The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:7-11, “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons;

for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are

illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall

we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us

for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who

have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

This is a long passage, so I will try to be brief. The word discipline (??????? paideia) means

the rearing or training of a young child. Yet, no father disciplines the child of another man.

So, if you are not trained by the LORD, He simply does not see you as His son. Our earthly

fathers discipline us while we are young, so as to develop us for adulthood. Earthly fathers,

however, are not always correct, but they do what seems best to them at the time. Discipline

is not always pleasant. I told you what to do, and you’re not going until you get it done! And

you didn’t get to go because you hadn’t done what you were told. Boy! Parents!! But as you

get older, you understand. Sometimes having to deny a child something hurts the parents

more than it does the child. True! But the child has to become an adult before that is really

believed. ~ I was disciplined pretty severely at times. Gogie was a disciplinarian par excellance!

What I later learned was that her dad used to whip her and cry while he was doing it, saying,

“Sis, dad hates to do this, but it’s for your own good. You’ve got to learn…” I don’t know

whether he cried when he whipped his boys, but he was so severe that Mimi often had to

intervene saying, “Dad! That’s enough! Stop! That’s enough.” ~ No one, however, can

stop the discipline of the LORD. Pay close attention to what He tells you! There’s no Mimi,

who can stop Him. Sin has consequences. What you may not understand now, you will

understand in the years to come. You will then be at peace with all discipline.

Pray for your parents. Pray for your grandparents. We all pray daily for you!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:1-4, “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things

to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices

which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers,

having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?

3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

I’m sure you’ve often thought about things that happened yesterday.

But, you’ve never thought about things that happened tomorrow! God

has so constructed us that we can remember the past, but not see the future.

So, you will not be shocked when Paul says that no one was or ever will

be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. In fact, the Ten Commandments

were only ever for the Jews, and only for them until Jesus came. Paul says

the Law was only “a shadow of the good things to come.” He says the Law

can never make anyone perfect. Then why did God give the Law to Moses?

“…in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins”; but sin was never cleansed

by the blood of bulls and goats. It was only cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.

And He died only once, and ALL of our sins, past and future, were forgiven.

Yes, we still sin; and we are told to confess that sin. Confess (???????? homologeo)

means to agree with. We are to agree with what God has said about our sin,

and He looks back to our acceptance of Him (when we were saved) and

forgives (?????? aphiemi – sends away) our current sin, cleansing us in the process.

Back in Romans 6:14, Paul said, “…you are not under law, but under grace.”

So, when we sin, we should admit it to God, receive His forgiveness and forget it –

BUT, forget it so that we will not commit it again! The Holy Spirit can remove our

very remembrance of that sin in much the same way that He caused Israel to

remember theirs! Indeed we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psa. 139:14).

You are in our faithful prayers every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 9:22, “And according to the Law…, almost all things

are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood,

there is no forgiveness.”

Do you remember when I quoted the old saying that “The

New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed”?

The verse above illustrates that very clearly and encourages

us to read the Bible v-e-r-y c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y.

Paul has spent a lot of time in this chapter talking about

how important the blood of animal sacrifices was under

the Old Covenant, the Ten Commandments, and all the

things that accompanied the Law. Then he says, “…almost

all things are cleansed with blood…” If the blood were so

important under the Law (and it was!), why would he now

say, “…almost all things…”? The answer to this comes from

Leviticus 5:11, “But if his means are insufficient for two

turtledoves or two young pigeons, then for his offering for

that which he has sinned, he shall bring the tenth of an ephah

of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall not put oil on it or place

incense on it, for it is a sin offering.”

Poor people, living under the Law in Old Testament days,

who could not afford to by the cheapest birds that had blood,

could offer 1/10 of a bushel of fine flour, and the LORD would

accept it in place of the blood. But under the New Covenant

Jesus shed His own blood for all mankind, so that rich and

poor alike could be forgiven of their sins. How wonderful

our LORD is! No one is excluded from salvation except

those who will not believe! And there is no excuse for not

believing upon Jesus.

May the LORD bless you as you read carefully His Word!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 5:7-9, “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications

with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard

because of His piety.

8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of

eternal salvation…”

God always hears the prayers of His own. We are His because we have trusted in

Him to forgive our sins and have committed ourselves to Him by faith. Now, why

then, are our prayers not answered? The LORD alone knows what is best for us.

Sometimes, He says, “Yes”; sometimes, “No”; and sometimes, “Wait.” But He

always hears and is always concerned.

These verses struck me because I had never thought of Jesus having cried so loudly

(strong and mighty). Despite his loud prayers, the disciples slept. They were afraid.

What struck me the most, however, was verse 8: “He learned obedience (received

instruction) from the things which He suffered (endured).” We don’t think like

that, do we? We want to avoid the distasteful things in life. ~ Only yesterday, I

received two email from students, seeking prayer and help for things they could

not control. One was from a former student, who is completing a degree and

desperately wants to find the LORD’s place of service. The other was from one

whose son says he does not believe in Jesus. This student desperately wants to

see that son come to faith in Jesus. Both of these students are suffering. Their

circumstances are different, but the suffering for each is just as real. Why does

the LORD allow this? They are learning to lean on Christ and trust His leadership.

Don’t try to avoid suffering. View it as the LORD’s method of teaching you.

That’s what Jesus did; and we are certainly not as dedicated as He.

We Love and Pray for you daily! We hope you do the same for us.

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper

than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul

and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts

and intentions of the heart.”

I remember so clearly how Sue Portner, then my secretary at Mary

Ann Baptist in St. Ann, simply could not understand how the Bible

could assess her thoughts and intentions. Maybe you have that

problem, too. Ellicott, in his commentary, brings it into perspective

with this question, “Does (the writer) bring before us again the word

of Scripture, or the divine Word Himself?” He goes on to answer the

question when he says, “…the Spirit of God is never absent from His

word.” In other words, the Holy Spirit uses the Written Word of

Scripture to bring to us His direct, divine utterances that meet every

situation in life.

The Scriptures are “quick” (living), “powerful” (active) and able

to judge all of our innermost thoughts (reflections, intentions).

Could what the Scriptures know and how they influence us to be

more like Jesus Christ be why Satan wants to keep us away from

reading the Bible? Could it also be why we, too, often want to keep

away from the Bible? Don’t be deceived! The LORD God has put the

Holy Spirit within us and the Holy Scriptures before us, so that we

may not fall into disobedience. Protect yourself every day!

Our love and prayers track you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas