Jesus & Salvation (I wrote this about 13 years ago)

 John 6:35-40

The most important question that confronts every person who has ever lived and who will ever live is “Are you saved or lost?” The career the person pursued, the philanthropy they engaged in, the wealth they amassed, and what people thought of them will matter nothing on that last day as they stand before Jesus Christ. How a person is saved has been and continues to be a hotly debated and contested subject at times in many circles around the world. The Apostle Paul was the primary teacher in the New Testament books about how a person’s soul is saved by God from sin and @#!*% . The Apostle Paul taught that God had an elect group of people that He would save eternally. The Apostle Paul taught about the foreknowledge of God which means He knows everything that will transpire in human history before it ever happens, therefore He already sees every soul that will be eternally saved and eternally lost.

To us human beings this can sometimes seem unfair, unkind, or even unloving but because God knows who will truly believe and who will not truly believe does not mean that He rigged or fixed the outcome. The responsibility for truly believing still rest upon every individual soul and therefore God never shows partiality or favoritism to any person, no not one. Must we human beings forget that it pleased God the Father to bruise His only Son? He poured out His wrath against sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ. If God the Father did not spare His only Son from His wrath when sin was upon Jesus, how does any human being think God the Father will spare them when their sin remains on them, I tell you He will not.

Isaiah 53:10-11 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. NKJV

The Apostle Paul also taught individual human responsibility in salvation for every soul. A person cannot go to heaven because they grew up in Church, their Father was a Pastor or Deacon, or because they were born here in America, or because they feel they are a good person. The Apostle Paul taught that every person was responsible for their sin and must repent/turn from their sin and trust Jesus Christ for their own personal salvation. The Apostle wrote these words, Romans 10:11-13 “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” NKJV Where did this man the Apostle Paul get this understanding and wisdom concerning the salvation of the souls of men and women? The Apostle Paul tells us that he received these truths straight from our Lord Jesus Christ and that he was privileged to be taken into Arabia for 3 years and taught by Christ Jesus as he documents in Galatians 1:11-18.

Before our Lord ever took this man Paul into His personal school of Apostleship, He taught us from His own lips that salvation is according to the Sovereign will of God but that every individual person must come to Him to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Our Lord Jesus use the word comes which is a present tense verb and all verbs are action words. Our Lord is saying that the soul that comes to Him will receive salvation His life in them which produces new affections, desires, hungers, and thirst that will be in opposition to the affections, desires, hungers, and thirst longed for in their souls when He was not present. The word comes He uses also denotes a continuous coming to Him through His Word to feed, nurture, and sustain this new life birthed in the soul. Our Lord is teaching in this very text the responsibility of the hungering soul to act upon this spiritual malnutrition individually (John 6:35).

Our Lord Jesus cements for us by the very next text the absolute reality of human responsibility. These Jews saw the Divine Son of God in the flesh, were eyewitnesses many of them to His numerous miracles, they like Pilot knew deep in their hearts/inner man there was no fault in Him, none of them could convict Him of any sin ever, they were also witness to His going about always doing good and His great heart of compassion as He healed many people of diseases as well as those who were oppressed by the devil, and yet despite Him being right before them in grace and truth they did not believe. Today, especially in this country of America, people are exposed to the gospel of Christ death, burial, and resurrection from the dead and yet they still refuse, reject, or resist believing in Him as the only way for salvation (see the article entitled “Will you Reject, Resist, or Receive Jesus Christ”, http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=130955) (John 6:36).

Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. NKJV

It is God the Father who draws (John 6:44) the lost soul to our Lord Jesus Christ. For example it was the Father who impressed upon heart of the woman in John Chapter 4 to come to that well at that very time and hour of the day knowing that our Lord Jesus would arrive at that well also at that time. God the Father had been preparing her heart and drawing her to the truth maybe for years even before our Lord Jesus began His earthly ministry for this one moment that would change her eternal destiny. The Father did the drawing but He did not make her believe and receive Christ Jesus the Lord, she had to respond to the truth that confronted her at that very hour (John 6:37).

It was God the Father’s will which directed our Lord Jesus to go through Samaria and not take the normal route His disciples would have been accustomed to traveling all because our Lord knew from the Father that He had an eternal appointment with this one Samaritan woman that could not be missed (John 6:38). This is one of the clearest pictures of Sovereign Election plus human responsibility equaling eternal salvation. Many of the hard hearted stiff-necked Jews during the days our Lord Jesus walked the earth as the God-Man saw Him but did not believe, but many common people saw Him and did believe and the same holds true today. The gospel is preached on radio, the internet, in stadiums, on television, in churches, on the streets, in jungles, in schools, and everywhere but still all do not believe. However, the ones the Father draws that do come to our Lord Jesus and believe will never lose this new life which we have been given because it did not come as the result of our human effort but simply in our freely receiving Him forever (John 6:39-40).

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. NKJV

“All that feel themselves lost, and follow the drawings of the Father, He in a peculiar manner giveth to the Son: will come to Me - By faith. And him that thus cometh to Me, I will in nowise cast out - I will give him pardon, holiness, and heaven, if he endure to the end - to rejoice in His light.” John Wesley

“Everyone that comes - that is, everyone that comes in a proper manner, feeling that he is a lost and ruined sinner. This invitation is wide, and full, and free. It shows the unbounded mercy of God; and it shows, also, that the reason, and the only reason, why men are not saved, is that they will not come to Christ. Of any sinner it may be said that if he had been willing to come to Christ he might have come and been saved. As he chooses not to come, he cannot blame God because he saves others who are willing, no matter from what cause, and who thus are made partakers of everlasting life.” Albert Barnes

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 54

 Submit to God, Resist the Devil Part 2 

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand ✋ of God, that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. KJV Note: NKJV=New King 👑 James Version 

The Apostle having just commanded us to submit ourselves to one another now commands each one of us something that we should already know and be aware of but need be reminded of as Peter is doing well with these words, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand ✋ of God." God who is now our Father yet He is still our God, that is, although He loves us just as He loves our Lord Jesus still He must be yielded to by us as our God. He is the One that determines if our lungs 🫁 are able to breathe in our next breath 🫁 and He alone should reign and rule over our earthly lives. The little English phrase 'Humble yourselves' that begins 1 Peter 5:6 is translated by the Greek word tapeinoo which means to bring oneself low in the inner man 👞 and inner woman 👠 before God and under God. In other words, we are still mere creatures (even though we are born into His Heavenly family as sons and daughters) and He/God is our Creator, that is, He/God is the One who formed us in our Mother's womb from absolute nothing into a living breathing soul with a human body that functions even beyond our comprehension (Genesis 1:27) & (Genesis 2:7). We should make a conscious effort to see ourselves as far beneath God who is all powerful and we are powerless, for this will give us the proper perspective always and destroy all pride within us when we keep this reality close to our bosom. This Greek word tapeinoo is an old verb in the imperative mode meaning Peter is communicating action on our parts to influence our behavior that we would see the great attention and urgency required by us. The reason behind the Apostle's urgent command is that, "He may exalt you in due time." The little English phrase 'He may exalt' is translated by the Greek word hupsoo which simply means to elevate you to some service for Him and not any man ♂️ or woman ♀️ elevating themselves, for is it not written, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the Body just as He pleased." (1 Corinthians 12:18) (NKJV). Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of 1 Peter 5:6, "Those who submit patiently to the dispensations of God's providence He lifts up; those who lift themselves up, God thrust down. If we humble not ourselves under God's grace, He will humble us under His judgements. Those who patiently submit to Him, He exalts in due time; if His Hand ✋ be mighty to depress, it is also mighty to exalt." Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 5:6, "'Since God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble, therefore humble yourselves, not only one to another, but to the Great God, whose judgments are coming upon the world 🌍, and must begin at the House 🏡of God (1 Peter 4:17); His Hand ✋is Almighty, and can easily pull you down if you be proud, or exalt you if you be humble; and it will certainly do it, either in this life, if He sees it best for you, or at the day of general retribution.' Learn, (1) The consideration of the Omnipotent Hand ✋of God should make us humble and submissive to Him in all that He brings upon us. (2) Humbling ourselves to God under His Hand ✋is the next way to deliverence and exaltation; patience under His chastisements, and submission to His pleasure, repentance, prayer 🙏, and hope in His mercy, will engage His help and release in due time." 

Peter wanted to remind those early suffering saints of the thing that should have been to well known to them and also should be well known to us saints today and those saints of every era and generation and that is, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." He/God is not only our Creator now, but He has bought us spirit, soul, and body with or at a very high price that being the precious shed Blood of His Son Christ Jesus our Lord, for it is written, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) (NKJV). Remember the Apostle Paul's words to the Church @Thessaloniki when he wrote this, "Now may the God of Peace 🕊️ Himself sanctify/set you apart completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved BLAMELESS at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) (NKJV). Remember it is He/God/Abba who has begun this good work in us by resurrecting us from our spiritual death and making us alive to Himself (Romans 6:11 & Philippians 1:6). Therefore, when we remember this and let this resonate in our spirit we will know and be assured that we are cared for deeply despite any of our trials, tribulations, or testings we endure in our sojourn on our way home 🏠 to Heaven. So we in all of our wants and needs down here and all of our pressures and troubles we must once and for all throw our whole life unto Him for we know and can be sure and certain that He cares deeply for us. This is why we must make sure to humble ourselves under His Hand ✋ because pride within us not only produces a false superiority complex, but it is the reason for our anxiety and worry making us forget that we are in the care of the Greatest Father and the One and only Great God. Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of 1 Peter 5:7, "Your anxiety, your distracting care, on Him, for He careth for you, He meddles or concerns Himself, with the things that interest you. Whatever things concern a follower of God, whether they be spiritual or temporal, or whether in themselves great or small, God concerns Himself with them; what affects them affects Him; in all their afflictions He is afflicted. He who knows that God cares for him, need have no anxious cares about himself. This is a plain reference to Psalm 55:22: 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee. He will bear both thee and thy burden.'" 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...

 

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 53

 Submit to God, Resist the Devil Part 1

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. KJV Note: New King James Version 

The Apostle Peter now turns his focus upon each one of us individually, the younger and older (in chronological age and also in number of years we have been born again sons and daughters of our Abba in Heaven) to declare to us how we should relate to one another as we worship and serve our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 5:5, the Apostle says we are to be subject one to another and this English word 'subject' is translated by the Greek word hupotasso which means that we are to be obedient to one another in the Lord, that is, in all accordance, acknowledgement, and accenting to His Holy Word. We are not to be subordinate or obedient to someone who is in the visible Church who has gone off on some tangent and have rejected the truth and made shipwreck of their faith like Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:19-20). The desire of Peter is the desire of our Lord Jesus and that is that we are to love 💕 one another 'in truth', to serve one another 'in truth' and to submit to one another 'in truth' and never to use one another to gain filthy earthly treasure 🪙 that fades away into nothing, nor to use one another to gratify vile fleshly appetites that defile the flesh and sear the conscience and destroy love and the unity of the Spirit, for we should remember and heed these words of the Apostle Paul written to the Church @Rome, "Love 💕 does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love 💕 is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep 😴; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand ✋. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light 🕯️. Let us walk properly/decently, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust ❤️‍🔥, not in strife and envy. But put on Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lust ❤️‍🔥." (Romans 13:10-14) (NKJV). This is our mandate. These are our marching orders from the King 👑 of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Apostle Peter next commands each of us in 1 Peter 5:5 to be clothed with humility. The little English phrase 'be clothed with' is translated by the Greek word egkomboomai (used this one time only in the entire New Testament) which means (to gird); to engirdle oneself (for labor), that is, figuratively (the apron being a badge of servitude) to wear (in token of mutual deference). The English word 'humility' is translated by the Greek word tapeinophrosune which means humiliation of mind, that is, modesty: - humbleness of mind, humility of mind, lowliness of mind. In other words, we should never think 💬 about ourselves as being some great man 👞 or great woman 👠 of God over and above our brothers and sisters in the faith, but instead we should be willing often times to yield to the will of our brothers and sisters (so long as their will or desire is in accordance to willing of Abba/God). They are as Beloved 😍 by our Father in Heaven as we are and living in true humility is to give way to their desires even when we think 🤔 our desire is good 👍. When we respect and appreciate one another and have a regard for one another's feelings we are honoring our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter has already declared this attitude and disposition that we must have one to another earlier in this same first letter 💌 with these words (remember), "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love 💕 as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous/humble; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:8-9) (NKJV). The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines 'humility' as the personal quality of being free from arrogance and pride and having an accurate estimate of one's worth. "What God desires most is not outward sacrifices but a humble spirit (Psalm 51:17; Micah 6:8). Such a humble spirit shows itself in several ways: a recognition of one's sinfulness before a Holy God (Isaiah 6:5), obedience to God (Deuteronomy 8:2), and submission to God (2 Kings 22:19; 2 Chronicles 34:27)." (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary). 

Why has the Apostle Peter instructed or commanded us in the manner above? He tells us why with these last words in 1 Peter 5:5, "For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." The English word 'resisteth' is translated by the Greek word antitassoma which means to range oneself against, that is, oppose. The English word 'proud' is translated by the Greek word huperephanos which means appearing above others (conspicuous, that is, without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious), that is, (figuratively) haughty, that is, having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one's views as unworthy. In other words, God opposes or is against the proud man 👞 or proud woman 👠, that is, He fights against them, for to Him their cloak of superiority and obvious high mindedness irritates Him. God tells us in Proverbs 6:17 that pride is an abomination to Him, that is, He disgust it, He deplores it, and He detest it. Do you think 💬 Abba/God wants to see things manifested/made visible that He disgust, deplores, and detest in the lives of His sons and daughters on a regular basis? Well, do you? God forbid, never never, of course not, for when He sees it manifested in any of us He will do exactly 💯 as these words of the writer ✍️ of Hebrews declares, " If you endure chasentning, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit 🍑 of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:7-11) (NKJV). God/Abba gives His grace to those of us who have and are humbling ourselves before Him. Peter declares finally in 1 Peter 5:5 that God giveth grace to the humble. The English word 'grace' used here by the Apostle Peter is translated by the Greek word charis which means graciousness (as gratifying); especially the divine influence upon the heart ❤️, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): - benefit, favor, joy liberality, pleasure, thanks. That is, or in other words, You Dear Abba fill our inner man ♂️ and inner woman ♀️ with Your influence which causes us to want to live for You in faithful obedience and Your words become to us as written by the Psalmist with these words, "Your is a lamp 🪔 to my feet and a light 🕯️ to my path." (Psalms 119:105) (NKJV) and also these words, "Your word I have hidden in my heart ❤️, that I might not sin against You." (Psalms 119:11) and also these words, "I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word." (Psalms 119:101) (NKJV) and also these words, "How sweet 🧁 are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey 🍯 to my mouth!" (Psalms 119:103) (NKJV) and also these words, "Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity/sin have dominion over me." (Psalms 119:133) (NKJV). 

Here is what Alexander MacLaren had to say of 1 Peter 5:5, "Humility does not consist in being, or pretending to be, blind 🦯🦮 to one's strong points. There is no humility in a man 👞 denying that he can do certain things if he can do them, or even refusing to believe he can do them well, if God has given him special faculties in any given ⬇️ ⬆️. That is not humility at all. But to know whence all my strength comes, and to know what a little thing it is, after all; not to estimate myself highly, and, still further, not to be always insisting upon other people estimating me highly, and to think 🤔 a great deal more about their claims on me than fretfully to insist upon my due modicum of respect and attention from others, that is the sort of temper that Peter means here. Now, that temper which may recognise fully any gift 🧧 🎁 that God has given me, its sweep and degree, but that nevertheless takes a true, because a lowly, measure of myself, and does not always demand from other people their regard and assistance, that temper is a thing we can cultivate. We can increase it, and we are all bound to try specifically and directly to do so. Now, I believe that a great part of the feeble and unprogressive character of so many Christian people amongst us is due to this, that they do not definitely steady their thoughts 💭 and focus them on the purpose of finding out the weak points to which special attention and discipline should be directed. It is a very easy thing to say, 'Oh, I am a poor, weak, sinful creature!' It would do you a great deal more good to say, 'I am a very passionate one, and my business is to control that quick temper of mine,' or, 'I am a great deal too much disposed to run after worldly advantage, and my business is to subdue that,' or, 'I am afraid I am too closed-fisted, and I ought to crucify myself into liberality.' It would be a great deal better, I say, to apply the general confession to specific cases, and to set ourselves to cultivate individual types of goodness, as well as to seek to be filled with the all-comprehensive root of it all, which lies in union with Jesus Christ. We have often to preach, Dear brethren, that the way of self improvement is not by hammering at ourselves, but by letting God mould us, and to keep the balance right 👍. We have also to insist on the other side of the truth, and to press complementary thought 💭 that specific efforts after the cultivation of specific virtues and all the more if they are virtues that are not natural to us, for the Gospel is given to us to mend our natural tempers. This is the duty of all Christian people that would seek to live as Christ would have them." 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 52

 Shepherd the Flock of God Part 2

1 Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown 👑 of glory that fadeth not away. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version 

After having exhorted and encouraged the men who were selected by God to lead His flock of true believers here on the earth 🌎, Peter now reminds them that their faithfulness of handling the Word of God in or with sincerity and truth will be judged not by other believers only, but by the very One who has placed them in the position of feeding His flock our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter calls Him alone the 'Chief Shepherd' and never himself or anyone of the other Apostles. Here is one place where many have taken off on a tangent and twisted the Word of God to their own destruction and to the defiling of many sincere souls seeking the truth, but being led into error. Peter never meant that he was the chief shepherd of God's flock of true believers, for there in the text this reality, this truth should be clearly seen, as it is written by Peter with these words, "And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown 👑 of glory that fadeth not away." (1 Peter 5:4) (KJV). It should be so easily discerned, disclosed, and discovered by any of God's true sheep 🐑 that in using the little adverb 'when' and the little English phrase 'shall appear' which is translated by the Greek word phaneroo which means to render apparent (literally or figuratively): - appear, manifestly declare, make manifest, shew self that Peter is not referring to himself for he is already physically before all the other believers and therefore could not be speaking 🗣️ of himself. Also he has clearly declared himself at the beginning of his discourse on this subject matter (1 Peter 5:1) only an elder along with all the other elders. First, let me say that none of us will ever be 100% accurate in our pursuit of understanding the Word of God, for we can and should recall these words of the Apostle Paul to the believers @Rome when he wrote, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out! 'For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?' 'Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to Him?' For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36) (NKJV). However, there is much in God's Holy Word that He wants and requires of us that we be diligent, dutiful, and determined to dig out every beautiful and glorious nugget of truth through study, prayer 🙏, and yielding to God the Holy Spirit that He may illuminate as much deep truth that we desire to behold, therefore, we should likewise heed these words given also to the Apostle Paul when he wrote to Brother Timothy, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) (NKJV). This little English phrase Paul uses in (2 Timothy 2:15) 'rightly dividing' is translated by the Greek word orthotomeo (it is used this one time only in the entire New Testament) it means to make a straight cut, that is, (figuratively) to dissect (expound/elaborate) correctly (the Divine Message). Although, we will never understand the mind of God, we are tasked by God Himself to declare His Divine Truth accurately because it will be the difference between life (Revelation 22:14) and death (Revelation 22:15) for sinners seeking to know the truth. Jesus Christ is the 'Chief Shepherd' of His flock and not Peter or Paul or anyone else. Christ alone will judge correctly how His elders have fed His sheep 🐑 the truth of His Word and He will reward accordingly each with the unfading 'crown of glory' that will be taken off by each true under shepherd and cast at Christ feet in honor and love 💕 for their 'Great Shepherd' who counted them worthy to serve Him. 

Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of 1 Peter 5:4, "For their consolation the Apostle sets before the elders their Judge in His self-chosen character. He is the Chief Shepherd. Judge He must also be-when He is manifested; but while He must pass sentence on their work, He will understand and weigh the many hinderances, both within and without, against which they have had to fight. Of human weakness, error, sin, such as beset us, He had no share; but He knows whereof we are made, and will not ask from any of us a service beyond our powers. Nay, His Spirit chooses for us, would we but mark it, the work in which we can serve Him most fitly. And He has borne the contradiction of sinners against Himself. In judging His servants, then, He will take account of the willfulness of ears that would not hear and of eyes 👀 that would not see, of the waywardness that chose darkness rather than light 🕯️, ignorance rather than Divine knowledge, death rather than life. Therefore His feeble but faithful servants may with humble minds welcome His appearing. He comes as Judge. 'Ye shall receive.' It is a word descriptive of the Divine award at the last. Here it marks the bestowal of a reward, but elsewhere (2 Peter 2:13) the Apostle uses it for the payment to sinners of the hire of wrongdoing. But the Judge is full of mercy. Of one sinner's feeble efforts He said, 'She hath done what she could. Her sins are forgiven.' And another who had labored to be faithful He welcomed to His presence: 'Enter into the joy of thy Lord.' To share that joy, to partake of His glory, to be made like Him by beholding His presence-this will be the faithful servant's prize 🏆, a crown 👑 of amaranth, unwithering, eternal."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 51b

 Shepherd the Flock of God Part 2

1 Peter 5:2-3 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version 

What was the Apostle Peter exhorting and beseeching these men to do? The answer comes from his first word in this very next verse, as it is written, "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:2-3) (KJV). A Shepherd of sheep 🐑 leads his flock out to the pasture to graze on the lush green grass so they will be nourished and grow up strong and their wool will be of great quality. So must the Shepherd of the flock of God feed them a constant diet of the Word of God that they too will grow up strong and spiritually nourished. This is not to be forced upon someone because their earthly father or grandfather or uncle was an elder, but it is to be done voluntaringly with joy of heart ❤️ and willingness of the mind desiring to impart to fellow brothers and sisters 'in Christ' the illuminating of the Word of God that the Spirit of God has given to us, knowing that we are answerable to our Lord Jesus Christ for whether we are endeavoring to impart the truth of the Word of God to the best of our ability or someone is using the Word of God and twisting it to give any people the lies their flesh want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4), so the purveyor of such lies himself will be highly compensated for vain glory now in time, but with no desire that God would be glorified in lives changed and spiritual maturity reached. The Apostle Paul declared to us why our Lord Jesus Christ gave some to be elders in His Church with these words, "And He Himself gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelist, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind 🍃 of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking 🗣️ the truth in love 💕, may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head (Christ) from whom the whole Body, joined and knit 🧶 together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the Body for the edifying of itself in love 💕." (Ephesians 4:11-16) (NKJV). This is the will of God and this is why He gave some men these gifts and appointed them to use these gifts 🎁 🎁 for the building 🏢 up of His Body the Church. Not so they would make a name for themselves or build an empire on the earth 🌍 for themselves, but to glorify God and to be examples to those under their care in how to follow Christ taking up our Cross and living the set apart holy life Christ called us into when He brought us out of darkness (Colossians 1:13-14). Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 5:2-3, "The Pastor's duty described, and the manner in which that duty ought to be performed. The Pastoral duty is three-fold: (1) To feed the flock, by preaching to them the sincere Word of God, and ruling them according to such directions and discipline as the Word of God prescribes, both which are implied in this expression, Feed the flock. (2) The Pastors of the Church must take the oversight thereof. The elders are exhorted to do the office of Bishops (as the Word signifies), by personal care and vigilance over all the flock committed to their charge. (3) They must be examples to the flock, and practice the holiness, self-denial, mortification, and all other Christian duties, which they preach and recommend to their people. These duties must be performed, not by constraint, not because you must do them, not from compulsion of the civil power, or the constraint of fear or shame, but from a willing mind that takes pleasure in the work: not for filthy lucre, or any emoluments and profits attending the place where you reside, or any perquisite (fringe benefit) belonging to the office, but of a ready mind, regarding the flock more than the fleece, sincerely and cheerfully endeavoring to serve the Church of God; neither as being lords over God's heritage, tyrannizing over them by compulsion and coercive force, or imposing unscriptural and human inventions upon them instead of necessary duty. 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 51

 Shepherd the Flock of God Part 1

1 Peter 5:1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version NIV=New International Version 

The Apostle Peter now shifts his focus onto those men that have been appointed elders of the Churches of God. Peter declares himself to be an elder along with them and he never proclaims himself (in this first letter ✉️ or his second letter ✉️) to be the chief elder above or over all the other elders appointed by God in the various Churches like @Ephesus or @Corinth or @Colosse, etc., for Peter remembered the Words of our Lord Jesus during the time He gave a scathing baptism to the Scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew Chapter 23. Peter (as well as the other Apostles our Lord chose) were probably reverent to the leaders of their Jewish Nation, that is, those in the Sanhedrin (The supreme judicial and ecclesiastical council of ancient Jerusalem). Those men and others who were lower in Authority than they at local Synagogues round and about the land of Israel were all held in high regard, for they were the men who were suppose to be the experts in the understanding of the Torah (the scroll 📜 of parchment on which the first five books 📚 of Hebrew Scripture is written) above all other Jews. But when our Lord Jesus spoke of these men, here is what He said of because He knew all men (John 2:24), "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others." (Matthew 23:1-7) (NIV). Some of the Jews at this time may have thought 🤔 this way of these men, but I believe the large percentage of the Jewish population revered these men and perhaps were shocked 😲 at the way our Lord Jesus spoke of them. Our Lord Jesus went on further to call these leaders of Israel hypocrites, that means, actors and pretenders playing a role or a part in a play. This was probably shocking to many of the multitudes hearing these words from Christ Jesus our Lord. So, Peter who not only heard them and listened 👂to them, but he believed them and always remembered how our Lord Jesus saw those leaders of Israel so he wrote these to all the current elders of the Church of God speaking of himself as only a fellow elder and not wanting any leader in Christ True Church to be like the men who led the Jewish Nation, "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:" (1 Peter 5:1) (KJV). The Apostle Peter exhorted/beseeched these men with great desire for them to lead the flock of God truthfully and humbly remembering what our Lord Jesus said to them in opposition to what those hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees were doing with these words, "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth 🌍 your father; for One is your Father, He who is in Heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:8-12) (NKJV). Here is what F.B. Meyer had to say of 1 Peter 5:1, "According to these words Peter, though he stood at a distance, must have been an eyewitness of the Savior's death. He is careful to speak of the glory in the same breath 🫁 as the sufferings, because if we endure the one, we shall share the other. Positions of influence in the Church in those days involved grave risks, but the Apostle believed that love 💕 to Christ would induce men to take the place of under-shepherds to the flock of God, and that they would use their power with gentleness, humility and holy consistency."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!

Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 50

 Suffering for Jesus Part 20

1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version 

When we are persecuted (in our tents/house/body) for walking/living in the truth of the Word of God, we can let ourselves be certain that our Father in Heaven will bring us through it with and by His Mighty Power. We have already heard continuously from the Apostle Peter how our salvation is from God to us and nothing done to us by the enemy of our souls the devil 👿 and his demons and the human two-legged devils who have given themselves over to him can ever defeat us. Remember at the very beginning of his letter ✉️ when he wrote these words to us, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by the Power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious 💕 than gold 🪙that perishes, though it is tested by fire 🔥, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love 💕. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy 😹 inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:3-9) (NKJV). Everywhere in the New Testament the theme of our redemption 'in Christ' is 

His substitute, sacrifice, and surety of the salvation of our souls for all eternity. This being known and understood by us should give us resolve to walk through every trial with boldness and confidence that our souls (which matter the most) are in the Hands of our faithful Creator God and nothing visible or invisible 🫥 can touch our soul or bring harm to our souls which is in the Hands of Christ Jesus our Lord. So, we find Peter reminding us of who we belong to and telling us to be calm, to be cool, and to be composed, "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." (1 Peter 4:19) (KJV). The little English phrase 'commit the keeping of' the Apostle Peter uses here is translated by the Greek word paratithemi meaning (as used here) to deposit (as a trust or for protection). In other words, our soul (the real us) is deposited to our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal protection. This word is also well summed up by these words written by the Apostle Paul to Brother Timothy, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the Gospel according to the Power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an Apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." (2 Timothy 1:8-12) (NKJV). We are to live our daily lives being conformed to Christ's holiness despite the harassing, hateful, heinous, and harmful treatment we will receive from the world 🌍, that is, the human sinners that have yet to receive the gift 🧧 🎁 of grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). All of us who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus our Lord will be persecuted, no ifs and or buts (2 Timothy 3:12). So, knowing this we must be able to say with these lyrics of a worship song, "It is well with my soul." Amen!!!

Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of 1 Peter 4:19, "The Apostle links a holy life most closely with this trust in God. In well-doing commit your souls unto Him. No otherwise can His guardianship and aid be hoped for. But the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, and with Him to know is to watch over and help. Nor should men sorrow when they suffer according to God's will. Rather it is cause for gladness. Fo conscience must tell them that they need to be purged from much earthly dross which clings about them. So the fire 🔥of trial may be counted among blessings." Here is what Albert Barnes had to say of 1 Peter 4:19, "As Creator particularly; as One who has brought us, and all creatures and things into being, we may be sure that He will be 'faithful' to the design which He had in view. From that design He will never depart until it is 🌕 accomplished. He abandons no purpose which He has formed, and we may be assured that He will faithfully pursue it to the end. As our Creator we may come to Him, and look to Him for His protection and care. He made us. He had a design on our creation. He so endowed us that we might live forever, and so that we might honor and enjoy Him. In that path in which He has appointed us to go, if we pursue it, we may be sure of His help and protection. If we really aim to accomplish the purposes for which we were made, we may be certain that He will show Himself to be a 'faithful Creator;' One in whom we may always confide. And even though we have wandered from Him, and have long forgotten why we were made, and have loved and served the creature more than the Creator, we may be sure, if we will return to Him, that He will not forget the design for which He originally made us. As our Creator we may still confide in Him. Redeemed by the Blood of His Son, and renewed by His Spirit after the image of Him who erected us, we may still go to Him as our Creator, and may pray 🙏 that even yet the high and noble ends for which we were made may be accomplished in us. Doing this, we shall find him as true to that purpose as though we had never sinned." 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!