a sign

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Mt 12:39 KJB

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Mt 16:4 KJB

strange flesh

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”  Genesis 3:14-15

And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great Day (Rev 9:1-21; Rev 20) — even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also, these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.  Jude 1:6-8

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.  And the Lord said unto Satan, “From whence comest thou?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down upon it.”  Job 1:6-7

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and they took for themselves wives of all whom they chose.  And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”

There were giants on the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagining of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.  And the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for I repent that I have made them.”

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

And God said unto Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  Genesis 6:1-13

as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be
Matthew 24:37 / Luke 17:26

prove all things

I’ve been drinking diet mountain dew and diet dr. pepper for so long, I don’t notice the difference in taste of the artificial sweetener from real sugar any more.  Sometimes when I order at a restaurant, I wonder if they messed up and gave me the “real thing” instead of the diet version.  The only way I can tell the difference is to taste the sugary version and immediately taste the artificial version.  Only then do I notice the slight “off” taste.

Similarly, the contrary doctrines of devils and traditions of men often feel very good and can be very close to the “real thing”.  If they were too different, it would alert people to that difference and they would abandon the false teachings.  The enemy often comes in the guise of an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14) tickling our ears with things we want to hear (2 Tim 4:3).

Even a little “off” should trigger alarms.  All it takes is a little leaven to leaven the whole lump (1 Cor 5:6).

We are advised to “prove all things, and hold fast to that which is true” (1 Thess 5:21). We cannot base our “sense” of the truth on feelings. The only way we can prove something is to have something to measure against as a basis for comparison.

Scripture is that basis, and is our measure for all truth (2 Tim 3:16).  The only way we can spot the falsehood is to be well grounded in that truth.  Test all doctrines (teachings) and beliefs against the standard God has given us in the Bible.

to the jew first

In Romans 1:16 and Romans 2:10 Paul uses the phrase “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

This sets up a principle that interpretation of scripture should be through the lens of the Jews.

It is very popular nowadays to interpret scripture through the lens of greek language, culture, and influence.  This leads to gnosticism.

Scripture was written first to the Jews and also to the Greek (gentiles).  We can come to the intended conclusions if we interpret scripture through the lens of hebrew language, culture, and influence.

Keep in mind that the gentiles are the ones that are “grafted in” (Romans 11:17).  The gentiles are grafted into the Israelite inheritance, not a replacement for it.

Every knee shall bow

I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Isaiah 45:23

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Romans 14:11

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phillipians 2:10-11

death of self

Matthew 10:39
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Philippians 1:21
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

2 Corinthians 4:10-17
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

So then death worketh in us, but life in you.  We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

the TRUTH will set you free

The way some happiness preachers talk you’d think the Bible says “Positive Confession will set you free”.

Thing is, the Bible doesn’t say that…

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

You see, the Truth is neither positive nor negative.  It is the Truth we read about in God’s Word that changes us and brings us closer to Him in both likeness and relationship.

Sometimes the truth is not always what we WANT to hear, but it is always what we NEED to hear.