December 30, 2016

Have a good day by Gary Rose


So, there IS something good, even in BAD days. Humm, somehow I like my own saying: Everyday above ground is a good day, even the bad ones; and every day way above ground is called heaven. Semantics you say- well, maybe. However I just like the emphasis to be on the good and let that nasty old bad take a back seat.
Now, about this time I would be just thinking of Philippians 4:8, but when I went to the book to copy it, somehow the preceding verses caught my attention.  Rejoice, in nothing be anxious, etc..
So, perhaps it might be a good time to actually read the verses I had in mind...
Philippians, Chapter 4 (World English Bible)
 4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”  5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.  6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 

  8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.


If the Lord is at hand, rejoice! If you are praying, God knows what concerns you. And God will give you peace. To stay that way, think of the things mentioned in verse 4. The little mouse may be right, I may be- or perhaps BOTH of us.

A song came to mind...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qk9o_ZeR7s
After all this- what could possibly go wrong?

Bible Reading December 30, 31 and January 1 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading December 30, 31 and January 1 (World English Bible)
Dec. 30
Zechariah 13, 14
Zec 13:1 "In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
Zec 13:2 It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
Zec 13:3 It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die, because you speak lies in the name of Yahweh;' and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.
Zec 13:4 It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:
Zec 13:5 but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.'
Zec 13:6 One will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'
Zec 13:7 "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me," says Yahweh of Armies. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
Zec 13:8 It shall happen that in all the land," says Yahweh, "two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.
Zec 13:9 I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is my people;' and they will say, 'Yahweh is my God.' "
Zec 14:1 Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4 His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zec 14:5 You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.
Zec 14:6 It will happen in that day, that there will not be light, cold, or frost.
Zec 14:7 It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh; not day, and not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will be light.
Zec 14:8 It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
Zec 14:9 Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
Zec 14:10 All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Zec 14:11 Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.
Zec 14:12 This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.
Zec 14:13 It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
Zec 14:14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and clothing, in great abundance.
Zec 14:15 So will be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the donkey, and of all the animals that will be in those camps, as that plague.
Zec 14:16 It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of tents.
Zec 14:17 It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there will be no rain.
Zec 14:18 If the family of Egypt doesn't go up, and doesn't come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents.
Zec 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents.
Zec 14:20 In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO YAHWEH;" and the pots in Yahweh's house will be like the bowls before the altar.
Zec 14:21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.
Dec. 31
Malachi 1-4
Mal 1:1 An oracle: the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi.
Mal 1:2 "I have loved you," says Yahweh. Yet you say, "How have you loved us?" "Wasn't Esau Jacob's brother?" says Yahweh, "Yet I loved Jacob;
Mal 1:3 but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness."
Mal 1:4 Whereas Edom says, "We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places;" thus says Yahweh of Armies, "They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them 'The Wicked Land,' even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath forever."
Mal 1:5 Your eyes will see, and you will say, "Yahweh is great--even beyond the border of Israel!"
Mal 1:6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my name. You say, 'How have we despised your name?'
Mal 1:7 You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, 'How have we polluted you?' In that you say, 'Yahweh's table contemptible.'
Mal 1:8 When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn't that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn't that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?" says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 1:9 "Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?" says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 1:10 "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you," says Yahweh of Armies, "neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
Mal 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 1:12 "But you profane it, in that you say, 'Yahweh's table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.'
Mal 1:13 You say also, 'Behold, what a weariness it is!' and you have sniffed at it," says Yahweh of Armies; "and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?" says Yahweh.
Mal 1:14 "But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King," says Yahweh of Armies, "and my name is awesome among the nations."
Mal 2:1 "Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
Mal 2:2 If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name," says Yahweh of Armies, "then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
Mal 2:3 Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.
Mal 2:4 You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant may be with Levi," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 2:5 "My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him who he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name.
Mal 2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.
Mal 2:7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 2:8 But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 2:9 "Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.
Mal 2:10 Don't we all have one father? Hasn't one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Mal 2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Mal 2:12 Yahweh will cut off, to the man who does this, him who wakes and him who answers, out of the tents of Jacob, and him who offers an offering to Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 2:13 This again you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn't regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand.
Mal 2:14 Yet you say, 'Why?' Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
Mal 2:15 Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Mal 2:16 For I hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with violence!" says Yahweh of Armies. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you don't deal treacherously.
Mal 2:17 You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, 'How have we wearied him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and he delights in them;' or 'Where is the God of justice?'
Mal 3:1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!" says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 3:2 "But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap;
Mal 3:3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
Mal 3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
Mal 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don't fear me," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 3:6 "For I, Yahweh, don't change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Mal 3:7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says Yahweh of Armies. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'
Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says Yahweh of Armies, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.
Mal 3:11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 3:12 "All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 3:13 "Your words have been stout against me," says Yahweh. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'
Mal 3:14 You have said, 'It is vain to serve God;' and 'What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?
Mal 3:15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.'
Mal 3:16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
Mal 3:17 They shall be mine," says Yahweh of Armies, "my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
Mal 3:18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.
Mal 4:1 "For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up," says Yahweh of Armies, "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2 But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.
Mal 4:3 You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal 4:4 "Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
Mal 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." 
  
Jan 1
Genesis 1
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Gen 1:3 God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
Gen 1:4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. There was evening and there was morning, one day.
Gen 1:6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
Gen 1:7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
Gen 1:8 God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Gen 1:9 God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;" and it was so.
Gen 1:10 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:11 God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;" and it was so.
Gen 1:12 The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Gen 1:14 God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
Gen 1:15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;" and it was so.
Gen 1:16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
Gen 1:17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,
Gen 1:18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Gen 1:20 God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky."
Gen 1:21 God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
Gen 1:23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Gen 1:24 God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;" and it was so.
Gen 1:25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:26 God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen 1:27 God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them.
Gen 1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Gen 1:29 God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
Gen 1:30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;" and it was so.
Gen 1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. 
 
Dec. 30
Revelation 21, 22
Rev 21:1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
Rev 21:2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Rev 21:4 He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away."
Rev 21:5 He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true."
Rev 21:6 He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
Rev 21:7 He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Rev 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Rev 21:9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb's bride."
Rev 21:10 He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it was a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12 having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev 21:13 On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
Rev 21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15 He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.
Rev 21:16 The city lies foursquare, and its length is as great as its breadth. He measured the city with the reed, Twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.
Rev 21:17 Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
Rev 21:18 The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
Rev 21:19 The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev 21:20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev 21:21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Rev 21:22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
Rev 21:23 The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 21:24 The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
Rev 21:25 Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),
Rev 21:26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.
Rev 21:27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Rev 22:1 He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev 22:2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve him.
Rev 22:4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
Rev 22:6 He said to me, "These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon."
Rev 22:7 "Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Rev 22:8 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.
Rev 22:9 He said to me, "See you don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."
Rev 22:10 He said to me, "Don't seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still."
Rev 22:12 "Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Rev 22:16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star."
Rev 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears, let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
Rev 22:19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I come quickly." Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen. 
 
Jan. 1
Matthew 1
Mat 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Mat 1:2 Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.
Mat 1:3 Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram.
Mat 1:4 Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon.
Mat 1:5 Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
Mat 1:6 Jesse became the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Mat 1:7 Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa.
Mat 1:8 Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah.
Mat 1:9 Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.
Mat 1:10 Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.
Mat 1:11 Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.
Mat 1:12 After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel.
Mat 1:13 Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor.
Mat 1:14 Azor became the father of Sadoc. Sadoc became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud.
Mat 1:15 Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob.
Mat 1:16 Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Mat 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Mat 1:19 Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.
Mat 1:20 But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Mat 1:21 She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins."
Mat 1:22 Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
Mat 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;" which is, being interpreted, "God with us."
Mat 1:24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;
Mat 1:25 and didn't know her sexually until she had brought forth her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

What must we do to be saved? by Roy Davison


http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/whatmustido.html

What must we do to be saved?
People at Capernaum asked Jesus: “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28). A lawyer asked Him: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). A rich young ruler asked Him: “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). On Pentecost the people asked: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). The Philippian jailor asked: “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

What answers did these people receive from Jesus and His apostles?

A popular answer today, given by evangelicals, is: You do not have to do anything! I found the following quotations on the Internet: (1) “Salvation does not depend on what you do or don’t do”; (2) “Your salvation does not depend on what you do.”

Did Jesus teach that one does not have to do anything to be saved?

Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).

Thus, to enter God’s kingdom we must do the will of the Father. We must do what Jesus says.

Evangelicals contradict Jesus when they claim that salvation is not dependent on what one does.

What answers were receive when people asked: “What must I do?”

At Capernaum people asked: “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28). Jesus replied: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29).

The first thing one must do to be saved is to believe in Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus then explains that believing or not-believing is related to what one does: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:19-21).

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Only through Christ can sinful man be saved: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). Christ “died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15). He “gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

Through the sacrifice of his Son, God has made salvation available to everyone. Whether one is saved or not depends on how one responds to God’s offer of salvation.

The first reply to “What must we do” is “Believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29).

This faith must be confessed. Jesus said: “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32, 33).

And the lawyer then, what answer did he get when he asked Jesus: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). When Jesus asked him to answer his own question, he said: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27). Jesus then said: “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). When the lawyer tried to excuse himself by asking, “And who is my neighbor?”, Jesus gave the example of the Good Samaritan and said, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:29-37).

What must we do to inherit eternal life? Faith is the first requirement, but faith without love is worthless: “Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).

What did Jesus reply to the rich young ruler when he asked, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17).

First He said: “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). To be saved, we must keep God’s commandments. This was true under the Old Covenant, and this is true under the New Covenant.

Jesus said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10).

But keeping commandments is not enough. When the rich young ruler told Jesus he had kept the commandments, Jesus replied: “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22).

Although he kept the ten commandments, he lacked something. He had to repent and follow Jesus. Without repentance, no one can be saved.

Referring to people who had died because of their sins, Jesus said: “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2, 3). And referring to others who had died in an accident, He said: “Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4, 5).

To be saved we must discard everything that separates us from God, and follow Christ. Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

Is there something else that one must do? After Jesus died and rose, He told His followers: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15, 16).

In addition to faith, confession and repentance, one must also be baptized to be saved. That is what Jesus says.

Paul clarifies that baptism itself is a gift of God’s grace through which He gives us salvation. “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7). Through what does God save us? “Through the washing of regeneration.”

There is something wrong with the faith of those who teach: “Your salvation does not depend on what you do or don’t do.” They reject God’s gift of saving grace in baptism. They are unbelievers in the sense that they do not believe what Jesus says about salvation. They claim one can be saved by faith only, whereas Jesus says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). Nor do they believe the Holy Spirit speaking through James: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20); “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). People who believe in salvation by faith only do not have a saving faith.

The apostles preached the same gospel Jesus preached.

When the Philippian jailor asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30), he was told: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household” (Acts 15:31-34).

Paul wrote: “With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

And what was Peter’s reply on the Day of Pentecost when the people asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

When the apostles were asked: “What must we do to be saved?” their reply was the same as that of Jesus. To be saved people must believe in Jesus, confess their faith, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. To follow Christ they must deny themselves and learn to observe all things that He has commanded them (Matthew 28:20).

God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross to suffer the penalty for your sins. He offers you salvation as a free gift of His grace. Whether you are saved or not depends on your response. You can be saved if you believe in Christ, confess His name, repent of your sins and are baptized. This is the good news preached by Jesus and His apostles.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)