📡✞ Elect (Part 1 & 2): In-Depth Bible Study

 

📡✞ Elect (Part 1&2): In-Depth Bible Study🔗

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYEP6xe-oYc&list=PLcK3ZkGY_ffraZdKrxb9fyxWBUaE9HxPg

📖✨ Summary: Understanding “The Elect” – A Biblical Exposition by Pastor Arnold Murray ✝️

Pastor Arnold Murray’s teaching delves deeply into the biblical concept of “the elect” 👑—those chosen by God for a special purpose—and explores its theological foundation, scriptural basis, and implications for believers. This study is rooted in a comprehensive, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse analysis of Scripture 📜, primarily from Isaiah, Romans, Ephesians, John, and Peter, interwoven with practical insights about faith, free will, and God’s justice ⚖️.

🌟 Key Themes and Insights

  • 👑 Definition of the Elect:
    The elect are those “chosen” or “selected” by God not randomly, but because they have been “tried and found faithful” 🔥 (Hebrew root בָּחַר bakar meaning “to try or test”). They are the “true church” ⛪—faithful servants who stand firm in God’s Word 📖 and reject false doctrines.

  • 🕊️ Pre-existence of Souls and Election:
    Souls existed with God before birth. Election is based on how these souls behaved during the pre-creation “overthrow of Satan” ⚔️. It is presented as character-based testing, not random selection.

  • 🧭 Free Will and Election:

    • The elect are specially chosen by God’s foreknowledge ✨

    • Others still have free will to accept or reject Christ

    • God’s love extends to all ❤️, but rejection leads to judgment ⚖️

  • ⚖️ God’s Justice and Mercy:
    God judges fairly and exactly, rewarding obedience and truthfulness while rejecting hypocrisy 🚫 (Isaiah 65).

  • 📖 Biblical Examples of the Elect:

    • Paul ✝️ – transformed from persecutor to apostle (Acts 9:15)

    • Jeremiah 📜 – sanctified before birth (Jeremiah 1:4–5)

    • Jacob vs Esau ⚖️ – divine choice based on spiritual character (Romans 9)

📚 Scriptural Foundations

📖 Scripture🌟 Key Point
Isaiah 65:1–9God rejects hypocrisy and preserves a faithful remnant
Romans 8:26–34Predestination, calling, justification, glorification
John 15:15–16Jesus calls the elect “friends” 🤝
1 Peter 1:1–2Elect sanctified by the Spirit ✨
Jeremiah 1:4–5Known and set apart before birth
Ephesians 1:4–14 Election before creation 🌍
Romans 9:10–24God’s sovereignty in mercy and judgment ⚖️
Matthew 19:30The first shall be last, and the last first 🔄

🌾 Election and Rewards

The elect are described as first fruits 🌾—those who serve early and faithfully in God’s vineyard 🍇. Yet all who come to God sincerely receive eternal life 🕊️, showing that God’s reward is generous and just.

⏳ The Role of the Elect in End Times

The elect act as a stabilizing force against deception 🛡️, resisting false teachings and remaining faithful to Scripture 📖. They are portrayed as protected by God (Revelation 7 🔥) and alert against spiritual deception.

🧭 Practical Exhortations

  • 📖 Study Scripture deeply to avoid deception

  • 🧠 Faith must be paired with knowledge

  • 🙏 Obedience produces spiritual fruit

  • 🌳 The elect are called to be faithful, productive servants

⚖️ Core Concepts and Definitions

📘 Term🔍 Meaning
👑 Elect (bakar)Chosen after being tested and found faithful
🕊️ Free WillHuman ability to choose God or reject Him
🔮 PredestinationGod’s foreknowledge in His divine plan
⚖️ JustificationBeing declared righteous through faith
✨ SanctificationBeing made holy through obedience
🔐 Seal of GodTruth of God’s Word protecting believers
🌿 RemnantFaithful group preserving true doctrine

❓ Frequently Addressed Questions

  • 👑 Are the elect better than others?
    No—election is about faithfulness, not superiority.

  • ⚖️ Is election unfair?
    No—God’s judgment is presented as just and based on truth.

  • 🧭 What about free will?
    All people can choose Christ and receive salvation.

  • 🛡️ Do the elect face persecution?
    Yes, but they are spiritually protected and sustained.

🌅 Conclusion

Pastor Arnold Murray’s teaching emphasizes that the elect are chosen through divine purpose, testing, and foreknowledge, reflecting God’s justice ⚖️, mercy ❤️, and sovereign plan 🌍. Election and free will operate together, and all are called to study Scripture 📖, remain faithful ✝️, and live in obedience as God’s servants.

✨ Key Takeaway:

The elect are those tested and proven faithful, chosen by God for His purpose—called to live in truth, obedience, and spiritual awareness while awaiting His Kingdom. 👑📖🕊️

#TheElect #BibleStudy #ScriptureTruth #EndTimes #BiblicalTeaching #FaithInGod #ChristianDoctrine #ElectOfGod #SpiritualAwakening #WordOfGod #Romans9 #Ephesians1 #Prophecy #FaithAndTruth #JesusChrist #KingdomOfGod #BibleExposition

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**Welcome to the Shepherd's Chapel Network Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Arnold Murray.** Wisdom is understanding God's Word. Pastor Murray's unique teaching approach brings God's Word alive with meaning as he takes you on a chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse study of God's letter to you, the Bible. *(music)* And now here is Pastor Arnold Murray.

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✞ Elect Part 1:

    All right, good day to you. God bless you. Say welcome to the Shepherd's Chapel. Welcome to this Family Bible Study Hour. And we're going — our subject today is going to be "Elect." Now this is soon after we did the lecture on pre-existence, so it was good groundwork. So it's a good time to redo the tract on "Elect." What is the Elect? The Elect Church? A lot of people don't know what was the Elect and what is Elect. Well, that's why we're going to discuss it. You've got to remember that our Father — when Paul was on the road to Damascus, had a piece of paper in his pocket that said he could persecute the Christian church all he wanted to. And something happened. There was no revival meeting. He went by that — he volunteered, but he was struck down by the hand of God, and God stated in Acts chapter 9, verse 15, "This is My chosen vessel." Why did God do that? That's a little unfair — a man that would write most of the New Testament hated the church. It's a thing that you must remember, and as I stated, pre-existence lays a good groundwork for this, because it's what he did during the rebellion of Satan. For all souls come from the Father. We have both ends of the spectrum: we have election, and we have free will.

Now, why do we have free will? Those that failed during the overthrow — they're God's children, and He loves them. Thus the Elect — God utilizes the Elect and the very Elect, that is to say, to accomplish those things that are written, or at least to set them in motion. They're called the servants of God. He will use those that have free will, once they choose Christ, to accomplish things as well. But the election is a good subject.

Let's open our Bibles if we may to Isaiah chapter 65, and let's capture the frame as best we can on this subject of God's mind. How does our Father feel about this? All right, chapter 65, the Great Book of Isaiah, verse one, and it reads, God speaking: *"I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me"* — that means look at me — *"behold me"* two times for emphasis — *"unto a nation that was not called by my name."* In other words, salvation — the ten tribes, they didn't know who they were. Judah has always known who they were, but they were supposed to follow His advice, and when they kind of lost their way or got confused, so it is. Think about it.

Verse two: *"I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts."* And many times that's what happens to you — not that you're not to think for yourself, plan for yourself, but you need to consider God's thoughts as well, because He has set forth a plan that tells us how to be successful, keep patience, and you always will be successful when you follow the plan of God.

Verse three: *"A people that provoketh me"* — or actually insulted me — *"to anger continually to my face"* — right in my face, they insult me right to my face — *"that sacrificeth in gardens"* — gardens is a word for paradise, pretending to be heavenly, all right — *"and burneth incense upon altars of brick"* or clay, instead of paying attention to the golden altar.

Verse four: *"Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels."* They claim to be servants of God, and they're not even familiar with the health laws. What a mockery, what an insult, right in the face of God.

Verse five: *"Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou."* These — you know what God thinks about this? "Hey, stand away from me a little bit, I be holy, right? I be Christian." Well, you're not a Christian if you act that way; you're only a pretense with you. God doesn't like holier-than-thou, self-righteous hypocrites. *"These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."* Day in and day out, they keep up their same religious junk while eating swine's flesh and drinking broths of abomination, claim to be holier than one of My people.

I think you're kind of beginning to get the point that God isn't happy if you don't do it His way. Many might say, "Well, wonder why I'm not blessed?" Well, do you do it His way? Because if not, you're like smoke. What do people do when they have smoke in their nostrils? They blow it out. Rather than blessing, He blows you away from Him. He doesn't want anything to do with you under those set of circumstances. I don't know, it's just up to people, you know. The parable that we utilized concerning the Pharisee and the Publican went up to the altar, and the Pharisee says, "I thank God that I'm not as other people, I thank God that I'm perfect and not as this sinner here." And of course it was the sinner that God blessed, because the sinner was honest with God and asked for mercy. He got it. You can't play church with our Father, all right. It just won't fly. And quite frankly, if you're biblically illiterate and not familiar with His Word, you know how to please Him, to be on the good side of His emotions, to be a child that He is proud of. "That's My child there, I'll just bless that child today. I just really love him, the way he or she follows Me. At least they try. I love them, and I'm going to bless them." You know, you want to think a little bit: God has the same emotions that we do, only more so.

Verse six: *"Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom."* I mean, they're going to get the full measure of punishment. Sometimes people, God grabs them and begins to shake their little old lives up a little bit, and they say, "I'm the unluckiest person in the world. Bad things just happen to me all the time." And they don't even recognize it as the chastisement of the Living God, when they should be saying, "Thank You, Father, I understand." Instead they get on a poor-me, baby jag.

Verse seven: *"Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom."* Again, in the Hebrew, a figure of speech — idiom — that means full measure. They're going to get both barrels, all right. That's not that he's going to blow anybody away; it means that they're going to get both barrels of His nostrils' blast as He snuffs them out of His presence. It's not a good place to be, my friend. Not a good place at all.

Verse eight: That is to say, on the wrong side of God. *"Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster"* — in other words, you go along and you find wine in the cluster, there's some good grapes out of the whole bunch, is what He's saying — *"and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all."* In other words, out of the whole vineyard of My children — God being the vine — every once in a while along comes a good bunch of grapes, and I'm going to take care of it. He states it's the first fruits, beloved. It's God's — you know what the subject we're talking about.

Verse nine: *"And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah"* — both houses, the house of Israel and the house of Judah — *"an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect"* — you underline that word, "Mine elect" — *"shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there."* In other words, My plan is perfect. I have this plan, and it's going to work exactly as I have it planned. And of course, the elect are those that He has justified, which we'll document here in a moment. Therefore can interfere in their lives as He interfered with the life of Paul on the road to Damascus and not have to worry about it on Judgment Day, that He gave Paul any great break, because Paul had already accomplished his breaks as he was with the Father at Satan's rebellion. All of God's children were with Him. Our souls all come from our Father, and I hope that certainly you recognize that fact.

What is this word "elect" in the Hebrew? In the manuscripts, the word that God actually spoke — what does it mean? It's *bachar*, and it comes from the prime *bachar*. It means to select. And of course the King James translated "to choose," "chosen one," or "elect." But I want to go to that prime; I want you to see the prime that *bachar* comes from — it's *bachar*. It's a primitive root, properly to try. Because they were tried. God didn't give them something for free; they earned — *bachar* by being tried and found the true group of grapes that He would utilize, knowing they were children that He could count on, that He could depend upon in any battle against Satan, that they would adhere to God's Word rather than the words of men or the religious practices, traditions of men. That's God's elect — the true church.

Verse 10 — let's go just a little further. Now He opens the gate for salvation, if you would. *"And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor"* — you know what that word is in Hebrew? The valley of trouble, the valley that a lot of people have trouble in — *"a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me."* Have you? I don't know. That's all it takes, friend. That's why God's elect are sent — is to teach the true Word of God. And a people that hears that truth and have eyes to see and ears to hear, even in the valley of trouble, even in the time of trouble, even in Jacob's trouble, will have peace to lie down and rest. Why? We have a protector, we have a comforter, and that comforter certainly works on our behalf.

Verse 11: *"But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain"* — Zion — what happened there and in prophecy what shall happen there? *"That prepare a table for that troop"* — you know what this word is in the Hebrew? *Gad* — *"and that furnish the drink offering unto that number"* — *Meni* in the Hebrew tongue. *Meni*, *Man* — have you heard of it? In the Book of Daniel, one being the god of fate and the other the god of destiny. People's own trumped-up religions — they support it, they support the religious groups that are leading people to the spurious Messiah. That's what He's saying.

Verse 12: *"Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer."* People don't really like to hear God's Word, the vast majority — chapter by chapter and verse by verse. That's God's calling. They won't answer. But thank God for that cluster that does. *"When I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not."* In other words, your fate is certainly not good if God is unhappy with you. You've got problems. There's only one way you receive blessings from our Father, and He has more blessings than you could ever consider.

Turn with me to John chapter 15. I mean, He owns everything, and why people want to fight against Him and be on His bad side when He knows everything is beyond me. It really is. So God does have that cluster. He calls it His elect — those that He has already tried. In other words, they weren't given it; it's because they earned it. Think of it, think of it. You'll remember Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4, where God said, "I chose you before the foundation." How is that possible? Because the word "foundation" is overthrow — Satan's overthrow, okay.

The teachings of Jesus Christ we find written in John chapter 15. You'll remember we were talking about the cluster, and we won't take the time because you're all familiar with it. This is where Christ said, "I am the vine, and you are the branches. My Father is the pruner." He takes care of it. If you don't produce fruit, sorry branch, lop it off. Don't need it. What good is it if it doesn't produce fruit? All right. And then there comes that one that takes the pruning or the correction from God and does produce fruit. Thus I want to pick it up in the 15th verse as He speaks to the good — those that follow.

*"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth"* — I mean, a servant just does what he's told. *"But I have called you friends"* — He's done what? Called you friends — *"for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."* Wow. How did He do that? By this Word. Have you read it? It is written. Do you want to be called a friend of God, or do you want to run around in some baby-bottle, milquetoast Christianity? All you have to do is just learn salvation. God didn't know what He was doing? Yes, He wrote the whole book, but you don't need it. You need me, your reverend, to teach you, to keep your little baby bottles warm, and all you have to do is say, "I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved." You can say you're saved all you want to, but if you hop in bed with the Antichrist when he comes soon to say, "I've come to fly you out of here," you've got trouble, friend. You are not saved. You know what Jesus Christ will say to you? "Get out of My sight, I never knew you," because you did not learn the things as a servant should that could be called friend instead of servant, because you know what God's plan is. And the only way you can know that is to be familiar with the Word of God. He makes it known to us. I don't know — our people in a high-tech generation, when high-tech has exploded since 1970, just — it is amazing where we've gone in communication alone, computers, so forth. And here, theology: you still got those baby-bottle-sucking Christians, not even potty-trained, running around saying, "I'm saved" and not — and biblically illiterate, never caring enough about our Father to get into His Word. If that stings, wear it.

Verse 16 — I do it in love; that's my job, is to teach God's Word, and I love those clusters that love to hear it. Verse 16: *"Ye have not chosen me"* — whoa, what an interesting statement — *"ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you"* — you can even say foreordained, if you like that — *"that ye should go and bring forth fruit"* — I don't know, do you? Think about it — those that do get God's blessings, all right — *"and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."* That's blessings, friend, not servant — friend — because you're familiar with our Father's plan of salvation as people, especially in the generation that is counted for a generation, His election. Christ's words on the cross in Psalm 22 and the last three verses of Psalm 22 to that generation — those that will produce fruit. Yeah, many times today controversy and persecution can follow teaching God's Word. But who cares? God is Judge, not they, all right.

And with that, let's go on over if we may further in the New Testament. Let's go to First Peter — that great fisherman that God so loved that He sent the Son to him and said, "I want to talk to you about religion. I want to know if you're saved." Did He say that to Peter? I think not, I think not. He said, "Follow Me." And Peter was off and running, a servant that would be called friend, okay. Second Peter — First Peter rather, chapter 2. I'm going to go to verse 6 and 8 so that you know who the real first fruit and who the first elect was.

Verse 6, chapter 2, 1 Peter: *"Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture"* — you know what that means? It's written, do you know? *"Behold, I lay in Sion"* — I'll pronounce it in Hebrew — *"a chief corner stone"* — do you know who that Chief Cornerstone is? *"Elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."* Never will they be confused if they believe upon Him. Then they will believe His Word, if they're not ignorant about it. But if they serve Him, they're going to know what the Word is, because they're going to dig it out.

Verse 7: *"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious"* — do you, or is He just a milk-bottle warmer to you? *"But unto them which be disobedient"* — that won't study His Word, that will fall off to the first Jesus that appears, fly out of the field — *"the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner"* — and you know what it becomes? Verse 8: *"A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word."* It's important that you absorb that, beloved. What causes people to stumble? Ignorance of the Word. If the Word causes you to stumble, being disobedient — *"whereunto also they were appointed"* — certainly weren't chosen. In other words, it's very simple. Well, how could Jesus be a stumbling block? If you follow the fly-away false Christ, the false Jesus, then the true Jesus that you're trying to follow became a stumbling block for your patience in not waiting for the true Father through the Son, would jump in bed like Jezebel with the spurious Messiah. And hey, it's no big deal, because many churches today teach in Matthew 24, "Oh blessed Jesus, this one is taken from the field first," and I am just so ready to go. She was taken by Antichrist. That's the subject and the object of the Greek manuscripts. Think about it. Thus the true Christ becomes the stumbling block for the one that's unlearned and stumbles at God's Word because they're not familiar with it.

I want — while we're here in First Peter, drop back to chapter 1, and I want to read verse 2 to you. This is who Peter is writing the letter to: *"the elect"* — okay — *"according to the foreknowledge of God"* — do you know what the foreknowledge of God is? Do you know what elect is? Now: *"tried"* — *"through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied"* — to the church. God's elect. Well, I didn't know God's elect were the church. Well, who in the world did you think was the church? A bunch of flub-ups? That's what the word means — those that are tried. And of course there is the free will church, and I pray that those that have free will that see fit to choose the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior think enough of Him that His words and the Father's words will mean enough to them that they will get into them to understand the plan, so that they're infallible as far as the stumbling block is concerned. I don't know, that's up to you.

Elect — that's who He wrote this Book of Peter to: the elect, that church that is elect. Well, what's its name? "Elect." God uses them; they're His force on Earth, they're His good cluster, and they're not going to be ripped off by the spurious Messiah, as it's written in Mark 24 — and I'm sorry, Mark 13 and Matthew 24. They're too solid for that kind of nonsense, and they find it an abomination. Christ would say, "See that no man deceive you" — in both Matthew 24 and Mark 13, He warns us of the deception of men. Well, how do I avoid deception of men? By knowing what is written. It's that simple, because from that comes the blessings of God.

Elect — never heard of somebody being pre-chosen. Turn with me to the Book of Jeremiah real quickly. We're going to buzz here and cover as much of this as we can, and again I think it's very timely that we do this so soon after teaching pre-existence; it makes it a little simpler. Would God choose someone before he even was in his mother's womb? Is that what you're trying to say when you say "elect"? Well, what does the Bible say? It is written. I hope and trust that you're not biblically illiterate and that you're familiar with it.

God speaking concerning Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1, verse 4: *"Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying"* — verse 5: *"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee"* — do you know what that means? Do you know what's formed in the belly? The womb, I think so. "I knew you before you were ever in your mother's womb." *"And before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee"* — there's that word again — *"ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."* In other words, naturally Jeremiah pre-existed. When God created the souls, He created all of them. He was with Him. I don't think any Christian would argue with the fact that all souls come from God, and God doesn't play favorites; you earn it.

Verse 6: *"Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child"* — the word means youth in the manuscripts; I'm just a young man with no experience. God — verse 7: *"But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child"* — say not, I'm a youth — *"for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak."* That should remind you of Mark 13, the chapter we've had reference to, when God's elect are delivered up before the synagogues of Satan, when the fools have already jumped on his bandwagon — "Rapture it out of here, ready to go" — that — well, you call them fools? I did not; *moros* in the Greek — that Christ told us not to. But don't you agree it would be foolish for someone to jump on Satan's bandwagon? I think so. I think we could call them fools.

Verse 8: *"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD."* That's why you can teach God's Word boldly and without apology, because He's with you. He blesses you. Did He not say concerning the stumbling block that if you need anything, you ask for it, and He will provide it? Have you ever wondered why, for example, this ministry doesn't have to say, "Oh God, if You don't send money today, we'll be off the air! Oh God, if you don't — if you want us with You, pay up, pay up, we're gone, we're doomed!" If God wants us here, we'll be here. Why? He's with us. We don't have to beg. God doesn't send out beggars. God sends out men and women and children of God that teach His Word, and that is sufficient, because God's elect will hear the Word of God. Those that with free will that love the Lord will hear, and God is with them, all right.

So we see then, in verse 9: *"Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth."* You know, you want to always keep the clay — which is what our bodies are — a little moist. Clay still works pretty good. If you get self-righteous, it's so brittle it breaks when God touches it. Remember that.

Verse 10: *"See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms"* — what is a man of God supposed to do? *"To root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."* And that's what servants of God do. They plant with the truth. They plant with the Word of God, for the seed that was sown in the parable of the sower was the Word of God. And the Word of God will cause people to stumble, and they stumble at the word. Thus a teacher should be teaching the Word of God, whereby no one stumbles that has eyes to see and ears to hear.

Now let's go to the Book of Romans real quickly here, Book of Romans, subject "election." God chose Jeremiah before he entered his mother's womb. Why? Because he was a champion in the battle against Satan. What about election? Could God choose someone not before they earned what they wanted? Okay.

Romans chapter 8, verse 26, and it reads: *"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities"* — this speaks to God's saints, set-apart ones, elect. Our weakness — we're all weak in the flesh — He helps that. *"For we know not what we should pray for as we ought"* — we do not know absolute; God does. We know the plan and the season; He knows absolute. *"But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered"* — He knows things that we're not to know behind the scene.

Verse 27: *"And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit"* — that's the Holy Spirit, of course — *"because he maketh intercession for the saints"* — set-apart ones, elect — *"according to the will of God."* According to God's purpose.

Verse 28: *"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God"* — do you love Him? — *"to them who are the called"* — there's that word again — *"called according to his purpose"* — not somebody else's, not some tradition, not some fleeting thought by some so-called wise man, self-righteous hypocrite, or some bottle-warmer of the baby milk, but the Word of God, His plan, the Word that you do not stumble at if you possess it, because then you have the seal of God, which is His truth, in your forehead.

Let's go with the next verse. Verse 29: *"For whom he did foreknow"* — there you have the word — *"he also did predestinate"* — just as He did Jeremiah, just as He did Paul on the road to Damascus, just as He did Peter when He said, "Follow Me" — *"to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren"* — and of course the elect, he intercedes in their lives that there may be many more that would hear truth and their eyes be open.

Verse 30: *"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called"* — didn't — there was no volunteering; He called. *"And whom he called, them he also justified"* — that means He judged them and found them not wanting. *"And whom he justified, them he also glorified"* — called them His election.

Verse 31: *"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"* I mean, it doesn't matter. God is Judge; we don't care who is against us, because we have the victory in the Word of God, His election.

Verse 32: *"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all"* — that means election, free will, everyone — *"how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"* Do you need something to do God's work? I trust you're not biblically illiterate if you want to do God's work; that'd be kind of foolish: "I'm going to do God's work," and you don't even know what God's plan is. That's like saying you're going to be a brain surgeon and you've never had any training. God's Word is high-tech, though it flows with the simplicity as it was spoken by Christ. Why? Because it's common sense.

Verse 33: *"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth."* You don't have to worry about somebody laying some charge against you in persecution. Who cares? If the truth hurts them, let them suffer; they'll heal up real good from it and maybe learn something. But God is the one that judges you.

Verse 34: *"Who is he that condemneth? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God"* — He's sitting there on the throne at the right hand of God — *"who also maketh intercession for us."* Right at the right hand of God, when you're doing God's work, when you're producing fruit for Him on the vine of Christ, then certainly He intercedes for us, and we always win. Don't have to beg, don't have to do many things that some people do, and are extremely blessed. Why? If we need something, we ask for it, and it's going to be utilized for God's purpose, and it happens. God is true to His Word. Can you be true to Him? Do you love Him enough that you care about what He said? You see, that's what the Bible is — that *papyrus* that was written upon that *papyrus* that has come forward down through the stream of time. So important for you to love your Father enough. You know, if your earthly father had written you a letter of instructions, would you read it? You know, when you really loved, I think you would. Well, that's what has happened here. It is the Word that makes you ready. And some of you have known since you were a child there was more to God's Word than you were being taught. It's very possible you could be one of His election. Doesn't make you any better than anyone else; it just means that you have work to do. Think about it, to stand against the spurious Messiah.

Okay, we're going to pick up this subject "Elect" in the next lecture. Don't miss it. Listen a moment, won't you please? Free introductory package, say, this is something we would like to offer for a one-time gift to all the new folk that study with us. This introductory package gives you a monthly newsletter — which means each month you will receive a newsletter with a Bible study on it. Hey, raising funds? No way. We're not beggars; we're Bible teachers. That's what it consists of. A tape catalog that will give you all the topics that are covered, and *The Mark of the Beast* tape. What is this Mark of the Beast? Is it really on your forehead? No. Satan's considerably more intelligent than that. It's in your forehead, which is to say in your mind. Have you been deceived? This is a free offer to you, one time to each new student. Say, find out what's really happening and what the story is on *The Mark of the Beast*. All right.

Bless your hearts. There we are back again. Let's have the 800 number if we may: 1-800-643-4645. And that number is good from Puerto Rico throughout the US, Alaska, Hawaii, all over Canada. The Spirit moves, and you have a question — share it, won't you? Do that. Naturally we can no longer answer all questions, but who knows? The handful could be yours. Those of you that listen by shortwave around the world at this time, it's always a pleasure hearing from you. Your announcer at the end of the hour will give you a mailing address. Got a prayer request? He's your Father. You don't need a telephone number; talk to Him. It's His letter that He's written to you. Spend some time each day in it and thank Him for the letter whereby He may bless you, lead you, guide you.

Father, touch prosperity knowledge. Father, heal in Yeshua's precious name. Amen.

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Okay, let's see what people have on their minds. We're going to go to Lynn from California: "Where does it talk about in the Bible that there are two in the field and one is taken and one is left standing?" Matthew chapter 24, and the one that is taken is taken by the spurious Messiah. Christ went to great detail to say, "If they tell you here is Christ or lo, there, don't go." But this old hearer just can't wait; she jumps the fence and she's off and running right out of the field. The one that's left standing is still doing God's work, waiting for the true Messiah. Why? Because she knows from God's Word that the true Christ doesn't return to gather us to Him until the seventh trump, as it is written.

Patty from Texas: "You don't have to worry about flying away with us because you won't make it." Well, Patty, too, I'm so glad I'm not going to make it; I'm wiser than that. But honey, you have a good trip, won't you? You enjoy it and have a good day while you're there, all right.

V high from California: "When you are thrown into the Lake of Fire, do you stay there forever or do you burn to nothingness?" Well, V — how long? And bear in mind we're talking about soul bodies here, spiritual, not flesh. When your soul burns into nothingness, how long is that for? It's forever and forever, all right. Figures of speech, metaphors are so difficult for man at times, and yet it says so much more if you listen. So actually, the answer to what happens in the Lake of Fire — in as much as God is the consuming fire — is answered in Ezekiel 28, verses 18 and 19, when it tells you what's going to happen to Satan forever and ever. Ezekiel 28:18 and 19.

TD from Michigan: "I'm in a church that teaches the Rapture Theory. I'm thinking of walking away. This is a life and death decision for me. I think we're given a lot of information. I think I will not give them and tithe heavily to them. All kind of things have been happening to me. What should I do?" I want you to read the Second Epistle of John — not St. John, the three little epistles that John has written. I want you to read the second one, and I think from God's Word you will get your answer. If someone teaches a message other than that that Christ taught, if you so much as wish them God's speed, you become a partaker of their evil deeds. Could be why you're having problems. I don't know, I can never tell. God has purposes for some people being in certain churches. But when you become aware that you could even be aiding the enemy, then that's time that God is saying you need to make a change. Well, I tell you what — change? No, I want — you have to make your mind up. God could have you there for a purpose; it doesn't sound like it. Sounds like He's brought a conviction upon you. You're the one that has to deal with it. As a teacher of God's Word, I can only say read the Second Epistle of John and let the Word decide for you.

Sandré from Texas: "I just received your MB package" — that's *The Mark of the Beast* tape that we give free to one-time listeners, first-time a gift, all right, one time to everybody that wishes — "and I want to thank you for your honesty, your teaching, and for the first time in my life I understand. Thank you and bless you." Well, that really pleases me that — that makes my work — that is — makes me feel very happy that God blesses us with gifts of His Word. Thank you.

Okay, this is Gary from Oregon: "I would appreciate your thoughts in regards to the way a person should be buried. Cremation is the cheap way, but I heard that it is written somewhere in the Old Testament that this is wrong." No, someone's pulling your leg; it's not written that that is wrong. It is written in Ecclesiastes — that's the Old Testament — in chapter 9, that when this flesh — it's speaking there of the flesh body — that when we're through with it, it's not remembered anymore. You can't teach it anything; it's gone, it's done, and it's forgotten forever. Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Bear in mind that Ecclesiastes is written to the man that walks under the sun — that means the flesh man — and it is the book in God's Word that teaches us how to be happy and have peace of mind in our flesh bodies. But then in chapter 12, verse 7, he lets us know that instantly when the flesh dies, that the spirit — which is the intellect of the soul, meaning the soul — returns to the Father that gave it, and this flesh returns to dust. Now, it doesn't matter. All cremation does is expedites the trip, all right, a little bit. It doesn't matter. We're through with it. The spiritual body, the inner man, rises; flesh doesn't. All it is is organic matter, clay. God formed, and we feed it from foods that are organically growing of the soil, by the soil, for the soil. So back to the soil it goes, and then just think, it becomes much richer. All right.

Janice from Florida: "In Revelation, seven churches, two of them received favor by God. What happens to the people in other churches?" It's individual. And I see a note here concerning your condition. Don't ever worry. You know, it is God that judges, my dear. No church can judge you. The other churches — those that are in them individually can still overcome, even if that church dies. And quite frankly, I hope you noted that the two churches that did overcome that He found no fault with taught who the Kenites are. That was the thing that they had that was synonymous. So you've got nothing to worry, nothing to fear about. Hey, kick the dust off your feet, honey; hold your head up and say, "Thank You, Lord, for blessing me," because I'll tell you quite frankly, sister, He has, and you may not even be aware of it. Best thing that could have ever happened to you, all right. Now serve God with all your heart and mind by His Word — not some Bible written by men and tumped together, but by the manuscripts.

Sharon from — Shavon, rather, from Connecticut: "My question for you is — " Well, anytime a young person makes a mistake and they are ignorant of the full consequences, then there is no sin as far as God is concerned. That it is forgivable and you're not accountable — that is scriptural. You go in peace and serve God and don't ever worry about it again, all right. You're free.

Lenora from Georgia: "Are children born out of wedlock lost?" There's no sin upon the child from the parents, unless it's a *mamzer* as it's written in Deuteronomy chapter 23, and I'll let you check that out in your Strong's Concordance. All right, no sin upon the child as far as illegitimacy is concerned. It is what the child is that can — but in Christ, all have the ability to be saved, as it is written in Deuteronomy 23 and the first three verses. But to have the full understanding, you'll have to take the word or the title of that child back to the Hebrew.

Liz from California: "Does forgiveness mean that no matter what people do to us we have to put up with them?" Absolutely not. We're not walking mats. Christians are first-class citizens, and we are told in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 that if some knucklehead keeps doing what they're doing — I will put it that way — that is against God's Word, you, our brother, it states, you set that sucker off to one side and don't have anything to do with him except correct him and let him know why he's not welcome in your home and so forth, all right. It's very biblical. We're supposed to stand up for ourselves.

Joe from Minnesota: "What do I do in order to have the Seal of God in my forehead?" Boy, that is — what is in your forehead? Your brain. What are you — what's the Seal of God? His Word. All you have to do is absorb it. That is to say, not memorize it word for word or verse by verse unless you're going to be a teacher, and then you should understand the plan. And that is the Seal of God. Why was Satan told when he came to this earth as Antichrist in Revelation chapter 9 that he could not touch those that had the Seal of God in their forehead? They're not ignorant. If you know God's Word, you know Satan, and rather than finding him tempting or following him, we bristle and make ready for the Holy Spirit to tell us what to do, and we do it. We cut it, because we're can-do type people, and Satan cannot do a blessed thing about it, as it is written in Revelation chapter 9. So get crackin'. Be patient. Study as you can. Everybody has different abilities as far as being able to absorb, but go at your pace.

Leta from Kansas: "How can I find how many times Jesus gave thanks? I use Strong's. Is this written down anywhere?" Well, I've never been asked that question. You've got — your Strong's is a good way to do it, but you've got to remember that sometimes oftentimes, like the feeding of the multitudes, the thanks you would have to count as only one time, say from the two or three books that reported it. And that's a good way; you'll do fine. Okay.

Janet from Ohio: "Why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch him after he had risen from the grave?" Again, it's a figure of speech. It means don't hold me up; I've got to go to the Father. He still gave her instructions to warn the others that He had risen and that He would be where He had told them before the crucifixion He would meet them.

Gator from Florida: "Joshua 9:27 — is this where the Nethinim began to work into the temple services? Is this where they got their foothold?" Yeah, it kind of is. And you know, it's a strange thing, Gator, that in — what chapter is it in Joshua 23? In chapter 23, God tells Joshua and the priesthood, "Hey, I'm cleansing this temple, these priests, one more time, and that is it until the end of time. If they want to go bad, if they want to go false, they're going false. I won't touch them with a ten-foot pole." Well, I added the ten-foot pole, but He made it pretty final. Okay, He's not going to touch them, and the Nethinim just took over.

John from New Mexico: "Ezekiel 32, land of Magog, 39:6, also 38, the land of Gog and Magog. Revelation 20:8, deceive nations, Gog and Magog. Are these scriptures related?" No. Ezekiel 32, 38, and 39 are, but the terminology in Revelation chapter 20 — which is the Millennium chapter — in verse 8 has reference simply to those people that will still follow Satan when he's released out of the pit a short season after the end of the Millennium. And I'm sorry, when they follow him that time, it is used as the people that love Satan and want to die with him; they're going with him.

Pierce from Texas: "Why did you say that God cursed all of Ham's offspring?" I didn't say that. Didn't say that at all. In the first place, God wasn't the one that cursed the offspring of Ham by the name of Canaan; it was Noah that did it. Why would he do that? Well, because to uncover your father's nakedness, according to Leviticus 18:8 and 19, it's to sleep with your father's wife and impregnate her, or at least it tells you you're not supposed to. In this case, she was impregnated. What they got — Noah drunk, and Ham utilized Noah's wife, and the offspring of course was Canaan. And do you blame Noah? Noah sent him away. And the only one that was cursed was Canaan by Noah, not Ham's all of his offspring. I didn't say that, all right. And I don't know where you think I said it, but the reason I know I wouldn't say it is because I'm smarter than that. Okay.

"Do you believe in the Trinity?" Purvis — how long have you listened to me teach? How many times have you heard me speak of the Holy Spirit and of the Lord Jesus Christ the Son, the Savior Yeshua? You've heard me call Him in every name. And how many times have you heard me speak of the Father, Yah, our Father God? Know your Father. How many did I mention? Three. What's wrong with you? Why would you have to ask a question like that? Really, you know, I've taught 15 years openly on television, and I would think anybody would know the answer to that. Whew. Anyway, God bless you.

Okay, I'm out of time, and — you know what? I love you all a big bunch. Do you know how much that is? Like that big bunch of good grapes, because you are the cluster that God desires — those that enjoy studying His Word in more depth, receiving the Seal of God, the Word of God, in your forehead, whereby you will not be deceived by man. I love you for that. But what's real important? God does. Now most important: you stay in His Word. Every day in His Word is a good day. Know why? Jesus is the Living Word.

**Hearing God's Word with understanding will change your life.** You have been viewing the Shepherd's Chapel Network Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Arnold Murray. If you are interested in obtaining more information concerning Shepherd's Chapel, you may request our free introductory offer. Our introductory offer includes *The Mark of the Beast* audio tape, a newsletter with a written Bible study, a complete audio tape catalog, and a list of reference materials available through Shepherd's Chapel. You may request our free introductory offer by telephone: call 1-800-643-4645, 24 hours a day, to request the offer. You may also request by writing Shepherd's Chapel, Post Office Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. That's Shepherd's Chapel, Post Office Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. We invite you to join us and serious Bible students around the world for our next in-depth Bible study Monday through Friday at the same time. Thank you for watching, and God bless you. *(music)*

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*(The audio then repeats the opening announcement and a portion of the teaching again. Here is the transcription of that repeated segment and the conclusion:)*

Welcome to the Shepherd's Chapel Network Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Arnold Murray. Wisdom is understanding God's Word. Pastor Murray's unique teaching approach brings God's Word alive with meaning as he takes you on a chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse study of God's letter to you, the Bible. *(music)* And now here is Pastor Arnold Murray.

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✞ Elect Part 2:

    Good day to you. God bless you. Say welcome to the Shepherd's Chapel. Welcome to this Family Bible Study Hour. Hey, we're going to finish up the subject on "Elect." Some of you since you were a child have known there was more to God's Word than you'd been taught or that you'd heard. You had that feeling. And if that be the case, it's very possible that you could be part of that election. All souls come from the Father, and as we documented in the first half of this lecture, certainly in the example of Jeremiah, God said in Jeremiah chapter 1, "I knew you before you were even in your mother's womb, and you were with Me." And naturally He said, "I foreordained you as a prophet." Why? He knew what kind of stuff Jeremiah had, because while Jeremiah's soul was still with Him, the overthrow had come to pass, and He knew how he acted under fire. And that's when God chose His elect. It isn't that they're any better than anyone else; it's just that they stood the test.

You'll remember I took you back in the Hebrew, the definition of "elect" and to the prime — it's "to be tried," one that's already been tried under pressure and came through with shining color, can-do type people. That's the people that God likes to deal with when it comes to prophecy being fulfilled or servants. He said, "Then you're no longer My servant; I even called you friend." So which — which is a statement of love to the highest degree that can be coming from the Father through the Son. It was Christ having taught that in the Great Book of John. Now, speaking of the elect, we had gone to the 8th chapter of Romans and found that again, "Who can charge anything to God's elect? For it is God that justifieth" or that judges. As long as you please Him, you don't have to worry. How do you please Him? By absorbing His Word.

Now let's go back again to the thought — and bearing in mind again, it's real easy to let your mind slip. Now let's take the spectrum: on one end we have election, and on the other end we have free will. In other words, many of the children that failed — that's what this earth age is about, is to offer them salvation, or to cause them to want to love our Father. All He cares about is true love, love that comes from within each entity. The choice is always yours. You can either love Him or disregard Him. Those that disregard Him, He'll snuff you out of His nostrils, as we covered yesterday in Isaiah chapter 65. He doesn't like people that play religion; He likes people that are honest and that go by His Word rather than traditions of men.

So would God hate — let's take it this way — would God hate a little baby while it was still in its mother's womb, as well as He would bless one like He did Jeremiah to be a prophet? Answer: Yes. Why? God knows the soul very well that He's placing in that womb. Why? Because he came from God, as we all did, and it was how he acted when he was with God. He knew he couldn't be trusted. As a matter of fact, he did not respect his own heritage — that is to say, that he was a child of God. It would be Esau, and he documented that and proved it because he fell short. Okay, let's pick it up in verse 11 of the ninth chapter of the Book of Romans. Let's go with it, speaking of those that are the children of God. Rebecca of course had conceived by one, even the father Isaac.

And what we said, verse 11: *"For the children being not yet born"* — do you understand what that means? "Being not yet born" means they were still in the womb — *"neither having done any good or evil"* — let's just say as far as the flesh is concerned, because of the word "born" — we're not talking about souls here, we're talking about flesh — *"that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth."* In other words, God does the calling, and God knows your stuff from your reaction and actions — even we could say in the first earth age. Would that throw too many dear souls? Well, that's what God's Word states. So in as much as we were with Him — no one passes through the flesh body but one time, but there was a time that God's children, the sons of God, were angelic bodies, spiritual bodies. And there is not one living soul — let me think just a moment, I'll say it — there's not one living soul in the flesh body that does not also have a spiritual body. All right, we have two bodies.

Verse 12: *"It was said unto her"* — let's say to Rebecca — *"The elder shall serve the younger."* And of course this would be Genesis chapter 25, verse 23, as it is written. And that's why you want to understand what's written. *"As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."* Now that is direct from the mouth of our Heavenly Father. It is how He felt concerning Esau. And I might say, did He understand Esau pretty well? I think so, because Esau did not change. He reacted in the flesh exactly as he did in the spiritual body. He cared nothing for his heritage. And of course this is written in the Great Book of Malachi that was quoted there.

Verse 14: *"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?"* Is God unfair in doing this, that He would hate some little old critter while it was still in its mother's womb? *"God forbid."*

Verse 15: *"For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."* In other words, He knows everything. Example: you, His child, that you have done since you were a baby — and I can tell you more than that: He knew what you were doing when He placed your soul, when it was with Him, into your mother's womb. He knew that also. So He knows more about you than you know about yourself.

Verse 16: *"So then it is not of him that willeth"* — it's not what some old boy might wish — *"nor of him that runneth"* — that is to say that works — *"but of God that sheweth mercy"* — to whom? To the election. God is always fair. And therefore you can understand how He is fair by understanding the soul that He places into the embryo.

Verse 17: *"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh"* — take old Pharaoh as an example — *"Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth."* Said, "Pharaoh, I raised you up to be the leader, to have you babysit for Me for 400 years while My children were enslaved by you, and I want you to bring them out richer after the 400 years is over with than what they went in with. And I'm going to use you to bring into existence the greatest day of all days — Passover — for it was the firstborn of Pharaoh that died when the angel of death passed over and they were not anointed with the Passover Lamb."

Verse 18: *"Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."* If it comes to that, but He only deals with people that were elected to that purpose, whereby on Judgment Day they cannot say, "You took advantage of me." You earned the place that you're in, and everyone has the right to grow upward from where they are. Always.

Verse 19: *"Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?"* Do you want to resist God's will? I wouldn't advise it. No one has ever been successful at that, because the thing is to love our Father and want to do His will.

Verse 20: *"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?"* Who are you to talk back to God? *"Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?"* Now a lot of people do get off on one of these poor-me, baby crying jags: "God just always never helps me, just does me any old which way." Trying to get your attention. Maybe God doesn't like poor-me babies. I don't think as much as I do, all right. He just loves can-do type people that love Him enough to know that if He's trying to correct you, that you'll say, "Thank You, Father, for the correction; I'll do better."

Verse 21: *"Hath not the potter"* — and that's our Father — *"power over the clay, of the same lump"* — because clay's clay, all right — *"to make one vessel unto honour"* — or let's say a flower pot — *"and another unto dishonour?"* — or to say a garbage can. You see, the clay isn't what makes the difference, and I want you to get that point real good. What makes the difference is the soul that God places in the flesh. For flesh is basically animal; it's going to get away with everything it can on your behalf. But the soul and the spirit — man's spirit, which is the intellect of that soul — is supposed to be in charge. And God knows your soul from when it was with Him, for it was with Him, and He placed that soul in your body. Yes, God knew Jacob, whom He loved. Why? He knew he could count on him, and there he would be the father of the patriarchs that the children of God would come forth that God would utilize to see that this Word came forward, whereby all — that is to say, all — had the privilege and the opportunity to find truth.

Now let's take — there we have Esau and Jacob. What about Paul? As you all know, Paul's mind was to persecute the church, and he was very — he was highly educated in the Torah, the Old Testament, and he had license to persecute the church, and it was legal in man's law, in Roman law. But God knew the soul that was in that lad, and in Acts chapter 9, He would even stipulate in verse 15, "This is My vessel which I have called — elected." How could he have persecuted the church the way he did and yet he was a soul that God had elected? And he's struck down on that road, and Paul then would fulfill and bring forward most of the New Testament.

Paul's credentials in the flesh: Romans 11:1: *"I say then, Hath God cast away his people?"* That would be those children of Isaac, of Jacob. *"God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham"* — seed here in the Greek is *sperma*; I think that needs no explanation — *"of the tribe of Benjamin."* Paul was a Benjamite by birth. By citizenry, he was a citizen of Jerusalem, he was a citizen of Rome, he was a citizen of many places due to his birthright. We could even say that with his mother that he was a Greek as well. Only his true lineage is given here because of their geographical being a Hellenist on the mother and grandmother side.

Verse 2: *"God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew"* — and that means even from the first earth age, if you would. *"What know ye not what the scripture saith of Elias?"* or that is to say Elijah — *"how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying"* — verse 3: *"Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life."* Old Elijah himself about to get on a crying jag here, or Jezebel had his number.

Verse 4: *"But what saith the answer of God unto him?"* What did God say to old Elijah? *"I have reserved to myself seven thousand men"* — that means mankind, man, woman, no gender — *"who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal"* — who will not bow to the false Messiah — *"who I can count on"* — and who are the elect, quite frankly.

Verse 5: *"Even so then at this present time"* — this would have been AD 60 — *"there is a remnant according to the election of grace."* And they are called the remnant. What does that mean? The remnant carried the real truth forward down through the generations. That remnant would bring that truth to the election who would live in the final generation. And what was their purpose? You're about to find out.

Verse 6 — listen carefully: *"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."* In other words, God chose those that He would because of what they accomplished in the first earth age before the *katabole*. Your companion Bibles read Appendix 146, and quite frankly, that's the way He was going to do it, and it was totally fair if you understand the plan of God.

Verse 7: There's a reason for it. *"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election"* — there's our word again — *"hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded"* — that is to say, God sent the spirit of slumber upon them, as we'll find in the next verse. How fantastic the Word of God, how fair when you understand.

Go on to verse 8: there you will have the answer. *"According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber"* — that's to say stupor — *"eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day."* Why? So that the Gentiles could receive salvation, that's why. So that the Gentile could be grafted into the tree, which is to say Christ. But that did not change the election of God's people that were chosen, that would do the work in His vineyard and bring forth the promises utilized by God, God in control totally to cause scripture and time to come to pass as it is written — that is to say, deeds and facts. And so it has.

So here we understand then why — and we'll say another word or two on that in a moment — why God blinded part. Don't worry; the Millennium is the equalizer for those that might say, "Well, if He blinded them, that's not fair either." Oh yes, it is. For had He not blinded them, anyone that God Himself has blinded is in a state, if you would, of innocency, whereby they do not have to be destroyed because of their own dumb mistakes necessarily. But God utilizes them, whereby in that innocent state they can be taught. And in part, that's what the Millennium is about. Are you saying they have a second chance? They don't need a second chance because they never had a chance in the beginning because of what is being taught about God's Word.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4 — you've all heard this verse before, but for election we must cover it. Ephesians 1, Paul writing. Verse 4: *"According as he hath chosen us in him"* — not volunteered, chosen us in Him — *"before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."* In other words, what was accomplished before the foundation by that soul — documented and proved its love for Him, therefore rising to that level of election. And there is no degradation within that statement. If you think for a moment — long ago, again, the word "foundation" here, the verb and the noun as far as that's concerned, *katabole* means the overthrow of Satan. They fought him; they stood with Him. They had a right to be chosen. You will read of this particular overthrow in Jeremiah chapter 4.

Verse 5 — continuing: *"Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will"* — that is to say, according to the good pleasure of God's plan, to be used in that plan. Verse 6: *"To the praise of the glory of his grace"* — that's unmerited favor — *"wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved"* — that's to say the first fruits, or maybe better said, in Christ. Verse 7: *"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."* Yeah, God's elect sin, but through redemption — or repentance, rather, redeemed again. Does God judge His elect harshly? Yes, He does. Does He control them with a heavy hand? Yes, He does at times if they drift too far. It doesn't hurt that bad. Anytime God touches you, it's love; for He does it in love. Thank Him for it.

Verse 8: *"Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence"* — in other words, in the very side of God, God pours forth that love and blessings when you'll reach out and take. If you're one of the election, or even if you are one of the kings and queens — which we'll talk about further here in a moment — those that are grafted in.

Verse 9: *"Having made known unto us the mystery of his will"* — do you understand the mystery of His will? You should. If not, you're probably blinded with that stupor, and I'm sorry; no one can remove that. You can witness, plant seeds, teach from the Word of God. But when someone is blinded, I'm sorry, God has a seal upon them that is called blinders or eye-closers. *"According to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself"* — in His plan.

Verse 10: *"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."* Dispensations of time — do you understand what that means? There was a dispensation of time before this earth age. And I kind of hate to do this, but I'm going to have to whip my old tooth out on you — 10 million years old, 10 million year mammoth tooth, big old grinders right here, grind up the lush pastures that were even growing in the swamps of Arizona. Yes, there were swamps; there have seen the petrified palm trees. What a dispensation of time that was. And what a dispensation of time this is. And there's yet another coming, according to God's purpose and will. Open your eyes; get the blinders off.

Verse 11: *"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated"* — again, I think everyone understands what that word is — *"according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will"* — or His own plan. In other words, God must have people that He can utilize, even if He must force them to do a thing. Yet as we studied in the Book of Romans chapter 8, they're already justified because they were predestined, meaning they overcame. That God will intercede in your life, as the 26th verse of that 8th chapter of Romans reads.

Verse 12: *"That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."* So there it is.

How precious our Father. I want you to skip on to the third chapter, if you would, in this great book of Ephesians, and listen carefully. We're talking about the plan of God and the dispensations of time. Can you grasp it? Do you have wisdom? The mystery of God — I hope you understand — is to bring salvation and love into His children and bring back and reclaim those that Satan deceived, even in the first earth age at the *katabole*.

Chapter 3, verse 1: *"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles"* — for who? Gentiles — you make a note of Romans, Acts chapter 9, verse 15, where it is stated there in the verse I quoted earlier about Paul being God's chosen vessel sent to the Gentiles, to the kings, and to Israelites — three levels. Paul always teaches on which level do you hear him?

Verse 2: *"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward"* — catch the flow. Verse 3: *"How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words)"* — how did He make it known? Blinded him on the road to Damascus, and then He sent Ananias.

Verse 4: *"Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ"* — can you? This is Paul speaking. Verse 5: *"Which in other ages"* — well, there's "other ages," wonder how that word got in there — *"was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit"* — for a purpose. Verse 6: *"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel."* And there you have it. God's election are no better than anyone else; it's just that they went to work a little earlier in the vineyard. Do you have eyes to see that there are certain privileges? There certainly are. And our Father makes those privileges pretty well known.

I'll tell you what we're going to do. What did He mean about ages and times and so forth? Turn with me to the book of Second Peter, and we're going to talk about ages just a little bit. We're going to talk about three world ages, we're going to talk about three heavenly ages, we're going to talk about the solving of a mystery to some that have known there was more to God's Word than they had been taught. Peter is speaking in Chapter 3 of Second Peter. Let's go with verse 1: *"This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you"* — what does that say to you? This second one is written to the same group that he wrote the first one to. But you understand who was the first one written to? The elect church. Do you remember? I called it to your attention in the last lecture; you'll find it in the first three verses of the first book of Peter. *"In both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance"* — I'm going to jar you a little bit to have you remember.

Verse 2: *"That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour"* — in other words, the Savior was spoken of by the prophets of all, even His coming.

Verse 3: *"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts"* — making up traditions of men, teaching a different gospel, teaching a different prophecy about their gathering back to Christ, quite frankly.

Verse 4: *"And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?"* — for the second advent. *"For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."* The scoffers are abundant; I need say nothing on that.

Verse 5: *"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water"* — in other words, there was an earth age before this one. The earth was not void and without form; the earth stood out of the water. The earth was created in the beginning, eons ago, to be inhabited by man. That you will find written in Isaiah chapter 45, verse 18, that God did not create the earth to be void and without form; it *became* that way. Genesis 1:1 and 2: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth — period. It was millions of years ago. That's the reason this mammoth stands there, because dinosaurs, mammoths, and many other creatures were flesh. But in this earth age — this earth age — you will read in Genesis chapter 6, verse 3, that it grieved God that He had now made man in flesh, why? Born innocent of woman, to make his or her mind up whether they would love God or Satan, for many loved Satan as it is written in Revelation 12:4, that he drew a third of God's children away from Him in that first earth age. That's why we have the second.

Verse 6: *"Whereby the world that then was"* — the first world age — *"being overflowed with water, perished"* — and this is not Noah's flood. Don't you ever let someone deceive you into believing that. If you're going to take that route, you've never read the book of Jeremiah 4, beginning with verse 18. Noah's flood — it was not *tohu* as it is written in the Hebrew, that is to say absolutely utterly void and without form, as described in Jeremiah chapter 4. For a dove brought back an olive branch in a very short period. Do you know how long it takes to grow an olive branch? And souls were saved by the ark. In the first, there was no one saved on earth.

Verse 7: *"But the heavens and the earth, which are now"* — this is your dispensation — *"by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men"* — that is to say, when the ungodly men of this earth perish, they die — not physically, flesh only, but soul as well.

Verse 8: *"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."* Do you know that if it took God a week to create or to reclaim the earth from the overthrow, how many years was that with man? It was seven days. I mean, He teaches it as seven days, but it was seven of God's days. Think about it; enough said.

Verse 9 — that's why the Millennium is the Day of the Lord, because the day with the Lord is a thousand years with man. *"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise"* — don't worry about what the scoffers say; God is not slack, and He's not forgetful as some men count slackness — *"but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish"* — it is not God's desire that one child perish, but that all should come to repentance. But they've got to do it on their own. God doesn't want someone that He has created that's a zombie that says, "Love you, God; love you, God" — put a nickel in it and it'll squawk. He had to give it free will. And with its own free will — you see, love is the most powerful force in the world, always has been, and it can only come from within each entity. What did God create man for? For His pleasure — Revelation 4, the last verse — for His pleasure. And God only receives pleasure from love, as He would say, "I don't want your burnt offerings; I want your love." He hopes that all will — they won't, if you've ever read the 20th chapter of Revelation, you'll know that.

Verse 10: *"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night"* — what does that mean? The Day of the Lord — a thousand years, the Millennium — will come as a thief in the night, *"in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements"* — on rudiments, all evil things, that's what it means — *"shall melt with fervent heat"* — didn't say the good things, but the wicked things shall melt with fervent heat — *"the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."* In other words, this earth age would be no more.

Verse 11: *"Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?"* In other words, if all wicked men and all wicked thoughts and all wicked things are going to melt, what consider it? And what kind of person should you be? Well, certainly not wicked, but a person of love, a child of love.

Verse 12: *"Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God"* — whoa, what did it say? We were talking about the Day of the Lord, and now it says here the Day of God? There's a big difference, friend. The Day of God does not transpire or come to pass until Revelation chapter 21, with the rejuvenation of this earth age into the eternity, or the third earth age, the third heaven age — however you wish to discuss it — because God the full Godhead, *de facto*, does not return to this earth until that point. Christ returns through the thousand years, but not God *de facto*. *"Wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat"* — that's to say again the evil things; check it out in the Greek, okay.

Verse 13: *"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."* Why? There's not going to be any wicked left.


Verse 14: *"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless"* — that you're doing His work instead of taking out in the field and flying away and fogged by Antichrist, all right. You want to be fogged by Antichrist? Well, just listen to a few traditions, and I guarantee you you will be.

Verse 15: *"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation"* — why did God make Him suffer on the cross for salvation? God loves all of His children; He did it for us. If you have seen Christ, you have seen the Father — Emmanuel, God with us. *"Even as our beloved brother Paul"* — I want you to note that Peter is giving Paul credentials, so that you know Paul wasn't just blowing hot air as some higher critics might think — *"also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you"* — all the wisdom of Paul.

Verse 16: *"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood"* — many people can understand election, many people cannot understand dispensations, many people cannot understand the three earth and heaven ages — it's all the same heaven, all the same earth, just different ages — *"which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction"* — why? Because God sends the strong spirit of delusion upon those that will not study His Word, that will not with their free will participate in understanding the mighty plan of God.

Now, "elect" and "very elect" — what does that mean real quickly? Matthew chapter 19, verse 30, for a strange statement is made there: *"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."* Well, what does that mean? When were the elect justified? Romans 8, I taught it to you verse by verse — there even before the overthrow, they were tried and justified, okay. So they were chosen as first — first fruits. So they are the — what? The first shall be last — last what? Well, He told you in Romans 11 that there's a remnant now, but the elect shall be — the election were chosen — the elect shall be the last generation. His words on the cross — Psalm 22, His last words — said, "They are accounted as a generation," a generation set aside, elect. Then He explains it in a parable that a child can understand — chapter 20 — I'll read a few verses so that you fix yourself.

*"For the kingdom of heaven is like"* — do you want to know what the Kingdom of Heaven is like? *"Like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard."* What's early in the morning? Well, if we're talking about the first earth age, it'd have to be pretty early, but that's what we're talking about overall.

Verse 2: *"And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard"* — to do what? To pray? Not — to work. His vineyard is this world.

Verse 3: *"And he went out about the third hour"* — that's about 9:00 AM — *"and saw others standing idle in the marketplace"* — and he put them to work. And this goes on and on until just in the last few minutes of the day, he hired more. And he paid them all the same — man, I mean, you know that old first old boy that was chosen, which is symbolic of God's election even from the foundations of the earth chosen, got paid the same thing as the others. It is their love for our Father is the reason they plant seeds and labor in His vineyard. This is to say what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And one that knows and understands, there's nothing selfish, for he knows that as a chosen vessel, God has a place anyway if he understands the Millennium. But the pay is the same. God is fair; He pays the free will that overcome the same gift that He does the — in as much as they are paid what they deserve at the end of the day, which is to say the beginning of the eternity.

Skip with me for the sake of time to verse 13. They've worked all day in this vineyard, hired at all different times. *"But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong"* — one of them squawked, okay. *"Didst not thou agree with me for a penny?"* Hey, hey, when you hired out early this morning, you said a penny would do it. You got it. What are you griping about?

Verse 14: *"Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee."* And when you know the whole picture, that is almost comical, okay — that the last that are even brought in receive the same gift. And the gift is eternal life, because it's returned love. He simply says, "I want to pay all the same." That's the way you do your children. Do you play favorites with your children? God doesn't.

Verse 15: *"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"* They're Mine anyway. The answer, of course, is — *"Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"* Do you look through the flesh eye, or do you look through the spiritual eye?

And then listen to this verse, for it will complete the study on Election. Verse 16: *"So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen."* There are very few of the election. But everyone will have an opportunity in the calling. Have you known there was more to God's Word than you've ever been taught, and that God has a very simple plan? Oh, it's a mystery to many. Why? Well, God put some little stupor there, and some just don't care. God is calling out a people — a people that He knows are can-do type people that He can trust. Why? They've proven themselves. How precious He is — I don't know, I think I will choose to say nothing more about it other than God is fair to all His children. But thank God for those that did not — you see, the greatest reward for those that are first and have to work the longest — if they weren't ignorant of God's Word from the beginning — and it is so very precious that it makes living in the flesh a real pleasure, knowing our Father is in control. So you see, there are rewards to having the truth. All right.

Bless your hearts. You listen a moment, won't you please? The Book of James — James is a book that I know you'll enjoy, because it is written, when you rightly divide it, to those that are scattered abroad — that's to say the twelve tribes, the ten tribes scattered abroad — being very specific in your freedom of Christianity, the repentance, giving much personal instruction as far as controlling our thoughts and finding peace, and giving us those parameters wherein Christianity — defining those things that come from the Word of God. Example: that bitter and sweet water cannot come from the same spring. Well, from God's Word, you should not have both. Either the practice of healing brought forth in this book of James — I know you're going to like it — James, that great book of instruction. All right.

There we are back again. Let's have the 800 number if we may: 1-800-643-4645. That number is good from Puerto Rico throughout the US, Alaska, Hawaii, all over Canada. If you have a question, the Spirit moves — far away. But please never ask a question about an individual denomination or organization, because I don't believe in singling out and culling; that's — God does the judging. Let's study God's Word and let the chips fall where they may. Now, those of you that listen by shortwave around the world at this time, it's always a pleasure hearing from you. Your announcer at the end of the hour will give you our mailing address. You got a prayer request? He's your Father; He knows you real well. He knows more about you than you know about yourself, so it won't — don't ever try to hide anything from Him; He knows. Just talk with Him and reason with Him. But most of all, let Him know you love Him.

Father, around the globe we come; we ask that You lead, guide, direct, touch prosperity knowledge in Yeshua, Jesus' precious name. Amen.


Dr. Pastor Arnold B. Murray

===

Okay, let's get into the questions. I want to say that don't miss this coming week; it is a documentary week, and I will be out in the field doing a documentary, but Dennis will be teaching the Book of Leviticus. You will have four days of Leviticus, and then we'll run the normal documentary. And let me think real quickly: the documentary this time will be a revisit to the Ra site. Don't miss it; it's fantastic. But the Book of Leviticus — the law, the word of the Levites — I think Dennis will do you a real good job on it. And then I'll be back with you the following week, and we'll probably start a new book in the New Testament. God hasn't led me yet to which one.

Now questions: Juvon from California: "Last week Pastor Murray told about the song 'The Great Speckled Bird' and where it is located in the Bible. I didn't get it written down. Will you please let me know?" Jeremiah chapter 12, verse 9. Okay, Jeremiah 12:9. But now you know — I created a bit — I did something wrong when I mentioned that. I'm trying — my wheels are turning here. I said it was a great song by old Ernest Tubb, and it wasn't Ernest Tubb that brought out "The Great Speckled Bird." Everybody — even me — knows it's Roy Acuff, you know, one of the great Grand Ole Opry stars. And as many of country music — which is the best music there is; you just can't beat good country music — is filled with spiritual feelings, the people in their true feelings. Okay, I enjoy all music, but my favorite's country.

Marsha from Georgia: "Can a Kenite show blood in his face?" No, absolutely not. Only Adam can show blood in the face. Now, if a Kenite is a *mamzer* which means mixed, yeah, he probably could a little bit.

Mary Ann from Indiana: "Why did you tell a lady whose husband was unfaithful she doesn't have to forgive him? What about the Lord's Prayer?" I — hey, I was kind of trying to talk to her husband, not her. I said, you know what, he was taking a bad chance on in as much as he was running around a lot and then saying, "Well, God would forgive him, so therefore it was okay." That — he'd better start worrying about his little woman forgiving him, yes. But the main thing — putting up with him — I never like to mention the word "set aside," divorce and all that. But most women about one time of this and they'd boot him out the door. They'd forgive him, but he could find himself somebody else. I said that's what he was dealing with — was losing himself a good woman.

Bert from Illinois: "If I legally change my name, will I still go to heaven?" Not a chance — not a chance — you change your main name? No, I'm kidding. All right, God probably calls you by a different name anyway, all right. So you can change it all you want to; your name and records are kept right there in heaven by Him, and He'll never confuse you. That's why He created us all different. Do you ever think: how did He ever figure out how to give us all different fingerprints, you know, and different personalities even in the flesh? He made us all different, and thank God for it.

You know, many people ask or write or want to know how to join this church, and — you see, this church is a little unusual. Shepherd's Chapel Ministries — and it is a church, and this is the outreach, but we don't keep the records here on earth. Those records are kept by the Lord Jesus Christ in His book. So to join this church, all you have to do is just talk to Him, and if He says yes, you may join. If He accepts you, then certainly we will. But we don't keep records here like that — of people belonging. Christ does, all right. Because that's the main book. You could have your name in a dozen church records, but if it's not in Christ's book, you don't belong, all right. You've got to be in good standing with the Lord, and hey, you're there — you're a member. Okay.

Maran from Connecticut: The question is: "What about the remnant dead before Christ's death and the others? How do we explain their ascending, and where is that documented, and what is the difference in them and us in terms of resurrection?" Well, to be absent from the body is present with the Lord. And in that same book we were reading today — yesterday, rather — 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 18 and 19, when Christ was still in the tomb, He went all the way back to the time of Noah and gave them the gospel. And as it continues on into the fourth chapter of First Peter, He set those captives free that would listen. So they're in good standing, and they're already with Him.

Denise from Delaware: "What is meant by 'eternal doubt'?" I've never heard that term used that way, but it's a misnomer; not possible. It's not possible to have eternal doubt. Do you want me to tell you why? Because those that go into the Lake of Fire — where all the doubters go — end up as nothingness; it's called perish forever and ever and ever, the old smoke from it just goes. All those that are doubters — and I'm not saying you'll go to hell for doubting, and I don't want to scare a bunch of people here — but everything that is a negative goes into the Lake of Fire, all right. So there's no way somebody could be a doubter eternally, because they're not going to be there, all right. Just folks that know you can trust God's Word and never worry, all right, no doubters — it'll all be gone. Well, does that mean people doubt today? In the flesh, you're going to doubt, I guarantee you. But that old — do you remember when we were reading there from Second Peter chapter 3, verse 1? Those rudiments, elements — doubt gone. All right.

Mack from Kentucky: "Is having a cross in your church a form of idol worship?" No way. I want all of you to think as a linguist might think. You know, a linguist listens very carefully to what is said and understands from what is said many times because of figures, metaphors — like in English we say, "How do you do?" and a linguist would have to say, "How do you do what?" Okay. You go to the actual meaning. Idol worship — do you worship the cross, or do you worship Him that was on it? I said was on it; He's not there anymore; He's gone. He's at the right hand of God. You — in other words, you have to worship something before it can possibly become an idol, okay. It's just — so many people get so — I mean, be a linguist and think. All right.

Brian from West Virginia: "Who do you pray to, God or Jesus?" I pray to God in the name of Jesus, because in praying in the name of Jesus, it documents that I'm a believer on Yeshua.

Arthur from California: "If you pray for God to deliver you from a sin that you like to do, will He use persecution to help set you free?" Well, He might, but I've known of times when He just — zap — just take the desire away, too, you know. He works out in many ways. Always thank Him.

Alex from British Columbia: "I've been watching for several weeks, and I have a question I haven't heard you teach on yet. Christ said you shall know the true believer by these signs: speaking in tongues, laying on of hands of the sick, and so forth. Would you comment on these?" Well, James 5 — anoint — hey, God heals like that. This would turn into a healing ministry if I brought down all the letters of miraculous healings that take place in this ministry. But we don't talk about things like that. This is not a healing ministry; a healing ministry that's single for that. This is a teaching ministry, and healing is one of the sidelines. In tongues — hey, we believe it. God's elect will speak in the tongue. It's not unknown, as it's written in Acts chapter 2, verse 7 — it's the true tongue of Pentecost, it's the words of Joel the prophet, both men and women speaking clarity in the voice that it'll be heard around the world in every language. Believe in it; it's wonderful, it's biblical. But I said it's not an unknown tongue — the opposite. The evidence of the Holy Spirit is that every ear will hear it in the dialect of the county he was born.

I'm out of time. I love you all a bunch. You know why? Because you enjoy studying our Father's Word in more depth. That really makes you special to me, but mostly to God — it causes Him to love you. Do this: most important — stay in His Word. Every day in His Word is a good day. Know why? Jesus is the Living Word.

**Hearing God's Word with understanding will change your life.** You have been viewing the Shepherd's Chapel Network Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Arnold Murray. If you are interested in obtaining more information concerning Shepherd's Chapel, you may request our free introductory offer. Our introductory offer includes *The Mark of the Beast* audio tape, a newsletter with a written Bible study, a complete audio tape catalog, and a list of reference materials available through Shepherd's Chapel. You may request our free introductory offer by telephone: call 1-800-643-4645, 24 hours a day, to request the offer. *(music)* You may also request by writing Shepherd's Chapel, Post Office Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. That's Shepherd's Chapel, Post Office Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. We invite you to join us and serious Bible students around the world for our next in-depth Bible study Monday through Friday at the same time. Thank you for watching, and God bless you. 


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📡✞ Identifying "The Antichrist / Satan" (Greek: instead of Christ): In-Depth Bible Study

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📡✞ Identifying "The Antichrist" / Satan (Greek: instead of Christ): In-Depth Bible Study 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEs1ZzLxx_M&list=PLcK3ZkGY_ffp3kmX5xOL7HT__dcccUhch ⚠️📖 Summary: Identifying the Antichrist & the End Times According to Scripture 👀🔥 This detailed Bible study presents a scripture-based teaching on the Antichrist, the end times, and ✝️ Christ’s return. The message emphasizes the importance of biblical discernment, warning believers not to be deceived by false teachings, counterfeit peace, or misconceptions surrounding the end times. 🔑 Key Insights & Core Concepts Scripture clearly reveals the identity and role of the Antichrist 📖. God’s elect 👑 do not need to guess or fear confusion if they remain grounded in God’s word. ✝️ Christ Foretold All Things 📖 Ephesians 1 — Chosen Before the Foundation of the World 🌎 Believers were chosen and predestined before the foundation of this world ✨. The Greek meaning of “foundation” points to a p...
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👉 Mother Israel vs. Mystery Babylon the Great 👈 🔍 Learn the Difference — Revelation 17

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👉Mother Israel vs. Mystery Babylon the Great👈 🔍 Learn the Difference – True Israel vs. false Israelie — Confusion & Deception ⚠️❗ 📡✞ Revelation 17: In-Depth Bible Study 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu74FcAIJ1A&list=PLcK3ZkGY_ffrwQ3NWkmzwCse5C5QnP4hv&index=20 📖✨ Summary of Shepherd’s Chapel Family Bible Study Hour ✝️ Pastor Arnold Murray 🔥 Topic: Revelation 17 — The Judgment of Mystery Babylon & End-Time Prophecy 👑🐉 📜 Core Concepts & Key Insights 🔎 Revelation 17 Overview Revelation 17 reveals the judgment of the “great whore” — 🏛️ Mystery Babylon , portrayed as the greatest spiritual harlot on earth. This stands in contrast to 👑 Mother Israel from Revelation 12, crowned with ⭐ 12 stars. Pastor Murray emphasizes the spiritual choice between these two symbolic women, with only one attending the 💍 Wedding of Christ ✝️. 🏛️ Mystery Babylon Identified 📖 Revelation 17:5 describes her as: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMIN...
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