Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 322
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
1:11-25
scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do
whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of
Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money.
And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.
When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.
They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are
like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like
trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been
pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up
the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed
forever to blackest darkness.
Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied
about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the
world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have
done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their
desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get
what they want.
But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord
Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last times there would
be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These
people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow
their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.
But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith,
pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves
safe in God’s love.
And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue
others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to
still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate
their lives.
Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will
bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.
All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our
Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and
in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
