’t get too attached to this earth because it is very temporary.

CHRIST'S COMING FOR THE CHURCH AND RAPTURING IT OUT AS A THIEF in the night, is a very special event, but it is not a time of judgment and therefore is not really a part of the Day of the Lord. McGee, above, is expressing what many Christians believe today who are looking for Christ’s return. That, after the Christians, the Body of Christ is taken from the earth, then will begin the Tribulation of seven years.

THIS IS THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL AND EXPLAINED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. It is a time of tribulation upon the land of Israel and also the whole world when one third of the world’s population will perish. The Jewish Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Roman general: Titus It will be rebuilt on the site where it stood before. Of course, this means that the Islamic claim to that location where the Muslim mosque now stands will be cleared off before the Temple can be rebuilt. That’s another subject that is too big for here except to say, read Ezekiel chapters 38-39.

THIS WILL TAKE PLACE BEFORE OR AT THE VERY BEGINNING of the seven-year tribulation period. Islam will partner with Russia to come against Israel and both will be destroyed by God when the mountains come apart and kill a big portion of the Russian armies and the Islamic allies. It will be very big and will make a stinking mess. The fowls will be summons by God to come and help dispose of the dead. It will take seven months to bury the dead.

WITH THE RUSSIANS AND ISLAMIC FORCES OUT OF THE WAY, the anti-Christ will be free to make a covenant with Israel. It will look great for Israel on the surface. But the peace will last only 42 months. The anti-Christ will break his covenant with Israel and hunt them down like wild dogs. At that time, Israel will recognize that they killed their promised Messiah and will become the greatest Christian evangelists the world has ever seen.

BUT EVERYONE WHO WILL NOT RECEIVE THE MARK OF THE BEAST on their hand or forehead will be subject to death. To be saved in that day will be to take your head in your hand. Decapitation will be a favorite method of execution of Jews and Christians. Enoch and Elijah, the two prophets that never died, will come back to earth and park in Jerusalem and will be the source of agitation to the anti-Christ.

AT LAST, THEY WILL BE KILLED AND WILL LIE IN THE STREET OF JERUSALEM for three days and the whole world will see them. People will celebrate. But, after three days, thee two prophets will rise from the dead and that will be very big problem for the anti-Christ. Well, this is the briefest of summaries, but this takes place before the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ in Jerusalem.

PETER'S PROPHECY BEGINS A THOUSAND YEARS AFTER THE ABOVE. He mentions a new Heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. So, we are to get our minds off the present pleasures and challenges and give some thought to the long haul. God is in charge and we won’t be here long. Live for God. Work at sharing the Word of God.  Got it?  Be sure you get it. Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 14, 2018 – THURSDAY
A.M.  Ezra 6-8     P.M.  John 21
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) You can navigate from one of these references to any place in the Bible. If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 Good Memory Verses:
For 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: Then 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.  (1Thessalonians 4:16-18) Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did.)
 
Song for Today:
There’s A Great Day Coming (1:32) – (The King’s Heralds – Acapella )
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrTzHFD8RWQ               
   You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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not willing that any should perish

6/12/2018

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…Not Willing That Any Should Perish     
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  (2Peter 3:8-9)
 
IN PETER'S DAY, SCOFFERS HAD BEEN RESISTING the idea that Jesus is going to return to earth and that God is going to judge the world by His standard of righteousness. “Where is the promise of His coming?” If Jesus is coming back to set up His kingdom on the Throne of David, when is He coming? Peter answered that God will come in His own good time.

WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME, but God has time behind Him and time in front of Him and is in no hurry. One day is with the Lord is like a thousand years to us. And, to the Lord, a thousand years is like one day to us. God is not slack concerning His promise of Jesus’ return to earth and His warning that God is going to judge the earth. His mercy is giving men more time to repent, to change their rebellious mind toward God and abandon their sinful ways.

McGEE COMMENTS:"This is the reason you and I need to get the Word of God out. It is the only thing that can change hearts and lives. It is by the Word of God that folk are born again—as Peter said in his first epistle, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1Peter 1:23). (McGee)

GOD LOVES YOU AND IS NOT WILLING THAT YOU PERISH. You can hold your umbrella up to keep God’s love from touching you. You may turn your mind away from Jesus dying on the cross to pay for your sins. You may resist the Holy Spirit’s drawing of your spirit toward God. He does not want to have to drag you before Him in judgment and pass sentence on you.

HE WANTS YOU TO PASS FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE and you can do that right now.
You can turn to Him and receive the wonderful salvation He has for you. Just like you are, you can get on your knees and ask God to forgive you of your sins, ask Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Are you willing to do that, right now? I did that one night in October, 1943 and God forgave me of my sins and redeemed me by the blood of the Lamb.

LOOK AT WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO YOU ABOUT BEING SAVED:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  (John 3:3)  I said therefore unto you Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  (John 5:24)… if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.  (John 8:24) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:12-13)
 
IF YOU WANT TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD: …if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.  (Heb 3:15)
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 13, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M.  Ezra 3-5     P.M.  John 20
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) You can navigate from one of these references to any place in the Bible. If you are behind in reading, read the passage for today and then go back.

 Good Memory Verse:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6) Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket to memorize like President Abraham Lincoln did.)
 
Song for Today:
Just As I Am (3:30) – (Samonte Acapella Choir)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxA0TFe3-Uo  
  You may need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE WILLING IGNORANCE OF MEN

6/10/2018

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The Willing Ignorance of Men
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  (2Peter 3:5-7)
 
TWO THINGS FALSE PROPHETS (APOSTATES) WERE WILLINGLY IGNORANT OF:  1) God’s creation of the earth; 2) the flood of Noah’s day. Then Peter added a statement of prophecy: that the earth and the heavens are going to be burned with fire as God’s final great judgment upon the earth and the universe. The false preachers knew it to be true but chose not to talk about it. Just ignore and it will go away. That’s what willful ignorance is about.
 
WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD, THERE WAS MUCH TALK in the early days of the first atomic bombs, that it might be possible to set off a chain reaction that would burn up the atmosphere around the earth and possibly set off a nuclear burning of the earth itself. It never happened, but the talk was there. I remember the talk about it. How could you miss it? It was no secret.  The burning of the sun is nuclear power. Drill down ten miles through earth’s crust and it is a molten mass, a ball of fire.  
 
TODAY, I SEARCHED 19 SOURCES OF COMMENTS ABOUT PETER'S LASHING at apostates who denied the coming of Lord and the coming fiery judgment upon the ungodly. REMEMBER THIS: Peter believed the truth of the Genesis Creation to be so well-established that the apostates knew it and  “ignored it.” Peter did not need to re-tell the creation story or Noah’s flood. Peter’s audience knew about those things.  There was no educational system or entertainment industry to brainwash the new generations out of what was common knowledge among the masses of people.
 
NEITHER DID PETER GO INTO ANY DETAIL ABOUT THE COMING JUDGMENT upon the earth by fire. God’s prophets had been talking about God’s judgment of the earth for centuries before Peter’s letter. Enoch, a generation before Noah, had preached about this. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.  (Jude 1:14-15)
 
THE APOSTATE PREACHERS AVOIDED PREACHING ABOUT GOD'S CREATION of the earth or of Noah’s flood or of any coming judgment upon the earth. Come to think of it, when was the last time you heard a message on these things? Remember, Peter was one of the New Testament apostles and was the same level of Bible writing as the Old Testament prophets. Peter is preaching about the creation, Noah’s flood, and about a coming fiery judgment that is coming upon the earth.
 
THESE THEMES NEED TO BE PREACHED ABOUT TODAY! John MacArthur writes some good things about creation, addressing Genesis: “Creation was God's stepping into the emptiness and bringing the universe into existence, not by uniformitarianism (slow, gradual, millions of years), but by an instantaneous, explosive six-day creation. Everything has not continued along in some consistent, unvarying evolutionary process. In six days of twenty-four hours, the whole universe was created mature and complete.

“THE EARTH WAS FORMED BETWEEN TWO REALMS OF WATERY MASS. During the early part of the creation week, God collected the upper waters into a canopy around the whole earth, and the lower waters into underground reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and seas.
“without form, and void. This means "not finished in its shape and, as yet, uninhabited by creatures" (cf. Isaiah 45:18-19; Jeremiah 4:23). The Hebrew expression signifies a wasteland, a desolate place. The earth was an empty place of utter desolation, existing in a formless, barren state, shrouded in darkness and water or mist of some sort. It suggests that the very shape of the earth was unfinished and empty. The raw material was all there, but it had not yet been given form. God would quickly (in six days) decorate His initial creation (Genesis 2-2:3).

 “THE SECOND GREAT DIVINE CATACLYSM THAT REFUTES THE IDEA OF uniformitarianism (the idea that the earth was created over a period of millions of years.) was the universal flood which drowned the whole earth and altered the world order. According to Genesis 7:11 ff., the flood occurred from two directions: first, the bursting open of the sources of water below as the earth cracked open and gas, dust, water, and air burst up; then, came the breakup of the overhead canopy when hit by all that upward flow, which sent the water from above crashing down on the earth. The deluge was so cataclysmic that the inhabitants of the earth were all destroyed, except eight people and a representation of every kind of animal. Clearly, by those two great events, it is certain that the world is not in a uniformitarian process.”

“WHICH ARE NOW. HUMANITY, SINCE THE FLOOD, LIVES IN THE SECOND WORLD ORDER. One of the obvious differences between the two world orders is that people live about 70 years in the present world, not 900 years, which was a common age of pre-flood human beings. And Peter was making the point that there is a third form of the heavens and earth yet to come following another cataclysm.

“ARE NOW PRESERVED BY THE SAME WORD. The present world system is reserved for future judgment, which will come by the Word of God just as creation and the flood came. God will speak it into existence as well, after the present order is again destroyed.
“reserved for fire. God put the rainbow in the sky to signify that He would never destroy the world again by water (Genesis 9:13). In the future, God will destroy the heavens and the earth by fire (cf. Isaiah 66:15; Daniel 7:9-10; Micah 1:4; Malachi 4:1; Matthew 3:11-12; 2Thessalonians 1:7-8). In the present universe, the heavens are full of stars, comets, and asteroids.

THE CORE OF THE EARTH IS ALSO FILLED WITH A FLAMING, BOILING LIQUID lake of fire, the temperature of which is some 12,400 degrees Fahrenheit. The human race is separated from the fiery core of the earth by only a thin 10-mile crust. Far more than that, the whole of creation is a potential fire bomb due to its atomic structure. As man from atoms creates destructive bombs that burn a path of death, so God can disintegrate the whole universe in an explosion of atomic energy.

“UNTIL THE DAY OF JUDGMENT...OF UNGODLY MEN. The earth waits for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people. The godly will not be present on earth when God speaks into existence the judgment by fire (cf. 1Thessalonians 1:10; 1Thessalonians 5:9). (John MacArthur)

DR. WARREN WIERSBE, FORMER PASTOR: MOODY CHUCH IN CHICAGO: makes these comments: “A scoffer is someone who treats lightly that which ought to be taken seriously. The people in Noah’s day scoffed at the idea of a judgment, and the citizens of Sodom scoffed at the possibility of fire and brimstone destroying their sinful city. If you have tried at all to witness for Jesus Christ, you have no doubt met people who scoff at the idea of hell or a future day of judgment for this world.

“WHY DO THESE APOSTATES SCOFF? Because they want to continue living in their sins. Peter made it clear that false teachers cultivate “the lust of uncleanness” (2Peter 2:10) and allure weak people by means of “the lusts of the flesh” (2Peter 2:18). If your lifestyle contradicts the Word of God, you must either change your lifestyle or change the Word of God. The apostates choose the latter approach, so they scoff at the doctrines of judgment and the coming of the Lord.

“WHAT IS THEIR ARGUMENT? THE UNIFORMITY OF THE WORLD. “Nothing cataclysmic has happened in the past,” they argue, “so there is no reason to believe it will happen in the future.” They take the “scientific approach” by examining evidence, applying reason, and drawing a conclusion. The fact that they willfully ignore a good deal of evidence does not seem to disturb them.

“THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH WORKS ADMIRABLY IN MATTERS THAT RELATE to the material universe, but you cannot take Bible prophecy into a laboratory and treat it as though it were another hypothesis. For that matter, the so-called “laws of science” are really only educated conclusions based on a limited number of experiments and tests. These laws are generalizations, always subject to change, because no scientist can perform an infinite number of experiments to prove his claim. Nor can he completely control all the factors involved in the experiments and in his own thinking.

“THE WORD OF GOD IS STILL "A LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN A DARK (SQUALID) PLACE” (2Peter 1:19). We can trust it. No matter what the scoffers may claim, God’s day of judgment will come on the world, and Jesus Christ shall return to establish His glorious kingdom. (Warren Wiersbe) Ω


Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 11, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M.  2Chronicles 34-36      P.M. John 19:1-22
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

 Good Memory Verse:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6) Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket like President Abraham Lincoln did.)
 
Song for Today:
I Shall Know Him (4:31) –(Male Sextet – Gaither Group – Cliff Barrow’s Funeral)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABgbG2X9s8U  
 You WILL need to delete an ad or turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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    Dan Carr is a "retired" pastor, writer, teacher and continues to write at this website. This blog and other articles are e-mailed free to anyone who wants them. Go to: 
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    Dan and Barbara live 
    at Flat Rock, AL between Chattanooga, TN and Huntsville, AL. on Sand Mtn.
    We enjoy gardening, reading, church, family and friends.

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