Hey, Jude

God gave me the idea to create this post on the book of Jude because of it's relevance in today's world with so much false and misleading doctrine that is out there. Since this book is only one chapter I am going to do a verse by verse breakdown to better help you understand the book. This book is often skipped by many Christians probably because of its proximity to the Book of The Revelation.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:

2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly crept in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Since verses 1&2 are introduction, I will skip those. Verse 3 is where the meat begins. I'd like to focus on the phrase 'earnestly contend'. To "contend earnestly for" (epagonizesthai) is an
expressive compound infinitive which appears only here in
the New Testament. The simple form of the verb
(agonizomai), which appears as 'agonize' in its English
form, was commonly used in connection with the Greek
stadium to denote a strenuous struggle to overcome an opponent, as in a wrestling match. It was also used more generally of any conflict, contest, debate, or lawsuit. Involved is the thought of the expenditure of all one's energy in order to prevail. This unique compound verb pictures a person taking his or her stand on top of something an adversary desires to take away, and fighting to defend and retain it. This is sort of like when we were kids we used to play "king of the hill" and others would try to knock us off the hill.

We need to diligently contend for the faith we believe in, namely the one and only true Gospel that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. (See 1 Corinthian 15:3-4)

Verse 4:
The verb "crept in", from the Greek (pareisedusan), indicates a
secret, stealthy, and subtle insinuation of something evil
into a society or a situation." The Apostle Paul makes this same warning in the Epistle of Galatians 2:4 "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)"

The same idea of false people sneaking into the church was told by Jesus in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30 "24 Another parable he told them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did the tares come from?
28 He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said unto him, Do you want us to go gather them up?
29 But he said, No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

Notice verse 25 says "while men slept". May I say there are far too many Christians in the church today who are asleep. They are not on their guard and may not recognize someone bringing in false teachings (especially if the false teaching is somewhat close to the true teaching). We need to wake up and contend for our faith!!

Verses 5-7
Here Jude mentions three groups of rebellious, unbelievers. He starts out with the Israelites in the wilderness who did not believe God's promise to sustain them into the Promised Land. Then Jude mentions the group of angels who left their privileged position near God only to incur God's wrath. This is how Lucifer, Son of The Morning, became Satan, The Prince of Darkness. (see Isaiah 14). Jude is also making the warning that if the highest beings known in creation were subject to judgment, how much more will sinful man be subject to judgment and God's wrath.

Lastly, verse 7 mentions how God deals with those who practice immorality and sexual perversion which the false teacher's in Jude's day evidently felt liberated to do. There is a slippery slope that some slide down when they reach the ultimate sin of unbelief. Apostasy has it's roots in unbelief. Unbelief leads to rebellion against God and His revealed truth which leads to immorality. These steps may be traced in our own times. Liberalism, whether in politics or theology, is a very scary thing.

Verses 8 - 11
Here Jude pinpoints three errors from the previous verses and is accusing the false teachers of all three: lust (v.7), rebellion (v.5), and irreverence (v.6). He uses the word "dreamers" when describing them. I believe this is a reference that goes all the way back to Genesis 6:5 where the Bible states "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." I believe the word dreamers and the reference to evil imaginations of the heart are synonymous.

Verse 9 is an interesting passage and without the proper background can seem to not be all that relevant to the surrounding passages. However, there are a few lessons to learn from this passage. Michael the Archangel did not rebuke Satan directly, he told Satan "The Lord rebuke you". This is a good lesson to learn when fighting spiritual warfare. The battle belongs to the Lord, not to us. We are not to rebuke Satan directly. Our duty is to submit to God, resist (not rebuke) the devil, and he will flee. (James 4:7).

The deeper question someone might have is why would there be a dispute over Moses' body in the first place. If you do not know the answer to this question then this passage loses a lot of significance. In order to understand why Moses' body is so important is to look into the Book of Revelation where it talks about two witnesses who will preach and reach 144,000 Jewish Men during the Great Tribulation who will, in turn, evangelize across the earth and reach millions for Christ. Look at Revelation 11:3-6 "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want." From the powers described of preventing rain and turning water to blood as well as bringing plaques, it could only be referring to the two men in the Old Testament who had those powers... Elijah and Moses. Elijah was caught up to Heaven and did not die physically so his body is preserved to come back to earth. However, Moses died physically before entering the promised land so his body is being preserved by God especially for this future event. Satan would like nothing more than to be able to get to Moses body and destroy it to prevent this future evangelism (just as Satan attempted to thwart the blood line that led to Christ).

Verses 10 and 11 are speaking about the lost, evil people who are in stark contrast to believers. While we are to not rebuke, these people rebuke on steroids unjustly. They are ignorant of the things of God so therefore they speak abusively against the things they do not understand. Education is costly, but ignorance is far more costly. Ignorance of God's Word and embracing Jesus as your personal savior is not only costly, it is eternally deadly. Jude describes these people not as acting like humans, but as acting like unreasoning or wild animals. It is never good for anyone to have the Bible say "Woe to them"!

Verses 12-16 go into a little more detail in describing these "Woe" people who follow the way of Baa lam. They are described as clouds without rain, blown by the wind, trees without fruit, and twice dead. This is in stark contrast to the words used to describe the righteous in the Bible. Look at Psalm 1:1-4

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

Instead of clouds without rain and fruitless trees, we are described as trees planted by streams of water with much fruit.

Also look at the phrase "being blown around by the wind" in verse 12 of Jude. Contrast that with the verse in Ephesians 4:14 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming." Paul is saying the same thing here as Jude is and that is to not be a spiritual infant, know the Word of God, so that we will not be tossed to and fro.
The last part of Jude 12 has an interesting term "twice dead". Someone may look at that and think, "how can you die twice". The answer to that is simple, everyone who is born on this earth will die physically (unless Jesus comes back before then) so we all die once. The difference is that the unbelievers will also die a 2nd time which is a spiritual death and then be cast into the lake of fire. The Book of Revelation says in 21:8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

In contrast, Revelation 2:11 "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death." and Revelation 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

Verses 17-23 are a call for believers to persevere and stay strong in the faith. The Bible talks about their being scoffers and unsound doctrine in the last days. This occurs in 2 Peter 3:3 "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." and also in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."

Not only do these with unsound doctrine cause the danger of teaching others falsely, Jude says these are the very types that will try to divide a church body. They rely on their natural instincts but do not have the Holy Spirit in them. The Epistle of James references this in chapter 3:13-18 "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, nonspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

There are 3 main groups of people we should reach out to in Jude 22and 23. In verse 22, Jude says we should be merciful to those in doubt (the unsaved world). When given the opportunity, we should make every attempt to win them for Christ. In verse 23, Jude says we should reach out to those who have already been led astray by the false teachers in an attempt to lovingly bring them back to sound doctrine and right fellowship with God. We should not just abandon them.

In the case of those whom heresy has completely swept away, we should have pity on them rather than condemning them without compassion. Moreover we should regard them with fear, not fear of being infected by physical contact with them, but fear of falling under God's displeasure and discipline if we embrace their error. We should avoid any contact with these people because of the corrupting influence they can have on us through their words and actions. Two examples of this in scripture can be found in 1 Cor. 5:9-11 "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." and 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother."

The word "clothing" used at the end of verse 23 stands for those things affected by contact with fleshly behavior such as personal habits and practices, speech, companions, etc. Scripture often uses the words clothing or garments as symbols of what other people see, namely, our conduct. An example of this can be found in Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." Obviously, this is symbolic. It is not talking about literally being naked or without clothes. It is referring to those who hold to the faith and are found to be true believers, not the false teachers who will be exposed at the judgment.

The last few verses of Jude are known as the Doxology. Verse 24 says to Him who is able to keep you from falling. This is a reference to Jesus Christ. We are to be confident in the Lord and His ability to keep us safe and faithful.
Hebrews 7:25 "Therefore He (Jesus) is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
Hebrews 2:18 "Because He Himself (Jesus Christ) suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."

To wrap things up we should take away 3 main ideas from this little book of Jude:

1) We should remember that the Bible foretold of false teaching that would come in the latter days and not be troubled by it. It merely confirms the divine inspiration of the Bible.

2) We should devote ourselves to our own spiritual growth. The best way to guard ourselves against false teaching is to have a solid foundation of the proper doctrinal teaching in the Bible.

3) We should not shun those who have errored in the faith by the influence of these false teachers. We should lovingly bring them back to repentance of their ways and back to the solid foundation of the Word of God.

Don't Be a Worry Wart

The message series Journey Christian Church is doing over the next few weeks is on the topic of worry. The primary text referenced in the message was from Matthew 6:24-34

24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

There are many key concepts to pull out of this section of scripture. If we are serving God and not ourselves (in the scripture it is translated money or mammon but could easily be called the world or our own selfish ambitions) then we will not be worried. The exact opposite of worry is faith. In fact, if we catch ourselves worrying about something it is a red flag that we are lacking in faith in the area we are worrying about. Worrying is a mental act. We only worry about things that are on our mind. If we keep God on our mind, we will be far less likely to worry about anything that someone who does not. So if you find yourself worrying repent to God for forgiveness of lack of faith in Him and move on.
Think of worry and faith as two infant puppies. Whichever one we feed the most is going to get bigger and stronger and the one we feed the least (or not at all) will stay small. The larger dog will always dominate and rule over the smaller dog. So how do we feed the faith dog? Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Some good ways to feed the faith dog is to feed on the word of God by reading the Bible, listening to others read the Bible, listening to the Bible on CD. However, the absolute best way to feed the faith dog is to hear ourselves speaking the Word of God. We can gain a measure of faith hearing someone else speak God's Word but it sticks inside of us much better if we hear ourselves speak it.
This can not be a part time thing. It needs to be a part of our daily lives. Just as we feed our bodies with food we need to feed our heart with the food of God, His word. There is a passage in John 4:31-32 "31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about." Jesus was talking about the spiritual food of the Word. When we "fill up" on the Word, there will be no room for worry as the faith dog will get stronger and the worry dog will get weaker.

Now this does not mean we go to the opposite extreme of apathy. We should take care of what needs to be taken care of, plan the things that need to be planned and then rest in the peace of God.

An example of this is in Luke 14:28-32. The context of the passage deals with the cost of being a Disciple of Christ but I think the message also can apply to not being apathetic and making proper plans.

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace."

Here are some other verses that encourage us not to worry.

"Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
Psalm 55:22

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"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.".
Psalm 46:1

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"Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe in me also."
John 14:1

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"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."
Isaiah 12:2

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"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

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"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
Psalm 23:4

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"I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Psalm 121:1-2

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"Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take."
Proverbs 3:5-6

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"An anxious heart weighs a man down,
but a kind word cheers him up."
Proverbs 12:25

When It's Ok To Be Sheepish or Not Trying To Get Anyone's Goat

Matthew 25:31-46

The Sheep and the Goats
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

In the message this past Sunday at Journey, this passage in Matthew 25 came up and was discussed (albeit on a very elementary level). I thought I would take the time to dig deeper into what this passage is all about and who it pertains to (this part may surprise you).

As with any passage of this length it is best to break it down from the beginning. Remember, it is important to know things like who is being spoken to, why is it written, etc.

Let's look at the first part in verse 31 it says "when the Son of Man shall come in all his glory and the angels with him". This is key information. This tells the when of the verse. The Son of Man is Jesus and there are only two instances that the Bible describes Jesus leaving Heaven and coming to earth... the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming. At the Rapture of the Church Jesus comes alone. I Thessalonians 4:16 "16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." At the Second Coming Jesus comes with His angels and Saints as seen in the book of Jude verses 14-15 "14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

So, since the passage in Matthew says Jesus is not coming alone, we can conclude that this verse is speaking of the Second coming and not the Rapture.

Ok, now we know the when. If this is a Second coming verse then this deals with the 7 years of tribulation that the world will go through after the Rapture. It primarily deals with the Jews. During the Tribulation period God will send two mighty witnesses (Elijah and Moses) to evangelize. How do I know the two witnesses are Elijah and Moses? Moses' body was preserved for this event and int he book of Jude, Michael the Archangel argues with Satan about Moses' body. Satan does not want this to happen. Elijah never died. He was caught up into the air. The second proof text is their abilities. The book of Revelation talks about how the witnesses will have power to turn water to blood and keep it from raining. Moses and Elijah were the two who had this power in the Old Testament.
Through their evangelism 144,000 Jewish men will come to Christ. These 144,000 men will then go on a worldwide evangelism tour like the world has never seen. However, many of the 144,000 will find themselves battling the forces of the Anti Christ who will be in power. He will have them thrown into prison, he will keep them from getting enough to eat, from getting adequate medical care, and basically make it difficult for these witnesses to have the basic necessities of life. However, those who they have reached and converted will offer assistance to them... giving them shelter, something to eat, clothing, visiting them in prison, etc.

When Jesus returns to judge those who have been living on earth during the Great Tribulation, he will divide the saved from the lost. The saved (referred to as sheep) will be on His right. The lost (referred to as goats) will be on His left. When Jesus tells them that they cared for Him by doing things like clothing him and feeding Him, He is talking about how the believers (sheep) have cared for the 144,00 witnesses. This is explained in Matthew 25:40 where it talks about doing things for the least of these "brothers of mine". Only saved people are brothers of Christ so this could only be refering to the 144,000. Since the saved (the sheep) were brought to Christ by these 144,00 witnesses they will obviously be eager to help them out in their basic needs.

Conversely, the unsaved (the goats) could care less about the Word of God, Jesus, or the 144,000 so they will not offer aid to them by giving them something to eat, clothes, etc. In fact, they will most likely enjoy seeing the 144,000 suffer.

Another key verse in this passage is found in verse 34 "..the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." From the creation of the world, the Jewish nation has been God's chosen people. Only after they rejected Jesus when He was here the first time did God shift focus to the Gentiles (us, the Church age). This verse is talking about the Jewish people who are saved during the Great Tribulation period coming into the 1,000 year Kingdom that Jesus will set up on earth (also known as the Millennium). We as Gentile believers who are Raptured up with the church before the Great Tribulation will also be a part of the Millennium. I believe that based on our rewards received at the Judgement Seat of Christ (or Bema Seat) we will be given positions of authority and leadership and assist Christ during His 1,000 year reign.

Let's think for a second about goats and sheep. Goats are stubborn. sheep can be easily led. Jesus called His followers sheep. Pagan cults use the goat as a symbol.

This is pretty powerful and deep stuff so it will most likely need another post to go into more details.

What to take away from these verses:

The sheep gave the witnesses food, clothing, etc because they were sheep already. They were not bestowed the title of sheep because they did these things. In like manner, the goats did not help because they were goats. They did not turn from sheep to goats because they did not help or didn't know it was Jesus they were not helping.

What A Fool Believes

In 1979 the Doobie Brothers had a #1 hit with a song titled “What A Fool Believes”. What made this come to my mind? The message this past Sunday talked about the parable of the 10 Virgins where 5 were wise and 5 were foolish. It is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 1:13

1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7 "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
9 " 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
10 "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
12 "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Upon first appearances, I thought the 5 virgins who did not have their oil ready were called foolish because they did not have their oil ready. However, God revealed to me that the reason they did not have their oil ready was because they were foolish. So I decided to search the scriptures for references to foolish people and this is what I discovered.

The idea of foolish in Biblical terms can be found at its core in Psalm 14:1

The fool says in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

So Point #1 foolish people do not believe there is a God.

The next scriptural reference comes from Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Fear of the Lord is not being afraid of God. It is giving honor, respect, and worship to God. When people do this, they qualify themselves to receive wisdom and understanding from God speaking to them. Conversely, a foolish person thinks they are wise in their own eyes and they despise it when someone tries to correct and instruct them in the wisdom of God. They are like the alcoholic that does not think they have a drinking problem.

So Point #2 foolish people do not even know they are foolish. This is why I believe that in order to get someone saved, we must first clearly show them that they are lost.


The next reference I found was in Luke 11:39-41

39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.”

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the strict, religious people who thought their own self righteousness was sufficient to get them to Heaven. They knew there was a God, but they were too foolish to recognize Jesus (as God) when they saw Him in the flesh.

So, Point #3 foolish people do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate.


The next scriptural reference comes from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

To the unsaved world (in Biblical times they were called Greeks or Gentiles) the preaching of salvation only coming from belief (total trust) in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is foolish. This reinforces point #3. If they do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate, it follows that they will think that the preaching of such a message is foolish. But God takes pleasure in turning man’s so called wisdom into something foolish.

So Point #4 is that foolish people who think they are wise in their own eyes will not hear the preaching of the Gospel that will be able to save them.


There are two scriptures that are closely tied together that speak of reproof and stubbornness of the fool. The first is Proverbs29:1
“He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

The other is Romans 1:21-25

“21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was fitting. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not proper.”

These two verses speak of people who are acutely aware that there is a God, they are even spoke to about it many times by others who want them to come to Christ, but after all of that they ignore the warnings. Once that happens, God turns them over to their own devices and let’s them destroy themselves.

So Point #5 only a fool ignores steady, Godly reproof and in doing so seals their own fate to eternal damnation.

I decided to make 5 points since there were 5 foolish virgins. Remember, they were not foolish just because they did not have their oil ready. They did not have their oil ready because they were foolish to begin with.

Let's look back at the initial scripture in Matthew. Near the end Jesus says "I never knew you." He did not say that He knew them at one time but now He no longer did. This is important. Remember, the first point? A fool doesn't believe there is a God. Since these virgins were foolish, it meant that they did not truly believe that the bridegroom (Jesus) was God. If they had, they certainly would have had the oil of the Holy Spirit in them and in their lamps.

So to recap the 5 points:

1) Foolish people do not believe there is a God
2) Foolish people do not even realize they are foolish
3) Foolish people do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate
4) Foolish people who think they are wise, will not hear the numerous calls for them to come to Jesus
5) Foolish people who willingly, constantly ignore the reproof from Godly people become so hard-hearted that they seal their own fate of destruction and eternal damnation.

We need to pray for the fools we know in our lives that they will have a repentant spirit, open their ears, open their hearts and receive the message that they are given over and over again before it is too late and they cross God's deadline where they will be turned over to their reprobate minds.

Our Hope Endures

When I came in to work this morning I was told the news that a co-worker and friend, Tony Ponga, who had been battling cancer passed away last night. Many people had been praying for Tony's recovery and I am sure his family took comfort in those prayers. While Tony did not ultimately recover in his physical body from the cancer he made the best recovery of all, in his spirit.
Tony was raised in the Catholic faith but did not have a personal relationship with Christ. In the midst of the tragedy of cancer, God was with him and drew Tony to Him. Several months ago, Tony was baptized into Christ after coming to a believing faith in Jesus. Not only Tony, but his wife and daughter also.
The tragedy is not that Tony's physical life has come to an end (as sad as that is). The real tragedy would have been if Tony's life had ended with him not knowing Christ as his savior. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul writes:

"13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 these words:

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Since we believe in a bodily resurrection we have a hope that the non-believing world knows nothing about. When they die physically, it is their end to eternal damnation. These are to be pitied more than any others. When a child of God dies physically, it is far from the end. In fact, the Bible calls it a state of "sleep". But one day those of us who have fallen asleep will hear the voice of Jesus and be raised up to meet Him. Rather than being pitied, we have that blessed hope. Despite the outward circumstances and no matter how bleak things look, we have the eternal hope of Christ in us. There is a song by Natalie Grant that describes this very well. The refrain speaks volumes when it says "Emmanuel.. God is with us" and "El Shaddai.. all sufficient". God is always with us and He is also all sufficient for us. No matter how bad things may seem to get, our hope endures.

Our Hope Endures - Natalie Grant
You would think only
So much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this
One has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here

[Chorus:]
Sometimes the sun
Stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky
Rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend
Peace within pain
Or joy at a good man's wake?
Walk a mile with a woman
Whose body is torn
With illness
But she marches - on

[Chorus]

[3x]:
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

We never walk alone
This is our hope
Our hope endures
The worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Let the Earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

A Sign of Their Times

As I have stated in prior posts, and firmly believe, it is crucial when trying to understand a passage of scripture that you acknowledge at least some of the following criteria: Who is writing the passage? Who is it written to? What is the reason it is written? I bring this whole topic up because in our recent bible study we were led back once again to James 2:17 which has the famous phrase “faith without works is dead”. This is one of the most controversial passages in the Bible because many do not know the proper interpretation of the verse. Many see this verse as contradicting the verse in Ephesians 2:8 when Paul writes that “By Grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves.” Now on the surface these verses seem to contradict one another. However, we know that the Bible is the inspired word of God and does not contradict itself. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who tries to tell you the Bible is contradictory is doing the work of Satan himself and I don’t care what earthly title or degree he or she may hold.

So, since the Bible never contradicts itself, yet these verses on the surface appear to be opposites, we need to go below the surface and run these verses through the criteria I mentioned. Let’s examine the passage in James. First, James is the writer and he is a Jew. He is writing to fellow Jews. The reason he is writing this message to them is to exhort them to righteous living and good conduct. In biblical times Jewish people always required a sign before they would believe. How do I know this? Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:22 “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.” This is the reason the temporary gift of tongues was given … to give the Jews a sign. This is the primary reason Jesus performed so many miracles during His earthly ministry.... to help them believe that He was the Messiah (and even after all of that many still failed to believe). Remember doubting Thomas? He would not believe it was really Jesus he was seeing until Jesus showed him the nail pierced hands. Remember what Jesus told Thomas? In John 20:29 Jesus said, Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

The reason James is telling his fellow Jews that faith without works is dead is because he understood that Jews required a sign to believe anything. In order for a person back in biblical days to have someone truly believe they were a follower of Christ, they needed to have good works in the way they lived their lives as evidence of their faith. Now, we need to also define two words here … “works” and “dead”. What kind of works is James talking about? Keeping the law? Of course not. He is talking about good works such as showing love and kindness for a fellow person. It ties in with what Jesus said the two most important commandments were… “Love God with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself”. What does dead mean? In the Bible, dead does not mean non existent, it means separation. Spiritual death does not mean the person ceases to exist. It means they are separated from God. In like manner, faith without corresponding action is separated and that person has no outward appearance of being a believer in Christ.

In a nutshell what James is saying is if we have authentic faith in Christ that we should have corresponding actions that accompanies that faith. Lack of corresponding works does not mean that a person’s faith is illegitimate. It means they are not living as they ought. Good works are a visible sign that other people can tell you are a follower of Christ without even knowing you personally. We as people see the outward appearance of others and focus on their actions. God sees the inner man. 1 Samuel 16:7 states But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

We can be deceived by outward appearance. Think of Judas. Outwardly, he seemed to be one of the best of the disciples for he was the treasurer and only a well thought of person is left in control of the money. However, when the rubber hit the road his true colors were found out that he was not a believer at all. We can get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble if we try to determine who is a Christ follower and who is not simply based on their actions. You may want to read the parable of the wheat and the Tares that Jesus told in Matthew 13:24-30.

When "R" rated is a good thing

Many well intended people this week will be wishing me a "Happy Easter". I cringe when they do. I do not celebrate "Easter" nor do I celebrate "Christmas". Both are man made "Holi-Days" that were established to circumvent the true "Holy-Days". I like to make this time of the year "R" rated. What I celebrate this time of the year is the "Resurrection" of Jesus Christ. I prefer to use the expression "Happy Resurrection Day". I choose the "R" rather than the "E".

Easter's origin is pagan and is named after a fertility goddess by the name of Ashtar. This is why the "tradition of men" at this time of the year is to bring out "Easter eggs" and "Easter bunnies". Both eggs and bunnies are symbols of fertility, reproduction and sex. Keep in mind, there is a reason that the girls are called "Playboy Bunnies".

This has no place in the Holy celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Anymore than Santa Claus and a tree have any place in context with the birth of Christ. Our focus should be on Jesus and not on the frivolity of lilys, eggs and bunnies.

I found a great article on this subject by the late Dr. Hank Lindstrom. He explains it much more succinctly than I can. Enjoy.

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GOOD FRIDAY?

Have you ever wondered how Jesus Christ could be crucified on Friday and be resurrected on Sunday after being buried for three days? Well, that's impossible! You cannot squeeze three days between Friday and Sunday. By no stretch of the imagination is it possible to stretch the period from Friday evening to Sunday morning into "three days and three nights".

We believe that Jesus Christ died on a Wednesday. We do not believe that Jesus died on Friday. Let's turn to Matthew 12:40, and notice Christ's own prophecy pertaining to His death, burial, and resurrection. "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40)." "Three days and three nights" means seventy-two hours. Jesus defined the length of a day in John 11:9. Our Lord said, "Are there not twelve hours in a day?" Well, if there are twelve hours in a day, then there are twelve hours in a night. And therefore, three days and three nights would be 72 hours. Anything less than 72 hours would not fulfill the prophecy of Jonah or the words of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you're wondering why the vast majority of Christians accept the Friday-to-Sunday burial of Christ if it is wrong? The only answer that can be given is tradition. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8)." This is a tradition not taught in the Bible. Ash Wednesday and Lent also are not in the Bible. Even the word Easter is pagan, and it is not found in the Bible. In the King James Version the word "Easter" does occur in Acts 12:4, but is a mistranslation. The word Easter comes from the word Ish-tar and is the same as Astaroth, a pagan deity. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ again from the dead.

In order to explain the Good Friday tradition, the proponents say that Christ was buried during parts of three days and nights. That is Christ was buried for part of Friday, part of Saturday, and a part of Sunday.

Sometimes people ask, "Didn't the Jews count part of a day a whole day or part of a night as a whole night?" Whenever you have the expression "day and night" mentioned together in the Hebrew Scriptures, it always means a full day and a full night. For example, "And the evening and the morning were the first day (Genesis 1:8)"; "And the evening and morning were the second day (Genesis 1:13)"; "And the evening and morning were the third day (Genesis 1:13)"; and so on. Other examples are Esther 4:16; 5:1; II Samuel 30:12-13 and Jonah 1:17, where you will find the expression "three days and three nights," and in every instance it means full days and full nights--not part of a day and part of a night.

Let's see what the scriptures teach us as we look at an example in the life of Christ. The Scripture says, "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered (Matthew 4:2)." Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights. If we say, as some do, that "three days and three nights" does not mean "three days and three nights", then we must also say that "forty days and forty nights" does not mean "forty days and forty nights". Where do we stop? Do we say that we really can't be sure about anything? Of course not! We believe the Bible to be literal.

Part of the confusion has come from verses like John 19:31. This verse says, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was an high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." The Sabbath in John 19:31 is not the regular Saturday Sabbath. It was the Passover Sabbath, which occurred on Thursday of the crucifixion week. Note that John 19:31 says, "For that Sabbath day was an high day." If it were talking of the Saturday Sabbath, then Christ would have been crucified on Friday. All the feast days God gave to Israel were considered Sabbaths though they did not fall on Saturday. Jesus was crucified on the preparation (Wednesday) of the Sabbath (Passover Sabbath) which was Thursday.

Now at what time of the day did Jesus die? It was around three in the afternoon on Wednesday. "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: And having said thus, he gave up the ghost (Luke 23:44-46)." When it says the ninth hour, it means the ninth hour since the break of day. In other words, it was three o'clock in the afternoon. Jesus was taken away from the cross and hurriedly buried the same afternoon before sundown or 6:00 P.M.

Now remember that the Jewish day always begins at sundown or at about 6:00 P.M. Our day begins at midnight, but the Jewish day began at sunset. In Leviticus 23:32, the Lord said, "From even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

If you count 72 hours from late Wednesday afternoon at around 6:00 P.M., then Jesus would have been in the tomb until late Saturday afternoon at around 6:00 P.M.

So, a Sunday morning resurrection is not what the Bible teaches. We believe that Jesus was resurrected on Saturday evening at about 6:00 P.M. Jesus was placed in the tomb at around 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday. Seventy-two hours later would be at around 6:00 P.M. on Saturday, exactly when the first day began (Sunday).

When the women arrived at the tomb early Sunday morning, Jesus was already gone. The Gospel is summed up in I Corinthians 15:3-4, "...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." Those who arrived early Sunday morning simply discovered an empty tomb. The angel said, "He is not here, for He is risen (Luke 24:6)."

One objection to a Wednesday crucifixion is found in Luke 24:21, which says, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done." This conversation takes place on Sunday, the day of resurrection. The answer is found in the word "since." Counting from this verse, Sunday is the third day, Saturday the second day, Friday is the first day SINCE the Passover. The Thursday Passover (Jewish reckoning) had its night on what we would call Wednesday night and twilight of that night, meaning between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M., is when Christ was crucified. The twilight of Thursday afternoon would have counted as the twilight of Friday night which began at 6:00 P.M. by Jewish reckoning. So we see there is no conflict.

The real issue is not really what day was Christ crucified on, but the need to be careful Bible students, lest we miss what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. We know that nothing could wash away our sins but the blood of Jesus Christ. If you have not trusted Jesus Christ and His shed blood as your only means of reaching heaven, then do so now.