Lesson 991

(Lesson 991)(05-31-14) Luke 12:35-40

"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

Today's lesson tells the followers of Christ to be always prepared for His second coming and to live our lives as if He will return today.
Throughout history there has been much speculation about when Jesus will return to reclaim the earth and to exercise His judgment against those whom have died in His grace.

Today's lesson very plainly tells us that the time of His return will NEVER be known by anyone other that God the Father.
Jesus did, however, tell us that there would be signs we could observe to know the day of His return was near; "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:3-36)

Many of the things Jesus descrpbed in this quote have already occurred during my lifetime.

What a glorious and blessed day that will be for those of us whom have accepted His loving grace and placed our faith in Him.~

Lesson 990

(Lesson 990)(05-30-14) Luke 12:13-34

"And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Today's quote relates a lesson on faith, straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ, that challenges and decries a great part of today's, so called, "Christian" philosophy.

By speaking to His disciples, applying a parable, Jesus perfectly described one of the most pronounced failures of modern "Christianity", that being it's total lack of demonstrated faith.

To those "Christians" who would "save up" for tomorrow by amassing great wealth and then stashing it in investments and savings accounts (new barns) so as to amass even more, Jesus said; "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." Jesus very directly commanded His followers to rely on Him, by faith, to provide even the clothes we wear on our backs.

Those who keep building "new barns" within which to store more and more earthly goods demonstrate a total lack of faith in the straight forward promises made by Jesus Christ Himself. Many of those totally disobedient "Christians" also occupy the best pews in today's "churches" every time the doors swing, while loudly and hypocritically AMENing every aspect of this very lesson every time it is taught.

As Jesus made so very clear in today's lesson, there will be a time when our souls will be demanded of us. The strength of our faith will be exposed for what it truly is.

Living a pretend life of obedience to the gospel of Christ will make for a losing situation when we face the judgment seat of Christ.

We should all take the time to reassess our priorities and rededicate ourselves, by FAITH, to the pure gospel of Christ. We must all humble ourselves and not let wealth, or lack thereof, stand between us and our service to God.

We should remember who Jesus is and what He is to us. We should remember that the words He said are meant to be taken seriously and applied accordingly each and every hour of our lives.

As for me, with a choice between "rainy day" money in the bank and an eternity with God, I'm taking the promise of a secure eternity made by Jesus Himself, every time.~

Lesson 989

(Lesson 989)(05-29-14) Luke 12:4-12

"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say."

In this lesson, Jesus, knowing that the leaders of the Jews, the Romans, and Herod himself, were all out to kill Him and destroy His Church, He assured His disciples that although they might be captured and thrown before the courts, they had nothing to fear because the Holy Ghost would always be there to protect them, even to the point of providing the words they would need to say in their own defense.

That same protection is ours for the taking today if we will only place our faith in Jesus Christ. If we have, and are willing to demonstrate, total faith in Him, we need never fear anything.

God knows us all, and as is said in today's quote, he knows the number of hairs on our heads. So, He won't forget us when we are in need. He remembers the sparrows, and they are far less important to Him than we.

There was a time when it seemed impossible there would ever be a day when Christian people, right next to home, would be threatened because of their belief in Jesus Christ. Sadly, there are many places in the world today, not that far from our homes, where that security no longer exists except as it is afforded us through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Although it is not our charge to change the morality of the world, it is incumbent upon us to defend our own faith, the only way we will ever be able to do that is by leaning totally upon the power of the Holy Ghost through faith in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.~

Lesson 988

(Lesson 988)(05-28-14) Luke 12:1-3

"In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops."

This is one of my favorite bible lessons and is one very closely reflective of today's, so called, Christian authority.

Jesus said; "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." In essence, He warned His disciples not to be taken in by the smooth talkers who have always held the reins of "religious" authority and who give the outward appearance of perfection while inwardly they are consumed by evil intent.

Those of us who take up the cause of Jesus Christ should also beware of the "Christian" hypocrites, we should arm ourselves against them with absolute bible truth.

Today's Christian should; Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." (2 Timothy 2:15-16)
Jesus went further in today's lesson saying; "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."

Just as Jesus exposed the hypocritical Pharisees, those today, who by pretense, use the word of God for their own personal gain, will also be exposed and judged accordingly.

A hypocrite who knows the will of God and abuses it can do hundreds of times more harm to the cause of Jesus Christ than one who is totally ignorant of God's word.~

Lesson 987

(Lesson 987)(05-27-14) Luke 11:37-54

"And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him."

In today's lesson, when the Pharisee challenged Jesus as to why He had not washed His hands before eating, according to the law and custom of the Jews, Jesus took the opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leadership.

He explained that, although they took great pains to leave the outward appearance of following the letter of the law, in truth, they were wholly corrupt and full of evil intent.

Jesus openly charged those leaders, as a people, with the collective murder of many of God's prophets, from Abel all the way through Zacharias. Not only had they betrayed the covenant with God, they had made themselves a stumbling block before those who were earnestly seeking God's grace.

Many of our modern "religious" representatives, and "Church" leaders, are guilty of conducting themselves in the exact same way as did those lawyers, scribes, and Pharisees of Jesus' day.

They present a beautiful picture on the outside, never missing an opportunity to warm the padded pew, while being inwardly rotten to the core.

As is said in today's quote, the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers, sacrificed small, insignificant things of themselves while demanding all others to sacrifice the more precious and costly things. As we learned in a previous lesson, some even sold sacrificial animals, for profit, inside the temple.

I believe the warning Jesus gave to those Jewish religious leaders should also be given to the vast majority of today's "religious" leaders, those who elevate themselves above the rest of us while passing judgment on those who do not walk their falsely conceived and hypocritical line.
Paul put it very well when he said, "But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."(Romans 14:10-13)
Unlike the Pharisees of old, and the hypocrites of today, as children of God, we should ALWAYS remain humble in our worship and spiritual efforts. We should ALWAYS raise those around us above our own station, so as to present ourselves as true Christians in the manner laid out for us by Jesus Christ Himself.~

Lesson 986

(Lesson 986)(05-26-14) Luke 11:29-36

"And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light."

In today's lesson Jesus rightly described the leadership of the Jews of His day, as an "evil" generation.

The Jewish people, throughout their history, had so distorted and disobeyed God's laws so as to completely destroy the covenant Abraham had made. They had continually chased after and worshiped idols. They had perverted God's laws to fit their own power hungry, greedy agendas.

Jesus gave the examples of how Solomon, blessed with the infinite wisdom, had so impressed the people of his generation that they had followed Him without question. He told how that, because of Jonas, the people of Nineveh had repented their evil ways and turned back to God.
Jesus explained how, even though He is the all powerful, omniscient Son of our creator God, mightier than any of the prophets, the Jews of His day still refused to believe in Him.

Just as the ancient Jews had Jesus' physical presence, we today, have His wisdom and power through the presence of His Holy Spirit. We also have every word of His gospel message.

Jesus said we are not to accept then sit down with His grace, we are to remove the "bushel" that hides it and broadcast our faith to all who will listen, every waking minute of every day.

We should be very conscious of the fact that just like the ancient Jews, most of the earth's population today, even those who take on the mantel of "Christianity", still choose to distort the pure gospel of Christ by parsing His words to suit personal agendas. Those who might be guilty of practicing such distortion either don't realize, that by doing so, they reject Jesus and His loving grace, or they just don't believe enough to care.

Jesus said that those who believed Jonah's warning and repented would rise up to judge those who had not.

The sad reality is that the judgment facing those who reject the saving grace of Jesus Christ is horribly worse by comparison to any judgment that could be delivered by the people of Nineveh.

Those who reject Jesus and His soul saving sacrifice will be damned for eternity.~

Lesson 985

(Lesson 985)(05-25-14) Luke 11:27-32

"And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."

Today's quote provides much of the foundation for the erroneous adoration and worship of Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus, within the Roman Catholic "Church".

We should take notice that it was only a woman in the crowd who rose and said; "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." Jesus gave no such blessing.

As a matter of fact, He very clearly rebutted the woman's blessing of Mary when He immediately said; "Yea RATHER, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."

Jesus said the truly blessed were those who heard His word and believed in Him.

In Matthew 12:47-50, Jesus also made it clear that those who believe in Him take precedent over His own family. Mary, His earthly mother included: "Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."

As we see in this lesson, Mary, the woman so many Catholics wrongfully pray to today, means less in the sight of God than those of us whom have placed our faith in Him Through Jesus Christ.~