Christ Jesus “Gave Himself a RANSOM for All” [podcast]

Paula White Exposed [video]

THAT’s My King! Pastor Lockridge [video]

Powerful Prayers from Children-This Will Shake You [video]

The Fear of the LORD is to Hate Evil: Pride, and Arrogancy #shorts [video]

“The church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28

Christ Jesus “gave himself a RANSOM for all.” “Ransom” refers to a redemption price.

“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a RANSOM for many.” Matthew 20:28

“Who gave himself a RANSOM for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:6

“Ransom” means the redemption price, the atonement.

As this post is doing, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” Let Jesus Christ and His perfect work of redemption “be testified” of by His beloved people today.

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;” Psalms 107:2

“Amen! Thank you for this encouraging podcast. How do you ever thank someone for saving your life? That is exactly what Jesus did! He found me and pulled me out of the horrible pit, the miry clay. I was unable to escape on my own! I was in hopelessness, and despair. He reached right down with His mighty hand of grace and mercy and set my feet upon the rock. The rock of my salvation. He gave me new life and changed my heart which no longer lived in despair and hopelessness. Instead He put a new song in my heart. A song about the goodness, mercy and grace of God. Psalm 40:2-3. Hallelujah!” Karen Cochran

Most profoundly, Allison Layne Gruber writes:

“Did you know that Judas sold Jesus out for the price of a woman, not a man? Women at the age of 33 were worth 30 pieces of silver, men worth 50.

Leviticus 27:3-4 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; for a female, her value was set at thirty shekels.

Matthew 26:14-15: ‘Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.’

He was being paid for the bride Jesus came to save, not for Jesus. Jesus took on the sins of His bride. Not His own. He wasn’t paid for himself but rather for who He came to save.

Jesus needed Judas to betray Him for His purpose to take place. He had to be turned in for prophecy to keep moving forward.

There are people you love in life that will betray you. There are people who will turn you over to the enemy. Let them. God will use that betrayal for your purpose to come to fruition.”

The ransom price, the very and precious blood of Jesus, shed on that cross, fully satisfied the claims of the Father’s justice to redeem fallen mankind.

Karen Cochran testifies:

“Thank You Jesus! My redemption has been paid. Jesus took our unrighteousness (which is filthy rags) and made us righteous by way of the cross. I could never repay Him for dying for me!”

“We love him, because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Jesus didn’t die for us because we are good. Not one of us is good – but rather every single one of us is utterly wicked right now outside of the glorious saving love and grace of God in Jesus Christ (Genesis 6:5, 12; Jeremiah 17:9, etc.). Read Romans 3 and 7.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10

“Nothing in my hand I bring

Simply to Thy cross I cling.”

We are not good but rather intrinsically evil, depraved, “desperately wicked” and can only throw ourselves headlong into the lap of His saving love, mercy, and grace in Christ (Jeremiah 17:9). If there is no inherent evil, why then did Paul declare that “There is (not was but presently “IS”) no good thing in me.” (Romans 7:18) Why does God mandate that His people “put off the old man” if there is no “old man” to “put off” – by the cross, the crucified life Jesus says must be taken daily (Luke 9:23-24; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:8-9, etc.). Why is there the necessity of the crucified life if there’s nothing to crucify? (Matthew 6:24-25; Romans 6; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Colossians 3:3, etc.) Beware the the false theology of Charles Finney, which are being spread by a cult following of preachers today who spent their early years studying Finney’s falsehoods instead of the Bible.

“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans 4:4-5

Jesus Made “Peace through the Blood of His Cross”

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:20

Jesus Christ was the only One qualified to accomplish the redemption of fallen mankind.

“…when he (Jesus) had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:3

Mankind has fallen, is sinful. Therefore the claims of the Father’s justice must be satisfied.

Divine justice necessitates that someone pay the price for sin!

Jesus paid the only price, the ultimate price to bring fallen mankind back to God!

Let us be reminded that:

Jesus chose to come and die for us, rather than live without us!

Let us ever relish the price our God paid to bring us back to Himself:

Jesus was momentarily forsaken, that we might be forgiven! (Matthew 27:46)

Either you carry your sins to Jesus and let Him forgive them all now, or you carry them into eternity and pay for them yourself – irrevocably in hell forever!

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (made alive) by the Spirit:” 1 Peter 3:18

No man will experience peace both here on earth or eternally outside of being born again, knowing the Prince of Peace!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;” Colossians 1:20-23

The peace between God and man was accomplished single-handedly by Christ (v. 20). Also revealed here is that in order for those who’ve been reconciled to God initially to be with Him eternally, they must remain, must abide, must “continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (v. 23). | Eternal Security is a lie from hell.

John Wesley on Colossians 1:20

“Through the blood of the cross – The blood shed thereon. Whether things on earth – Here the enmity began: therefore this is mentioned first. Or things in heaven – Those who are now in paradise; the saints who died before Christ came.”

F.B. Meyer on Colossians 1

“In view of the fact that we are being qualified for an inheritance in light, there should be a song of perennial thanksgiving proceeding from us. What a wonder that the sons of ignorance and night can dwell in the Eternal Light, through the Eternal Love! It is not enough to receive the forgiveness of sins, we must be conformed to the image of the Son, who is Himself the image of the Father, Col_1:15. Notice the pre-eminence of Jesus-in creation, Col_1:16; in the Church, Col_1:18; in resurrection, Col_1:18; and in the great enterprise of reconciliation and restoration, Col_1:20. Let Him be pre-eminent for us also!”

Adam Clarke on Colossians 1:20

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross – Peace between God and man; for man being in a sinful state, and there being no peace to the wicked, it required a reconciliation to be made to restore peace between heaven and earth; but peace could not be made without an atonement for sin, and the consequence shows that the blood of Christ shed on the cross was necessary to make this atonement.

To reconcile all things unto himself – The enmity was on the part of the creature; though God is angry with the wicked every day, yet he is never unwilling to be reconciled. But man, whose carnal mind is enmity to God, is naturally averse from this reconciliation; it requires, therefore, the blood of the cross to atone for the sin, and the influence of the Spirit to reconcile the transgressor to him against whom he has offended! See the notes on 2Co_5:19, etc.

Things in earth, or things in heaven – Much has been said on this very obscure clause; but, as it is my object not to write dissertations but notes, I shall not introduce the opinions of learned men, which have as much ingenuity as variety to recommend them. If the phrase be not a kind of collective phrase to signify all the world, or all mankind, as Dr. Hammond supposed the things in heaven may refer, according to some, to those persons who died under the Old Testament dispensation, and who could not have a title to glory but through the sacrificial death of Christ: and the apostle may have intended these merely to show that without this sacrifice no human beings could be saved, not only those who were then on the earth, and to whom in their successive generations the Gospel should be preached, but even those who had died before the incarnation; and, as those of them that were faithful were now in a state of blessedness, they could not have arrived there but through the blood of the cross, for the blood of calves and goats could not take away sin. After all, the apostle probably means the Jews and the Gentiles; the state of the former being always considered a sort of Divine or celestial state, while that of the latter was reputed to be merely earthly, without any mixture of spiritual or heavenly good. It is certain that a grand part of our Lord’s design, in his incarnation and death, was to reconcile the Jews and the Gentiles, and make them one fold under himself, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. That the enmity of the Jews was great against the Gentiles is well known, and that the Gentiles held them in supreme contempt is not less so. It was therefore an object worthy of the mercy of God to form a scheme that might reconcile these two grand divisions of mankind; and, as it was his purpose to reconcile and make them one, we learn from this circumstance, as well as from many others, that his design was to save the whole human race.”

THE ESSENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTOLOGY [podcast]

WHO do WE say that Jesus is? “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8), and He is asking us the exact questions today that He asked His disciples while on earth. “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Matthew 16:13 “But whom say ye that I am?” Matthew 16:15 Jesus is asking each of us “What are others saying of Me and Who do you say that I am?” In other words, perhaps He’s asking us “In a world of many swirling ideas about Me, who do you say that […]

Cons and Crooks who Do Not Preach the Cross [podcast]

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 Those who do not preach the cross prove that they believe the cross is “foolishness.” The know that many will leave if they were to preach the crucified life. And they are in it for the money, the acceptance of mere men, not Christ. Make no mistake, the Holy Ghost through Paul warned us specifically about this generation of counterfeits, these “evil men and seducers” who “wax worse and worse.” (2 Timothy 3:13) […]

"Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith" [podcast]

“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” John 6:66-67 WHERE O WHERE are we going to go if we depart from Jesus? …. does He, the eternal God and Creator of all things not hold the future of every living soul in His holy hand? FB Meyer on John 6:60-71 “THE SIFTING OF JESUS’ FOLLOWERS Christ’s pathetic question-Will ye also go away?-elicited from Peter a reply which proved that the inner meaning of His words had already broken upon their souls. […]

Complete Victory in Jesus [podcast]

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 Is there hope and victory in your preaching? Or, just condemnation? Did Jesus not come and die and rise again from the dead to give His people complete victory? Memorize 1 Corinthians 15:57 today. We are fighting the good fight of faith, “striving against sin” and are “more than conquerors” over sin […]

Why We Need not Fear Death: Resurrection Joy – Fearless in Death [podcast]

Resurrection Joy – Fearless in Death – Dancing on Hell’s Grave “But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Proverbs 1:33 Dancing on Fear’s Grave! “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 Those who are ready to die and be with Jesus do not fear death. 1 John 4:16-18 In Christ, when we close our eyes in death, we awake to the resurrection bliss of eternal joy with Him who is “the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) “For if the dead rise not, then is not […]

Articles

The Gracious LORD will Abundantly Pardon [podcast]

“Abundantly Pardon”

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7

The repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus called Him “Lord” and simply asked, believed on Christ. Where is he now? “paradise” …

“Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 42 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:41-42

God’s pardon is paramount to being in paradise with Him and His saints. When we cry out to Him, the LORD will freely forgive us. That’s why He came and what He desires to do. Yet we must never forget that we shall reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8). If we choose to sin, there will be dire consequences and while we can be forgiven, those results must be reaped.

How many people does God desire to perish? Not one (2 Peter 3:9).

Matthew 5:3, 6, 8

“Jeremiah’s message was never meant to leave the heart in despair. Every warning from God carried an invitation to return. The Lord does not expose empty religion to shame His people, but to heal them. Repentance is not the loss of hope, it is the beginning of hope. Christ still receives every soul that comes with humility, and He gives living faith where there was only habit, peace where there was only fear, and joy where there was only emptiness. The call remains the same today, to draw near to Him with a sincere heart, trusting that His mercy is always greater than our weakness.” Dan Blincoe

“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:6-10

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19

“Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?” Joel 2:12-14

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5

YOUR PRAYER TO GOD: Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, please break me! Please crush me dear LORD. YOU are my Potter. Pour the water of Your Holy Spirit and Word upon this life You made and saved for Your glory, not mine. I love You Jesus! Let this heart be broken, contrite, and let tears flow from a poor and pure heart that hungers and thirsts after Your righteousness. In the name of my LORD Jesus, amen.

“God has a multitude of mercy (Psalm 5:7), is “plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 86:5), “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4), and has “abundant mercy” (1 Peter 1:3). Wow! And I need all of that! But the real test is since He gives me all that mercy, do I extend mercy to others? If I don’t show mercy to others I will not receive mercy from God. James 2:13.” Karen Cochran

FORGIVE “from your hearts” or go to hell. That’s your choice (Matthew 18:21-35).

It becomes easy to forgive when you look in the mirror honestly and see all your own sins (Mark 11:25-26). Repent now.

“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in SINCERITY and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.” Joshua 24:14

“God specializes in taking broken vessels and molding them, shaping them, and making them vessels of honor fit for His use!” Karen Cochran

Woman taken in the act of adultery. What about the man? Selective mercy, judgment?

Yes, we are to “Go, and sin no more” and yet “IF (not when) any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.” Right? We can confess our sin in repentance and be forgiven (1 John 1:6-2:2).

It seems, from the whole counsel of God’s Word, that Jesus is more likely saying “You are now forgiven, saved, and grace empowered and do not need to live in sin any longer.” Surely His mercy and grace didn’t “run out” the first time she was redeemed, rescued. God is a merciful God and YES He 100% requires that we repent whenever needed, re-turn to Him and confess all sin. Yet when we do, is He not merciful? See Lamentations 3:22-23; Psalms 51; 103:10-12; Luke 22:31-32, etc.

The point intended here is that the “Go and sin no more” seems to be isolated by some…. first Jesus forgives/redeems her as she was obviously repentant. Then He says “Go and sin no more.” Did that mean “You better not sin again or it’s over, no more mercy, no chance of you ever returning to Me!” OR, did He mean that she is now redeemed, is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and empowered by divine grace to live free from sin and so she no longer has to be under it’s dominion”? See Romans 6:14; Titus 2:11-12.

“She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” John 8:11

“For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” Psalms 86:5

“But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Psalms 86:15

HOW can God possibly use me to show His mercy to others if I am not walking in His mercy toward others?

IF YOU DEAL mercilessly with others, undiluted harsh judgment is coming upon your own life. That’s a divine promise:

“For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” James 2:13

Read that again. Memorize it.

YOU set the measure of the judgment/mercy coming upon your life from God by how you show such to others.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5

The Sins and Restoration of the Patriarchs [podcast]

Abraham, Moses, and David – Their Sin and God’s Restoration! “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Ecclesiastes 7:20 This fact doesn’t justify any sinning and yet, as the Word of God, must be factored in (Isaiah 28:16; Romans 6:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:15). “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” Proverbs 20:9 Sinless perfectionism is a lie (1 John 1:7-2:2). “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me […]

God is Ready to Forgive and Plenteous in Mercy [podcast]

“For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” Psalms 86:5 God is… “good” “ready to forgive” “plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Psalms 86:15 Our LORD is… “a God full of compassion” “gracious” “longsuffering” “plenteous in mercy and truth” “His Compassions Fail Not” “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not […]

The God Who Is Ready To Forgive [podcast]

“A GREAT WAY OFF” Luke 15:20 Luke 15 – 3 parables of that which was lost (SSS): — Lost Sheep — Lost Silver — Lost Son What is the overriding divine theme communicated in this beautiful Bible chapter? THE whole of Scripture testifies to the reality that the LORD delights to restore when we simply come to Him humbly, on His terms. “And he (the wayward son) arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed […]

Abiding

“If God be For Us Who can be Against Us?” [podcast]

WHO is God truly “with”?

“And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and IF YE SEEK HIM, he will be found of you; but IF ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2

What happens when one of His children deny Him?

“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Those who reject Him shall be rejected by Him. OSAS/eternal security is a fairy tale espoused by the moral cowards who refuse to serve God on HIS stated terms – repentance, faith, true worship, obedience, holiness, the crucified life, etc.

“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” Matthew 10:14-15

Persecution and the Disciple of Jesus

1 Peter 4

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Suffering as a Christian

12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

Romans 8

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

God’s Everlasting Love

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“Romans 8:29: For whom he did foreknow, etc. – “In this and the following verse the apostle shows how our calling is an argument that all things work together to advance our eternal happiness, by showing the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to complete our salvation. In order to this he first gives us, in this verse, the foundation and finishing, or the beginning and end, of the scheme of our redemption: For whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. To foreknow, here signifies to design before, or at the first forming of the scheme; to bestow the favor and privilege of being God’s people upon any set of men, Rom_11:2. This is the foundation or first step of our salvation; namely, the purpose and grace of God, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began, 2Ti_1:9. Then, he knew or favored us; for in this sense the word to know is taken in a great variety of places, both in the Old and New Testaments. And as he knew the Gentiles then, when the scheme was laid, and before any part of it was executed, consequently, in reference to the execution of this scheme, he foreknew us. This is the first step of our salvation, and the end or finishing of it is our conformity to the Son of God in eternal glory, Rom_8:17, which includes and supposes our moral conformity to him. When God knew us, at the forming of the Gospel scheme; or, when he intended to bestow on us the privilege of being his people; he then destinated or designed us to be conformed to the image of his Son; and, as he destinated or determined us then to this very high honor and happiness, he pre-destinated, fore-ordained, or pre-determined us to it. Thus we are to understand the foundation and finishing of the scheme of our salvation. The foundation is the foreknowledge, or gracious purpose of God; the finishing is our being joint heirs with Christ. Now, our calling or invitation (see on Rom_8:28 (note)) stands in connection with both these.” Adam Clarke

Hypocrisy, Persecutions, and Afflictions [podcast]

“True Christiany will cost a man favor of the world. He must be content to be thought ill of by man if he pleases God. He must count it no strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, slandered, persecuted and even hated.” -J.C.Ryle If you don’t have people leaving you due to what you’re preaching, you’re not preaching the Gospel Christ’s preached. “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” John 6:66 Ministry work always comes with “much contention.” There is a devil and he has human agents. Jesus will settle every score, will […]

The Persecution Podcast [podcast]

“Think it not strange” in 1 Peter 4 simply means to not be surprised. If you love the LORD you will want to hear all He says in His Word, including the reality of persecutions for Christ’s sake (John 8:47). Any man posing as a leader among God’s people and isn’t preaching regularly on the reality of Christian persecution, is absolutely an ear-tickling wolf! Run! Part 1 Below Part 2 Below Part 3 Below Part 4 Below Sounds like our LORD is saying that WHATEVER, WHOEVER we lose in this life due to following Jesus, God […]

Apostasy

The Book of Jude Narrated [podcast]

The Book of Jude:

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: ²mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

³Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. ⁴For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. ⁶And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. ⁷Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. ⁸Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. ⁹Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

¹⁰But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. ¹¹Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. ¹²These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; ¹³raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

¹⁴And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, ¹⁵to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. ¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

¹⁷But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁸how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. ²⁰But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²²And of some have compassion, making a difference: ²³and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

²⁴Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

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