Gary Gleans

I, John, your brother and   partner in   the tribulation and   the kingdom and   the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos   on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.    I was in the Spirit   on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice   like a trumpet   saying,   “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”    Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw   seven golden lampstands,   and in the midst of the lampstands   one like   a son of man,   clothed with a long robe and   with a golden sash around his chest.    The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.   His eyes were like a flame of fire,   his feet were like burnished bronze, refined...

John to the seven churches that are in Asia:   Grace to you and peace from   him   who is and   who was and who is to come, and from   the seven spirits who are before his throne,   and from Jesus Christ   the faithful witness,   the firstborn of the dead, and   the ruler of kings on earth.    To   him who loves us and   has freed us from our sins by his blood   and made us   a kingdom,   priests to   his God and Father, to him be   glory and   dominion forever and ever. Amen.    Behold,   he is coming with the clouds, and   every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wai l  on account of him. Even so. Amen.    “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,   “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Jesus is the central Person of this revelation.  This passage speaks to His identity, th...

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God   gave him   to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.   He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,   who bore witness to the word of God and to   the testimony of Jesus Christ, even   to all that he saw.    Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it,   for the time is near. As we embark on the study of this final book of the New Testament, we do so with the recognition that this is not an easy or uncontroversial task.  There are many ways this book has been interpreted throughout the history of the church.  I’m certain this will not be any sort of definitive work and that it will disappoint those who would interpret the text differently.  My hope is that we will all learn and grow through the process.  We can always learn from those with wh...

Now to him who is able   to keep you from stumbling and   to present you   blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,   to   the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,   be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. The Gospel is the most effective weapon to combat false teachers and false doctrine.  Jude closes his letter by pointing to the power the Gospel of Christ has to transform us and our standing before God.  He then demonstrates the result of this magnificent accomplishment is the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. THE GOSPEL SANCTIFIES BELIVERS: The Gospel is all about Jesus.  All that the Gospel accomplishes is through Him and is about Him.  As fallen people, we stumble and fail at an alarming rate.  But He is able to keep us from stumbling.  He will preserve us in our faith and will perfect us so that for all of etern...

But you must   remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.    They said to you,   “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”    It is these who cause divisions, worldly people,   devoid of the Spirit.    But you, beloved,   building yourselves up in your most holy faith and   praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,   waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.    And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by   snatching them out of   the fire; to others show mercy   with fear, hating even   the garment stained by the flesh. Prophecy is a wonderful gift of God.  It both warns us of the evil we must face in this world and encourages us about God’s promises for the future.  Since God knows the future, we can be assured that He is in control of our curren...

It was also about these that Enoch,   the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,   “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,   to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have   committed in such an ungodly way, and of all   the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”    These are grumblers, malcontents,   following their own sinful desires;   they are loud-mouthed boasters,   showing favoritism to gain advantage. The existence of those who rebel against God is long standing going all the way back to the fall of mankind. Seven generations after Adam, Enoch prophesied about the Lord’s coming judgment of sin.  Any prosperity that false teachers may seem to enjoy in the present is simply temporary.  Jude describes the coming judgment as well as the cause behind that judgment. THE CONDEMNATION OF APOSTATES IS SURE: Once s...