Study Serpent for free

Perhaps you’ve seen the YouTube ad for MasterClass on “The Genesis Story.” It begins with Justin Jackson, professor of English at Hillsdale College, saying, “So, the fun thing with the serpent is how does a serpent talk?” upon which you can hear laughter from the class.

He proceeds, “But not only that, why is the serpent’s punishment to crawl on its belly when that’s what it does? If you don’t know how to read biblical poetry, if you don’t know the formal qualities of parallelism and expansion, you are missing out on one third of the Hebrew bible. Whatever theological background you have, you’re going to have your own hypothesis, that is to say, your own plot and narrative. What the literary reading allows you to do is to find new details that work within that overall plot or narrative.”  

Here’s Richard Jordan in a free study online at Shorewood’s website under media archives: “Satan is the serpent; that’s a description of his character, the essence of his being. We use the illustration, ‘Behold the lamb of God.’ Well, Jesus is the lamb of God, but He’s not a four-legged ‘Baa, baa’ wool-bearing lamb. He has the character; He functions in the role of a lamb of God.

“Well, Satan has a character. He is that seven-headed dragon, that old serpent the devil, so on and so on. When he stood in front of Eve he didn’t stand there as a big old slithering fork-tongued snake. He transformed himself into an angel of light. He stood there as a beautiful, handsome Errol Flynn kind of guy, or whoever it is you think’s good-looking."

(new post tomorrow)

Things can change on a dime--or period

 While Zechariah 9:9 references Jesus Christ “riding upon a colt the foal of an ass” in His meek and lowly first coming, Zechariah 9:10 gives an exact opposite kind of a view.

“Here He comes and He cuts off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan. “Now He’s not a meek and lowly guy; now He’s the boss. Now He’s going to be the one who has dominion ‘from sea even to sea, and from river even to the ends of the earth.’ He’s going to be the King.

“Obviously, you have two diametrically opposite comings between those two verses. Now, in the Prophets, they don’t understand that. This confused Israel.

“At the end of Zechariah 9:9 is Jesus riding upon an ass, then there’s a period and the next sentence begins, ‘I will cut off.’ At that period you have a space of at least 2,000 years. Do you see there’s no indication in the text that there’s any break? It just goes right on through.

“Over and over in prophecy, you’ll have at a punctuation mark (and sometimes not even that) and there will be a gap of a tremendous amount of time. First coming, Second Coming. Captivity, Second Coming.

“All through prophecy the two are put together in one passage, and if you don’t know how to rightly divide them, you wind up being confused.

“What happens in 97 percent of Christendom is they think verse 9 and 10 all took place at the same time. That’s why you hear all these people say, ‘For Christ and His kingdom,’ and talk about how His kingdom is coming in. They’re always talking about the Lord ruling and reigning and you say, ‘What?!’ I mean, there’s a whole passel of theology, schools of theology—Calvinism, Covenant Theology, Preterism—all that stuff about how we’re in the kingdom NOW.

“Verse 10 says ‘his dominion shall be from sea even to sea’ . . . Whoever’s running things now can’t be the God of the Bible! He’s the wrong guy because verse 9 says ‘he is just, and having salvation,’ and we all know there’s no justice on this planet today.

“One of the greatest reasons to understand and believe in life after death is you know there’s no justice in this life. If there’s not a Creator to bring justice to every person, then there is NO justice because there isn’t any in this world.

“Asaph, back in Psalm 73, he gets all bent out of shape, confused and concerned. Why? He sees the wicked prosper and the righteous forsaken. He says, ‘I don’t understand it. Why is it that way? Why do the wicked seem to get ahead and DO get ahead?’

“Zechariah 9:9 says Jesus Christ is just and He’s got salvation, and that’s what He brings at the first coming. He provides the basis of justice and salvation at that period between verse 9 and 10. If you’re going to understand the prophetic Scripture, you’re going to have to see these gaps in the verses and you can only do that by rightly dividing your Bible.

*****

“Like I said, these things confused Zechariah and the other prophets. I Peter 1:9-10 says, [9] Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
[10] Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.

“You know immediately that’s not talking about you and me as members of the Body of Christ because the grace you and I have today, in the dispensation of grace, was a mystery kept secret from these people and not revealed to them. We have the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the ‘revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began and not made known in other ages.’

“For Israel, they looked to the future. They have the salvation coming in the future and it’s prophesied about. It’s coming and they’re searching about it.

“I Peter 1:10 tells us it’s not just that the people who heard the prophets tried to search it out, but it’s the guys who gave the prophecy themselves: Zechariah, Haggai, Zephaniah, Habbakuk, Hosea, Amos, Daniel. They say, ‘We’ve got this prophecy; what does it mean?’

“Verse 11 says, [11] Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

“If you look back at Zechariah 9, that’s exactly what you’ve got. In verse 9 you’ve got the sufferings of Christ and in verse 10 you’ve got the glory that should follow. So those two things are put together, but the prophets . . . ‘What does ‘the suffering’ mean? What does ‘the glory’ mean? They’re searching and inquiring, ‘What are we talking about?! How do you have the suffering and then the glory? What does it entail and how do you put them together?’

“You go through these passages and you’ll have the suffering, the glory, the glory, the glory, the suffering, the glory, the suffering. How do you put a timeline on that?

“I Peter 1:12 says, [12] Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

“Zechariah’s trying to figure out what it is and he has it revealed to him, ‘This isn’t about YOU, Zechariah, this is about some people in the future.’

“So when you have people reading the prophets and saying it’s all completely fulfilled in the prophets’ day, Pete says, ‘No, no, no.’ They understood they were writing prophecy about the future and Pete says, ‘It’s about us, the little flock, and about where WE’RE going.’

“So there’s the sufferings of Christ; there’s the glory that’s going to be His and what you’re reading Zechariah tell is, ‘Your King is coming but He’s going to first have this meek and lowly coming before He has dominion over everything. Before He’s exalted in that position as being King over it all He’s first going to suffer on the behalf of His people and bring justice and salvation through that suffering.’ ”

As 2022 looms nearer

Beautiful Savior, King of Creation,
Son of God and Son of Man;
Truly I’d love thee, Truly I’d serve thee
Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

--Fairest Lord Jesus, circa 1842

I came across this study last night and thought this was the perfect summary:

“What happens at the Judgment Seat of Christ is it’s not a sin issue; your sin's taken care of at the Cross. It’s an issue of the capacity, the maturity level that you’ve developed to. Hebrews 5 says there are people who are babies and there are people who are adults. He says the baby is someone who’s unskilled in the Word of righteousness.

“It’s about the edification that you develop; the measure of every part," explains Richard Jordan. "It’s the edification capacity you develop in your inner man today to serve Him; the capacity you develop to understand and to think like God thinks, having your mind renewed.

“Not just have a bunch of thinking in your mind, but have that become part of your life. The verse says 'with the heart man believes unto righteousness.' Believing is not just something that I consent to; believing is something where truth becomes a part of me.

“It isn’t just something that I know. I take what I know and I say, ‘That’s going to be my thinking; I’m going to bring it into my heart, into the essence of who I am and it’s going to be the way I think and the way I function. It’s going to be what I trust; it’s going to be who I am, my identity.’ ”

(another post this evening)

Star of wonder, royal beauty bright

1. What star is this with beams so bright,
More lovely than the sun's own light?
'Tis sent to announce the newborn King;
Glad tidings of our God to bring.

2. 'Tis now fulfill'd as God decreed:
"From Jacob shall a star proceed,"
And lo! the Eastern sages stand
To read in heav'n the Lord's command.

3. As from this star glow outward rays,
An inward light the Lord conveys,
And urges them with force benign
To seek the giver of the sign.

Genesis 1:16: [16] And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

“When it says ‘he made the stars also,’ that’s not saying it was as an afterthought that God made the stars. He made the stars also to RULE," explains Richard Jordan. "These planetary bodies are all designed in the heavens and placed for the benefit of the earth.

“In Psalm 147:4 is a very interesting thing when you study the stars in the Bible. It says, ‘He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.’

“Isaiah 40:26 says, ‘Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.’

“God has numbered the stars and He’s also named them. When it says ‘he telleth,’ that’s like a teller in a bank counting up the number of the stars. It says He calleth them all by their names. 

"God has given names to the stars and the constellations out there and He knows exactly how many there are and what they’re there for.

"The Apostle Paul is referencing back to Gen. 1:14 (“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”) when he writes to the Galatians:

“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.”

As Jordan explains, “Paul said, 'I’m worried about you because you keep months and days and all of that stuff; the significance and the reasons for birthdays and Easter and Christmas and Halloween. All the celebrations of religion start there with that issue of let them be for signs. ' ”

(new post tomorrow)

Antichrist becomes 'a law unto himself'

Here is the continuation of Alex Kurz' study in Revelation 13:

“Imagine being a member of that remnant and here’s this character out providing to humanity all they ever really wanted in ‘utopia,’ and you as the little flock say, ‘But he’s not the Christ.’

“Can you imagine how the world and the religious system is going to crush this ragtag team of heretics telling them, ‘Get out of there; don’t participate!’ You see why the hatred and the policy of extermination that’s being launched?

“This guy makes WAR with the saints because the saints are opposed to what this fraud is doing, trying to establish his Garden of Eden.

“It will be a time of peace and progress for the world. Great secrets of nature will be discovered. Evil angels will be the teachers and deceiving demons the guides of mankind.

“Keep that in mind when you go back to Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel whose top may reach unto what? They were trying to call down these evil angels to serve as spirit guides.

“Great inventions and discoveries will be made. Who needs God if man functions as their own gods, right? Philanthropy will be the governing principal of the world: ‘Man can take care of man.’

“In the Book of Daniel you see this guy’s going to change laws and times. Which laws and times do you think he’s seeking to change? The laws of Scripture.

“Remember, the Book of Revelation is like a daily newspaper. It’s like the Metra schedule; you know exactly when the next train is coming. There are specific times and events that are predicted in Revelation. This guy is going to seek to change times.

“You have members of the little flock saying, ‘Listen, this is Antichrist because the Scriptures provide a timeline and he who sits in the temple being worshipped as God—he’s going to change the times to confuse the blind.’

“Oh, he’s a genius. Corrupted, satanically empowered genius. Satan doing it through him as long as Satan is being what? Worshipped.

“I love what E.W. Bullinger says: ‘He becomes a law unto himself. Men will delight in him and regard him as the greatest benefactor the world has ever seen. Kings will gladly owe him, and behind all will be Satan himself, swaying the tongues, hearts and energies of thousands of willing agents.’

“You see in Genesis the satanic attempt to be the mastermind behind civilization, agriculture, the fine arts. Why is Satan interested in the fine arts? You would think all he cares about is pushing the drugs and all that. No, that’s not what Satan’s interested in because your flesh is pretty capable of doing that anyway.

“Revelation 18 deals with commercial Babylon. The kings of the earth, when it comes to the destruction of commercial Babylon, they cry. The greatness, the economic system and the system of commerce that’s established by this wicked genius comes to an end by Almighty God and the response by humanity is just horrible.

Revelation 18: [2] And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
[3] For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

"Something is going to happen to that literal city of Babylon and it’s fallen.

"Revelation 18:4: [4] And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

“Paul says ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.’ The greed is the motivating force that causes man to bend their knee in worship to this guy who is operational control of it all because all power is given to him by that seven-headed dragon.

“Verses 7-9: [7] How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
[8] Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
[9] And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

“They mourn over her: ‘My business is bankrupt!’ He’s not some tyrant who brings humanity under this slavish fear. He’s benevolent and he’s participating. He wants all men to live happily and prosperously.

“Why? Did not God say, ‘If you worship me and obey my commandments I will bless you with overabounding fruitfulness and wealth.’ You see what the fake king of kings is seeking to do in his phony Millennium, his phony Garden of Eden?

“He’s doing the thing that God says: ‘I will do, worship me.’ Satan says, ‘Worship me, I’ll bless you,’ and you know what that apostate nation of Israel is going to do? They’re going to crack open Deuteronomy and confront the members of the little flock and say, ‘Try and argue against Deuteronomy 28.’

“Because he’s doing it! He’s doing Deuteronomy 28! 'Who is like this guy?!' You see why members of the little flock are getting their heads cut off? You understand the tremendous pressure?

“Imagine being a member of the little flock who’s trying to convince someone who’s using Scripture and here’s this guy feeding it.

“That’s why Revelation 13:10 says, [10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

“The Lord wasn’t playing around when He said, ‘They that endure.’ Hebrews isn’t playing around when it says, ‘Hold fast; don’t let go of that hope.’ Like Paul says in II Thessalonians, ‘Strong delusion.’ Wow, this guy is EARNING worship because he’s practicing what Jehovah God said He would do based upon that covenant and program.”

(new post tomorrow) 

Rev. 13:2 in new NYC tourist site at U.N. HQ

A giant rainbow-colored statue has just been installed outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan and is being likened to the end times beast described by John in Revelation.

The U.N. says in a tweet that includes a photo of the statue: “A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor’s Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico … It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles.”

Revelation 13:2: [2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

"In Luke 4:5, didn't Satan seek to give someone the opportunity to reign and rule?" asks Alex Kurz in a study on Revelation 13. "You see that issue of power? What if, in the middle of the week, Satan meets this guy, the man of sin, and he says, 'I'll give you all this power.'

Revelation 13:4: [4] And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

"This issue of power and worship, that's exactly what the devil sought to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. When the devil gives to this Antichrist--all that power, governmental authority--guess who worships who? Satan now receives all the worship. This is a repeat of a scenario of an event that did happen over 2,000 years ago. Satan possesses these kingdoms.

Verses 5-7: [5] And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

[6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
[7] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

"Wasn't that the promise the devil made to the Lord Jesus? He said, 'I'll give it to you if . . ' Conditional, right? Makes you wonder about that deal that was offered. I can't help but think about the similarity between the two.

Revelation 13:12: [12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

"What we begin to see in Revelation 13 for the first time is this power that is given to this individual, but not only that, look at Revelation 13:8: [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

"Prior to this, there's nothing said about anybody worshipping. Listen, whoever this man of sin is, he's a great charismatic, intelligent individual. He's able to thwart three of those kings and the remaining seven capitulate. We saw that perhaps he defeats the first three and by threat of long-range weaponry, the remaining seven say, 'Listen, we're not going to get stamped out,' so they capitulate to this guy.

"The worship part of this man does not begin until the middle of the week. Hence, as we just read in verse 8, they're going to begin to worship.

Verse 15: [15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Revelation 14:7: [7] Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

"For the first time, there's this issue of who is worshipping who. That man of sin has to be taken out of the way and he's going to be cut down, and now power is going to be given to the resurrected guy. Now the world does something for the first time. Adoration and worship is being given.

Revelation 13:3: [3] And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

"That word 'wonder' means they 'admire' this guy. This is, by the way, willful adoration, willful wonderment.

"This isn't out of compulsion. He's the Superstar. How do we know that? The world asks, 'Who is like unto the beast?' Someobody else asks that question. Exodus 15:11: [11] Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

"The son of perdition is going to portray himself as being the epitome of holiness. The world is going to fall in love.

"Sometime we think of the second stage of the career of the Antichrist as him being some sort of a monster; a kind of Hitler-type tyrant and dictator. Far from it. He's going to be a benevolent dictator.

"Listen, he EARNS the love, worship and adoration of the masses. Do you love a tyrant? If there is a dictator who cruelly oppresses you, do you worship that guy? In your heart? These people say, 'Who's like this guy?!' He's a wonderment. 

"Here's something E.W. Bullinger wrote regarding the second half of the week and the career and activities of the Antichrist:

'It's clear from this that everthing is combined in this man to make him not only acceptable to the world but to call forth their wonder, admiration and praise. He's not in any way a terror to men, but full of attractions, allurements and activities which will be all put forth in the interest of human greatness and happiness.'

"You know what this guy's doing? He wants to create his own Garden of Eden. Satan wants his own uptopia with HIS man. Everything Satan's doing is an exact duplicate; it's a counterfeit of what God Almighty is doing.

"God creates man from a pile of dust and the devil, within a few seconds of time, crushes what He thought God was seeking to do. You see, Satan's man would never do what God's man Adam did, right?

"Satan's got HIS man and this man will, for the first time, achieve what mankind was not able to achieve--that great societal development. This societal utopia. His man is a Superman and all the world, they love him for that.

"It's real easy to think he's some of kind of monster everybody hates, but it's the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD and Evil. Not evil in the sense of rape, burn, pillage, but evil in the sense of defying what God's doing and carrying out the policy and strategy of Satan, because Satan wants to be the most high God and wants people to willingly worship him because of his benevolence to humanity.

"Bullinger writes: 'It will be Satan's brief Millennium in which mankind will, by every art and artifice, be made happy.' 

"We'll see in Daniel 11 this guy is filthy, filthy rich but he's also generous, only the generosity extended by this guy is sort of like a politician who seeks to win your vote. In light of this, it will be a time of peace and progress. The Bible says peace is his mantra."

(to be continued tomorrow)

Acts 14 MasterClass

To glorify God's Word is simply to believe it; make it the absolute final authority for faith; what your confidence rests in.

Paul writes in II Thessalonians 3: "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you. [2] And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith."

"Look at the Thessalonians and see what they did with it," says Richard Jordan. "As Paul says in I Thessalonians 1:5: 'For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.'

"They received it and then they believed it, and when they believed it, it worked. How is the Word glorified? When it's received, acknowledged, honored and believed.

"I Thessalonians 2:13 says, [13] For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

"You see how important it is to have that attitude about the Book you're holding in your hand? By the way, that is a great verse about where they got God's Word. When you hear the Scripture, there's the idea of a received text.

"That term didn't just come out of the air. The Elzevir brothers didn't just invent that term in 1624 when they published their Greek text. That was a term that came out of the Scripture. That was a Bible term about people's attitudes about the Word they had.

"They didn't receive it as the Word of men; they knew it was God's Word. When you think about how God's Word was passed down to you, you're not thinking about it being preserved through history the way God preserved Shakespeare or Homer.

*****

"As a young preacher there's a verse that meant an awful lot to me and has all through the years. I worked in the Mobile Rescue Mission back in the mid- to late-'60s and that's where I started preaching.

"The first five years I preached was in the mission and I was privileged to preach anywhere from 10-15 times a week. When I was at Mobile College in the ministerial association with all the preacher boys (60-70 guys studying for the ministry) some of these guys were just dying to preach and I'd say, 'Well, come on down to the mission and I'll let you preach anytime,' but I couldn't get them to come. They wanted to go preach in a church.

"I was preaching so often that it was not a startling thing for me to preach. But one of the things you'd do in the mission is preach the gospel to lost people primarily and I noticed that Brother Reynolds, when he would preach, he'd preach maybe only 15-17 minutes.

"He was ill and not in good health and he had to sit on a stool and hold onto the pulpit. But he would preach and this verse was the verse that described his preaching to me:

Acts 14:1: [1] And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.

"When it says they 'so spake,' Paul says in I Corinthians 2, '[1] And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

"Paul's saying, 'I didn't come in with good words and fair speeches. I didn't use my education.' Paul was a advanced-degree rabbinical scholar. He knew all the 75-cent words.

"He said, 'I didn't come with all the big talk. I didn't come blowing smoke down your pipe. I came doing one thing, determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I just wanted to preach the gospel of the grace of God to you and nothing else mattered.'

"I used to watch people come to the mission, and I'd watch Brother Reynolds get up in front of a group of 50-60 men, most of whom we'd never seen before, and in his physical infirmity, he'd preach to them and see 8, 10, 12 guys trust Christ.

"When I say that, I don't just mean walk an aisle and shake a preacher's hand; I'm talking about men that I would deal with and sit down and talk to them about what they understood and what they were doing and see them really, genuinely get saved.

"Then I'd watch in the evening meetings after Brother Reynolds had gone home and we'd have churches come, and they'd use all the techniques and all the psychology and all the other stuff, and maybe one or two would respond out of a group of 100.

"I used to ask myself, 'How can Brother Reynolds preach to the smaller group of 50-60 guys just there for lunch and see a harvest, and these other guys preach and have all the bells and whistles and entertainment but just see a little handful?'

"That's that verse right there in Acts 14. I'd say, 'You know, I got to figure that one out,' and I studied Brother Reynolds for all those years and got to know him, and what I wanted to learn from him was, 'They so spake that a great multitude believed . . . '

"You know what I discovered? When Brother Reynolds would preach, he'd have something of a little outline. One of my favorite messages that he would preach, one that I used to preach on the street, had three points. No. 1 was 'heaven's greatest testimony': 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.' No. 2 was 'the first greatest tragedy': They rejected Him and took Him out and crucified Him. No. 3 was 'man's greatest trust': 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'

"Now, that's pretty much the gospel, isn't it? And in between there, Brother Reynolds would quote about 15-20 verses from memory; he'd just look at you and give you the verses one right after another.

"A lot of times you'll hear me preach and I'll string verses together. I learned to do that watching Clyde Reynolds do that.

"I learned that when he preached, all he was using was the power of God's Word and it would penetrate dark, hardened hearts in a way that all the other stuff never did.

*****

"Paul 'so spake.' He took that Word and made it the issue. And when he praised the Thessalonians, he said, 'Pray that my ministry of preaching the Word wouldn't be the object of all this interference and that the Word of God may be glorified; that we could so speak that a great multitude would believe.'

"The hindrance to the free course of the Word was going to come from unreasonable and wicked men. He was in Acts 18 when he wrote that from Corinth; he'd already had some experiences the Thessalonians knew about.

"When Paul goes into Thessalonica and some people get saved, Acts 17:5 says, [5] But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

"You see that? It says they 'moved with envy.' There's a spiritual, sinful, wicked motivation. It says they 'took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort.' They reached out to a bunch of characters of ill-repute; they literally reached into the criminal underworld and gathered a company and 'set all the city on an uproar . . .'

"When he says they were unreasonable, that means they weren't people you could sit down and reason with. They were not people who were going to think the thing through with you. They were wicked. Their unreasonableness came from their wickedness.

"Through the years that verse has proved itself over and over, because you'll discover that people are out to resist the ministry and it will make no sense to you. When you find people being unreasonable, you'll find there's something sticking them and it's going to be some sin. The wickedness, the envy, causes the unreasonableness.

"When God tells Israel, 'Come now let us reason together,' Paul says '[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

"There is a reasonableness to God's grace, to the gospel, and when people are unreasonable, what you have to learn is that reasoning with their unreasonableness isn't going to get you anywhere. That's why arguing the science, or the philosophy, to people--arguing on their terms of unreasonableness never gets you anywhere. There's a wickedness in the heart that has concluded . . .

"Proverbs 18:1-2: [1] Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.
[2] A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.

"It's through desire, so that you might discover what you want. A man 'having separated himself,' means,  'I'm going to get a higher quality of life. I'm going to be one of the elite.'

"He 'seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.' Is that a good thing to do? All wisdom? A fool does that. You remember that verse in Romans 1: 'Professing themselves to be wise they became fools.'

" 'The fool hath said in his heart there's no God.' A fool, someone who professes himself to be wise, hath no delight in understanding but that his heart may discover itself. He studies and tries to get wisdom and understanding for one thing; he wants an alibi to do what he wants to do.

"Can I tell you that people don't reject God's Word out of intellectual honesty. They reject God's Word out of moral corruption. They become fools because they think they should be God.

"Paul says, 'I want you to pray for me because the people I'm dealing with out here are unreasonable and wicked.' And then he says, 'For all men have not faith.' Duh! That's sort of like a sarcastic backhand.

"You read the commentaries and they do all kind of stuff about that phrase. You know, when you just read that, that's just plain sarcasm. Paul says, 'They're unreasonable and wicked because they don't have any faith!' "

(new post later )

It will be worth it

"Oft times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear,
We're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair;
But Christ will soon appear to catch His Bride away,
All tears forever over in God's eternal day.

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Sometimes the sky looks dark with not a ray of light,
We're tossed and driven on, no human help in sight;
But there is one in heav'n who knows our deepest care,
Let Jesus solve your problem – just go to Him in pray'r.

Life's day will soon be o'er, all storms forever past,
We'll cross the great divide, to glory, safe at last;
And we'll all share the joys of heav'n – a harp, a home, a crown,
The tempter will be banished, we'll lay our burden down.

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
Till we see Christ

"The ultimate hope of our heart is not simply forgiveness, or simply justification or even heaven, but it’s really the glory of God.

"You and I, in Christ, are meant to savor and to experience God’s glory. That’s the ultimate thing that will wipe away every tear, rectify every wrong. That’s the ultimate thing that in the end will let you sing that song, ‘It was worth it all.’

“II Cor. 4: 17 is our light affliction: [17] For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

[18] While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

"There’s the patience in tribulation. You see, the hope that sustained Paul’s joy in the afflictions--He said, ‘I’m rejoicing in hope; that makes me be patient in tribulation. I can endure because these afflictions are not meaningless. They’re not absurd. They’re not cruel. They’re not pointless. No, it’s working for me an experience of the glory of God that will outweigh every moment in every degree of suffering in this life. They work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’

“Patience is something that sustains you; keeps you there. Paul doesn’t just tolerate tribulation. He says, ‘God takes this tribulation and makes it serve you.’

“That passage in Romans 8 is right down to the level of the things you suffer because He left you here and didn’t take you to be with Him the moment He saved you. Some of that is bodily suffering. Some of it is the calamities of life. Some of it is the assaults of others. Some of it is your own stupidity.

“But what the hope in Christ does is He says He can take even that and, as He promised Israel, ‘give beauty for ashes.’ I can look out there and say, ‘My ace in the hole is in the end it’s just glory!’ And I can rejoice in that hope. Then I can abound, and when you’re abounding, you don’t think so much about hoping. You think, ‘I already got it, man!’

*****

“I once asked a guy in the airport if he knew where he was going to spend eternity and he answered, ‘I’m having too much trouble getting through today to worry about eternity.’ But that’s a mistake of thinking that that kind of future orientation, that future thinking process, limits the present usefulness in reality of life.

“Listen, understanding that you rejoice in hope liberates you right now! If your future is glorious, if your future is sure because of Christ, you don’t have to live for money. You don’t have to live for power. You don’t have to live for fame. You don’t have to grasp and stash and chase for pleasure and for excitements that just slip through your fingers. You’re free to live for others. You’re free to serve the Lord by serving others. You’re free to let your love be genuine, let it be radical and sacrificial because of the joy that you have in Him. To let it sustain you, and it’s our prayers that allow us to see and savor the greatness and the preciousness of our hope.”

'Remember, what's in Peter is in you'

“In Matthew 27, in the momentous events leading up to the Cross, Peter displays godly sorrow that effectively changed him, while Judas represents a false kind of repentance.

"With Judas, it’s, ‘I’m sorry I got caught; I’m sorry I made a mistake,’ and not an objective recognition of the real issue, which was, ‘I’m responsible.’

“Matthew 27:3 says, [3] Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

“Judas says, ‘I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.’ That’s a pretty good confession, isn’t it? Is that a true statement? It sure is. Does Judas want to do right? Well, he brings the money back.

“Verse 5 says, [5] And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

“He was pretty sorry for what he did, wasn’t he? I mean, he’s got the remorse of conscience. He goes out and kills himself. That’s being pretty depressed and remorseful for what you did. But that’s the sorrow of the world.

“Judas has all these guilt feelings that come on and he’s crying out, but it’s the repentance of despair," says Richard Jordan. "This is just the guilt syndrome. He’s just sorry for the problems he caused; the mistake he made.

“On the other hand, Peter, it says, ‘Went out and wept bitterly.’ You know what I bet Pete did? I bet he went right back to the Garden of Gethsemane he just came out of, over to the very spot where his Savior, his Lord, had been praying and had asked him to pray. I bet Peter got back down on his face in that spot and got the thing right between him and the Lord.

“You know where Judas went? He went to the priest. You ever hear anybody go to confession? Judas went up to a bunch of priests who were called ‘father,’ that wore long black robes and did all kind of hoodleydoo and they took his confession.

“Now, you know what would make one guy do one thing and another guy do the other? Your heart. Faith.

"Judas says, ‘I have sinned,’ and he sure had, but he didn’t have the real repentance unto salvation; it was the sorrow of the world that works death and so he goes out and hangs himself.

“By the way, there are seven people in the Bible who say, ‘I have sinned.’ You talk about a good sermon. If you want to study repentance and the different kinds of repentances in the Bible, get your concordance and start back over in Exodus 9 with Pharaoh; it’s just a hypocritical confession of a hardened sinner. In Numbers 22 is Balaam and then there’s Saul in I Samuel 15 and Achan in Joshua 7.

“With David in II Samuel 12 is the repentance of a saint, and then there’s the Prodigal Son. He comes and says to the father, ‘I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight.’

“When Judas says, ‘I have betrayed innocent blood,’ you ought to write in your margin by that verse Acts 20:28: [28] Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

“I’m sure Judas didn’t fathom what he was saying. You know whose blood it was that was poured out at Calvary? It was God’s blood. There’s not much doubt in my mind why the new bible translations changed that verse.

“Judas didn’t know the half of it. That blood wasn’t just innocent; that was God’s blood. We sing the song, ‘There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins; and sinners, plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.’

“Folks, the blood that flowed through Emmanuel’s veins; that’s just another way of saying, like the words up on the wall go, ‘Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.’

"That’s a hymn-writer’s poetic way of saying that the blood that is the basis of our salvation was God’s blood. As Matthew 1:23 says, ‘Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us.’

*****

“Now, notice how they responded to Judas in Matthew 27:4: [4] Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

“The chief priests and elders said, ‘What’s that to us?! Big deal, buddy, beat it! You got a problem, go take care of it yourself!’

“That shows you the situation Israel was in. They’re ignoring the fact that Christ was innocent and that Judas was guilty. They just say, ‘Tough apples, man! We know what we want to do and we’re going to go do it!’ They’re out to get it done and they’re going to accomplish it.

The account in Matthew 26: [65] Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
[66] What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
[67] Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
[68] Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
[69] Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
[70] But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
[71] And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
[72] And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
[73] And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
[74] Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
[75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

“Peter’s saying in verse 74, ‘I don’t know that guy! Get off my back. Leave me alone. I don’t know that sorry bum!’

“There’s a great lesson there. He begins to curse and swear. The reason people curse and use God’s name in vain is they’re trying to show by what authority they speak. They’re trying to invoke the authority of somebody bigger than they are to put other people down and lift them up.

“That’s exactly what Pete’s doing here. You need to remember, people, that what’s in Peter is in you. We’re all kin to Adam and the thing that made Peter do what he did is he got out of sorts and quit walking in the Word of God and in the doctrine Christ kept giving him. Peter kept ignoring it and not paying attention to it and that’s what happened to him.

“Watch the last verse: [75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

“You see that? You know what Peter had been doing ever since verse 31? Christ said, ‘All of you are going to be offended, for it is written,’ and Peter said, ‘I don’t care what anybody else does but I’m not! I don’t care what the Bible says; I’m not going to be offended!’

“Christ said, ‘Pete, before the cock crows three times you’re going to deny me three times,’ and he did. Luke 22:60-62 says, [60] And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
[61] And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
[62] And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

“Can you see the scene? Can you see it in your own life? Here you are out in the flesh, doing it yourself and forgetting about the Word and the doctrine that ought to be operating in you, and all of a sudden the cock crows. And as quick as it does, you know where Peter looked? He looked at the Lord to see if the Lord was looking at him.

“Their eyes met and brother, you talk about some glance! There’s the Lord walking across the porch, tied up, blood on His face, His garments torn, the cock crows, and it’s interesting Peter knew where He was.

“Peter’s out there, ‘Not me, I don’t know Him,’ but he knew right where to look to see Him! He knew what was going on. That’s a look from Jesus Christ that made him go out and weep bitterly. That’s real repentance. That’s a godly sorrow that WORKS repentance.”

“Godly sorrow works repentance and what happened to Peter was he remembered the Word. Somebody said one time, ‘If you have a hard time remembering the Word, get a better look at Christ.’

“That’s what Peter did. He saw the Lord, and when he did he remembered and the Word convicted him and he went out and got right; he changed his mind. What tore him up was not so much what he did, because that wasn’t the issue, but who he was. The godly sorrow worked a change in mind and attitude in him.”

*****

In the chapter of his biography (Search for Security) entitled Turning Point, Oscar Woodall, an insurance pioneer for Met Life credited with initiating the company’s London offices and winning top salesman of the year, had just lost a job. The passage reads:

“For most men, Woodall reflected, life begins at 40. But it seems to be coming apart for me at this critical age. Where do we go from here?

“In the past, faced with such significant crossroads, Woody would have poured a drink for himself and another for his wife as they pondered their next course of action. But somehow, instinctively, he knew things were different this time. He must have a clear mind and heart for such a time as this. Surely alcohol was not the answer.

“In mental turmoil, on that night of nights for Oscar Woodall, December 13, 1966, all the things he had ever heard and read about God and Jesus Christ seemed to race across his mind, clamoring for attention. Suddenly, without warning, he had found himself alternately praying, sobbing, crying out to God for direction.

“God, he prayed, I do not desire to be the president of my country or my company, I desire to know You. I want You to take my life and use it for Your good purpose, whatever that means and I don’t know what it means.

“As he cried and sobbed for what seemed like hours. Woody thanked God for a wife at his side who said to him simply, ‘You have taken it to the Lord; now leave it there.’ Words of wisdom, to be sure, he reflected.

“After a restless night, with anguish of soul, struggling with his emotions, he arose at about 4 a.m. and put on his robe before going out to walk in the yard. As he walked, he prayed—and as he prayed, he wrestled with God as Jacob must have done, he thought later. God was breaking his will.

“During that most eventful night of his life, Woodall discovered what repentance was all about: changing his mind about himself and seeing himself as God saw him—a hopeless, helpless, lost sinner who deserved hell. He realized he had been running his own life, doing his own thing, giving God only lip service.”

(new article tomorrow)

Name this most-admired Christian lady:

The other week I came across a women’s Bible study posted online from a weekend conference in October put on by a right division church. In it, a young woman referred to the influence this celebrity Christian’s most famous book (a 1957 bestseller) had on her. This woman wrote many books and had a long-standing syndicated radio show giving advice to Christian women on right living. The latest authorized biography on her life was written in 2020 by Ellen Vaughn.

*****

Funeral service, June 23, 2015, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Dr. Tom Howard, brother of the deceased:

“She and I had virtually identical sensibilities . . . we loved the same hymns and the same English prose. This touches on something about Betty that her public perhaps never had the chance to see.

“For thousands of people who became aware of her when her husband was killed in Equador and then, as the years went by, those who were affected by her writings and speeches, these people might see her as a sort of heroic, almost Olympian figure and that is not entirely a wrong impression.

“She was all of that certainly. I think our parents were always a little bit awed by her, even before she became well-known . . .

“Over the years, she came increasingly to look to me to tell her what to read. While she was still in Equador, after Jim’s death, I’d sent her books by Kierkegaard, Paul Tillich, Dostoevsky, John Updike, Francoise Sagan and so forth.

“As time went on, it was the works of Cardinal John Newman and Russian Orthodox theologians Alexander Schmemann and Kallistos Ware. She also turned more and more to the works of the saints and Medieval mystics. Of the spiritual writers from the evangelical wing of Protestantism, I would guess that Amy Carmichael would be very near the top of her list.

"Interestingly enough, she came gradually, and I would say inexorably, to find rest for her soul in the eucharistic liturgy of the ancient church.

“I think that perhaps our father’s manifest love for what he called the great hymns of the church had instilled in her, as in me, an appreciation of the dignity, weight and majesty of forms of worship that had been hallowed by long usage.”

*****

Sermon outtake, Richard Jordan:

"Paul writes in Romans 8:14: [14] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

"The issue of being 'led by the Spirit' is a terribly misunderstood concept. There's all kind of hokey and spooky stuff today in the evangelical world where people say, 'God led me to do this; the Lord spoke to me and wanted me to do that.'

"I remember years ago listening to a very famous lady Bible teacher and minister, the wife of the missionary martyred in Ecuador who was an international hero, and she's talking on her radio program to a bunch of ladies in a meeting, telling them she got up in the morning and was drinking her coffee at the table and was waiting for God to communicate to her what she should do that day.

"She said, 'The Lord spoke to me and said, Go to the mailbox.' So she goes down to the mailbox and so on and so forth.

"I wrote her a letter and asked her, 'Did you really mean that? What kind of accent did He have? How did He talk? If He spoke to you, did you write it down? I would like to see what He said. I don't have it in my Bible.'

"She wrote me back and was very kind and said, 'No, no, I believe the Bible's complete and the Bible's God's Word and I don't believe in extrabiblical communication; it was just an impression and a feeling.'

"I thought, 'Well, why didn't you say I was impressed to go.' When you say 'God spoke to me,' that's words, that's talk; extrabiblical communication.

"People talk about, 'Well, I had this feeling. I had this impression. God spoke to me in this still, small voice.' You hear that kind of stuff all over in the world today. This spiritual impression that comes on high. None of that is anything but nonsense; just emotional hoodleydoo.

"That verse doesn't say, 'As many of us are FILLED by the Spirit,' or TAUGHT by the Spirit. It says LED. You think about that word led. People say, 'Well, that's God guiding you.' The word isn't guide; the word is lead. Guidance is a subset of being led, but when someone guides you, it's only a part of the thing.

"By definition the word lead means to 'take someone to a particular destination.' If you get on your GPS, you need a destination and it will LEAD you to that place. Guiding you tells you along the way; leading is, 'I'm taking you somewhere.'

"When you think of that verse, think about it that way. The leadership is through the Word, the rightly divided Scripture, through the sound doctrine that's there in the Book.

"But what He's doing--the Spirit of God's job, His function, is to TAKE you somewhere and where He's taking you in your growth and in your walk, 'as many as are led.' In other words, the destination the Spirit of God is taking the Believer to is to be the son of God; to be a full-grown mature son.

"Romans 7 says, [6] But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

"So what is the goal the Spirit of God's going to lead you to? It's to 'serve in newness of the spirit,' not go back under the performance system of the law. The issue's freedom. You're free from the law; you're not under your flesh's resources and performance. You're free to live as who you are in Christ.

"Here Paul's talking about, 'You're not simply free; you're competent to do it.' You have the capacity through the leading of the Spirit, the teaching of the Spirit of God, to live in the identity that God gives you, and that is the issue of being the sons of God.

"That's why he says in verse 15, [15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

"Now, by that Holy Spirit leading you to understand your adoption and the identity you have in Christ as a son of God and what that means, whereby . . . 

"Whereby is another one of these words in grammar that are called 'words of logic'; words that explain things. He says, 'It's through the work and the ministry of  the Spirit of God, part of what His job is, part of His capacity . . . The information you're going to get from Him about being the sons of god, it's through that truth and understanding that you cry, 'Abba, Father.' You're given the privilege to have the same kind of sonship relationship with God the Father that Jesus Christ has."

(new article tomorrow) 

Theme Psalm of a Pandemic

(new article tomorrow for certain)

One Christian writer called Psalm 91 the "Theme Psalm of a Pandemic." David starts Psalm 91, [1] He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
[2] I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
[3] Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

"A fowler is somebody trying to catch birds. Ecclesiastes 9 talks about trying to catch people. Solomon writes, [11] I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
[12] For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

"Satan is going to set traps for Israel in the tribulation period," explains Richard Jordan. "There's that thing in Revelation 13 about worshipping the image. You can't buy, you can't sell unless you do that. Well, that would put you under pressure. He's trying to capture these people. They can run out to the wilderness, the secret place where God will feed them. Satan's trying to trap them not to do that.

"The phrase 'noisome pestilence' is there to make you run over to Revelation 16 for the reference it connects to. Chapter 16 is immediately before the Second Advent. It begins, [1] And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
[2] And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

"Psalm 91: 5-6 says, [5] Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
[6] Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

"When you look at the terror by night, in Scripture you'll find oftentimes people come in and rob people, terrorize them by night. There's a terrorism happening and it's under the cloak of darkness. Men love darkness.

"Then he says the arrows that flieth by day. That's open warfare, a missile. They have all this persecution coming in trying to rob them and attack them. There are people chasing them constantly trying to destroy them.

"The pandemic that comes in that day will be a terror against 'the little flock' and it will be a pestilence sent out under the cover of darkness. There will be missiles shot at them, there will be open warfare and private warfare.

"Verse 7 says, '[7] A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.' That tells you we're talking about open warfare. It's literal, physical, visible conflict they're dealing with. This is not imaginative stuff. It's real.

"Verse 8 says, [8] Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.' That's the Second Advent. He's saying, 'You guys are going to go through this; you're going to trust the Lord and He's going to deliver you from it into His purpose for the nation. All these things He's going to deliver you from. These specific things you're seeing and experiencing, you're going to see the reward of the wicked who are coming against you. You're going to see Christ destroy these enemies.'

"This is all real stuff, is my point. Verse 9 and following is where the kicker comes: [9] Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
[10] There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
[11] For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
[12] They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

"The evil he's talking about is in verses 3, 5 and 6. The 'all' there has a context. There's a healing program made available to these people where these things do not overcome them.

"Satan quotes this passage in Matthew 4 understanding that it's talking about the protection God the Father's providing for the Messiah. When you read the context it seems to be talking about the believing remnant. It's talking about both because it's Israel, the Believer in Christ, and Him identified with them.

"Jesus trusted His Father, He lived in dependence and commitment and trust in the will of His Father.

"Looking at Matthew 4, Satan adds in verse 6: 'lest at any time.' Satan takes the verse out of its dispensational context and says, 'This verse can apply any time, so let's make it apply right now.'

"There's one commonality in the three temptations Satan used on Christ. Command that these stones be made bread. He's going to do that one day. Revelation 12. Come down. He's going to do that one day. Revelation 19.  Possess all the kingdoms of the earth. He's going to do that one day. Revelation 11.

"The problem wasn't that He couldn't do it; the problem was Matthew 4 and Luke 4 wasn't the time for Him to do it. The time for Him to do it is His Second Coming, not the first. So at the basic commonality in the temptations was really Satan is trying to do away with a dispensational understanding of the Scripture in Christ's mind. Satan's challenging Him, 'Well, don't you believe these verses?' " 

Stand beside her and guide her

Last weekend I attended a potluck dinner and awards ceremony for a large internationally recognized hiking organization that uses trails in Kentucky and Tennessee. The well-coordinated event included group-singing "God Bless America" and "This Land is Our Land." The lyrics were printed in the program given each of the 200 guests. The bluegrass band played beautifully and the song leader had a great voice. It was stirring to hear as I sung along. The only thing was I estimated that about 35% of the almost all-white American crowd didn't sing. Some people even had their arms crossed with their mouths tightly shut, not looking very content. 

I threw out my back again and have had a hard time sitting today. So sorry for delay in new post.

According to a 1996 Reader's Digest reference book I have on the Bible, "During the U.S. Civil War the American Tract Society distributed 24-page Bible selections to the Union troops. Meanwhile, the South suffered such acute Bible shortages that a black market in Bibles sprang up, and Confederate guards paid their prisoners as much as $15 for a copy. The Confederate States Bible Society succeeded in slipping English Bibles past the Union blockade, providing much needed spiritual solace to their side of the war."

During the 1800s, American households and schools used the Bible to teach children how to read and its stories formed the basis of early schoolbooks as well, informs the Reader's Digest textbook. "Similarly, when girls went to school in the 18th and 19th centuries, they often practiced needlework by cross-stitching prayers or verses from Scripture and used scenes from the Old and New Testaments as the subjects of their silk-embroidered or watercolor pictures. The finished pictures were hung up at home by proud parents . . .

"The Bible and its themes, in fact, figured in family life in a variety of ways. Children marched animals two by two onto Noah's Ark toys or played with other Scripture playthings, known as Sunday toys. Adults graced their dining tables with pitchers and sugar bowls decorated with molded images of the Apostles or Bible scenes, such as Rebecca at the well. Colorful pottery figures of Old Testament scenes decorated mantels. Reading the Bible together was an evening pastime in many households, and the Bible itself was often used as a repository of family records . . .

"On weekday nights or after Sunday services, slaves often gathered at one of the cabins or at a safe place out-of-doors to conduct their own services. Then they could hear preaching from one of their own, perhaps a slave who had managed to obtain some rudiments of literacy and religious education.

"They mastered the Bible orally, as had the early Christians, and derived special relevance to their own situation from its lessons and tales. They identified particularly with the plight of the Israelites in Exodus and saw Moses as their great biblical hero . . . The slaves translated the tales and lessons they learned from the Bible into music--spirituals that remain among the most beautiful and enduring portions of America's cultural heritage. Indeed, these songs, which both instruct and inspire, embody a folk consciousness that has powerfully informed the African American awareness of tradition...

"The New York Asylum for the Blind printed a New Testament with raised letters in 1836, a full 17 years before the development of braille. Other specialized Bibles included the Soldier's Pocket Bible, distributed by local Bible societies to American troops as they marched south to fight in the Mexican War."

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"Listen, when you sit and read that Book, that’s like God Almighty sitting across the table from you talking to you," says Richard Jordan. "Now, if you won’t forget that, you’ll fall in love with that Book in a way you never did before. And it will consume you. It will pull and tug at you and you won’t ever want to get too far away from it."

Extensive research shows strong links between growing up with books and reading aloud and later language development and school success.

“Books contain a more diverse set of words than child-directed speech,” says Jessica Montag, an assistant research psychologist at the University of California, Riverside. “This would suggest that children who are being read to by caregivers are hearing vocabulary words that kids who are not being read to are probably not hearing.

"So reading picture books with young children may mean that they hear more words, while at the same time, their brains practice creating the images associated with those words — and with the more complex sentences and rhymes that make up even simple stories.

"Children whose parents reported more reading at home and more books in the home showed significantly greater activation of brain areas in a region of the left hemisphere called the parietal-temporal-occipital association cortex."

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"This brain area is a watershed region, all about multi-sensory integration, integrating sound and then visual stimulation," according to Dr. John S. Hutton, a clinical research fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

"This region of the brain is known to be very active when older children read to themselves, but it also lights up when younger children are hearing stories. What was especially novel was that children who were exposed to more books and home-reading showed significantly more activity in the areas of the brain that process visual association, even though the child was in the scanner just listening to a story and could not see any pictures.

“When kids are hearing stories, they’re imagining in their mind’s eye when they hear the story. For example, ‘The frog jumped over the log.’ I’ve seen a frog before, I’ve seen a log before, what does that look like?'

"The different levels of brain activation suggest that children who have more practice in developing those visual images, as they look at picture books and listen to stories, may develop skills that will help them make images and stories out of words later on."