Podcasts about gentiles

Lauren Fletcher offers a deeply personal reflection on faith amid silence and struggle, grounded in 1 Thessalonians 5:17—“Never stop praying.” Through seasons of mental health battles, loss, and uncertainty, Lauren discovered a profound truth: even when we can’t hear God, He still hears us. This devotional reminds believers that prayer isn’t about perfect words or constant clarity—it’s about trust in a faithful God who listens, comforts, and moves on our behalf, even in the quiet. Highlights God hears every prayer, even when we can’t sense His presence or voice. Our past wounds may resurface, but God uses them to bring healing and intimacy with Him. Prayer doesn’t have to be long or eloquent—sometimes, a simple “Help me, Lord” is enough. The Holy Spirit and Jesus Himself intercede for us when we can’t find the words (Romans 8, John 17). Faith grows not in certainty, but in persistence—continuing to pray and believe when life feels silent. Join the Conversation Have you ever gone through a season where you couldn’t hear God clearly? How did you keep praying through it? Share your story to encourage others who are struggling to stay connected in faith. Tag @LifeAudioNetwork and use #KeepPraying #FaithThroughSilence #GodStillHears to join the conversation.

Mark 7:24-30 (ESV)Andrew, Isack, and Edwin discuss Jesus's interaction with the Syrophoenician woman. Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.    Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.    Join the Facebook community and join the conversation by clicking here. We'd love to meet you. Be a guest among the Christians who meet on Livingston Avenue. Click here to find out more. Michael Eldridge sang all four parts of our theme song. Find more from him by clicking here.   Thanks for talking about the text with us today.________________________________________________If the hyperlinks do not work, copy the following addresses and paste them into the URL bar of your web browser: Daily Written Devo: https://readthebiblemakedisciples.wordpress.com/?p=23192The Christians Who Meet on Livingston Avenue: http://www.christiansmeethere.org/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TalkAboutTheTextFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/texttalkMichael Eldridge: https://acapeldridge.com/ 

Erin welcomes back fellow comedian, trainer and new mom Lindsey Gentile to the weight room. They talk “bounce back” mom culture, C-Section recovery and how to best stretch your back while hanging over a cribSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Job 11-12; Acts 15-16 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On this October 22nd episode, your Bible reading coach Hunter guides us on day 296 of our journey through scripture. Today, we're diving into Job chapters 11 and 12, where we hear Zophar's pointed response to Job and Job's own powerful reflections on God's wisdom and sovereignty. Then, we turn to Acts 15 and 16, walking with Paul, Barnabas, and the early church as they wrestle with what it truly means to follow Christ—wrestling with old traditions, experiencing miraculous events, and witnessing the beautiful simplicity of faith and grace in action. Hunter reminds us that it's all too easy to let religion complicate our relationship with God, but the saving love of Christ is offered to each of us—freely, simply, and without distinction. Through prayer, reflection, and encouragement, this episode invites you to lay down your burdens, live in the sufficiency of God's grace, and keep moving forward in faith. Let's open the Scriptures together and rekindle our hearts by the fires of God's love. TODAY'S DEVOTION: Let's not make it difficult. That's the heartbeat from today's reading, echoing from the council at Jerusalem and resounding in the gospel itself. James spoke those words in Acts: let's not make it difficult for people to come to God. And yet, so often, our human nature, our systems, our religions, much like those early believers who wanted to add circumcision to the requirements of faith, try to put hurdles in the way. The question was, Who is in and who is out? Is it by human effort, tradition, or ritual? Is there some check box, some work or procedure, some pedigree that makes us right with God? But if we're not careful, the simple invitation of Christ becomes a complicated checklist. The apostles—Paul, Peter, James—they recognized how quickly we can move from freedom into burdens. But the truth, straight from the heart of God, is that nothing stands in the way of experiencing His love through Christ. God's life, His gracious gift, offered to all—Jew and Gentile, man and woman, young and old—is received by faith alone, not by effort, not by merit, not by works, not by anything we can add. The letter that went out from Jerusalem is a letter for us, too. It's a call back to simplicity, to childlike trust. “He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts through faith. We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” That's the message. Don't let your heart or religion complicate what Christ has made simple. Even the things we cling to as saviors—our rules, our observance—cannot save us. Lay them down. Receive the gift: the righteousness that comes by faith in the finished work of Christ. Put away the extra burdens, the additions, the anxiety of performance. Trust Him. Rest in His love. Walk in the gift that's been given to you—full acceptance, full forgiveness, full belonging—in Christ alone. Live in the sufficiency of God's life in you, today and every day. That's a prayer I have for my own soul. It's the prayer I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 - For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing. … At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Job 9-10; Acts 13-14 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! In today's episode, host Hunter walks with us through day 295 of our journey in Scripture. We'll be diving into Job chapters 9 and 10, exploring Job's honest wrestling with suffering and God's justice, and then traveling to the book of Acts, chapters 13 and 14, where Barnabas and Paul boldly proclaim the life-changing message of Christ's grace—a message that meets both miraculous acceptance and real resistance. Hunter encourages us to draw courage from the grace that meets us where we are, reminding us that in a “grace-resistant world,” it's only through Christ's love that our lives are transformed. The episode is filled with heartfelt prayers, reflections on what it means to belong to God's family, and an invitation to keep moving forward together, one step at a time, opening our hearts to the living Word. So take a moment, settle in, and let God's Word direct your heart today. You're loved, you're invited, and you're not alone on this journey. Let's get started! TODAY'S DEVOTION: Living in Grace in a Grace-Resistant World. The beautiful message brought by Barnabas and Paul is God's grace—for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. All are invited, all are included, into the triune life of God. What does that look like in real life? This grace isn't earned by obedience to the law, personal piety, or virtue. It comes simply through Christ and what He has done. Jesus, God's Messiah, has offered Himself on the cross as humanity's answer—an answer to sin and death, an answer that gives us power to live this life today. The Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us. This message of grace has real, transformative power. It has the power to change your life, my life, every human life. But as powerful and good and gracious as this message is, it meets resistance. Other powers, other messages, seek to steer our lives. Often, we find ourselves colluding with those lesser powers, trying to survive in this broken world. But when we do, we survive as slaves—not as sons and daughters. True freedom comes only when we embrace grace, when we truly step into the life Christ offers. In Him, we're set free. Our eyes are opened—to see Him and to know who we are in Him. We're given power, by His Spirit, to live this life now in Him. But don't be fooled; the world resists grace. Paul and Barnabas remind the believers in Acts 14:22, “We must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” This is a grace-resistant world. But it's only grace—the grace of Christ—that brings true life and transformation. It's only Him. Are you facing resistance? Don't be surprised. Draw courage from the fact that grace has come to you, has found you, has included you. Christ has offered His life for you. So rejoice now! Let this powerful message of Christ's grace meet you, comfort you, and confront every resistant place in your heart, so He can transform you completely, by His love. That's a prayer I have for my own soul. That's a prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's a prayer I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Episode Synopsis:C. S. Lewis brought a biblical expression from Paul into the broader evangelical world in his influential 1941 sermon “The Weight of Glory,” based upon 2 Corinthians 4:17.  Lewis points out that glory, as used by Paul, is a not a ‘flimsy” thing, but something substantial and abiding.  Unlike the shadows of affliction, the denseness of heavenly glory is something real and solid.  Since his sermon was widely read and discussed, Lewis made the phrase “the weight of glory” one of the most significant and well-known themes in 2 Corinthians, along with other well-known phrases from Paul, such as “jars of clay” and “he made him who knew no sin to be sin.”  The former is Paul's description of human weakness (which we covered last time), while the latter is tied to Paul's discussion of Christ's reconciling work upon the cross–a matter which we will address next time (2 Corinthians 5:21).If our bodies are mere jars of clay or tents, as Paul puts it, then our outer selves (our bodies) are destined to grow old and eventually fail–as a clay jar crumbles and as a tent wears out.  Paul uses Greek categories (which his audience would understand) to speak of an inner and outer self, yet without the dualism typical of Platonic philosophy.  Paul sees such things through the lens of Christian eschatology–this age and the age to come, as well as through the categories of seen (our current existence) and the unseen (our heavenly existence).  The unseen remains just over the horizon where we cannot see nor experience it until we enter the Lord's presence.While we experience all sorts of afflictions and troubles in this life, Paul's point in our text for this episode (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10) is that our inner self is simultaneously being renewed in anticipation of the weight of glory–even as our outer self wastes away.  Despite what Paul has been through in his dealing with the Corinthians, the difficulties he has faced throughout the Gentile mission must be seen in light of the glory yet to come.  Since the Christian knows that our faith is grounded in the fact of Christ's cross and empty tomb, so the Christian hope is immediate entrance upon death into the presence of God (ensured by the indwelling Holy Spirit) followed by our own resurrection from the dead at the end of the age.  So even as we live this life in the midst of death, we anticipate the “weight of glory” yet to come since we are given a foretaste even now through the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: Yud Gimmel Tishrei What was unique about the Rebbe Maharash? How did the Rebbe explain (on 13 Tishrei 5740) the words of the Baal HaHilula: “Now we have to go visit my father and hear what is happening? What practical lessons can we learn from the Rebbe Maharash? Does a Rebbe ever "leave" us?How could such an atrocity happen on the day when G-d's essence is revealed? Why should we go to shul if that makes us targets? What would the Rebbe say to these congregants and to the broader Jewish community to strengthen them? What is the origin of the Sukkos holiday? What is the personal significance of this holiday? Is Sukkos a continuation of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur? How does it help us internalize the light and energy of Yom Kippur? What do we learn from the fact that the sukkah is the only mitzvah that surrounds our entire body? Why doesn't Chabad sleep in the Sukkah? Since Sukkot foreshadows the Messianic era, why do we focus on temporary dwellings rather than permanent redemption? What is the personal spiritual meaning of the four species? What is the significance of the Ushpizin and the Chassidishe Ushpizin? Why was Sukkos established in the rainy season of autumn and not close to the Passover spring season? Why do we care what the Gentiles would say? What is the meaning of the Musaf prayers about the seventy bull offerings? What is the connection between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur with Hoshana Rabba, Shemini Atzeret and Simchas Torah? Does Hoshana Rabba represent yechida within yechida? On which holiday of this month is our livelihood determined – Rosh Hashana, or Shemini Atzeres when the amount of rainfall is established? What is the history behind the Sefer Torah the Rebbe danced with on Simchas Torah? How can women fully experience Simchas Torah? What is the meaning behind the story that the angels found shoe soles in Gan Eden the morning after Simchas Torah?Manchester Yom Kippur terrorist attack Chassidus Applied to Sukkos  Hoshana Rabba Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah 

Upon careful reading, the Gentiles in Rome already knew the Torah before Paul addressed them. As Allan Aguirre explains, for Christians today to use the book of Romans to justify an anti-Torah stance is a complete misunderstanding of what Paul’s letter is all about. Join this channel to get access to perks: / @aroodawakening Watch more on the Michael Rood TV App! https://bit.ly/2X9oN9h Join us on ANY social media platform! https://aroodawakening.tv/community/s... Your Donation keeps these videos going! Thank you! https://aroodawakening.tv/donate/ Support us by visiting our store! https://roodstore.com/ Support us with purchases on Amazon!* https://amzn.to/3pJu9cC Have Questions? Ask us Here! https://aroodawakening.tv/support/con... "PLEASE NOTE: This is an affiliate link. This means that, at zero cost to you, A Rood Awakening! International will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) The New Covenant includes a m... More...

Philippians 1:12 - Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. (NIV) 1. Paul’s problems didn’t stop his mission; they propelled his mission. Philippians 1:12 - Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me… (NIV) 2 Corinthians 11:25 – Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea (NIV) 2 Corinthians 11:26 - I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.  (NIV) 2 Corinthians 11:27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (NLT) Philippians 1:12-14 - Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (NIV) 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (NIV) 2. Paul used his earthly trials to give people heavenly hope 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 - For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (ESV) Philippians 1:12-13 - Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,[b] that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.  13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. (NIV) Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV) Philippians 4:21-22 - Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. 22 All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. (NIV)

Acts 10:44-48 – Gentiles and the Holy Spirit

Dr. O. Palmer Robertson joins Camden Bucey to discuss his newest book, Christ of the Consummation, Volume 2: The Testimony of Acts and Paul. Building on the legacy of Geerhardus Vos, Robertson shows how the testimony of the early church—empowered by the Spirit—proclaimed Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. From Pentecost to Paul's missionary journeys, from household baptisms to soaring prison epistles, this episode traces the redemptive-historical unfolding of God's Word. Robertson explains why biblical theology is the vital “nerve system” connecting exegesis and doctrine, how Paul's letters fall into three key phases, and why every New Testament book points us to the hope of Christ's return. Whether you're a pastor, student, or simply longing to see Christ in all of Scripture, this conversation will encourage you to persevere in faith, proclaim the Gospel with confidence, and live with expectant hope of His coming. 00:07 Introduction 07:02 Describing Biblical Theology 10:37 The Book of Acts 12:25 The Inclusion of the Gentiles 21:02 The Historical Progression of Paul's Letters 26:14 Paul's Eschatology 32:51 Deep Theology and Practical Application 35:47 The Expectation of Christ's Return 41:35 The Original Apostolic Witnesses 52:27 Conclusion

The story of Jesus doesn't begin in Bethlehem - it begins in Genesis. Rabbi Jason Sobel joins us to explore how the whole Bible, from creation to new creation, points to one Messiah and one redemptive plan. His new book, Transformed by the Messiah, invites readers to rediscover the power of Scripture as one seamless narrative rather than two disconnected halves. In this episode, we trace how the Hebrew Scriptures set the stage for the Gospel: Joseph's betrayal and restoration, the feasts that frame the Kingdom, and the prophetic rhythms that pulse beneath every New Testament page. Jason shows how the Messiah fulfills - not replaces - Israel's story, inviting both Jew and Gentile into God's covenant promises. We also talk about how this restored vision transforms how we live - rooted in God's faithfulness, connected to His appointed times, and awakened to a Messiah who holds all of Scripture together. The goal isn't to add something new but to recover what's been there all along: the unity, beauty, and coherence of God's Word from beginning to end. Key Takeaways The Bible tells one continuous story of redemption, not two separate Testaments. Transformed by the Messiah helps readers see how every part of Scripture points to Yeshua. The Old Testament provides the framework; the New Testament reveals the fulfillment. Joseph's life foreshadows Messiah's rejection, suffering, and ultimate reconciliation. The biblical feasts - especially Sukkot - reveal the shape of God's Kingdom plan. Seeing Jesus through His Jewish context restores depth and meaning to our faith. Transformation in Messiah is holistic: spiritual, emotional, relational, and physical - reflecting God's shalom. Chapter Markers 00:00—Welcome & Israel tour crossover 01:17—Rabbi Jason's encounter and journey to Yeshua 08:02—Bridging Old and New without “strange fruit” 15:28—Transfiguration and Sukkot explained 20:02—Numbers, gematria, and the “vav” 27:31—Behind the scenes of The Chosen 32:50—Living Jewish after Oct 7 38:58—Simchat Torah and hostages timing 41:52—Sukkah vs. “roof” (Gog) insight 47:27—End-times drift and loving Israel's Messiah 49:36—From information to formation: practices 54:15—Book release details & where to find it 57:52—Pre-order and why it matters 58:20—Shalom and close This episode invites you to read the whole Bible in high definition - seeing Yeshua where the story has always pointed. Explore more resources at The Jewish Road, dive deeper through Fusion Global at fusionglobal.org, and pre-order Rabbi Jason Sobel's new book, Transformed by the Messiah, to experience how the Jewishness of Jesus brings Scripture - and your life - into full color.

When Jesus cursed cities that had seen His miracles and not repented, He said that it would be worse for them than for Gentiles that had not known God. Most religions have some concept of hell and eternal punishment, but we can look directly to what Christ said. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man ended up in a place of separation and torment, whereas Lazarus was taken to heaven by angels. The right starting point for the Christian is not to ask how to avoid going to hell but to begin a right relationship with God, following and trusting Christ. VF-2175 Luke 16:19-31 Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2025 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D, All Rights Reserved

“Responding to Attacks on the Papacy” This episode explores the role of the pope in the Catholic Church, addressing questions like the implications of priest celibacy in light of 1 Timothy 3 and the reasoning behind Timothy’s circumcision by Paul. Additionally, we delve into the Church’s stance on alcohol and its interpretation of love in Romans. Join The CA Live Club Newsletter: Click Here Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 02:34 – I'm not Catholic because I don't believe that the pope holds Peter's office. 21:06 – What are your thoughts on priest celibacy in light of 1 Tim. 3? 30:24 – If Paul was sent to the Gentile, why did he have Timothy circumcised? 33:07 – Why is alcohol permitted in the Catholic Church? 43:55 – How do Catholics understand Paul in Romans saying love is the fulfillment of the law? Is Paul solely referring to Jewish customs?

Welcome to the Podcast of Southwest Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Arizona. WHO ARE WE? • We are a group of people who are committed to living the grace life as set forth by the apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul. • We come together to study our Bibles, and yes, we believe we have God's perfect Word in the King James Bible. It and it alone is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice! • We do not come together and study our Bibles for the intent of being smarter than others. We understand that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is purely vain and serves no Godly purpose. • We do come together and study our Bibles for the intent of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that we have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live; yet not us, but Christ liveth in us: and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that because Jesus Christ shed His blood for us and we should not live for ourselves but for Him, who died for us and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15) • We do not claim to have attained to these lofty goals, but we press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) You can donate to this ministry through www.butnow.org and the PayPal button on the homepage.

Send us a textWhat if the kind of peace you crave isn't a feeling but a fact secured by a Person? We open with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego staring down a furnace and refusing to bow, then follow that courage to its source: reconciliation with God through Jesus that turns every outcome into a win. That's why believers can smile through loss; not because life is soft, but because the war with God is over and Christ stands as our advocate.From there, we dig into mercy with precision. Mercy isn't vague kindness; it's divine compassion that refuses to give us what our sins deserve. Lamentations 3 becomes our anchor—new mercies, every morning. We ask what this demands of us in real life: fewer thunderbolts in our comments, more restraint with people who may deserve our sharpest words. Mercy becomes discipleship: durable love that feels like Jesus.We also wade into contested terrain—temple, abomination of desolation, and the millennium—without getting lost in speculation. Centering on Christ as the true temple and His present reign resets the conversation: our hope isn't a calendar, it's a King. That insight sets up the heart of the episode: the Israel of God is the single family God promised, made of Jew and Gentile who trust Christ by faith. No nationalism, no sectarian labels, no dividing the body. We challenge one another to test the spirits, look for the fruit of the Spirit, and live the five solas with humility.If you're hungry for peace that holds, mercy that transforms, and a church that looks like one family, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review with the scripture that anchors your hope. What's the one passage you turn to when the heat rises?Support the show

It's part 2 of our dive into the Insect Apocalypse, with our good friend Dr. Jason Dombroskie from the Cornell University Insect Collection!In this part, Jason fills us in on the drivers of the Insect Apocalypse and - most importantly - what we can do about it.This episode was recorded on August 21, 2025 at Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area in Dalton, NY.. Episode NotesDuring the episode, we made the claim that 40 million acres of the US is lawn, and that that area is equal to all of the country's National Parks put together. True? Well, sort of. The claim that the U.S. has about 40 million acres of lawn—roughly equal to all our national parks combined—is only partly true. A NASA-funded study led by Cristina Milesi estimated that turfgrass covers about 128,000 km² (≈31 million acres) of the continental U.S., making it the largest irrigated “crop” in the country (Milesi et al., Environmental Management, 2005; NASA Earth Observatory). Later analyses and popular summaries often round that up to ≈40 million acres (e.g., Scienceline, 2011; LawnStarter, 2023). By comparison, the total land area of all officially designated U.S. National Parks is about 52.4 million acres, while the entire National Park System—which also includes monuments, preserves, and historic sites—covers about 85 million acres (National Park Service, 2024). So while lawns and parks occupy areas of similar magnitude, lawns do not actually equal or exceed the combined area of the national parks. Is it better to mulch leaves on your lawn or leave them be? Here's what we found: It's generally best to mulch your leaves with a mower rather than rake or remove them. Research from Michigan State University found that mowing leaves into small pieces allows them to decompose quickly, returning nutrients to the soil and reducing weeds like dandelions and crabgrass (MSU Extension, “Don't rake leaves — mulch them into your lawn”, 2012). Cornell University studies similarly show that mulched leaves improve soil structure, moisture retention, and microbial activity (Cornell Cooperative Extension, “Leaf Mulching: A Sustainable Alternative”, 2019). However, in garden beds, wooded edges, or under shrubs, it's often better to leave leaves whole, since they provide winter habitat for butterflies, bees, and other invertebrates that overwinter in leaf litter (National Wildlife Federation, “Leave the Leaves for Wildlife”, 2020). The ideal approach is a mix: mow-mulch leaves on grassy areas for turf health and leave them intact where they naturally fall to support biodiversity and soil ecology. Episode LinksThe Cornell University Insect Collection Also, check out their great Instagram feedAnd their annual October event InsectapaloozaFind out more about the recently discovered species of Swallowtail, Papilio solstitius, commonly known as the Midsummer Tiger Swallowtail- https://www.sci.news/biology/papilio-solstitius-13710.htmlSponsors and Ways to Support UsThank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes.Support us on Patreon.Works CitedBiesmeijer, J.C., Roberts, S.P., Reemer, M., Ohlemuller, R., Edwards, M., Peeters, T., Schaffers, A.P., Potts, S.G., Kleukers, R.J.M.C., Thomas, C.D. and Settele, J., 2006. Parallel declines in pollinators and insect-pollinated plants in Britain and the Netherlands. Science, 313(5785), pp.351-354. Boyle, M.J., Bonebrake, T.C., Dias da Silva, K., Dongmo, M.A., Machado França, F., Gregory, N., Kitching, R.L., Ledger, M.J., Lewis, O.T., Sharp, A.C. and Stork, N.E., 2025. 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Conservation of moths in The Netherlands: population trends, distribution patterns and monitoring techniques of day-flying moths. Journal of Insect Conservation, 8(2), pp.109-118. Haddad, N.M., Haarstad, J. and Tilman, D., 2000. The effects of long-term nitrogen loading on grassland insect communities. Oecologia, 124(1), pp.73-84. Hallmann, C.A., Sorg, M., Jongejans, E., Siepel, H., Hofland, N., Schwan, H., Stenmans, W., Müller, A., Sumser, H., Hörren, T. and Goulson, D., 2017. More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas. PLoS ONE12 (10): e0185809 Hallmann, C.A., Ssymank, A., Sorg, M., de Kroon, H. and Jongejans, E., 2021. Insect biomass decline scaled to species diversity: General patterns derived from a hoverfly community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002554117. Harris, J.E., Rodenhouse, N.L. and Holmes, R.T., 2019. Decline in beetle abundance and diversity in an intact temperate forest linked to climate warming. Biological Conservation, 240, p.108219. Hembry, D.H., 2013. Herbarium Specimens Reveal Putative Insect Extinction on the Deforested Island of Mangareva (Gambier Archipelago, French Polynesia). Pacific Science, 67(4), pp.553-560. Høye, T.T., Loboda, S., Koltz, A.M., Gillespie, M.A., Bowden, J.J. and Schmidt, N.M., 2021. Nonlinear trends in abundance and diversity and complex responses to climate change in Arctic arthropods. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002557117. Huryn, A.D. and Wallace, J.B., 2000. Life history and production of stream insects. Annual review of entomology, 45(1), pp.83-110. Kawahara, A.Y., Reeves, L.E., Barber, J.R. and Black, S.H., 2021. Eight simple actions that individuals can take to save insects from global declines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002547117. Leuenberger, W., Doser, J.W., Belitz, M.W., Ries, L., Haddad, N.M., Thogmartin, W.E. and Zipkin, E.F., 2025. Three decades of declines restructure butterfly communities in the Midwestern United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(33), p.e2501340122. Liang, M., Yang, Q., Chase, J.M., Isbell, F., Loreau, M., Schmid, B., Seabloom, E.W., Tilman, D. and Wang, S., 2025. Unifying spatial scaling laws of biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Science, 387(6740), p.eadl2373. Lister, B.C. and Garcia, A., 2018. Climate-driven declines in arthropod abundance restructure a rainforest food web. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(44), pp.E10397-E10406. Owens, A.C., Pocock, M.J. and Seymoure, B.M., 2024. Current evidence in support of insect-friendly lighting practices. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 66, p.101276. Myers, L.W., Kondratieff, B.C., Grubbs, S.A., Pett, L.A., DeWalt, R.E., Mihuc, T.B. and Hart, L.V., 2025. Distributional and species richness patterns of the stoneflies (Insecta, Plecoptera) in New York State. Biodiversity Data Journal, 13, p.e158952. Pilotto, F., Kühn, I., Adrian, R., Alber, R., Alignier, A., Andrews, C., Bäck, J., Barbaro, L., Beaumont, D., Beenaerts, N. and Benham, S., 2020. Meta-analysis of multidecadal biodiversity trends in Europe. Nature communications, 11(1), p.3486. Pinkert, S., Farwig, N., Kawahara, A.Y. and Jetz, W., 2025. Global hotspots of butterfly diversity are threatened in a warming world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, pp.1-12. Raven, P.H. and Wagner, D.L., 2021. Agricultural intensification and climate change are rapidly decreasing insect biodiversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002548117. Rodrigues, A.V., Rissanen, T., Jones, M.M., Huikkonen, I.M., Huitu, O., Korpimäki, E., Kuussaari, M., Lehikoinen, A., Lindén, A., Pietiäinen, H. and Pöyry, J., 2025. Cross‐Taxa Analysis of Long‐Term Data Reveals a Positive Biodiversity‐Stability Relationship With Taxon‐Specific Mechanistic Underpinning. Ecology Letters, 28(4), p.e70003. Salcido, D.M., Forister, M.L., Garcia Lopez, H. and Dyer, L.A., 2020. Loss of dominant caterpillar genera in a protected tropical forest. Scientific reports, 10(1), p.422. Sánchez-Bayo, F. and Wyckhuys, K.A., 2019. Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological conservation, 232, pp.8-27. Schowalter, T.D., Pandey, M., Presley, S.J., Willig, M.R. and Zimmerman, J.K., 2021. Arthropods are not declining but are responsive to disturbance in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002556117. Sedlmeier, J.E., Grass, I., Bendalam, P., Höglinger, B., Walker, F., Gerhard, D., Piepho, H.P., Brühl, C.A. and Petschenka, G., 2025. Neonicotinoid insecticides can pose a severe threat to grassland plant bug communities. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), p.162. Shortall, C.R., Moore, A., Smith, E., Hall, M.J., Woiwod, I.P. and Harrington, R., 2009. Long‐term changes in the abundance of flying insects. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 2(4), pp.251-260. Soga, M. and Gaston, K.J., 2018. Shifting baseline syndrome: causes, consequences, and implications. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 16(4), pp.222-230. Stork, N.E., 2018. How many species of insects and other terrestrial arthropods are there on Earth?. Annual review of entomology, 63(2018), pp.31-45. Tallamy, D.W., Narango, D.L. and Mitchell, A.B., 2021. Do non‐native plants contribute to insect declines?. Ecological Entomology, 46(4), pp.729-742. Thomas, J.A., Telfer, M.G., Roy, D.B., Preston, C.D., Greenwood, J.J.D., Asher, J., Fox, R., Clarke, R.T. and Lawton, J.H., 2004. Comparative losses of British butterflies, birds, and plants and the global extinction crisis. Science, 303(5665), pp.1879-1881. Tierno de Figueroa, J.M., López-Rodríguez, M.J., Lorenz, A., Graf, W., Schmidt-Kloiber, A. and Hering, D., 2010. Vulnerable taxa of European Plecoptera (Insecta) in the context of climate change. Biodiversity and conservation, 19(5), pp.1269-1277. Turin, H. and Den Boer, P.J., 1988. Changes in the distribution of carabid beetles in The Netherlands since 1880. II. Isolation of habitats and long-term time trends in the occurence of carabid species with different powers of dispersal (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Biological Conservation, 44(3), pp.179-200. Van Deynze, B., Swinton, S.M., Hennessy, D.A., Haddad, N.M. and Ries, L., 2024. Insecticides, more than herbicides, land use, and climate, are associated with declines in butterfly species richness and abundance in the American Midwest. PLoS One, 19(6), p.e0304319. Van Klink, R., Bowler, D.E., Gongalsky, K.B., Swengel, A.B., Gentile, A. and Chase, J.M., 2020. Meta-analysis reveals declines in terrestrial but increases in freshwater insect abundances. Science, 368(6489), pp.417-420. Wagner, D.L., Fox, R., Salcido, D.M. and Dyer, L.A., 2021. A window to the world of global insect declines: Moth biodiversity trends are complex and heterogeneous. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002549117. Wagner DL, Grames EM, Forister ML, Berenbaum MR, Stopak D. Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2021 Jan 12;118(2):e2023989118. WallisDeVries, M.F. and van Swaay, C.A., 2017. A nitrogen index to track changes in butterfly species assemblages under nitrogen deposition. Biological Conservation, 212, pp.448-453. Warren, M.S., Hill, J.K., Thomas, J.A., Asher, J., Fox, R., Huntley, B., Roy, D.B., Telfer, M.G., Jeffcoate, S., Harding, P. and Jeffcoate, G., 2001. Rapid responses of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change. Nature, 414(6859), pp.65-69. Warren, M.S., Maes, D., van Swaay, C.A., Goffart, P., Van Dyck, H., Bourn, N.A., Wynhoff, I., Hoare, D. and Ellis, S., 2021. The decline of butterflies in Europe: Problems, significance, and possible solutions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(2), p.e2002551117. Wilson, E.O., 1987. The little things that run the world (the importance and conservation of invertebrates). Conservation biology, pp.344-346. Yang, L.H. and Gratton, C., 2014. Insects as drivers of ecosystem processes. Current opinion in insect science, 2, pp.26-32.Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes, links, and works cited.

“Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:25) In Romans 11, Paul explains a marvelous outcome from Israel’s unbelief: many Genti... More...

Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. [1 hour 5 minutes]

Wednesday, 15 October 2025   The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Matthew 13:39   “And the enemy, the ‘having sown them,' he is the Traducer. And harvest – it is the age's consummation. And harvesters – they are messengers” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus continued the explanation of the parable of the darnel. His continued words of explanation are, “And the enemy, the ‘having sown them,' he is the traducer.” This is the first time the devil, or traducer, has been mentioned since Chapter 4. Jesus is the Sower. He sows good seed, but along with His efforts, the traducer sows his bad seed.   As the seed grows and matures, there has to be a separation between them. But Jesus, not wanting to harm the progress of His efforts, leaves them until the end. That is seen in His next words, “And harvest – it is the age's consummation.”   A new word, sunteleia, is seen here. It is derived from suntelo, to complete entirely. Thus, it is an entire completion. Strong's adds to the meaning, saying, “of a dispensation.” As this is so, something that can be understood from the context, the logical question to ask is, “What dispensation?”   The most common answer by scholars throughout the centuries is, “The church age, of course.” Two points immediately dismiss that. First, Jesus was speaking to His disciples about Israel under the law. Regardless of what their ministry will later be, that is the context. Second, the church age had not yet been introduced. So poignant is this the case that as Jesus was departing to heaven, this exchange is seen –   “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,' He said, ‘you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' 7 And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'” Acts 1:4-8   The disciples were wondering when the kingdom would be ushered in, as if it would be soon. Jesus didn't tell them there would be no kingdom for Israel. Rather, His plan for them is one that encompasses the duration of the church age. The period of law, for Israel, never ended. They have been under the curses of the law for having rejected Him.   The church age is given to bring salvation to the world through the gospel, but that is not its only intent –   “But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.'” Romans 10:19   “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.” Romans 11:13, 14   Properly understanding the dispensational model addresses the issue that cannot be rightly understood otherwise. So profound is this truth that even those who hold to dispensationalism still mix their theology and take the words of Jesus as referring to the church age. This is incorrect. Understanding this, He next says, “And harvesters – they are messengers.”   There is no article before messengers. What type of messengers is not stated. The vast majority of translations and commentaries say they are angels. Though this is possible, it is not a necessary deduction. For all we know, it is earthly people appointed to decide the matter of who is who at the end of the tribulation.   Either way, this is referring to Jesus' words found in Matthew 24. In 24:3, the disciples ask about the sunteleia, the end of the age or consummation. Jesus then explains what will take place in verse 24:31. He notes that He will send His messenger to gather the elect. He then gives the details of that through the end of the chapter.   None of what He says refers to the church or the rapture. They are words of the elect being gathered and the others having judgment brought upon them. Only then will the earthly millennial kingdom be ushered in.   Life application: Though not yet complete, there is unexplained wording in Jesus' parable. There are also unexplained concepts not specifically stated. In other words, and for example, after Jesus' explanation is complete, nothing will have been said about why He allowed the traducer to sow bad seed.   Jesus died on the cross and defeated sin. Why didn't He just take care of him and all of the world's mess at that time? The answer is not so that the church could usher in a state of perfect harmony before Jesus returns.   The answer is found in His covenant promises to Israel. Israel rejected Him. But their rejection does not negate His faithfulness to His words of promise to them. In order for these things to be realized, He began the new dispensation, that of grace.   During this age, the whole world is evangelized, and the eternal kingdom is being added to daily throughout the world. Eventually, His plan will lead back to Israel being the focus of attention. That is beginning now. Though they are not His people (ammi: My people) at this time, according to both the prophets and Paul, they will be at some point.   The world, including Israel, is being prepared for that day. At some point, the rapture will take place. When that occurs, the events of the end time will start to unfold, leading to the fulfillment of His parables and explanations of those times. Get ready! Israel is back in the land. The end of all these things is being prepared.   Lord God, thank You for Your faithfulness to Israel. In seeing how You deal with them, we can know that You will deal the same with us. We are so unfaithful, but You are faithful and true. Help us to realize this and to honor You all the more for Your kind grace directed toward us. Amen.  

In this week's study, Pastor Jim will guide us through the challenges between Jews and Gentiles in the Apostolic Age. How did this shape the Church for the next 2,000 years?

Resting In the Promises (1) (audio) David Eells, 10/15/25 Today, I'd like to encourage you and remind you about the rest of God and to trust in His promises so we can see His salvation come to pass completely. We need the Lord to help us understand how deep and broad His precious promises of the Real Good News are, and what His power is to those who believe them. Jesus said, (Mat.9:29) According to your faith be it done unto you. And in (8:13) As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. It's important what we believe and know because faith is based on knowledge, and you can't believe for something that you don't know about. So we need to be familiar with the Word. The promises of God are for our salvation in personal (soul) salvation, healing (body) salvation, and also deliverance, protection, and provision. We know that all these promises are past tense. (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree ... by whose stripes ye were healed. (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness.... (Rom.6:18) And being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. (22) But now being made free from sin and become servants to God... They are all past tense so that we can enter into His all-inclusive, New Testament rest. The rest mentioned in Hebrews speaks of ceasing from our own works through faith in His promises. We need to walk in that rest and in that peace so that we are not condemned by the devil, separated from the faith of God, separated from the things that God wants to do through us. All provision has been made in our New Testament Sabbath rest. Our sabbatismos, as it is called in Hebrews 4, means “a continual rest.” The Sabbath is no longer one day that we rest; we have to cease from our works and enter into His rest through faith every day. That's His promise. The Lord has been bringing individuals through their own personal wilderness so that they can learn how to live by faith. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul. Now, your soul is your mind, will and emotions; it's your nature, your character. Jesus Christ is an example of a saved soul, and walking in His steps is something that He has provided for us to do. (1Jn.2:6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. And we can see from His life that Jesus walked by faith, completely trusting the Father in everything. The Lord is using our time in the wilderness to work the same thing in us. We understand that we are living in the latter days, and Jeremiah said in (Jer.30:23) Behold, the tempest of the Lord, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. (24) the fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. And continuing in (31:1) At that time (still talking about the latter days), saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Romans 11 tells us about all those who are grafted into the olive tree, which is called “all Israel” by faith. The Lord broke off the unbelieving Jews concerning the new Kingdom and He grafted in the Gentiles as the Church, and then He said, (Rom.11:26) And so all Israel shall be saved. “All the families of Israel” is a very large group of people around the world, not just natural Israel. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The wilderness is a sparse place with very little worldly provision for man. There, the Israelites had to have their salvation, provision, and protection from God. He brought them to a perfect place to learn to trust in Him for His provision. He made this an opportunity for them where God, in His mercy, had to ultimately save them after they ran out of all their provision from Egypt (a type of the world) and there was no natural provision around them. So, when you believe these past tense promises from God, you automatically enter into a wilderness because there is no help from man. I have seen God's wonderful stored provision for His people headed to wilderness.  God's already delivered you, healed you, provided for you, fed you, housed you, already protected you, and saved your soul. He's already done all these things; therefore, you can't do anything to bring them to pass. Since He's already done them, you just have to rest. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. In other words, God is saying, “Why shouldn't you rest? The works are already finished!” The problem is that people don't walk by faith and the promises are quickly taken away from them. Here's one instance: (Heb.3:18) And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? (19) And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. So if you want to know where disobedience comes from, it comes from unbelief because when you believe the promises, you are at rest. You are at peace. You are trusting in God to bring it to pass and you are ceasing from your works. Now, your works of the flesh are disobedience and they're sin. Your works of the Law, which are of the Old Covenent, are sin in the New Covenant. So you see, unbelief brings disobedience, and the Greek word apeitheia means both “disobedience” and “unbelief.” It can be translated either way. How can that be? Let's read (Heb.4:11) Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience (apeitheia or “unbelief”). (6) Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience (apeitheia or “unbelief”). If you have unbelief, you will be disobedient and one reason is that you cannot cease from your own works when you don't believe God's already done it. You always want to help Him out, or you get your eyes on the world and your problems. When that happens, people fall victim to fear, doubt, discouragement, and all those things because of what they see with their physical eyes, rather than what they see in the Bible. If you walk by sight, you will not walk by faith. You'll be like Israel in the wilderness, who looked around and saw lack on every side. They didn't believe that God was able to meet their every need out there, and the devil agreed with them, so they became full of fear, discouragement, and disobedience, and they spoke against the Lord. You will do that too if you don't have faith. Let's read some of that story and look at a few points. (Num.21:4) And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (5) And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light (or “vile”) bread. They were speaking about the manna and calling it “this vile bread.” The bread of life is sweet to the taste but is bitter in the belly. In other words, the flesh does not like it because it demands your life, and that you give up your thinking and your ways. It demands submission. Well, these people were walking by sight, having their eyes on the problems around them, instead of on the promise, so they became discouraged and they spoke against the Lord. But God has already taken care of every problem that you could possibly have or imagine. It's all been covered by the blood. It's already been covered by the Lord on the cross. He's already taken it away; it's already solved as Jesus said in (Joh.19:30) It is finished. Jesus told His disciples in (16:33) Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. If we keep our eyes on those promises, they bring us rest. If we get our eyes on the problem, we stumble and fall. When that happens, we go back to walking by sight and speaking against the Lord. Do you know what speaking against the Lord can be? It can be anything that is contrary to the Word, anything that is not confessing the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. (Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Our salvation in every form comes not only by faith, but the works that come from that faith, and the biggest work that comes from faith is what we say. We have to learn to confess the Lord in the midst of the situations around us. The Lord brought the Israelites into the wilderness on purpose to try them, to see if they would walk by sight or by faith. Jesus tells us this, too. (Mat.10:32) Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. We believe His promises and they give us rest, and then what naturally comes out of our mouth is in agreement with the Word of God. And when you confess Him before men, He confesses you before the Father. The word “confess” here is the Greek homologeo, and it means “to speak the same as.” When we are in the tribulations of our wilderness experiences, we see our need, our lack, our sickness, and our sin; we see our problems, which as we have discovered the Lord has already taken care of. Are we going to agree with the Good News? “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It's very important that we're careful to confess faith in the promises. This brings the salvation that we're believing for. With our confession, we're “calling the things that are not as though they were.” It's very important that we confess Him before men, that we say before men what His Word says. (Heb.3:1) Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, [even] Jesus. Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession,” Who offers an offering before the Father and that offering is what we say; it's the words of our mouth. And if we speak the same as Jesus, then He confesses us before the Father and before the holy angels. (Luk.12:8) And I say unto you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: (9) but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. I also like this verse: (Mat.12:36) And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Thank God that we come into days of judgment so that we don't have to come into the Day of Judgment! The Greek word translated as “idle” here means “unfruitful.” There are unfruitful words that don't give us any help in the day of judgment. (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified (that means “accounted righteous”), and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. When you come into judgment you want to be justified, so that you come through and overcome it. (Rom 3:4)  God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.  He tells us in order for that to happen, we have to confess Him before men. (Mat.15:18) But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. (19) For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings: (20) these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man. When we think thoughts that are contrary to God, when we speak what we see, feel and hear, we're like the spies who went into the Promised Land and brought back a bad report. They reported what they saw, what they felt and what they heard, so they were condemned by God. They made the hearts of the people fearful and that made the people fall away (Numbers 13,14). The spies died in the wilderness because they brought a bad report and the rest died because they believed what they heard and not what God said. Our report, the good witness that we're supposed to give before men, has to be what “thus saith the Lord.” What did the Lord say about our circumstances and our situations? By your words you are going to be justified or accounted righteous, and by your words, you are going to be condemned. When these Israelites in the wilderness began to look at the problems around them and became discouraged because they didn't have their mind on the promise, they “spoke against the Lord.” (Num 14:28) … as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. They spoke about what they saw, what they felt, what they heard, and what their fears told them would happen. They cried the whole time to go back to Egypt because they loved the fleshly rest of trusting in the world to supply their needs. God wanted them to rest in the promises in the wilderness, and He had to bring them through the wilderness to get them to the Promised Land of rest. We see here that the people, walking in flesh, “spake against the Lord,” and that's what comes from the disobedience caused by unbelief. They spoke against the Lord, saying that He was going to cause them to die in the wilderness and they spoke of how much they hated the bread, which brought a curse upon them. (Num.21:6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. They said they hated the “light bread.” They hated the Lord! Did you know that if you don't love the bread of the Word, you don't love the Lord? Many people say they love the Lord, but what did the Lord Himself say? (Joh.14:15) If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. If you love the Lord, you will love the Word. Now the “light bread” that they reviled was the manna, but what was the manna? (Exo.16:31) And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers [made] with honey. Some Bible versions have a footnote that the word “manna” is actually the Hebrew word “man.” Wow! And Who is the Man? The Man is Jesus. (Joh.6:33) For the bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (34) They said therefore unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. (35) Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. They hated the manna, which represented the Word of life. It represented He Who is the Word, Jesus Christ. They hated the Lord, but the Lord is these promises. (Joh.1:14) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. “The Word became flesh,” or to state it another way, the Word manifested in flesh. The Word became flesh in order for us to be like Him, bearing His fruit, because we also have to be the Word become flesh. God's plan is that He might reveal Himself through the body of Christ today, like He revealed Himself through the first body of Christ. The Israelites in the wilderness hated the Lord because they had their eyes on the problems instead of the promises, and they became discouraged. They hadn't entered into the rest. They hadn't ceased from their works and so they were under the curse. (Num.21:6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (7) And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. They sinned because they spoke against the Lord. Do you know it's overwhelmingly common for God's people to speak against Him? That's because their tongue is connected to their physical sight and their physical hearing. It's also common that God's people live under the curse, but the Lord did not ordain us to live under the curse. He ordained us to live above the curse. God told Joshua (Jos.1:8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: (Notice: You will be able to do what is written if you speak in agreement with the Word.) for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous (Hebrew: “to push forward”; this has nothing to do with the worldly “prosperity” doctrine.), and then thou shalt have good success (Notice: Christian success comes from speaking and acting in agreement with the Word.). To state it another way, when we speak in agreement with the Word, although not necessarily quoting the Word, “then thou shalt make thy way prosperous.” This is how we “prosper” in going to the Promised Land and what else did He say? “That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.” You see, faith makes us obedient; unbelief makes us disobedient. If we never cease from our works, then we will never enter into the rest. That's what the Lord exhorted in (Heb.3:11) As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Why? (12) Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God. They couldn't enter into the rest because they had “an evil heart of unbelief” that made them speak against the Lord. When they realized this was sin, they asked Moses to pray for them and Moses prayed for the people. (Num.21:8) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. What does the serpent represent? We came out of this world and into the Kingdom of God, into what is called “the body of Christ.” So what body were we a part of before we came to the body of Christ? The body of antichrist. Anti means against. Jesus said, (Mat.12:30) He that is not with me is against me.... He talked to the Pharisees and said, (Joh.8:44) Ye are of [your] father the devil.... They were members of the body of the devil, which is antichrist! And we used to be in the devil's body, too. We were created to be in his image but we were actually full of the poison of the serpent. We had that poison in our heads, just like the serpent does. Remember what Revelation says. (Rev.12:9) And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.... And yet the Lord called us to be a part of His body. The Bible says that Jesus became like that serpent on the pole. (Joh.3:14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. From now on, when we look at Jesus upon the cross, we can see our curse put there upon Him. We can see our sin and our sickness put upon Him. We can see our lack and whatever our problem is put there upon Him because of this. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.... “Redeemed” is the Greek word exagorazo, and it means “to buy out or to purchase a slave with a mind to set him free.” Christ bought us. He delivered us from the bondage of slavery to sin, the devil and the curse. The “curse of the law” is all of the evil things that came upon mankind for disobeying God's Law (Deuteronomy 28). (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.... Jesus became the curse! We know that the devil administers the curse and he's been given that authority by God to do it so that people would be humbled, repent and turn to Him. (13) Christ… having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Now we see that Jesus became cursed on that cross; He became like the serpent, like us.): (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Bible says that Abraham was blessed in all things. (16) Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. God made all these promises to Christ. He made all these promises to just one seed and now we must abide in Him. And we abide in Him by accepting the same promises, by speaking the same promises, by walking in faith in the same promises. And we receive the benefit of Abraham because Jesus became cursed for us. God put our curse, the whole curse that's partially enumerated in Deuteronomy 28, upon Jesus. No matter what problem you have, you should be able to see this problem upon Jesus. (Num.21:8) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. We were snake-bit and Jesus took the venom. I'd like to point out something else: (2Co.5:21) Him who knew no sin he made [to be] sin (Jesus became the curse and He became the sin.) on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Do you have a problem with sin? Do you have a problem with the curse that comes from sin? We see the serpent on the cross and that the Lord has put all of this upon Jesus. Now we confess what the Bible says: (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. All of that curse and sin has completely passed away. We are new creatures by faith in this. When you look at the serpent on the pole, you're supposed to see your curse, your sin, upon Him. The curse is very broad. If you read Deuteronomy 28, you'll find it's all sickness, it's all lack, it's all bondage to your enemies, etc. We're speaking against God if we're not speaking in agreement with His promises. We must repent. We must “change our mind,” which is what “repent” means. We are new creatures in Christ. Christ has been raised up on the pole for our salvation and we are to get our eyes upon Him because Moses said, (Num.21:8) ... every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. (9) And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. So when the Israelites got their eyes on the Son, which in this case is represented by the serpent, and on what the Son had accomplished, they were healed. Many years ago, I had a vision in which I saw myself walking to a stream and when I got into the stream, I received a revelation that as long as I lay on my back and looked at the sun, I could stay floating up the stream. As I meditated on that, the Lord gave me the understanding that this stream represents the Word of God. God told Moses, (Deu.11:26) Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. He was talking about His commandments because they represent both a blessing and a curse. They represent the blessing of God's Good News, and they represent the curse of death to those who disobey it. So I realized that the water represented the Word of God (Eph.5:26) having cleansed [the church] by the washing of water with the word, and that it could either kill me or give me life. I could go upstream, contrary to nature, if I kept my eyes on the sun and I would always stay afloat; in other words, I would always stay above the curse. Water will kill you if you go beneath it, but if you stay on top, it's a blessing like Noah in the ark. We have to keep our eyes on the Son in order to stay above the curse that's upon this world because He's the One Who promised and He's the One Who bore the curse. We should be able to see our curse upon Him. If you can see your problem having been put on Jesus, you can be free of it; that's His method. It's very, very simple. If you get double minded you sink into the curse like Peter when he walked on water. That's what faith is all about; faith is believing that you have already received on account of the promises that God has already given. Continuing with my dream, as I was lying on my back with my face to the sun, I was floating upstream, contrary to nature and to the laws of this world. If you keep your eyes on the Son, it's supernatural. It's above the laws of this world. The supernatural takes precedence over the laws of this world. For instance, healing comes to people who believe that they have received it, but healing comes very hard to people who are always seeking it. It works the same way for deliverance from sins and all of the curse. (Mar.11:24) All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them. That's very simple and an awesome benefit that the Lord has given to us. So I'm floating upstream and I looked around me and saw there were a few others who were doing the same thing. As we floated away, I noticed that there were people on the left side of the stream who floated up under a tent that was stretched over about half the stream. Whenever any of these people who were floating with me went under the tent and the shadow fell upon them, they sank to the bottom of the stream, for they lost sight of the Son and His salvation. I quickly got out onto the bank and cut the ropes holding the tent up. It fell into the water and the water carried it away. Then I made these floats to float the people up off the bottom. As soon as they saw the sun again, they started floating once more. I realized that the tent represented man's religion. The religions of man like to take credit for what God has already done. They like to tell men, “God does not do it that way anymore.” They have their fleshly ideas and their way of leading people is, “Let's go back to Egypt and do it the way of the world. Let's have God's salvation through man's provision. Let's go back by the fleshpots.” They don't teach people to walk by faith with their eyes on the Son, but they bring them into darkness. They block the light of the Son and the people sink. They're under the curse and think it's normal to live that way because everybody around them lives that way. God did not ordain us to do that. If we keep our eyes on the Son, we will stay above the curse; that's what the Lord revealed to me about this. Also it was those on the “left” that fell away. Jesus put the goats on the left. Many “Christians” are self-willed and rebellious like goats and must be taught better. Another revelation I want to share …   Resting in Jesus to Do the Work Missy Pollock - 04/11/2012 (David's notes in red) A couple was ministering to me concerning something I've been going through for about four years. The husband said he sensed in his spirit that soon things would come to light. Then, that same night, the Lord gave me the following dream to encourage me and build my faith. I believe that this dream can be encouraging and faith-building for other members of the body of Christ. In the dream, my husband (representing Jesus) was driving to work and I was with Him (the Lord doesn't do anything without me; He needs my cooperation). (Missy here represents the bride of Jesus, who is learning to let Him lead and do the work.) There was a car (representing circumstances and situations in my environment, or in my life) in front of us with a baseball glove attached to it by about 6 feet of string (my flesh) on the back bumper. (Getting ahead of the Lord's works.) My husband (Jesus) said that the baseball glove (the hand of God) was His. I said, “No, that's not your glove” (not recognizing God's hand in things). Then there was another car in front of us with a string attached to it with a baseball glove on a power line (Doing our work by)(the power of God's kingdom) and the car eventually pulled the string tight to the point that it came off and the glove stayed on the power line (God is using the circumstances in my life to cause me to let go and let God). This same thing happened again (the process of transforming me into His image through dying to self and taking up my cross and following Him) with another car and ball glove attached. The next time it happened, when the string was pulled tight, it wasn't a glove but a bird attached to the string, and it flew away and landed in a tree. (I am the bird in the Spirit, in resurrection, one with the Lord, free from the flesh [the string], resting in the tree from the works of the flesh. Amen. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!) (Also, a bird can represent God's Spirit who enables His works with gifts.) Then my husband was driving fast (doing a quick work in my life) and I asked Him to slow down (a quick work is hard on the flesh. Amen; it's dying! (1Pe.4:1) ... for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin). He made a comment that the road was a dirt road (an earthly, temporary journey: (2Co.4:18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.) and I said, “No, it wasn't.” My husband made a turn without even looking and a car almost hit us (Psalm 91). I said to him, “That car almost hit us.” My husband was annoyed with all my comments (because I wasn't trusting in Him). At some point, I saw that the road really was a dirt road and there were a lot of curves in the road (finally seeing that it was just a temporary (earthly) journey). My husband made another reckless turn. (This is just the perception of my carnal man. I need to make sure I set my mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are on the earth.) These are the verses the Lord gave me to go with the dream: (1Ki.12:33) And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth (rest) day in the eighth (the number of circumcision, the cutting off of sowing flesh) month, even in the month which he devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel and went up unto the altar, to burn incense. (Serving God our own way in the flesh. The wife gave the meaning of the numbers. She said, “Step away from the matter now; it's in God's hands. Rest in all that God has shown you. The end of the matter is at hand. Be patient in spirit!”) Also (Joe.3:17) So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your god, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. We start out serving God in the flesh, but learn to rest through all the trials and tribulations He takes us through. Eventually, there are no strangers (man in the flesh) in God's Kingdom and His bride. (Ecc.3:14) I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him. Amen.

Before and After | All in All | Part 4 If we truly believe that we have been raised with Christ, we are to look higher to live deeper. This week, we invite you to mediate on Colossians 3:1-14: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

• Stage 3: Gentiles become part of the church (Acts 8–11) • Mini-Pentecost #3: “Old Testament” believers • Stage 4: The Gentiles are officially recognized as part of the church (Acts 15:1–32) • Stage 5: The church grows within the Gentile nations (Acts 16, 21, 28) • The Holy Spirit directs the church into Asia Minor, Europe, and then Rome • The church today Will we see the same signs and wonders occurring in churches today as they did in the beginnings of the Church Age? Listen to this lesson to learn that unusual miracles occurred then in order to establish the apostleship of the disciples and that a definite change took place that is operational today. Hear about those early days and see how it formed the unity of all believers in the body of Christ as followers of John the Baptist, other Old Testament saints, and Gentiles became officially accepted. Learn about how the Holy Spirit distributed spiritual gifts that differed according to the focus needed at the time. Be encouraged that God always fulfills His plan for all believers.

Gospel Luke 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” Reflection Jesus has no hesitation to try to expose the Pharisees, the scribes, for their lack of openness to who he was and what he's calling us to. In this particular reading, it seems to me that the generation that is always asking for signs, ‘show us a miracle, show us something spectacular'. Didn't understand that Jesus was not here primarily to prove that he was God, but that he was here for conversion. He wanted people to understand a new way of seeing things. The Ninevites, the Queen of Sheba, they were Gentiles, and the Gentiles were more open to who God is, who God sought to make people understand him than any of the Pharisees or the Israelites. Closing Prayer Father, you have a calling. You want us to understand who we are and who you are. You want us to be changed. That's the work of Jesus, to come and convert us from a world that we were caught in, to the world that we were made for. Bless us in this work of conversion. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Matthew bears witness to the many ways Jesus reveals Himself as God. Jesus calms a storm that leaves even seasoned fishermen terrified. He confronts a legion of demons in Gentile territory and is then begged to leave by the frightened locals. Returning home, Jesus heals a paralyzed man in full view of skeptical religious leaders, demonstrating His authority to forgive sins. Finally, we hear how Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector, into discipleship. Jesus shares a meal with Matthew and his friends—sinners in the eyes of the religious elite—provoking questions about who truly belongs at God's table and just who this Jesus is.  The Rev. David Hinz, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sauk Rapids, MN, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Matthew 8:23-9:13.  To learn more about Trinity Lutheran, visit trinitysr.org. The Gospel of Matthew bridges Old and New Testaments, presenting Jesus as the promised Messiah who fulfills the Law we could never keep and establishes His kingdom of grace for all nations. Written by a tax collector transformed by pure grace, Matthew reveals Christ as the true Son of David and Emmanuel (God with us) who challenges us with the crushing demands of the Law in His Sermon on the Mount to the sweet comfort of the Gospel in His death and resurrection. From royal genealogy to glorious resurrection, this verse-by-verse study proclaims the One who conquered sin, death, and the devil for us, now delivering forgiveness, life, and salvation through Word and Sacrament as He remains with His church always, even to the end of the age.  Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God's Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”1.     What do you find could be shameful about the gospel or Christianity?2.     How often (if ever) does it sink in that the one perfectly righteous man ever to live had to be tortured and killed to pay for your sin and failures? What do we have to boast in?3.     How does dependence make you feel? Do you identify with the desire to prove yourself? In what areas of life do you find yourself doing that?4.      What forces, realities, habits, etc. in your life from which you cannot deliver yourself?5.     In your group, if you have the courage (!), try to share what is the deep shame at the bottom of everything you are trying to deal with or escape from.6.     Do you see in Jesus' shame that he willingly took on for you the solution to your own shame? 

The Holy Spirit is like a light piercing the deepest darkness, revealing truth to blinded hearts. In today's message, Pastor Mark explains how many Jews turned away as Gentiles embraced the gospel, fulfilling God's foretold spiritual blinding. Paul tried reaching them, but human effort alone wasn't enough. You might see family or friends today who don't know the Lord. Only the Holy Spirit can open their eyes to see and hear the truth. If you're seeking God yourself, you need His Spirit to reveal Him. You're called to pray for that divine touch. Are you asking the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your loved ones to the truth?

The Apostle Paul wrote a significant portion of the New Testament. There are 27 different books in the New Testament, and Paul is credited with writing about half of them. For the vast majority of Christians, his writings provide extremely practical teachings and examples for us to build upon the single and solid foundation of Jesus Christ. That being said, there are some Christians who believe Paul was an imposter, a self-appointed apostle who was actually diminishing the power of the Gospel of Jesus. What would make someone question the validity of Pauls' writings? It turns out there are several varied reasons for this perspective. The question is, are they legitimate and what do they imply? A major challenge One of several major challenges to Paul's apostleship we confront in this episode is that Paul never listed the Ten Commandments in full. While true, this actually mirrors Jesus' own approach. Neither quoted them entirely but both emphasized their moral essence. Paul affirmed many commandments individually: he quoted the Fifth in Ephesians 6:1–3 and referenced the Sixth, Seventh, Eight and Tenth in Romans 13:9. He also implied the First and Second in Acts 17 and taught truthfulness in Ephesians 4:25, echoing the Ninth. Though he never explicitly cited the Third (against taking God's name in vain), neither did Jesus, although reverence for God's name was clearly implied. Another objection Another objection claims Paul's stance on circumcision contradicts Jesus. A key point about Paul's teaching in Galatians 5 is that he opposed legalism, not circumcision itself. He warned against using rituals for justification, emphasizing that salvation comes through Christ alone. Paul even had Timothy circumcised—not for salvation, but to aid in the ministry work among Jews. Further objections—such as the claim that all churches in the Roman province of Asia rejected Paul (2 Timothy 1:15) or that Revelation 2:2 denounces him can easily be answered by contextual study. Such study reveals that Paul's abandonment was due to shame over his imprisonment, not doctrinal rejection. The denouncing of false apostles in Revelation clearly refers to later imposters, and not Paul himself. Ultimately, Paul's gospel is given to complement Jesus' message, as it is tailored for Gentile audiences unfamiliar with Jewish law. His teachings emphasized love, transformation and Christ-centered righteousness, not ritual observance. Scriptural evidence clearly points to Paul as a faithful apostle, not an imposter.

In this lecture, we explore the opening chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossians, focusing on verses 1 through 14. The discussion begins with an acknowledgment of the communal prayers for the Colossian church, emphasizing the Apostle Paul's heartfelt connection to the believers despite never having visited them. The letter illustrates the transformative power of the Gospel, affirming their faith in Jesus Christ and their love for one another, which flourished from a hopeful understanding of God's promised inheritance.The speaker delves into the insecurities faced by the Colossians, a small church likely composed of Gentile believers grappling with their status in relation to the prominent Jewish roots of the early Church. The historical context reveals that Colossae was once a prosperous city now overshadowed by neighboring regions, leading to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among its inhabitants. The lecture draws parallels to modern experiences of insecurity, relating how the allure of social comparisons, particularly through social media, can exacerbate feelings of unworthiness.Further, the speaker elaborates on Paul's response to these insecurities, which is aimed not at bolstering their self-esteem through affirmations of their abilities, but rather grounding their identity in Christ. Paul prays for them to receive strength and endurance through divine empowerment, presenting prayer as a vehicle for fostering spiritual resilience. The discussion shifts to emphasize the dual aspects of endurance and patience, framing them as essential attributes in overcoming challenges from both circumstances and people.The speaker highlights the concept of inheritance mentioned by Paul, which transcends economic and societal systems. This notion serves to uplift the Colossian believers, reassuring them that true security does not lie within worldly status or wealth but in their relationship with Christ. The exploration extends to unpacking the biblical legacy of inheritance, particularly how the priestly tribe of Levi was promised God as their portion instead of land, illustrating a deeper spiritual reality available to all believers.As the lecture progresses, Paul's reaffirmation of their deliverance from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ brings to light the transformative nature of salvation. The analogy of Edmund from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" is employed to illustrate how individuals can be ensnared by darker powers, yet are ultimately set free through the sacrificial love of Christ. This emphasizes that despite feeling inadequate or haunted by past failures, believers hold a secure position in God's family.The speaker then calls attention to the communal aspect of prayer, encouraging the audience to recognize that others are interceding for them, thereby nurturing a sense of belonging and support within the body of Christ. A practical approach to developing a prayer life is suggested, inviting participants to commit to praying for others, thus creating a ripple effect of spiritual encouragement.In concluding, the lecture reinforces the message of hope and affirmation delivered by Paul, urging the audience to rely on their identity in Christ rather than their abilities or circumstances. The overall theme presents a profound sense of belonging, purpose, and assurance rooted in the Gospel, encouraging believers to embrace their inheritance in Jesus, secure from worldly insecurities. This invitation to communion serves as a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made for their freedom and restoration, encouraging a deeper connection to their faith and to one another as they move forward in their spiritual journeys.

In this thought-provoking episode, Renaldo McKenzie and co-host Ricardo McKenzie sit down with Bryce Eddy of Turning Point USA and The Bryce Eddy Show for an open conversation on faith, unity, and the fractured moral landscape of modern America.From the meaning of biblical love to the paradoxes of liberty and inclusion, this dialogue challenges easy answers and exposes deeper divides. Can true love heal a polarized nation — or has faith itself become a new frontier of division?

Iam so reminded, as we think about what's going on right now in the news, thatJesus Christ is coming soon. The Bible says when everyone is saying peace andsafety, then sudden destruction will come upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3).Before real peace comes in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, there will bethe rapture of the church and then a terrible seven-year tribulation period, asI understand the prophetic Scriptures in the Bible. But we can still pray forpeace today. This is something that we can pray for, “that we might live godlyand quiet lives, that we might have the opportunities to share the gospel ofJesus Christ with everyone we possibly can” (1 Timothy 2:1-3).  Again,I ask for your prayers. You know that while we travel, we are not able to makeour daily pastor chats. I trust you'll just go back and look at maybe some ofthe old chats. You can do that on YouTube and even on Facebook. Just look themup and go back and listen. I trust they'll encourage you and bless you whilewe're missing our daily chats. We hope to be back by October the 26th from thistrip. Wehave been looking at Ephesians 2. In these first 10 verses we see how that sin worksagainst us and brings death into our lives. “But God”, (I love verse four), butGod, God works for us. He redeems us. He forgives us. And it's all through theblood of His son Jesus Christ. He exalts us. We sit in the heavenly places eventoday in Christ Jesus. We are to the praise of His glory. What a wonderfulchange takes place when we meet Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We talkedabout how that we are saved by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Thatfaith makes a difference because it's a faith that not only saves us, it's afaith that works in us and through us and out of us. God works in us, throughus, and for us as we trust in the blood of His son Jesus Christ. Nowas we get down to verse 11 through the end of the chapter, we're finding aboutthe peace that God can make between not only ourselves and God, but betweenourselves and others. The Gentiles and the Jews were so divided because theJews look down very much upon the Gentile people as you see in these verses.Now the Jew and Gentile can go to church together and be made one in JesusChrist. I am telling you, it doesn't matter what religion you are, what faith youare, what background you might have, what culture you were raised in. When youcome to know Jesus Christ as your savior, other believers become your brothersand sisters in Christ. They, I'm telling you, can be loved in Christ. You canhave oneness in Jesus Christ. That means you have peace. You not only havepeace with God, but you also have peace with those around you.  Thecircumcision were the Jews that was made with hands. Circumcision was a sign ofthe covenant that God had made with His people Israel. The Gentiles were theuncircumcised. Paul now addresses the Gentiles in the church at Ephesus. Theywere without Christ. They were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Theywere strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God inthe world. But now in Christ Jesus, those “who were once afar off have beenbrought near by the blood of Christ”. What a powerful message for us today.Come to Jesus through His blood and you can be made one with those around youin Christ!  Myfriend, today you can have peace with God and peace with those around you.That's the real peace we should all be seeking today. Godbless!

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1) Who are the three shepherds in Zechariah 11:8?2) Does Acts 15:1-29 teach that the Gentiles are not required to follow the Law?3) Why does Acts 21:20 say that many of the Jews were zealous of the Law?4) Is it true that Satan cannot duplicate the miracles Jesus performed?5) What is doctrine?6) Where do we get our souls? From our parents or from God?7) Who is the woman mentioned in Revelation 12?

What about people in remote locations who have never heard the gospel? And what about all those Gentiles in the Old Testament? How can believers who have died already have a resurrection body in Heaven? Or are they bodiless in Heaven or sleeping for thousands of years? What are your thoughts on James? Does he teach the Old Testament law as the means to salvation? What is the gift of tongues? Are there two kinds of tongues? What about women leading in church? Aren't they told to always be quiet?

Acts 4:1-31The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand. The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest's family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “ the stone you builders rejected,      which has become the cornerstone.Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “ ‘Why do the nations rage     and the peoples plot in vain?   The kings of the earth rise up     and the rulers band together   against the Lord     and against his anointed one. ' Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.Acts 5:17-42Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to. Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Welcome to the Podcast of Southwest Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Arizona. WHO ARE WE? • We are a group of people who are committed to living the grace life as set forth by the apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul. • We come together to study our Bibles, and yes, we believe we have God's perfect Word in the King James Bible. It and it alone is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice! • We do not come together and study our Bibles for the intent of being smarter than others. We understand that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is purely vain and serves no Godly purpose. • We do come together and study our Bibles for the intent of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that we have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live; yet not us, but Christ liveth in us: and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that because Jesus Christ shed His blood for us and we should not live for ourselves but for Him, who died for us and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15) • We do not claim to have attained to these lofty goals, but we press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) You can donate to this ministry through www.butnow.org and the PayPal button on the homepage.

Welcome to the Podcast of Southwest Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Arizona. WHO ARE WE? • We are a group of people who are committed to living the grace life as set forth by the apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul. • We come together to study our Bibles, and yes, we believe we have God's perfect Word in the King James Bible. It and it alone is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice! • We do not come together and study our Bibles for the intent of being smarter than others. We understand that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is purely vain and serves no Godly purpose. • We do come together and study our Bibles for the intent of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that we have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live; yet not us, but Christ liveth in us: and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that because Jesus Christ shed His blood for us and we should not live for ourselves but for Him, who died for us and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15) • We do not claim to have attained to these lofty goals, but we press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) You can donate to this ministry through www.butnow.org and the PayPal button on the homepage.

John 10:7-18,So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”I wonder what comes to your mind when you hear the phrase “abundant life.”David Livingstone (1813–1873) was a Scottish Christian and physician and pioneer missionary, who sailed for Africa in 1840. He spent 16 years in the African wild and returned to London as a hero in late 1856. He had spent the prime of his life encountering physical difficulties and spiritual darkness. And soon he would go back for more.While on furlough, Livingstone spoke to students at Cambridge and explained why he left the comforts of England to serve as a missionary. It had not been easy, and he acknowledged the costs: anxiety, sickness, suffering, frequent danger. He spoke of “foregoing the common conveniences and charities of this life.” But, very memorably, he insisted that this was no sacrifice, but a privilege: “I never made a sacrifice.”The gain of godly sacrifice so outweighed the pains that, in hindsight, it did not feel sacrificial. The sacrifices were real, but the privilege, and joys, far greater.Livingstone embraced the hard life in Africa not just because he found life in Jesus, but because he had found abundant life in Jesus. He wasn't just saved; he was satisfied. He found life to the full. Not minimal life but over-the-top life, more-than-enough life — life spilling over in such joy that he would risk great pains to bring others that great joy.For Livingstone, abundant life didn't mean a comfortable, easy life. It meant he had enough in Jesus, more than enough, to embrace difficulty and discomfort.More Than Just LifeWe come this morning to John 10, and this amazing declaration of Jesus to us in verse 10:“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”I want you to hear Jesus speaking that to you this morning:“I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.”Not just life. Jesus says “have life and have it abundantly.” What is he adding when he adds “abundance”? Why not stop at life. Why say abundant life? That's our focus this morning.As many of you know, I greatly appreciate Don Carson, and named a son after him, and want to give you this preliminary word from him about this abundant life offered to us in John 10. Talking about the image of the shepherd and the sheep, he says that “abundant life” means contented, flourishing sheep, not terrorized by [thieves]; outside the narrative world, it means that the life Jesus' true disciples enjoy is not to be construed as more time to fill (merely ‘everlasting' life), but life at its scarcely imagined best, life to be lived. (Gospel According to John, 385)That is the life Jesus is offering you this morning. Not just more time to fill. Not just getting out of hell. Not just being unstained from the world and watching clean videos or NFL or keeping up with the news. You are invited into “life at its scarcely imagined best.” You are offered “life to be lived,” life worth living.Let me be clear: the main point of this passage is the greatness of Jesus. He is the good shepherd. He enters by the God-appointed door (and doesn't climb in another way, like the Pharisees). He calls his sheep by name, and they hear his voice, and follow him. He leads them out into a life of abundance. And he is the one who genuinely cares for his sheep and willingly lays down his life for them.The main point is the greatness of Jesus.And, get this, the abundant life of the sheep demonstrates the greatness of the shepherd. When the sheep thrive, their shepherd looks great. The shepherd gets the glory in the flourishing, abundant life of his sheep. Jesus is glorified in the satisfaction of his people — and that not apart from him, but in him, conscious of him, recognizing him.Ultimately, we're talking about people here, not sheep. Happy sheep, full of green grass, beside still waters, don't look up and say, “Isn't my shepherd great?” But Christians aren't animals. We're not actually sheep. We're meant to consciously enjoy our shepherd, through his care for us, and say out loud, “Isn't he great?”So, we want to know and experience this “abundant life” that shows the greatness of Jesus. How might Jesus's very words in John 10 help us with what this abundant life is, and is not?I see at least five aspects of this abundant life that Jesus offers us.1. The Abundant Life Is a Rescued Life.The story of our quest for abundance began in a lavish, abundant garden, but quickly came the reality of sin. In a world of yes, our first parents sinned against God's one no and plunged us all into sin and its curse and its misery. We all are born into sin, and we all sin. Ecclesiastes 7:20,“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”Everyone in this room has sinned, and sins. And that's the gravest danger in every life in this room: your own sin, my own sin. The biggest threat is not what others have done or might do to us. And not even what Satan himself might do to us. The greatest threat is our own sin, which separates us from a holy God, and deserves his righteous wrath. We have to get this first to be able to move forward in the story of abundance.So, we begin with the Shepherd's rescue. Verse 11, Jesus says,“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”Why would he lay down his life? Because the sheep, his people, deserve to die. We have sinned against him. We deserve eternal separation from him, and eternal condemnation from him. Except that, again in verse 15, “I lay down my life for the sheep.”And that he “lays it down” means that he does it willingly. Intentionally. Purposefully. Jesus wasn't the victim of a first-century accident. Nor was Jesus's life merely “taken from him.” We often grieve the tragic “taking of life,” and we should. And there's a sense in which Jesus was killed unjustly. These same Pharisees he confronts in John 9 and 10 increasingly want to get rid of him and soon will conspire with the Jerusalem elite. In one sense Jesus's life would be taken by sinners.Yet in another, more fundamental sense, no one would take it from him. Look at verses 17–18:“I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”Who can talk like this? Anyone can choose to lay down their life, but who — who but God himself in human flesh — has authority to take it up again? Oh the greatness of Jesus.The reason Jesus's perfect, sinless life can be effective for the rescuing of his sinful, hell-deserving people is that he lays down his life willingly, on purpose, and he takes it up again.And so, first, the abundant life is a rescued life. Jesus died to rescue us from our own sin. From our sin nature. From past sins. And he is continuing to rescue us from the misery of indwelling sin.That leads us to a second aspect.2. The Abundant Life Is a Relational Life.Forgiveness gets the penalty of sin out of the way that the rescue might lead to a real, personal, life-giving relationship with the Shepherd. To be related and relate to him as persons. To know him and be personally known by him. To love him, and be loved by him, who calls his own by name.Church, this is stunning. This is the heart of the real life, the abundant life. This is the single most important thing to say about “abundant life.” Number 1 was just life. We are sinners; we deserve death. Jesus lays down his own life that our sins might be covered, that we might be forgiven, that we might have life, eternal life, and not misery, forever.But then, to that life, Jesus adds these precious words: “and have it abundantly.” Now we get to the very heart and bottom of this passage: verses 14-15, which is the most important statement in the passage. Look at verses 14-15. Jesus says,“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father . . . .”Did you get that? Let's start with verse 15 and work backwards. Jesus says, The Father knows me, and I know the Father. Amazing. The eternal divine life of the Godhead (talk about abundant!) — Father knowing and loving his Son, and Son knowing and loving his Father.Then see that “just as” at the beginning of verse 15? Jesus makes a claim about an experience of “mutual knowledge” in verse 14 and then he compares it to the “mutual knowledge” between him and his divine Father. And he compares them by saying “just as.” He doesn't say “contrary to” or “unlike.” He doesn't contrast these relationships but says “just as.” He compares them positively. He says they are alike:“Just as my Father knows me and I know my Father, so I know my own [people] and my own know me.”Church, this is the heart of the abundant life. The abundant life is not food and drink and splendid clothes and fancy cars and mansions of glory, and endless hours on devices. What makes this life abundant is knowing and enjoying the Shepherd, and being known and enjoyed by him.Which is why the voice of Jesus is so prominent in John 10. Voice is the medium of relationship. Did you notice how many times his voice in mentioned? Verse 3: the sheep hear his voiceVerse 3: he calls his own sheep by name (how personal!)Verse 4: the sheep follow him, for they know his voiceVerse 16: other sheep too will listen to his voiceHave you ever reflected on how important voices are to relationships? How well could you get to know someone without words? You can see what's on the outside. They can gesture and use facial expressions to try to communicate. But words reveal with clarity what's on the inside. The voice and its words are the primary medium of relationship.And this morning Jesus himself, risen, reigning, glorified, alive, is speaking to us through his words in John 10, saying, in essence, Where are you trying to find life? Your human soul was not only made to live but to live abundantly — lavishly, richly, contentedly, fully. Where are you going for life? Come to me.So, the full-to-overflowing life, the life worth living, life at its scarcely best imagined, abundant life at its height and at its bottom is: Jesus knows his own and his own know him — just as the Father knows him and he knows the Father.The point is this: Come to the Good Shepherd and keep coming. Hear his voice in his word. Enjoy the privilege of prayer. Follow him. The abundant life is life in and with the Good Shepherd. But it is not life with him only. There's a third aspect here.3. The Abundant Life Is an Expansive Life.Life in Jesus expands to include others. It is full to overflowing, and spills over to draw others in. First, other sheep who are fellow believers. The abundant life is not a solitary life. It is a life in relationship with others who have found abundant life in Jesus.And it expands to include “other sheep” not yet in the fold. Verse 16 starts with such an important “and”:“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”Now we need to clarify a few things about this image of the sheepfold and the gate and the shepherd coming and calling to his sheep. Picture a large, fenced-in, fold, shared by multiple families. The sheep are kept safe in the fold; a gatekeeper guards the one gate, so no one can access the sheep except the owners. When a rightful shepherd comes, he opens the gate, and the shepherd comes in and lifts up his voice. His own sheep know his voice and come to him, and he leads them out to green grass and live the abundant life of sheep, and come back in for safety.But remember, Jesus is here confronting the Pharisees. The sheepfold is the Jewish people. Jesus comes, and lifts up his voice, and his sheep, not the whole pen, but just his sheep follow his voice, and the rest remain.Then in verse 16, Jesus introduces “other sheep that are not of this fold.” That is, not Jews. The Son of God has come; he has entered the fold through the gate as a rightful owner and shepherd. He has lifted up his voice and his sheep are coming to him, not all the Jews, but those who are his. And Jesus says he has “other sheep” not of this Jewish fold: Gentiles.So, there is not only a narrowing when the good shepherd comes, but also an expanding. He keeps calling to Jews, and he calls to Gentiles. And as many “other sheep” as are his, he brings. And the one shepherd makes “one flock” of his Jewish and Gentile sheep.So, the abundant life is not just me and the shepherd, but it is expansive.If anything in us balks at that, we need to know this: Jesus is the kind of shepherd in whom joy increases as other sheep join. Resist the scarcity mindset that would say, If more come, that means I get less of Jesus. It's the opposite. The more that truly come, the more who are truly changed and made holy, the more we see of Jesus, the more we enjoy him, the more he's glorified, the more we're amazed at him, the more we praise him.The reason I began this sermon with David Livingstone is verse 16 brought him to mind. It appears on his gravestone, in the voice of the Shepherd: “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring.”So, the abundant life is a rescued life, a relational life, an expansive life, and fourth, it's embattled.4. The Abundant Life Is an Embattled Life.Embattle means opposed. Challenged. As Jesus calls out his “one flock” from among Jews and Gentiles, his people are drawn out from others, and various tensions and divisions are inevitable. We see it right here in the very context where Jesus is teaching:9:40: “Some of the Pharisees near him . . .”10:19: “There was again a division among the Jews because of these words . . .” So, tension up front with the Pharisees; division among Jews at the end, right on cue. And Jesus mentions robbers and thieves and wolves — that is, opponents and threats. For now, abundant life does not mean an unopposed life. Abundant life is not an easy life, comfortable life. Yes, it is truly abundant life already, in knowing Jesus, but also it is not yet in its fullness, with every enemy defeated and every tear wiped away.There are costs to be counted in this abundant life. Divisions and tensions come. Don't be surprised by them. They will come. We don't need to provoke them unnecessarily. Make Jesus the issue, not your own immaturity. And when divisions come because of him, be careful about how quickly you rush to smooth over tensions. Often unbelievers need the relational tension and felt sense of division to ponder the real issues in life. Don't give in too quick just to keep the artificial peace. Let it sit, and pray. And be ready for them to come around and receive them humbly; be the kind of person in humility that people can expect will receive them back humbly.Life now in Jesus is already abundant, but not yet fully so. Greater abundance is coming. Ephesians 2:7: “in the coming ages [God will] show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” But this life in him even now is abundant enough to be enough in sorrows and pain and suffering.So, abundant life is rescued, relational, expansive, embattled, and finally secure.5. The Abundant Life Is a Kept Life.Abundant life is kept by the good shepherd. He guards his sheep. He keeps us. He keeps us secure, even in the tensions and divisions and many sufferings and sorrows. His ultimate protection is a vital part of what it means to have a good shepherd. Verses 12-13:“He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”But not Jesus. He cares. He says, “I am the good shepherd.” When he laid down his life, he didn't stay dead. If the shepherd's dead, the sheep are goners. But Jesus took up his life again. And he always lives to intercede for us and keep us. His resurrection life is invincible, and he sits in victory on heaven's throne, knowing and protecting (from ultimate harm) every sheep who is his own.Which brings us once more to his Father. What does Jesus mean in verse 17 when he says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again”? Is Jesus saying that he earns the love of his Father by laying down his life for us? The point is more subtle.What does a loving father do when his son accomplishes something great? He is overjoyed. He rejoices abundantly. He delights in his son. He loves his son. He's always loved his son, and he feels a special surge of love for his son when he achieves something great.Do you know what is the greatest single achievement in the history of the world? It's this good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep, and taking up his life again in victory, in conquest, in triumph over sin and death and Satan.Which brings us to the Table.Great in the Blood of the CovenantWe worked through Hebrews in 2023, and we finished with that great shepherd doxology in Hebrews 13:20-21. Listen for the connection to John 10:Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.Here the shepherd is great — did you catch that? And the reason he is great, says Hebrews, is “the blood of the eternal covenant.” Jesus shed the redeeming blood. Remember this is about the greatness of Jesus. He did not die by accident. He was no mere victim. No one took his life from him. He laid it down of his own accord. And he took it up again. And so at this Table we remember his greatness.

Sunday, 12 October 2025   Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” Matthew 13:36   “Then Jesus, having dismissed the crowds, He went into the house. And His disciples, they came to Him, saying, ‘Expound to us the parable of the fields' darnel'” (CG).   In the previous verse, Matthew quoted the words of the prophet Asaph Isaiah to explain why Jesus spoke in parables. Next, he returns to the ongoing narrative with the words, “Then Jesus, having dismissed the crowds.”   After speaking out His parables, a dismissal of the crowds took place, once that was attended to, “He went into the house.”   The article before house means it is a particular house. Going back to Matthew 1, it says, “And in that day, Jesus, having departed from the house, He sat by the sea.” It is this house, explained during that verse, that is being referred to. Once in the house, it says, “And His disciples, they came to Him.”   Houses at the time were not big McMansions that many live in today. There would be no need to go looking for Him in the house. Therefore, it is probable that as soon as Jesus went into the house, those following asked this as they were coming in, highlighting their desire to hear an explanation of His words. In their words to Him, they were “saying, ‘Expound to us the parable of the fields' darnel.'”   The word phrazó is introduced here. It is only found in some texts here. Most use the word diasapheó, a word also first found here. This word, phrazó, is found only elsewhere in Matthew 15:15. It means to indicate by word or act or to interpret. Thus, it signifies to expound. They are looking for an indication of what He was talking about in the parable, meaning its underlying meaning.   The other word used in other texts, diasapheó, comes from two words signifying “through” and “clear.” Thus, it is a thorough clearing of something. Thus, it figuratively means to declare.   The parable of the darnel in the field was recorded in verses 24-30. The parable was deeper than the subsequent two, those of the mustard seed and the leaven in the bread. As such, the disciples wanted a clear understanding of what Jesus was conveying in it.   Life application: As seen in the parable of the leaven, which Jesus did not explain, there is disagreement in its meaning. The majority of commentators state that the leaven was used as a good thing, it being the one exception to the normal use of leaven in Scripture, which is in a negative sense.   However, that seems inappropriate, and a suitable explanation that follows the normal Scriptural meaning of leaven was provided. If there is disagreement on such a short parable, being only one sentence long, it is good that the disciples asked for an explanation of this longer and more complicated parable.   Not everything Jesus said during His ministry is carefully explained. This lack has led to innumerable interpretations of various things He set before the disciples. The majority of these divisions in interpretation could be resolved by remembering the main rule of biblical interpretation: What is the context?   Jesus' ministry was to Israel under the law. His words deal with that context. Jesus never spoke of things like the rapture. The reason He didn't do this was because that event belongs to the church age. The doctrine of the rapture is only explained by Paul because Paul is the apostle to the Gentile led church.   Remembering the context of Jesus' words will normally help clarify what He is saying. It is true that kingdom terminology can overlap in meaning. Therefore, it can be difficult to come down adamantly on some things He says. The more conservative our interpretation of Scripture is, though, the less we will devolve into inappropriate lines of thought.   Therefore, unless there is a specific reason for including the church in His words, which can be fully explained, it is best to assume He is not addressing the church, but Israel alone.   The main thing for us to do is to keep reading His word. No matter how many times we have done so, we will always learn something new. After a person has a stroke, his brain must rewire around the damaged parts of the brain.   In a similar way, the more we read the word, the more we are able to rewire our thoughts and lives around those things that inappropriately affect our understanding of who God is and what He is saying in His word. Keep in the word! It will never bring you harm. Rather, right thinking will continue to develop in you.   Lord God, time in Your word is like a healing balm to our souls. We are molded more and more to Your mind as we learn it and apply it to our lives. Give us the time and the sense to pick it up, read it, and contemplate it all the days of our lives. Amen.  

Are You Ready for the Marriage Feast? (audio) David Eells – 10/12/25 “Hurry” Repent, Bride Escapes V. W. - 3/11/19 (David's notes red) I had a dream which I think is an encouraging exhortation. It was daytime, and I was standing in a tunnel that was made to walk through. The ground was covered with sand, and the light was coming in from the outside, so I could see. This was a short tunnel, and it somehow led into a longer tunnel. I was alone in this tunnel. After I woke up, I asked the Lord what this tunnel represented, and I believe he showed me that it meant death to self to rise on the other side. (like a baptism) And I asked for a scripture about the tunnel, and received by faith, at random, 2Ki.20:5 Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. (The third day is resurrection of the Man-child Jesus, and Hezekiah represents the end time Man-child who is caught up to the throne of God on the third day. V.W. here represents the Bride.) While I was standing there, I heard a man just outside the tunnel. There was a lot of brush and some small trees outside where he was. He was advertising his product, which was shoes (or something to spray on your shoes). The advantage of the shoes was for the protection of the person wearing them, “that fire would not hurt them and that smoke from fire could not be smelled on them”. (The shoes represent the walk of repentance and faith) (Dan.3:27 The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king's high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.) (What these 3 lost in the fire was their bonds, which represent the flesh.) He had a loud voice as he proclaimed this and it seemed he really wanted whoever heard him to wear the shoes, and he was urgent about it. But I did not see anyone out there because it was a rural area. (Mat.3:3 For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!) (The repentance spirit in the John the Baptist ministry is crying loudly urgently to those in the wilderness or rural areas to prepare them for the coming of the Lord. It is urgent that we hear and repent quickly before He comes in the Man-child ministry. It will be too late to be in the Bride body once the Man-child ministry starts. Jesus chose the Bride then. John said, “He that hath the Bride is the Bride Groom”) Then I realized I had those shoes on, and they were white dressy sandals. (Eph.6:14-16 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, 15 having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.) After a while, I saw he had a torch that was a large stick. And he started lighting the brush and small trees on fire. He was still proclaiming these shoes, and I thought he was demonstrating how the fire could not hurt the shoes or the smoke from it be smelled. So I took off my right sandal to see if he was right. I smelled it and there was no smell of smoke, and I put it back on. (Fire, representing judgment, will come before Jesus manifests in the Man-child ministry body. Therefore we must be ready to walk through it without being burned. Isa.62:11 Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. Mat.3:10 And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Mat.3:12 whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. Mat.5:22 but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. I had been standing there this whole time listening to this man. Then he came into the tunnel with the torch and with urgency and in a loud voice was saying to me, “Hurry up, Hurry up”. (He meant to hurry and run through the tunnels.) “I am right behind you with this torch.” (Hurry, saints, repent and believe so the fire doesn't catch you). After I woke up, I asked the Lord what I was supposed to do quickly and received by faith at random, Luk.22:54. And they seized him, and led him away, and brought him into the high priest's house. So I think the Lord is telling me to hurry up with denying myself and dying with Christ. I started to run and felt like he was getting closer. I asked for a word about my running in this tunnel and received by faith at random, Rom.4:16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace: to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (Repentance must come before faith, with which we are accounted as righteous and are given grace as power to obey.) At first it seemed like I was climbing, and I had to use my hands also. I knew I could not look back and I was not afraid, but knew I had to hurry to get to the end of the tunnels. Php.3:13 Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. 14 I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: I did not think of him as an enemy, but someone who was admonishing me to run faster. As I was running, I could hear from outside the tunnel other brethren cheering me on. Heb.12:1,2 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Even though he was behind me with the torch and I thought he was getting closer to me, I did not feel the fire. I got through the first tunnel and into the 2nd longer tunnel. On the path where I was running, I saw broken glass on the right side. (Representing the pain of walking with our cross of death to self. The nail in the feet of Christ represents this.) I didn't like running on the glass and it made it harder to keep running, but I did not trip. I asked the Lord for a word by faith at random about this glass and received Lev.19:37 And you shall observe all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them: I am the Lord. I found these verses about not stumbling. Psa.119:165 Great peace have they that love your law; And they have no occasion of stumbling. 1Jn.2:10 He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. Jude 24 Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy. The glass in the path made me think of going to the left side where the ground was clear and smooth, but I didn't have time. (We must endure the pain of walking contrary to the world). I know I got through the 2nd tunnel because I came out on the other side and saw some of the brethren, and we were standing on a large rock that was up high. After I woke up, I was hearing the song in my head, “We want to see Jesus lifted high”. (Psa.61:2 From the end of the earth will I call unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.) So I did most of what I needed to do today. I believe that something is going to happen very soon where the extra food, water and gas is going to be necessary. I've never had dreams like this that the Lord impressed me to hurry and get something done. I also had a dream about the Man-child and Bride coming right after this dream to get supplies. I believe from this that the anointing of the Man-child and choosing of the Bride are not far behind the preparations.   Exhortation to the Bride-to-Be T. C. - 02/26/2013 (David's notes in red) I had this dream on Monday night after the prayer meeting. I was going to grab a pair of everyday shoes (because in the dream I did not realize that we were preparing for a wedding), when the mother (or woman in charge) set out the proper pair of pointed-toe formal dress shoes in pearl white satin material. (This wedding is to the King. The Bride will have the most elegant and pure shoes, representing her walk with Him, so watch your step, saints.) The shoes were set on a counter and I only saw the front of the shoes. I thought, oh, this is really going to be dressy! Then I looked across the room and got a quick glance of the white wedding dress; it was elegant and brilliant, unlike anything I had ever seen -- something royalty would wear. I then saw the husband/groom; he had a serious look on his face. I knew in the dream that the Groom and bride had already been married, and that is why I saw him as the husband. (The serious look represents his authority over the betrothed woman. In the Biblical Jewish marriage betrothal, or erusin, the woman was legally married but she remained in her father's house. She could not be with another man unless she got divorced from her betrothed. The wedding, or nissuin, meant only that the betrothed woman, accompanied by the virgins, friends of the groom, etc., were taken from her father's house to the house of her husband and the marriage consummated.) I only saw the dress and the shoes, not the bride. That is when the mother/woman in charge explained to me that the bride had died. (The Bride is dead to self; she is dead to her natural father's house, which will be represented in her works.) However, by having the wedding it would bring her back to life. (She will be given resurrection life through the filling with the Holy Spirit.) I knew in the dream the bride's wedding gown was going down the aisle by itself, and if the people at the wedding would believe, that is when they would see her body appear in the gown. (We should believe in order to fill that gown.) Then the scene changed. I saw myself standing in a white slip and I could see that I was pregnant. My husband was in the room talking with me. (The Bride will be spiritually very pregnant with the life of the seed of Christ's Word or she will not be in the Bride company.) There was an excitement about being together for the celebration after the wedding. (This is the seven-day wedding feast, representing the seven year tribulation where all feed on the bread and wine of the Word and nature of Jesus.) In the dream, I had a vision and saw myself walking down the aisle in a wedding dress, which showed me pregnant but not full-term. (The full maturing of the Bride will come when she walks with the Man-child, just as it was with Jesus when John said, “He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom”.) At this point, I knew I needed to take a shower to get ready. (Hurry, brethren! Time is running out to get cleaned up in our walk and works.) When I turned on the shower, I reached in with my right hand and felt the water. The temperature was just lukewarm. (The lukewarm will not be in the Bride.) I knew I needed to wait for the hot water tank to heat up the water before I could get in the shower and get dressed for the wedding. Then I woke up. I wanted to go back to sleep so I could finish the dream. When I was writing down the dream, I was getting very excited thinking about it. I asked for a word and the Lord gave me 2 Kings 6:7. My finger went down on the word “put” but I felt led to read 1-7. (2Ki.6:1) And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. (2) Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. (3) And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. (4) So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. (5) But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. (6) And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. (7) And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, and took it. (Going to the Jordan means going to the wilderness and, in this case, it is to build a house. So will the Bride. Also, the axe head floated supernaturally in the water, just like we have been given supernatural gifts in the water of the Word. But the text given is an exhortation to put out our hand and take the supernatural gifts of God, like righteousness, holiness, purity of walk and works, for the Lord said, “Take it up to thee.” So he put out his hand and took it.) After typing out the dream, I asked for another word and got Colossians 3:6 and felt led to read 1-6. (Col.3:1) If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. (2) Set your mind on the things that are above (So, seek ye first the Kingdom; there is no time left for distractions.), not on the things that are upon the earth. (3) For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (4) When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested (when the baby, “Christ in you”, is at full maturity), then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory (He will be born for the world to see). (5) Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; (6) for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.   Too Late for the Wedding Feast B. A. - 05/03/2014 (David's notes in red) Concerning the title, Too Late for the Wedding Feast, this is also Too Late for the Bride because she is the Bride before the Wedding Feast starts and she is on time. See Supernatural Warnings to Prepare for the Bride. I dreamed I was walking around Israel. (“Walking around” means worldwide and “Israel” represents the Church)  I was in sackcloth and ashes. (A symbol of grief at the apostasy of the Church -- worldwide and local.) I was praying in the Spirit for mercy for the “rebellious” house. (The rebellious house represents the group below who has rebelled against UBM and this is also happening worldwide. The Church is not the Bride and is often opposed to her, as we see in the Song of Solomon.) Then, suddenly, I was shown a banquet room (the Wedding Feast/Tribulation) with a very long table, and a group of people standing by the table waiting to be seated. One by one, each person was led to their seat. I watched as everyone was seated. I saw that there was a smaller group sitting on the right of the table with a very large gap separating them from the group on the left of the table. The Lord was showing me that there was a large gap representing a “wide” spiritual difference between these two groups. (The long table represents the spiritual food with the true sheep on the right side of this feast and the goats to the left of it. Below we discover that both of these groups represent the factious people who were taken into captivity but one-third of them on the right repented before the Wedding Feast and two-thirds did not and fell away to go into Tribulation bondage to the beast.) At this particular point in the dream, I woke up and I looked over at the clock and it read 4:43 or one minute before 4:44 or tribulation. (This is the second revelation of one minute left. Two other times, we also received 11:59 in dreams or one minute to midnight when Israel left Egypt for the wilderness tribulation. In the last two days before this revelation was given, I had looked at the clock at 11:59 two times. When the Trib starts, so does the 7-day/year Wedding Feast and the Bride is chosen before then so that she can be honored in the feast. There are two groups who need to be on time for the feast: the invited guests and the Bride. If anyone is late, they cannot be in the Bride.) As I fell back to sleep, I watched as the people seated on the far right of the table were being served broccoli (symbolizing trees with life. [This is food recognized to be healthy; in this case, spiritual health food. The first-fruits of our broccoli crop was harvested today.]) This was served with white sauce (the pure Word). At that point, I became very jubilant as I saw that this group had repented and were eating pure, nourishing food again! Praise the Lord! (This could be the part of the factious who repent before the Marriage Feast, as B.A. believes.) However, I noticed that the group seated at the far left of the table had not been served. They were not ready for this feast. (They have refused the healthy food from Heaven, the Word, which causes one to mature and be healthy, like the Bride.) And, as I was considering this group, I saw a large axe come down over the gap that separated the two groups of people at the table and cut the table in half. (This is like the bridge that fell in B.A.'s dream between the factious and righteous. This is also the dream we had of the house divided by a crack between the tall, righteous and glorious people on the right and the short, stunted, angry, factious people on the left who were prevented from attacking the righteous by a wall with no knob on the door in the wall. When the crack broke, there was no foundation under the factious side of the house as it fell away.) I watched as the group of people on the left fell away. (In Jesus' parable of those invited to the marriage feast, He threw out the one who had not on a wedding garment [meaning they were not dressed up with the works of Christ], for many are called but few are chosen. Mat.22:1 And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, 2 The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. 4 Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; 6 and the rest laid hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. The factious assassinate the character of those who call the Church to the feast. 7 But the king was wroth; and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Just like what happened physically in 70 AD, the Lord sent a spiritual Beast army to destroy apostate Jerusalem, the false Bride, and her people.) 8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore unto the partings of the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage feast. 10 And those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good (from among the saved and unsaved): and the wedding was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to behold the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding-garment.... Representing the works of Jesus: Rom.13:13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof]. Rev.19:8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Back to our text in Mat.22:12 and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding-garment? And he was speechless (we call this clueless). 13 Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few chosen. Notice the cutting off of those on the left and the cutting off of the bridge of those on the left below. Meaning they will not have an invitation or be in the Bride, for they have not put on the works of Jesus.) Just then, I woke up again and the clock read 5:13, or grace had been given to the rebellious house that had repented. (The one-third on the right.) I asked B. A., “Could you tell what percentage the people on the right were?” She said about one-third on the right repented and returned. She said, “From what the Lord showed me, some will not make it back in time for the Bride company (which is finished before the Marriage Feast). About the same time this revelation came to us, in our morning prayer meeting, we received a text from the Lord by faith: Dan.5:5 In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king's countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was celebrating the conquering of God's people by drinking wine (blood) from the gold and silver vessels (God's people) which were taken from the Temple in Jerusalem during the falling away (1-5). Daniel, the Man-child, interpreted the Father's writing of judgment on the wall, and the king was slain by the Medio-Persian Empire, headed by Cyrus. It was his decree in Ezra 1 that the first-fruits from among God's people in the Babylonian captivity return to build the Temple in Jerusalem. In effect this is being accomplished by President Trump. And also his plundering of Babylon paid for this. It was said of Cyrus, Isa.44:26 that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof; 27 that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers (He diverted the Euphrates River to conquer Babylon); 28 That saith of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. 45:1 Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: 2 I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. (The army went under the bars across the lowered Euphrates and the gates along the Euphrates into the center of the city were unlocked. They invaded and conquered because of God and so shall we. On 6/01/14, Jim Tofflemire wrote: “I saw a D-Day Normandy invasion movie recently and I felt the Lord told me the revival and Trib would be a grand production of God like that, and we need a lot of preparation” (to set the captives free by a war with the principalities and powers and rulers of this darkness through prayer and faith). 11 Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things that are to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. 12  I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and all their host have I commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness (Christ, hidden in the type of Cyrus), and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts. ... 15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. This conquering of the Northern army brings to mind another text the Lord has given us many times. At a time when the Northern army was invading Israel and Judah, which Joel likened to an army of locusts for multitude, there came up a cry for mercy from the inhabitants of Zion, the Bride, just like Esther did and everything was turned around for those who escaped captivity. Joe.2:12 Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal-offering and a drink-offering unto Jehovah your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; 16 gather the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God? 18 Then was Jehovah jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. Notice a cry for mercy from the Bride turned the Beast captivity around and brought the great revival of the Latter Rain. Remember that Babylon left Jeremiah, to prophecy to the people of the Promised Land, while the rest had been taken to captivity. Let us cry for those in captivity with fasting and prayer.   Last Supper Before the Feast B. A. - 10/12/2012 (David's notes in red) Before sharing this word with the broadcast audience, I asked the Lord to give me a Word concerning this and another revelation. With eyes closed, I flipped my Bible open and put my finger down on (Jer.26:2) Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word. I had a short dream last week where I was in a large house (the UBM house). I heard noise coming from the kitchen, so I went to the kitchen to see what was going on. I saw David Eells at the stove, cooking a meal. (David here represents the end-time David ministry preparing a spiritual meal.) I asked David if I could be of help and he replied, “Sure. Go through the entire house and tell everybody the meal is ready, and it's important to be on time”. (This is the Last Supper, which was a parable to prophesy the crucifixion of the body and blood of Christ for the Church to eat or partake of. The Church was told: (Joh.6:53) Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves. (54) He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (55) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (56) He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. So I went through the house and spread the word that dinner was ready and everyone needed to be on time at the dinner table. Soon, everyone took their seat at the dinner table. David then brought the food to the table and told everyone, “I'm glad you all made it to the table on time, as this is the last regular meal before the feast”. We were all very joyful and sang praises to the Lord. (All of the disciples or witnesses of the Man-child were at the table to partake of the bread and wine, representing the future sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus. Notice that this was a “regular meal before the feast”. It was a spiritual type of what was to happen in the Marriage Feast of seven days of tribulation. (Mat.26:26) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. (27) And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; (28) for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins. So we see, the Last Supper or type of the Marriage Feast came first; then the crucifixion; and then they partook of that sacrifice of the body (Word) and blood (nature) of Jesus through repentance and faith. This latter is the manifestation of the Marriage Feast and will go on for the seven years of tribulation. In this way, we can understand David's command to gather the guests as Jesus' command to gather the guests. “Go through the entire house and tell everybody the meal is ready, and it's important to be on time”. (22:4) Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. We have seen in revelations from God that the Davids are going through crucifixion, death and resurrection to be prepared to receive the anointing to lead the flock through tribulation wilderness. It was so with Moses, Joseph, David, etc., before they reigned. In crucifying these Davids, the apostates are crucifying Jesus again, just as their forefathers did. (25:40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, [even] these least, ye did it unto me. However, the benefits of this sin will raise up the body of Christ through the anointed Davids in whom Jesus will live through the Word and crucifixion.   Marriage Supper M. L. - 03/20/2014 (David's notes in red) A dream of standing near the beginning of many, many small round tables as far as the eye could see in any direction. The tables were covered with white tablecloths and four chairs per table. It was my job to see that a small two-tiered wedding cake was exactly centered on each of the tables. This cake was to be divided equally among the four people who would be seated there. (Those who are invited to the Marriage Supper.) Knowing that these cakes were the exact likeness of a larger one that was at the table of honor. (This is the table of the Groom and His Bride.) The tables did not yet have their place settings or name cards, but knowing that that would take place soon. (The trials and testing to come in the tribulation marriage feast will prove who it is who is invited to the Marriage Supper in Heaven. The foolish virgins do not bear fruit and will not be invited.) (Rev.19:7) Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are true words of God. (Mat.25:1) Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them: 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast (The Greek word here, gamos, should be translated “marriage”, not “marriage feast”, for this is the whole marriage ceremony. This would give a person who knows about the marriage customs to discern what part of the marriage is being spoken about. The virgins escort the Bride and Groom to the Groom's home in Heaven after the Marriage Feast of seven days (tribulation) where there is a Marriage Supper. The foolish virgins who have not borne fruit do not go to Heaven, as Jesus said here.): and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour. Luk.12:35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; 36 and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return (Greek: analuo, meaning “depart; break up”, as in Philippians 1:23. This is the only place in the NT that this word is translated “return”. Those at the Marriage Feast will break up to go to the Marriage Supper; the Groom will “depart” from the Marriage Feast with the Bride to be escorted by the virgins to the Marriage Supper in His heavenly home and some will not be counted worthy.) from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.   Get Ready, Bride Jacob Patek - 01/04/2012 (David's notes in red) I had this dream this afternoon that I would like to share with you. I work shift work, so that is why the dream was in the afternoon. I woke up at 12:30 pm and asked myself if I should get up at that time or not. I ended up going back to sleep and this is the dream the Lord gave me. I have had two brothers who encouraged me to type this out and send it in. It was not until this afternoon (1/05/12) that I came to find out that brother David had given a study on the Bride. I had been talking with a sister in the Lord the night before I had the dream. While I was at work, I had prayed that the Lord would give His permission for His daughter's hand in marriage and continued to pray that He would lead and direct me in wisdom, teaching me to not cover my head and be the spiritual head that He has called me to be. This is the dream: I was in my house preparing to go to a fellowship. I was in the living room while a female friend was in the bathroom, who was also getting ready. She was putting on a bridal gown. This girl was my age (mid-20s). While still in my dream, I was sitting in the living room, and G. W. called me and told me he had to tell me about a dream that he had just had. He said that in his dream, I was getting ready to go to church with a girl. She was putting on a bridal gown, and once we made it to the fellowship, there would be a man who would walk in during the middle of the message. He would walk in and say, “I am here for my bride.” The brother who was giving the Word would then say, “Take your bride”. Then the man who walked in said, “You will have to do the ceremony”. (Men who share the word with the Bride serve in the ceremony of the Wedding Feast, as seen below.) I could see the man kneeling at a cross that was in the middle of the room. At this point in my dream, G. W. stopped talking, and my female friend and I were there. I could now see more detail, as it was from my perspective and no longer G. W. talking about his dream. (Here he begins to see in his dream the confirmation of G. W.'s dream above. This symbolizes that the dream is doubled and is guaranteed by God to come to pass shortly. (Gen.41:32) And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.) The brother giving the message was speaking English but he had an interpreter. The man walked in through the large double doors at the front of the building. I remember the doors being 20 feet tall or so and the man who walked in was very meek in appearance but quite tall. (He is head and shoulders above all the rest; a giant of the Kingdom.) He had on a white suit or robe and his hair was a brilliant white. He was standing in the doorway and the light that was coming in from behind him through the open doors was brilliant and bright. He said, “I am here for my bride”. The brother giving the message said, “Take your bride”. And sure enough, the man said, “You will have to perform the ceremony”. At this time, I noticed the girl I had come with started to get up. She was walking toward the door through which the man entered. This is when the man grabbed her by the arm gently and with care and he looked at her with great affection. He did not say anything, but in my spirit I heard him say, “I am here”. (He is here in spirit.) The moment he said this, the girl who was my age turned into an old woman dressed in a dress that was a brilliant white, just like the light that was coming through the doors. (She has the maturity and righteousness of many years.) At this, I fell prostrate on my face and began to weep. It was a joyful cry. Now I was watching from a third-person point of view. I could see myself lying on the floor and weeping while the ceremony was taking place. It was over in an instant. Then we were leaving the meeting. The man was walking with us, then was no longer there. I didn't see where he went but the moment he left, in my spirit I heard, “I'm coming back for her. Make sure she is prepared”. Then she turned back into a woman of my age and we proceeded back to my house, where I began to tell her about all that had happened and about G. W.'s dream and it coming to pass. She laughed and kind of shrugged it off, and then I said I had the video on my phone of G. W. and I talking about it. G.W. called me in the beginning of my dream but on the video we were sitting down on the same couch face to face. As I started to play it, G. W. called me in real life and woke me from my dream. (This is confirmation to us again that we are about to begin the ceremony, and the bride needs to be ready. So cut the sin and get ready or miss a once-in-forever chance.) I told him, “Man, I have to tell you about this dream I just had”. We were both very encouraged, and I pray that you are too.   The Bride Is Almost Complete Eve Brast - 04/30/2016 (David's notes in red) I had a dream this afternoon that is very encouraging for us. I dreamed I was standing in the middle of the driveway as you top the hill to the Shaw's house. It was sunny outside with almost a white sunlight, like when the sun is close to or at the noon position. (This is the perfect day because there are no shadows; darkness is defeated before the Sun/Son.) I saw all the local UBM brethren clearing all the vines and weeds away from the Shaw's house. Some were pulling with their hands and others with tools. (Exactly like we were doing in real life today when helping to clean and trim, and weed around their house.) Between where I was standing and the front corner of the house was a large square tower made of white stones. (The white stone tower is the Bride who is being put together as her members are sanctified. Mic.4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.) Three of the sides were complete and we were six or seven stones (people sanctified) away from completing the fourth and final side. (Pray for these six or seven saints to be set free.) The stones were all about a foot or so in diameter and the tower was larger at the base and more narrow as it reached the top. 1Pe.2:5 ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Although this is a promise for the true Church, the principle is the same but the Bride comes to this maturity before the Church and is therefore more beautiful to the Lord. It was flat on top, almost like a huge stone altar. As the brethren cleared away the wild vines and weeds out of the flower beds surrounding the house, they would uncover these stones, and then they would supernaturally disappear from the beds and reappear in their perfect position in the tower, which was almost as high as the roof of the house. (As the lives of these living stones were freed from the weeds and vines of bondage.  Then they were supernaturally and spiritually resurrected out of dirt burial to be in the Bride.) Then I woke up. I thought of the Shepherd of Hermas when I began to meditate on this dream and what it meant. (The tower was in the building stage there too and it was said that the stones could go into the tower as long as it was being built but after it was finished, no more stones could be included.)   When the Bride Is Sanctified, Judgment Comes Anna Stewart - 04/27/2016 (David's notes in red) The dream I shared on the conference fellowship last night was where Matthew and I were in an old red '90s model F-150 pickup (which we don't really have in real life) and we had three bales of hay in the back. We were driving up this narrow one-way dirt road up a mountain (Zion) and the farther up we got, the less hay we had. I said, “By the time we get to the top of the mountain, we won't have any hay left”. (This represents the further up Zion we go, the less flesh we have, since Peter said “all flesh is as grass”. (Hay is dead grass or flesh. The three bales being that which comes from the earth in spirit, soul, and body.) Being in an old red truck may be the first way that the apostles gave us and the red being covered by the blood and the ride being in the rest.) 1Co.3:10 According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. Wood, hay and stubble would not abide in fire because it represents the works of man.) When we got to the top, there was a meadow and I saw a tornado (When the Bride is mature enough to be chosen, then come Judgments like large earthquakes, volcanoes, economic crash, martial law, etc.), but I wasn't scared. As it touched down, the sky went black (The gross darkness, volcanic activity, blackouts, a time of judgment). I could see stars and all the other planetary stuff which you could never see with the naked eye, and straight up above were these two bright lights. In the dream, I knew that there were two suns. (When the Bride is chosen. This could account for the earthquakes, which bring the Man-child when she reaches the top to be chosen.) And then in the dream I was telling Michael what had just happened, so that's why I wanted to share it.   Most Don't Make the Cut One other thing I wanted to share. We had eight lambs this year, and I was believing we wouldn't lose any, as we usually lose at least one to something or other, and we didn't have any bottle babies, which might have been a first. But two were born dead, then just recently one died of an unknown cause, two went missing, which must have been coyotes, but we have never had any go missing before, and one got its head eaten off through the fence (coyote?). I just thought that it all kind of lined up with the parable of the sower pretty well because God calls His people sheep. The stillborn sheep would be the wayside ones because they never had life; the missing ones are the ones sown on the rocks because they fell away when temptation arose (I know that they strayed away from the others when they were eaten because the others were not frightened, which they always are for a few days when something scares them). The one that died of who-knows-what was then picked by birds, and the one who lost its head would, I guess, be the third group who didn't bring fruit to perfection. And then, of course, that leaves the last two living ones to be the ones who were sown in the good ground. Even though it was sad what happened, I saw it as kind of a parable and a warning too, because just like the parable of the sower, only 1/4 of them made it. One other thing is that my nieces wanted to name some, so they decided on Marly and Charley. Then Mallory was like, “I know, I'll name mine Jesus!” So Tasha decided to rename hers God. I told them that might get a little confusing, “God, get out of the hay!” “Jesus, don't be so greedy”. Etc. So we stuck with Marly and Charley. I just thought it was interesting that Marly was going to be Jesus, but stuck her head through the fence out of curiosity and got taken out. Because everybody plans on manifesting Jesus, but fence-straddlers (or those halfway through the fence) won't make it. Below I will share an excerpt from Hidden Manna For the End Times -- Chapter Three: “When Do We Go?” The ceremony is according to ancient Jewish custom. It begins with the Marriage Feast as the groom in the Man-child feasts with the Bride for seven day/years. During this time, She has all the rights and advantages of a wife, except the marriage is not consummated. At the end of the tribulation, the virgins escort the Bride and Groom to the Groom's home, where the Marriage Supper is served.   The Marriage Feast Excerpt from our book, Hidden Manna For the End Times After seven days of the marriage feast, God's people will go to the Groom's home. Jacob served seven years for each of his wives and he had a marriage feast of seven days for each of them (Gen.29:18-28). This is a parallel revelation. These seven days represent the last seven years or the seventieth week of Daniel, the Tribulation. Samson kept a seven-day marriage feast for his betrothed but left without taking her on the seventh day so she was given to another man just as the harlot will, in our day (Jdg.14:12-15:2). Jesus will feast with His Bride in spirit for seven days/years, after which they are escorted by the virgins to the Groom's home in heaven where she will legally be His. This Hebrew custom is shown in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1976, page 97 under “Marriage”. My notes are in parentheses. The bridegroom was the king for a week (seven-day/year wedding feast). During the whole week their majesties wore their festal clothes, did not work, and merely looked on at the games – except that now and then the queen joined in a dance. Accompanied by his friends (John the Baptist was a friend of the Bridegroom in John 3:29) with tambourines and a band they went to the bride's house (which is obviously on earth) where the wedding ceremonies were to start. The bride richly dressed, adorned with jewels (Psa.45:14-15), usually wore a veil (meaning submission in 1Cor.11:5-13), which she took off only in the bridal chamber. Escorted by her companions (the virgins), the bride was led to the home of the bridegroom (heaven). This is clear. After the seven days/years of the feast, representing the Tribulation, on the eighth day, which is the day of circumcision when the flesh is cut off, the Groom, the Bride, the friends of the Groom, and the virgins, all leave dressed in their new bodies to go to the Groom's home in heaven. It will be just as when Moses and all Israel left Egypt together. Even the dead in Christ will join the procession. (1Cor.15:51) ...We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump... That the Lord takes His people after the seven days/years of the marriage feast is clearly proven by Scripture. As we have seen, a great multitude comes out of the Great Tribulation to the throne of God. (Rev.7:9) …A great multitude…out of every nation…standing before the throne and before the Lamb…. (14) …These are they that come out of the great tribulation…. Only after “the great tribulation,” this “great multitude,” which is made up of all who attend the marriage, announces that the Bride is ready and the marriage is come. (Rev.19:1) After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying…. (7)…the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (8) And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (9) And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb…. Notice that the marriage supper is in heaven, after the seven-day feast on earth. Let's go back and look more closely at what will be eaten at the marriage feast. Jesus said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves” (Joh.6:53). What does this flesh and blood symbolize spiritually, for Jesus said, “It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life” (63)? Jesus' flesh was the unleavened bread: the manna of the pure Word of God. (51) I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. (Joh.1:14) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us... The wine represents the blood of the life of Christ, Who is the Word. (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood... Those who are obedient to attend will feast on the flesh, bread, and wine of the eternal life of Christ for the last seven days of the Tribulation. God is preparing the Man-child ministry of Revelation 12 to walk in the steps of Jesus and to once again serve this feast to the true disciples of our day. I will share more on this later. Although, to a lesser extent, this marriage feast has been served on earth since Christ first came, it is the last seven days that the majority of God's people will feast on the pure bread and wine. Natural Israel was invited to come and partake of this marriage feast in the Gospels, but most had worldly excuses and failed to feast on the life that Jesus served. (Mat.22:1) And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, (2) The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, (3) and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. (4) Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. (5) But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; (6) and the rest laid hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. (7) But the king was wroth; and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. This was the end of the Jewish age, when in 70 A.D. the Romans slaughtered the Jews and burned Jerusalem. As they were rejecting the feast, the Gentiles were invited to partake. (Mat.22:8) Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were not worthy. (9) Go ye therefore unto the partings of the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage feast. (10) And those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good (Gentiles and Jews): and the wedding was filled with guests. John the Baptist pointed out that the disciples were feasting on the Word of Jesus as a marriage feast and as a type and shadow for our day. (Joh.3:29) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is made full.   The Marriage Supper All who have been sanctified through the feast will be ready to leave for the Groom's home in heaven. (Luk.12:36) And be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return (Greek: analuo, “depart”) from the marriage feast (seven days); that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him. Analuo is not translated “return” anywhere else but is correctly translated “depart” in places like Philippians 1:23 where Paul speaks of departing this life. The encyclopedia is clear that the groom, his bride, and friends, “depart” from a marriage feast of seven days and are escorted by the virgins to the groom's home. (Mat.25:1) Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. A common false teaching is that the virgins here are the bride who leaves before the seven-year tribulation. That is not only contrary to the Hebrew custom I cited above from the encyclopedia, but other experts on this say the same. I quote the famous The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim, Book III, Chapter IV. My comments are in parentheses. On the evening of the actual marriage (after the seven-day marriage feast) the bride was led from her paternal home (on earth) to that of her husband (in heaven) ….covered with the bridal veil, her long hair flowing, surrounded by her companions (bride's maids or virgins), and led by the friends of the bridegroom…some carried torches or lamps on poles (ten lamps)…. Here it is clear that the Bride and virgins are two separate entities, just as in all cultures. After the seven-year marriage feast, the virgins will accompany the Bride to the Groom's home. In Book V, Chapter VII, Edersheim explains the parable of the Ten Virgins with their lamps thus: According to Jewish authorities, it was the custom in the East to carry in a bridal procession about ten such lamps. … Ten was the number required to be present at any office or ceremony (to witness the kethubah or marriage document)…. He also says here: The ordinary Jewish marriage-procession where the bridegroom, accompanied by his groomsmen and friends, went to the bride's house, and thence conducted the bride, with her attendant maidens and friends, into his own or his parents' home.

Introduction: Philippians 2:3-7 – Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 3 Reasons I Want to Fight for Unity (1 Corinthians 1:10-17) Because I Am RESPONSIBLE for the Church's REPUTATION. (1 Cor 1:11) John 13:35 – By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 17:20–21 – I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Because FIGHTING is FOOLISH. (1 Cor 1:12–13) Because DISUNITY DISTRACTS from the Mission. (1 Cor 1:14–17) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 1:10-17What was your big take-away from this passage / message?What are some specific doctrines church members must agree on (1 Cor 1:10)? What are some doctrines that are okay to not all agree on? What makes the difference?What are some ways people overly attach themselves to certain preachers today (1 Cor 1:12)? Why do you think many Christians do this?Why was Paul thankful that he didn't baptize the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:14)? Is Paul saying baptism isn't important? Why or why not?How exactly do “words of eloquent wisdom” end up “emptying the cross of its power” (1 Cor 1:17)? What does this say about how we should evaluate a sermon?BreakoutPray for one another. Pray for unity at HBC among elders, staff, ministry leaders, and members. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT Open up those Bibles.The first Corinthians in chapter 1.But as we turn to God's Word, I'm going to ask,we just pause for a second and please pray for meto faithfully communicate what God has said in His Word,and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receivewhat it is that the Lord wants to teach us from His Word today.Alright, let's pray.Father, just now we're turning to Your Word,and I pray that our minds and hearts would be just so focusedon what You said,and that we are eager to obey what it is You've laid out for usin Your Word.We pray in Jesus' name.And all of God's people said,"Amen."The first Corinthians, chapter 1.You know, every so often at harvest Bible chapel,we do a Q&A day where we take questions from the congregationand answer them,and I think it was the last Q&A day.We had a very - a question that kind of threw me for a loop.I was wondering who asked it and why.But the question was, do the leaders of the church like each other?Well, you know, we're working on seeking the Lordon building a church building on a piece of propertyup in New Sewickley.And there is wind of opposition to building,which probably means building is of the Lord,because that's what happens, right?Read the book of Nehemiah.But in our staff meeting,in my office around the conference tables,we were in a staff meeting,and our children's director, Missy Howes,I got permission to tell this story, by the way.But our children's director was telling us aboutone of the individuals who is sort of against us buildinga building on that property.And then Missy capped off her updateby turning to Pastor Rich,and she said, "Yeah, she's really going after you people."And I said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.You people."I said, "Well, at what point, Melissa,did you go from staff memberof the biggest demographic of our churchto now it's you people?"And we have been laughing about that ever since.And if you know Missy, it's even funnier.But how quickly some people actually seriouslydetached themselves from the church?How quickly people detach themselves,and they don't see themselves as part of the body,don't see themselves as wanting what's actually bestfor the body as a whole.How many people show of handshave ever been involved in a churchwhere there's been fighting?Raise your hand.All right?How many people have ever been involved in a churchwhere there was a split?Raise your hand.Way too many of you.All right? Way too many.But listen, it's nothing new.It's been happening from the very beginning of the church.And it just seems common nowbecause there's more churchesand there's easier ways to communicate in our day.But it happens.Fighting and divisions in the churchis unfortunately one of the sinsthat the church has been dealing with since day one.Last week as we started 1 Corinthians,the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church,look, the foundation for unityhas to be in knowing your salvation.That has to be the foundation.You have to know the grace of Godby which you're saved.You have to know that He has gifted you to serve.You have to know that you are guiltlessin the day of Christ Jesus.He will sustain you.That's how Paul starts the letter.In Jesus Christ.Now, act like it.And that's the theme of the whole book of 1 Corinthians.You know, the Corinthian church,they had a lot of problems.Have you read this book?They had a lot of problems.They had a lot of problems concerning sexualityand marriage and libertyand worship and spiritual giftsand the resurrection of Jesusand money.And Paul wrote this book.He wrote them this letter to correcttheir sinful problems.But you know,Paul must have thoughtthat their biggest problemwas disunity.The fighting.Because this is what he addresses firstin the letter.Look at verse 10.And really, verse 10 could have beenthe only thing he wrote in the whole book.And this is like the point.He says, "I appeal to you brothersby the name of our Lord Jesus Christthat all of you agreeand that there be no divisions among youbut that you be united in the same mindand the same judgment."Now, verse 10 obviously flows from verse 9.And verse 9, he tells the church that they,by extension, we are called into the fellowshipof His Son.And that's a foundation herefor the Corinthian church and for Harvest Bible Chapel.This is not my church.This is not Pastor Taylor's church.Corinth was not Paul's churchor Apollos' church.Harvest Bible Chapel,it's not your church.Whose church is it?It's God's church.And you're like, "Man Pastor Jeff,if only there was a way that you could remind us of thaton the regular."What do you think this is?Do you know what this is?It's an arrow.That's all it is.It's a fancy arrow.But that's, people ask me,"What's this symbol mean?"It's just an arrow.And this is to remind us why we're here.We're here for God.We're here to exalt His Son.We're here to proclaim His Word.That's all that is.It's a constant reminder.It's not about me.It's about Him.So Paul says he's appealing that what?He says that all of you agree.Like, "All right, agree."Agree on what?Agree on politics.Agree on who is the best football team.Agree on who makes the best pizza.What are we agreeing on?Well, there's two things, church,that we have to absolutely agree on.And number one is doctrine.We should all agree on what we believe.Now listen, we might have different viewson things like an eschatological timelineor the doctrine of election or whatever, whatever.But on the major points of doctrine, we must agree.If you're like, "I'm not sure if I should agree on thisor if I should fight about this."Well, there's things that there are hills to die on.Things like the authority of God's Word.That's something we should all agree on.Things like the person and work of Jesus Christ.We should all agree on that.He is God who became man, who died to take away sin,who rose from the dead to give eternal life,who is coming again.We should all agree on that.Speaking of, we should all agree on salvation.How does somebody get saved?It's through faith in Jesus Christ.It's receiving the gift of eternal lifethat God has given through Jesus.We should all agree on that.All the stuff we talked about last week,we should all agree that is how a person gets saved.We should all agree on the mission of the church.We're not here to scratch itchy ears.We're not here to make a nice social club.We are here to make disciples.Those are things we should agree on.And that's what Paul goes on to say,that there will be no divisions among you.Literally, divisions in the Greekcan be translated no difference of opinion.Paul says, you should not have a difference of opinion.We should all have the same opinion.And you're like, what? Jeff, yours?No.We should all have God's opinion.See, that should be the mindset of this church.It's like, well, what do you think about abortion?What does God think about abortion?What do you think about marriage?What does God think about marriage?That should be our opinion too.What do you think about work?What does God say about work?What should share His opinion?What do you think about parenting?You got any opinions about parenting?Yeah, I do got opinions about parenting.It's God's opinion about parenting.What does the Bible say?We should all be agreeing on doctrine.And another thing we should all be agreeing on is submission.Look at verse 10.He says that you be united in the same mindand the same judgments.You see, doctrine speaks to what we believe.Submission speaks to how we act.In other words, unity - listen, unity will occur naturallywhen we agree on doctrine and live in submission to one another.Now, I hesitated to even bark up this treebut I felt like we had tobecause this could be a whole other sermon series.But look at what Paul told the Philippian church.What is the attitude that we're supposed to have,this attitude of submissionthat's going to result in unity?He tells the Philippians,he says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.Each of you look not only to his own interestsbut also to the interests of others.Have this mind among yourselveswhich is yours in Christ Jesus.Though he was in the form of God,did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped.He got emptied himself by taking the form of a servantbeing born in the likeness of man."That's saying a lot.There's a couple of things I want to highlight from that.Regarding submission that unifies us,unity is destroyed when we start thinking,"It's all about me.My ideas are the best.My ideas are the smartest.Everyone should do what I want in the churchand the church will be good."He says, "Each of us, we have to humble ourselvesthat we consider others more important than you.That you walk in the doors and you're like,"Everybody here is more important than me."Unity comes when we all share that mindset.How do we do that?Well, he tells us in Philippians,"We have to have the mind of Christ."He says a lot like I said.We've preached on this a couple of times in past time.Look at that next to last statement.That's the one that really jumps out to me.Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, took the form of a servant.This is where the attitude of submission comes.When you walk in the doors, not to say,"Okay, things need to happen my way.I'm going to set everything straight.You need to walk in the doors and say,"I'm here to serve.I'm a servant."If God was willing to make Himself a servant,as an example, I should have the same mindset, right?So are you?Are you a servant?Well, we'll know when somebody treats you like one,whether you are or not.We'll know when you don't get your own wayif you really see yourself as a servant.Really, Paul could have stopped it.Verse 10 says so much here in 1 Corinthians 1.He could have stopped there.But he goes on to lay out three reasons whywe should each do our part for unity.So on your outline, I want you to jot some things down.Three reasons I want to fight for unity.Like, you want to fight about something?You want to fight? Okay.Let's fight for unity.Let's fight for that.You're like, "Well, why do I want to do that?"Well, Paul tells us, number one,because I am responsible for the church's reputation.Because I am responsible for the church's reputation.Look at verse 11.He says, "For it has been reported to me by Chloe's peoplethat there is quarreling among you, my brothers."There are Chloe's people.Do you know what we call them today?Whistleblowers. Right?Do you know what we called them when I was a kid?Do you know what we called whistleblowers when I was a kid?A "nark."How many people remember "nark"?Okay, somebody tattles to the teacher on you."You nark."They weren't getting. They weren't being narks.They weren't being narks. No.I don't know who Chloe's people are.The Bible doesn't really tell us.But here's what we do know.They were so concerned over the fighting that was happening in the churchthat they had to get a message to Paul.And it would have been a lot harder in that day.They couldn't have just posted something on Instaor sent Paul a text. Right?So Chloe's people were concerned.And Paul's like, "This is the reputation that's getting back to me."Chloe's people says, "All you do is fight."Not good.I heard a commercial just the other dayfor a product that I didn't even know existed.It's called the Reputation Defender.How many people have heard of the Reputation Defender?Okay, Randy. Okay, me and Randy.Okay, so only a few of us heard that commercial.All right? The Reputation Defender.Do you know what this is? I had to look it up online.I was so intrigued by the commercial, Randy.I had to look it up online.Since 2006, a leader in online reputation management.What they do is they - and again, this is from their website -they fix online search results and remove personal information.Meaning, if there's bad stuff about you on the Internet, they erase it.If somebody, you know, whether you're applying for a jobor you just want to sort of clean up your reputation,it's just, whoop, it's erased from the Internet.It's gone. Like, that part of you no longer exists.It's just, whoop, gone.And I heard that commercial.And I'm like, man, I wish we had this for other things.You know what I mean?You know what I mean? Like, I do something stupid at homeand I upset Aaron.I wish that I could just be like, whoop, gone.Or, have you ever been like at a partyand you meet somebody and you say something really awkwardand stupid and you're like, why did I say that?Wouldn't it be nice to just be like, whoop, now nobody remembers that?Right?Or you got ejected from the church softball gamebecause you lost your temper.Whoop.Well, you know, there is no such service for the church.I think with the church more than probably just about any organization on the planet,the reputation sticks.For better or for worse, the reputation sticks.And if you're like, well, I really don't care what people think about me.Okay, do you care what people think about Jesus?Because this unity doesn't just affect the church's reputation.It reflects on Jesus himself.Look at John 13.35 here. We're going to have it on the screen.Jesus said, by this all people will know that you are my disciplesif you have love for one another.Now, you know what I want to think Jesus said here?My mind wants to make it say that Jesus was like,the world is going to know that you love the worldby the way that you love the world.That's not what he said.He said the world is going to know that we are disciples of Jesus,not by how we love them,but by how we love each other.Our reputation for unity, according to our Lord,confirms our discipleship to the world,and it also directly affects our witness.Jesus, again, you jump over to John 17.Jesus praying specifically for us, for Harvest Bible Chapel.You see it right here. Jesus is praying.I do not ask for these only,but also for those who will believe in me through their Word.That's us.We believe through the Word.He says that they may all be one,just as you, Father, are in me and I and you,that they also may be in us.Why does Jesus want us to be one?Here's a reason.He says so that the world may believe that you have sent me.Our witness church is directly affected by our oneness.I mean, that just makes sense, doesn't it?I mean, it just follows.I mean, if you're talking to your neighbor about churchand you say things like,"Well, you know what at Harvest Bible Chapel,our worship leader can't stand our children's director."I mean, our children's director is constantly throwing fire at staff meetings,and the worship leader just has had enough.And then you tell your neighbor,"Oh, he is way too aggressive with people."And you're like, "Well, how's the youth group?"And they say, "How's the youth group?"You're like, "Well, youth group is nice, but you know what those youth group moms,all they do is fight."That's all they do.They're just constantly fighting and arguing and bickering about everything.And then you turn to your neighbor and say,"Hey, would you like to come to our church sometime?"And they're like,"Not a chance.Why would I want to walk into that circus?"Our witness is affected by our reputation.Jesus prayed that we would be one.He died so that we would be one.So our reputation that we should have is that we are one.So, nix the clicks.Alright?Nix the clicks.Why?Because you're responsible for our reputation.You're responsible for our reputation.Number two, why I want to fight for unity?Why I want to nix the clicks?Number two, because fighting is foolish.Fighting is foolish.Look at verses 12 and 13.Paul is calling them out on their foolish immaturity.He says, "What I mean is that each one of you says,'I follow Paul,' or 'I follow Apollos,' or 'I follow Cephas,'that's Peter, or 'I follow Christ.'"Is Christ divided?Was Paul crucified for you?Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?See what he's doing?He's pointing out how stupid this is.Why are you fighting about this stuff?Verse 12, he says, "Each one of you,each one of you, you should have that underlined."Why?Because when there's this unity, who do we blame?Everybody else, right?Paul's like, "This is not an everybody else problem.This is a you problem."Stop blaming everybody else.What are you doing for unity at the church?And you see, they were boasting about which ministerthey identified with.Some people were like, "I follow Paul."I mean, Paul was pretty great, huh?Like, what an awesome missionary, right?Apostle to the Gentiles and endured so much hardshipand was so faithful in his ministry.And it's easy to see why there were people that loved Paul.But some maybe overly attached to him, right?But then you have the people that were like, "Paul, okay."Paul's okay.But you know who really is the best minister is Apollos.Apollos was known for his eloquence.Apollos was a fantastic speaker.We learned about that in the book of Acts.And I'm sure that there were people here that were like,"You know what? Paul might have good theology,but there ain't nobody that preaches a sermonas beautifully as Apollos.He is the best preacher I've ever heard."And then you had people that are like,"You both are whack."Paul?Apollos?No, no, no, no, no, no.Cephas.That's Peter, right?Like, how can we even be arguing about this?Peter!OG!Peter!Right?Like, he wasn't just like one of the disciples.He was like one of Jesus' besties.And he was there for all of it.And he had some ups and downs.And look at what, look at like Pentecost.And Peter is the man.And then you had people that just had the Jesus Duke, everybody,that are like, "Oh, you like human ministers?"Well, I follow Christ.Doesn't that just sound so pious?I follow Christ.You see what the Corinthian church was doing?It was the adult version, the church version,of, "My dad can beat up your dad."Right?It's, "My pastor cannot preach your pastor."Aren't all four of these men preaching the same gospel?Oh, by the way, the last group there, I follow Christ.You're like, "Wait, wait, wait.Isn't that who we want to follow?"Yes.Jesus.Obviously.But somehow they turned even thatinto an occasion for fighting.And you're like, "Well, how in the world could somebody pull that off?"Well, people still do it today.People still do that today.Like, what do you mean?You heard these people that are like,"Oh, I don't need to go to churchbecause I have a relationship with Jesus.So I don't need church."You can't defend that biblically.There is no such thing as a Christian detached from a church body.There is no such thing.Several years ago, there was the whole short-lived15 minutes of fame of the whole,"I love Jesus but hate the church."You remember that?"I love Jesus but I hate the church."Doesn't that just sound so pious?It sounds so obnoxious."I love Jesus but I hate the church."Bad idea.You know what the church is?The church is the bride of Christ.And if you came to me and you said,"I love you, Pastor Jeff, but I hate your wife,"we're going to have some problems.I think that's what was going on here.That there were people that were like,"Oh, I don't need churches and preachersbecause I have Jesus."And look, there are some things,as we said earlier, that are worth fighting for.There are some things I will fight to the death for.Things like preaching the Word of God.Things like biblical music.Things like confronting unrepentant sin.Those are the things that the church should be fighting for.But sadly, when there's fighting in the church,those aren't usually the kinds of thingsthat people are fighting over.Honestly, church, we find weird things to divide over,just like the Corinthians.We just come up with all kinds of stupid things to fight about.You want to hear some examples of some of the stupidest things?I don't have time to give all of them.But over the years, I've heard so many stupid thingsthat people fight about.Here's one.I had a friend that attended a church.And I'm like, "Hey, how things are going at your church?"And he goes, "Oh, Jeff, we're really in a bad spot right now.Everybody's fighting."Like, what's the problem?People are really upset with each otherand people are not talking to each other.And it's gotten really ugly.I'm like, "What are we fighting about at this church?"He says, "Well, when you walk in the entryway,there's a bulletin board.And they're fighting about how to divide it up among the ministries.Because the Sunday school thought they were getting all of it,and they were told they can get half,and they wanted to divide it this way.But no, no, no, the mission department wanted to divide it this way, blah, blah, blah."And he goes, "It is nasty."I'm like, "Are you serious?"He's like, "Yeah."He goes, "What do you think we should do?"I said, "I think you should rip that bulletin board off the walland throw it in the garbage.That's what I think you should do."He's like, "Well, that's evangelism."I said, "No, it's not.The only people are seeing itare the people who are walking in the door."I said, "If it's causing that much division, trash it."Isn't that dumb?Here's another one.My old church, there was a familythat had four daughters at the timethey were early adolescents to teenage years.And there were people at the churchthat were upset with this family.They said, "Those girls are a clique.Those girls are a clique.Those girls are sisters."And now we're demonizing thembecause they like each other?There were people angry at thembecause they got along.Isn't that stupid?This might be the stupidestthat I have a pastor friend.He was a pastor for a church up in Canada.Every Christmas they had a tradition.Like, for years,at the end of the Christmas service,this is true, and I can't say without laughing,but this is true,at the end of the Christmas service every year,they sang "Feliz Navidad."You know that horrible song?You know the one I'm talking about?"Feliz Navidad.""Feliz Navidad."Oh, that's so cringe.Well, this new pastor cameand he's like, "You know what?There's not really spiritual contentin that song,and let's really focus our attentionof worship towards, I don't know, Jesus."So let's not sing that song this year.It caused a church split.And my pastor friend said,"I've never seen people so angry."Over one of the worst songs ever written.Isn't that dumb?We find such weird things to divide over.That was the Corinthians.They had their dumb thing too.He was the best preacher.That's why in verse 13,Paul gives some questions that we can unify here, right?Because these questions require us allto give the same answer.Right? Let's try it.Let's see if we get the same answer.Question number one.I'm going to ask the question,you shout out the answer.Is Christ divided?No. Obviously not, right?Christ is not divided.Alright, question two.And now they get harder.Was Paul crucified for you?No.Alright, final question.Were you baptized in the name of Paul?No.Meatballs.Alright, look.I want you to hear me very closely here.There is nothing wrong with having a favorite preacher.I do.There's a preacher who's podcast I listen to all the time.There is nothing wrong with that.Okay? We clear on that.There's nothing wrong with that.I encourage you to do that.But can we at the same time admitthat some people get strangely attachedto preachers and messengers?Like go back a generation to the Bill Gawthard people.Look, I used to go to Bill Gawthard conferences all the time.And you know what I saw there?There were people that were very strangely attached to him.They were like the "I follow Apollo's" people.Alright?And there were people that are like that with John Piper.There were people that are like that with Jack Hibbs.That we attach to these people so much so that we saythe gospel isn't the gospel unless you gospel their way.And when we do that,we're just as foolish as the Corinthians.So these men that you're attached to on what basis are you attached?Right? Paul would say,"Was Jack Hibbs crucified for you?"Were you baptized in the name of John Piper?No.Our union is in Jesus and with Jesus.So Nick's the Clicks.Paul shows us fighting is foolish.Fighting is foolish.And finally, number three.Why do I want to fight for unity?Because this unity distracts from the mission.This unity distracts from the mission.Look at verse 14.Paul says,"I thank God that I baptize none of you,except Christmas and Gaius,so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name."I did baptize also the household of Staphanos.Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.Listen, Paul is not diminishing baptism.Paul's not saying baptism isn't important.This is all Paul is saying.Corinthians, if you're going to fight about this stuff,I am so glad I didn't baptize more of you.If you're going to act like childrenbecause of who baptized you,I'll thank you God that I didn't baptize more of you.In verse 17, he says,"For Christ did not send me to baptizeto preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom,lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."Paul is saying, "I was sent to preach to make men one in Christ,not baptize to make teams."When you praise the messenger,you miss the message.When you praise the missionary,you miss the mission.And harvest Satan would want anything,anything to distract us from the mission of making disciples.Nothing's changed.Read the book of Acts.In the book of Acts, the church is born.Satan tried to destroy the church from the outsidethrough Acts chapter 4.From the outside attacks.What happened to the churchwhen Satan tried to attack from the outside?What happened?It got bigger and stronger.Kind of like the Charlie Kirk thing that happened recently.The outside attack resulted in getting bigger and stronger.But do you know Acts chapter 5, Acts chapter 6,Satan changes his strategy.Instead of attacking the church from the outside,he attacks the church from the inside,and he found out to be so much more effectiveto distract the church from the mission.And Satan will do that to us.You see, if Satan can get us dividedand fighting with each other,then we're distracted from doing what we're supposed to be doing.The gospel of Jesus Christhas to be the core of everything that we do here.It has to be the cause of everything that we do here.It has to be the motivation of everything that this church does.A pure focus on a pure gospel.Not with words of eloquent wisdom.In other words, we're not sugarcoating it.We're not dressing it up.We're not making it a performance.The power is in the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.So next the clicks.Why?Because disunity distracts from the mission.Our worship team will make their way forward.I'd like you to just buy your heads for a moment.Excuse me.I'd like you to just buy your heads.As we said at the onset,when there's any kind of disunity,when there's any kind of fighting,it's so easy to blame the other guy.God's Word tells us that we need to look at ourselves first.I just want you to buy your heads.I just want you to do a little self-examination.I want you to consider your role in this church,your interactions with people in this church.And I want you to ask yourself,am I an agent of unity or disunity in this church?Am I trying to bring people together?Or am I dividing people?Oh, another question that goes with that.Ask yourself this.If everyone in the church acted like I do,what kind of church would this be?And then finally ask yourself this.Am I committed to the pure doctrine of the gospeland submission to our Lord and to one another?Or have I really made lesser things my focus?Father in heaven,you have called us to unity.Father, it's real easy for us to sit in this roomand sort of laugh at the foolishnessthat was happening in the Corinthian church,bragging about which preacher is the best.It just seems so silly to us,but Father, we fight about thingsthat are much more silly than that.Father, I just pray for the unity in this church.We believe, Father, that Christ died to make us one.And I pray, Father, that we would do everything we canon our part to strive for unity in the body of Christ.Father, if there's any complaining,negative, divisive attitude within any of us,Father, I pray that you would grant repentanceand bring us to the place that we care moreabout your reputation and the ministryto reach the lost and to build up the saved.I pray that we would be so focusedon what you've called us to,that we're not distracted with personal preferences.So thank you, God.Thank you, God, for what you've clearly laid outfor us in your Word.Have us faithful to do it, Father.We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Matthew interprets Jesus' withdrawal as the fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1-4 which emphasizes that Messiah's ministry will be Holy Spirit empowered, non-combative, expanded to include Gentiles and ultimately successful.

5 Hours and 37 MinutesPG-13This is the complete audio of Pete reading and commenting on Maurice Samuel's 1924 book "You Gentiles."You Gentiles by Maurice SamuelPromo code peteq for 5% offPete and Thomas777 'At the Movies'Support Pete on His WebsitePete's PatreonPete's Substack Pete's SubscribestarPete's GUMROADPete's VenmoPete's Buy Me a CoffeePete on FacebookPete on TwitterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-quinones-show--6071361/support.

1) Who are the three shepherds in Zechariah 11:8?2) Does Acts 15:1-29 teach that the Gentiles are not required to follow the Law?3) Why does Acts 21:20 say that many of the Jews were zealous of the Law?4) Is it true that Satan cannot duplicate the miracles Jesus performed?5) What is doctrine?6) Where do we get our souls? From our parents or from God?7) Who is the woman mentioned in Revelation 12?

Pastor Leitu teaches how Paul the Apostle teaches us about the purposes that God has for Christians, Jews, and Gentiles. Paul writes to believers then to us in our day.Social MediaMobile & TV Apps: https://subsplash.com/calvarychapelkaneohe/appProphecy Website: http://jdfarag.orgChurch Website: http://www.calvarychapelkaneohe.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/JDFaragFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/JDFaragInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/JDFarag