The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth,

the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him

with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,

with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

One of the cardinal doctrines in the New Testament is the security of

all true believers. By that, I mean, not those who just “believe in God,”

but those who have genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ as their LORD and

Savior. In these verses, Paul outlines the order of true faith:

1.“after listening…having also believed” – understanding (akouo).

We understand differently, according to our mental ages. As I

look back upon my own conversion at 7 years-old, I understand

today much more than I did then. Yet, I believed in Jesus and

trusted Him at that time.

2.“sealed in Him” – you were marked (aphragizo) once and for all

as belonging to Him. The Holy Spirit was given to you and is the

LORD’s “pledge” (down-payment) on the full inheritance He will

give you in Heaven. Nothing can ever sever you from Christ!

3.You are right now God’s possession! When we are with Him in

Heaven, we will know and experience His full redemption. Let’s

say that as a child you got lost from your parents. A good friend

found you and took you toward home. You were safe with your

friend, but not as completely safe until you reached home.

All of this produces praise to the LORD! We praise Him for having found

us. We praise Him for having redeemed us, for having secured us in Himself,

and for having prepared a better Home for us within His own estate! And

let’s not forget the human messenger who proclaimed the “message of truth,”

which became the “gospel of (our) salvation. Now, it’s our turn to be that

messenger to someone who is lost like we once were.

May our LORD richly bless you all “to the praise of His glory,”

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Galatians 6:14, “But may it never be that I should boast,

except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which

the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of boasting in the

world today. Those in the NFL, who kneel when the National

Anthem is played, are boasting; and those who criticize them

are boasting as well. Everyone thinks he is right; to him,

everyone else is wrong. The word “boast” means “to take

pride in, to glory in” whatever one believes to be right.

Churches often boast in their magnificent buildings, the

huge sums of money they have or give, or the number of

members they have. It was the same in Paul’s day. The

Judaizers, who claimed that Christians needed to keep the

Law of Moses, boasted of how many they had convinced

to come to their position. Many religious groups today

take the same position.

But Paul said there was only one thing of which he could

boast; and that was the Cross of the LORD Jesus Christ.

He said the things of the world had for him been put to

death, and he had been put to death to the things of the

world. There can be no doubt that Paul was tempted

just as we are. He just reckoned himself dead to those

things when they arose in his mind. The glorious truth

is that we can do the same: we can “die daily” to those

things that would pull us away from true life, which we

have in the LORD Jesus Christ. Paul adds in verse 16,

“And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy

be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”

We pray that you (and we) will render everything dead,

except that which glorifies the LORD Jesus.

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Galatians 2:4-5; 20-21, “But it was because of the false brethren who had

sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to

bring us into bondage. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even

an hour, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you….20 “I have

been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who

loved me and delivered Himself up for me. 21 “I do not nullify the grace of God;

for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Whatever you do, don’t believe everything you hear –even from preachers!

There are indeed “false brethren” proclaiming a “false gospel” for the purpose

of leading true believers away from the Gospel that brought them salvation.

Earlier in this second chapter, Paul had to correct Simon Peter. Jews did not

eat with Gentiles. That was a law by which Jews abided. But, since his

salvation, Peter ate with Gentile believers, which was correct. But when

Jews appeared, Peter withdrew from eating with Gentiles because he feared

that the Jews would see he had forsaken the law. And when other believers

saw what Peter did, they began to withdraw, too. It was then that Paul stepped

in and spoke up against Peter’s action.

We face opposition like that from so-called “Calvinists” today. The harsh

Calvinists (TULIP Calvinists) believe that God determined somewhere in

eternity past who would be saved and who would not, eliminating any repentance

and faith on man’s part altogether. Paul said (verse 21) that to do that was to

render null and void the grace of God, which lovingly offers man a way of escape.

Think about this: if God “elected” only some to be saved, logically, He “elected”

some to be lost and banished to Hell. If that were true (which it is not!), “then

Christ died needlessly.” All this is to say, LISTEN and PAY ATTENTION to SCRIPTURE

–not simply to preachers, many of whom can lead you astray.

We love and pray for you many times every single day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Galatians 1:6-9, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him

who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is

really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and

want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even though we, or an angel

from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we

have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before,

so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to

that which you received, let him be accursed.”

The history of the Galatian people says it all. They were a wild,

capricious, “on-again, off-again” people. Paul had preached the

Gospel to them, and they had received it. Then, suddenly they

renounced the Gospel and fell back into their old ways. Paul took

his preaching seriously. Preachers in every generation are to do

the same. Preaching is serious business!

My dear Mother once told me of a pastor, who didn’t take his

calling very seriously. “What do you think I ought to preach tonight?”

he would say after Sunday lunch with my folks. “I thought the

LORD was supposed to lead you,” Mom would say. “Yeah… that’s

right,” he replied. “How about the Seven Last Words on the Cross?”

“Well,” she replied, “you preached on that last Sunday.”

“Yeah…, that’s right, I did.” Then he would again preach the Seven

Last Words on the Cross. How could his congregation ever take him

seriously?

Paul said that even if “an angel from heaven should preach…a

Gospel contrary to (what he had) preached…” he should be

accursed (???????) –set aside for divine destruction! Paul took

preaching very seriously! Did you notice that verses 8 and 9 are

almost word-for-word the same? Paul purposely repeated himself

to show the Galatians that he really meant business! His words

about preaching were not frivolous, either. Pastors, evangelists,

missionaries –everyone who preaches the Gospel must be very

careful –even more than a surgeon performing a delicate

procedure. The Gospel deals with eternity! Both the doctrine

and the proclaimers’ attitude are under the observation of the

LORD who created and maintains the Universe!

May God bless you, for whom we pray daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

II Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,

for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather

boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

I was excited beyond words when I received notice that I was selected

as one of 150 men to go to Australia to preach the Gospel! Yet, when

the airplane lifted off of the runway, I remember a thin cloud of fear

sweep over me. What would I preach? Would it be well-received by

the Australians? It may just have been that fear that led to the blessings

of those meetings.

The Apostle Paul had a revelation that lifted him to the third heaven.

In that revelation, he encountered unspeakable glory! Therefore, the

LORD gave him a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble. When we’re

confident that we can of ourselves do whatever tasks lie before us, we

are headed for failure. But when we accept that we cannot of ourselves

accomplish the tasks, the LORD provides His strength. We must in

every situation cast ourselves upon Him. It’s not easy to admit that we

need help; but when we are weak, and admit it, He demonstrates His

miraculous power in and through us. His grace is indeed sufficient!

The Psalmist said, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain

(provide for) you” (Psa. 55:22 NAS).

Our prayer is that you will always allow the LORD to lead you,

for only in that way can you know His full blessing!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”