The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 John 1:10-11, “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.”

It is the pattern of some religious groups to journey from house-to-house

and distribute their literature or desire to enter your home and engage in

a “Bible study.” Usually, they are either Jehovah’s Witness or Mormons.

In either case, they are false witnesses, carrying and distributing doctrine

that is counter to the pure teaching of Holy Scripture. How are we to

treat people like this?

The Apostle John does not say that we should be rude or unkind toward

such people. Some have never heard the Truth of God’s Word. John is

saying that because they do not have the Truth, we have no basis of Christian

fellowship with them. Thus, we are not to invite them into our house; neither

are we to rejoice with them in what they are doing. In other words, we are

NOT to say “God bless you,” or anything that would give them the idea we

are sympathetic with what they believe.

Your house (or that of your parents) is the last bastion of safety you have.

Whenever trouble of any kind comes, “home” is usually the first place we go.

To allow anyone with evil error –especially concerning Scripture—to invade

your place of safety is itself to go against the LORD and His teaching!

One more thing: in order to know whether someone is bringing untruth to

your doorstep, you have to know the Truth yourself! How is that accomplished?

It is accomplished by being in the Word and in prayer every day. Know the

Truth. It alone sets us free from error.

Love always and ever,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

1 John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence which we have before Him,

that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know

that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

I’ve forgotten what class I was in, but it occurred in college at

Pittsburg State in Kansas. Someone in the class asked, “Does

prayer really work?” Most of my professors were not Christians,

so, while I don’t recall what he answered, I can only imagine that

it was not favorable to the Scriptures.

The Apostle John says that if what we ask is “according to His will,”

He does indeed hear us. Then comes the correlative: “And if we

know (without the slightest doubt; with absolute confidence) that

He hears us,” we can with the same confidence know that we

have what we request. What John does not say, however, is when

our requests will be honored. That factor must remain in the

LORD’s timing. We are not to worry because worry is the lack

of faith.

Only believe; only believe;

All things are possible,

Only believe.

Love and prayers always and daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

1 John 1:5-9, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,

that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth;

7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship

with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness.”

There is often a lot of difference in what we say and what we do.

There is also often a difference in how we live and how we pretend

we live. The Apostle John begins by identifying God as the Standard.

God is Pure Light. There is absolutely NO darkness in Him at all! So,

if we say we are living in Him and yet engaging in evil things, we just

are not telling the truth.

On the other hand, if we are walking with Him (living as He would

have us to live), we are getting along well with other believers, and

the Blood of Jesus Christ is continually cleansing us from every sin.

If we claim that we simply don’t sin, we’re deceiving ourselves; but

if we are confessing sin (agreeing with what the Bible says of us),

the LORD is forgiving us and cleansing us.

We know when we do wrong. The Holy Spirit within us tells us. We

“feel bad,” knowing we ought not to have done the right thing. But,

when we ask forgiveness (confess), He forgives and cleanses us and

we no longer “feel bad” inside. NOTE: every “if” in the verses above

means, maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Thus, it is decidedly to our

advantage to live “in the Light with Him” every day!

We love and pray for you and your safety every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

2 Peter 3:17-18, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand,

be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of

unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

The entire third chapter of Second Peter concerns “steadfastness.”

Peter warns us of the coming of the Day of the LORD, which is His

Judgment on the world because of sin. “Be on your guard” is a

Greek imperative. It is an essential command. Why? It is because

there is error in the world (and in the church) –error that is taught

by people who have no scruples, no principles. They just want you

to follow them. Some TV evangelists are an excellent example.

And if you listen to them and embrace their teachings, you will fall

away from the Truth and become unstable, wobbly, not knowing

where you stand on anything.

What then, are we to do? Here’s a second Greek imperative:

“grow in grace and knowledge of our LORD and Savior, Jesus

Christ.” How do you grow physically? By eating good food! How

do you grow spiritually? By eating, taking in, believing sound

doctrine; by ignoring those things that turn our minds away from

the LORD and purity.

I have students, whose parents did not follow the Word of God.

That left them, the children, without steadfastness in their lives.

Because they (the students) were unstable, they married unstable

people and their children became unstable. What a mess! How

then did they become Christians with all of this instability in their

background? Simply by the grace of God, and with almost

unbelievable hurt and sorrow. LISTEN TO PETER! Concentrate

on God’s Truth! Learn wisdom from the LORD! Jesus is coming

again! Be ready! Be strong! Be faithful! Share the Good News!

We love you all dearly and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

1 Peter 3:18-21, “1For Christ also died for sins once for all,

the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having

been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits

now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience

of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction

of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely

through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—

not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good

conscience– through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”

All Scripture is important. Understanding verse 21, however, requires

understanding what “Corresponding to that” means. So, I had to

include verses 18-20.

The question I want to pose is this: Does the Holy Spirit, who lives

within all believers, ever lead us to do something that is in Scripture

that we’ve never read?

I was seven when I was saved. And the first thing that excited me was

baptism! I wanted more than anything to be baptized! Why? I didn’t

know. I only knew that when people were saved, the next thing they

did was be baptized. Years later, as I read the verses above, I learned

why this urgency had been so heavy upon me. Agreeing to baptism was

not washing away my sin; that had been done by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Rather, it was my conscience confirming my decision with God. It was the

Holy Spirit leading me to openly identify myself as one of His children. I

found years later that it was the Spirit’s moving upon my born-again life to

be obedient to the LORD’s command of baptism. Don’t be afraid to allow

the Sprit to influence you to do something, just be sure it’s the Holy Spirit

who is leading you!

Love and prayers always,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas