To: In residence Churches of God.  God’s 10^th Mo. 15th, 5,781. 12/30/2020.

     The apostasy Jude saw coming is much deeper than Satan’s first lie, his influencing a pagan calendar, and planning a one world governing body with his followers. In this latter age only a few haven’t bowed to a Baal like philosophy, the Holy Scriptures define as this ‘worldly system of things.’  From an education perspective, it’s demonically led people brain washing the whole world with their notions, which is no more than believing propaganda when there’s no proof. It’s their science with no data, becoming a ‘take our word or else philosophy.’ Including, global warming with no science data by folks too dumb to recognize that one volcanic eruption puts more carbon in the air than fossil fuels do in a decade. It is provable science, that our forest’s need carbon dioxide. Same with so called sciences’ propaganda regarding corona 19 virus control. There’s no scientific data for any of their virus control methods. Truth is that plagues are most often the result of people’s disobedience to God. For people’s good, He gave laws regarding caring for the land, diet and family. More plagues are prophesied.    

     Heavenly Father: please help us individually understand the difference between, ‘believing that’ opposed to ‘believing IN.’ Help many recognize that to Believers IN is to obey out of loving respect for Your laws. The obedient look forward to Your kingdom’s establishment and faith in Your promises. The resurrection and meeting in the sky to literally rule with authority. In Jesus’ gifted nature we worship and ask. AMEN.

      Reveled spiritual understanding is given individually through methods of God’s choosing. Hearing, reading, observations and angelic appearances have all been used and fit His calling. The desire and effort to turn from falsehoods and practice His righteous way is gifted. (See Phil 2:13) Give God the praise when truth is understood, ‘it’s by revelation and not from within the fleshly mind or intellect.’ John the Baptist shared this truth.

    John the apostle wrote, (John 3:7-8; Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.)

    It’s revealed to God’s people that His purpose for making mankind in His likeness and image is to make them family, His literal offspring, children of His choosing. (John 1:11-14;  He came to what was His own, but His own people did not receive Him. But to all who have received Him; those who believe in His name, He has given the right to become God’s children; children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God. Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw His glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.)

Jesus revealed and inspired His apostle Peter to give us revelations.

   (1Peter 2:1-8; So get rid of all evil, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all slander. And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness. So as you come to Him, a living Stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a Stone, a chosen and priceless Cornerstone, and whoever believes in Him will never be put to shame.” (Quote from Isaiah 28:16) So you who believe see His value, but for those who do not believe, the Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone, and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. (Quote from Isa 8:14)   (Denoting an obstacle to faith something that arouses anger and rejection.) They stumble because they disobey the Word, as they were destined to do.) Only the called out, those born from above, aren’t destined to trip.

   As Jesus is a living Stone. So too are we who believe IN. Believers IN are a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Obedience makes them acceptable to God the Father through Jesus Christ.

   Jesus’ apostles’ letters are TO a called out converted people. Thus, if we have experienced the Lord’s kindness, we are also as living Stones -Saints. To be built a holy priesthood. WHY? To offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. HOW POSSIBLE? Only through the imputation of God’s spirit to our being!

   (1Peter 2:9-12; But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.    Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when He appears.)

    No matter our nation or community, Believers IN are foreign exiles to the world as was Abraham! If we are believers IN His marvelous light, it’s ONLY because He called us out of darkness.

   (a) Unbelievers are not capable of yearning for spiritual understanding.

   (b) Followers of Jesus are God called and chosen.

   (c) Growing to salvation is to experience God’s kindness.

   (d) It’s gifted to recognize our state of being; our inherited from Adam nature.

   (e) Gifted with a desire to turn to God‘s Way.

   (f) Believers IN are built, a spiritual house to offer spiritual sacrifices.

   (g) Jesus is a priceless Cornerstone in God the Father‘s View, rejected by world.

   (h) For unbelievers Jesus is the Stone they are destined to trip over.

    (i) Believers IN are chosen to be God’s own, a royal priesthood. a holy nation.

    (j) People believe IN because of His grace and mercy, not of our own choosing.

    (k) Believers can expect to be maligned and ostracized by established religions. This is Jesus’ teaching, as revealed to Peter and each Believer IN. NOW BACK TO JESUS’ WORD THROUGH JOHN

    (John 15:1-4; I am the true vine and My Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in Me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. You are clean already because of the Word that I have spoken to you. Remain in Me and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.)

    Followers of Jesus Believe IN the God of Abraham. Spirit led not to lean to OUR own understanding; that is we don’t trust our own fleshly intellect! Fruit NOT produced through Jesus, is what all worldly religions offer. Because of the Word, believers IN Jesus are purified. In John’s first letter to converted people he gets more to the point in the following verses. (1John 3:18-20; Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence, that if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things.)

    (John 15:9-12; Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; remain in My love. If you obey My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete. My commandment is this; to love one another just as I have loved you.)

    JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, has been repeated several times! Jesus is the Shepherd that has given, ‘laid down’ His life for His sheep. Jesus’ teaching this New commandment, does not nullify His ten commandments, but magnifies them spiritually.

    (John 15:13-15; No one has greater love than this; that one lays down his life for his friends. You ‘followers of Me’ are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from My Father.)

     Revealed is the key word. Hopefully we prayerfully accept and believe IN Jesus‘ truth, NO person can understand without His revealing! Theology schooling adds nothing to spiritually revealed comprehension! Paul always referred to himself as Jesus’ slave. We each should be willingly proud to be His slave, because  He loved and chose us first.

    (John 15:16-17; You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. This I command you – to love one another.)

People can’t join God’s church.

    If we believe IN God the Father and God the Son as manifested in the holy scriptures it’s because WE ARE CHOSEN. Some Organized Clergy folks teach the opposite. We can’t come to Jesus as He’s revealed until He reveals Himself. Jesus’ sacrificial death on our behalf is the love we are to have for one another. We must be willing to die for one another if necessary. JESUS speaks of His death as a commandment, received from His Father. (Review John 10:18 & 14:31)

    It’s not ONLY the degree or intensity of OUR love for one another that Jesus is referring to, by comparison of His own death. John makes clear HOW we come to know Godly love in his first letter.

    (1John 3:16-17; We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down His life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians. But whoever has the world’s possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?)

    John expresses his own love while quoting Jesus’ teaching how to love. We hope each understands the spiritual fulfillment of, ‘God’s imputing His spirit to our minds to make us AT ONE with Himself.’ When gifted with a desire to be AT ONE with Him; we seek to know His Ways.

    The apostasy Jude wrote about was primarily the result of Pharisee/Sadducees type Judaism and paganism infiltrating God’s called out people. They each had their personal agendas and spread their fleshly rational. (Rational like Cain’s, who thought God should be pleased with his sacrifice and way of thinking.)

   To unbelievers of every sort; the mystery of God imputing His spirit in people of His choice, making them at one with Himself isn’t logical. Unbelieving people’s spreading what Jude called apostasy was their inserting their own ideas about right, wrong, good and evil. A miraculous opening of a person’s mind to understand the scriptures doesn’t fit fleshly minded rational. Unbelievers can’t accept that believing IN Jesus and His deeds, are miraculous gifted by a grace event.

To: In residence Churches of God. His 10^th month, Trivet 13 , 5,981. 12/28/20

   We read about God giving deluding spirits last study. Each denomination is led by a different spirit and deceive the majority. Followers of Jesus can’t allow a fleshly mediator’s leading because He’s their only Mediator. Religious leaders attempt to mediate on behalf of the religious inclined and make merchandise of them, but Mediator Jesus purposely came from His heavenly position to live in the flesh, experience overcoming sin’s temptations and ascended back to heaven to be our Savior and Mediator before God the Father. To follow another mediator is to disobey the first commandment. On behalf of all apostles Paul explained that, ‘followers of Jesus shouldn’t look to others any longer.’

   (2Cor 5:15-18; And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised. So then, from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know Him in that way any longer. So then, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; what is old has passed away: look, what is new has come! And all these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.) Review the chapter and trust Jesus.  Jesus’ apostle John recorded Jesus’ Words regarding the ruler of this world.

     (John 14:29; I will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming.)

    Satan had been deceiving this earth’s populations since Adam by offering many views, ‘spirits’ and mediators. Jesus is speaking about Satan’s coming to distort His purpose and message. True to Jesus’ prophecy, as soon as He ascended Satan began sending false teachers to infiltrate God’s churches, ‘spiritual Israelites.’ Divisionary indoctrinations are Satan’s demonic purposes. Consider how successful he’s been at palming himself and followers off as, angels of light. He has the world in subjection to his confusions. Naturally each group say, ‘but not us.’

     Satan knew, soon after Jesus’ ascension he’d be allowed to infiltrate. As Jesus began revealing Himself and calling out gentiles, Satan was palming himself off as an angel of light, surprising many in God’s Jerusalem church. As God was calling gentile’s to believe IN Jesus, Satan was attempting to influence the Jerusalem church to reject them. First recorded gentile conversion was Cornelius and family. After their conversion, Peter and other apostles were explaining how the holy spirit witnessed to Cornelius’s family as it had to many Israelites on that Pentecost after Jesus‘ ascension.

     (Acts 15:13-18; After Peter stopped speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me, Simeon has explained how God first concerned Himself to select from among the Gentiles a people for His name. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David; I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, namely, all the Gentiles I have called to be My own,’ says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.) James is referring to Amos 9.

     Cornelius and family were selected – chosen and called out to a obedience resulting in righteousness. It was by God’s grace that gentiles too were chosen to begin practicing His righteousness. Consider Jesus’ apostle Paul’s explanation regarding their spiritual calling.

     (Romans 6:15-16; What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness?) Slaves to the spirit they obey. To the system they look to.

    Who has the mind to look around and consider paganism’s grip on Christendom. Who is obeying and who’s the perpetrator of disobedience?

     Holy Bible reading people know that Jesus’ apostle Paul was a persecutor of God’s called out people until he was miraculously called. He said about himself, I was a Pharisee of Pharisees until Jesus revealed Himself when I was on my way to Damascus to do more persecutions. Paul was blinded about Jesus’ deity while involved with denominational Pharisees. Paul continues.

     (Acts 26:15-18; So I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance as a servant and witness to the things you have seen and to the things in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.)

    HOW was Paul called and set aside - sanctified? It’s basically the same with each called out person. (By a GIFTED faith in Jesus as He’s manifested to be, people are awakened.) What did Jesus promise through Paul? To open people’s eyes, give understanding and turn people from darkness to light! From Satan to God! WHY? SO, they may receive forgiveness of sins and share with others’ sanctified by faith in Jesus.

     Satan’s indoctrination of the world began before Jesus’ human birth. Since then God the Father and God the Son’s characteristics and Ways are revealed through Jesus’ life and people are called from Satan’s darkness to God’s Light. This good news was revealed to John and John recorded in chapter 14: ‘it’s the mystery this unbelieving world cannot grasp.’ WHY? God gives understanding to His chosen and He is about the business of building a priesthood of Believers IN Jesus.

    Atheist and religions of every persuasion believe a man called Jesus lived. History is emphatic on the subject, but only those who’re called and God revealed to through Jesus; believe to the degree of having gifted faith trust. Those who aren’t Jesus’ sheep can’t believe His truth until supernaturally called.

    (John 10:25-30; Jesus replied, I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. But you refuse to believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from My Father’s hand. The Father and I are One.)

    As we’ve expounded, many believe that but only a few believe IN Jesus’ miraculous deeds that testify of His deity.( God the Father’s calling and God the Son’s being revealed gives eternal life.) After Jesus had revealed Himself to His apostles Paul wrote as followers.

     (Col 1:15-20; He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created by Him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through Him and for Him. He “Jesus” Himself is before all things and all things are held together, in Him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that He Himself may become first in all things. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in the Son and through Him, to reconcile all things to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross: through Him whether things on earth or things in heaven.”)

     People attempting to worship God in a manner He’s not manifested to be in the above text, are part of the APOSTASY Jude wrote about. Many seemingly assume Godly love means, ‘a condoning of all human activity.’ That could be the demonic definition but it’s the broad path that leads to destruction. Spiritual understanding is distorted when only one of Satan’s lies is incorporated into a person’s belief system.

    Jesus said His good news, would be told to the whole world before His return. (Study Matthew 24 and Revelations 11) Jesus foreknew the demonic led apostasy and He has ordained two witnesses to miraculously announce His Way. Jesus reveals to John and he to us that these two will be killed; populations will rejoice and after three days God will resurrect them. Review Revelations 11 from the previous study.)

    Jesus said and Matthew recorded in chapter 24: ‘time will be shortened for the Elect’s sake.’ In this so called enlightened time, Jesus has been so camouflaged that the world will rejoice when His two witnesses are killed, this demonstrating the degree to which the APOSTASY will have encompassed the whole world.

     Unbelievers invading God‘s churches, attempting to make Jesus characteristically fit their pagan views, and Jude recognized where this apostasy was leading. People who aren’t blinded by demonic spirits, see the culmination of these apostasies on Christendom. (Study Jude’s letter again)

     Let’s review from the previous study. (Matt 3:7-12; But when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the One coming after me is more powerful than I am, I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

‘Baptize means immerse. God immerses repentant individuals with His spirit and will ultimately immerse unbelievers with fire.’ Winnowing means; examining in order to remove.

(Matt 3:13; Jesus’ winnowing fork, is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff He will burn up with inextinguishable fire.) Threshing floors is where grain were separated from chaff.

       Prior to God’s grace gifted to Paul and these Ephesians they were as dead. However when God revealed Himself, Paul and they believed IN and God made them alive in Christ. Has the God of Abraham, “Jesus” revealed Himself to you?

To: In home churches of God’s, His 10^th month, Tivet 11, 5,781. 12/26/20

     John the Baptist prophesied about Jesus’ judgment; storehouse likening to His kingdom, thrashing floor the world, repentant people to trees and wheat, while unrepentant people as chaff. (Matt 3:10-12; Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One coming after me is more powerful than I am: I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff He will burn up with inextinguishable fire.) Threshing floors; ‘where grains were separated from chaff – husk,’ it’s the prophesied end for evil doers, compare this scripture to Revelations 21:7-8.  

       God still calls individuals as He did Abraham and defines sin as lawlessness in His View. Living contrary to what He says is right, wrong, good and evil is sin. Jesus revealed and Paul explained at Rom 6:16-18. “Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God, though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.”

    Deceived or not, admit or not, the cultural practices of ancient pagans were to served gods of their imagination and that’s lawlessness, ‘sin in God’s View.’ God gives the following through Isaiah.

      (Isaiah 45:22-25; Turn to Me so you can be delivered, all you who live in the earth’s remote regions! For I am God and I have no peer. I solemnly make this oath – what I say is true and reliable: ‘Surely every knee will bow to Me, every tongue will solemnly affirm; they will say about Me, “Yes, the Lord is a powerful Deliverer.” All who are angry at Him will cower before Him. All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord and will boast in Him.)

       (ALL who belong to Jesus are spiritual descendants of Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. Jesus’ apostle Paul explained, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29)

       Who is tired of living the get way? Who is tired of being in bondage to sin? Ask for God’s mercy and He’ll likely lead you to His Word and gift you with understanding. We either love this world’s system of things, or despise its result. God’s lead is to turn His called from this world’s system of things; ‘from what seemed right to the fleshly mind to God’s righteous Way,’ that’s repentance.’ People led to respond to this gifted understanding are changed from the way of death to the way of life.

       Jesus’ apostle Paul explained to those converted from pagan practices to His Way. (Ephesians 2:1-3; And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.) Note that Paul includes himself.

     The Ephesians; mostly non-Israelites, worshiped the god of fertility and other planetary imagined gods, didn’t know Abraham’s God. Before conversion Paul had lived as though he was made for the law, ‘lawlessness being sin in God’s View causes Paul to understand that the law was made for man, not man for the law, and that God does the choosing.’ Paul didn’t choose to understand God’s way, God chose and gave understanding to him.

    (Eph 2:4-7; But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! – and He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.)

     Prior to God’s gifted grace Paul and these Ephesians were as dead. However when God revealed Himself and they believed IN, He made them alive. Has that God of Abraham revealed Himself to you?

     We can‘t love God as He’s manifested to be in the holy scriptures without believing all His promises. Gifted believing IN faith is more than hope faith, it’s a loving respect and desire to be all He’d have us be. For a correct comprehension of Godly Love, study 1Corinthians 13: inserting Godly Love in place of, ‘love’ or ‘charity.’ God‘s gifted grace is to have Godly Love toward all.

     Eph 2:8-10; For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.)

    Workmanship? Each believing IN person is on God’s potter wheel for training. Being spiritually shaped as He leads and gives His yielding spirit, is to know that Jesus is our Shepherd, we’re branches and He the Vine. We can do nothing spiritual without  abiding in the Vine. God prepared beforehand? Meditate on that with prayerfully study.

       God’s spirit is gifted to and dwells in called repentant Believing IN, ‘God the Father and God the Son.’ Such are Temples of His spirit, set aside, ‘sanctified’ for His purpose. That’s a spiritually fulfillment of what physical circumcision looked to. People gifted with a love for God’s Way, imputed to the mind fulfilling the law’s purpose, NOT a doing away with. Jesus’ apostle Paul taught the same to gentiles.

     (Eph 2:11-12; Therefore remember that formerly you, Gentiles in the flesh who are called un-circumcision by the so-called circumcision that is performed on the body by human hands; that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.)

     Non-Israelites were not considered God’s chosen people by the circumcised. However it was always planned, as promised Abraham, ‘that many non-Israelites would be grafted in.’ Gentiles and Israelites saved by grace, spiritually circumcised of heart, ‘set aside’ – ‘sanctified’ all of which mean the same thing.

     Followers of Jesus were foreknown, as was Isaac and Jacob; saved by promised grace. It’s the covenant promise through Jesus, fulfilled by God’s calling and saving individuals.

      The apostasy Jude wrote about includes such teachings as, (1) Saved by personal choice. (2) Saved by some methodology of man. (3) Attempting to divide God the Son and God the Father. (4) Altering or changing God’s calendar. (Example: how does saved by grace fit, ‘when a baby is sprinkled and pronounced as saved?’ That’s denominational works without scriptural authorization, attempting to believe without turning from what God views as sin, is an apostate. Could it be God’s character to save in such circumstance? NO. All such are works of the flesh, when a turning to God’s Way isn’t scripturally adhered to.

     (Eph 2:13-22; But now IN Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, the One who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, when He nullified in His flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and reconciling both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.

    He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, so that through Him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and non-citizens, but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of God’s household, because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the Cornerstone. In Him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.)

     Salvation is by promise as were Isaac and Jacob’s births, to those led to seek God as He manifest Himself to be. Jesus foretold of it, each apostle and Jude saw the apostasy budding. Today it’s in full bloom. Jesus’ apostles were inspired to give insight regarding organized religions’ destructive path. See Paul’s teaching on the subject.

    (2Thess 2:1-12; Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the One who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of His mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of His arrival.)

    The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working miracles and signs through him. False wonders with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, ‘because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved.’ Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. And so all of them who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in evil will be condemned.)

     God’s sending a deluding influence is allowing Satan to deceive the whole world. He’s going to work miracles to the degree Paul describes and Jesus foretold as quoted in Matthews gospel account. Let’s thank God for planning Satan’s demise and His mercy toward us.

To: In residence Churches of God.  God’s 10^th Mo. Tevet 8, 5,781. 12/23/2020.

     Unbelieving people aren’t aware of sin’s bondage, and gods are that which primarily consumes their thoughts, time and energy. Speaking to converted people, Jesus’ apostle John was spiritually inspired to write; (1John 4:16-19; And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. We love because He loved us first.)  Always study the whole.

   Jesus spiritually inspired His apostle Paul to write; (1Tim 1:6-7; Because of this I remind you to rekindle God’s gift that you possess through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.)

    With various attitudes, divisions concerning right, wrong, good and evil; it’s obvious, the majority love gods of their own making. It’s in our inherited fleshly nature from Adam to love gods that allows choices regarding what’s right, wrong, good and evil. God’s that change with popular traditions, and condone practices that are abominable to the Eternal all knowing God. He told Ezekiel what were abominations to Him, and these are the apostates Jude wrote about that’s divided this world’s denominations.

     To worship our Creator God in spirit and truth people must be led to know His attributes, characteristics and plan for their saving; accept that there is a devil, whose desires are, to wreck God’s plan and purpose. Believing IN God is to know He’s ultimately going to destroy Satan and all evil. His Word from Genesis, through Revelations reveals His promised plan to save many. His righteous attributes and characteristics are revealed through Jesus.

     (Hebrews 1:1-4; After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days He has spoken to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He created the world. The Son is the radiance of His glory and the representation of His essence, and He sustains all things by His powerful word, and so when He had accomplished cleansing for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Thus He became so far better than the angels as He has inherited a name superior to theirs.) Last days are these since Jesus’ ascension.

       Jesus revealed Himself to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, His apostles and each called to believe. Consider the following two scriptures in Romans and Genesis from God’s point of view.

    (1) Rom 15:4-5; Jesus’ apostle Paul shared; ‘For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.)

    (2) Gen 15:12-16; When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”)

  (a) The judgment the Lord God ’Jesus’ executed on Egypt and the Amorites is from the foundation of His Love, for our example and learning.

  (b) God plans all His involvements in the affairs of people.

  (c) God plans the destruction of nations from the foundation of His Love and with foreknowledge of where their sins are taking them. Example; western world countries particularly are committing gross abominations as they condone Sodom and Gomorrah like practices.  

      When the many read of God’s judgments, they assume the God of the Old Covenant is unloving and different from the God of the New Covenant. Gross error! He’s One and the same. (Re-study study John 1:1-5, Hebrews 1: and let’s read again; (Colossians 1:15-20; He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created by Him; all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He Himself is before all things and all things are held together in Him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that He Himself may become first in all things. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in the Son, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.)

     He chooses: the Son of God, ‘Jesus’ delivered the Israelites by promise, they had no goodness warranting a deliverance, only chosen by promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They and New Covenant believers are heirs with Abraham by promise. Each are recipients by promise of Jacob’s changed name, ‘to Israel’ meaning ‘God fights.’ (See Genesis 25:28. An example is, when Isaac’s wife’ Rebekah’ was pregnant with twins boys struggling in her womb she wasn’t sure she wanted to be pregnant, so she went to the Lord in prayer. The Lord said to her; ‘two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from within you. One will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’)

    These twins were named Esau and Jacob, ‘the weaker Jacob’ cheated, ‘the stronger Esau,’ of his birthright. As human nature goes, Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob, so she helped Jacob deceive Isaac by him pretending to be Esau and obtaining Esau’s by age birthright.

     Esau’s married a Hittite woman, causing Isaac and Rebekah anxiety. So Isaac sent Jacob away to find a wife and blessed him as follows.

     (Gen 27:28-29; May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.) These historical events of God’s promises are recorded for our learning.

The world rejects Jesus’ Good News message.

    Jesus said His good news will be shared with the whole world before His return. (Study Matthew 24: and Revelations 11) Jesus foreknew the demonic led apostasy and He ordained two witnesses to miraculously announce His Way. Revealing to John and he to us that these two will be killed; the populations will rejoice and after three days God will resurrect them. (Review Revelations 11, from the previous study.)

.   (Revelations 11:14-19; The second woe has come and gone; the third is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever. Then the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and worshiped God with these words: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations were enraged, but Your wrath has come, and the time has come for the dead to be judged, and the time has come to give to Your servants, the prophets, their reward, as well as to the Saints, to those who revere Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.” Then the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of His covenant was visible within His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.) Do we see reasons to ask God for a shortening of this time?

     Jesus said and Matthew recorded in chapter 24: “time will be shortened for the Elect’s sake.” In this so called enlightened time, Jesus has been so camouflaged by Satan’s demonic followers that the world will rejoice when His two witnesses are killed, this demonstrating the degree to which the APOSTASY has encompassed the whole world. We should not be surprised at Satan’s successes.

      As unbelievers invaded God‘s churches, attempting to camouflage Jesus’ characteristics to fit pagan views, Jude was recognizing where that apostasy was leading the world. We, who aren’t blinded by demonic forces see the culmination of these apostasies. (Study Jude’s letter again)

     The apostasy is much deeper than Satan’s first lie, his influencing a pagan calendar, and planning a one world governing body of unbelievers. Only a few haven’t bowed to their Baal type philosophy the Holy Scriptures defines as this ‘worldly system of things.’

     Heavenly Father: please help us individually understand the difference between, believing that; opposed to believing IN. Believers IN are looking forward to Your kingdom’s establishment and our living Your promises. To, meeting in the sky and literally ruling under the king of king’s authority.  In Jesus’ name we ask and worship. AMEN.

      Reveled spiritual understanding is given individually through methods of God’s choosing. Hearing, reading, observations and angelic appearances have fit His methods. The desire to turn from falsehoods and practicing His righteous way is gifted. Give God the praise when truth is understood, ‘it’s by revelation and not from within our fleshly nature or intellect.’ John the Baptist shared this truth.

      (Matt 3:7-10; But when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”)

      Producing fruit, is to practice God’s righteous Way of living; NOT practices that’s designed to honor pagan gods! We should carefully set prideful boasting aside, and only boast in the Lord’s gifting spiritual comprehensions. It’s gifted as the wind blows.

    (John 3:7-8; Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.)

    It’s a spiritual immersion, gifting individually thru Jesus. John the Baptist continued. (Matt 3:11; I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the One coming after me is more powerful than I am, I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.) Baptize means, ‘immerse.’ God immerses repentant individuals with His spirit and will ultimately immerse evil with a ‘burning UP.’

To: In residence Churches of God. His 10^th month, Tevet 4, 5,981. 12/21/20 

     Each apostle taught, the result of sin is death and to the Pharisees types, those living as though they were made for the law, Paul explaining that death reigned from Adam to Moses, the law began with Adam. He being a type of the Christ, ‘death is a result of Adam’s disobedience.’ But the gift of eternal LIFE is through Jesus’ and His shed blood for the remission of sins.

    (Rom 5:15-18; But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the One man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment resulting from the one transgression led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification. For if by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act, came righteousness leading to life for all people.)

     Life for all people? Physical resurrections some time after the spiritual first! The condemnation is death for all people because of Adam’s disobedience! But through Jesus’ righteousness ALL will live again by a physical resurrection, judgment and a second death for idolatrous unbelievers. Review Revelations 21:7-8.

    (Rom 5:19-21; For just as through the disobedience of the one man Adam, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of One Man ‘Jesus’ many will be made righteous. Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased grace multiplied all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.) Immortality – ‘eternal life’ is only through Jesus and a millennium age calling to His Way is prophesied. PETER explained eternal life.

    (1Peter 1:3; I can pray this because His divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the One who called us by His own glory and excellence.)

   Called? The term used here in participial form, is ‘stereological’ meaning ‘properties contexts when God is the subject and always carries the nuance of effectual calling.’ (From the Net Bible commentary; “the one who is called is not just invited to be saved; he is also and always saved. Calling takes place at the moment of conversion, while election takes place in eternity past.”)

    (Rom 8:30; And those He predestined, He also called and those He called, He also justified, and those He justified, He also glorified.) To God’s church at Ephesus and all Believers Paul explains God the Father’s call.

     (Eph 1:4-5; For He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we may be holy and unblemished in His sight in love. God did this by predestining us to adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of His will.) (Many CALLED few CHOOSEN. Matt 22:14.)

    Jesus revealed to John and he shares with Jesus’ followers, ‘that His end of this age gospel would be delivered by His two witnesses.’ (See Rev 11:3-4; And I will grant My two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth. (These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth.) Study the whole.

    (Revelations 11:7-14 When, they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them and conquer them and kill them. Their corpses will lie in the street of the great city that is symbolically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified. For three and a half days those from every people, tribe, nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized those who were watching them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” So the two prophets went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies stared at them. Just then a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has come and gone; the third is coming quickly.)

   Jesus knew demonic led denominations of man would have the whole world deceived, how the apostasy Jude spoke of would unfold; the result is division, organized religions would bring this about by Satan’s leadership. Every indication from every biblical source is; ‘Jesus will find very little faith when He returns.’

    (Jesus prophesied that the whole world would be deceived, ‘if possible, even the Elect.’ (See Matt 24:22-31) The entire world believes a multitude of lies.

    Divided denominations assuming they are commissioned to take Jesus’ good news to the nations are following Satan‘s lead. The proof is in their mixture of abominable pagan practices included in their messaging. The deceptive apostasies Jude called attention to are a major part of today’s modern church’s accepted theology. This latter day stage was set when Catholicism devised the modern Roman calendar, ‘naming week days after pagan gods and it’s year beginning at the winter equinox.’

    Modern worldly religions have a ‘Cain’ mentality, ‘assuming God is pleased with their assumptions.’ God’s calendar ordains that the new moon be the dividing point for each new month. Long before Moses non-Israelite populations were devising their own calendars, inspired by Satan attempting to duplicate God’s coming planned world order under Jesus and His Saints. Speaking to Believers, John wrote, (1John 5:19; ‘We know that we are from God  and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.’)

    Jesus said, (John 3:19-21; Now, this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.)

     People designing calendars called them God ordained, as they honored pagan gods, rather than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When Jesus returns His calendar and ordained holy time will be re-instituted according to His master plan.

     Heavenly Father: help us realize that Your definition of love and the world’s is opposite. Please reveal Yourself to each reader, while leading us to prove all things in Jesus’ Light. We ask as we attempt to live in the nature and name of Jesus. AMEN

     All major religions attempt to love the god of their particular imagination. Some rely on statutes and images to remind them of what their god should look like. Egyptians, whose first born people and animals died on that Passover night and the people groups whose lands God gave to the Israelites, believed in gods of their imagination. The Pharisees and Sadducees Jesus encountered said they believed in the God of their forefathers, but they made Abraham’s God fit their fleshly views. Jesus told them why they did not believe in God the Father or Him.

    (John 10:25-30; Jesus replied, I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. But you refuse to believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from My Father’s hand. The Father and I are One.)

    Denominations don’t comprehend, the priesthood of Believers IN Jesus, are a called out people, predestined with a new covenant, and such comprehension is gifted! Jesus’ apostles also thought they were believers in the God of their forefathers, however Jesus’ two brothers, ‘James and Jude’ and His apostles were not gifted with believing IN faith until after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. It’s a false assumption when people thinks to understand spiritual things independent of God’s gifting. Jesus’ apostle John was given to understand that Isaiah was given the revelations we need.

     (John 12:37-41; Although Jesus had performed so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe IN Him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been REVEALED?” For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to Me, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ’s glory, and spoke about Him.)

     Believing IN is a spiritual matter, gifted to God’s called Elect. Many are prone to take on a religious persona of choice, believe a god of their imagination exist, but only God’s chosen are gifted to believe IN and understand the spiritual intent of His Way.

    (Luke 24:44-49; Then Jesus said to them, These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”)

     Jesus’ promise was fulfilled to God’s selected on Pentecost. Later Paul was called, gifted with the same spiritual understanding and taught the following.

     (1Thess 2:13-14; And so we too constantly thank God that when you, received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe. For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely. They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them completely.)

To: In home churches of God’s 10^th month, 5,781, 12/19/20

      Almighty God: thanks for Your callings, discernment and making Jesus’ followers temples of Your spirit. Strengthen us with gifted faith like Abraham’s, who also lived as a stranger among foreigners and a deceived populous. In the holy name and gifted nature of Jesus we ask Your guidance. AMEN.

    Daniel was given a vision of this latter day world order, how it progressed and its ultimate demise. As powerful gentile nations struggle for dominance they’ll use big religious organizations until jealously disrupts. People of the Most High won’t yield and persecutions will be attempted. Review our previous study.   

     Daniel had sin in his life that needed to be confessed and more was revealed.

     (Dan 9:20-27; While I was still speaking, praying, confessing my sin, the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain: yes, while I was still praying the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, around the time of the evening offering.)

   Remember all these things are recorded for our learning. We too need to be confessing our sins, particularly those of not overcoming and separating from the world as we should. The sins of not loving as we should and taking blessings for granted. Daniel also confessed the sins of his people as we should do likewise. Pray that God have mercy and shorten this time of demonic rule.

    (Dan 9:22-24; Gabriel spoke with me, instructing me as follows: Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you. At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. Therefore consider the message and understand the vision.) (Seventy weeks have been determined concerning your people and your holy city to put an end to rebellion, to bring sin to completion, to atone for iniquity, to bring in perpetual righteousness, to seal up the prophetic vision, and to anoint a most holy place.)

      The one who created Gabriel, ‘Jesus’ died for this purpose! Shed His blood for the remission of the whole world’s sins. Evil will be destroyed and perpetual righteousness is coming.

     (Dan 9:25-27; So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, a prince, arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times. Now after the sixty-two weeks, an Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction. He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week He will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come One who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.)

    Jesus’ return is scheduled and that time is to be shortened for the Elect’s sake. Nations will reject Jesus’ powerful return, He’ll defeat, then wars will end. Some had rather fight than switch, because they’re little gods to themselves, that is they love deciding for themselves, what’s right, wrong, good and evil. That apostasy won’t end until Jesus binds Satan and ushers in His righteous way.

    It’s in people’s nature to sell what they think they understand, unbelievers work harder at it, but believers are spiritually taught, they can’t call and convert another. That spiritual comprehension is gifted. Believers put forth God’s truth with the understanding that He does the rest. Like Daniel, believers try rationalizing with folk. The difference is in, believing that, opposed to believing IN. Believers are given to understand that God does the calling and converting. Unbelievers attempt to sell ‘a believe that’ philosophy. Teaching that people are saved by simply believing the Son of God came to save. Believers caution folks about that philosophy, from the point of view that, ‘even Satan knows Jesus came to save.’ Satan coaches his followers to teach a lawlessness doctrine. 

     To believe IN God the Father and God the Son as they’re manifested to be in the holy scriptures is to know by gifted faith that Jesus is Re-creator, Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer, Redeemer, the resurrection, One through whom eternal life is gifted and our only Mediator before God the Father. To know this Jesus is to desire loving obedience. To know this Jesus is to believe IN Him and His miraculous deeds.

    Jesus had Gabriel communicate with Daniel regarding the future, was Israel’s Deliverer and the Rock leading His servant Moses. (See 1Corinthians 10:4)

    Jesus created manna six days a week for the Israelites and re-created birds for their meat when they complained. He gave them plenty of water from a rock. Many years before, through Elisha Jesus purified water for Israelites drinking and crops. (See 2Kings 2:19-22) Through Elisha Jesus re-created olive oil for a widow woman so she could pay her debts and live on the property. (See 2Kings 4) Through Elisha Jesus promised a Shunammite woman a son and later when her son died, restored life to the boy. (See 2Kings 4:-8) Jesus restored life to Lazarus after being dead four days and telling Lazarus’ sisters that He was the resurrection. (See John 11) Jesus re-created bread and fish to feed thousands, proving by deeds that He is the Son of God. Through Peter, Jesus healed many when Peter’s shadow passed over them and restored life to Tabatha. (See Acts 9:36-43) Jesus did many more miracles, the holy scriptures confirm, ‘so many the book can’t contain them all.’

     Each time a mind is opened to understand these truths, it’s a miraculous God gifted event. Otherwise people could boast, ‘they earned salvation.’ When we know and believe IN these things, give God our Father all the glory. 

Gifted believing IN faith is promised through Abraham. (Review Galatians 3:29)

Promise to Abraham was that his heir would be through Isaac, ‘the son of promise.’ Likewise followers of Jesus are saved by promise. Abraham’s belief IN God, make sacrificing Isaac possible, because he knew God was the Life Giver, whose promises were sure. Followers of Jesus are heirs with Abraham through Him. (See Galatians 3:29) Let’s review.

    (Hebrews 11:17-19; By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, ‘Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name’ and Abraham reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead and in a sense he received him back from there.) Isaac’s birth was by promise to parents who were past the age of natural reproduction. Likewise resurrections and judgments are sure things. It’s God’s promise to the world.

    When God destroys evil it’s Godly love. God’s promised resurrections and a second death to evil doers is Godly love and a sure prophecy. This is revealed to John four times in His revelations; 2:11, 20:6, 20:14 and 21:5-8.

   Re-study John 1:1-5, Col 1:15-20 and Hebrews 1: We review Revelations 21:6-8 for the benefit of new subscribers.

     (He also said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life. The one who conquers ’overcomes’ will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death.)

    Satan has sold every worldly religion on his first lie to Eve. Saying what amounts to calling God a liar and saying God knows you were born to live forever someplace. May we each believe God, rather than the various demonic apostates. This and other truths were established long before Jesus’ revelations to John.

    (Malachi 4:1 & 3:19; For, indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will ‘burn them up’ says the Lord who rules over all. It will not leave even a root or branch. But for you who respect My name, the sun of vindication will rise with healing wings, and you will skip about like calves released from the stall. You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says the Lord who rules over all.)

    To people God makes thirsty for His righteousness, He gives the holy spirit and eternal life free of charge. His spirit is the water of life!

    Jesus’ promises to Abraham, His prophets, apostles and each called out Believer will come to pass in spite of deceived people and the many demonic stumbling blocks. Understand, God could destroy Satan now, but He’s allowing Satan to be the god of this world’s unbeliever for a time and for His own purpose.

    God is growing and shaping a priesthood of Believers to be family. A people gifted by promised obedience out of love will, ‘Saints.’ These are gifted to overcoming their inherited nature and Satan’s obstacles.

    The holy scriptures define Satan as, the author of confusion and the god of this age. He was first named Lucifer, was brilliant in every way, until sinful pride overcame him. He was the deceiver at Babylon, during Nimrod’s time. The word, ‘Babylon’ means ‘confusion.’ The confusion began long before Babylon, when Satan deceived Adam and Eve with that first lie. ‘God knows that you will not surely die.’ That lie spreading among believers may have been the cause of the first major expansion of the apostasy Jude was addressing.

    Jesus taught that immortality was God’s gift to Believers. In conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said; ‘Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again; the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.’ (See John 4:13-14)

    All worldly religions teach some form of Satan’s lie. Which is basically, ‘people are born with an inherent spiritual component that will live forever someplace.’ There are many variations of Satan’s lie, the root is from that same first lie. Paul explains in his letter to Timothy.

    (2Timothy 1:9-10; Jesus is the One who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on His own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.)

    Through the gift of believing IN Jesus’ good news ‘the gospel’ eternal life, ’immortality’ is gifted. Paul explained to the church at Rome and all Believers.

    (Rom 5:12-14; So then, just as sin entered the world through one man ‘Adam’ and death through sin, so death spread to all people because all sinned, for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming One) transgressed.)

      Each apostle taught, the result of sin is death. To the Pharisees types, those living as though, they were made for the law. Paul explaining that death reigned from Adam to Moses, thus the law was always. Before the law was given through Moses, death reigned. Adam being a type of Christ, ‘death is a result of Adam’s disobedience.’ But the gift of LIFE is through Jesus.

To: In residence Churches of God.  God’s 10tn month, Tevet 3, 5,781. 12/18/2020.

       The Son of God, ‘Jesus’ came to the Israelites He chose through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, making them heirs with Abraham. He changed Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning God fights. See Genesis 25:28. When Isaac’s wife’ Rebekah’ was pregnant with twins boys struggling in her womb she wasn’t sure she wanted to be pregnant, so she went to the Lord in prayer. The Lord said to her; ‘two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from within you. One will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’ The twins were named Esau and Jacob, the weaker, ‘Jacob’ cheated the stronger, ‘Esau’ of his birthright. Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob, so Rebekah helped Jacob deceive Isaac by pretending to be Esau and obtain Esau’s birthright blessings.

    Esau’s marring a Hittite woman, caused Isaac and Rebekah much anxiety. So Isaac sent Jacob away to find a wife and blessings went as follows.

   (Gen 27:28-29; May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.)

     This prophesied blessing through Isaac is more a millennia prophecy than for this pre-millennial age. (See Isaiah 22: 35:  51: 65: and Jeremiah 31. Isaac commanded Jacob; (You must not marry a Canaanite woman! Leave immediately for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, ‘your mother’s brother.’ May the sovereign God bless you! May He make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation. May He give you and your descendants the blessing He gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.)

    Jacob married two sisters and each gave him their servant maids to wife out of jealousy, when their pregnancies didn’t happen according to desires. Thus Jacob fathered twelve sons and at least one daughter. The Israelites became twelve tribes and ultimately became Egyptian slaves until God’s set time of deliverance as promised Abraham.

    It was the Lord God, ’Jesus’ who delivered Israel through His servant Moses. True to prophecy Israelites were a stubborn people desiring to go the way that seemed right, rather than obey their Deliverer. So after deliverance from Egypt and the promised lands gifted, they turned to gentile gods. The Lord God, ‘Jesus’ dispersed them to gentile nation bondage again. Jesus tells their millennial future through Isaiah.

   (Isaiah 65:9-16; I will bring forth descendants from Jacob and from Judah, people to take possession of My mountains. My chosen ones will take possession of the land, My servants will live there. Sharon will become a pasture for sheep, and the Valley of Achor a place where cattle graze; they will belong to My people, who seek Me.

    But as for you who abandon the Lord and forget about worshiping at My holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called, ‘Fortune’ and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny,’ I predestine you to die by the sword, all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, because I called to you, and you did not respond, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before Me; you chose to do what displeases Me.

    So this is what the sovereign Lord says; Look, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry! Look, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty! Look, My servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated! Look, My servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. Your names will live on in the curse formulas of My chosen ones. The sovereign Lord will kill you, but He will give His servants another name. Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God; whoever makes an oath in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God. For past problems will be forgotten; I will no longer think about them.

    For, look I am ready to create a new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore. But be happy and rejoice forevermore over what I am about to create! For, look I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy, and her people to be a source of happiness. Jerusalem will bring Me joy, and My people will bring Me happiness. The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again.

    Never again will one of her infants live just a few days or an old man die before his time. Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, anyone who fails to reach the age of a hundred will be considered cursed. They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for My people will live as long as trees, and My chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster. For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants. Before they even call out, I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear.

    A wolf and a lamb will graze together; a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, and a snake’s food will be dirt. They will no longer injure or destroy on My entire royal mountain,” says the Lord.)

A New Israel, A New Covenant.

    The New Covenant is with a spiritually called out people the Lord chooses to be His own spiritual Israelites.

    (John 1:11-13; Jesus came to what was His own, but His own people did not receive  Him. But to all who have received Him; those who believe IN His name, He has given the right to become God’s children;–children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.)

   Such are a people gifted to believe IN Jesus, and be parented by God the Father. Not by human decision, but God’s. Jesus’ own are spiritual Israelites, chosen by promises to Abraham. All faithful believers have Abraham for their example. Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Jesus’ prophets, apostles and all believers in Jesus are chosen. Their asset is believing in God! God reveals and all these believe. With belief comes trials, ‘obstacles like the demonic abominations the populous around us practice’ and our own inherited nature to overcome

     Abraham was tested; consider that major test: God commanded him to sacrifice his promised son ‘Isaac’ and Abraham was willing; faithfully knowing that God was able to keep His promises. Knowing God would resurrect. (Review that promise, see Genesis 22)

    What was this earth’s population like when Abraham was chosen? As today, the whole world’s populations were doing what seemed right to their inherited intellect, to their own fleshly instinctive nature. Each yielding to their notions about what’s right, wrong, good and evil, rather than believing God.

     But, God had a plan then and now that He’d carried out in spite of deceived mankind yielding to Satan. God’s calling Abraham was a new beginning, making promises that included Jesus as ‘the Seed’ and the called spiritual heirs. God made Abraham a spiritual father to all who’d believe in Jesus. No apostasy in the way Abraham and Jesus’ followers believe.

   (Hebrews 11:17-19; By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, ‘Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name’ and Abraham reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.) Hebrews 11: is called the faith chapter for good reason, study the whole.

     What about the apostasy taking place in this age? Religious folks would argue the point, but the simple truth is; ‘going against God’s Way and making Jesus’ teaching fit one’s own desired opinion is the apostasy.’ People’s intellectual fleshly inherited nature wants to go along, ‘go with the flow and follow what’s popular.’ God’s Way is truth, ‘let God be true though every person a liar.’ See Romans 3:4)

    God had Abraham separate from the populations at large, ‘walk with Him and be His friend.’

     Daniel was allowed to see this age. After foreseeing destructive rule on earth, he was allowed to see the future demise of Satan. Symbolically, Daniel saw ten horns representing rulers.

     (Dan 7:20-28; I also wanted to know the meaning of the ten horns on its head, and of that other horn which came up and before which three others fell. This was the horn that had eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant things, whose appearance was more formidable than the others. While I was watching, that horn began to wage war against the holy ones and was defeating them, until the Ancient of Days arrived and judgment was rendered in favor of the holy ones of the Most High. Then the time came for the holy ones to take possession of the kingdom.

    This is what He told me: ‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it. The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate three kings. He will speak words against the Most High. He will harass the holy ones of the Most High continually. His intention will be to change times established by law. They will be delivered into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court will convene, and his ruling authority will be removed – destroyed and abolished forever!

    Then the kingdom, authority, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be delivered to the people of the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; all authorities will serve Him and obey Him. This is the conclusion of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and the color drained from my face. But I kept the matter to myself.)

    The demonic apostasy that was beginning in Jude’s day has filled this earth. No need to set dates or put names and faces to these despots who are destined to persecute God’s holy ones, ‘Christians.’ They are destined to speak arrogantly against our Creator and trouble followers of Jesus. Christians hate what Satan is doing to this earth’s populations, but these things don’t seem to trouble today’s religious? More about Daniel another time.

To: In residence Churches of God. His 9^th month, Kisiev 28, 5,981. 12/14/20

    We’ve been in the end time age since Jesus’ ascension. Our prophesied Messiah’s coming, dying for the sins of the world and ascending to His previous throne set this end time age. Our Lord’s brother Jude tells us about Enoch’s prophecy regarding Jesus’ second coming.

    (Jude 1:14-16; Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, even prophesied of them, saying, ‘Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all, to convict every person of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds that they have committed, and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These people are grumblers and fault-finders who go wherever their desires lead them, and they give bombastic speeches, enchanting folks for their own gain.) Seemingly the book of Enoch isn’t preserved entirely, but accepted by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. 

     According to western scholars Enoch is not part of the biblical cannon as used by Jews apart from Beta Israel. Some Christian’s accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest, but generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired. Enoch is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox, and Eritrean Tewahedo Orthodox Church, but not by any other Christian groups. Extinct except in the Ge’ez language, with Aramaic fragments from the Scrolls, a few Greek and Latin fragments. For this and other reasons, the traditional Ethiopian belief is that the original language of the work was Ge’ez, whereas non-Ethiopian scholars tend to assert that it was first written in either Aramaic or Hebrew; Ephraim Isaac suggests that the Book of Enoch, like the Book of Daniel was composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew. No Hebrew version is known to have survived. It is asserted in the book itself that its author was Enoch, before the Biblical flood.

     Followers of Jesus have a loving wholesome fear of God and trust in His promises. Writing to them Jesus inspired Paul to advise.

     (1Cor 10:12-14; So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. No trial has overtaken you, that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. So then my dear friends, flee from idolatry.) Many have endured death and persecutions, remember Stephen and re-study Acts 7:

     The apostasy is basically a paganism mix with some Judaism, using Jesus’ name. MOST of this world’s accepted traditions are idolatry. Jesus prayed to His Father saying of His followers; ‘They are in this world but not of this world.’ It’s apparent that Paul is writing to the Corinthian church of God during the Passover season, thus the following references.

    (1Cor 10:15-22; I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say. Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there’s one bread, we the many are one body, for we all share the one bread. Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice, is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or, are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than He is?)

    People practicing paganism demonstrate unbelief, in the sense Paul is bringing to our attention. If people’s sacrifices of time and money are not to the true God, who are they to? Doing such in the name of Jesus is apostasy. The theme in Jude’s letter is apostasy and the dictionary meaning of apostasy is; ‘renunciation of a religious, political, or allegiance belief. That’s exactly what’s happened to this world’s major religions. In God’s View counterfeit religions using Jesus’ name are Apostates! Why in this so called age of enlightenment are folks still practicing the old god of fertility customs, looking to the East and celebrating a Jesus of their imagination? Many of these abominable practices were brought to Israelites’ attention long before Jesus’ miraculous birth.

    (Ezekiel 8:1-14; In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand of the sovereign Lord seized me. As I watched, I noticed a form that appeared to be a man. From his waist downward was something like fire, and from his waist upward something like brightness, like an amber glow. He stretched out the form of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue which provokes to jealousy was located. Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.

     He said to me, ‘Son of man look up toward the north.’ So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance. He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? And the great abominations that the people of Israel are practicing here, to drive Me far from My sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!

    He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. He said to me, ‘Son of man, dig into the wall.’ So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway. He said to me, ‘Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.’ So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure of creeping thing and beast – detestable images – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a sensor in his hand, and fragrant vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward. He said to me, ‘Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? For they think, The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’ He said to me, ‘You will see them practicing even greater abominations!’

     Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. He said to me, ‘Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!’ Then He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, facing east – they were worshiping the sun toward the east! He said to me, ‘Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare them. When they have shouted in My ears, I will not listen to them.)

    The apostasy Jude wrote about is a renunciation of Jesus’ Way. A renunciation is to deny or reject, usually for moral or religious reasons. It is the declaration of giving something up or adding something to. Jude’s definition includes making Jesus fit popular worldly religious views, also the world’s definition of love, if you please.

    Jesus’ Way People were hijacked by Catholicism, the divided Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Hijacked the keeping of established customs God gave Israel. Papal authority hijacked Jesus’ Way People with forceful persecutions of those not accepting their mix. See Jeremiah 10: also. A pagan mixture of images, sun, planetary, and fertility god practices. These included lustful idolatrous, sexuality and such, in the name of Jesus. These facts are available to any person wanting to do a little research. Even fleshly minded people can easily discern that Catholicism was made to fit the very abominations Ezekiel was inspired to write at Ezekiel 8.

     Jesus knew this apostasy would take hold after His ascension, how minds of unbelievers would organize mixing pagan ways to gain worldly support and how organizational persecutions would follow in His name. So, Jesus taught and made the following prophesy.

     (John 15:18-19; If the world hates you, be aware that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.) Is it not in the nature of worldly religions, to ignore Jesus’ Way? It’s natural that worldly religions make Jesus and people they think holy fit what seems right to their fleshly minds.

    (John 15:20-21; Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed My Word, they will obey yours too. But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.’) Some will follow the world to avoid persecution!

     (John 15:22-24; If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin. The one who hates Me hates My Father too. If I had not performed among them the miraculous deeds that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen the deeds and have hated both Me and My Father.)

    Jesus’ deeds gave evidence that He was the Son of God and Lord God of Israel. Long before Jesus resurrected Lazarus after being dead four days, turned water into aged wine, fed thousands, re-creating bread and fish, walked on water and revealed His kingdom to three apostles by appearing with Moses and Elisha; Jesus had gave life back through Elisha.

    At 2Kings 4: is the account of a Shunammmite woman to whom Elisha was led to promise a son. Later her son died and she went to Elisha for help. Elisha sent a servant saying, ‘lay this staff across his face,’ he did and returned to Elisha saying, ‘the boy didn’t wake.’ So Elisha went; got up on the bed and spread his body out over the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him and the boy’s skin grew warm. Elisha went back and walked around in the house. Then he got up on the bed again and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha called to Gehazi and said, ‘Get the Shunammite woman.’ So he did and she came to him. He said to her, ‘Take your son.’ She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.)

    Not only did Jesus speak to people in the apostolic age; as the Lord God, He spoke to previous ages through Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, other prophets and is speaking to this present age through His apostles. Now He has preserved His printed Word. Jesus reveals through John.

    (John 15:25-27; Now this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘they hated Me without reason.’ When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father; the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, it will testify about Me, and you also will testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.)

    The spirit of truth can’t tolerate any form of paganism. It reveals Jesus’ Way. When the Son of God came as had been prophesied, He found this world’s populations in the same state of confusion that exist today. His chosen people, ‘the Israelites’ were dispersed to pagan lands because of their disobedience. Mostly a few of the tribe of Judah were allowed to return to the Jerusalem area by the occupying Romans. Under Caesar’s governors they had a symbolism of self rule. The Temple was rebuilt, a priesthood reestablished. Jesus gave honor to this priesthood by sending some He healed to the priest, submitting according to the law.

To: In home churches of God. His 9^th month Kislev 25, 5,781, 12/12/20

      Almighty God: thank You for Your calling and discernments, we’re indeed temples of Your spirit. Please strengthen us with gifted faith as Abraham’s, who as we; lived as a stranger among foreigners and deceived populous. In the holy name of Jesus we ask to be led to serve as pleasing to Yourself. AMEN.

      God allowed the apostasy that Jude saw on the horizon for His purpose, and will continue to allow it until Jesus’ return. It’s prophesied that before Jesus’ returns His two witnesses will miraculously teach His true message and be hated by the whole world. (Study Revelations 11) Satan has the whole world deceived, manifesting himself and his followers as angels of lights, making Christendom populations think of themselves as believers in Jesus: blind leading the blind.

These were prevalent during the time Paul was writing the following to the Corinthians.

      (2Cor 11:13-15; For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.)

     Claiming to believe in Jesus, presenting impressive credentials, and teaching Jesus lived and died for the sins of the world doesn’t make one a called follower. These may not understand the difference between ‘believing that,’ opposed to ‘believing IN.’ Most unbelievers are about the business of selling a paganism mixed Christendom, attract pagan populations by teaching a condoning of lawlessness. Perhaps a somewhat rebellious to His Father, Jesus, a Jesus differing from the Lord God who taught that, ‘He and His Father were as One.’

     Believing that Jesus lived and died for the sins of the world while not opposing all that’s an abomination to Him; isn’t believing IN. Believers IN can’t continue practicing the abominable fertility and sun worshiping customs of pagans. Honoring their gods and labeling them Christian is an abomination. The naïve ‘believing that mentality populations’ desire religion while accepting the imposed pagan calendar that names week days for pagan gods and fits it to pagan sun worship practices don’t understanding that such practices was detestable to God. Thus, this world’s so called Christendom populations believe in a Jesus that doesn’t exist. Jesus prophesied about this age, see Matthew 24.

     All have sinned and every individual inherited a lawless toward God nature that must be supernaturally changed in order to inherit eternal life. However there is a methodology to building principled fleshly character with integrity. High moral principles and integrity can be developed, but that isn’t belief in God as He manifest Himself to be in the holy scriptures. Good fleshly methodologies can’t make a person good in God’s View. Building good characteristics can include a self serving vanity, also a human condition that must be turned from. This was revealed to David and he prophesied.

     (Psalms: 53:1-7 Fools say to themselves, there is no God. They sin, and commit evil deeds none of them do what is right. The Lord looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God. Everyone rejects God, thus they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right, not even one! All those who behave wickedly do not understand; those who devour My people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to the Lord. They are absolutely terrified, for God defends the godly. You want to humiliate the oppressed, even though the Lord is their shelter. I wish the deliverance of Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the well-being of His people, may Jacob rejoice, may Israel be happy!)

    David’s wish will be fulfilled our Deliverer will come from Zion and fulfill promises to Abraham. Again, no methodology promoting sincerity and integrity can make one Christ like. Even Satan knows God is. Believing IN Christians have no problem believing John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20 and Hebrews 1: These scriptures teach that Jesus created all things. Even angelic being and Lucifer were created by Jesus! Believers IN have no problem believing that Lucifer rebelled, fought God and was removed from the heavenly realms.

      The unbeliever’s mentality is likened to Cain’s who thought to sacrifice his way, rather than submit to God’s command. Cain made God fit his imagination, thinking, surely this other way will please Him. Unbelievers like Cain imagine vain things and worship according to what seems right intellectually. The modern day apostate is rooted in Cain’s path which is likened to Korah and Balaam’s errors. Let’s review.

     (Jude 1:11-13; Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. These men are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, feasting without reverence, feeding only themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit – twice dead, uprooted; wild sea waves, spewing out the foam of their shame; wayward stars for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness have been reserved.)

   Twice dead? Deceivers of people and all who don’t repent of evil living will die a second death. This is God’s righteous judgment. (See Rev 2, 19, 20 & 21:7-8.

     Cain imagined God fitting his imagination. He assumed God would be pleased with his worshiping his way. Believers that and denominational Christendom make the same assumptions. God is not pleased when people choose to worship the way that seems right to their fleshly nature. Balaam’s error also revolved around his assumptions.

    (Jude 1:17-23; But you, dear friends– recall the predictions foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. For, they said to you; ‘in the end times there will come scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.’ These people are divisive, worldly, devoid of the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. And have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating even the clothes stained by the flesh.)

    Christians know their fleshly minds are carnal, sold on unrighteousness, doing what seemed right to that fleshly intellectual nature. The natural inherited fleshly mind rejects what God says is right, wrong, good and evil. Review last study.

     Followers of Jesus need to meditate, study, ask for wisdom and understanding while looking at ourselves in Jesus’ spiritual mirror. Ask to be kept on God’s Potter’s wheel. Ask to be lead by the Almighty. Realizing that God mercifully reveals Himself, otherwise a person can attempt to be saved by works. Let us each pray that God lead us from the path Cain and Balaam took.

    Jesus said; ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ Luke 10:18. Satan’s removal was apparently violent and before Adam was created. Remember, ‘all these things, especially Israel’s history is for our learning.’ God’s awesomeness includes the fact that He looks through this age, our trials, knowing our inherited nature and Satan’s influence. His looking forward includes when He will bring New Jerusalem to this earth and beyond. (See Rev 3:12 & 21:2) God is totally in charge and is only allowing Satan’s domination for the short haul. For the time being, God is allowing people live according to what seems right for His own ultimate purpose. Allowing Satan to be this world’s god. This is the overcoming age! Jesus’ leading Israel from Egyptian bondage is a foreshadowing of His delivering us from sin’s bondage in this age. Allow Jesus’ teaching through His apostle Paul.

    (1Cor 10:1-4; For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.)

      This same Jesus, that saw Satan fall like lightening from the heavens, is the ROCK that communed with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and created all things, led His chosen people Israel and is leading His called out ones today! That Rock is the Creator, Re-creator, Deliverer, Revealer, Redeemer, that’s leading and giving Christian’s spiritual food. One day the whole world will understand this awesome truth!

    (1Cor 10:5-11; But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day. And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.)

      Part of the apostasy hinges on the fact that false apostles weren’t gifted to understand that the same Lord God Jesus that died for the sins of the world, is the Rock that led Israel from sinful Egyptian bondage, made perpetual promises to Abraham and gave Moses the commandments.

To: In residence Churches of God, His 9tn month, Keslev 25, 5,781. 12/11/2020.

     Something to consider regarding God’s planning. Jesus inspired His apostle Matthew to write; (Matt 1:17; So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations.) 3 x 14= 42; generations and is linking to Daniel 9:24, ‘70 weeks of years is 490 years,’ this commonly places a biblical generation at 35 years. (42 x 35=1,470 years from Abraham to Jesus; so, seemingly other events are linked to generations.

    Assuming the 7 day week represents 7 thousand years, Peter writes. (2Peter 3:8; Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.)Thus it’s likely that 6 thousand years are planned to allow mankind go the way that seems right, then Jesus’ millennia reign. Jesus inspired His apostle Paul write.

    (Rom 3:1-5; Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? Actually, there are many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being shown up as a liar, just as it is written: “so that you will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)

    If the Judean calendar is correct, 219 years remain until Jesus’ planned return, but for the Elect’s sake time is to be shortened. See Matt 24:22. Additionally Jesus said; (Matt 24:24-25; For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the Elect. Remember, I have told you ahead of time.)

    Jesus is prophesying that before His return the whole world will be deceived similar to before the flood and likened to Sodom and Gomorra. All these things are parts of Jesus’ good news explained by Him, His prophets and apostles.

Where’s the world going wrong?

     Worshiping in denominational meetings and believing without proving, is faith in people who founded them. Truth seekers should look to God. At Romans 3.Jesus is teaching the spiritual significance through Paul; ‘there’s an advantage to circumcision,’ (circumcision always looked forward to a circumcision of the heart.) God has entrusted the Jews with His oracles of faith. (Oracles include His calendar, commandments, caring for the land etc.) Judaism like no other people have held to God’s oracles, commandments, calendar and annual Sabbaths, which is a main reason they’ve been persecuted all these years. Many Jews don’t believe in Jesus, but that don’t nullify their God given responsibility. They like all worldly religions are part of the apostate Jude wrote about and we studied last time.

    So, let’s review the scriptural definition of apostasy? (a) Deciding for oneself, what’s right, wrong, good and evil. (b) Attempting to mix old pagan practices with God’s truth; ‘like those of old Babylon, Egypt and the nations whose lands God took and gave Israel. (c) Any twisting of God’s Holy Word.

    Within forty years after Jesus’ ascension, His apostles were defending God’s Truth on several fronts. (1) From those desiring to make merchandise of God’s people by use of their credentials. (2) Teaching a methodology doctrine; ‘anyone can practice and choose to be saved at will.’ (3) Supporting the pagan philosophy that everyone has a soul that’ll live forever someplace, ‘in preference to God’s truth that eternal life is gifted through being called to believe in Jesus’ sacrificial shed blood and the resurrections. (4) Teaching people are made to serve the law in preference to God’s law made for people’s good and not people for the law. (Example, Jesus said; ‘The Sabbath is made for people, not people for the Sabbath; for this reason the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’ See Mark 2:27.

   Pharisee, Judaism and pagan mentalities have invaded God’s church, and hasn’t change much, from when Jesus was ridiculed for healing on a Sabbath. (John 5:9)

     The apostasy basically spring from two fronts, Judaism’s erroneous teaching God’s law and non-Israelite groups desiring to mix pagan practices.

    God’s gifted spirit in Jude compelled him to write about these apostasies.

    Blood brothers Jude, James and half brothers to Jesus’ were converted to a belief IN Him as the Son of God and Savior after His ascension. Seemingly Jude wrote about 66 to 69 A.D. His intent was to write about followers of Jesus’ common salvation, but the Holy Spirit compelled him to write about the ongoing apostasy already taking place. Each apostle referred to the apostasy in various terminologies, each taught the Saints to hold fast to The Truth that had been presented to them.

    The apostate’s historical evidence is all about us as people make God fit their individual ideas. (The apostasies have been used by Satan to divide denominational groups as foretold by Jesus, His prophets and apostles.) In this so called knowledgeable age; ‘the history and foundational beginnings of groups and customs can be quickly traced with a Google search. The question; how much worse will it get before Jesus’ return? Simply put; ‘apostate is lawlessness toward God‘s Way, His View and His definition of sin. A result is that people’s natural love grows cold when they yield to the demonic and their own fleshly imaginations. Another result is that His people are hated for practicing Jesus’ commandments.

     (Matthew 24:9-14; Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of My name. Then many will be led into sin, people will betray one another and hate one another, many false prophets will appear and deceive many because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.)

     Particularly in the USA and so called western democracies; people’s hatred expands to political differences as well as religious. But Jesus’ good news about His reign on earth is going out. His two witnesses will get the attention of the world in their time. (Study Revelations 11:)

    Some Protestant religions teach that Christians will be raptured -‘taken up’ and escape coming persecutions and plagues. There are prophecies about protection and others about people dying for Jesus’ cause. Consider Jesus’ revelation to John, and Stephen’s sermon; who’s coat Paul held while he was being murdered.

    (Revelations 6:9-11; Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I ‘John’ saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the Word of God and because of the testimony they had given. They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before You judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?’” Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.) Persecution and death for some Believers seem to be a reality of the time.

    Jude gives us a righteous example of angel Michael’s contention with Satan over the body of Moses. Rather than debate Satan, God’s angel said; ‘may God rebuke you.’ This is the attitude we Believers need to have regarding disputes.

    Only Jude shares Enoch’s prophecy. His writing is a good introduction to, Jesus’ Revelations to John. Many professing Christians, don’t take Jesus’ words seriously, saying; ‘many will come saying, I am the Christ, yet deceive many.’ Many erroneously teach that Jesus came to bring peace on earth in this current age, through organized religion.’ This too is a big part of the apostasy.

      Jesus said; (Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. Matt 10:34-36)

     Why does God’s Word cause such discord among family, friends and religions? Our natural unbelieving mentality does not think God should be telling us ‘what’s right, wrong, good and evil!’ Until we’re individually lead to be Believers IN Jesus, our inherited fleshly nature will dominate such thinking. The many think highly of their own intellect, which is idolatry! It’s the little god mentality that causes people to believes, ‘from within ourselves we can choose what is right, wrong, good and evil.’ Such is idolatry and part of the apostasy.

   Jude’s letter is to a particular group of people.

    (Jude 1:1-2; From Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, wrapped in the love of God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you.) What a difference, if only professing Christians accepted this one truth!

     Jude, James and all Jesus’ apostles considers selves Jesus’ slave. Each wrote to the called. Jude believed, God the Father and God the Son were two individuals, with the mind of One, as believers should be.

     (Jude 1:3; Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel compelled instead to write to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the Saints.)

     Every Believing teacher is compelled to encourage, the same way. Jesus’ faith teaches that, ‘we obey because we recognize that God’s loved us first.’ Believers are spirit led to love His Way. Those to whom Jesus isn’t revealed, resist His teaching regarding what’s right, wrong, good and evil.

    (Jude 1:4; For certain men have secretly, slipped in among you, men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe; ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.)

     It’s difficult for the natural mind to realize God is all knowing. (a) God could previously mark certain individuals for condemnation. (b) The natural mind can’t fathom, God foreknowing all things! (c) That disobeying God is evil.

     Grace doesn’t annul God’s law; grace demonstrates the elegance of His law and His gift of love to His Way People. God the Father made God the Son, ‘Master and Lord.’ To dilute Jesus’ prominence is to deny. (Re-study John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20 and Hebrews 1:)

    (Jude 1:5; Now I desire to remind you, (even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all) that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe.)

     Professing Christians can’t fathom our Savior as being the One Lord that led Israelites from Egypt. That Jesus is the Life Giver that commanded the Israelites to destroy unbelieving populations.

    (Jude 1:6; You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, He has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day.)

    The seventh of seven annual Sabbath is the holy, ‘Last Great Day’ ending the Feast of Tabernacles. Demonic angels’ final demise is established. Sodom and Gomorrah’s fate is our example of what’s to become of all evil.

    (Jude 1:7; So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.)

      Study the prophecies at ‘Ezekiel 38:17 & Isaiah 30:27-33.’ Things related to physics as we understand science are not eternal as is God. Eternity is to the point of non-existence, or the point of the Eternal God’s choosing. For Sodom and Gomorrah it was until they were burned up, existed no more. God’s sun and His earth is eternal to the point of His choosing.

     Michael the archangel through spiritual discernment did not slander Satan, but said, may the Lord rebuke you.

      May we understand the working of God’s spirit as Paul was gifted to explain. (The unbeliever does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we, have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16)

     It’s the great mystery to this world’s populations. God does the calling, the revealing and training His people. His love is revealed as in gifted. The blood over the Israelites doors on that Passover before their deliverance looked forward to Jesus’ own shed blood for the remission of sin, and looked forward to gifted spiritual deliverance from sin’s bondage through Jesus the Christ.