ALLOWED TO PREACH? by steve finnell

http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2017/03/allowed-to-preach-steve-finnell-would.html

ALLOWED TO PREACH?  by steve finnell

Would Jesus and the apostles be allowed to preach in your denomination or your church congregation?

If Jesus said, those who believe and are baptized will be saved, would He be allowed to preach at your denomination's convention? ( Ref:Mark 16:16 NIV 1973)

If Jesus said, that if you do not believe in Me you will die in your sins, would He be rebuked by your church leaders? (Ref: John 8:24 NIV 1973)

If the apostle Paul said, Jesus made the church holy and blameless by cleansing her by the washing of water through the word, would Paul ever be permitted to preach again? (Ref: Ephesians 5: 25-27 NIV)

If the apostle Peter said, that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ, would he be authorized to teach and preach at your church? (Ref: Acts 4:10-12 NIV 1973)

If the apostle Peter said, do not revere the Virgin Mary or other dead saints by praying to them, would Peter be allowed to preach at your church? (Ref: Acts 10:25-26 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up . "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself." (NIV 1973)

If the apostle Paul, said salvation is available to all men, and not just a selected few, would Paul be permitted to preach at your church? (Ref: Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (NIV 1973)

Would the apostle John be reprimanded at your church if he said, men cannot inherit sin, because sin is committed and not inherited from Adam? (Ref: 1 John 3:4 Everyone  who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. NIV 1973) NOTE: INFANTS DO BREAK THE LAW.

There are few churches who would allow Jesus and the apostles to preach. They would be admonished, reprimanded, prohibited, rebuked fired on the spot.  

Judging “Insiders” & 1 Corinthians 5 by Jim McGuiggan

http://theabidingword.com/logos/index.html

Judging “Insiders” & 1 Corinthians 5

Abruptly! “There’s crass sexual immorality going on among you! Even Gentiles know better!” That’s his tone, or something very like it. 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

It might be significant that he doesn’t say “adultery” or “incest”. The word he uses was in common use to cover sexual sin in general. The unholy relationship Paul has in mind in 5:1 might have been with his father’s wife, the sinner’s step-mother; it might even have been with his mother. Commentator’s offer various suggestions.

When he says Gentiles know better he has to be expressing the level of his shock rather than offering the result of a statistical survey. It isn’t hard to find some Greco-Roman writers who oppose sexual immortality but it was a sad bad world they lived in (see 6:9-10).
The sinner’s behavior certainly led Paul to blunt speech (5:5, 13 with Deuteronomy 13:5; 17:5; 19:19; 21:21 as a background) but it isn’t the sinner that gets the heaviest blows.  He saves those for the Church that encourages and in a way defends him.
Paul wants him saved (5:5). Certain elements in the congregation glory in what he is doing and so further endanger him because not only are they doing nothing against the behavior they are encouraging him it. (It’s not easy to pin down why they were “glorying” or “puffed up” in the face of it but then there’s 6:12-20 where porneia is immediately linked to demonic worship and defended on the grounds that sex and eating were both God-given drives.)
Of course, they loved themselves and gloried in their gifts and their wisdom (4:7-8) and swaggered if they thought they had the showiest gifts and the smartest answers (12:12-31and then chapter 13). They were obviously too wise, too gifted (1:5-7) and fell in love with themselves rather than the God from whom everything came (1:4, 8-9; 5:18). Despite all that they still acted like non-spiritual people (3:3) who needed to be reconciled with God (5:20, with a present imperative).
You can imagine that element in the church that defended the sexual immorality of this man and then demonic worship attendance (6:12-20). See their smiles at the ignorance of the other brothers and sisters who were still bound by “the rules.” Yes, those who didn’t know what freedom was; they were so ignorant that they couldn’t eat meat that had a link to temple worship. Ah, the marvelous sense of “freedom”. Those ‘wise” fools never noticed that Jesus was sitting there with the ignorant—and not eating! The Lord didn’t side with the ones with “the newly-found knowledge of freedom”.

“FREEDOM!” Mackintosh said this, “Freedom is good and Christ gives it abundantly; but freedom without Christ, is evil through and through. Freedom is sweet, but what are all its joys if to taste them we must take leave of our best Friend ? Whatever we must renounce or deny to ourselves is nothing to what we have found in Him.”

The puffed up group is damaging more than the sexually immoral man; they’re endangering the entire congregation. “A little leaven leavens the entire lump.” And they’re doing more than that—they’re building a reputation for the entire People of God. Their great double wrong is the fruit of their having lost sight of who they are (5:6-7) and how as a congregational manifestation of Jesus Christ they should respond to such public sexual behavior and relationships.

With the Exodus as the background Paul speaks to them as “Passover People.” In preparation for the sacrificial meal of liberation they were to cleanse the house entirely of leaven and Paul reminds them that in light of the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ, who had already been offered, they should have already purged this corruption. We’re to imagine the wise and glorious ones sitting at a meal of celebration with a festering dead body in their presence. Rather than being puffed up about it he said, you should be mourning as for a dead man (5:2).

For all their wisdom, for all their knowledge, for all their giftedness they were “fleshly” and conducted themselves according to human standards (3:3-4). What society thought, the way society thought, the arguments society made are all operating here in the absence of love as it is seen in GOD (8:1-3). They were “carnal” because they not only followed preachers they followed a Christ-denying society. So now they sit with this decaying corpse in their presence and glorying in it. Glorying in it because they are carnal! This section of the church was claiming life for themselves and for this unrepentant member of the Church of God. “They were self-centered, self-contained and self-directed.” (Barrett)

Paul calls on the church to stand together, with his apostolic authority and the powerful presence of the Lord Jesus in delivering this man over to Satan. That is to acknowledge that that is who he chooses to belong to and the “wise ones” support and glory in his choice.
The aim is not his destruction but his salvation! It was this wise and swaggering segment of the congregation that was damning this man but which of them would have believed it? “How unkind! How unloving! How narrow-minded!” We hear that kind of talk now and you can be sure that it was said then. And “harsh, narrow, legalistic and wrong.” Paul takes another beating but that was no surprise to him, see what he says in 4:8-13.

5:9-13. Finally for now. He had written that they were to have no fellowship or company with people whose life’s choice was open immorality. Some obviously thought he was talking about non-Christians. He said, “I didn’t mean that at all!” And then he makes himself crystal clear. There are those who are “outside” and those that are “inside”. (And we can hear again the whimpering tone, “Oh that is so narrow-minded and self-righteous and unkind.” That isn’t Paul! There is no kindness so cruel as the kindness that will leave people who are food of devouring parasites to be devoured. And sometimes it isn’t kindness at all—it’s gutlessness and a fear to speak up due to a fear of being thought small-minded.)
The outsiders who choose a lifestyle of unrepentant immorality in any of its forms are not to be confused with those who have been baptized into a Lord Jesus who lived, died and rose again to redeem us (Romans 6:1-11; Titus 2:11—3:11). “We judge those that are within,” he said! His gospel, he said, was all tied up with the glory of the blessed God and sexual immorality was contrary to it. (2 Timothy 1:11) Contrary to the gospel! For him every question was, “How does this fit in with or rise out of or embody the gospel of the blessed and glorious God?” (2 Timothy 1:11; Galatians 5:16-21)

Let God judge those who choose not to become part of the congregations of Jesus Christ. But those who wish to be included within the called out People of God, those who claim to be are part of the blood bought Church of God (Acts 20:28), who claim to be parts of Christ and one spirit with Him must commit to live in light of that commitment and relationship (1 Corinthians 6:9-20). Those who do not wish to be part of the Community of Jesus Christ have been allowed that choice (Acts 14:16; Romans 1:24, 26). What they’re not allowed to do is to say, “I refuse to place myself under the Headship of Jesus as part of His Body but I want to be regarded as part of it. I will count myself in but I will not be judged by it.”

Those who justify that spirit will answer to God! They dishonor the Lord and hurt the world!

Has NASA Discovered Joshua's "Lost Day"? by Bert Thompson, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1090

Has NASA Discovered Joshua's "Lost Day"?

by	Bert Thompson, Ph.D.

Q.

In the tenth chapter of the Old Testament book of Joshua, it is recorded that the Sun “stood still.” The story often circulates that NASA scientists, using computers to calculate orbits for the Earth and Sun, discovered that there was a “lost day.” Upon further examination, so the story goes, these scientists used their computers to find this missing day, proving the biblical record to be accurate. Is this story true?

A.

From time to time stories such as the one described above appear—in church bulletins and religious publications, or even on the Internet—as factual and true. No doubt those who propagate such information mean well, and have as their ultimate goal a defense of the Bible against the slings and arrows of infidelity. However, the story is untrue. An investigation reveals the following details.

Similar stories have been around for more than half a century. In his 1936 book, The Harmony of Science and Scripture, Harry Rimmer devoted the entire last chapter to “Modern Science and the Long Day of Joshua.” In his discussion, Rimmer recounted the biblical story of how God made the Sun stand still (Joshua 10), and then made the following statement concerning this miracle: “The final testimony of science is that such a day left its record for all time. As long as time shall be, the record of this day must remain. The fact is attested by eminent men of science, two of whom I quote here” (1936, p. 280). Dr. Rimmer then mentioned two scientists—Sir Edwin Ball, a British astronomer, and Charles A.L. Totten, a Yale professor. He credited Ball with being the first to notice that “twenty-four hours had been lost out of solar time.” Rimmer then asked the questions: “Where did that go, what was the cause of this strange lapse, and how did it happen?” (p. 280). In the very next paragraph, he wrote: “There is a place, however, where the answer is found. And this place is attested by a scientist of standing. There is a book by Prof. C.A. Totten of Yale, written in 1890, which establishes the case beyond the shadow of a doubt” (p. 281). Rimmer then offered what he called a “summary” of Totten’s book where, he said, information could be found to prove exactly how the “lost day” had been discovered. Rimmer even gave the exact day and month on which Joshua’s battle was fought—Tuesday, July 22 (p. 266).

Before responding to the question about NASA scientists allegedly having found the “lost day” of Joshua, let me make several observations about this older version (from which the newer one obviously has been fashioned—with considerable embellishment). First, Rimmer specifically stated that he intended to “quote from” Ball and Totten, yet none of the statements he offered was placed in quotation marks. Second, the 1890 book that Totten wrote (Joshua’s Long Day and the Dial of Ahaz) never was named by Rimmer, which seems a bit odd considering that Rimmer devoted an entire chapter to this subject in his own book. Third, no bibliographic references were provided by Rimmer to the works of either Ball or Totten—again, quite unusual, seeing as how Rimmer based his entire argument on the validity of their respective cases. Fourth, numerous other writers have made serious efforts to determine the validity of Rimmer’s claims, as well as those of Ball and Totten, but with no success. For example, Bernard Ramm, in The Christian View of Science and Scripture, discussed Dr. Rimmer’s viewpoint and his reference to Totten. Ramm couched his personal conclusion regarding the documentation offered by Rimmer, Totten, and Ball in well-chosen terminology when he observed: “This I have not been able to verify to my own satisfaction.... Dr. Kulp has tried to check this theory at Yale [Totten’s employer—BT] and in England [Sir Edwin Ball’s home—BT], and has found nothing to verify it” (1954, pp. 109,117).

No doubt Rimmer himself believed the story to be true. But the documentation that should have provided the proof was seriously and obviously lacking. How such stories originate is far more difficult to ascertain than how they circulate. When a story has been “corroborated” with what appear to be credible names and relevant facts, people often do not go to the trouble of investigating it any further. Once accepted, it then is used in what the Bible believer sees as a reasoned defense of God’s Word. From all evidence now available, the story of Ball, Totten, and Rimmer simply is not true, and should not be used in defending the Bible as the Word of God.

The same can be said about the modern-day version of the story. Again, some historical background is necessary. When the account, as told by Dr. Rimmer, first was published, apparently it caused quite a bit of excitement and was accepted uncritically by those anxious to show how science “proved” the Bible true. After the initial excitement subsided, the story was forgotten, or overlooked, and eventually relegated to the relic heaps of history. Its stay there, however, was brief. Someone (to this day, no one knows who) rediscovered the story, “dusted it off,” gave it some embellishment (no doubt to make it more appealing to the modern scientific mind), provided names (of individuals, companies, and cities), and then, for good measure, threw in a reference to a popular government agency that was/is very much in the public eye (the National Aeronautic and Space Administration—NASA). With this “remake” of the story now complete, it had built-in credibility that few thought to doubt or question.

The modern version of the story suggests that NASA scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland were using sophisticated computers to plot positions of the Sun, Moon, and other planets 100, and 1000, years in the future in order to calculate spacecraft trajectories. Suddenly the computers ground to a halt. As it turns out, the computers had discovered a “lost day” in time. Repairmen did not know how to correct the problem. But one of the scientists present had attended Sunday school as a child and recalled a story in which God made the Sun stand still for about a day. When he suggested this as a possible solution, the other scientists ridiculed him. However, the scientist turned to Joshua 10 and read the story. The repairmen then fed the new data into the computers (carefully factoring in the “lost day” of Joshua), and the machines once more whirred along perfectly—almost. The computers suddenly stopped again because they had not discovered a whole day; something still was missing. Apparently (so the story goes) the computers found only 23 hours and 20 minutes. In other words, 40 minutes still were unaccounted for. But the Sunday-school-going scientist suggested the answer to this conundrum. He remembered 2 Kings 20, which indicates that King Hezekiah, upon being promised a reprieve from imminent death, had requested a sign from Heaven. God then made the Sun move backwards ten degrees—or exactly 40 minutes! This information was fed into the computers, and they once again worked perfectly.

This tale became widely circulated in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a result of the efforts of Harold Hill, then-president of the Curtis Engine Company in Halethorpe (Baltimore), Maryland. In his 1974 book, How to Live Like a King’s Kid, Mr. Hill devoted an entire chapter to the story (pp. 65-77) and explained how it became so widespread. He stated that on occasion he spoke to high school and college students regarding Bible/science matters, and that the story of NASA’s “missing day” was one he “told often” (pp. 65-66). Somehow (even Mr. Hill never knew how), Mary Kathryn Bryan, a columnist for the Evening World of Spencer, Indiana, received a written account of Mr. Hill’s story and ran it in her column. Afterwards, Hill noted, “various news services picked up the story and it appeared in hundreds of places” (p. 69, emp. in orig.). The account no doubt was afforded a certain amount of built-in credibility when Mr. Hill suggested regarding the space program at Goddard: “I was involved from the start, through contractual arrangements with my company” (1974, p. 65). [As it turns out, Mr. Hill’s connection to NASA was tenuous at best; his company had a contract to service some of the government agency’s electrical generators. He never was connected in any way with mission operations or planning.]

All efforts to confirm the origin of the story have failed. After an article about it appeared in the April 1970 Bible-Science Newsletter, several readers of that magazine wrote Mr. Hill. A subsequent article in the July 1989 Bible-Science Newsletter made mention of the fact that after the 1970 article, some readers finally received a form letter from Mr. Hill in which he stated that he did not originate the tale. In his 1974 book, he acknowledged that he did not witness the incident at NASA personally, and said that he could not remember where he first heard it, but insisted that “my inability to furnish documentation of the ‘Missing day’ incident in no way detracts from its authenticity” (p. 71).

The July 1989 Bible-Science Newsletter article went on to report that

Dr. Bolton Davidheiser wrote the NASA office at Greenbelt, Maryland, where all of this was supposed to have happened. They replied that they knew nothing of Mr. Harold Hill and could not corroborate the “lost day” reference.... The concluding paragraph of NASAs letter read, “Although we make use of planetary positions as necessary in the determination of space-craft orbits on our computers, I have not found that any ‘astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt’ were involved in the ‘lost day’ story attributed to Mr. Hill” (Bartz, 1989, p. 12).

The story’s origin is dubious at best (and spurious at worst). The facts, where verifiable, are incorrect. And those allegedly involved in finding the “lost day” of Joshua admit to knowing nothing about such events. Furthermore, anyone claiming that computers somehow could “find” a lost day fails to understand how computers work. As Paul Bartz has commented:

Computers are not magic machines which can figure out things which are hidden from normal people. As wonderful as they are, they are limited by the knowledge which we give them. Computers depend on us for knowledge. While a computer could be used to generate a calendar from today back into the far distant past, which is not an uncommon practice, a computer could not tell us if any time was missing or not. In fact, the computer would have to be programmed with all sorts of adjustments to account for several changes in the western calendar over the past couple of thousand years. In short, the story is technically impossible, no matter how sophisticated your computer (1989, p. 12).

The only conclusion one can draw, respecting the available facts, is that this story is false and should not be circulated. We do a disservice to God’s Word when we attempt to “defend” it with stories such as these that, with a bit of common sense and a small amount of research, can be shown to have no factual foundation whatsoever.

REFERENCES

Bartz, Paul (1989), “Questions and Answers,” Bible-Science Newsletter, 27[7]:12, July.

Hill, Harold (1974), How to Live Like a King’s Kid (South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing).

Ramm, Bernard (1954), The Christian View of Science and Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Rimmer, Harry (1936), The Harmony of Science and Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Totten, Charles A.L. (1890), Joshua’s Long Day and the Dial of Ahaz (New Haven, CT: Our Race Publishing Co.).

Has Satan Always Existed? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=817

Has Satan Always Existed?

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

From a very early age, children learn about the righteousness of God and the wickedness of Satan. We teach children that God is the loving, powerful, and all-knowing Creator and Sustainer of life Who wants them to live right and go to heaven. We also tell them that there is an evil being called Satan who is very influential in the world, and who is doing everything he possibly can to keep them out of heaven. Many Sunday mornings in Bible class, children either sing or study about these two beings. This time of study certainly is worthwhile because children are taught to obey God (John 14:15) and to resist the devil (1 Peter 5:8). In time, however, if young people are not offered additional teaching about the origin of Satan and the eternal nature of God, many inadvertently begin to form a picture in their minds of two opposing “gods” who are at war with each other. Like two heavyweight boxers exchanging punches in the middle of a ring, children begin to think of God and Satan as two equally opposing “forces.”

Although little is suggested in the Bible about Satan’s beginning, we can know that Satan is a created being. Unlike God, the Bible teaches that Satan is not omnipotent (1 John 4:4), omnipresent (cf. Job 1-2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Luke 4:6; Revelation 20:1-10), or eternal (cf. Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 102:27). Furthermore, in speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16, emp. added). The apostle John was inspired to write: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3, emp. added). Who made all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible? Jesus (the Word—John 1:14). Thus, the Bible teaches that Satan is one of God’s created beings. He had a beginning just like you, me, and everything else that exists other than God.

But just because God created Satan, does not mean that He created him as an evil being. Rather, God created him good, and then he chose to become evil. The Bible indicates that Satan was one of the angels who lived in heaven, but he (along with other angels) rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven. The apostle Peter said that “God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). Another inspired writer wrote: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). Since the Bible also refers to the devil as “the ruler of demons” (Matthew 12:24), and speaks of “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, emp. added), it is very likely that the devil is the leader of a group of rebellious angels that was expelled from heaven to eventually spend eternity in hell.

Thus, unlike the philosophy of dualism (made popular by the Persian—Zoroaster), which teaches that an eternal good being and an eternal evil being exist and oppose one another, the Bible teaches that the Godhead is the only eternal entity. Although Satan is not to be taken lightly, it is a blessing to know that he cannot snatch us from the love of God if we are unwilling to allow him to do so (Romans 8:37-39), nor can he tempt us beyond what we are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). God alone is deity, and He alone deserves our praise and adoration.

Hearing God in the Twenty-First Century by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=912

Hearing God in the Twenty-First Century

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

In the Garden of Eden, God spoke directly to Adam, commanding him to refrain from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). Centuries later, “the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision” while he dwelt in the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:1). The patriarch Jacob received a message from Jehovah via the “Angel of God,” Who spoke to him in a dream (Genesis 31:11). The Lord spoke directly to Moses at the burning bush on Mount Horeb (Exodus 3-4). The angel Gabriel brought messages from God to Zacharias, who was dwelling in Jerusalem (Luke 1:11-21), and to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who lived in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-33). Even Saul, who was on his way to Damascus to imprison any Jewish Christians he might find, received a “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19; cf. Acts 9). A list of God’s appearances and messages to men seems almost endless. No Bible believer can dispute the fact that God has revealed messages to men countless times, either directly or through avenues other than written revelation.

The question often asked today is, “How do we hear God now?” Does He still communicate to people through dreams and visions like He did in biblical times? Should we expect Him to call upon us directly at any moment to do some great work, like Saul was called to do? Will God send an angel to me to disclose more revelation than what is given in the Bible? Or, similar to how Eli instructed Samuel, should I “go lie down” and wait on Jehovah to reveal some message to me (1 Samuel 3:9-10). In view of the fact that for millennia God communicated to people either directly or through avenues other than written revelation, why do some today claim that God communicates to man only via the Bible? Just how is it that we “hear God” today?

According to Hebrews 1:1-2, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2, emp. added). In another contrast between the prophets of old (namely, Moses and Elijah) and Jesus, God instructed Peter, James, and John, saying, “This [Jesus] is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5, emp. added). Jesus informed His listeners on one occasion of the reason we must “listen” to Him: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48, emp. added). For one to be pleasing to God, he must learn and obey the words of Jesus.

But how do we “hear” Jesus? According to the New Testament, people come to know Jesus and His words by way of the of the apostles’ teachings. Consider the following line of reasoning from the Scriptures.

• The night of Jesus’ betrayal, He prayed to the Father, saying, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21, emp. added). The “their” of verse 20 refers to those for whom Jesus was praying in the preceding verses (17:6-19)—the apostles. Jesus prayed for the unity of future believers, which He stated would be based upon the apostles’ “word.”
• On that same night, Jesus told the apostles: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (John 13:20, emp. added). After Jesus’ resurrection, and before His ascension into heaven, Jesus told these same disciples: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). To receive the apostles’ teachings, then, was to receive Jesus.

But how do we receive the apostles’ doctrine today? Since all of the apostles are dead, via what method do the apostles speak to us in the twenty-first century? Paul answered this question in Ephesians 3:1-5.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets (emp. added).

Today, a person can understand “the mystery of Christ” through the written revelation of men like the apostle Paul, who received the Truth “through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12).

Still, some ask: “Haven’t other men who have lived through the centuries, even into the twenty-first century, been inspired by God to reveal His message?” Actually, the Bible indicates that all Truth necessary for salvation was revealed during the lifetime of the apostles. The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, He promised His apostles that after His departure from them, the Spirit would come and guide them “into all truth” (John 16:13), teaching them “all things,” and bringing to their remembrance “all things” that Jesus taught them (John 14:26). After His crucifixion and resurrection (but before He ascended into heaven), Jesus then commanded these same disciples to “make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20, emp. added). The “faith…was once for all delivered to the saints” in the first century (Jude 3), so that since that time Christians have had “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

Hearing God’s will in the twenty-first century is as easy as picking up the providentially preserved Bible and reading what Jesus’ “apostles and prophets” recorded for our benefit. God’s revelation thoroughly equips us for every good work (cf. 2 Timothy 3:17), so that no modern-day messages, dreams, or visions are needed. Nearly two thousand years ago, God revealed “all truth” to the apostles and prophets, who recorded it “by inspiration.” This “truth” is the standard by which all people are to live. And anyone teaching a contrary message will suffer eternally (cf. Galatians 1:8-9).

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" The Influence Of The Kingdom (5:13-16) by Mark Copeland

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                 The Influence Of The Kingdom (5:13-16)

INTRODUCTION

1. In "The Beatitudes" (Mt 5:3-12), we saw...
   a. The character of those who would be citizens of the kingdom
   b. The blessedness of the citizens described

2. In the final beatitude, Jesus implied the attitude the world would
   often display towards the citizens of the kingdom - Mt 5:10-12
   a. The world would revile and persecute those in the kingdom
   b. The world would say all kinds of evil against them falsely for His sake
   c. The world would persecute them just as it persecuted the prophets before them
   -- Thus the influence of the world upon the kingdom would often be one of persecution

3. Jesus then proceeded to describe the opposite...
   a. The influence of the kingdom upon the world
   b. The impact the kingdom was designed to have upon those in the world

[He uses two metaphors in doing so. The first, in Mt 5:13, involves the figure of salt...]

I. "YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH"

   A. SALT HAS SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS...
      1. It is white, enhances flavor, preserves, etc.
      2. Based on the context, it is probably salt's ability to enhance
         flavor to which Jesus refers in his illustration
         a. Notice: "...but if the salt loses its flavor..."
         b. Salt has the ability to give flavor to that which is otherwise bland
         c. Job mentioned this ability in Job 6:6

   B. THROUGH THE METAPHOR OF "SALT"...
      1. Jesus depicts the relationship of the citizens of the kingdom
         to the world as one of:
         a. Making the world palatable (bearable) to God, and possibly
            to others as well
         b. Perhaps making it possible for God to continue to bear with
            this world and its "distasteful" wickedness
      2. The idea that the "righteous few" can make it is easier for
         God to forbear the many wicked is illustrated:
         a. In Abraham's conversation with God over Sodom - Gen 18:20-32
         b. In God's dealing with Jerusalem - Jer 5:1
      -- So from God's point of view, the citizens of the kingdom give
         the world what good "flavor" it has!

   C. JESUS WARNS AGAINST LOSING OUR FLAVORING ABILITY!
      1. With pure salt...
         a. It actually never loses its flavor
         b. But when mixed with impurities salt can lose its ability to enhance flavor
      2. We too might lose our ability to be a "flavoring agent" for the world...
         a. By allowing "impurities" into our lives - 1Co 15:33
         b. Therefore, we need to keep ourselves from sin - Ep 5:3-7

   D. IF WE LOSE OUR "FLAVOR"...
      1. How are we going to be "seasoned"? (impurities prevent us from being useful)
      2. We will be thrown out!
         a. Is Jesus teaching the possibility of losing our salvation?
         b. He certainly does elsewhere! - Mt 13:40-43; Re 3:15-16

[First of all, then, we are told of the relationship of the kingdom to
the world FROM GOD'S POINT OF VIEW: "You are the salt of the earth."

In Mt 5:14-16, we find Jesus teaching concerning those in the kingdom
as to their PRIMARY FUNCTION in the world...]

II. "YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD"

   A. USED BY GOD TO TRANSMIT HIS GLORY TO THE WORLD...
      1. They are "lights" in a dark world - Php 2:14-15
      2. Their purpose:  to proclaim the praises of God! - 1Pe 2:9; Ep 5:8b-9

   B. THEY ARE NOT A "LIGHT" IN AND OF THEMSELVES...
      1. Only in the Lord - Ep 5:8a
      2. Christ is the "true" or "original" light - Jn 8:12
      3. Citizens of the kingdom are simply "luminaries" reflecting The
         One True Light, just as the moon reflects the sun - 2Co 4:6

   C. THEIR TWOFOLD RESPONSIBILITY AS "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD"...
      1. They must be visible
         a. Implied by Jesus in His use of a "city" and a "lampstand"as metaphors
         b. Jesus therefore expects His followers to be seen by the
            world - e.g., Jn 13:35; 17:21
      2. They must radiate (give light)
         a. This principle conveyed by the idea of the lamp
            1) Designed to shine on a lampstand
            2) Not put under a basket
         b. This principle explicitly stated in "let your light SO
            SHINE before men"
      -- The purpose of such visible radiation:  so men may glorify the
         Father in heaven - e.g., 1Pe 2:11-12; 2Co 9:12-13

CONCLUSION

1. The influence and impact that the citizens of the kingdom are to
   have on the world can be simply stated...
   a. "You are the salt of the earth"
   b. "You are the light of the world"

2. Why make the effort to be salt and light?  Because of He who is 
   described as "your Father who is in heaven"!
   a. An expression which should remind us that God is both:
      1) Tender (He is our "Father"; a term of tenderness)
      2) Majestic (He is "in heaven")
   b. Such a Majestic Being, willing to be our Father, makes Him:
      1) Worthy to be pleased!
      2) And worthy to be praised!

3. We who claim to be the children of God, citizens of the kingdom, are we:
   a. Pleasing to our Father (by being "the salt of the earth")?
   b. Praising Him (by being "the light of the world")?

If not, then may the prayer of David in Ps 51:10-15 become our own:

   Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
      And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

   Do not cast me away from Your presence,
      And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

   Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
      And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

   Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
      And sinners shall be converted to You.

   Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed,
      O God, The God of my salvation,
      And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

   O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

Look up by Gary Rose

When Linda and I lived in central New Jersey, every year in the fall we would take a very long drive into Pennsylvania to see the foliage. I miss that, for the greenery in Florida is just not the same; beautiful, but different. As I think about it, I have always enjoyed the change of seasons, even from my youth. I especially remember that in the fall I used to go outside and play in the fallen leaves, lay down and just look up at the trees against the sky – Something akin to the scene in the picture.

As a preteen, I remember reading the Bible and thinking about how Jesus used common things and situations to teach spiritual matters and that has stayed with me throughout the decades. I look at the everyday happenings and surroundings and learn from them. Jesus did this in his teachings; here are but a few examples…

Farming (And the Word of God)

Mark 4 ( English Majority Text Version )

1 And again He began to teach beside the sea. And a large crowd was gathered to Him, so that He got aboard into the boat, and sat on the sea; and all the crowd was upon the land by the sea.

2 And He was teaching them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

3 "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell alongside the road; and the birds came and devoured it.

5 And some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.

6 But when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away.

7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

8 But other seed fell on good ground, and it was yielding fruit coming up and growing, and it was producing—some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

9 And He said, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear!"

The Sky (And the signs of the times)

Matthew 16 ( EMTV )

Matt 16:1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him, they asked Him to show them a sign out of heaven.

Matt 16:2 He answered and said to them, "When evening comes you say, 'Fine weather, for the sky is red'.

Matt 16:3 And in the morning, 'Today will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' Hypocrites! Indeed you know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

The birds and plants (and Worry)

Matthew 6 ( EMTV )

24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one, and he will despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

25 "Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life—what you shall eat, or what you shall drink—nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap, nor do they gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they?

27 And which of you by worrying is able to add one cubit to his height?

28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither labor, nor spin;

29 and yet I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these.

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we put on?'

32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own affairs. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

People around you (the poor and the rich)

Luke 16 ( EMTV )

19 "Now there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself splendidly every day.

20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, who had been placed at his gate,

21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. And even the dogs came and would lick his sores.

22 And it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

23 And being in torments in * Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am suffering in this flame.'

25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now here he is comforted and you are suffering.

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, so that those who desire to cross over from here to you are not able, nor may those from there cross over to us.'

27 Then he said, 'Therefore I beseech you, father, that you would send him to my father's house,

28 for I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'

29 Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'

30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if someone from the dead should go to them, they will repent.'

31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded should one rise from the dead.' "

Salt and Light (To those who would follow him)

Matthew 5 ( EMTV )

1 And seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain, and after He had sat down, His disciples approached Him.

2 And opening His mouth, He began to teach them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you whenever they revile you, and they persecute you, and they say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt becomes tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is then good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trampled underfoot by men.

14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines on everything in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Today, there is a great emphasis on education. In many circles, if you do not have a college education, you are a nobody. Jesus didn’t have a degree, but his teachings are the most profound you will ever read. Almost my entire life I have attempted to understand what he taught and even in retirement there is still much too learn.

If I were to summarize this post, I would put it something like this…

Look up and then inward and begin to learn all that God wants you to know; be amazed, for even the smallest things can teach wonderful spiritual lessons.

Bible Reading for May 8 -10 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading for May 8 -10

World  English  Bible

May 8

Deuteronomy 31, 32

Deu 31:1 Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

Deu 31:2 He said to them, I am one hundred twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and Yahweh has said to me, You shall not go over this Jordan.

Deu 31:3 Yahweh your God, he will go over before you; he will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

Deu 31:4 Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed.

Deu 31:5 Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.

Deu 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, don't be afraid, nor be scared of them: for Yahweh your God, he it is who does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you.

Deu 31:7 Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage: for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.

Deu 31:8 Yahweh, he it is who does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.

Deu 31:9 Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel.

Deu 31:10 Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents,

Deu 31:11 when all Israel is come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

Deu 31:12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;

Deu 31:13 and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.

Deu 31:14 Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him. Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.

Deu 31:15 Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud: and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent.

Deu 31:16 Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

Deu 31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, Haven't these evils come on us because our God is not among us?

Deu 31:18 I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have worked, in that they are turned to other gods.

Deu 31:19 Now therefore write you this song for you, and teach you it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

Deu 31:20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.

Deu 31:21 It shall happen, when many evils and troubles are come on them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.

Deu 31:22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

Deu 31:23 He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them: and I will be with you.

Deu 31:24 It happened, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

Deu 31:25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying,

Deu 31:26 Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.

Deu 31:27 For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; and how much more after my death?

Deu 31:28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

Deu 31:29 For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

Deu 31:30 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

Deu 32:1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Deu 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall condense as the dew, as the small rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.

Deu 32:3 For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh. Ascribe greatness to our God!

Deu 32:4 The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Deu 32:5 They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish. They are a perverse and crooked generation.

Deu 32:6 Do you thus requite Yahweh, foolish people and unwise? Isn't he your father who has bought you? He has made you, and established you.

Deu 32:7 Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

Deu 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.

Deu 32:9 For Yahweh's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Deu 32:10 He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.

Deu 32:11 As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.

Deu 32:12 Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.

Deu 32:13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;

Deu 32:14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. Of the blood of the grape you drank wine.

Deu 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Deu 32:16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.

Deu 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, which were no God, to gods that they didn't know, to new gods that came up of late, which your fathers didn't dread.

Deu 32:18 Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Deu 32:19 Yahweh saw it, and abhorred them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

Deu 32:20 He said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

Deu 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Deu 32:22 For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

Deu 32:23 I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

Deu 32:24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.

Deu 32:25 Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers, terror; on both young man and virgin, The suckling with the gray-haired man.

Deu 32:26 I said, I would scatter them afar. I would make the memory of them to cease from among men;

Deu 32:27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.

Deu 32:28 For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

Deu 32:29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

Deu 32:30 How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?

Deu 32:31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

Deu 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter.

Deu 32:33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, The cruel venom of asps.

Deu 32:34 Isn't this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

Deu 32:35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste.

Deu 32:36 For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, There is none remaining, shut up or left at large.

Deu 32:37 He will say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge;

Deu 32:38 Which ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.

Deu 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, There is no god with me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

Deu 32:40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever,

Deu 32:41 if I whet my glittering sword, My hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my adversaries, and will recompense those who hate me.

Deu 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.

Deu 32:43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will make expiation for his land, for his people.

Deu 32:44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

Deu 32:45 Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel;

Deu 32:46 He said to them, Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law.

Deu 32:47 For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.

Deu 32:48 Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day, saying,

Deu 32:49 Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession;

Deu 32:50 and die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people:

Deu 32:51 because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn't sanctify me in the midst of the children of Israel.

Deu 32:52 For you shall see the land before you; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.

May 9

Deuteronomy 33, 34

Deu 33:1 This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

Deu 33:2 He said, Yahweh came from Sinai, And rose from Seir to them. He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.

Deu 33:3 Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet; Everyone shall receive of your words.

Deu 33:4 Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

Deu 33:5 He was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together.

Deu 33:6 Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.

Deu 33:7 This is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah. Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries.

Deu 33:8 Of Levi he said, Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you strove at the waters of Meribah;

Deu 33:9 who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him; Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he know his own children: For they have observed your word, and keep your covenant.

Deu 33:10 They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar.

Deu 33:11 Yahweh, bless his substance. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again.

Deu 33:12 Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by him. He covers him all the day long. He dwells between his shoulders.

Deu 33:13 Of Joseph he said, His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,

Deu 33:14 for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things of the growth of the moons,

Deu 33:15 for the chief things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills,

Deu 33:16 for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let the blessing come on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

Deu 33:17 The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he shall push the peoples all of them, even the ends of the earth: They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.

Deu 33:18 Of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents.

Deu 33:19 They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand.

Deu 33:20 Of Gad he said, He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head.

Deu 33:21 He provided the first part for himself, for there was the lawgiver's portion reserved. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel.

Deu 33:22 Of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's cub that leaps out of Bashan.

Deu 33:23 Of Naphtali he said, Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of the blessing of Yahweh, Possess the west and the south.

Deu 33:24 Of Asher he said, Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil.

Deu 33:25 Your bars shall be iron and brass. As your days, so your strength will be.

Deu 33:26 There is none like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, In his excellency on the skies.

Deu 33:27 The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, Destroy.

Deu 33:28 Israel dwells in safety; the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew.

Deu 33:29 You are happy, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency! Your enemies shall submit themselves to you. You shall tread on their high places.

Deu 34:1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan,

Deu 34:2 and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the hinder sea,

Deu 34:3 and the South, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar.

Deu 34:4 Yahweh said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to your seed: I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.

Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Yahweh.

Deu 34:6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor: but no man knows of his tomb to this day.

Deu 34:7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

Deu 34:8 The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended.

Deu 34:9 Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands on him: and the children of Israel listened to him, and did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Deu 34:10 There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face,

Deu 34:11 in all the signs and the wonders, which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,

Deu 34:12 and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel.

May 10

Joshua 1, 2

Jos 1:1 Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying,

Jos 1:2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you, and all this people, to the land which I give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Jos 1:3 I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses.

Jos 1:4 From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Jos 1:5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.

Jos 1:6 Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

Jos 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Don't turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.

Jos 1:9 Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed: for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.

Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

Jos 1:11 "Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, 'Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.' "

Jos 1:12 Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying,

Jos 1:13 "Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, 'Yahweh your God gives you rest, and will give you this land.

Jos 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock, shall live in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valor, and shall help them

Jos 1:15 until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they have also possessed the land which Yahweh your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession, and possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.' "

Jos 1:16 They answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

Jos 1:17 Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

Jos 1:18 Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn't listen to your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage."

Jos 2:1 Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, and Jericho." They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.

Jos 2:2 The king of Jericho was told, "Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land."

Jos 2:3 The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land."

Jos 2:4 The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I didn't know where they came from.

Jos 2:5 It happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I don't know. Pursue them quickly; for you will overtake them."

Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.

Jos 2:7 The men pursued them the way to the Jordan to the fords: and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

Jos 2:8 Before they had laid down, she came up to them on the roof;

Jos 2:9 and she said to the men, "I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

Jos 2:10 For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

Jos 2:11 As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.

Jos 2:12 Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token;

Jos 2:13 and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death."

Jos 2:14 The men said to her, "Our life for yours, if you don't talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."

Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall.

Jos 2:16 She said to them, "Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way."

Jos 2:17 The men said to her, "We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear.

Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by. You shall gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household.

Jos 2:19 It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him.

Jos 2:20 But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you have made us to swear."

Jos 2:21 She said, "According to your words, so be it." She sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet line in the window.

Jos 2:22 They went, and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but didn't find them.

Jos 2:23 Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had happened to them.

Jos 2:24 They said to Joshua, "Truly Yahweh has delivered into our hands all the land. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us."

May 8, 9

Luke 21

Luk 21:1 He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury.

Luk 21:2 He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins.

Luk 21:3 He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them,

Luk 21:4 for all these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on."

Luk 21:5 As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said,

Luk 21:6 "As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down."

Luk 21:7 They asked him, "Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?"

Luk 21:8 He said, "Watch out that you don't get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is at hand.' Therefore don't follow them.

Luk 21:9 When you hear of wars and disturbances, don't be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won't come immediately."

Luk 21:10 Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Luk 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Luk 21:12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake.

Luk 21:13 It will turn out as a testimony for you.

Luk 21:14 Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer,

Luk 21:15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.

Luk 21:16 You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death.

Luk 21:17 You will be hated by all men for my name's sake.

Luk 21:18 And not a hair of your head will perish.

Luk 21:19 "By your endurance you will win your lives.

Luk 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.

Luk 21:21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the midst of her depart. Let those who are in the country not enter therein.

Luk 21:22 For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Luk 21:23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people.

Luk 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Luk 21:25 There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves;

Luk 21:26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Luk 21:27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Luk 21:28 But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near."

Luk 21:29 He told them a parable. "See the fig tree, and all the trees.

Luk 21:30 When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near.

Luk 21:31 Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.

Luk 21:32 Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished.

Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

Luk 21:34 "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.

Luk 21:35 For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth.

Luk 21:36 Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Luk 21:37 Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.

Luk 21:38 All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.

May 10

Luke 22

Luk 22:1 Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, drew near.

Luk 22:2 The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people.

Luk 22:3 Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered with the twelve.

Luk 22:4 He went away, and talked with the chief priests and captains about how he might deliver him to them.

Luk 22:5 They were glad, and agreed to give him money.

Luk 22:6 He consented, and sought an opportunity to deliver him to them in the absence of the multitude.

Luk 22:7 The day of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed.

Luk 22:8 He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."

Luk 22:9 They said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare?"

Luk 22:10 He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters.

Luk 22:11 Tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" '

Luk 22:12 He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there."

Luk 22:13 They went, found things as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Luk 22:14 When the hour had come, he sat down with the twelve apostles.

Luk 22:15 He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,

Luk 22:16 for I tell you, I will no longer by any means eat of it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."

Luk 22:17 He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, "Take this, and share it among yourselves,

Luk 22:18 for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God comes."

Luk 22:19 He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me."

Luk 22:20 Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Luk 22:21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

Luk 22:22 The Son of Man indeed goes, as it has been determined, but woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!"

Luk 22:23 They began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

Luk 22:24 There arose also a contention among them, which of them was considered to be greatest.

Luk 22:25 He said to them, "The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called 'benefactors.'

Luk 22:26 But not so with you. But one who is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves.

Luk 22:27 For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn't it he who sits at the table? But I am in the midst of you as one who serves.

Luk 22:28 But you are those who have continued with me in my trials.

Luk 22:29 I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me,

Luk 22:30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Luk 22:31 The Lord said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat,

Luk 22:32 but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn't fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers."

Luk 22:33 He said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death!"

Luk 22:34 He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times."

Luk 22:35 He said to them, "When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing."

Luk 22:36 Then he said to them, "But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword.

Luk 22:37 For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: 'He was counted with the lawless.' For that which concerns me has an end."

Luk 22:38 They said, "Lord, behold, here are two swords." He said to them, "That is enough."

Luk 22:39 He came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him.

Luk 22:40 When he was at the place, he said to them, "Pray that you don't enter into temptation."

Luk 22:41 He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and prayed,

Luk 22:42 saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."

Luk 22:43 An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him.

Luk 22:44 Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Luk 22:45 When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief,

Luk 22:46 and said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

Luk 22:47 While he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus to kiss him.

Luk 22:48 But Jesus said to him, "Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

Luk 22:49 When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?"

Luk 22:50 A certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

Luk 22:51 But Jesus answered, "Let me at least do this" -and he touched his ear, and healed him.

Luk 22:52 Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

Luk 22:53 When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn't stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

Luk 22:54 They seized him, and led him away, and brought him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed from a distance.

Luk 22:55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, and had sat down together, Peter sat among them.

Luk 22:56 A certain servant girl saw him as he sat in the light, and looking intently at him, said, "This man also was with him."

Luk 22:57 He denied Jesus, saying, "Woman, I don't know him."

Luk 22:58 After a little while someone else saw him, and said, "You also are one of them!" But Peter answered, "Man, I am not!"

Luk 22:59 After about one hour passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Truly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean!"

Luk 22:60 But Peter said, "Man, I don't know what you are talking about!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.

Luk 22:61 The Lord turned, and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the Lord's word, how he said to him, "Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times."

Luk 22:62 He went out, and wept bitterly.

Luk 22:63 The men who held Jesus mocked him and beat him.

Luk 22:64 Having blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, "Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?"

Luk 22:65 They spoke many other things against him, insulting him.

Luk 22:66 As soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away into their council, saying,

Luk 22:67 "If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you won't believe,

Luk 22:68 and if I ask, you will in no way answer me or let me go.

Luk 22:69 From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God."

Luk 22:70 They all said, "Are you then the Son of God?" He said to them, "You say it, because I am."

Luk 22:71 They said, "Why do we need any more witness? For we ourselves have heard from his own mouth!"