The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:32-39, “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.

35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

This is a longer-than-usual passage, but it is necessary in order that we might grasp the full understanding.

Paul is writing to Christian Jews, who had accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. What is said of them

parallels what is true of us. The unbelieving Jews ridiculed Jesus; and in the same way, they ridiculed those

who believed Him. So it is with us. If we are not ridiculed for our own beliefs, we are ridiculed for our association with others, who are Christians. What do we do? “Don’t throw away your confidence!” Confidence in Christ Jesus produces the endurance we need. In the proper time –“in a very little while”– we will be rewarded.

JD (my oldest grandson) and I discussed briefly the Second Coming of Christ the other day. He accurately

pointed out that for many generations people have been confident of the LORD’s return; yet, He has not

returned. JD believes, as I do, that Jesus will come for His Church in what is called the Rapture –the “sudden snatching away” of all believers, who will rise to meet Him in the air. The rather difficult point is that virtually every generation of believers has looked for His return, but not seen it. It is precisely at this point that Paul says,

“Don’t throw away your confidence!”

If we lose confidence in the truth regarding His Coming, our lives will give way to the ways and things of the world. “But, why does he say, ‘For yet in a very little while’?” It is because what he says is meant for every generation. And every generation of believers must believe that Jesus’ Coming is very, very near. Think about it! What if Jesus were coming today? Would that make any difference in how you live? in your attitude toward others? in the way you think and behave? To be sure it would! And Paul knew that as he wrote what the Holy Spirit directed. And it’s there for us to believe! He could come today!

We continue to love and pray for you 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,

Hebrews 10:22-25, “…let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our

own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more,

as you see the day drawing near.”

Until our LORD Jesus Christ died on the cross for mankind’s sins, the Jews were required to

offer sacrifices for their sins. These sacrifices were a reminder of their sins and had to be offered

from time-to-time. When Jesus became God’s supreme sacrifice for sin, the old requirements

for sacrifices were eliminated. Now, those who had believed upon Jesus as their permanent

sacrifice could “draw near (to Him) with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”

Paul then (v. 23) admonishes them (and now us) to “hold fast the confession of our hope.” When

we pray and our prayers are not immediately answered, we often get discouraged. It’s like ordering

something through the mail –something that was promised for a certain time— only to have it be

late. When our prayers are not immediately answered, we begin to wonder whether we are truly

saved. Hold on! Paul says. Don’t waver! The LORD is faithful and He keeps His promises.

Paul also admonishes us to consider how to encourage other believers to love each other and

engage in good activities. Not a bad thought for today, is it? Do you know a believer who is

discouraged and needs encouragement? Strange as it may seem, when we encourage other

believers, we encourage ourselves. So, if you’re “down in the dumps,” do something good and

beneficial for someone who is “down in the dumps,” too. “But, what can I say that will be helpful

to them?” Talk about the Coming of the LORD Jesus Christ! If you’re not familiar with what

the Bible teaches about the Second Coming, try viewing and listening to Hal Lindsey on Youtube.

He a solid biblical scholar, who makes everything easy to understand. Now, that’s encouragement!

We pray for you and for the Coming of the LORD,

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,

Hebrews 9:13-14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those

who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of

Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience

from dead works to serve the living God?”

As I’ve studied these two verses, I have become even more aware of how POWERFUL the blood of

Jesus Christ is! The Old Testament Jews has a myriad of laws to be obeyed. They also committed

sins against the LORD that might have required more sacrifices of “goats and bulls” than we could

imagine to assuage the wrath of God. The “ashes of heifer,” therefore, was sprinkled in water and

preserved for a sacrificial offering that was acceptable to God. What neither the ashes nor goats or

bulls could cleanse, however, was the conscience of the offender.

You’ve undoubtedly heard someone say, “Well, I’ll forgive, but I can’t forget.” What they are really

saying is, “I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.” Many people have that problem with themselves. When

we first moved to Australia, we lived in the upper level of a house owned by an British pastor. He

prayed aloud –so loud that we could not help but hear all he said to the LORD. He had apparently

committed a sin which plagued his conscience –a sin he simply could not forget! And his prayers

constantly sought the LORD’s forgiveness. Looking back on that situation, and with the understanding

I now have of what the Bible teaches about His forgiveness, I am confident he had already been

forgiven. He had simply not allowed the LORD’s forgiveness to reach his conscience.

The Old Testament people had that problem, too. God could forgive sin –and He did! But, the

sacrifices those people offered could not reach their consciences. The Blood of Jesus Christ

reaches our consciences. We may have difficulty totally forgetting our sins against God, but He

is competent through the power of His shed blood to erase even the conscience of our sin. Don’t

worry and fuss over your past sins. Confess them genuinely to Him and forget them! He promises,

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

Our love and prayers are offered for you every 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,

Hebrews 8:10-13, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them

upon their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. 11 “And they shall

not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’

For all shall know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. 12 “For I will be merciful to

their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.” 13 When He said, “A new covenant,”

He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is

ready to disappear.”

Anyone who doubts that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews, has either not read or not

understood the writer’s comprehension of the Old Testament Law. In the Old Testament,

priests ministered before the LORD and taught the people the meaning of His Law. But

when the LORD introduced His new Law in the New Testament, He put that Law “into

their minds,” so that there was no need for instruction from others (Rom. 1:19). No one

has taught you everything. Some things you just know instinctively.

The latter portion of our verses above really spoke to me, when it says, “…whatever is

becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” Only yesterday, Matt and I

were discussing computers and he noted how obsolete some things were in the electronic

industry, Computer boards are becoming faster and easier to install (plug ‘n play), and

some older boards are no longer available. I’m like that in that I am growing older and will

one day disappear. I will then no longer be writing these letters. Nor will I then need to

consult the Greek or Hebrew languages or the writings of others for a clearer and better

understanding of the Word of God. Still, Paul is not thinking of himself here; much less,

would he be thinking of me! He’s talking about how Christ Jesus replaced the Law of

Moses and became the Savior of mankind.

Those of you who are yet to be married and eventually become parents will one day look

to the instruction you have received from your parents (and grandparents!). And that

will be the basis of the instruction you will give to your children. Parents and grandparents

will be gone, and you will stand on your own with Christ and His Word. As we look at

you now, it is almost impossible to believe that you were what our pictures show you

to have been. Be strong in the LORD. Trust His Word to be your unwavering guide.

You are our love and delight –every one of you!

With immeasurable love we pray for you 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,

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.”

Can you recall an instance in your life where you disobeyed your parents? You knew you had

done wrong and feared facing them. If you understand what that was like, you understand why

you sometimes don’t want to read the Bible.

Paul describes the Word of God as “living” (???, the essence of life), “powerful” (???????, able to cause

something to happen). The Word “pierces” (??????????, penetrates, goes through) the deepest areas of

our minds, resurrecting old forgotten sins –sins that we wanted to forget, but need to confess that we

might be forgiven. Still wondering why you often don’t want to read the Bible?

I once had a secretary, who just could not understand how the Bible could “judge the thoughts and

intentions of (her) heart.” She was young in the faith at that time and the limit of her understanding

could be overlooked. She knows now and has for many years!

Pastors and Bible teachers often touch those “sore spots” in our lives –those places we don’t want

to remember. Has someone told them about you? No, their study of the Word alone and the

leadership of the Holy Spirit to preach and teach that Word is what is occurring. I’ve often been

accused of preaching something I’ve learned about someone’s life. The truth was, however, that I

was simply presenting a message I had learned from my study of the Bible. That’s why we need

pastors who do careful study and why we need to take seriously what they say.

The way to be eager to hear your pastor is to confess to God your known sins before the pastor

Preaches. You’ll find the Bible easier to read, too. It is the LORD’s spiritual food prepared daily

for our consumption. Now, let’s all eat!

You are loving kept in our daily prayers,

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.”