The World today and professing Christians
(Eze 33:30) "As for you, son of man, you've become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, 'Let's go hear the latest news from GOD.' 31 They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. 32 To them you're merely entertainment--a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it. 33 "But when all this happens--and it is going to happen!--they'll realize that a prophet was among them."
(Eze 34:2) "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, 'GOD, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren't shepherds supposed to feed sheep? 3 You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don't feed the sheep. 4 You don't build up the weak ones, don't heal the sick, don't doctor the injured, don't go after the strays, don't look for the lost. You bully and badger them. 5 And now they're scattered every which way because there was no shepherd--scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes.
(2Th 2:1) Now, friends, read these next words carefully. Slow down and don't go jumping to conclusions regarding the day when our Master, Jesus Christ, will come back and we assemble to welcome him. 2 Don't let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master's arrival has come and gone. 3 Don't fall for any line like that. Before that day comes, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Apostasy. Second, the debut of the Anarchist, a real dog of Satan.
(2Th 2:9) The Anarchist's coming is all Satan's work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, 10 evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. 11 And since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it--gives them what they want. 12 Since they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.
(Jud 1:4) What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license--which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.
(Jud 1:8) This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glory dragged in the mud.
(Jud 1:10) But these people sneer at anything they can't understand, and by doing whatever they feel like doing--living by animal instinct only--they participate in their own destruction.
(Jud 1:5) I'm laying this out as clearly as I can, even though you once knew all this well enough and shouldn't need reminding. Here it is in brief: The Master saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Later he destroyed those who defected. 6 And you know the story of the angels who didn't stick to their post, abandoning it for other, darker missions. But they are now chained and jailed in a black hole until the great Judgment Day.
(Jud 1:11) I'm fed up with them! They've gone down Cain's road; they've been sucked into Balaam's error by greed; they're canceled out in Korah's rebellion. 12 These people are warts on your love feasts as you worship and eat together. They're giving you a black eye--carousing shamelessly, grabbing anything that isn't nailed down. They're-- Puffs of smoke pushed by gusts of wind; late autumn trees stripped clean of leaf and fruit, Doubly dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 wild ocean waves leaving nothing on the beach but the foam of their shame; Lost stars in outer space on their way to the black hole. 14 Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: "Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels 15 to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth." 16 These are the "grumpers," the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead. 17 But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: 18 "In the last days there will be people who don't take these things seriously anymore. They'll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts." 19 These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There's nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!
(Eze 34:7) "'Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of GOD: 8 As sure as I am the living God--Decree of GOD, the Master--because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, 9 listen to what GOD has to say: 10 "'Watch out! I'm coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They're fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I'll rescue my sheep from their greed. They're not going to feed off my sheep any longer! 11 "'GOD, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. 12 As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places they've been scattered to in the storms.
(Eze 33:30) "As for you, son of man, you've become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, 'Let's go hear the latest news from GOD.' 31 They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. 32 To them you're merely entertainment--a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it. 33 "But when all this happens--and it is going to happen!--they'll realize that a prophet was among them."
(Eze 34:2) "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, 'GOD, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren't shepherds supposed to feed sheep? 3 You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don't feed the sheep. 4 You don't build up the weak ones, don't heal the sick, don't doctor the injured, don't go after the strays, don't look for the lost. You bully and badger them. 5 And now they're scattered every which way because there was no shepherd--scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes.
(2Th 2:1) Now, friends, read these next words carefully. Slow down and don't go jumping to conclusions regarding the day when our Master, Jesus Christ, will come back and we assemble to welcome him. 2 Don't let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master's arrival has come and gone. 3 Don't fall for any line like that. Before that day comes, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Apostasy. Second, the debut of the Anarchist, a real dog of Satan.
(2Th 2:9) The Anarchist's coming is all Satan's work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, 10 evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. 11 And since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it--gives them what they want. 12 Since they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.
(Jud 1:4) What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license--which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.
(Jud 1:8) This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glory dragged in the mud.
(Jud 1:10) But these people sneer at anything they can't understand, and by doing whatever they feel like doing--living by animal instinct only--they participate in their own destruction.
(Jud 1:5) I'm laying this out as clearly as I can, even though you once knew all this well enough and shouldn't need reminding. Here it is in brief: The Master saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Later he destroyed those who defected. 6 And you know the story of the angels who didn't stick to their post, abandoning it for other, darker missions. But they are now chained and jailed in a black hole until the great Judgment Day.
(Jud 1:11) I'm fed up with them! They've gone down Cain's road; they've been sucked into Balaam's error by greed; they're canceled out in Korah's rebellion. 12 These people are warts on your love feasts as you worship and eat together. They're giving you a black eye--carousing shamelessly, grabbing anything that isn't nailed down. They're-- Puffs of smoke pushed by gusts of wind; late autumn trees stripped clean of leaf and fruit, Doubly dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 wild ocean waves leaving nothing on the beach but the foam of their shame; Lost stars in outer space on their way to the black hole. 14 Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: "Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels 15 to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth." 16 These are the "grumpers," the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead. 17 But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: 18 "In the last days there will be people who don't take these things seriously anymore. They'll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts." 19 These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There's nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!
(Eze 34:7) "'Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of GOD: 8 As sure as I am the living God--Decree of GOD, the Master--because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, 9 listen to what GOD has to say: 10 "'Watch out! I'm coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They're fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I'll rescue my sheep from their greed. They're not going to feed off my sheep any longer! 11 "'GOD, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. 12 As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places they've been scattered to in the storms.