Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 318
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
1:11–2:9
never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal
Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though
you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been
taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as
I live. For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this
earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these
things after I am gone.
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the
powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor
with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father.
The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly
loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from
heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the
message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to
what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—
until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from
the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those
prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny
the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.
In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But
God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into
hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day
of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah
and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world
of ungodly people with a vast flood. Later, God condemned the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made
them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also
rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick
of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was
a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw
and heard day after day. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly
