The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Jude 1:3-4, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Although he didn’t know it, what Jude describes in these two verses above, solved my dilemma this very morning! Another serious situation crowded my mind; yet, after some mental wrestling, I resigned my wishes in favor of this tiny book of Jude.

Jude was one of the half-brothers of our LORD Jesus Christ. And it is his certain assurance that he is being preserved for the LORD’s own purpose. Those of us who know the LORD in salvation are likewise endeavoring to “keep the faith” –stand by His Word– even as we are kept by His love and power! Those who reject His love, reject (by default) His protection and preservation. Jude cites several instances of apostasy and assures us that they are “reserved unto judgment.”

Further, the forsaking of faith in the LORD Jesus Christ leads to the deterioration of human character, demonstrated in numerous immoralities (vv. 8-19). Apostasy always commences small (corrupt thoughts, impatience, boastfulness, mocking spirit), but self-graduates into false religion and open repudiation of revealed truth! Is it any wonder why Jude cries out for all to “keep the faith”?

The LORD is able to secure even the weakest of believers. The human side of the equation is yieldedness and trust; the Divine side is the rescue and security of the believer. Where do you fit in this Divine Equation? Are you committed by faith to the LORD Jesus Christ? If not, why not?
He gave His life on the Cross providing forgiveness for your sins; then He proved the value of His death by arising from the dead on the third day thereafter. Who else in all of human history ever did that? We all seek out and pattern after someone. It just makes sense to follow the One who knows where He’s going! Yield yourself to Jesus Christ! He loves you and will conquer your sins and death, too! You are in my prayers.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

3 John 1:1-15, “The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
3 For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.
4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.
5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers;
6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.
7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.
8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.
10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink;
14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.”

It’s a sure thing: wherever you find a warm, wholesome, trusted, Christian friend, you will also find an equally determined miscreant scoundrel, who is single-mindedly resolved to do you harm. I have experienced this in my lifetime; and this was precisely what John encountered when he had previously written to this church. Gaius was the warm, hospitable Christian friend to John. Diotrephes was the arrogant, self-appointed autocrat, who controlled every communication that arrived or departed from the church. He single-handedly ejected people from the church!

Christians in the earlly churches engaged largely in itinerant, evangelistic ministries. There were other believers who viewed their calling to provide hospitality for the itinerants along the way. John, it would appear, was one of the itinerants; and he writes to commend those who had shown him hospitality. I have been more than once the grateful recipient of such hospitality. Those are folks you never forget.

Diotrephes, however, viewed himself as the “authority” over the church. He was a “controller,” to say the least. An arrogant man, he single-handedly rejected the apostle’s letters of encouragement.

The Apostle John wrote primarily of love and prayer and joy (vv.1-4). Simultaneously, he exhorts the Church to rejoice with him as they all continued to seek the lost and lead them to faith in Jesus (vv. 5-8). The original letter from John was “mysteriously lost” (v 9). But John was no pussy-foot! He verbally excoriated Diotrephes for his opposition to the church’s ministry (vv10-11).

The conclusion of the letter was commendatory (v 12). Possibly…hopefully, this Demetrius is the same Demetrius we know from Acts 19:24. They, too, like the Diotrephes, can be saved. For now, we can only focus on our own churches’ needs. May we ourselves be a Demetrius, never a Diotrephes!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

2 John 1:1-13, “The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,
2 for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.
5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;
11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
12 Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full.
13 The children of your chosen sister greet you.”

A close friend of mine told me recently that her grandchildren liked to receive mail. Their birthdays are near, so she planned to send their cards through the mail. That will give them a double thrill: first, the receiving of the cards themselves, then having had them arrive through the mail.

The Apostle John, who calls himself “the elder,” never names the recipient of his letter. He simply speaks of her as “the chosen lady.” The Greek word for lady is ????? (kuria), the feminine form of kurios, lord. Undoubtedly, she was a leading lady in the church, perhaps even wealthy, as was Lydia (Acts 16:14), a seller of purple.

The key word of this epistle is “truth.” John speaks of “love in the truth” (v. 1), and emphasizes that truth is always available to us and within us (v. 2). He further welds truth together with “grace, mercy and peace” (v. 3), while walking in the truth indicates an attitude of honesty, love and ready obedience (vv. 4-6).

Yet, simply knowing that truth is with us, is not sufficient. There must be a test of the truth (vv 7-9). My parents kept me in church and under the Word where truth was put to test. There were then, as there are now, those who deny the reality of Christ Jesus’ humanity and deity. This is a false claim that does not pass John’s truth test.

Even so, there must be a defence of the Truth. We must not allow the clamorous commotion that only claims to be true, to escape without our challenge. Truth is worth the cost of its defence; therefore, we must defend God’s truth by refusing to bid “God’s speed” to those who deny it. The Word, lived out in our lives is the best defence. Does your life show His love? Truly?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

1 John 2:12-17, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

The Apostle John was quite elderly when he wrote this first of three epistles. Don’t mistake “elderly,” however, to mean senility. John was well equipped both mentally and spiritually to address any church of the LORD Jesus Christ. Many, if not most, Christian Churches submitted to some creeping paralysis of doctrinal error soon after their founding. Converts from Judaism and paganism impregnated the early churches; thus, John is here addressing relevant issues those churches then faced.

John severely denounced the teachings that denied the humanity of Christ Jesus (4:2-3). The Gnostics (“knowing ones”) avowed that they alone possessed the “true knowledge,” and looked down upon those who embraced the faith of the Apostles of Christ. John, on the other hand, allowed that Christians possessed knowledge from spiritual revelation. He uses the word “know” some 32 times in this epistle alone. John emphasizes Love, Sin and the New Birth. These obviously derive only from the LORD!

This prompts John to write of the Joyful Life (1:1-10), of the Victorious Life (2:1-17), the Guarded Life (2:18-4:6), and the Life of Knowledge (4:7-5:21) –each of which comes from the spiritual life of the Father and is dispensed freely to those, who through faith, become His children. Have you exercised faith in Jesus Christ? If not, please read this First epistle of the Apostle John. He is the same person who wrote the Gospel of John. Just trust the LORD Jesus Christ. He is the Savior of many and worthy to be trusted. That’s how I came to know Him. How about you?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

2 Peter 3:1-9, “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring
up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.
3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
7 But by His Word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Moments prior to this writing, I was well-and-truly entertained at lunch by my two great-grandsons. At their young ages, everything –especially, time—is relative. Some adults have that same relativity toward time. My “greats” often playfully mock me. There is no danger connected with their mocking; but those who mock Jesus, tread on extremely dangerous ground.

Peter’s youthful denial of knowing Jesus was a form of mockery. Jesus had foretold that Peter would deny Him three times. Now, in this epistle, Peter forewarns others of that danger. Peter’s second epistle is “intended to warn (his readers) against false teachers and their corrupt and corrupting doctrines” (The Outlined Bible). Innumerable false teachers and preachers today are attempting to nullify much of Jesus’ teachings. Beware of the “name-it-and-claim-it” teachings!

Many mockers today are themselves steeped in moral corruption. Moral corruption (1:4) leads to
doctrinal corruption (2:1-2); and doctrinal corruption likewise leads to moral corruption. You can’t do wrong and get by! Peter urges his readers (ourselves included) to be steadfast both morally and doctrinally (3:17-18). Engage in regular self-checkups! Just as you would resist impure food for your body, resist those who would feed you impure doctrine! Stay in the Word! Hold fast in prayer! Jesus is Coming! “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:8). To ask the question is to answer it. Yield yourself to Jesus today!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom