Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: Revelation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John

take up a song of mourning: the coastlands shake
Prophets – Warnings for 21st century ‘christians’

Take up a song of mourning for what God is about to do to you;

For a nation led by the ungodly was never great

And a nation will never build again an altar to Molech or a goddess of the virgin Earth.
The earth quakes and Empires crumble
Rejoice that I am no prophet
SHAKEN! – a 4-part continued warning
A song of mourning through Ezekiel
Shall WE speak more woe to those who are perishing?
Could there be a Prophecy Against US?
Revelation
Could a song of mourning be for US?
The earth quakes and Empires crumble

NOTE 21st c. Gaziantep, Turkiye beyond the path of Paul’s 2nd missionary land journey from Antioch to Derbe with Silas.

TODAY, we interrupt the earthquakes and witness of Paul’s second missionary journey in Philippi from ACTS of the Apostles to re-post a 4-part series from two years ago.

Rejoice that I am no prophet
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(For the only prophesy I ever imagined may have been from God has not yet happened.)
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My song of mourning echoes God’s indictment spoken to falling nations of the Old Testament and the New Testament warning of Hebrews. For my own heart mourns ahead for what is to become of this land of so much promise.

And allow me to add an unpalatable and unspeakable truth: Muhammed was no prophet of God, Joseph Smith was no prophet of Jesus Christ and no political leader I know even comes close to speaking the hallowed word of God.

Source: Middle East Monitor:

Gaziantep, Turkiye on March 02, 2023 [Adsız Günebakan/Anadolu Agency]

SHAKEN! – a 4-part continued warning

SHAKEN ! PRAYER IN DIFFICULT TIMES – Psalm 60

SHAKEN! part 1 – Jan. 22, 2021 – “God, you have rejected us – Psalm 60

SHAKEN 2 “Think carefully about your ways

January 25, 2021 – ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? – Haggai 2:3

SHAKEN 3 a great cloud of witnesses over our head

January 27, 2021 – “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7b CSB

SHAKEN 4 – His voice shook the earth

January 29, 2021 – but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” – Hebrews 12:26b

A song of mourning through Ezekiel

Picture a Prophet, faithful to the Lord God, lamenting the downfall of nations including his own. Ezekiel speaks a song of mourning for nation after nation and leader after leader.

WHY have these listened to false prophets?

What consequence for those who have turned against the LORD.

The compelling scenes of Ezekiel’s encounters with the Lord God will seem familiar to those of you who have also discovered the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John.

Most of what God has to say should bring even a 21st century observer of these last days to mourn for the lost righteousness the LORD has intended. Once again the faithful must sing a song of mourning for so many cities and every nation.

Mar. 16, 597 B.C. – Babylon, led by Nebuchadnezzar beseiged Jerusalem a second time and took captive King Jehoiachin and a group of 10,000, including Ezekiel.

– Source (paraphrased) John MacArthur :: Bible Introductions – Ezekiel

.. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. Then He said to me,

“Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”

And as He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. Then He said to me,

“Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have revolted against Me to this very day.

Ezekiel 1:28b-2:3 NASB20

“But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me;

and behold, a scroll was in it.

When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back,

and written on it were songs of mourning, sighing, and woe.

Excerpts from Ezekiel 2

Shall WE speak more woe to those who are perishing?
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Ezekiel 19:
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“As for you, take up a song of mourning for the leaders of Israel..

‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard..

‘But it was uprooted in fury;
It was thrown down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit.
[fn]Its strong stem [fn]was torn out
So that it withered;
The fire consumed it..

‘And fire has gone out from its stem;
It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
So that there is no strong stem in it,
A scepter to rule.’”

This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.
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Ezekiel 25:
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- Prophesy Against Ammon
- Prophesy Against Moab
- Prophesy Against Edom
- Prophesy Against Philistia
“So I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful reproofs; and they will know that I am Yahweh when I lay My vengeance on them.”’”

Could there be a Prophecy Against US?

a song of mourning
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Prophesy Against Tyre
Ezekiel 26
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Thus says Lord Yahweh to Tyre,

“Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your downfall when the wounded groan, when the killing occurs in your midst?
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Lament over Tyre
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“O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
“Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
Your builders have perfected your beauty.

“Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,
Your sailors and your pilots,
Your repairers of seams, your dealers in merchandise,
And all your men of war who are in you,
With all your assembly that is in your midst,
Will fall into the heart of the seas
On the day of your downfall.
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‘Who is like Tyre,

Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?
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Ezekiel 28:
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“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“Because your heart is lofty
And you have said, ‘I am a god;

I sit enthroned in the seat of gods
In the heart of the seas’;

Yet you are a man and not God,

Although you make your heart like the heart of God—

“You had the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…

“Your heart was lofty because of your beauty;

You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I put you before kings,

That they may see you…

“All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;

You have become terrified,

And you will cease to be forever.”’”
Ezekiel 28:19 Legacy Standard Bible

Revelation

The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
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Look, he is coming with the clouds,

and every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him.

And all the tribes of the earth

will mourn over him.

So it is to be. Amen.
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Could a song of mourning be for US?

The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning.

Revelation 18:9

Rejoice over her, heaven,

and you saints, apostles, and prophets,

because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you!

Revelation 18:20 CSB

For a nation led by the ungodly was never great

And a nation will never build again an altar to Molech or a goddess of the virgin Earth.

Woe, woe, the great city,

dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet,

adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls;

for in a single hour

such fabulous wealth was destroyed!
March 18, 2023
REPENTANCE! Rated ‘R’ – but Not for Revival
I will ransom them from the power of the grave;

I will redeem them from death:

O death, I will be thy plagues;

O grave, I will be thy destruction:

repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
Hosea 13:14 KJV
a Gathering of the Dead with NO Hope of Revival
Repentance oft’ served bitterly in the King James
Hosea 1:
Repent & Turn back to your Savior
Hebrew – נָחַם
Repent – Greek – μετανοέω
Revival?
a Gathering of the Dead with NO Hope of Revival

When the Prophets spoke a convicting word of repentance to the professed chosen of the LORD, WHY didn’t THEY repent?

Could it be that THEY refused to hear ANY word of conviction – an accountably of the GOD’s indictment of SIN?

(And like THEM, who among us is not GUILTY of hiding OUR sins from the Lord as we would like to think on occasion after occasion?)

Are those ancient LEADERS and PEOPLE of Judah, Israel and the nations JUST LIKE US?

Repentance!

Repentance oft’ served bitterly in the King James
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(Of course most shepherds of Christ's 21st c. churches resist a call of evangelism by reading the KJV. Most will not preach any convicting word of God given to fallen people through His PROPHETS from ANY translation of the Holy Bible.) 

After all, who comes to church to REPENT?
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The Prophets use severe terms that a pastor hardly dare preach

– the ‘R’ rated word of the LORD –

NOT ever to be spoken to a sweetened Sunday flock of young christians, gracefully posing alongside a remnant of the faithful, as sinless sheep.

AND IF you are not repentant about your continued sins against Him don’t think that your preferred personal designation of ‘King Jesus’ will save you from the grave.

We certainly wouldn’t want our Jesus-lovers sent home sorrowful [נֹחַם] over our sin.

Yet this is exactly the other meaning of the repentance of which the Prophet speaks in saying that the LORD will hide YOUR sorrow from His eyes.

Hosea and other ‘minor’ prophets will often rail on bitterly in a specific call of repentance.

The LORD reminds Israel through Hosea’s words and obedient unexpected actions of their former disobedience to obey their promises to Him.

The LORD’s word by the mouth of His Prophets may not only be bitter and offensive, but rated ‘R’ in the church gathering of culturally inclusive Sunday audience.
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So would you with ears to hear prefer to hear the LORD in easier English than the King James? 
(Any translation of Scripture can be convicting to a heart open to receive the word of the Lord.)
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It is your ruin, O Israel,

That you are against Me, against your help…

I gave you a king in My anger
And took him away in My wrath.
Hosea 13:9.11 LSB

The LORD laments over Israel when He sorrowfully gave them Saul as a king —

and then David, a man after God’s own heart

— and Solomon who built the Temple

— and his sons who as kings of Israel and Judah lost favor, because these kings and their subjects most often refused to repent.
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Returning to Hosea's calling and also the King James:
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Hosea 1:

The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea.

And the LORD said to Hosea,

Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
- Would you like to go tell your President or king THAT?
- Dare you call your congregation and country ‘children of whoredoms?’ [v.2]
- Will you warn them “.. ye are not my people, and I will not be your God?” [v.9]
AND from there, the LORD gets even more graphic in HIS imagery of nakedness of the sin of his CHOSEN PEOPLE who bear witness to HIS NAME (supposedly).

IS THAT how we witness JESUS when we whisper to Him gracefully on Sunday?

“‘King Jesus,’ WE love what you have done for US,”

Christ gets little mention.. no honor.. no priority in six and a half days of our weekly life?

When do YOU ever Talk of JESUS outside of the walls of a ‘worship’ service?
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

Repent & Turn back to your Savior

Here’s the idea of Repentance when you have an argument with God:

COMPLAINT!

Job 6: “my complaint is just.’ BUT finally the LORD answers Job in a whirlwind (think tornadic pillar of fire!)

Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Job 42:6

And Job was a righteous man!

But to the unrighteous kings, princes and people God warns Israel and commands his last Prophet of Israel, Hosea:

Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

Hebrew – נָחַם

KJV Translation Count — Total: 108x
The KJV translates Strong’s H5162 in the following manner: comfort (57x), repent (41x), comforter (9x), ease (1x).
Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted

Source: BlueLetterBible.org

Repent – Greek – μετανοέω

Do you recognize the comfort of having your guilt removed by God when you repent of sin?

Of course YOU are not alone. For your witness of Christ our Savior ought to be that WE are included with THEM in that all have sinned [Romans 3]. JESUS paid the full price the justice of God requires (even for repentant sinners like you and me).

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 2:5 KJV – THIS to the 1st c. CHURCH at Ephesus
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Shepherds of 21st c. churches also resist the New Testament repentance of preaching Jesus' Revelation of THE END to sheepish christian congregations more entertained than revived.

YES, JESUS is KING of Kings and Lord of lords! Is your worship of the KING appropriate to His call to obedience? 
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Lexicon :: Strong’s G3340 – metanoeō

Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent

to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins

“Repentance (metanoia, ‘change of mind’) involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness.” (F. F. Bruce. The Acts of the Apostles [Greek Text Commentary], London: Tyndale, 1952, p. 97.)

Source: BlueLetterBible.org

Repent ye^G3340 therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Acts of the Apostles 3:19 KJV

This is how Peter and the Apostles preached.

Peter Replied: Signs Preached from Solomon’s Porch

Yet Peter replied also inviting their response.

Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

Acts 4:4 KJV

Revival?

I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I shall redeem them from Death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
Hosea 13:14 ESV

Aren’t followers of Jesus — Ἰησοῦς His NAME means: “Jehovah is salvation” — ransomed from the cost of sin and the power of Sheol by the price He paid on the Cross?

Since JESUS IS GOD, aren’t His followers redeemed by Him from Death?

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the LORD are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
Hosea 14:9 ESV – the Prophet’s closing cautions to the wise in the Lord.

The root of revival is ‘to live!’ – חָיָה

Yet Hosea warns that transgressors will stumble into Sheol and Death.

AND David sings out in Psalm 37: He Will Not Forsake His Saints

v.38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

Shall the transgressor of Christ’s grace receive carte blanche revival from the grave without witness of the saving Cross of JESUS?

In fact, what did the King of kings and Lord of lords have to say about such revival?

Gospel Truth (and the Way and the Life)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord.. And then will I declare to them,

‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:21-23 excerpt ESV

The word for lawlessness Jesus uses is: ἀνομία – anomia – its definition:

contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness

When a man thought a family obligation should delay his discipleship to the Lord Jesus he received an unexpected answer from the Son of Man who could actually revive the dead:

And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Matthew 8:22 ESV

NO, I do not believe that we will have REVIVAL in the Church (people, and not the building of certain Shepherds) WITHOUT first witnessing the fruit of REPENTANCE by the crowds from which Jesus fled.

What do YOU think, my fellow follower of Christ Jesus?

Repentance OR Revival?
March 2, 2023
Divinity, Doctrine and Denomination
As I pointed out in our last Saturday Post WE, the church, seem to have some differences dividing our approach to divinity.

Denominations / Why can’t we all just get along?

~800 MILLION Protestant Christians [37% of the world population] can be divided into < 40,000 denominations

What does it mean to be called a “Christian?”

Who are all of those ‘denominations‘ that call themselves, ‘Church?’

And what do doctrine and divinity have to do with it?

Divinity

God IS God! (and WE are NOT)!

Anyone who denies THIS has a humility problem!

Look it up:

ĕlōhîm – אֱלֹהִים

θειότης – theiotēs From θεῖος from Godhead

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:20 LSB

Doctrine

This entire Saturday Post series (including Church) addresses doctrine. READ MORE: What is Doctrine?

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.
Titus 2:1 Legacy Standard Bible

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7 LSB

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.. Romans 1:18

Denomination

Martin Luther originally gets much of the blame for his PROTEST against false teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

Luther’s theology stood on the truths of Scripture and faith.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” – Romans 1:16-17 LSB

Denominations / Why can’t we all just get along?

Scripture tells us how false teachers leaven the Church and the faithful must discern the dangers of false preaching.

Church DE-NOMINATIONS seem to be doubling-down lately into divisions over SOCIAL issues.

AND this phenomenon of churches redefining themselves is not limited to any particular denomination.

What does it mean to be a church?

RE-fitting YOUR church vision to accommodate changing cultural mores doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with divinity or sound doctrine rooted in Scripture and proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As you have seen in my previous Saturday Posts, although gaining downhill momentum toward the pit of destruction, this trend is nothing new.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. .. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words..
These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been kept. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they entice by sensual lusts of the flesh, those who barely escape from the ones who conducted themselves in error..
Second Letter of the Apostle Peter to the Church 2:1,3,17-18 LSB

In the beginnings of the first century Church the Apostle Peter mentions an earlier fall of Israel as an example of the ever-present danger of false teaching.

Can we be a ‘church‘ without doctrine?

Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach..
“My teaching is not Mine, but from Him who sent Me. “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God..
Gospel of John 7:14b,16-17a LSB

TEACHING IS DOCTRINE!

Is the Doctrine YOU hear in YOUR church from God?

If YOU think the preacher of the church YOU ‘attend‘ doesn’t have some ‘NON-NEGOTIABLES’ of Doctrine, it’s time for you to listen closer (and think for yourself).
- What DOESN’T he/she say — EVER?
- What Truth will the man or woman with the mike REFUSE to PREACH from the pulpit or have you hear in the good-feeling lyrics of the amplified sounds of worship?
- Which Bible verses have to be bent just a little to connect to OUR audience?
  - DARE WE EVER preach REPENTANCE before grace?
  - Let’s bring Christ down from heaven just a bit, so he feels closer to OUR audience just for an hour (and only on Sunday).
  - As in my previous post on Everythingology for an all-inclusive church, perhaps I’ve overstated this (just a bit) by hyperbole once more.- RH
What makes a CHURCH Christian?
Have BIBLE verses evaporated from the wall of worship behind the stage of OUR worship service?
Does OUR pastor hesitate to mention Christ Jesus?
Is a pressing social issue important to the growth of our church?
Can OUR church be BOTH christian AND other?
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Although I am a lay theologian; that is, I study God and I study Scripture and I study Jesus Christ, I must once again point you toward the teaching of a most respected Christian theologian. 
Although I will add my comments here, seek your own answers about the church you belong to locally. 
(And once your read this and think through the doctrine YOU hear, why not ADD your COMMENTS to this post?)- RH
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Divinity, Doctrine and the Christian Life

“The great divorce of doctrine and life will destroy the Christian life.

Lloyd-Jones on the Christian Life: Doctrine and Life as Fuel and Fire
Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson By Jason C. Meyer, Series edited by Stephen J. Nichols, Justin Taylor, Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson

Doctrine and life are fuel and fire, not oil and water.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

THINK DOCTRINE, EMBRACE TRUTH, ACT ACCORDINGLY
1. doctrine comes to mind
2. truth captures the heart
3. which then moves the will to act
The Bible starts with God the Father always, everywhere and we must do the same — because that is the order of the blessed Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
Gospel of John 17 – from the High Priestly prayer of Jesus Christ to the Father

..theology must first concede that the finite cannot fully know the infinite. Therefore, theology is sometimes an exercise in negation.
Lloyd-Jones pictures theology as the act of building a fence around the incomprehensible mystery of God.
Jason Meyer
- Does the world HATE you because of any witness of Jesus Christ you claim by faith?
- WE are in the world, so do we recognize the evil one?
Have you even heard your pastor caution his/her church about the evil one?
- Jesus did.
- Do others worshiping the Lord alongside you recognize that Christ has set YOU, me and members of His Body the Church apart for salvation?
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us take hold of our confession. – Hebrews 4:14 LSB

EMBRACE this TRUTH:

Sinful man CANNOT intercede with the HOLY GOD (who WE are NOT) without accepting our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins – the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Our partial knowledge of God is real knowledge, but it falls far short of comprehensive knowledge.. God alone is
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”
Jason Meyer, quoting the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 4:8b
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NEXT, God-willing, we will continue with Jason Meyer's overview of the doctor of doctrine Martyn Lloyd-Jones and his prescription for this brief moment of our our Christian lives.
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September 17, 2022