The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 5:15-16, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”

I have read recently that all false religions are historically traceable to the Babylonians. Prior to our verses above, Paul has been instructing the Ephesian Church to “learn what is pleasing to the LORD, and not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness…for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (vv. 10-12).

When I was academic dean of Northeastern Bible College in New Jersey, I remember students rushing into my office heightened with anxiety because it was time for graduation and they suddenly discovered that they had work to complete in order to graduate. They begged me for more time!

Paul words were spoken to those students just as they were spoken to me: “make the most of your time.” A host of things in their scholastic life had been viewed as “important;” yet, now the “big moment” had come and the consequence of wasted time had caught up with them.

I’ll ask it very clearly: are you making the most of your alloted time? We each have 24 hours in every day. The value you place on time will be determined by how you spend it. You can read a book or play video games. You can stay up late watching television and sleep away the next day. Productive? Hardly. Still, it’s your 24 hours. You can manage it wisely or you can fritter it away with nonsence. What seems the best to you? Remember, there are always consequences.

My prayer for you and me alike is that we will make wise choices in the use of our time.

“Only one life, it will soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation,

But sin is a disgrace to any people.”

“The United States of America declared independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. The US Constitution and Declaration of Independence were signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.”

With Independence Day coming on the 4TH of July, it seemed more than appropriate that we should think upon the verse that has been lost for decades on our American people. We pride ourselves on having the greatest military in the world. We delight when the Stock Market moves upward. We are now the leading oil producing nation in the world! And we proclaim our nation to be the freest society on Planet Earth. Yet, we have forgotten that it is the LORD who has brought righteousness upon us; and that it is sin –our sin—that has brought disgrace upon us.

Righteousness, with its equivalent words, is mentioned 1,066 times in the Bible. The word means justice and blamelessness. When we assure justice for everyone and are personally and nationally blameless before Almighty God, we are exalted, lifted up by His almighty hands! When we behave shamefully, act haughtilly, and ignore and vilify Almighty God, we bring disgrace and devastation upon ourselves and our nation.

Let it be stated without equivocation or ambiguity, that the United States of America was founded as a CHRISTIAN NATION! History supports the veracity of that truth; yet our people have become so removed from God and the Gospel of Christ, that we are in danger of being spiritually hijacked by religions that are an outgrowth of ancient Babylon! According to one source, Christians number but 69 percent of our population today. Yet, how many of that 69 percent are truly “born again” believers in Jesus Christ; and how many of those who are, are living for Him in daily praise? Righteousness has fallen by the wayside.

The first printing press brought to America was for the purpose of printing Bibles for the country’s occupants. The first universites: Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other Ivy League schools were established for the express purpose of teaching and preparing young men for the Gospel ministry! Not all members of the Constitutional Convention were “born again” believers; but even those who who were not, were sensible, God-fearing men, who embraced the Bible and the tenets of its teachings.

The Star Spangled Banner is less meaningful to this generation than it was in the 1700s. We should know and love it all, along with Banner it extols. Yet, the best

meaningful verse is the last; and how many have even read it?

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

– Francis Scott Key (1814)

May God bless each of you! Pray for our blessed Nation, our President, and for our Congress and Supreme Court. May they regain the courage so many have lost; and may the Torch of Freedom be exalted high as a glowing tribute to our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, who first made us free!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Matthew 24:4-8, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you.

5 ‘For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will mislead many.

6 “And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.

8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

There is no doubt but that a lot of commotion and trouble exists in our world. Every so often, I receive emails that warn of coming disasters. One key to the maintainance of balance and sanity is to remember that Jesus said, “See to it that no one misleads you.” There is so much turmoil in our world that being mislead is easier than you think.

Would you believe that there are people who believe that they themselves are the Christ, the Messiah? I was in Papua New Guinea over 50 years ago, and discovered a man named Yali, who laid claim to messiahship. People were being baptized in the “name of the Father, and of the Son, and of King Yali! If you were the devil, wouldn’t you think about infecting some pastors and “Christian” leaders, so as to mislead those over whom they had more than a little influence?

Jesus warned against fears that are provoked by “wars and rumors of wars.” Yes, there are wars raging in various parts of the world today. There have always been wars in the world. Just don’t get upset and forget to read your Bible and pray, because they will lead you to trust in the LORD.

What are we to make out of “wars and rumors of wars?” This worldwide rumble is but one of the signs of the coming of the LORD Jesus Christ for His Church. Think of this: The last thing a nation’s leader does before going to war is to remove his ambassador from the unfriendly country. So, before the Tribulation comes, the Church –the LORD’s ambassadors—will be snatched away from the Earth and be caught up to meet Him in the air.

Ambassadors represent the leader of their country in another country. The big question is: Are we truly Ambassadors for Jesus Christ? If there is any doubt, you need to get straight with Christ immediately! Why? Because there are no warning signs in Scripture regarding the time of the LORD’s Coming! It is the next big thing on His agenda. Check up on your relationship with Him.

We need to pray for each other daily in these troublesome times.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Galatians 4:1-5, “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything,

2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

4 But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

5 in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Remember yesterday’s Letter, that it dealt with a tutor, whose responsibility was to protect the child’s morals. The guardian (?????????, epitropos) is the one who teaches the child manners; and the manager (?????????, oikonomos) controls the child’s money, until the father decides the child is sufficiently able to manage it for himself.

Paul is telling us what he told the Galatians; namely, that the LORD

used the Law as a controlling factor over the Jews until the LORD Jesus superseded the Law through His death and resurrection. Redemption had been His intention from the occasion of sin in the Garden of Eden, but it was not initiated until the “fullness of the time” had come.

With all of this having been said, we need to be careful of our morals, of our manners, and of our money. The Holy Spirit replaces the tutor and guardian and manager in the life of every person who repents of sin and accepts Jesus as LORD and Savior. We’re not to go into spiritual freefall. The LORD ever lives to work out His will in our lives. Our responsibility is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Galatians 3:22-25, “But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

24 Therefore, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

I have no idea how much Paul knew about the Galatians before he first met them; but, there’s no question that he understood them quite well when he wrote them this letter.

As you might guess, the Galatians had long before migrated south from Gaul. They were a wild and wooly bunch. Like some people I’ve known, they went wild about the message of salvation that Paul gave them; then, in what seems like a split second, they turned against the message and went back to their old ways. Barnes says that they were a people “without stability of character.” That says it! Remember, too, that the Jews were everywhere and had undoubtedly turned them from the grace of God that Paul preached to the Mosaic Law which the Jews were advocating.

Paul reacts like a physician, whose patient has quit taking his prescribed medication: What have you done? Then patiently he explains that “before faith came, we (Jews) were held in custody by the Law.” In time, the Law was replaced with faith. But before faith came, the Law served as our tutor (schoolmaster, KJV) to lead us to Christ.

The Greek word for “tutor” (or “schoolmaster”) is ??????????, paidagogos.

It designates a slave that accompanied a child to and from school and protected the child en route. Young schoolboys in discovery of some newly-found evil were sure to tempt and seduce any child who was not protected. Thus, the paidagogos took charge and kept the child from wrong-doing.

That’s precisely what the Law did for the Jews, but they didn’t let it work as God intended it. Their failure to obey the Law also demonstrated that the Law was without the power to compel them to obey it. Paul says that God only intended the Law to be temporary. His loving grace was en route, in fact, it had already come to the Galatians!

Has God’s grace come to you? Have you faithfully obeyed the commitment you made to Christ? Or are you a Galatian, who started out well, but has fallen back into some previously evil ways? The power of the LORD is within all who have accepted Him by faith! Stay in His Word!! Stay faithfully in prayer! The Holy Spirit has become your paidagogos. He will protect you from evil. Yet, He seems to work in conjunction with our faithfulness. May the Holy Spirit keep you on track with the grace and love of Jesus Christ –just as the Father intended.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”