January 18, 2021 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, January 18, 2021
Chapters: Genesis 19-21
Message: I Come Quickly

Hello My Friend,

Believe it or not, the world is not oblivious to God’s judgments, they may not admit it, but they know that all the violence, wars, and fighting going on has to do with all the evil going on in the world. They also know something else, God protects His people, even if they are not completely faithful to Him. They are envious and quite scared when they see God’s people because deep down they know that God will do anything to protect His own, but their lives are in danger unless they repent. As God’s people, do you know what it is that we are to do for them? We are to pray for them, [Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;]

[and pray for them which despitefully use you,] I was watching a movie, where someone was actually quoting this Bible verse, it was not King James. The NIV quotes the verse like this, [But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,]. There is a big difference, and there will actually be hell to pay for messing with God’s Word. There is a reason why every verse is written as it is, they were not simplifying the verse as so many claim, they completely removed words that are important, [Revelation 22:18-20 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.]

The reason God had me bring this up is because it actually has to do with our reading for today. Even though Jesus sits at the right hand of God, there will come a day when our Father will tell Him that the time has come for Him to return to earth, and it will not be pretty. When last we read, God visited with Abraham to confirm that Sarah would have a son, then sent the angels with him to Sodom, which is a picture of the world. Now, they arrive in Sodom, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and who he was referring to when he was asking God if he would spare the city if there were ten righteous there, notices them. Lot knew that these men were not some ordinary men and invites them to his home for the night.

[Genesis 19:1-5 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. 3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.]

[bring them out unto us, that we may know them.] This was not just to converse with them to get to know who they are. These men were sodomites, and had no shame in what they were doing. And unfortunately, Lot knew what these men were referring to, and rather them assault his daughters instead. [Genesis 19:8,10-13 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. 10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. 11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. 12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: 13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.]

[because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD;] The cry of evils in this city and those who commit them were so many that they reached up to the face of God, and He called for immediate punishment. This entire chapter is quite sad, and is a reflection of what is going on today, I still cannot believe that Lot was willing to let those men defile his daughters. Lot, who, by the way, was of the righteous, he just loved the world more, and it took precedence over God. Lot did not want to leave all that he had, in fact, he lingered, but he had no choice, he had to get out of there. The angels actually grabbed him by the hand.

[Genesis 19:16-17,24-25 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. 24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.]

[and set him without the city.] Do you understand why it does not matter how worldly we are, if we are saved, nothing will take away our salvation? While Lot it may have seemed like Lot was saved having never faced difficulties living in he world, he did suffer, especially after the incest with his daughters. God will not allow any saved soul to just live a worldly life and then go home, their judgment comes while they are living in the world, we may not see it, but they do suffer, [I Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?]

Now, when all this was going on, Abraham was just starting his day, he had a special place where he would go to pray, it was there that he saw the smoke from Sodom, [Genesis 19:27-29 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: 28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.]

[that God remembered Abraham,] Do you know what keeps God from destroying every wicked town right now? He remembers His Son, He will not destroy any city as long as one saved soul is among them. When you stop to think about that, we really need to praise God for all His mercies and do whatever we can to not only stay faithful to Him, but make sure everyone we know and whomever God places on our heart know about Christ, [Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.]

After all that, Abraham must have been sad and fearful of what he saw, he decided to move, and ended up in a town called Gerar, which was probably not a good idea, because he ended up in another situation. And even though God judges he world, He wants them saved as well, He knows that there are some believers still out there among those who are caught up in these false religions. Again, deep down, the world does know that all the destruction is God’s judgments, Abraham was not the only one afraid of what he saw, the news of God destroying Sodom and Gomorrah traveled fast, and the people of Gerar knew I was God. We find this out when he made the same mistake of telling Sarah to tell them that she was his sister.

[Genesis 20:1-7 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.]

[Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?] God never limited His protection, favor, or love to just what was to become the children of Israel through Abraham, He gave it to all who feared Him. Regardless, of how many see God as ruthless and merciless (thanks to all these stupid films and religions trying to portray Him as such), He truly is merciful, and gives all a chance to escape His judgments, [Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.]

[and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live:] It is actually Jesus who prays for us, standing there at the right hand of God, interceding every prayer that we ask in His name, [Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.]

Quite often God uses fear to get people to see that He is serious, He is in control of everything, and He really is merciful. One thing God wants to make clear to the saved is that we are not to be among the unsaved. Yes, there are many saved living with, and even married to those whom are unsaved, but this will always cause problems, and a lot of suffering. Now, after all this came to pass, Sarah conceived, and had her son, and named him Isaac.

[Genesis 21:1-6 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.]

[so that all that hear will laugh with me.] Isaac’s name means laughter, this was not the mocking kind of laughter, rather, how we get when we realize something so crazy and impossible has happened, she was ninety years old. However, Sarah did find Hagar mocking her so she demands that Abraham make her and Ismael leave, [Genesis 21:8-12 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.]

[for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.] There is a difference between being a seed of creation, and one of God’s children, we are all born as His creation, but not all of us are His children. The Muslim’s know God, but they are not His because one, they corrupted the Law, and two, they reject Christ as His Son. We only become God’s when we believe in Jesus Christ, and here is the even more amazing thing, we also become one of Abraham’s, [Galatians 3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Genesis 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy and grace, for saving a sinner like me the second I believed that Your Son is my salvation, and thank You for the life You have given me. To think about how my life would have been if I looked back is horrifying, but thankfully You intervened and carried me to safety when I received Your Son. I know I fail You every day, but I am saved to the uttermost, and for that I am grateful and will live the rest of my life here the best I can with You guiding me until You bring me home. Thank You, Jesus! I pray this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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