Thematic Bible: Forsaking


Thematic Bible

















Seeing this, Jesus said to his disciples: "How hard it is for men of wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier, indeed, for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!" "Then who can be saved?" asked those who heard this. read more.
But Jesus said: "What is impossible with men is possible with God." "But we," said Peter, "we left what belonged to us and followed you." "I tell you," he answered, "that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, on account of the Kingdom of God, Who will not receive many times as much in the present, and in the age that is coming Immortal Life."

"But we--we left everything, and followed you; what, then, shall we have?" "I tell you," answered Jesus, "that at the New Creation, 'when the Son of Man takes his seat on his throne of glory,' you who followed me shall be seated upon twelve thrones, as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. Every one who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or land, on account of my Name, will receive many times as much, and will 'gain Immortal Life.'




Let us maintain the confession of our hope unshaken, for he who has given us his promise will not fail us. Let us vie with one another in a rivalry of love and noble actions. And let us not, as some do, cease to meet together; but, on the contrary, let us encourage one another, and all the more, now that you see the Day drawing near.


But there were false prophets also in the nation, just as there will be false teachers among you, men who will secretly introduce ruinous divisions, disowning even the Lord who bought them, and bringing speedy Ruin upon themselves. There will be many, too, who will follow their licentious courses, and cause the Way of the Truth to be maligned. In their covetousness they will try to make you a source of profit by their fabrications; but for a long time past their Sentence has not been standing idle, nor their Ruin slumbering. read more.
Remember, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them down to Tartarus, and committed them to caverns of darkness, to be kept under guard for judgment. Nor did he spare the world of old; though he preserved Noah, the Preacher of Righteousness, and seven others, when he brought a flood upon the godless world. He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and reduced them to ashes, holding them up as a warning to the godless of what was in store for them; but he rescued righteous Lot, whose heart was vexed by the wanton licentiousness of his neighbors; for, seeing and hearing what he did, as he lived his righteous life among them, day after day, Lot's righteous soul was tortured by their wicked doings. The Lord, therefore, knows how to deliver the pious from temptation, and to keep the wicked, who are even now suffering punishment, in readiness for 'the Day of Judgment'-- especially those who, following the promptings of their lower nature, indulge their polluting passions and despise all control. Audacious and self-willed, they feel no awe of the Mighty, maligning them, even where angels, though excelling them in strength and power, do not bring against them a malignant charge before the Lord. These men, however, like animals without reason, intended by nature to be caught and killed--these men, I say, malign those of whom they know nothing, and will assuredly perish through their own corruption, suffering themselves, as the penalty for the suffering that they have inflicted. They think that pleasure consists in the self-indulgence of the moment. They are a stain and a disgrace, indulging, as they do, in their wanton revelry, even while joining you at your feasts. They have eyes only for adulteresses, eyes never tired of sin; they entice weak souls; their minds are trained to covet; they live under a curse. Leaving the straight road, they have gone astray and followed in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on the reward for wrong-doing,