The Apostles’ Doctrine

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Thank you Lord. We thank you for this program; Father, we thank you. I pray now, Father, in Jesus’ name, that you would open our ears to hear what you are saying; that you would open our understanding, as we speak about The Apostles’ Doctrine. In Acts 2:42 & 43 it is written, concerning the early disciples, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. They continued steadfastly: the word means, earnest towards, to persevere, to be constantly diligent, to adhere closely to, or to attend continually upon; that’s what we need to do with the apostles’ doctrine. 

I’m going to be speaking a lot from the Epistle to the Ephesians, so if you would like to turn to Ephesians, chapter 1,  Eph 1:1-23, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 

He has made us accepted in Jesus by His grace. 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven and which are on Earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. 

The Holy Spirit is given to us as a down payment on our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession. That is the first resurrection, when Jesus returns in the clouds: the hope of glory, when all the dead in Christ will be raised from the dead, incorruptible, and we will be joined together with the Lord, and thus we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, That’s what we need. We need a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, by the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. 

Because He humbled Himself, Jesus, to the death of the Cross, the Father has given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, in Heaven, on the Earth, and under the Earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Glory! 

Chapter 2, verses 1-10, And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 

in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

That’s where we were: dead in trespasses and sins.

But God, who is rich in mercy, Hallelujah!, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and remember what we just read, far above all principality, power, might and dominion, and every name that is named ! Hallelujah! 

that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We are not saved by our good works, but, once we are saved, God will give us good works by His Spirit; He will lead us by His Spirit in doing good, especially to those who are of the household of faith, and to the poor. Verses 19-22, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. That is the Church: a holy temple in the Lord; a dwelling place of God. 

Chapter 3, verses 14-21, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, and this is the only way that this is going to work, you have to be rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Chapter 4, verses 11-16, And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, They’re out there: many false prophets. Jesus said, Take heed that you be not deceived, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 

Chapter 5, verses 1-11, Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Verses 15-21, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. 

This is the apostles’ doctrine. If we are going to receive our inheritance, our glorious inheritance in Jesus Christ, we must continue in it steadfastly. These Words in the epistles of Paul and Peter and John, and the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, James and Jude, are God’s Words, which He gave by His Holy Spirit. Holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They are God’s Words. It is His doctrine, which He has graciously preserved for us who are called in Him, that we might read it and understand it, with the help and instruction of the Holy Spirit, and give ourselves wholly and diligently to it, that we might be partakers of His grace through the Gospel, and receive our inheritance in His glorious Kingdom: the riches of of the glory of His inheritance in the saints: Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let no man deceive you with empty words, as Paul said, the wrath of God is coming upon all the children of disobedience. In Romans 2, he said,  who will render to every man according to his works. 

2 Cor 5:15, and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com .

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)

 The Responsibility of Love

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus.

Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Thank you Heavenly Father for this program. We give you thanks; we worship you in Jesus’ name. Thank you Father. Today’s program is called The Responsibility of Love.

Let’s turn to John 8:2,  Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 

Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say? This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.

This program is not intended to condemn anyone, but to speak the truth, in the hope that some will be set free from the things that are destroying them. Let’s turn to 1 Cor 6:9, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 

Fornication: One flesh with someone who does not love you, and does not love God, and is in rebellion against Him. Jesus said, Those whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder. They two shall be one flesh. Through the covenant of marriage, before God and man, God joins two people together: male and female. When you fornicate, you are joining together in rebellion against God. You are becoming one flesh with someone that God did not give you. Fornication is not love. It is love of self; love of pleasure: two people seeking their own pleasure in rebellion against God. It takes away the heart; your heart is hardened through the sin; you sin against your own body. Your body is for the Lord, not for fornication. 

Jesus said, Keep My commandments. He that does not love Me, does not keep My commandments, and the Word that you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. Fornication is having sex with someone who is not your wife or your husband. A man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife. What God has joined together, let no man separate. God joins a man and a woman together through marriage, and you become one flesh. When you fornicate, or commit adultery, you are having sex with someone; becoming one flesh with someone, who God did not give you; He did not join you together. It is not love; it is selfish gratification of the lust of your flesh.

When you get married, you take responsibility for each other in love. The man commits to love and care for his wife, and support her and their children. The woman commits to care for their children and their household. The man becomes responsible before God for his wife and children, and the woman for her children and her household. With fornication, there is no commitment; no responsibility, and no love. As a Christian man, you seek God for a wife, and He gives you the woman He has chosen for you. You enter into marriage with her, and you take responsibility before Him to love her and care for her. It is a responsibility before God and man. She also commits to love her husband and children and care for them before her God, and God joins you two together as one flesh. There is the blessing, as you continue on with Jesus, in fulfilling your responsibility of love for Him and for one another.

Let’s go to Mat 5:27, You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. When you marry someone you commit to one another to love one another and be faithful to one another. 

God joins you together and you become one flesh. Jesus said, When a man looks on a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery already with her in his heart. In order to emphasize how serious this is, He said, If your right eye is causing you to offend, then pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better to enter into life with one eye, than to be cast into hell with two eyes. If you die in adultery, you will be cast into hell. 

So, just consider this for a moment: if you actually took out your right eye, do you think that would keep you from lusting after someone with your left eye? Of course not. You are lusting after them in your heart. It’s the heart that is the problem: adultery and lust in your heart. He said this to show how serious this is. Do what you have to do to put adultery out of your heart. Start by repenting; confessing your sin to God. He promised in 1 John, that He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Let’s go there, 1 John 1:5, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. He promised that He would set you free from sin; that’s why Jesus died for you and shed His Blood. Let’s go to John 8:31, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. In the King James version it says, continue in My Word; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered Him, we are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, You will be made free? Jesus answered them, Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

So you take it seriously: looking and lusting after another woman, or if you are a wife, another man; very seriously, and you seek God until He delivers you. You can start by simply looking away; turning your eyes away from looking at that person and praying. Remembering your responsibility to your wife or your husband to love them and care for them. Ask the Lord for grace to help you in that time of temptation; His grace is sufficient for you. He has promised, He will help you, if you are serious; if you want His love. If you love yourself and your pleasures, you will have a hard time until you repent and call upon Him. 

1 John 4:7,  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, verse 20, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 

If you love Me, Jesus said, Keep My commandments. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. He that says he knows Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and there is no truth in him, and His commandments are not grievous. This is My commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. It is our responsibility in the love of God to love Him and keep His Words and to love one another, day to day. 

Col 3:12, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)

 Born of a Woman

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied, (Jude 1:2)

Amen, Father! We praise you; we thank you this day; we praise you; we bless your holy name, Amen! Today’s program is called, Born of a Woman.

Let’s turn to Luke 1:26, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Notice: “will be called”. Jesus was called the Son of God when He was born of a woman.

Ok, we’re going to go to John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Verse 10, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Gal 4:4, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. God sent forth His Son to redeem us. To redeem is to ransom us. Jesus was sent by the Father to be born of a woman, His mother Mary; to become a man and to live as a man, tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin; to overcome the world and lay down His sinless flesh and Blood upon the Cross: a full and complete ransom for our sins; the sins of the whole world. Heb 4:14, Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Gal 3:26, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus: when we believe the report of what the Father has done through the sacrifice of His Son. Isa 53:1, Who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 

Jesus was a man, born of a woman, who could have sinned, just like us. He was tempted in every way, yet, unlike us, He never sinned; He never yielded to any of the temptations. If you cannot sin, then you cannot be tempted. God cannot be tempted with sin. Jas 1:13, Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. It is so important to understand this: that He was a man, the Son of God, who never sinned, though He was truly tempted in every way, and that’s why He could ransom us, by the sacrifice of Himself. And He did so because He loved us. John 3:14, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

1 Peter 1:13, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

When John the Baptist saw Jesus walking, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus was a man, walking on the Earth, when John said that of Him. In the Old Covenant, the lamb for the sin offering had to be without blemish; a male of the first year. The blood of the lamb was given by God upon the altar to make atonement for the sins of the people. Lev 17:11, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Jesus’ sinless life was in His precious Blood, and it was shed upon the Cross to make atonement for our souls. Heb 9:6, Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.   Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 

When we believe that Jesus Christ was born of a woman; that He was a man, the Son of God, tempted like us in every way, who loved His Father, and always did His will; who never sinned; who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood, and we come to Him, repenting of our sins and confessing Him Lord; believing that He rose from the dead, we shall be saved from the wrath of God; from eternal damnation, which is coming upon all those who love their evil ways and reject His promise. 1 Tim 2:5, For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.

 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes with Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Today’s program is called, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord spoke to me one day, and He said, Remember Abraham, remember Isaac, remember Jacob. Why did He say that to me? What was it about these three men? What did they have in common, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? All three of them worshipped God: everywhere they went they built altars and offered sacrifices and worshipped Him. God appeared to all three of them and blessed them. Remember Abraham, remember Isaac, remember Jacob.

Gen 12:1, Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed. Verse 7, Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. Chapter 13, verse 3, And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Verse 18, Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord. 

Gen 26:23, talking about Isaac, Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake. So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well. 

In Genesis 28, we read about Jacob and the dream that he had on his way to Haran to stay with his mother’s brother Laban. Verse 10, Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the Earth, and its top reached to Heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the Earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the Earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven! Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 

Many years later, when Jacob was 130 years old, he went down into Egypt to be with his son Joseph, and he stopped in Beersheba, with all his family and their little ones, and their cattle and their goods and worshipped God. Gen 46:1, So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, Here I am. So He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.

God told Moses, in Exodus 3:6, …I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s Seed is Jesus. God said to each one of them, In your Seed shall all the nations of the Earth be blessed. Gal 3:16, Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your Seed, who is Christ. 

Let’s turn to John 4:5, talking about Jesus,  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink. For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans? Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. I want to skip down to verse 19, The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth; the Word of God with the Holy Spirit: Spirit and truth. Have you ever been in His presence? That is where the blessing of God is: when we worship Him in Spirit and in truth, and He responds to our praises and blesses us. It must be in the Holy Spirit and in the truth. Our worship must be in the Holy Spirit and in the truth. His Word is truth. If we are embracing false doctrines and lies, it will be in vain. Mat 15:7, Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.  

Where is your heart? Is it like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s hearts, or is it full of the world and the things of this world? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obeyed God’s Word; they believed Him and followed Him. God told Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that in their Seed all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed; the greatest blessing: that He would bring forth the Messiah, Jesus Christ, out of their loins. Rom 2:28, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. 

We are blessed in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s Seed. All the nations are blessed in Jesus, because of them. Shall we then hate them and seek to destroy them? It is the people of the Beast, the Anti-Christ, who hate them and seek to destroy them. The people who are truly of the Lamb love the Jewish people. Jesus is a Jew, the Seed of Abraham, and He came to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. The Gentiles who believe in Him are children of Abraham through faith. Gal 3:29,  And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Those that are truly of God; of the Lamb, worship Him in Spirit and in truth; they keep His Words; they love Him and serve Him, and they love not their lives unto death. 

Gen 22:1, Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. Then He said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Verse 11, But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! So he said, Here I am.   And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. Verse 15, Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of Heaven, and said: By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your Seed all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. 

It was through the people who truly loved God and obeyed Him from their heart, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Moses and Joshua and Samuel and Ruth and Boaz and David and Josiah and Mary, that God brought forth His Son to bless all those who would believe in Him and love Him and keep His Words, to save them through the sacrifice of Himself. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That whoever lives and believes in Him should not perish, but inherit eternal life in Him. And He shall be King over all the Earth, and all His enemies shall be put under His feet.

Psalm 95:6, Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen (2 Cor 13:14) 

 The Sheep Of His Pasture

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)

Amen Father! We thank you for this day, Father; we thank you for your love and your mercy: you love your sheep!; you gave your Son!; you so loved us that you gave your Son a living sacrifice on the Cross for our sins, that we might enter in to your pasture; that we might enter into your Kingdom; that we might be forgiven and cleansed and washed and purged and become your sheep, Lord. Thank you Lord!  The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep, and that’s what you did, Lord, and we are your sheep. And Lord, I just ask you to help us; purge us; cleanse us; sanctify your people once again. Amen, Lord. Thank you.

Today’s program is called, The Sheep Of His Pasture. Let’s turn to Psalm 22:1, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him! But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God. Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. 

Psalm 23:1, The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. We must go through Psalm 22 to get to Psalm 23. The Lord is your Shepherd when you hear the Gospel; repent and believe the Gospel, and come to Jesus; when you realize what He’s done for you through His sacrifice of Himself, and you repent and believe and come to Him. We are His sheep in His pasture. The Church belongs to Jesus; He purchased it with His own Body and Blood; He is our Lord; He is our Shepherd; we follow Him in paths of righteousness that He lays out for us. 

In Psalm 22 we read about what Jesus went through to purchase us. Col 1:13, Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his Blood, even the forgiveness of sins… Isa 53:4, Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Jesus loved us and He washed us from our sins in His own Blood. This is how He did it: He purchased us by the sacrifice of Himself. The Father loved us and sent Jesus to do this. There He bought us. Then He brought us to Him and showed us His great love: He showed us what He has done for us, and we came to Jesus, confessing our sins and receiving Him into our hearts crying Abba, Father, and confessing Him Lord. 

Because He humbled Himself to the death of the Cross, the Father has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, in Heaven, on the Earth, and under the Earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. He is Lord! We are not our own! We have been bought with a price. Therefore, let us put away all our sins and glorify God in our bodies. 1 Cor 6:15, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For The two, He says, shall become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Psalm 95:7, For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Psalm 100:3, Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 

Let’s turn to John 10:1,  Most assuredly, I say to you, Jesus said, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. 

Jer 23:1, Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the Lord. But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says the Lord. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the Earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

Mat 24:45, Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

We are not our own! We have been bought with a price! We are the sheep of Jesus’ pasture, and we need to be faithful to Him and to the Father to bring glory to His name, and to edify one another. Psalm 79:13, So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

Song:

We thy people and sheep of thy pasture 

Will give thanks forever, and show forth thy praise. 

We thy people and sheep of thy pasture 

Will give thanks forever and glorify thy name.

Help us; deliver us, God of our salvation;

Purge away our sins for the glory of thy name;

Help us; deliver us, God of our salvation;

Purge away our sins for the glory of thy name. 

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)