Podcasts about his lord

God Empowers the Weak (1)  (audio) David Eells, 9/6/26 To all those who have struggled to please the Lord and do His Will, I want to share with you some good news. It will be a rest and refreshing, a casting down of the burden of salvation, in all its many facets, by self-works. It is not in ourselves to do these things but in Him. Personal strength and determination will not be enough. As a matter of fact, it will get in our way and His. He will wait until we give up so that He may give the free gift through faith that He also supplies. So, ask for faith. Gideon was faced with an army that was “like locusts for multitude.” He gathered together all the manpower at his disposal. All of this human strength stood in the Lord's way of doing a miracle for His glory. Man would certainly take the credit, and then others would not see the true source of our physical and spiritual salvation. (Jdg.7:2) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. At this point, the Lord proceeded to choose only 300 men and then gave them trumpets for weapons. In the natural, there was none weaker than this army. Now the Lord could show that His “power is made perfect in weakness.” And what of David, who was naturally the youngest, smallest and weakest of Jesse's sons? When Samuel anointed him with the power of the Spirit, he went on to slay Goliath with a sling in the very next chapter. How often is this scenario repeated through the Scriptures so that we might know that weakness is a true strength when it qualifies us for the Lord's power. We should refuse to size up the opposition, knowing that when the “odds” are against us, they are in our favor. Our victory is assured by the fact that it was accomplished already at the cross. Each of us needs to become as a child because we can walk with the Lord if we become as a child. The thing about grownups is they're self-confident, self-sufficient, and self-dependent. The world thinks of those traits as being positive, but in the Kingdom, God does not consider it that way. The Lord says the only way you can enter into the Kingdom is to be a child. Jesus said, “suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for to such belongeth the kingdom of God (Mar.10:14). Forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God, is what it said in the original. Of such is the kingdom of God. (15) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein. (16) And he took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.” Now we tend to think of the Kingdom as someplace that we're going to so that we can enter into it, but actually we're entering into the Kingdom here on Earth. In reality, the Kingdom is to be every place in your life. The kingdom of God is within you (Luk.17:21), Jesus said. The Kingdom is every place in your life where God is able to rule, where He is King. God is not able to rule until you're in agreement with Him. To be a child is to be confident in your Father, not self-confident. It's to be dependent upon your Father, not self-dependent. This is valuable to God. As He said, “my righteous one shall live by (“from” in the Numeric) faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him” (Heb.10:38). What pleases God is that we live from faith, that we do not live from our self-confidence, or our self-sufficiency, or our own ability, or the strength of the arm of the flesh, but that we put our trust in God and walk with Him like a little child walks with his father. In other words, there's no other way to enter into the Kingdom. We must give up being grownups. We must become as children. In order for God to be able to rule everywhere in our lives, we have to become as children.  (Mat.18:1) In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (2) And he called to him a little child, and set him in the midst of them, (3) and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. And these were His disciples that He was speaking to. These were not the lost Pharisees; these were the disciples of Jesus, those who were learning and following Him. He said you will not enter in unless you turn and become as little children. The process of the Christian life is this process of turning and becoming as little children and becoming God-dependent, God-sufficient and God-confident. (Mat.18:4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.  You see, Jesus was a little child. That's Who He was. He says, if you receive one of these little children, you receive Me. That's somebody who's in My likeness; you receive Me. He was a child. He really was. He wasn't a grown-up in the ways of the world, in the ways of confidence in the world, the strength of the world. Grown-ups are known for making their own way, making their own living, being self-sufficient, being great providers, but the Lord wants to wash all that out of us. He wants us to put all of our confidence and our trust in Him and become as little children. If you receive one such little child, you receive Jesus. That's the way He was. He was confident in His Lord. I'll tell you, the best way we can help ourselves is by walking by faith in God's Word. You've probably heard the old saying that “God helps those who help themselves,” but that's not found in the Bible. That saying is credited to Benjamin Franklin in his Poor Richard's Almanack. No, the best way to help yourself is walking in faith in God's Word.  (Rom.14:22) The faith which thou hast, have thou to thyself before God. That's what the Bible says. You can help yourself. You can help yourself to everything that God has for you through faith in His Word. (Luk.10:21) In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. What was He talking about? Reveal what things to the babes? Well, the disciples had just come back from being sent out by the Lord to take authority over the works of the devil. They came back rejoicing that God had given them authority over the power of the devil and that they had done the works of Jesus, and they saw that the spirits were subject unto them. But why did Jesus call them babes? Well, it was babes who received this revelation of the authority of Jesus, and it was babes who received this revelation of how to use the authority of Jesus. Let's back up a little in this chapter. (Luk.10:3) Go your ways; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. (4) Carry no purse, no wallet, no shoes; and salute no man on the way. So we see they were babes because Jesus sent them out totally dependent upon the Lord.  (5) And into whatsoever house ye shall enter, first say, Peace [be] to this house. (6) And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him: but if not, it shall turn to you again. And so he said, “salute no man on the way,” because you really don't know people, but you find out later who people are. We're going to find out before the end of the tribulation who people really are and who His children are.  God sent these disciples out as children, as totally dependent upon the Lord, not self-sufficient, not able to take care of themselves. He deliberately took away their ability to take care of themselves when He sent them by not letting them take any kind of insurance with them. The only thing they took was His assurance because He said, “the laborer is worthy of his hire” (Luk.10:7), meaning that if you just go, God will always pay His workers. You don't have to worry about it. God is that way. He wants us to go without our own sufficiency or our own insurance so that we can see His provision on the way. I really, truthfully believe that Jesus never changed this way of sending out people. Many times, if God says, “Go,” you may go. It doesn't matter if you have the wherewithal to do this. If God says, “Go,” you may go. He will never fail you. He will meet you on the way. He's done it many, many times with me when He said, “Go,” and I've noticed, “But, God, I don't have this” or “I don't have gas” or “I don't have money.” But God doesn't take “no” for an answer. If He says, “Go,” you can go because He will be there. He'll put gas in your car. He's done it to me several times. Or He'll make it run without gas. He's done that, too. Or He'll put money in your pocket somehow or another. He'll do it. Or He'll make your money stretch. He can surely multiply it. He can do all things. He'll have you meet up with people whom He has put there specifically to supply your needs, if you go by faith and be obedient to Him. If you go as a child, just trusting in your Father.  In America, there are far too few children. Everybody in America seems grown-up. Everybody in America wants to insulate themselves against anything that could happen, as though they don't believe in a sovereign God. The Bible says, “A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven” (Joh.3:27). God, Who is Sovereign, will make sure that He blesses you if you go by faith in Him. Believe me, the time is coming when everybody will have to go by faith in God because He's going to take away all the things that people have insured and insulated themselves with from the things that might happen in the world. But God is God. He never goes to sleep. He's never fallen off the throne. He's there always. He is going to make sure that His Word comes true. And we can be just like little children. We can cast ourselves on His mercy.  Children never even think about where the next meal is going to come from. Little children don't worry about those things; they just know that it's Momma and Daddy's responsibility; they'll take care of that. And you know, that's the way God is with us. He wants that kind of relationship with us. God's not happy with anything less. (Heb.10:38) My righteous one shall live from faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. God doesn't have pleasure in self-sufficient people. He has pleasure in people who walk by faith, talk by faith, live by faith. And it is a pleasure to live by faith. I don't yet know all of what living by faith is; God's only shown me the little parts that He's shown me, but I would love to live by faith in every direction. Some directions I've never even thought about, and other people will come and say, “Oh, did you try this?” For example, a sister in the Lord once told me that she and some other people just picked up some instruments and started playing them by faith, and pretty soon they got better and better at it. They were surprised at how God blessed them. Well, that led us to pray over our children, Nathan and Jennifer, by faith, and God answered that prayer. I tell you, it was just the very next week after that when they started playing music, picking it up quite naturally, by ear. So there isn't anything God won't do for those who put their trust in Him.  There is nothing that God can't do and won't do for those who put their trust in Him. I believe this is the reason that He said He revealed these things unto babes. God reveals the authority of God and God reveals the power of His name to people who will become children, people who will cast care to the wind and put themselves in His Hands, just trusting in Him, believing in Him. (Eph.3:20) God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. God loves it when we are weak, but we don't see it that way. We like to be strong, and we do our best to make sure that we're strong in every situation that we can get in. As I said, we do our best to insulate ourselves from any possible mishap, but that doesn't please God. It doesn't please God that we put our trust in the gods of this world, the saviors of this world. The apostle Paul learned that lesson. He was caught up to paradise and he said, “On behalf of such a one (the man who was caught up to paradise) will I glory: but on mine own behalf I will not glory, save in my weaknesses” (2Co.12:5). The King James Version translates that word “weaknesses” there as “infirmities” because they had the idea that the apostle Paul had some kind of sickness or infirmities, but a closer look at this reveals that's not the case at all. Those translators believed the apostle Paul had an eye disease or something like that and that God said, “my grace is sufficient for thee” (2Co.12:9), meaning, “You just keep that because you need that; you need that to be an overcomer; you need that to humble you.” But obviously that would be contrary to a lot of the rest of the Word. The Bible says, “by whose stripes ye were healed” (1Pe.2:24). It doesn't say that we're healed only when we really need it, and it doesn't say that we're healed only sometimes. You were healed all the time. Let's read on. (2Co.12:6) For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth: but I forebear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me [to be,] or heareth from me. (7) And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. So we see that he said what the “thorn in the flesh” was. He said it was a messenger of Satan, an angelos. The word there is angelos, which is translated 181 times in the New Testament as “angel” and the other few times as “messenger,” but it means the same thing. It's the same Greek word, angelos. Here was an angel of Satan that was sent to buffet Paul so that he wouldn't be proud. Paul didn't say it was a sickness that was sent to buffet him. And, by the way, to “buffet” is not just one blow, like a sickness. It's to beat over and over and over. It's many blows. That's what buffet means. But a thorn in the flesh, in this case, was an angel of Satan that was sent to buffet Paul. In the Old Testament, for every verse that talks about a thorn in the flesh, never, not once, is it ever a sickness. It was always referring to the enemies of God's people that came against them, and in this case it's the same thing. An angel of Satan was sent to buffet Paul so he wouldn't “be exalted overmuch.” (2Co.12:8) Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. (9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. The King James here has that this word is “weakness,” but this word and the word up in verse five are the same Greek word, so one of them can't be “infirmity” and the other one “weakness.” Both of them have to be the same thing, and the truth is they are, because using the same Greek word in talking about Jesus, the Bible says, “for he was crucified through weakness” (2Co.13:4).  Now, nobody would have put “infirmity” there. Jesus wasn't crucified through infirmity, so they had to put the truth there and the King James did use “weakness” in that case. (4) For he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you. See, when you are weak in Christ, you're going to live through the power of God. It's when you are not able. It's being weak in ability to save yourself, being weak in ability to deliver yourself, being weak in ability to heal yourself. He says when you're in that condition, then God's power is going to be with you. This is the same thing Paul said back in 2 Corinthians 12:9. I'm pointing out this verse because in the King James they used the word “weakness” here and it could not possibly be put in as “infirmity” because we can't read anywhere in the Scriptures that Jesus was infirm, nor was He crucified because He was infirm. Now, that's the same word that's being used over here and over in 2 Corinthians 12:9. He said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness.” You know, if we will be weak as a little child, God's power will be there. Most often, God's power is not there because we refuse to be weak. We want to be strong in a circumstance. We see what we think needs to be done and we run to do it, and we are not ceasing from our works. We are not entering into the Sabbath (Hebrews 4:11). We're not refusing to be strong. If we will refuse to be strong and we will put our trust in God, we will see His power there every time.  This reminds me of a vision I had years ago, in which Mary and I were sitting in some lawn chairs in front of our house in Louisiana. While we were sitting there, we saw this power line hanging from pole to pole. The strange thing about it, as we were looking at this and studying it, was that the power line was almost touching the ground in the middle because it was sagging so badly. And while we were watching that, a tornado came over that power line and sucked us up out of our chairs. Then the vision changed, and I feel like we were over in Florida, and the Lord was showing us something about our ministry over there. But what He showed me about that always stuck with me. As we were sitting there, ceasing from our works and resting in lawn chairs, watching the power of man come to an end (that's the power lines), as we watched the power of man come to an end, then the power of God took over. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. God's not ready to move until we cease from our works because we have faith. Every time you have faith, you can stop; you can cease from your work, you can cease from your struggling; you can cease from trying to save yourself because the Bible says you are saved. It doesn't say He will save you. If it said that, you'd wonder what method He wanted to use, but since His method is past tense and you believe it, you have to stop; you have to cease. And so God's power is made perfect in our weakness.  Paul said, “most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses (not “infirmities” because it's the exact same Greek word), that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2Co.12:9). Glory in our weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon us. That's the way a child is. They have all the power of Daddy because he is the provider, he is the deliverer, he is the savior. He takes care of it all, and they don't think it should be any other way, and we should be that way, too. We've been trained up to think otherwise, to be grownups, but you know, we shouldn't be thinking in any other terms than what a child thinks. This is the way God wants it.  Well, I think that we can see by now that the ‘verse,' “God helps those who help themselves,” is not Godly at all; it's antichrist. It will never allow you to enter into the power of God. It will never allow the Spirit and the power of Christ to rest upon you. So Paul says he glories in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon him. (2Co.12:10) … I take pleasure in weaknesses…. King James says “infirmities.” Nobody takes pleasure in infirmities. That's ridiculous. The word here is the same Greek word again; it's “weakness.” Yes, we take pleasure in weaknesses. It's great to be weak. It's great to not have the ability to deliver yourself because then you get to see the miracle of God. And he went on to say, in “injuries,” or actually the word there is “insults,” according to the ancient manuscripts and the Received Text and several others; it's “insults,” not necessarily “injuries.” You don't take pleasure in injuries, but “in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2Co.12:10). Now, what was this buffeting that this angel sent his way, this angel of Satan? Some people say there are no such things as angels of Satan. You know that the demons are angels. Some people say the demons are not angels, but no, that's not what the Bible says. The demons are the angels of Satan, so just forget about that theology. Don't believe that and don't go down that road because it's wrong. Michael and his angels fought with Satan and his angels (Revelation 12:7), the Bible says. Demons are all fallen angels. That's where they came from. They are the fallen angels, the non-elect angels. So what is this buffeting? What are these many different blows that the angel of Satan brought Paul's way in order to make him weak, and bring him into a position of weakness? Well, Paul gives a list of them. (2Co.11:21) I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also. (22) Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. (23) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft. He's talking about the places where he was weak to save himself. You know, when we get into places where we don't see any possibility of saving ourselves, that's wonderful because we get to see the power of God. If we walk by faith in those places, then we get to see the miracles of God. That's what God wants to teach us. He brings us into those places. Remember, God was the One Who sent this angel of Satan to humble Paul.  Why do we need humbling? We need humbling because we're grown-ups and we need to become children. We need to not be self-sufficient; we need to be God-sufficient. We need to be trusting in our Lord because His promises are there to save us in all these situations. So God brings us into these places, and Satan's angel brings us into these places where we're weak, where we need the power of God. If we will be weak, we will see the power of God. Many times we want to look for man's help, man's way, man's wisdom.  Let's continue reading Paul's list. (2Co.11:24) Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one. (25) Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; (26) [in] journeyings often, [in] perils of rivers, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils from [my] countrymen, [in] perils from the Gentiles, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren; (27) [in] labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. He was in all these places in order to be weak so he could see the power of God. God put him in those places, like He brought the Israelites into those places in the wilderness so that they could see the power of God. Being weak is not a time to be anxious or worried; it's a time when you should expect to see the power of God. It's God's purpose to bring us to weakness so we can see His power. This is His plan. Don't ever be cast down because of what you see, because what you see is these places that make you weak. It's God's plan for you when you get into these places that you put your trust in Him and that you see His power. This is the place where God's power rests upon you. This place of weakness, the place of your own inability to save yourself or deliver yourself, is the place you can look for the promise of God and trust in God.  Paul went on, “besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches (2Co.11:28). (29) Who is weak (that's the word “weak”), and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not? (30) If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness.” That's another place that the King James calls it “infirmity.” It's the same word! In the same text, if a word is translated one way in one part of the text and another way in another part of the text, that is dishonest. That is deceiving; it's wrong. It either has to be one or the other. If you look at this word in other parts of the Bible, the conclusion is that it's talking about weakness, not infirmity. Thank God for the places that He brings us to where we're weak! That's the only place we ever see miracles. Do you realize that? It's the only place we ever see miracles, and yet that is the place we're most tempted to throw up our hands and be anxious or worried or troubled. That is the place where all miracles are given, right there, in a place of weakness, the place where you're unable. Now, if you have the mind of a child and you get in that place, you just expect Father to take over from then on. This is something that He normally does. God normally supplies your need, like in the teaching Jesus gave about the birds and the flowers. He said they don't labor and they don't toil to clothe and to feed themselves (Matthew 6:26,28). You mean, the Lord is saying you don't have to work to bring about this clothing and feeding? You don't have to toil? That's exactly what He said. Go back and read it. It's so clear. That's exactly what He said. He knew that you'd get yourself in a situation, and He even ordained these situations to come, where you wouldn't be able to provide for yourself. And He said, “are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father (Mat.10:29). (30) But the very hairs on your head are all numbered. (31) Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Look, not even a hair falls out of your head; can you imagine that God doesn't know it?! He knows us so intimately that not one hair can fall out of your head without Him knowing it. I mean, your hairs are always falling out and growing back. How can He number the hairs of your head? That is an intimate God Who can number the hairs of your head. He knows a lot, so how could we possibly get into a situation that He doesn't know about and hasn't planned for? He is our Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord our Provider. (Php.4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. You can't get so far out that God can't reach you. You can't get in so impossible a situation that He can't take care of it. He can pay your taxes out of a fish's mouth (Matthew 17:27). He can do anything. Think about some of the things that God has done in the Scriptures, and He really did do them. He stopped the solar system for a day so Joshua could defeat his enemies. God can do anything. And, you know what? The great thing about it is He's “the same yesterday, and to-day, [yea] and for ever” (Heb.13:8). He is the same. He will still do anything to meet your needs if you will be weak and have faith. Be weak and have faith. Now, the time when you ought to have faith is when you're weak, because God doesn't need to meet your needs when you don't have any. You don't need a miracle until you need a miracle. Don't think that you can avoid a trial of your faith by receiving the miracle before you need it. No. God tries your faith. The miracle doesn't come till the miracle's needed. Trust in Him between here and there because He will be there. He will do what you need. Be confident in Him. Be children in Him. This is what we need to learn, and it's not an easy lesson. It demands the death of self, but religion has trained us up with the mind of the beast because religion has taught that God helps those who help themselves and it trains us to take care of these situations. Religion trains us to trust in the arm of the flesh. They even changed God into a god which He has never been so that they can trust in the arm of the flesh. “Now God does it this way,” they say, as if Jesus doesn't heal the same way He always healed, by laying hands on the sick or by speaking the word of faith. He's always healed that way and He still does. But you see, they've changed God so that you can trust in the arm of the flesh, so that you can be strong. You can run out and get the strength of the world, make your alliances with the world, get your insurance from the world. They'll change God and go to any extent to let the flesh live. But we have to become as a child; otherwise, Jesus says, you're not entering into the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 18:17). The Kingdom of Heaven is where God rules, God reigns, God saves, God delivers. He hasn't changed. Man has attempted to change Him.  God put us here in this weak position. He planned for us always to be in a weak position, so that He could be our Savior. (2Co.4:7) But we have this treasure (the treasure Paul is talking about is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God) in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. God put this treasure, this knowledge of God, in such a weak vessel so that when anything happened, it would have to bring glory to Him and not to us. He could have put us in a strong vessel. He could have put us in a very knowledgeable, very wise, very strong, very healthy vessel, and we wouldn't have needed His help. He wouldn't have needed to be God, would He? We would have been our own gods.  If we watch all the children's superhero shows, we'll notice the thing that's super about them is they're their own gods. They do what they want. They are able. That's not what God ever wanted. God didn't choose us because we are able. He chose us because we're not able. He wanted to give us His ability freely through grace, and that's unmerited. You can't earn it; you can't pay for it. He wanted to give it to us freely. When you get yourself in an impossible situation, think about it. God put you there and He put you there so that you could see how great He is. So God put this wonderful treasure in a very weak earthen vessel. (2Co.4:8) We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; (9) pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; (10) always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus (which is the death of self), so that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. God wants Jesus to live through us, but we have to be weak for Him to do that. The power of Christ will rest upon those who are weak. We're powerful only because we have faith in God. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) but He doesn't strengthen until you're weak, you see. We have to cease before He will start. We have to keep the Sabbath and cease from our works and enter into His works through faith. God not only put us in a world that's bigger than us and with an enemy that was a lot bigger than us; He put us in a vessel that was weak to begin with, so that when the salvation came, we would also know it was from Him and not from ourselves. We think we're so great and we've been trained to be self-sufficient. Mommas and daddies train up their children to be self-sufficient. That's not what God wants. He wants a child. He's always chosen the weak (1 Corinthians 26-29). He's never chosen the strong and this gives you hope. This gives you hope that when you get in impossible situations, God planned for you to be there so that He could show you His power, His deliverance, and His salvation. This is God's plan. It's been His plan from the beginning and He's done it over and over. (Deu.7:6) For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. And did you know that God still does that? God has still chosen you above all the peoples upon the face of the earth. Did you know that? If He chose you, He chose you above someone else, but He didn't choose you because you're wiser or smarter or more able or mighty, because “not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]” (1Co.1:26). God chose the weak. God called the weak “above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deu.7:7) The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples. And it's still that way, isn't it? God chose “the fewest of all peoples.” Why did He do that? Certainly, if He was fighting battles with all the Canaanites, He would want the greatest number, wouldn't He? No, because when the battle was won, He didn't want anybody to say, “Look what we did!” And when the battle is won in our lives, He doesn't want anybody to be able to say, “Look what we did!” “Look how powerful we are!” “Look how wise we are!” Or “Oh, we were smart enough to follow God.” You know, all these things that people could say. No. God said He didn't choose us because we were the mightiest but because we were the fewest. It's still that way today. The true Christians are few. Don't think that the Christians in this country are the many. What do they call them? The “moral majority.” That is just totally ridiculous! For proof of that, look at the people we have in elected office. If there was a moral majority, believe me, you would always have a government that was moral and good because that's the way democracy works. There's no moral majority. Never was.  God chose us because we were the fewest of all peoples. (Deu.7:8) But because the Lord loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he swear unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, and from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (17) If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? (18) thou shalt not be afraid of them: thou shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; (19) the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid. And so shall the Lord thy God do to all of the curse that you come against, and to all of the flesh that you have to conquer, and to all the principalities and powers that you have to conquer. They are made strong, and you are made weak for a purpose, so that you can see the power of God move against them.  We never need to count on our own strength. David did that and brought a curse on Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). He counted the people of Israel and brought a curse on them because God sent a pestilence that killed 70,000 men, just so David couldn't count on his own strength (2 Samuel 24:15; 1 Chronicles 21:14). When you count on your strength, look out because you have trouble coming. God's going to humble you. God's in the humbling process with us. He wants to deliver us from trusting in the arm of the flesh. You know, in almost every battle that Israel won, they were outnumbered. Isn't it amazing that God demanded that they be outnumbered before He would give them the victory? For example, in Judges we're told that the Israelites had an army coming against them that the Bible says were as the sands of the sea for multitude (Judges 7:12). The Midianites, the Amalekites and the children of the east were coming against them, and all the men of Israel who could be gathered together weren't enough to do the job and they knew it. At first they were counting on their own ability and the numbers they had, but they were ridiculously outnumbered. (Jdg.7:2) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. Well, that was just the beginning of God whittling down the people and those people who are fearful will not be the ones who have the victory over the enemy. Being weak is one thing, but being fearful is quite another. Being fearful is not trusting in the power that God has given us to come against our enemy. Being fearful is judging by your own ability. It's looking at your own ability or your own inability, but that's where God is putting us on purpose. This is God's plan to put us in a position of weakness, to make our enemy look big. He sent the Israelites into a promised land where the enemies were giants, and they were vastly outnumbered. It was God's plan for it to look like an unfair contest. In every trial that we go into, it's going to look that way so that when we get the victory, we know it's God's power, not our own.  If you're thinking, “Yeah, but God chose Gideon, a great man of valor, to bring this about.” Well, let's go back and look at Gideon. (Jdg.6:12) The angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. The Lord tells you the same thing. He's with you. His authority is behind you whenever you walk for Him. Whatever we do, we do in the Name, representing Him. His power and His authority are behind us when we act on the Word. (Jdg.6:13) And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.  Have you ever thought, “Where are the mighty works of God?” Well, I'll tell you where they are. They're waiting on people to be weak. If people won't be weak, they won't see them. As long as we're strong to save ourselves, we don't need God. There's no faith involved in that. So now Israel had just gotten itself into a position of weakness, and do you know what? God chose just as weak a man to lead them. (Jdg.6:14) The Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? “This thy might”? What is the Lord talking about? What does He mean here? It's because God sent Gideon. This kind of reminds you of Peter. “Lord, you just bid me to come to You on the water.” And when the Lord said, “Come,” Peter stepped out of the boat. The Lord said he could do it, and just on the word of the Lord, Peter did it (Matthew 14:28,29). He stepped out of the boat by faith. Nobody else stepped out of the boat, but he did. You know, if the Lord told you in the Word, that's all you need. “In this thy might.” God's always going to be behind His Word. If you step out on His Word, exercising faith in His Word, then His might is going to be there. You're always going to be weak, but His might will be there. “Have not I sent thee?” It's the same thing the Lord did to Moses when he protested, “O Lord, I'm not an eloquent speaker” (Exodus 4:10) and God answered him with, “Who hath made man's mouth?” (Exodus 4:11) God chose Moses not because he was great; God chose him because he was weak. (Jdg.6:15) And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Gideon wasn't listening, was he? “My family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least of my father's house.” There it is. God chose the weakest and the least. Don't expect God to send Superman. That's not what He's looking for. This will not accomplish the purpose that He has. God is going to send someone who's weak, someone who is like a child. That qualifies some of us. You know, we can be as a child; we are unable in so many things. Sometimes we're forced into a position of being unable. But I tell you that what Jesus wants for us is not that we be forced into a position of weakness, but that we walk in that position of our own free will, refusing to be strong. This is the great thing. If we will learn to refuse to be strong, we will see the miracles of God now. And when we get forced into that position later, it won't be a big thing. It was no big thing for Moses to go through the wilderness with the children of Israel. They were being tried. He wasn't being tried. He'd already gone out into that wilderness and lived in that wilderness by faith in God. And God sent him because he had been there. He sent him back to bring the rest of the Israelites through that wilderness. And if you've been there, it won't be a big trial for you, but you'll be able to show others. This is very important for the times that are coming. People who are weak are going to be strong in the times that are coming, and others are going to be fearful. This wilderness experience that's coming is going to weed out the strong from the weak. The ones who are strong, who've always trusted in their own strength and who refuse to do anything else, they're going to fall by the wayside. It's going to be the babes who are going to go through the wilderness and make it to the other side. And God's always planned it that way. God will not permit salvation to come any other way but by grace. Some people look around and they say, “Look what God did here,” and “Look what God did there,” but if you look carefully, it's what a man did. They're giving credit to a man. (Exo.7:3) And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. It's funny, but you see God on both sides of this thing. It was God who hardened Pharaoh's heart, as it says here, so that the miracles that came would be mighty miracles. God gave the Israelites a strong enemy who would not let them go. (Psa.105:25) He turned their heart to hate his people, To deal subtly with his servants. The Egyptians brought the people of God into bondage because they hated them. And in Psalm 106, God made them set His people free.  First God hardened the Egyptians, then He made them set the Israelites free. It was God's plan to put them in an impossible situation so that they would know how great God's salvation was. “I hardened Pharaoh's heart and multiplied my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exo.7:4) But Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. (5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. It is God's plan to put us in an impossible situation. We think it's the devil's plan and the devil fighting against us. No, it's God's plan for us to be in impossible situations. A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven (Joh.3:27), the Bible says, so God puts us in these impossible situations full-well planning to do a miracle for us. When we get in these situations, we shouldn't look at the impossibility of the situation and then look at our strength and say, “Woe is me!” because we can see from history this has been God's plan all along. When we get in that kind of situation, we should figure that the odds are in our favor, if you figure odds. See, when a situation is impossible, that's when the odds are in your favor. It's just the opposite for the world because they count on their strength and not God's strength, but when you look with your eyes and you see the situation is impossible and you see the promise of God, that's when you should be confident in God. He put us in this situation so we could see what a great Savior He is. He hardened Pharaoh's heart; He turned the Egyptians' hearts to hate His people, to bring them into bondage so that He could do mighty miracles to deliver them. It was His plan all along to do mighty miracles to deliver them. Instead, people want to be strong. The Egyptians wanted to be strong. Pharaoh called for their wise men and sorcerers and magicians to see if they couldn't do the same curses that Moses was bringing. (Exo.7:11) Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers: and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments. (12) For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.  So the curse is sent by God upon the earth. The whole chapter in Deuteronomy 28 is about the curse, and it came by the Hand of God. I know that we've been talking about the hand of the devil, but that's not what the Scripture says. God said He sent the curse. But men, in whom we put our trust, they also propagate the curse. In this instance, Moses brought this curse, but also the magicians brought this curse. And the magicians, the sorcerers, never took away a curse, not one time. (Note that the word in the New Testament for “sorcery” or “witchcraft” is the word pharmakia.) According to this, they can't take away a curse. They can bring a curse, but they can't take one away. Moses was the one who always took the curse away, both the one that he brought (from the Lord) and the one that the magicians brought. Moses was always the one who took away both curses (Exodus 7:12; 8:13). And it wasn't until the sorcerers came to the end of their ability that God made a division between Goshen and Egypt. The sorcerers couldn't duplicate any of the curses from the plague of lice onward (Exodus 8:19). That's when God made a division, right there. When they failed to duplicate the plague of lice, when they came to the end of themselves, their ability, then God made this differentiation. By the way, we are called to walk in health. For instance, God said, “I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exo.15:26). When did He do that? God did it right here. When the sorcery came to an end, when the witchcraft came to an end, then God made a division. From then on, the curses always fell upon the Egyptians and not on the Israelites. So what are we here for? We are here to be weak in the ways of the world. The carnal church is not weak in the ways of the world. They have absorbed and taken hold of the ways of the world; that's why they're called the “harlot.” And we're called to step out by faith, to put our trust wholly in God, not just in the area of healing, but in deliverance in circumstances. The Lord came to deliver us from everything that involves the curse of sin and of death. In fact, in Ephesians, where he says, “by grace are you saved (sozo) through faith,” the word “saved” there is used in the Scriptures for salvation of the soul, for salvation regarding healing, for salvation in circumstances (when they were in the boat that was filling with water, for instance), and for deliverance from demons. The same word is used in all of those instances. Sometimes it's translated “made whole.” (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. God will not permit us to have His salvation where we can earn it or where we are strong enough for it. He doesn't permit it. He puts us in situations where we're not strong or wise enough. But the world and the worldly Christian will try to convince you that you can be wise enough, you can gain enough strength to take care of this thing and they will give you all their worldly wisdom so that you'll come against it but, ultimately, because God loves you, He will see to it that you fail. In all of your efforts to save yourself, because He loves you, He will see to it that you fail. Men can't take one curse off, although they can sure shove it around. Only God can take a curse off because these curses come to try us, to get us in the position of being saved by God. Therefore, if you fail in this point, then you're going to go around the mountain again and you're going to come into the same trial again. This is why men can't ever deliver you because, if you do it man's way, well, you're just going to bump into it again down the road. You're going to go around that mountain, and the same trial again and again; and you'll just keep going around until you get it right. All man can do is put more curses upon you, you see. You'll keep going around and come back to the same trial until you get it right, until you do it God's way. How many times did God run the Israelites around out in that wilderness? And they cried, and they moaned, and they groaned, and they wanted to go back to Egypt (Exodus 14:11-12; 16:3). That's what the worldly church leadership is teaching people. “Go back to Egypt. Go ahead. There's nothing wrong with that. That's the way God does it now. Go on back to Egypt. Go back to the ways of the flesh. Go back to the strength of man, the arm of the flesh,” and so on and so forth, you know. They want you to put your trust in the arm of the flesh, but no, don't do it because there's a curse in that. (Jer.17:5 Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.) The curse is here, if nowhere else. You see, we've been given a certain amount of time to run this race and to bear fruit, and if all you do is run in circles, you're never going to finish the race. You never finish the race running in circles. We're running a race against time and at the finish line, we have to have the fruit. And God puts these trials in our way so that we go through them His way and overcome them His way. He puts them in our way because they're much bigger than we are. We can cry about going back to getting the strength of Egypt, or we can walk by faith in Jesus to overcome and have that strength for the next trial. Every time you overcome, you have that strength from Him. You can look back and remember what God did, and that's His plan. It was God Who brought the Israelites out into that wilderness, into some impossible situations.  When they first came out of Egypt and were going south, they were free; they were delivered; it was nothing but open country in front of them. (Exo.14:1) And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon: over against it shall ye encamp by the sea. (3) And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. (4) And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh….  Who do you think Pharaoh might be? He was the ruler over the Egyptians, but I'll tell you another thing that can be seen here. If you remember, Paul likened the Israelites going through the Red Sea to them being baptized (1 Corinthians 10:1,2) and, of course, going through the Red Sea, the old man dies, but the new man is given life. So the old man was the Egyptian and the new man was the Israelite. When they went through the Red Sea, they were baptized in the Red Sea, in the water and in the cloud, and the old man, the Egyptian, died. Well, Pharaoh was the Lord, the god of the Egyptians. In fact, that was what his name meant – “The God.” Now, who is the god of the flesh? Satan. The devil is the god of the flesh and has been given power and authority to do what he does. Jesus said, “all authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth” (Mat.28:18). “All of it. All of it's been given unto Me.” Therefore, what the devil has, God gives him. And what the devil has, we give him. You can make “Pharaoh” bigger or you can make him smaller. You can take away his authority and power by agreeing with the Word, or you can give him authority and power by believing in him, believing in his strength and believing in his might. You can do that. Well, God made Pharaoh strong. He hardened Pharaoh's heart, and He made him strong. He made Pharaoh's people strong so that the salvation would be from God.  God gave us an enemy to conquer that appears to be so much stronger than we are, and that's the flesh. You look at your flesh. You look at the old man, the Egyptian, and you say, “Oh, Lord!” You get worried. The more you look at him, the more worried you get. “How am I ever going to beat this giant?” But God puts you in those positions on purpose. He has you there with enemies that appear much bigger than you are, but in actuality they're just bread for you. I like what Joshua and Caleb said about the people of Canaan: “they are bread for us” (Num.14:9). They're just something that is made for you to eat up and get bigger and stronger. God put them there so that His power would totally conquer them. He wasn't counting on your power. The Israelites had no power against the Egyptians. The Egyptians were a mighty, well-armed army, and God put the Israelites in that position so their salvation had to come from God. Back where we left off, Pharaoh wanted them to serve God in Egypt and God told Moses what to say to Pharaoh. (Exo.7:16) And thou shalt say unto him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou hast not hearkened. And then later, when Pharaoh was starting to give in a little bit, he called for Moses and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land (Exo.8:25); in other words, in Egypt. You know, that's right where a lot of Christians are. They're sacrificing to God in Egypt. That is, they think they're doing it God's way, but they're doing it in Egypt. (Exo.8:26) And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. See, we can't serve God in Egypt. We can't do it the Egyptians' way. If you're copying the world in any way in your salvation, then you're missing God because that's not the way God does it. Pharaoh's going to tell you, “It's okay. You can serve your god but just do it in Egypt, don't do it in the wilderness.” In Egypt they trusted in the strength that they received from Egypt and lived off the flesh-pots (Exodus 16:3); in other words, they lived off the flesh. But God wanted them in the wilderness where they couldn't have any help from anything else but Him. The power came from God, His ability. And the devil's going to tempt you the same way. He does it all the time. “It's okay, serve God, but do it this way. Just do it the way the Egyptians do it.” But God is doing it in such a way that we'll never be able to put our trust in the arm of the flesh again. It'll be a total victory over the flesh.  So God brought the Israelites out there into that wilderness, and He put them in this neat little trap between Migdol and the Red Sea to see what they would do. They didn't handle it well. They cried out, “Whoa! We wish you would have left us in Egypt to serve the Egyptians!” (Exodus 14:10-12) But God brought them there to part the Red Sea and do the greatest miracle of deliverance for them. He brought them to that situation, and we ought to see our situations that way too. We are in a wilderness experience going through this world. God is bringing us to all these impossible situations so that He can prove how big a God He is. His whole purpose is to prove how big a God He is. And the more impossible the situation, the bigger He becomes, in our mind anyway. That's what He wants. He wants us to glorify Him for what a great salvation He brings us to. And so God brought the Israelites from this trap to other traps. He brought them to the bitter waters (Exodus 15:23) and He had Moses throw in a tree that made the bitter waters sweet (Exodus 15:25). And I personally believe that the “bitter waters” symbolize our tongue because James talks about the sweet and the bitter waters that come from the same well, and he says it shouldn't be this way (James 3:10,11). (For a deeper understanding of this, read our book titled “The Tongue Conquers the Curse.”) God delivered us at the cross. That was the tree that was cast in that made the bitter waters sweet. God delivered us from the bitter waters of our own tongue because “death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Pro.18:21). “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We have the ability to change things in this wilderness that we're in with our tongue. God gave us that ability at the cross. He made the bitter waters sweet at the cross. The very next thing God did was make an ordinance. (Exo.15:26) If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee (Hebrew: Jehovah-Rophe). And God brought them to the place in the wilderness where there was no food (Exodus 16:3) and He gave them the food. He met their need for food. And He brought them to the place where there was no water (Exodus 17:1) and He brought water out of the rock (Exodus 17:6). God brought the Israelites to impossible situations, one after another, and He brought them against enemies who were much bigger than them. It was one impossible situation after another and, in every case, God planned a great deliverance for them, if they would just put their trust in Him. We see over and over in the Scriptures that God did this. Look at what God did with Gideon's army. The Lord whittled them down from 32,000 men to 10,000 and then from 10,000 down to 300 (Judges 7:7) to come against an army that was as many as the sands of the sea (Judges 7:12), so that Gideon's army couldn't say, “mine own hand hath saved me” (Jdg.7:2). There were too many Israelites for God to give the Midianites and Amalekites and children of the east into their hand, and He would have to whittle them down so that they would know that this was a mighty miracle from God. And how did He do it? He sent those 300 men out there with pitchers and torches, and when they broke the pitchers, the torches shone forth (Judges 7:20) and put the enemy in a fright (Judges 7:21). I believe those torches are likened to our spirit and that those pitchers are likened to our carnal vessel, our earthly vessel. The torch is like the spirit-man, so that when we're broken, the spirit-man is able to shine forth and the enemy is put to flight. What a simple thing! No swords, no cannons, no nothing! God made it ridiculous. He put a fright in those Midianites and Amalekites so that they feared and they ran, and they killed each other because of 300 torches. God's plan will work when reason just never will. You wouldn't think that would reasonably work. Nobody would make a plan like that except God, Who has the ability to put fear- total, devastating fear- in your enemy. I've seen Him do that. It's so wondrous how He can do that, make them turn and run. Praise God!

John 3:1-21: Nicodemus goes in the middle of the night to visit Jesus and what we find is a man who is changed forever by this encounter with His Lord.

Today's Reading: John 21:1-14Daily Lectionary: Exodus 16:13-35; Hebrews 10:19-39“That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!' When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” (John 21:7)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.They went fishing; it was Peter's idea. There were seven of them, and all through the night they caught nothing. As day would break, Jesus stood on the shore, though the disciples would not know Him. This man told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, and they obliged. What followed was a catch so numerous that they were not able to haul it in—153 fish.John realized it first. He confessed his Lord. Peter, out of embarrassment or humility of seeing His Lord whom He denied and abandoned to the cross, hurled Himself like Jonah into the Sea of Tiberias. The other disciples bring their boat ashore, net full of fish, and as Simon Peter, son of Jonah, brings the fish to his Lord for breakfast.This was the third time Jesus had revealed Himself to the disciples after He was raised from the dead. Peter had denied Jesus as His Lord had told him he would. Peter floundered to the Sea, bringing what came from the Sea to His Lord for their meal and the conversation that would follow. Jesus would absolve and restore Peter shortly after this meal.None of the disciples asked, “Who are you?” They had no reason. Their Lord, who walked on water to them, calmed storms in front of them, and had worked a miraculous catch once before this was among them again. Peter throws himself into the Sea, and Jesus restores Him out of it. This is exactly what Jesus came down from heaven for: that Peter would die to his sin, die with his crucified Lord, and emerge from the waters of the Sea of Tiberias to be received by His Lord, to be absolved of His sins, and to take his place as apostle and evangelist. The disciples see their Lord, confess their Lord, and eat with Him. Jesus, crucified, died, and was buried, stood on the shore and revealed Himself again to His disciples in this way. That just as we die to sin, thrown into the waters of our baptisms, we rise from those waters in the reality of Christ's resurrection. Christ gives us the boat, rather the ark of His bride, the church, to keep us afloat on our baptisms. He sustains us with daily bread, nourishes us with His grace of the Gospel given through His Word joined to water, bread, and wine. That just as He has been raised from the dead, we, too, shall rise and in the reality already given in your baptisms, you will abide in His presence and rejoice with Him in eternal glory.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Easter Wednesday)

This Sunday, we will try to cover all of Mark 14:53-72 and finish the chapter. Mark presents two scenes side by side to once again highlight the contrast between Jesus' faithfulness and His disciples' fearfulness. In the middle of the night, Jesus stands trial before the Sanhedrin, while Peter faces his own moment of testing in the courtyard. Jesus remains faithful to the Father's will even as He is falsely accused, mocked, beaten, and condemned, while Peter, who had boldly promised never to deny His Lord, falters under pressure and denies Jesus three times. Jesus was right in what He told Peter, and now Peter recognizes it. The common thread throughout the passage is the theme of testimony. The word testimony (also testify, witness) appear seven times in verses 53-65, as the religious leaders seek testimony against Jesus, and false witnesses lie about Him. However, Jesus boldly testifies to who He is, while Peter fails to testify at all in verses 66-72. The passage concludes with Peter weeping after hearing the rooster crow and realizing Jesus had been right about His prediction of Peter's denial. Because Jesus remained faithful even when Peter faltered and was fearful, even struggling disciples like us can be redeemed and restored. Peter's story does not end with tears of conviction; it begins there. After His resurrection, Jesus restores Peter and commissions him to feed His sheep. Then, at Pentecost, this weeping weak-willed disciple is transformed into one of the boldest voices for Christ the world has ever known. In the same way, Jesus still redeems and empowers sinners for the glory of His name. I. Beware Of Those Who Seek Testimony Against Jesus (v. 55-59) II. Beware of Rejecting Jesus' Testimony About Himself (v. 60-65) III. Beware Of Failing To Testify About Jesus (v. 66-72)

Who among us would not want to be an agent for depth and goodness in a world where everyone is wrapped up in the busyness of their own agenda? Allen Levi introduces us to just such an individual in his first novel, Theo of Golden. Here are a smattering of quotes from this transformative text:“There is no virtue in advertising one's sadness. But there is no wisdom in denying it either. And there is the beautiful possibility that great love can grow out of sadness if it is well-tended. Sadness can make us bitter or wise. We get to choose.”“And I learned something from Mr. Theo. God gave us faces so we can see each other better. I used to not look at people's faces so much. But I'm learning”“Theo shook his head. “No, my dear. Sadness might be many things, but it is rarely stupid. The good sadness, I think, is always trying to tell us something very important.”“Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.”“...what one loves, one learns about.”“Theo could have come to us with great fanfare. He could have flaunted his importance and impressed us with his great wealth and long list of accomplishments. Instead, he came with anonymous handwritten letters and no last name. Instead, he came, as did His Lord, not to be served but to serve.”Are you ready to meander the streets of Golden with Theo and meet the curmudgeon bookseller, the homeless woman and her noble invention, along with the other recipients of pencil portraits created by the amazing artist, Asher, purchased and gifted by Theo? Join us, won't you. You will be blessed indeed!

Our Election in Christ (3) (audio) David Eells, 1/14/26 I'm going to continue to speak on our election in Christ and how God has chosen Israel, and who Israel is in the New Testament. In (1Co.15:22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Everybody who abides in Christ is going to be made alive, so it's important for us to know what it means to be “in Christ.” Does it mean, “I accepted Jesus as my Savior”? It could be, but it might not be. Some people truly want Jesus to be their Savior. They are truly repenting and believing, while other people are merely parroting words. Did you know that the Bible says salvation and eternal life were not given to you? (Gal.3:16) 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. The promise that God gave to Abraham was only to Abraham and Christ. And the promise of eternal life was given to Christ; it was not given to us. The gift of eternal life is in Christ. God didn't give the gift of eternal life into your hand outside of Christ. He gave that gift in Christ and only if you are abiding in Christ do you have that gift. The “once saved, always saved” believers think that they have been given a gift of eternal life which is outside of Christ, but that's not Biblical. (1Jn.5:11) And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The eternal life that God gave us is in Jesus. The only way you can have it is to be in Jesus because the promise wasn't to you, it was to the seed of Abraham, “as of one.” That seed is Christ. (12) He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. Let's face it, some only have religion. Jesus said, (Joh.15:1) I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. No man is going to pluck you out of Jesus' hand; the Father is the Husbandman and He is the One Who is going to pluck up the plant. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away.... There are people whom we have considered to be Christians who are not Christians. They may have started out with Christ, but they have not come to Him. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. (3) Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. (6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch.... He is “cast forth” from where? He is “cast forth” from being in Christ. He said, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away.” If you are bearing fruit (Galatians 5:22,23; Ephesians 5:8-10), you are in Christ and have nothing to worry about. If you are not bearing fruit, it's because you are not abiding in Him. “To abide” means “to endure,” “to persist,” “to continue,” “to remain,” “to be steadfast.” To abide in Christ is to abide in His Word. It is to have ears to hear His Word (Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9; Romans 11:8; etc.) (Joh.15:6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and [so] shall ye be my disciples. It's in bearing fruit that you are proven to be a disciple. You can come into Christ, but you won't stay there if you don't bear fruit. (2Jn.9) Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son. The “once saved, always saved” crowd believes that after you step over the line, that's it, but Jesus said that if you don't bear fruit, you are not My disciple and you are going to be cast forth as a branch. The word translated “elect” and the word translated “chosen” are the exact same word. The Greek word eklektos is translated sometimes as “chosen” and sometimes as “elect.” It's many who are called but few who are chosen. Jesus speaks about the man who made it into the marriage feast, but didn't have on the wedding garment. (Mat.22:11) But when the king came in to behold the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding-garment: (In Rev 19:8 the wedding garment was “the righteous acts of the saints”, which also represents our fruit.) (12) and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding-garment? And he was speechless. (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. Those who are abiding in the Kingdom are the ones who are bearing fruit and are chosen, or eklektos, or “elect.” The elect are all called and once they are saved, they are always going to be saved, but “many are called.” Among the called, there are those who don't bear fruit and there are those who bear fruit. Those who bear fruit are chosen. God said in (Hos.11:1) When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. You say, “He was talking about Jesus.” No, He was primarily talking about the children of Israel and then it was used of Jesus. He called them out of Egypt and into the wilderness, and then He tried or tested them. Some bore fruit and went into the Promised Land, and those were the elect. Those who died in the wilderness, in type, had been called, but they were not the elect; they were not chosen. (Num.32:11) Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: (12) save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed the Lord. Joshua and Caleb bore fruit and were chosen. Here's a good example of this: (Rom.11:26) And so all Israel shall be saved.... Is that all of natural Israel? No, because (Rom.9:27) … If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved. So, who is “all Israel” who is going to be saved? (Rom.11:19) Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. The “branches” that were broken off are the natural Jews who would not believe. (20) Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Paul is talking about the Gentiles who are standing in the vine by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: (21) for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. So, where is unconditional eternal security?? (22) Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. (23) And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. In the New Testament, “all Israel” is those natural Jews who believe and those Gentiles who are grafted into the vine by their faith. All the people who were broken off for unbelief were not Israel, but all of true spiritual Israel is going to be saved. Look what Paul said about the end of the Jewish Covenant: (Rom.11:5) Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant (This is speaking of a remnant of Jews.) according to the election of grace. (6) But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. (7) What then? that which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened. He said a remnant of natural Israel was elect, but Israel as a whole did not obtain grace. The called who were not the elect were hardened and the elect obtained grace because they believed. This was at the end of the Jewish Covenant. Now we are coming to the end of the mostly Gentile Covenant, and today “Israel” is the Gentile church and the few Jews; I.e., all who are “circumcised in heart.” (Rom.11:7) What then? that which the “Israel of God”(As a type of this Church) seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Is that Scriptural? Yes, because the Bible plainly says that the lukewarm are going to be spewed out of the body (Revelation 3:16) and there will be a great falling away (Revelation 12:4). Pagans can't fall away. Those people who fall away have to have been believers first, or they could not have fallen away, and the Lord is not coming until the falling away comes to purify the Church. (2Th.2:2) To the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; (3) let no man beguile you in any wise: for [it will not be,] except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who was reprobated. The same statement can be made of the Gentile era because the elect are going to obtain grace to bear fruit and the rest are going to be hardened. The rest are going to fall away, exactly as Jesus showed in the Parable of the Sower. This should really give you the fear of the Lord. By the faith that God has given us, we are responsible to take God's grace and put it to work in our lives. We are responsible for obeying what we see in the New Testament, not in “Church.” Everybody who abides in the vine, which is Jesus, whether it's the remnant of natural Israel or whether it's the remnant of the Gentiles, is true Israel. And “all Israel” shall be saved because all true Israel is the elect, regardless of race. At the end of the Jewish Covenant, Jesus came to prove who the elect remnant was among the Jews. Jesus said, (Joh.16:21) A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. (22) And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you. Our personal man-child is born to us as the fruit of Christ being manifest through us to the world. All who exercise faith in the promises will bear His fruit, which looks like Him. In these days, the corporate Man-child body, in whom is the full manifestation of Jesus, is coming to prove who the first fruits elect remnant is in the Church, and the Man-child is going to use the same method that Jesus used to bring this nature to the Church. What was Jesus' method? (Mat.13:10) And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? In other words, “Why are you saying things to them that are so hard to understand?” (11) And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (12) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given.... “Whosoever hath” what? Well, if we go back three verses, we'll find the answer: (9) He that hath ears, let him hear. It's like when something makes perfect sense to you, but when you try to explain it to other people, somehow they just can't understand what you're saying unless they have the gift of faith. You see, Jesus' method for separating the elect from the non-elect was to preach the Word and when He preached the Word, the elect understood because they had ears. (Mat.13:12) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given (If you have ears, it's going to be given to you. Sometimes we do not hear the word of the Lord with the respect that we should have. God is speaking.), and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. People who don't have ears to hear are going to lose what understanding they do have. Remember what happened to the servant who was given the one talent? (Mat.25:14) For [it is] as [when] a man, going into another country, called his own servants (The Greek word there is doulous and it actually means “bondslaves.”), and delivered unto them his goods. (15) And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey… (24) And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; (25) and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, thou hast thine own. (26) But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter; (This servant had no ears; his knowledge was false. His Lord did scatter it, to him. He didn't realize that all was given to him by grace. It did not come by their works. Many think they own what they have.) (27) thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest (or fruit). The servant with the one talent didn't bring forth any fruit from what was given to him. The Lord took away the one talent from him and gave it to the servant who had the 10 talents. (Mat.25:28) Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. (29) For unto every one that hath (ears) shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. Again, a person who doesn't bear fruit is not “harkening,” which means “to hear and obey,” unto the voice of the Lord, and even what they do have is going to be taken away from them. Jesus told us, (Mat.10:34) Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. That “sword” separated the righteous from the wicked, and the wicked from their demons. That was a good thing because a little leaven leavens the whole lump (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21; 1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). (Jer.48:10) Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently; and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Now, there are a lot of preachers who are not going to cut anyone with the Word; it's too easy to lose tithes that way and so they aren't going to step on anyone's feet. Your sword is supposed to separate. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and it divides. (Heb.4:12) For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word divides the carnal from the spiritual. Jesus wasn't trying to explain things to people who didn't have ears to hear. Even if He had given it to them, as we've seen, they could not have kept it. (Luk.13:23) And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? And he said unto them, (24) Strive to enter in by the narrow door (Many pass up the narrow door of grace until it is too late.): for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (25) When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; (26) then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; (27) and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. Well, they were walking with Jesus, but they had not come to Him, just as Judas walked with Him and did miracles and signs but was an unrepentant thief until he couldn't turn back. Jesus warned us (Mat.7:21) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. How could they do these miracles if He didn't “know” them? It's because Jesus gave them authority to do those works (Matthew 28:18-19; Luke 9:1). You see, “knowing about” someone is not the same as “knowing” someone. “Knowing you” is like the relationship Adam had with Eve. He knew Eve. This is a personal relationship with the Lord, like a husband knows his wife. “I never knew you” is what Jesus will say about a person who was doing the work of God, but was not giving good ground to the seed. Some people think they surely must be acceptable to God because they are doing the work of God. No, you can do the work of God and yet totally fail in your personal relationship with God. Personally, someone can be a total failure in their life of obedience to God, but they can still go cast out demons and do many mighty works. It's not gifts that open the door to the Kingdom, folks, it's fruit. He said that many are going to seek to enter in, but they will not be able. When the five foolish virgins came to the marriage feast after the door was shut, they called out, (Mat.25:11) … Lord, Lord, open to us. (12) But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Were they Christians? Yes, they were Christians and they did start out and seek to enter in, but they did not bear fruit. In a way, at the end of the Jewish Dispensation, the Lord was getting up to close the door, and Jesus was a part of God closing that door. Though all of those Jews, according to the Old Testament, were Covenant people, all but a remnant were rejected at that time, and God closed the door. Here we are at the end of the Gentile Covenant and the exact same thing is getting ready to happen again, which lets us know that we have to bear fruit. What's the difference between the called who don't bear fruit and the called who do bear fruit? The called who do bear fruit are the elect among the called because they abide in Christ by their faith, and therefore they receive more grace. Those who don't abide in Christ eventually lose even what grace they have. Hopefully, they will return when they receive the greater knowledge that is coming. Grace comes by faith. The only difference between those who bear fruit and those who don't bear fruit is that some walk by faith in the truth and some do not. There's no use in worrying, “Am I the elect or am I not the elect?” The only way you are going to prove that you are the elect is to walk by faith. You have that choice; everyone who is among the called has the choice to walk by faith or not to walk by faith. Why did Jesus rebuke His disciples for their unbelief? Did Jesus rebuke them because they couldn't walk by faith? Did He rebuke them because they weren't the elect? No, He rebuked them because they could walk by faith, but they were not walking by faith at that moment. He does the same with us sometimes when we are not walking by faith. But notice that they repented and He didn't remember their sins against them. (Joh.17:6) I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. He said that they were obedient disciples. Jesus doesn't remember our sins against us, either, but He wants us to repent and walk by faith. So don't get caught up in, “Am I just called and not elect?” All you have to do is walk by faith because, if you walk by faith, you will bear fruit and you will be the elect. We are here in this wilderness to walk by faith and to prove that we are ‘Joshua and Caleb'. The Jews who convert to Christianity have no problem with predestination, calling and election because that's what they have been taught all of their lives. It's the Gentiles who have a problem with it because it's so foreign to their thinking. (Deu.7:6) For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. (7) The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples: (8) but because the Lord loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. There are answers here to some theological problems if you believe that history repeats. As Jesus said, (Mat.5:18) … Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. And Paul told us, (1Co.10:11) Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. One theological problem is all the prophecies we've heard about the coming great revivals because people feel that God has failed unless He converts a large number of humanity. We can see here, if God has failed in the New Testament, He certainly did fail the Old Testament, but God wasn't going after large numbers. In fact, He picked the fewest of all peoples to be His people. He was after quality and not quantity. Some people think that God is out to convert the people of the world, yet Jesus prophesied, (Mat.7:13) Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. (14) For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it. Even though Jesus will “compel” many to come in, He didn't prophesy that great masses of humanity would be running into the Kingdom of Heaven over the course of time. Another theological problem for people is the classic question, “What about the heathens in deepest, darkest Africa? What is God going to do about them?” Well, we just saw that back in the days when God chose Israel and even all through the Old Testament, they were a small group of people compared to the rest of the world. If you had asked one of them that question, they would have replied, “What are you talking about? Don't you understand that God has chosen Israel?” And if you repeated your question, “Yes, but what about the heathens in the deepest, darkest Africa who have never heard about God?” They would have replied again, “Don't you understand? God has chosen Israel.” The Jews understood this. If you give people this answer today, they don't understand, but the Jews did understand because they were raised with the predestination doctrine. Now, I do have a couple of answers for this problem: one is election and the other is conscience. Let me point out that God said He was going to judge people according to their conscience, but first, I'd like to clarify something here. He's talking in this Scripture about Christians coming to God, as opposed to the Jews who were with God under the Law. And so He says, (Rom.2:15) In that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing [them]; (16) in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ. A person's conscience is either going to accuse or excuse them. We know this text is talking about Christians because they are the only ones “who show the work of the Law written in their hearts.” But the rest of the world is going to be judged according to conscience, too, and conscience won't put any of us in Heaven. Jesus said, (Mat.24:37) And as [were] the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. If God did the same thing He did in the days of Noah, some would find grace and the rest would find justice. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). He was elect; he found grace and the rest found justice. God did no wrong for the rest had defiled their conscience they were born with. Remember what Jesus spoke in the Parable of the Husbandman, who went out at different hours and hired people to work in his vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). The people who were hired last worked for only one hour, while the rest of them worked through the heat of the day. When it came time to pay the people, the husbandman called the last first and paid them a shilling and then He paid everyone else a shilling. But those who were hired first were unhappy. (Mat.20:11) And when they received it, they murmured against the householder, (12) saying, These last have spent [but] one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. (13) But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling? (14) Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee. (15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good? That's the Lord's reasoning. God is never going to do less than justice, and in fact, God is almost always merciful. He doesn't have to be merciful, but at the least, He's always going to do justice. We've received God's grace, but we don't deserve it; it's a gift of God. When God judges, the world will receive righteous judgment (Acts 17:31), but true Christians will receive grace. Praise the Lord! So the answer to “What about the heathen in deepest, darkest Africa?” is that the heathen in Africa are going to be judged according to their conscience. Their conscience will either condemn them or excuse them. Everyone in the world has a conscience, but for some, their conscience has condemned them until it became quiet and just gave up condemning them. Their conscience finally became hardened, you see, because they rebelled against it. God has chosen the few and He's always chosen the weak among men in the next two verses. (1Co.1:25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (26) For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: So we see that God is clearly speaking of calling weak men. Then the translators, who probably didn't consider themselves weak and foolish, added things in the text over and over in the next three verses, which they italicized, showing it was not in the original text. Clearly, God is not speaking of things but MEN. So when we read them without things but with minor corrections from the Numeric Pattern, the text fits together and makes sense. (27) But God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things strong; (28) and the base things of the world, and the things despised, did God choose, [yea] and them things that are not, that he might bring to nought those things that are: (29) that no flesh should glory before God. Clearly, He chose weak and the base men so no one can brag. He wants to prove His power to save. He has always chosen small and weak Israel. Even in the New Testament, spiritual Israel, those who are after the same faith as Abraham, is still the only one who is chosen. (Psa.147:19) He showeth his word unto Jacob, His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel. (20) He hath not dealt so with any nation; And as for his ordinances, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. Not showing the nations His ordinances and statutes in the Old Testament is the equivalent of not giving someone “ears to hear” the Gospel in the New Testament. Jesus told the Jews in (Joh.6:44) No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him... And (37) All that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. God is not wrong by giving mercy to some and reaching out with the good news to bring them into the ark, no more than He was wrong when He brought those few into the ark in Noah's day. God is not wrong. And in many cases, God does not open the ears of people and He hardens hearts, and He hides things from “the wise and capable.” (Isa.45:15) Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. You may ask, “What's His method of hiding things?” Well, the devil is one. (2Co.4:3) And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: (4) in whom the god of this world (The devil is the god of this world because the world copies and thus worships him.) hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn [upon them]. The devil has permission to do this. Also, (Mat.11:25) At that season Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding (This is speaking of the Pharisees, Sadducees and their students.), and didst reveal them unto babes: (26) yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. (27) All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal [him]. So it pleased the Father to hide some things, and in this text, He talks about hiding them even from religious people. There truly is a supernatural blindness on people. You've probably seen it when you try very simply to share the Gospel or a revelation from God with people, but somehow they just can't see it. And you look upon them almost in awe, wondering, “Why can't they see it? It's so simple.” Of course, it's simple to you because you have a gift they don't have. You have the gift of hearing.

Matthew 26:69-75 shows us Peter's denial of His Lord. Satan had demanded permission to sift Peter like wheat. Remember that Jesus had prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail, Lk.22:31-32. Peter may have failed, but his faith did not.Dr. Mitchell gives us a short overview on the 6 Scriptural evidences of Peter's downward trajectory before his denial.He then also points out how the Lord Jesus still loved Peter and sought him out personally after His resurrection. 1Cor.15:4 records Christ first appeared to Cephas, to Peter.The apostle Peter, in the book of Acts, is now one filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimng Christ, crucified and raised again whom God exalted to His own right hand. In this exaltation, God made this Jesus, both Lord and Christ.Here on the Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast is Dr. Mitchell, Matthew 26:69.

As we continue with Jesus' predictions of His coming again to the earth, we are in Matthew 24:45-51. In this passage, Jesus speaks of two kinds of servants doing two different activities with two different results.One is faithful, one is wicked. One is feeding the household, the other is drunken and beating fellow servants. The one is blessed when His Lord returns and rewards him. The other, not looking for his Lord, will be assigned a place with the hypocrites and it's associated anguish.Dr. Mitchell explains this passage not as regards salvation but concerning the character of the Lord's servants. He asks you and me whether we are looking and waiting for our savior.It could be today!Helping us to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast, here's Dr. Mitchell, Matthew 24:45-51.

Difficulties in life can have one of two major impacts on faith: they can create a stronger trust in God or bring one to turn away from Him in distrust. The Apostle Paul faced numerous difficulties in his life, many of which were brought on by His faith in Jesus. Rather than turning from His Lord, He allowed these challenges to bring greater strength. This sermon will explore Paul's explanation to the Corinthians on how he learned to endure times of desperation by hoping and trusting in the promise of trading an earthly tent for a heavenly home.  A sermon given by Greg Chandler on November 2, 2025.

Psalm 143 is the last of the so called “Penitential” Psalms.  This song joins Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, & 130 in a set identified through church history by themes of soul searching repentance, unrestrained confession, and exclusive hope in the Lord of the Covenant. However, while it is one thing to have the self awareness and honesty to rightly understand your troubled situation…it's quite another to be rescued from the consequences of that condition.  David understands that deliverance is possible because of WHO God is… therefore he grounds his request & appeal on the faithfulness (1), righteousness (1,2,11), & steadfast love (8,12) of His Lord & Master. The occasion for this song certainly parallels Psalm 142.  Perhaps both songs were written from the cave in Adullam.

Paul is NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS THE MESSIAH. BECAUSE of his perspective of God and God's power. Paul simply wanted everyone to know His Lord and experience the power of God for salvation. Pastor Rick shared this message from Romans 1:8-17 at CrossPoint Church.

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Laurence, Deacon and Martyr for Christ. When the Roman emperor demanded the God's of Rome be worshipped by all, St. Laurence and the Christians in Rome refused to bow to idolatry. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend. Today we look at the testimony of the life of St. Laurence; a testimony of love for His Lord as he would sacrifice his life for the love of His Savior.

June 24, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 1:57-80Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 30:1-9, 18-33; John 20:19-31“And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.” (Luke 1:64)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Zechariah's troubling visitation has been resolved. A birth of Abrahamic proportions has occurred. Elizabeth, who was once barren, has now given birth to John. Zechariah obeys the words preached to Him by the angel, and with his mouth opened, he praises God.John isn't your typical child. I mean, he was born like any other child and raised like the other children around him. John was different, though; Zechariah tells us as much. God has made Elizabeth's barrenness bear the forerunner of Christ. God has visited His people. John's birth and the opening of Luke's Gospel are grand, but they are about to be overshadowed.The song of Zechariah gives thanks for his son, John the Baptist, and tells us how God will use John. More to the point of John's life, though, it tells us who John the Baptist is setting up.John is the voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord, calling God's people to repentance, and unmasking the vipers of the religious elite. Zechariah boldly proclaims that God has visited His people. The one who will follow His son, John, is the one who will redeem them. He is of the house of His servant David, who will bring salvation and show God's mercy, which was promised to their fathers. John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Most High, prepared the way for His Lord, calling sinners to repent and believe in the one who comes after Him: Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.John the Baptist wasn't just a miracle child or just a wild man in the wilderness. He was God's prophet, pointing God's people to where their sins would be forgiven, where their salvation would be secure, and where God's mercy would be revealed.God is still doing this work for you through His preachers so that you might know that God has visited His people and redeemed them through the One John the Baptist points to and the One of whom Zechariah sings. Thanks be to God for John the Baptist, the forerunner, who prepared the way for our Lord to be the Lamb of God who brings salvation and righteousness to all who believe in Him.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Almighty God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, You once proclaimed salvation. Now grant that we may know this salvation and serve You in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus' farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ's promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.

May 31, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 1:39-45 (46-56)Daily Lectionary: Numbers 13:1-3, 17-33; Luke 18:1-17“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.” (Luke 1:39-41)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.  “With haste.” That means she went quickly. Mary didn't dawdle. She didn't waste her time. She got out of town and went to see her cousin. How long did it take? It was about 90 miles of a journey, so even going at a slow pace, she would have gotten there in a few days of travel. Even if she had taken a few days to pack and prepare for the journey, she would have gotten there about a week after the Angel Gabriel had visited her.So, with the Little Lord Jesus (one week from conception!) in her womb, Mary greets Elizabeth. At the sound of her greeting, St. John (six months from conception) leaps within his mother's womb because he is in the presence of His Lord! How big was Jesus at that time? Well, at four weeks, a baby is about .04 inches and .04 ounces. So, at one week? Not big at all! But there was God in the flesh, and John worships Him. The One who is mighty makes Himself weak. He scatters the proud but lifts the lowly. As He came to the lowly Virgin Mary, He still comes down to us, filling the hungry with His Body and Blood and clothing us with His righteousness. Your Savior is not a Savior who reigns from high above. He is a Savior who comes down to us. He is not a Savior who doesn't understand you or get what it's like to be in your place. Jesus knows you. He knows your pain and your weakness. He knows what it is like to grow up, to learn to read, to get hurt by nature and hurt by people, even close friends. He knows what it's like to be a child in the womb. He knows what it is like to be an infant, a toddler, a teenager. He knows what it's like to die and to rise again.Jesus comes for you. He comes to die that you might live.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Before he yet was born, He leaped in joyful meeting, Confessing Him as Lord Whose mother he was greeting. By Jordan's rolling stream, A new Elijah bold, He testified of Him Of whom the prophets told. (LSB 346:2)- Rev. Daniel Burhop, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Reese, MI.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Andrew R. Jones identifies ten lies Satan uses in attempts to dismantle God's people and His kingdom. Find encouragement in God's Word of Truth and remember the final victory we have in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In this episode, Dr. Mo further discusses the relationships between Jesus and His disciples. Dr. Mo reads from Luke 22:54-62 and focuses on Peter and the relationship with himself.  In Luke 22:61-62, Peter remembers and realizes as soon as Jesus looks at Him, Jesus' prophecy that Peter would deny him. Peter had to come face to face with himself in that moment. The Scripture says he wept bitterly - which means he wailed loudly and violently. He denied and betrayed His Lord. Betrayal trauma is defined as interpersonal trauma perpetrated by someone close to them.  Betrayal trauma causes psychological distress for the victims of such abuse. And Peter enacted betrayal trauma upon the Son of Man, His friend, His Master, His Lord. Tune in to this episode as we think about how we need to have a face to face with Self when we come into an awareness of betraying another, especially someone who is close and dear to us. As we continue to celebrate the Resurrection, may we be careful to pause and ponder what we stand in need of by way of Redemption as we acknowledge and confess our betrayals of others. Information for Dr. Mohttps://www.drmoniquesmithgadson.com/Link to order “Finding Hope in A Dark Place”:https://lexhampress.com/search?query=Finding%20Hope%20in%20a%20Dark%20Place%3A%20Facing%20Loneliness%2C%20Depression%2C%20and%20Anxiety%20with%20the%20Power%20of%20Grace&sortBy=Relevance&limit=30&page=1&ownership=all&geographicAvailability=allhttps://www.amazon.com/Finding-Hope-Dark-Place-Loneliness/dp/1683596358/ref=rvi_sccl_7/138-1785751-1148333?pd_rd_w=decCb&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=GMEBCA5ZB54MM98HHN5F&pd_rd_wg=pwctW&pd_rd_r=0cf054c6-aedd-427d-ac2a-563757407228&pd_rd_i=1683596358&psc=1Follow us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/And-The-Church-Said-Podcast-106848090932637https://instagram.com/drmoniquesmithgadson?igshid=1bmt2hei1j6i8Support And The Church Said:Cash App:  https://cash.app/$andthechurchsaidPayPal:  https://paypal.me/andthechurchsaid?locale.x=en_US. 

••• The Importance of Soul Winning, Segment-A . ••• Bible Study Verses: Matthew 9:35-38, Ezekiel 18:4, 1 Timothy 2.4, 1 John 5:19, Romans 1:21, Luke 11:21-22, Psalms 127:1, John 6:44, John 16:8, Ephesians 6:12 . PART-1 VERSESLuke 22.35, Matthew 19.29, Exodus 23.25, Segment A Verses: Matthew 6.25-34, Romans 8, John 4.1-42 . ••• “I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ”, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Born 1700, Dresden, Saxony [Germany]—died May 9, 1760, Herrnhut) was a German religious leader and reformer known for his role in the Moravian Church and his pioneering work in Christian missions. He emphasized community in Christianity and was instrumental in sending missionaries around the world, including to the Americas and the West Indies. In about 1727, he was part of the spiritual renewal that was birth out of a small village and began the international world mission movement. The royalty of Europe all knew him and either loved him or hated him. He believed that every race, class and gender was important to His Lord and Savior. He started a non-stop prayer movement that lasted almost 100-years.† ••• “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise” Proverbs 11:30 , KJV . ••• Why is soul winning so important to Our Creator, The Lord Christ Jesus? ••• What are 3-reasons why do we have to pray that God will send laborers into the vineyard? ••• What are 5-reasons must we engage spiritually before engaging in soul winning activities? ••• Are you going to ask your small group to pray that you will be more intentional about seeking kingdom advancement in your life through the power of Holy Spirit? ••• Pastor Otuno expounds on this and much more on the exciting journey of Fresh Encounter Radio Podcast originally aired on May 25, 2025 on WNQM, Nashville Quality Ministries and WWCR World Wide Christian Radio broadcast to all 7-continents on this big beautiful blue marble, earth, floating through space. Please be prayerful before studying The Word of God so that you will receive the most inspiration possible. ••• This Discipleship Teaching Podcast is brought to you by Christian Leadership International and all the beloved of God who believe in it's mission through prayer and support. Thank you . ••• Broadcaster's Website - https://www.lifelonganointing.com/ . ••• Exceeding Thanks to Universe Creator Christ Jesus AND photo by Tima Miroshnichenko Photography, Warsaw, Poland, Tele:+48-572-319-055, mproductionart@gmail.com, https://www.instagram.com/tima_miroshnichenko/, vimeo.com/user89443702, Art Direction by gil on his mac with free mac layout software . ••• Study Guides at - https://shows.acast.com/fresh-encounter-radio-podcast/episodes . ••• SHARING LINK: https://shows.acast.com/fresh-encounter-radio-podcast/250503-kingdom-advancement-principles-pt2-seg-ep379a . ••• † http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/Assorted-Authors-Quotes/ . ••• RESOURCE - https://www.soundcloud.com/thewaytogod/ . ••• RESOURCE - https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/kjv/john.1%20 . ••• FERP250503 Episode#379a GOT250503 Ep379a . ••• Principles of Kingdom Advancement, Part-2, Segment-A . Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/fresh-encounter-radio-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We trust this series on the Biblical Passion of Christ and His Resurrection is a great encouragement to you. John's presentation of the Resurrection and appearing of Jesus Christ is that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and that believing we may have life in His name.Thank you for being here on the Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast.--------------------The focus is John 20 verses 19-29.As Jesus appears to His disciples, Dr. Mitchell shows that these disciples had great joy and great peace. Jesus gave them a personal temporary experience of the Holy Spirit whom they were to permanently receive on the day of Pentecost. In 1 Cor.15:45 it written of Adam that he became a living soul, whereas of Jesus it is written that He became a life giving Spirit.However, Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared and he missed a meeting with the Lord.Dr. Mitchell states that unbelief dictates terms to God before believing. But here, the Lord Jesus accepted Thomas' terms and showed him His hands and side. Upon this, Thomas declared the Lord Jesus Christ as His Lord and His God. What a gracious and understanding savior ..this Jesus, this Lord!Here is Dr. Mitchell, John 20:19-29.

Does your love for God make your heart sing?The psalms, many of them, were written as songs of worship. King David in particular loved to sing praises to His Lord. Whether he was tending his flock under a night sky, or sitting in his palace in Jerusalem, David had a heart for the Lord.Psalm 104:1 says, “Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.”In this kind of worship, we feel especially close to God. It is then we focus on His majesty and His power. We feel close to Him, and we're able to speak freely with Him.This kind of intentional meditation on Higher Things also puts us in our place, and we mean that in the best sense of the phrase. Hierarchy in true religion is very important, and when we consider that the God we sing praises to loves us eternally, and always wants the best for us, well—it releases us to worship God with all of our being. And it is then we are free.Take time today to praise the Lord for who He is, not forgetting the great things He has done for you. Because…He is very great!Let's pray.Lord, you are awesome in ways that we can barely understand. Even with those limitations, God, we love you with abandon. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

overcame resistance at home to become one of the best Fighter units of the war. They were the Tuskegee Airmen.   They also inspired a young man, Bill Winston, who was in school with the Tuskegee Airmen's children and he took that training and became a Top Gun fully decorated Fighter Pilot in Vietnam. When he accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior, he brought what he had learned into his day job, after the military tour was completed, working at IBM. Then, as God called him to full-time ministry, Brother Winston saw the same awesome results there. His phenomenal history and testimony are not only notable but continue inspiring the next generation of Be The One future heroes.   RRTV_250202_RR

We're just getting started in the book of Jude with pastor James Kaddis. Today we're going to take some time to notice how Jude identifies himself in the introduction of his letter. He now recognizes Jesus as His Lord and no longer his half-brother, and that's significant, as you'll soon see. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1459/29

We're just getting started in the book of Jude with pastor James Kaddis. Today we're going to take some time to notice how Jude identifies himself in the introduction of his letter. He now recognizes Jesus as His Lord and no longer his half-brother, and that's significant, as you'll soon see. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1459/29

Today we are here to celebrate and remember the life of George Rickert. A Husband, a Father, and a brother to us all in Christ. Who has now gone to be with Christ, His Lord and Savior. It seems like it was just the other day that I met with George, Gerry, and Ryan at the Dockside restaurant in Breezy,…

How do we know what God's will is? Our Acts story continues: Paul leaves Miletus for Jerusalem and stays at the house of Philip the Evangelist. A couple days after Paul arrives at Philip's home a prophet named Agabus comes to visit Paul. Agabus takes Paul's belt, wraps it around his own hands and feet and says, “The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.” The people gathered in Philip's home pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem after they heard this word, but Paul responds, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart. I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Paul makes it clear that he is willing to risk his life to give glory to His Lord, Jesus Christ. In Acts 21:14, we read that when the group could not dissuade him they gave up and said, “The Lord's will be done.” The Holy Spirit had given Paul a warning through Agabus - that he would be captured by the Jewish leaders and then turned over to the Gentiles. So this is the question: Was Paul disobedient when he decided to go on to Jerusalem? Were the words of the Holy Spirit a warning to say do not go to Jerusalem or could they perhaps be words of warning meant to prepare Paul for what was coming? Could these words be asking Paul's obedience in going to Jerusalem but God in His goodness is giving Paul a heads up of what he will suffer for Christ's sake in obeying. Theologians are split on this but here are some reasons to see Paul's decision to go on to Jerusalem as being obedient. We will use Bible texts:         Acts 9:15-16 - from Paul's conversion story we hear God tell Ananias that Paul will be a chosen instrument to proclaim God's name to many and God goes on to say, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Paul as Saul had caused many believers to suffer, but as a transformed believer in Jesus - Paul would come to see that suffering would come into his life over and over again. (Beaten, ship wrecks, jailed, and many more difficulties) these were all part of Paul's life. Paul understood suffering.         Acts 20:22-23 - When Paul had announced to the leaders in the Miletus meeting that it was time for him to move on, he said, “I am COMPELLED by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are ahead.” He already knew that difficulties were ahead. The Holy Spirit had already warned him, nonetheless he says he was compelled. This text speaks nothing from God about NOT going - only that ahead were hardships.         Acts 23:11 - Several chapters after today's text, Jesus speaks to Paul, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome.” These are more warning words - no correction for disobedience, but rather kindness and encouragement for Paul - Take Courage! The Lord says! These words are words of kindness to prepare Paul for what more is to come. What we can learn from Paul:         Comfort is NOT job #1. Comfort is not our primary focus.         Obedience IS job #1. We are not saved by obedience, but by the death and resurrection of Jesus our Savior. Saved by and through Him alone, by grace. However, when we know Him - we desire to follow Him. Salvation leads us to obedience.         God's glory is paramount - What matters MOST is that our glorious God receives glory in each of our lives. In thanks and gratitude for what the Savior bought for us (life forever with God) and so we give Him glory with our lives in response to His gift of salvation to us.         God's plan is incredible - our destiny is to be made new - transformed with glorified bodies with Christ forever. As a result of Paul going to Jerusalem he         WAS ACCUSED FALSELY         WAS ATTACKED         HIS LIFE WAS ALMOST TAKEN         HE WAS PUT IN CHAINS         SOME PLOTTED TO KILL HIM         HE WAS JAILED FOR 2 YEARS         THEN SENT BY SHIP BACK TO ROME AS A PRISONER TO APPEAR BEFORE THE EMPEROR But look at what happened as a result of Paul going to Jerusalem - Paul's Gospel testimony went to:         Huge temple crowds         Sanhedrin         2 governors         King Agrippa         Emperor Nero So to the question: Did Paul disobey by going to Jerusalem? Will we see the Holy Spirit warning as God's way of giving Paul the strength for what was going to happen in Jerusalem, because God wanted to use Paul's difficulties to get the Gospel message to many who otherwise may not have heard.  As Paul walked faithfully before God, God used his faith in remarkable ways.  God uses our faithful walk before Him in remarkable ways as well. Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

God says “Your dishonest work and external practices are an abomination to me… I hate them” While God gives grace to the humble, the devil takes a hold of us when we are not willing to give up certain attachments for the sake of our glory to be joined with His. A man's constant hussle and business with the labor of the day often make him forget the way of righteousness of His Lord and whose Body he is part of. Such forgetfulness leads to reaching for dishonestly, deceit and malice. What used to motivate us to do what is right and seek what is good has suddenly become forgotten or put aside because taking shortcuts are an easy way out of the active calling to bear the Cross of forsaking all in all just to be with Him. This week's Bible study presented to us the clear discernment between good and evil, the hard yet glorifying path of a loving ever-gentle God, and the easy ever condemning way of laziness and deceit of the devil.

In the Bible faith comes before seeing and in this passage we find out how. Join us as we explore how Jesus saves Thomas, how Thomas comes to confess His Lord, and what that teaches us about the nature of faith.

Join Jonathan Youssef to navigate the complexities of truth and love. In this episode of Candid, Jonathan will examine the challenges of understanding these concepts, including whether absolute truth exists and the multifaceted nature of love.The conversation touches on the Christian perspective of being salt and light to a dying world that lacks an understanding of truth and love. It highlights the importance of living out the truth of our faith with love and patience in the community.Further, we explore the apostle John's transformation from a zealous youth to a wise elder who embodies truth and love. Through his letter to Gaius, we uncover the joys of faithfulness to the Gospel, the significance of hospitality, and how to discern true from false teachings. This episode aims to inspire a deeper understanding and practice of truth and love in listeners' lives. It encourages reflection on personal beliefs and actions in light of these foundational principles. Join us to explore how these ancient virtues remain relevant and transformative today.After you listen to this episode, you may have questions. We would love to hear from you! To ask Jonathan a question or connect with the Candid community, visit https://LTW.org/CandidAlso, join the conversation on our social media pages:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candidpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/candidpodTwitter: https://twitter.com/thecandidpodThis transcript recounts Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef Episode 244, Are You Walking in Truth?:Today I want to talk to you about Truth and love. These are two words with many different definitions. When I say truth and love, you don't even know what I could say next. I could say anything. Is it my truth? Is it your truth? Is it his truth, her truth, their truth? It's almost as if it's just a subjective topic, a subjective term. Is there anything like absolute truth?And love, my goodness, are we talking about romantic love, brotherly love, or agape love? Are we talking about love that is just tolerance and acceptance? Do we love each other only as long as we agree with each other? Or is it just a feeling or an emotion? Is love self-defined? Love is love.The world today is tied up into knots over these two terms. Can a person have truth and not love? Can a person have love but not truth? Here's the reality: I don't expect the world to get this right. I don't have a great hope that things will get a lot better at any point in time because this is not our home. But at the same time, I have not been called to run out into the hills and build a bunker and stock up on ammunition. We have been called to look at a dying world that does not know the truth and does not understand love, and we are called to be salt, and we are called to be light to them. We are called to encourage one another, to gather and praise God's name together, and to go out and witness to the world together because our message is far greater than any message they will ever hear. No matter your age or stage of life, if you put your saving trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, then your calling is to be obedient to the truth and to walk the truth out in love. A. W. Pink was a reformed theologian who wrote several great books and many fantastic sermons. His writing is so helpful; I've used several of his writings in research that I've done for other sermons. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who was succeeded by our dear friend R. T. Kendall at Westminster Chapel said, “Don't waste your time reading these other theologians,” like Karl Barth and Bruner. He said, “Go and read Arthur Pink. Read Pink.” Pink would tour around America and Australia preaching and teaching, but he was never well-known until after he died. Pink finished out his days living in isolation in Scotland with his wife. They never really became part of a church body. They never got situated with a good church community. Lloyd-Jones also said of Pink, “As it related to his inability to be patient with people and remain in a particular church, if I had behaved as Pink did, I would have achieved nothing. I could see that the only hope was to let the weight of truth convince people, so I had to be very patient and take a long-term look at things; otherwise, I would have been dismissed, and the whole thing would have been finished.”Pink was a man who was grounded in the truth and yet, for whatever reason, was not walking it out. And his own friends testified against him. That's why Scripture is very careful to teach us that we walk these two things out together—truth and love. We should be people who are marked by truth, strong in our convictions, and hold fast to the Word of God, by the Spirit of God, for the glory of God. But we should also be marked by love and generosity, grace and humility, hospitality, and care because all of these are the markings of Jesus's life and ministry on Earth.So, we read about these two things, truth and love, in the shortest letter in the Bible, John's third epistle. Before we go any further, let's take a minute and read from Third John:The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Dear friend, you are a faithful ... you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.John wrote the Gospel of John and First, Second, and Third John. He would also later write the book of Revelation. First John was written to a very general audience. Second John was written to a specific church. And this letter, Third John, was written to a very personal and specific person. Let's take a minute to get to know John. He was a disciple, and he was nicknamed by Jesus, with his brother James, the “sons of thunder”. When Jesus and the disciples were turned away from hospitality from a Samaritan village, it was James and John who went to Jesus and said, “Can we call for fire to come down to judge these people,” - a la Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Jesus rebukes them because his first coming was not one of judgment but to preach the good news, to bring healing, and to bring life. But compare John in his youth to this John here in writing his third letter, and he is referred to simply as “the elder.” John grew from a brash, arrogant young man filled with fire, to this wise, gentle, loving older man who is full of love and truth. What happened to John? How did he move from a son of thunder to the loving elder? What had he experienced? He had witnessed a lot. He had witnessed Jesus's teachings, Jesus' miracles, Jesus' preaching. He witnessed Jesus' patience with the disciples. He witnessed the transfiguration and saw Christ with Moses and Elijah, a depiction of the Law and the prophets. He also witnessed His Lord and Savior crucified on the cross. It was then he was given the position of caring for Jesus's mother, Mary. This is John, who would also see His Resurrected Lord and Savior. John is a man who has been used mightily by the Lord.And John is writing this letter to a man called Gaius. Now, we don't know anything about Gaius. He doesn't appear to be in any sort of leadership in the church that we can tell. All we see is Gaius's character, and that character is being reported back to John. We see that there was some conflict in the church over who was trustworthy. They wanted to know who they could believe.There are so many mixed messages. A preacher would travel from house church to house church and depend on other believers to show them hospitality. In John's second epistle he warns the believers not to welcome in or even greet the false preachers and teachers because that would only help them spread a false gospel. He's saying, “Do not endorse these people, but take the faithful in and welcome them.”So, what are the distinguishing marks between a false teacher and a faithful teacher? Now, these weren't denominational issues. They weren't in disagreement over infant baptism and believer's baptism. They disagreed over whether Christ had physically come in the flesh. John says, “Leave these people alone. Let them go on their way. The truth itself will testify to the faithful teachers.”In essence, he is saying, “If you are a believer who has heard and received the Gospel and your spiritual eyes have been opened, your spirit inside you will resonate with what is being taught and you will know a true teacher of the Gospel.”Teachers were dependent on hospitality. They didn't have Holiday Inn or Motel 6. This is why hospitality was such a major issue in the early church. When Jesus sends out the 12 and the 72, He tells them they will be provided for by people of peace. When Paul writes to the Romans, he fully expects that they will financially support his mission journey to Spain. And the book of Hebrews urges the hearers not to neglect hospitality to strangers. Two great needs, truth and love, together.So John writes to Gaius, verse 1, “The elder to the,” in the ESV, beloved, I'm going to use that term, “the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”What does it mean to love in the truth? John says that Gaius continues to be faithful to the truth concerning Jesus Christ. And it is the truth that binds us together. We know love because we know the truth.John writes in his first epistle, 1 John chapter 3 verse 16, “By this, we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers because of the truth of the gospel.” Because of the gospel's truth, we are called to love one another. Strangers? Never heard of it, not in the church. I may not know your name, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We have more commonality than flesh and blood oftentimes do. Listen to what John writes in verse 2, “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul.”How does he know it's going well with Gaius's soul? We read it in the next verse: "For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.”John knows it is going well with Gaius's soul because he is living out the gospel's truth. They testified about his faithfulness to the gospel. Gaius is living out the truth of the gospel in love. He's walking in the truth.John emphasizes that Gaius's faithfulness involves his holding to true doctrine and his persistence and actions, which are consistent with what is in the doctrine. In verse 4, John says that his greatest joy is not that his 401(k) is strong, not that his children's academic and athletic successes are great, not that the design of his home is beautiful, nor that his favorite sports team won a big game. His greatest joy is that his children fellowship with him and actively walk in the truth.In each of his three letters—to the general church, to the specific church, and to the individual—he goes out of his way to say, “This is important to me. I'm conveying what brings me joy: that you are walking in the truth.”Gaius has remained faithful to the gospel. He has not fallen to the false teachings that were swirling around. And he is a source of the elder's greatest joy. Moms and dads, what is your greatest joy regarding your children? Is it that they are academically successful and get into a fantastic college? Is it that they are athletically successful and get scholarships? Is it in your position and the status of your vocation? Is it in the appearance of your home?And this goes beyond families because Gaius is not John's physical son; he's his spiritual son. And so when we are here together as a body, we are, again, brothers and sisters in Christ, and we're constantly putting forth and putting on display what we prize. I wonder if we went around and asked all the children, “What is it that your mom and dad prize, or your grandma and your grandfather?” What are we displaying as the greatest value to the next generation? But I also understand that this can be a source of great pain for many people. Your children may not be walking with the Lord, so instead of being a source of great joy, it is a source of great struggle and pain. I think John would give the word to those in that situation to remain in the truth and love. Don't take truth as a 2 x 4 to your children and try to beat them up with it, insisting that this is right. Your children will despise you for that, and they will despise the truth. But you walk this out in love, with compassion. Don't forget the truth. Instead, hold it together with love. That is the gospel's message as it was put on perfect display by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Then John praises Gaius for his hospitality to traveling preachers. “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testify to your love before the church.”His efforts for the faithful brothers is what John commends as faithful. It isn't just what Gaius believes is faithful, but also his actions. And it is because of what Gaius believes, what he has planted his faith in, that he can be faithful with his actions. Because if you're not planted in something faithful, your actions won't reflect faithfulness. But Gaius is planted in a living hope. He is planted in a resurrected hope. He is planted in an unconquerable hope. These believers go back to Ephesus, where John was, and they say, “We had an amazing time preaching in this little town. You wouldn't believe it. In this little town, there was a brother in Christ called Gaius, and he was a brother who was strong in the truth. And he was a brother who loved well. He took us in, cared for us, and introduced us to people in the church. He is a dear brother.”How good is it when people speak well of us? Have you ever been conversing with someone you didn't know very well, and you mention a friend, and that person immediately starts to gush over that person? “Oh, I love that person. They are so fantastic! Let me tell you. We were moving, and they came and helped us move.” And then you're sharing stories about how fantastic this person is, how much you love this person, how helpful and insightful they are, and what a blessing they are to know them. I remember in Australia, there was a well-known evangelist and preacher who was contemporaries with John Stott and Dick Lucas, and just like those two men, this man never married. And the Lord used their singleness to serve the global church so well. This man's name was John Chapman, and in typical Australian lingo, they shortened it incredibly and just called him Chapo. He was funny, he was kind, he was generous, he was hospitable. He was a mentor to my pastor in Sydney. He had done some work with Dad in the past as it related to evangelism.And I remember after Chapo died watching his funeral online. The Archbishop of Sydney got up and shared, and he mentioned how deep of an impact Chapo had on so many people. And then he said, “Why don't we all take a minute right now and have everyone just share your Chapo story with your neighbor?” I mean, I almost burst into tears because it was immediate. Not a second had passed, and the room was filled with smiles, laughter, love, and storytelling. And the problem was that they finally had to get up and say, “Stop. Be quiet. Stop. We have to keep going with the service.” Because they could have gone on like that for hours.I have a feeling that would have been Gaius. Maybe on a smaller scale, but that would have been Gaius. People would have gone on and on about how dearly he was loved and his impact on them. I wonder what people would say at a celebration of your life? Would people easily share what an encourager you have been and what a great help you were? Or would they talk about how you may have had your doctrine perfect, dotted every I, and crossed every T, but had no love, like Arthur Pink? There weren't universities, trade schools, or tertiary education in the first century. There were these philosophers who would gather in the town square and philosophize. They would just drone on and on about how their philosophy was right. Nothing has changed. They would try to attract hearers, and then they would start these schools with the hopes that some of these families would say, “We want to send our son to your school,” and then they would train them in that philosophy. Some thought that just as there were stoics, cynics, and epicureans, Christians would have a school like this, and then they would just train up their people like this, that they were just another philosophy of life.But Christians refused to take this money because Christians were not saying they were just another philosophy amongst the rest. They were announcing the Kingdom of God. They were telling people the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is not just a philosophy; that is a total worldview perspective that affects everything and everyone. So John says, “These men come in the name of Christ, preaching the word of Christ, and they refuse help from the pagans; therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”Now listen, I understand we may not be in the same position as Gaius or this church, but think about your missionary care and support. Think about your care and your support for ministries that strive to take the gospel to the lost and those on the outside. Think about how you care for and support the pastoral team in your church. Think about how you care for and support your small group leader; how you care for and support your Bible study leader. Think about what it means to support people in ministry. We are all fellow workers for the truth. Your support carries on our work as preachers. It allows for ministries like Leading The Way to exist, and that work leads to ultimate destinies being changed in people's lives. I read a letter from a young Muslim convert a while back. He was watching the Genesis series we did a while back and talked about how it served, blessed, encouraged, and equipped him. So, your support of the truth motivated by love is serving and blessing this community here and to the rest of the world. What a privilege it is to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, to be supportive of something outside ourselves. When we see that people are blessed and are walking in the truth, that can serve as our greatest joy. I want to leave you with three questions. It would be good to write them down and to think about them this week. First, where does your great joy come from? Second, do people speak well of you regarding truth and love? And finally, are you a fellow worker for the truth? I hope these will serve you well today, tomorrow, the week ahead, and the rest of your life. I hope that they will serve as great motivation.

We consider a topical sermon, in light of the recent Resurrection festival throughout visible Christendom, considering how the Lord's Day is given by Christ to the church weekly, and how rather than augmenting worship, the observance of annual festivals in the visible church distorts and diminishes the glory and power of Christ on His Lord's Day. Preached from Galatians 4-8-11

We consider a topical sermon, in light of the recent Resurrection festival throughout visible Christendom, considering how the Lord's Day is given by Christ to the church weekly, and how rather than augmenting worship, the observance of annual festivals in the visible church distorts and diminishes the glory and power of Christ on His Lord's Day. Preached from Galatians 4:8-11

Wednesday March 20, 2024 Ramadan 10, 1445   The Reciter of the Quran is Engaged in Intimate Discourse with His Lord; the One Who Loves the Quran Loves Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace); the Quran is the Banquet-spread of Allah and the source of propriety (adab)

Where did Jesus get His authority? How could Jesus be David's son and His Lord?

Does your love for God make your heart sing?   The psalms, many of them, were written as songs of worship. King David in particular, loved to sing praises to His Lord. Whether he was tending his flock under a night sky, or sitting in his palace in Jerusalem, David had a heart for the Lord.   Psalm 104:1 says, “Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.”   In this kind of worship, we feel especially close to God. It is then we focus on His majesty and His power. We feel close to Him, and we're able to speak freely with Him.   This kind of intentional meditation on Higher Things also puts us in our place, and we mean that in the best sense of the phrase. Hierarchy in true religion is very important, and when we consider that the God we sing praises to loves us eternally, and always wants the best for us, well—it releases us to worship God with all of our being. And it is then we are free.   Take time today to praise the Lord for who He is, not forgetting the great things He has done for you. Because…He is very great!   Let's pray.   Lord, you are awesome in ways that we can barely understand. Even with those limitations—God we love you with abandon. In Jesus' name, amen.  

This Episode of Revival Radio TV highlights the unique story of the Black Flyers during WW2. They overcame resistance at home to become one of the best Fighter units of the war. They were the Tuskegee Airmen. They also inspired a young man, Bill Winston, who was in school with the Tuskegee Airmen's children and he took that training and became a Top Gun fully decorated Fighter Pilot in Vietnam. When he accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior, he brought what he had learned into his day job, after the military tour was completed, working at IBM. Then, as God called him to full-time ministry, Brother Winston saw the same awesome results there. His phenomenal history and testimony are not only notable but continue inspiring the next generation of Be The One future heroes. RRTV_240218_RR

Romans 14:15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. In today's verse, I'm struck by Paul's choice of the word destroy. That seems like a strong word to describe what occurs if a brother eats something that to another brother would be a sin. Paul told them that if your eating something hurts, that is causes some pain of mind or distress or grief, your brother, then you are causing destruction. What is being destroyed? Your brother's faith is being destroyed. The idea of destroy is to bring something to an end or to cause your brother to lose something. It's not bringing the food to an end. It is his faith that comes to an end if your brother eats when he is convinced he should not. He suffers loss in his relationship with His Lord who has him standing in that position on the issue. Remember what Paul wrote in vs. 4. “To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” So if you or your brother is moved from his position of faith on an issue by another's actions or persuasion, then you or they have suffered a loss in your relationship with Jesus. Now we look at perhaps the most important thing Paul said in this verse. To hurt your brother in this way is grievous because Jesus died for him. That means this brother's standing with Jesus is precious and valuable to Jesus, and of course, precious and valuable to the brother. This takes us back to the main point of chapter 14 when it comes to how we love one another when we differ on issues that are not clearly addressed in Scripture. Our relationship with Jesus governs our relationships. If we love and treasure Jesus, we will love and treasure who He loves. We owe our brothers and sister agape love. Period. May we be encouraged today to love those whom He loves and puts in our paths for His glory. Paul encourages us to walk according to love. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this-not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. I love that God has clearly told us the way of love when it comes to relating to one another in the body of Christ. In light of what we have been reading and meditating on in Romans 14, Paul told the Romans and the Holy Spirit tells us, don't judge one another on issues that are not clearly defined in the Scriptures, and make it your aim, your goal to not hinder your brother as he lives for the Lord nor create an occasion where he might stumble over what you are doing. It's clear. Stay out of his way as long as He is doing what he believes pleases His Lord. That is the highest good for your brother. That's what love does. God's love is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost, in the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. We are living to love with Jesus, so that's the kind of love He has for our brother. Perhaps today, God will put someone in your path who has become convinced that to please His Lord, he is not to drink wine, so consequently when he drinks at a meal, he orders iced tea and gives thanks to God. You on the other hand, are free to drink wine, giving God thanks for the grapes that God made and the wine derived from them. However, you know that your brother once was an alcoholic, and that it could be a stumbling block to him if you ordered wine. Not so much that he would think less of you, but that he might be tempted to order wine, thinking he might be more acceptable to you. The loving thing to do before ordering wine might be to ask if your drinking wine would be tempting to him. If he says, “Yes,” then you order something else. If he says, “No,” then you're free to order the wine. And if to please you, he changes his mind and starts to order wine, you would lovingly suggest the he not order wine. You encourage him to stick with what he knows pleases the Lord. That's an example of not judging your brother and being determined not to get in his way as he walks out the faith God has given him with regarding what he can and cannot drink. You'll have to perhaps resist the thought that your brother is legalistic or being overly religious, and your brother will need to resist thinking that you are not sold out to Jesus. That's the kind of judgment we are to flee from. I suggest that if your purpose in life is to live to love with Jesus, you'll take into consideration these things when faced with similar circumstances. “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this-not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.” Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

Romans 14:5-6 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. If we are to live to love with Jesus, we must view all of life from His worldview. For myself, I've outlined 3 foundational truths by which Jesus lived His life while on the earth and today as He lives in us. 1. There's only one God, My father, from whom are all things, and He is love. 2. The love of my Father is enough. He satisfies the desires of My soul. 3. My Father's purpose in all things is to reveal Himself in Me for His glory in eternity. These are all supported very clearly in the Scriptures and if you want to investigate these points more, you can do so in Live to Love: Experience Freedom and Joy in Relationships available at www.livetolovewithjesus.com. The resources are free. When we consider these three foundational truths from our perspective, they can be said like this: 1. There's only one God, our Father, from whom are all things, and He is love. 2. Jesus' love is enough. He satisfies the desires of my soul. 3. God's purpose in all things is to reveal His Son in me and prepare me for eternity. The reason I mention these three truths is that they are inherent in what Paul wrote in these two verses. Why do the ones who either do or don't observe certain days or the ones who eat or don't eat meat give thanks to God? It's because they believe everything comes from God who loves them. Paul admonished each one to be fully convinced in his own mind as to what he's to do to please Jesus, His Lord. Why is this important? Because every believer is to be most satisfied in the will of the Lord, receiving and doing what pleases Him. Everything in life is determined by their relationship with Jesus. Everyone also does what they do “for the Lord.” This means that they recognize whatever the issue is, their purpose in life is to reveal Christ, the Lord, and make His name great, not only in this life, but on that Great Day when Jesus is revealed in glory. Do you give thanks to God for what He has provided you to eat or do you just eat it without thanksgiving? Apparently, among the early believers, food on the table was never taken for granted and God was not despised when they put food in their mouths, regardless of whether it was meat or vegetables. The issue here is faith. What do you believe? Paul was encouraging them to love each other because their faith in God was the same. They all looked to God as the provider of their food and all of life. When we live to love with Jesus, we have this same attitude toward whatever happens in our lives. We live with Jesus, and we live for Him. If we believe in Him then everything is about Him—even down to what days we celebrate and what food we eat. We treasure Jesus more than life itself. Through His love, we love one another. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

Apostate Church Witchcraft (5)  (audio)  David Eells – 12/17/23  Backsliding of the Simple   Father, we ask for Your anointing and Your wisdom to go forth today. We love You, Lord. We run after You and all that You are. Lord, many people believe that they have arrived, and that's a sad thing. There's always a goal, and the goal is Christ and Christlikeness, and they don't know it, Lord. For that reason, “the backsliding of the simple shall slay them.” Father, help us today to understand these things. We ask it in Jesus' Name, amen.   I'd like to begin our study with the verse I just quoted. (Pro.1:32) For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them… Now when Scripture talks about “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:3; Jude 1:24), it's talking about “backsliding” (Isaiah 57:17; Jeremiah 2:19; etc.) because both the Greek apostasia and the Hebrew meshubah have the same meaning. (Pro.1:32) For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.   We have a problem; Our “hard drive” is infected with this world and its ways and its thinking, and it has to be renewed. I know many people believe that the beginning and the end of Christianity is to “just accept Jesus as your personal Savior,” but that cannot be found written in the Word. What is written in the Word is “repent and believe,” which means to “change your mind and believe what I say” (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15). Yet too many people think they've stepped over some magic line and now they can just sit down and rest in the flesh, but then they don't, they can't, bear fruit (Matthew 17:17-19; Luke 6:43). Without bearing fruit, we are not being “born from above” (John 3:3,7).   Let's go back to verse 20 and look at Who wrote “For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them.” (Pro.1:20) Wisdom crieth aloud in the street… So we see Wisdom is the One speaking here. Scripture also says, (1Co.1:24) … Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. This is Jesus speaking; He is the Wisdom of God. And from John, we know that He's also the Word of God. (Joh.1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Therefore the Word of God is the Wisdom of God, and the Word gives us very clear directions to seek Him, not just once by shaking a preacher's hand or any such thing as that, but to seek Him and put that Wisdom into our heart. Putting that Wisdom in our heart is what will protect and deliver us from this falling away because, as the Bible warns us, (Psa.58:3) The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. There is a people who are born in their spirit but they don't seek that fruit in their soul, which is their mind, will, and emotions.    Continuing... (Pro.1:20) Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places (That's the broad road where the “many” are as in Matthew 7:13.); (21) She crieth in the chief place of concourse; At the entrance of the gates, In the city, she uttereth her words: (22) How long, ye simple ones (The Hebrew word there is pthiy and it means “foolish; silly, as in ‘able to be seduced'; naive.” These people are “simple” to the knowledge of God.), will ye love simplicity? And scoffers delight them in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?  Fools hate knowledge. Do you know how we know that people hate knowledge? It's because they don't choose to seek it out; they choose the world and the worldly pleasures. They let someone just “tell them how it is,” instead of seeking out their own salvation (Php.2:12) …with fear and trembling. They would rather pay some preacher somewhere to give them the “truth.” Here's the truth, (Mat.22:14) For many are called, but few chosen.    Paul said to Timothy, (2Ti.1:8) Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God; (9) who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal. “Who saved us, and called us”: You don't get this calling until you get saved.   This “calling” is the Greek word klésis and it means “invitation.” We are being invited to partake of the things of the Kingdom of God, yet many people are not partaking of these, although it's written in there plainly. You can show it to them, but they've been inoculated by dead religion to not believe what is written and that's why many are the called and few are the chosen.   Now when you go out into a field that you have planted, which is what God has done in a parable (Genesis 49:2; Isaiah 3:14,5:7,17:10,27:2; Amos 5:11; etc.), you're looking for the fruit. You're going to pick the fruit. You don't care about the plant. You plow the plant under and it goes back to the soil, just like the old body. Jesus, in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-8,18-23; Mark 4:2-9,13-20; Luke 8:4-15) pointed out to us four different types of people, and three of the four, when they heard the Good News, fell away, even though they were the ones, at least the last three, these were the ones who were called.   (Mar.4:14) The sower soweth the word. (15) And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; and when they have heard, straightway cometh Satan, and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them. (We have seen this with the factious and it is astounding.) (16) And these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky [places], who, when they have heard the word, straightway receive it with joy; (Same here) (17) and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway they stumble.  (18) And others are they that are sown among the thorns; these are they that have heard the word, (19) and the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. (Like Jesus' parables of those distracted with the world.) (20) And those are they that were sown upon the good ground; such as hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.  Notice after receiving the word we are to bear the fruit of it, which is “Christ in you”. Again, three of the four types, when they heard the Good News, fell away. Only one bore fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold. These are the true Kingdom people. So if you “love simplicity,” if you love the very simple lie that all you need to do is accept him as your personal savior and then sit on a pew and wait for the rapture, well, you're one of these fools who hates knowledge. If that's all you do, you're hating knowledge. You need to seek out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).   (Pro.1:23-26) Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you (Many reject the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Wisdom. If we don't seek out our own salvation, we are rejecting the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Wisdom as it was given in the book of Acts.); I will make known my words unto you. (24) Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;   (25) But ye have set at nought all my counsel, And would none of my reproof: (26) I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; (27) When your fear cometh as a storm, And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When distress and anguish come upon you. (28) Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me: (29) For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the Lord.   (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, in Proverbs 9:10), (30) They would none of my counsel, They despised all my reproof. It's much simpler to let a preacher who is walking in the flesh tell you how easy it is to be in the Kingdom, and that you really don't have to lose your life as Jesus said, in order to gain your life (Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-24; John 12:25). “You don't really have to do that, that's the hard way, just listen wonderful words, pay your tithes and everything will be okay.”  (Pro.1:31) Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices. The “devices” that are out there now put many to sleep; “Unconditional eternal security” is a particularly deadly one. It teaches that you don't have to do anything after receiving salvation, but but Scripture teaches differently. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith (Which is the substance of the thing hoped for while the evidence is not seen); and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of (man's) works, that no man should glory. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.   Those who don't have the “good works” of God are obviously not the people of God, and they will speak against “works,” although the Bible says just the opposite. The Bible says that you're going to be judged according to your works, and it says it very clearly, over and over and over (Hebrews 11:8-30; James 2:14-26; etc.) So how do we bear the fruit of good works? First of all, we have to put goodness in our heart, because it is that Wisdom of God, the Word of God, that re-programs our hard-drive to think, walk, talk, and bear the fruit of Jesus Christ.   (Pro.1:32) For the backsliding (Again, the “backsliding” is the “falling-away” which the lost can't do) the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them. (33) But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be quiet without fear of evil. Wisdom says to these simpletons in (Pro.2:1) My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee; (2) So as to incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thy heart to understanding; (3) Yea, if thou cry after discernment, And lift up thy voice for understanding… The Bible promises that if we ask the Lord for wisdom, He will give it to us. If you ask Him for understanding, He will give it to you. Don't be double-minded, but ask Him and seek Him as in James 1:5-8. Ask Him even to put it in your heart to desire it.   (Pro.2:4) If thou seek her (Wisdom) as silver, And search for her as for hid treasures: (5) Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord (Yes, you must have the fear of the Lord. Many people hear the Scriptures, but totally ignore what they've heard because they don't have the fear of the Lord.), And find the knowledge of God. (6) For the Lord giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth [cometh] knowledge and understanding: (7) He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; [He is] a shield to them that walk in integrity;   (8) That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints. (9) Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity, [yea,] every good path. (10) For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; (11) Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee: (12) To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things; (13) Whoso forsaketh the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;   (Which is what so many people do: they get saved by faith, and then continue to walk in the same way they've always walked, not seeking out the knowledge and wisdom of God to know even what is the Will of God.) (14) Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil; (15) Who are crooked in their ways, And wayward in their paths: (16) To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words. The “strange woman” is the “harlot” of Revelation 17, but that harlot is the “mother of the harlots” of the earth (Revelation 17:5).   Only the seed of Christ bears the fruit of Christ.  All of those sects that came out of the mother are also called “harlots” because every one of those denominations received their own seed, the seed that wasn't the seed of the Husband. That makes them harlots. They received their own wisdom and their own knowledge. The knowledge of the Gospel is being ignored. They've reduced it to nothing more than moralizing and there is no hope for moralizing. Those apostate preachers may get up and give a Scripture verse or two on Sunday morning, but the rest of the time, it's all their knowledge and their wisdom.   Folks, there's nothing more important than the Word of God! The Word going into your heart re-creates Jesus Christ in you. He is the Word. It's the Word that does this; nothing else can do it. Moralizing won't give you the knowledge of the Gospel. Moralizing won't give you the knowledge of how you can receive, freely, the Nature of Jesus Christ. It won't give you that confidence that this is your gift from God, that this is the reconciliation that He gave you at the Cross (Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Colossians 1:21-22).   He took your life, nailed it on the Cross, and gave you His Life. As Paul proclaimed, (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. In other words, “Now it's no longer I that live, it's Christ that lives in me.”  Rejoice in this free gift and it will be received.  (Pro.2:16) To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words (Those apostate preachers will make it easy for you. They will lead you in their crooked ways and in their wayward paths that do not include the crucified life or being filled with the Spirit who leads you in truth exactly as the first disciples were and filled them with the supernatural gifts.); (17) That forsaketh the friend of her youth (That's the One Who saved you in the beginning, Jesus, the One you loved in the beginning. Now they want to give you another “Jesus” and another “gospel” and another “spirit.”), And forgetteth the covenant of her God…    Some people don't even get to know that Covenant before they're led astray from the Bible by the teachings of men and their modern gospel. As Jesus said to the Pharisees of His day, (Mar.7:6) … Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. (7) But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.   (8) Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men. (9) … Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition… (13) making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do. There's no difference in the nature of man from the time Jesus said that until now. We must repent and believe what He says; this is how we are reprogrammed to walk the straight walk.   (Pro.2:18) For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead. It's true; every one of those harlots' houses “inclineth unto death.” (Pro.2:19) None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life: (20) That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous. (21) For the upright shall dwell in the land… This is the land of God's people, the Promised Land, and each promise that we read in the Word will become ours if we are bold to stand on it. (Deu.11:24) Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours… God is saying, “Every place you put your foot, I will give it to you.”    God has given us this “land” that we walk in, which is this flesh that comes from the earth, in order for us to conquer it. And those tribes that originally inhabited the land, the Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, and so on (Deuteronomy 7:1-3), all represent the lusts of the “old man” that had to be conquered in order to take that land for the spiritual man, Jesus Christ, Who is (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory. He's growing in you like a little baby. You must feed Him; don't feed the flesh, feed Him.   (Mat.12:46) While he (Jesus) was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. (47) And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee. (48) But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? (49) And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! (50) For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother. Those who do the Will of the Father are those who are bringing forth the fruit of Jesus Christ in their life.   (Pro.2:21) For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it. There is a great falling-away because there is a broad road to destruction, as Jesus said. (Mat.7:13) Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. (14) For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.   We don't know the narrow road unless we study the wisdom of God, which is all through the Bible. (2Jn.1:9) Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son. It's not who starts out with you; it's who continues. There are lots of people who think they know the teaching, but they're getting it second, third, fourth, and fifth hand.   The only way you're going to know the teaching and the wisdom of God is to study the Word and seek out the wisdom of God for yourself. Don't go into a dead church and be leavened the rest of your life. People who go there don't ever come out! They're wasting their life, never coming to know the wisdom of God.  (Pro.2:21) For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it. (“Perfect” is a word that also means “mature.” Those who come into the Image of Christ are mature.) (22) But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it. This is still talking about the same people; the wicked are the treacherous. You see, the wicked may start out with you, but they don't finish with you.   (1Jn.2:19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but [they went out,] that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us. The wicked will be cut off from the land, which is the Land of Promise. They will not know the promises, they will not live by the promises. Paul exhorted God's people to not be sons of the “handmaid,” but to be sons of the “freewoman,” because it's going to be proven that not everyone who is a son of Abraham is chosen. Many are called, but few are chosen.   (Gal.4:22) For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman. (23) Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the [son] by the freewoman [is born] through promise. The promise is what begets you again unto Jesus Christ and everything that He is and all that He does and thinks. It's the promise that does this. It is not being moralized; it is not joining a religion. The son of the freewoman is born through promise.   Abraham so badly wanted Ishmael to be chosen by God, and I, too, have wanted people to be chosen by God, and I, too, have “sown seed” in both the “freewoman” and the “handmaid.” And when the sons of the handmaid begin to fall away, I cry for them, but they are manifesting who they are. (Gal.4:24) Which things contain an allegory: for these [women] are two covenants; one from mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. If you're born of “Hagar” then you're in bondage and staying there.   Even while you're in religion, you can be in bondage just as the Israelites were. They were in so much bondage that when Jesus came to bring them to the higher order, they couldn't come out of bondage. (25) Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia (It was the Israelites who went to Mount Sinai and so Paul is applying this to them, because they were in bondage and they didn't know it.) and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is (That's the physical Jerusalem over there in the Middle East that's in bondage.): for she is in bondage with her children.   (26) But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. Praise the Lord! We are being born from above, first spirit, then soul, and then body. The “soul” is the mind, the will, and the emotions. Your soul has to walk after the Spirit to receive the nature of that Spirit in order for you to bear His fruit in your soul.   (Rom.8:13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. When you were first saved, you received a born-again spirit, but now you have to go on to bear that fruit in your soul. Only if you bear the fruit, which is Christlikeness, will you get that new body, the born-again body, like His Body.   So how do you bear fruit? The way you bear fruit immediately is that you believe you have received. Jesus said, (Mar.11:24) … All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe ye received (The Greek word there lambanó is past tense in the original.) them, and ye shall have them. You walk by faith for them until you see them. Everything that the Lord offers will be nothing to the person who doesn't reach out and receive the promises by faith. They will not come to pass, and Paul tells us why. (Heb.4:2) … The word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. You see, they didn't mix faith with the words.  (Pro.4:4) And he taught me, and said unto me: Let thy heart retain my words; Keep my commandments, and live. How are you going to continue to live? You continue to live by studying and keeping His commandments, delighting in His commandments and delighting in being pleasing unto Him. Jesus said, “He that loves me will keep my commandments” (John 14:21,23- 24). You don't love Him if you're keeping the commandments of men.   Men make it easy for the “old man” to live because they don't want to lose their old life. (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:8-10; etc.) They don't like the crucified life that comes with loving the commandments of God. (Pro.4:5) Get wisdom, get understanding; Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth; Get wisdom, get understanding. (6) Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee; Love her, and she will keep thee. That's the truth, Wisdom will keep you from falling away.   (7) Wisdom is the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom; Yea, with all thy getting get understanding. … (Pro.4:20) My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart. (22) For they are life…   Some people think that eternal life is something that God put in their hand and that He can't take it back, but John tells us, (1Jn.5:11) And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. You see, God didn't put anything in your hand. He gave eternal life to be in the Son, and abiding in the Son is where we have eternal life.   (Pro.4:22) For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. I've passed up the opportunity to die many times because I knew what the Word of God said. I knew what the Covenant was and I didn't depart from it, but I was tested. God tests us. I was tested, but I passed up my opportunities to die and continued to bear fruit. You see, if you die too soon, you don't bear the fruit you could have borne if you had continued on.   Many people don't even know that we're not under the curse. They don't know that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. They don't know that the “destroyer” was meant to pass over us and take out the Egyptians (Exodus 12:23; Job 15:21; 1 Corinthians 10:10; etc.) So many people are passing up the calling!   (Pro.4:23) Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. Life comes out of your heart and if you put the Wisdom of God in there, just like in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9,18-23; Mark 4:1-9,13-20; Luke 8:4-15), you will be re-programmed. Please understand that you are in danger, and the only place you have safety is in Him. If three out of every four people who hear the Gospel fall away from it, you are in danger. You need to keep on putting the Wisdom of God in your life. It will save, it will “preserve thee,” the Bible says (Proverbs 4:6).   Let's look at the Parable of the Sower. (Mat.13:10) And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He was speaking, of course, to the Jews, who had the Covenant first. Jesus said, (Mat.15:24) … I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But remember, (Ecc.1:9) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.   Once again, a Man-child is coming to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” only now as Paul said, (Rom.2:28) … he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: (29) but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Now true “Israel” are the ones who seek the born-again experience, not just in spirit, but in soul, and ultimately, in body.   These are the ones who have the Covenant, these are the ones who are on the path, the narrow path, unto eternal life. And if you start in faith, since faith is accounted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3-22; Galatians 3:6-7; James 2:23), even when you start on that path, as long as you stay on that path, you are assured of eternal life. Not because you have manifested it, but because you are walking by faith for it.  Notice the disciples asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Of course, they wanted their brethren, the Jews, to be saved. Of course, they wanted them to understand. “Make it simple for them, Jesus, like the preachers do.” (Mat.13:11) And he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. My goodness! That sounds like there was a reprobation at the beginning of the Man-child Jesus' ministry.   Today there's a Man-child ministry coming again, only this time to the church, and once again we have the same situation. These people are not disciples. They cannot hear. They've been inoculated against the truth. The Man-child speaks in parables and they cannot understand, but He won't speak to them in any other way (Psalm 78:1-72; Matthew 13:34-35). The Bible says that He took His disciples aside, privately, and explained to them all things (Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:10). A disciple is a mathetes, a “learner and a follower.” Disciples are studying the Master; they're studying the Master to walk in His steps. (1Jn.2:6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.   It's not all those eminent preachers in their fancy suits; it is Jesus Who is our demonstration of true Christianity, which is to walk as He walked. It is to manifest His gifts, His works, everything. (Heb.7:25) Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost (The Greek word there is pantelés and it means “completely, forever, entirely.”) them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. But although you see that it's a free gift from God, you have to receive by faith the promise of (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory.   (Mat.13:12) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance… “Whosever hath … abundance” of what? This is speaking of “whosoever hath” understanding, “whosoever hath” fruit of what they have received. You see, if we walk in the Light, He puts more Light in our pathway. This is someone who has been given this fruit, who has been given this understanding. That is who “shall have abundance.” This is someone who is walking in Light, therefore they deserve more Light. There's no use in putting out more Light in front of someone who's not going to walk in the light they have; they would just be condemned that much more.   So God gives you a little Light, and if you walk in that, He gives you more Light. (Pro.4:18) … The path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Psa.119:105) Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And light unto my path. He gives you a lamp for your feet to show you where you stand because, if you know where you are, He can show you where to go. We need to know that. Some people are in total denial about where they stand. These people believe that they've already arrived at perfection by some magic words that they've spoken or something that they did.   (Mat.13:12) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Jesus gave the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:13-30; Luke 19:11-27) about that exact situation. Two of the three servants multiplied the talents their lord entrusted to them, but the third servant did nothing with what he was given. His Lord was angry with him and said, (Luk.19:22) … Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am an austere man, taking up that which I laid not down, and reaping that which I did not sow; (23) then wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, and I at my coming should have required it with interest?   (24) And he said unto them that stood by, Take away from him the pound, and give it unto him that hath the ten pounds. (25) And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds. (26) I say unto you, that unto every one that hath shall be given; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him. When they protested, “But he has ten!” it was because they didn't understand God. We're called to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to walk in His steps, but far too many people are like that third servant and they wouldn't touch discipleship with a ten-foot pole.   They've never even been taught that they needed, or even had an opportunity, to become a disciple. And so, because they bear no fruit and they haven't sought wisdom, even though God has borne with them up to that point, finally He reprobates them, or in other words, “even that which he hath shall be taken away from him.” (Mat.13:13) Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. They have physical eyes to see, but not spiritual eyes to see. How do you get spiritual eyes to see? You have to come to know the One Who wrote the Book. That's how you get spiritual eyes to see and that's how you get spiritual ears to hear because you'll hear only His voice, as Jesus said. (Joh.10:27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Sadly, many people like to leave out that last part, “they follow me.”   (Mat.13:14) And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive (Now we know what “understanding” is, and what “perceiving” is.): (15) For this people's heart is waxed gross… He's talking about His people, the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and even today, there is the “lost sheep of the house of the church” because they've lost the path. They don't know the way and they don't know that the end of that way is (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory. They don't even know that the procession that leads up to that point is Christ increasingly growing in you like a baby in the womb.   (Mat.13:15) For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart… They're afraid to know the truth. It would make them responsible to know the truth. It's easier just to “accept Jesus as your personal Savior.” Now, I'm not saying that can't be a beginning, if there was a true repentance involved, but otherwise, you're just filling a church pew and your self-deception will be revealed further down the road.  (Mat.13:15) For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them. God really wants to heal us. He wants to heal us spiritually, physically, and every other way. These are the benefits of the Kingdom. It is for the called, the invited. (2Ti.1:9) Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.  So when you get saved, you get invited. When you get saved in your spirit, you get a new spirit from God, and according to what the Scripture says, you receive a “born-again spirit” and now you are invited to partake of the benefits of the Kingdom because now you are a Kingdom person (John 3:3,5). The world doesn't have this calling. This calling is not “Hey! Come to Jesus!” No, it's, “Who saved them and called them.” You get saved and then you get this invitation to partake of the Kingdom. In Israel, the Israelite had the benefits of the Kingdom; the pagans did not.   (Mat.13:16) But blessed are your eyes, for they see (Here Jesus is talking to His disciples.); and your ears, for they hear. (17) For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see… That's why it's called the “Good News”! The Jews had to struggle to find out every jot and tittle of the Law and keep them, or else slay a lamb. Our Lamb was slain, and the Good News is that what God gives us is a free gift! Oh, praises to His Holy Name!   (Mat.13:17) For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not. (18) Hear then ye the parable of the sower. (19) When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not… Who did He just get through saying did not understand the Word?   It was His people according to the Old Covenant, but the Manchild ministry that is coming is going to renew a call to the true Gospel, which many of the people have never heard. Yet many of them will choose to stick to their religion because it's easy: “Come and pay your tithes and you'll just go right into the Kingdom.” Bologna!   (Mat.13:19) When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, [then] cometh the evil [one,] and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. (I've seen this happen when telling people what the true Good News is, and they'd rather go back to their religion because it doesn't demand anything from them.) This is he that was sown by the way side. (No, not much of a chance to bear any fruit there.)   (20) And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it (You run across these people too; they're happy because it really is good news.); (21) yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth. There it is! There's the falling away. This is someone who, in the beginning, received the Good News with joy, but then they didn't allow it to take deep root in self.      Run From The Flesh  Anonymous 5/28/23 (David's notes in red)  I dreamed that my husband and I had a newborn baby, (bearing the fruit of Christ) and we went inside my grandparents' house to grab something we had left behind. (The grandparents' house represents the apostate religion we inherited. Going back for something left behind represents backsliding. Luk 17:31 In that day, he that shall be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away: and let him that is in the field likewise not return back. 32 Remember Lot's wife.) No one was there and my grandparents were not supposed to be back for a long time.   While we were inside, we decided to use the bathroom. (Repentance.) As I was waiting for my turn, I had a vision that demons in my grandparents knew that we were here. (Many times our grandparents dead religion gets passed down to us through our parents.) My grandparents did not know that we were here, but the demons caused them to come back quickly to catch us there. (When we backslide or go back to sinful or useless doctrines, ways, and thought patterns, When the faction are turned over to the demons they often do this. If we do this we give the demons permission to come back along with our youthful lusts. Mat 12:43-44 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.) In real life we aren't in communication with the old physical family, and in the dream we both wanted to avoid them and not be around them.  I told my husband what I saw, so we quickly finished what we were doing so we could leave. Suddenly, my grandparents walked through the front door with a few of their friends and other family members. (45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.)   My step grandma's hair was much longer than it is in real life and in the dream, it was very long with streaks of red, pink and different shades of brown in it. (Long hair is a sign of submission and the streaks of unnatural colors mean submission, to red- guilty of blood of the saints, pink- sexual perversion, brown- represents the Nazi like factious and is in many dreams about them.) I commented that I liked the long hair on her better than it being very short.   In real life my step grandmother (Jezebel) had been physically abusing my grandad (Ahab) and they had broken up. So, I was confused as to why they were together. (Since they obviously switch the natural roles of man and woman.)  We wanted to leave immediately, and I felt strongly to hide my baby from every person there, so I had my baby tucked inside my dress, hidden. (Fruit hidden in her dress means fruit hidden in her. This protects our fruit, the baby. Our treasure is the truth that factious people want to steal from us, as it was stolen from them. If we believe their slander the demons come in and all truth is lost.) Every person there kept trying to look at my baby, but I kept turning my body to keep the baby away from them and I did my best to completely hide the baby. (When the demons see fruit they immediately want to attack it, especially Jezebel and faction spirits.)  There was a man there named Shawn who I have never met before, and I wondered who he was. (Shawn means “God is gracious” and represents those that will come out of the apostate church by God's Grace.)   Everyone kept trying to make small talk, and we just really wanted to leave. (Small talk are the subtle lying thoughts and vain imaginations of the flesh and demons to keep us trapped in the past.)   My step grandmother said that there was a town called ‘MarleyVille' nearby and that it originated by a man that placed an omen (sign of something to come) on the mountain. (The name Marley means “pleasant wood” or “marshy meadow,” so it represents a swamp of the wood hay and stubble of the works of man.) They established a town there from it and the connection from the omen has lines going through the whole town and into every house. We wanted nothing to do with that town or these conversations. (It is bondage of the old man and religious works of the apostate church.)  I was trying so hard to hide my baby from everyone. They kept trying to look at him so my husband and I with my baby in my dress just sprinted out of the house so fast, without saying goodbye. (When we leave the past apostasy to follow Jesus, we don't hesitate. Psa 143:9 Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. 2Ti 2:22 But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  We ran far up the street which was a big hill (Forsaking Babylon for Zion) and got to our car to leave. The man, Shawn sprinted out of the house after us, not to stop us but he felt to follow us and to leave. (So the one called “God is gracious” left the house of the apostates and followed this dreamer to Zion.) No other person came out of the house. (Because they had no grace from God.)   (I felt this dream was a warning to not get distracted by the old physical family or carnal man and to not get distracted by anyone that isn't manifesting Christ. I was reminded of these verses: Pro 13:20 Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise; But the companion of fools shall smart for it.   2Co 6:14-18 Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?  15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, 18 And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.)    The Harlot Church Is Sick and Dying  Anonymous 5/28/23 (David's notes in red)   In my dream my physical dad (Representing the apostate leader of the apostate Church) contacted me; he was very upset as his wife (who represents the apostate church) was ill. He said the doctors couldn't do anything to help her and he was begging us to come see them. (Most of us came out of a church like this and don't want to go back but they always want you back.) After the call I discussed with my wife whether we should go visit them or not. I was reluctant to go, yet to my surprise my wife said we need to go and leave right now, because she felt the right thing to do was to go see my physical parents. (Sometimes the things that seem right and moral to the flesh and world, are contrary to God's way. When Jesus' family wanted to see Him, He said that those who do the will of God are His family).   Mar 3:33-35 And he answered them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? 34 And looking round on them that sat round him in a circle, he saith, See, my mother and my brethren! 35 whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and sister and mother.   (Also, the men as the head are to seek God for His will and to not give into the woman. 1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 1Ti 2:12-15 But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being much deceived hath fallen into transgression: 15 but she shall be saved through the childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.)  We drove for a couple of days to get to them. We were in such an urgency that we barely slept and ate little. (The flesh often acts in haste and runs on adrenalin. If we are out of God's will he gives us signs along the way.)   When we arrived, my dad ran out to us and said that his wife has a disease that's throughout her body, spreading from her heart to her liver. (The heart represents the soul, which is the mind, will and emotions, and liver (a vital part of our gastrointestinal system) represents discernment. The apostate church is diseased throughout the whole body because of her rebellion and the food or leaven they are digesting like their false doctrines, religious theologies, and lack of spiritual discernment and growth, therefore she is sick and dying.)  (Pro 4:4 And he (Father) taught me, and said unto me: Let thy heart retain my words; Keep my commandments, and live; Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. Psa 119:11 Thy word have I laid up in my heart, That I might not sin against thee.)   He said she is laying down and can barely move and she hasn't gotten up in days. (2Pe 3:8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. It's been 2000 years (or 2 days) since Jesus began with the first church. The apostate church has not been “born from above”, through the true Word and power of the Holy Spirit and she is still into the earthly works of the flesh.)   Someone then came out and handed me a note that was written in red and it was from my physical mum (the apostate church) and it said something about me going to sit with her and feed her. (Jer 51:9-10 ASV  We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.  10  Jehovah hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.)  I told my wife and she stayed outside of the house. I walked up the stairs to go see her as I battled evil thoughts and lies and fighting in the spirit in prayer. I entered the lounge room and she was lying on a bed (the harlot, Jezebel.) Rev 2:20-22 But I have against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself prophetess;... 22 Lo, I cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her works.) He bed was set up near the front door. (Jesus is the Door and the apostate church have only just “gotten their foot in the door” they think but many are wrong for they are not bearing fruit and are dying.)  She was very pale (From lack of the blood) and thin and she didn't have energy to talk but nodded and moved her arm to motion to me to sit. Next to her was a tub of vanilla ice cream and she was holding a spoon. (Ice cream is made from milk, which is for babies, with added sugar and flavoring, which is sweet to the flesh to permit her to live in the flesh. Anything but the crucified life. It represents the false teachings she has used to seduce and cause many to fall into fornication and idolatry with her.  Rev 2:20 ... and she teacheth and seduceth my bondmen to commit fornication, and to eat idol sacrifices. 21 And I gave her time to repent; and she willeth not to repent of her fornication.)   I said, ‘That stuff's not good for you, you need something healthy.' She then gently pushed my hand with the spoon towards the ice cream. I then felt that it was okay to grab her a spoonful and give it to her. 1Co 3:2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able;  She put the food into her mouth herself and was smiling. (The apostate church is happy on the flesh pleasing doctrines and don't know they are spiritually dying.)    Escaping The Harlot   Anonymous 4/29/23 (David's notes in red)    I dreamed that I was watching this man in third person. He was a teenager and had brown skin, short hair, brown eyes and he was wearing an emerald green shirt. (Emerald represents new life.) This man was introverted (Probably from rejection and fear) and kept to himself, but he loved Jesus and had a relationship with God.    The man was currently at a school with classrooms where he was in a courtyard, which was set up differently from most schools. (The school buildings and classrooms here represent the different church denominations many pass through and their religious teachings where many first begin to learn about God. The courtyard represents the paths of life and its choices to make seeking direction.) The courtyard had paths that went in a zig zag shape (back and forth directions with sharp turns) from the left side to the right, but each path had a vertical way (up towards God) that was a dead end, and there were pockets to hide.  (This reminds us of the confusion of Babylon.)  The classrooms were on every side of the courtyard and the buildings were open, so you could go in there but there was no way out of the room, so these were also dead ends. Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; But the end thereof are the ways of death. (If one does not read their Bible to see what Christians are, they can get caught in a Babylonish church for many years wasting their lives. Many in the apostate church believe there are many ways to God and many other deceptive doctrines.)   The courtyard was very narrow and long, and it had buildings on the left and right and there was no way to get out of the courtyard except from an entrance on the far left or an entrance on the far right and all the buildings were blocking an escape. (Jesus said, He is the Way and it is a narrow and straightened way to Life. Go the Way of searching the Word.)   (Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. Mat 7:13-14 Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. 14 For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.   Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. Many are so full of religious spirits and doctrines of demons they are trapped but Jesus is coming to set the captives free and to open their prisons – Isa 61. Look at the fruit of those in the trap. If they are not bearing fruit the seed of the Lord is not being sowed.) Pro 4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, And walk not in the way of evil men.) Everyone in his grade was wearing a navy polo-shirt with a red line on the collar, and everyone in other grades had different colored shirts. (“A red line” represents a legalistic line you don't want to cross. The grades represent their opinion of the maturity level in Christ but this is always judged by their fleshly age and not their age in the Lord.)   I think it was lunch time and most of his grade were hanging together on the very far left of the courtyard near the entrance. The other people in his grade were in small groups of 3 to 5 people and they were spread out towards the right but one of them was very far towards the right.   This man with the green shirt (Representing Life), whom I was watching, just wanted to spend alone time in prayer and reading the Word, so he went a bit further to the right and found a spot to read alone. (Many times Jesus left the crowds to be alone to pray.) Mar 6:31 And he saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…  After a little bit he started to feel that something wasn't right and that people were in danger so he went back along the way and found where most of his grade were at the far-left corner. He saw they were all huddled up with teachers instructing. He came up and walked through some of the crowd to see what the teachers were saying. A man in his grade said to him, "Don't stay here, just leave quickly." He wasn't sure what was going on, but then that man who had spoken, was grabbed by a female teacher and taken away. The same man said, "They are taking us away and we don't know where." (The “far left” in “Chrisian” education are taking the many away from God.)   It was made known that they were rounding them all up to go or do something that was not right. Because this man wasn't in that crowded area he wasn't noticed or put on the list and so he had a chance to escape. 2Pe 2:9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto a day of judgment. (Luk 21:36 But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.)   He then left the crowd to run to back from where he had just come from, and a female teacher saw him trying to escape and called out for him, but he ignored her and just kept running out. (The female teacher represents false teachers and preachers in the harlot church who try to stop those who are truly seeking the Lord from leaving their dominion. But God calls His students of the Word out of the apostate sheepfold.)    She chased him through the zig zag pathways (The crooked path of Babylon), and the man tried to pretend he went into a classroom, knowing he couldn't actually escape that way, because it was a dead end, and they would catch him. (All the denominations are dead ends.) But he opened doors when she wasn't in the same hallway to make it seem like he went in there. He ran past up many different people in different grades and also the small groups of people that were in his grade. (He passed up the maturity of many on his way out.) As the lady teacher ran to the area where the people were, she would tell them to quickly move to the far-left area with the rest of their grade. (Herding the goats on the left into their rebellion.)   The man was doing everything to out-run her, but because of the design of the buildings and courtyard he couldn't run to an area where she couldn't see him. He finally got to the far-right area and there were no people in the courtyard there. (There are not many that go to the right... Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few chosen.) He ran to get out the only exit gate but it was locked. (Their religious spirits want to keep people confined.) So, he ran into the six-story building that was on the right of the gate. (Six is the number of man.) The lady saw him and stopped chasing him, believing he would be caught because there was no other escape, and she called on the radio for an announcement across the whole school speakers saying, "Catch the hazelnut skin man in the green shirt."  (Hazelnut is a seed which can bear great fruit if planted in the right soil. This man is looking for that soil.)  The man heard the announcement as well as all teachers so he knew to avoid them. He ran past classrooms and the teachers came out to grab him, however, he was too fast for them. He ran upstairs to get to the next level where more teachers came out of their classrooms, but he ran past all of them and not one person could even touch him. (We keep running the race towards the Prize of Christ! Php 3:14 I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain.)    He got to the next level and he looked up and saw there was already another man waiting for him on the next level. Luk 4:30 But HE passing through the midst of them went his way.  This man had strong faith and he believed God wouldn't fail him and he believed if he jumped in faith God would help him. So, he just jumped in faith and flew to the fifth story which was above the man he saw before. He couldn't see anyone but he ran to the sixth story and went into the only room there, but it wasn't a classroom. It was like a fancy house or a penthouse.    He ran through and then he saw there were two glass doors open to the outside that had fake grass, and the only way out after that would be to jump. Then a man appeared from inside the penthouse and he had long blonde hair and was wearing an undershirt and he said, "You are going to wish you didn't come up here." And that man expected him to surrender because there was no other natural safe way to escape.    The man in the green shirt didn't hesitate but ran straight out the glass doors outside. He had no doubt, or unbelief, and he knew that God would either translate him or fly him somewhere. He had strong bold faith and without looking back, he ran straight off the building, and I knew that he was going to be physically safe. When he jumped, I instantly woke up.  (Rom 1:17 ASV  For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.)

November 5, 2023 @ 10:00 a.m. Core 52: The Good ShepherdPsalm 23The Lord is my Shepherd...have you heard the 23rd Psalm before? If not, please join us this week as we consider the depth of God's love for us through this amazing passage. If you have heard it, where were you? Why was it read? What does it mean?The world needs a shepherd. I need a shepherd. In this passage, David shares with us many of the greatest qualities of God through the role of a shepherd. Do we understand what David is saying about His Lord and God? Do we feel the same way about our Jesus?We want to invite you to join us this week at Berea. We want to invite you to become part of our family. As fall sets in and the holidays approach, we would love an opportunity to share God's love with you and your family. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/escape-urself-podcast/support

From needles in his arm to life in Christ! Listen to Matt Tate's amazing God Story! Hear  his journey of how he accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior and how he now lives his life for God spreading the Gospel message to others actively as a lifestyle.   Give financially to our mission of spreading the Gospel message: https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/5727676Subscribe to our podcast today! You can find it on Apple podcast or wherever you get yours.Click the link to join our Evangelism On Fire Facebook community today: www.facebook.com/groups/evangelismonfireCheck out our website: www.evangelismonfire.com  

It's almost like there were two men named Peter. The one we meet in the gospels is good-hearted, but often says the wrong thing at the wrong time. Only a few weeks earlier, that one fearfully denied to a servant girl he even knew Jesus. But on this Pentecost morning we're listening to a very different man. This one has the courage to stand in front of thousands and tell them in unmistakable terms that they are morally responsible for killing the Messiah. Neither afraid nor angry, he says to them, “…you nailed Him (to a cross) by the hand of godless men (Roman soldiers) and put Him to death…” His boldness is remarkable. Today, this one will be so effective at presenting the gospel, 3000 people will repent and be baptized. The fearful, clumsy man who often makes us chuckle when we read the gospels has been transformed into a fearless, eloquent spokesman for His Lord. What happened? What changed Peter? We want to know because we want that same boldness for ourselves. We want to be able to speak when it's time to speak. We want to be able to pray for someone when it's time to pray. We want the courage to go someplace and serve when we're called to go. We don't want fear holding us back. So let's find out what happened to Peter, so it can happen to us too.

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?

Whoever neglects the second coming of Christ has only a mutilated gospel, for the Bible teaches us not only of the death and sufferings of Christ, but also of His return to reign in honor and glory. His second coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism, yet in all of Paul's epistles, baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. The devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realizes that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon that man. Gas prices, technology innovations, and the stock market are of much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of His Lord, who, at His coming, will take him into His blessed kingdom. Are you watching and ready for Christ's return for His bride? Are you occupied with the work He has given you to do in His kingdom here on earth, so that you may have a reward when He comes?