The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 16:21-25, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples
that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third
day.
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it,
Lord! This shall never happen to You.’
23 But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests,
but man’s.’
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me,
he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
25 ‘For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his
life for My sake will find it.’”

Did you ever speak-up without thinking clearly what you were going to say?
Boy, I have! And many times, it proved to be an big embarrassment! Every-
one turns to look at you, and you’re so rattled that you’ve almost forgotten
what you said –you just wished everyone else would forget it, as well.

Fortunately for me, I was often challenging someone of my own standing.
Peter elected to challenge Jesus’ very statement: “God forbid it, Lord! This
shall never happen to You!”

Just imagine! Peter could have asked how Jesus knew…, He could have asked for more information. Yet, he challenged Jesus’ Sonship with the
Father! There is virtually nothing more severe Peter could have asked!

Jesus’ rebuke was huge! And He did address it to Peter. However, I don’t
think Jesus meant that Peter was Satan. I believe He was addressing
Satan, who had infiltrated Peter’s thinking! Let such infiltration never be ours!

Haven’t you on occasion said something that you later wondered what made you say it? Could it not have been Satan who induced you to say it? Certainly, it could have been. We believers must guard ourselves against the Adversary.
And we do that by literally “living in the Scriptures!” They alone are His Words!
Is the Bible your best read of every day? Have you read it today? It exists for
your benefit.

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,

Numbers 32:20-23, “So Moses said to them, ‘If you will do this, if you
will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,
21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD
until He has driven His enemies out from before Him,
22 and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall
return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and
this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD.
23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD,
and be sure your sin will find you out.’”

The original plan was that all tribes that comprised the nation of Israel
were to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land that the LORD had
given them to possess. The sons of Reuben and of Gad, however, had
previously built on land that first approached the Jordan, and begged to
remain on the first side of the Jordan River.

Moses persuaded Ruben and Gad to cross the Jordan and fight with their
brothers until that land was secured. Then they would be allowed to return
to their homes and live on the other side of the Jordan. At that point, the
two families would then be free from their obligation to the LORD and to
their brothers. His warning, however, was that should they fail to support
their brothers, they could be sure that their “sins would find them out.”

It is quite serious to brake a promise made to one’s fellowman. It is even
more serious still to break a promise made to the LORD Almighty! When
was the last time you made a serious promise to the LORD? Have you
kept it? Has it occurred to you that failure to keep that promise may just
be the reason He has not responded to you favorably as you wanted?

Don’t beat yourself up! But be reasonable as to why a special prayer has
not been answered. Could it just be that some sin has “found you out”?

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,

With so many things happening –and happening so fast, it seemed time to share with you a short paper I wrote some years ago.

The explanation below will explain the chart:

We are now in the Church Age, and the next event to unfold is the Rapture (or the catching away) of the Church (i.e., all truly born-again believers). Paul explains in Romans 8:1 that there will be no “judgment” (condemnation) upon believers. First Thessalonians 4:13-18 says that the LORD Jesus Christ will return and believers will be “caught up to meet Him in the air.” Christ will not come entirely down to the Earth, but believers will rise to meet Him, and go to the Judgment Seat, where we will give an account of unconfessed sins and will be united with other believers. We will also be given “rewards” for work we have done for Him while we were on the Earth. Only truly born-again believers will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ. I trust to meet you there!

Meanwhile, here on Earth, there will be seven years of Tribulation. The “A” immediately below the “7 Years” on the chart indicates the Antichrist. He will NOT BE KNOWN until the Church is raptured. The seven years of Tribulation are divided into two parts of 3.5 years each.

In the first part, the Antichrist arises in pretense of friendship with Israel. Israel will believe he is the Messiah! In the second 3.5 years,
the Antichrist will lash out on Israel with such fury that those who
oppose Israel today will look like “conservative Sunday School teachers.” The Tribulation ends in the Battle of Armageddon!

Following the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Christ will return to the Earth. This is the Second Coming (as different from the Rapture of
the Church). After Armageddon, the Nations will be judged according
to how they treated the Jews during the Tribulation era.

(Parenthetically, I need to mention that Satan’s Group comprises Satan, the opposite of God the Father; the Antichrist, opposite of God the Son;
and the False Prophet opposite of the Holy Spirit: the Satanic trinity.)

The Judgment of Nations precedes the Millennium, with the Antichrist and False Prophet being cast into the Lake of Fire (called “the Second Death”). They are never heard of again. Satan will then be bound for one thousand years of peace on the earth.

Following the 1,000 years of Peace, Satan is loosed and gathers ungodly humans, born during the millennial era, to join with him in his fight against God. Imagine! This war ends in the Battle of Gog and Magog and Christ is victorious! Satan is then cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

The Great White Throne Judgment is only for unbelievers, both living and dead. Judgment is pronounced upon them and they are cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

There is then a New Heaven and a New Earth, “wherein dwells righteousness.” All of this is contained within the Scripture. The Scriptures teach that in eternity, we will go back and forth from the New Earth to the New Jerusalem, which itself comes down out of Heaven. The “ladder,” reminds us of Jacob’s (Genesis 28:12), and in reality is Christ Himself, as noted in John 1:51.

I hope this is clear and as exciting for you to read and know, as it is for me to have studied and produced it. There are other views of how things take place, but none connect with Scripture as well as this concept.

What’s most important, however, is that you are ready to meet the LORD Jesus Christ when He comes to gather His own! For when He comes, there
will be no time to prepare! “Today is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor. 6:2).

“Trust and obey; for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus; but to trust and obey.”

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,

Revelation 20:12-15, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book
was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from
the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one
of them according to their deeds.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was
thrown into the lake of fire.”

There’s an old adage that says, “You can’t do wrong and get by!” When
I sought for the source of that saying, I discovered that it came from an
old hymn by Lethal Ellis back in 1929. The song was referenced from
Ecclesiastes 12:14, that says, “…God will bring every act to judgment,
everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

Everything contained in Scripture is true! There are multiple promises of
rewards for being and doing what is acceptable to the LORD; and there
are some stern warnings for ignoring the LORD and doing what is
unacceptable in His sight!

The television screens are currently overflowing with court sessions! It
is in court that lawyers open the discoveries of previous cases and argue
against or in favor of their findings. I can’t help but wonder if that routine
originated from discoveries in Scripture.

The warnings in our Scripture above contain the promise of a Major
Accounting for us all as we stand before the LORD on Judgment Day.
Every person of every nation, living or dead, will that day stand before
the Almighty! The sins that have not been confessed while here on earth,
will be confessed before Him on that day! Heaven will be the final abode
for the forgiven; the Lake of Fire will be the eternal prison for the guilty-as-charged. No one will escape!

Yet, now is the opportunity to escape even being charged. You can choose
to confess your sin to the LORD now! You can accept Him as your Savior
and LORD today! Just pray and ask His forgiveness. Be sincere. Trust Him
to do as He has promised. You will then be saved! How will you know? You
will know! Just believe! The LORD will let you know. God bless you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

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

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

Dear Grands,

Psalm 33:17-22, “A horse is a false hope for victory; nor does it deliver
anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who
hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we have
hoped in You.”

Were you ever in a position that required someone else to help you out?
Well, hopefully, that “someone” was not a horse! There is no denial that
horses have strength; it’s simply that the kind of dilemma of which the
above verses speak, requires strength of mind, not merely of intelligence.
The love of horses toward humanity has long been demonstrated in a
variety of ways and means. Yet, the guidance of the LORD is greater!

The love of the LORD often prevents human death through a variety of
spiritual and social means. Not every “way out” is necessarily a “good
way” in the long run. Yet, the way “in” is always the way “out.”

Whatever dilemma you face in life, the LORD is your way of escape! He
alone loves you; thereby, He intensely wants you to be delivered. He alone
possesses the strength to deliver you from any and all dilemma.

Permit me to say it one more time: the LORD Jesus Christ can deliver you
from every negative situation. Simultaneously, He can provide full deliverence.
He just needs your permission; and that permission comes entirely through
a full and complete surrender of your will to Him. Trust Him!

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