God's grace, and our future with Him.

See Revelation 1:4-8 directly below, and my comments following.

1:4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

1:6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John was writing to the seven churches in Asia. These actual churches, located in modern Turkey, but have application to us today, ( which we will look at as we move through Revelation chapters 2-3 ) 

But, the message to the churches, starts off with "Grace to you and peace from Him etc," This is the lens through which God looks if you will. It's His grace, His unmerited favor, His blessing upon those who do not deserve it, but through Christ, God gives His blessings.


God's eternal nature is also described for us, He is, He was, and He is to come. Past, present and future. More to be said in just a verse or two.


Jesus Christ is said to be the faithful witness. Or the reliable witness, dependable. You can count on Him, in every way to be just who He says He is, and that He does just what He says He will do. And, He is the "firstborn from the dead" He is the primary example of what God does in the life of every person who puts their faith in Him. We go from death to life, and our own bodies will one day be raised from the dead, just as His was and is today. 


Christ is also the "true ruler over the kings of the earth" That is, in direct contradiction to the coming anti-christ, world ruler, who is demonically empowered, and is a deceiver, and is against God and against Christ, Jesus is indeed the true ruler over all etc.
He is even today, guiding the world just as He intends to. He is even today, working all things according to the purpose of His own will. 


About His love.......... To Him who "loved us" which of course He has, and has "washed us from our sins by His own blood" His love was shown to us at the cross. Only His blood could wash, that is to remove completely our sins from us. They are gone, and not remembered by God. 


Our future, is that we are made "kings and priests to His God etc" God has a glorious future in store for us, and we will see more of this later in Revelation. 


To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. He is the worthy one, and He is the ruler over all, now, and in the eternal future. Forever, and ever. It could not be said any plainer, or in language we can understand. Forever means, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, evermore. This is our future with God. It's forever, and ever. 


He is coming. That's the message of 1:7. The clouds may very well be referencing the fact of His bringing a great cloud of witnesses ( or His saved bride ) with Him when He comes back to the earth. Also, His coming again to the earth will be seen by everyone. How this could happen given the globe we live on, is something that only God could make happen, but He will.


Back to God's self-description. "I am the Alpha and the Omega" These are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. God's usage of them in describing Himself is very appropriate. Because He is the first and the last. He is un-created, and existed before anything and anyone did. 


"Who is to come" This is really the message of Revelation. For this book explains the events that lead up to His return to the earth, and even beyond that return, into the eternal future. 




Additional thoughts. 


1. God has grace and peace for you today.
2. Let's ask Him right now for them in abundance.
3. God has cleansed you from your sins. 
4. Your sins are gone because of Him. 
5. We have an eternal hope in Christ.
6. This world will one day pass away.
7. We will rule with Christ on this earth.
8. His kingdom will come. 
9. His will, will be one on earth, like in heaven.
10. He is the almigthy. He is able. 


Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia 

Revelation Chapter 1:1-3 God promises to bless you .

 See Rev 1:1-3 below........and, then my comments below the verses. 

1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

1:2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Revelation, means unveiling. Like taking a sheet off that has been covering a statue, and pulling the sheet off to show what is there. This book is an uncovering of Jesus Christ. 

This uncovering if for His servants. This is for you as a Christian. God wants to show this to you.

The things He shows us in this book are the things which will take place as the future rolls on. So, God is going to reveal to us in this book what will happen in the future, right on up to the end of all things as we know it, and beyond. 

God gave this to Jesus to give to John, through His angel. It's a revealing to John, and then to us. 

There is a blessing promised here. See 1:3. The blessing is for those who will read this book, and for those who will hear what's said in this book, and for those who will keep the things that are written in it. The time for these things is near, or coming. ( The phrase, "the time is near" does not mean that these events were going to happen immediately upon their writing, but rather when they begin to happen, they would happen in pretty rapid order ) 

What an exciting time we are living in. This book will help unfold to us the plans that God has for the world. We are living in the last days. 

May I encourage you to read through the book of Revelation. And to enjoy these daily short little devotional commentary thoughts I'll post. 

We will be teaching through the book one chapter per Sunday, starting on Jan 8th. 

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

God's encouragement to His beloved

See Jude 1:20-25 Directly below with my comments following.


1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

1:22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;

1:23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,

1:25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

First of all, and in  contrast to the those not having the Spirit, God says to His beloved, those who do have the Spirit, those who are His own children, He says, "beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit" 

This is God's encouragement, this is what God says to us, this is what His will and way are for us, and that is to be built up, or to be made strong in our faith. In fact, the building up comes both through our faith ( which the ungodly who crept in were trying to change and twist, and replace ) and, it comes through praying in the Holy Spirit. So, these 2 things, our faith and prayer, they will help to make us strong.

Secondly, we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. God's children can keep, or stay in a place, or have a mind towards, or exercise their faith, that is to believe God, to keep their eyes on Jesus Christ, and rejoice in the fact of God's love for them. They are as mentioned above, "beloved" So, God wants His children to never forget He loves them. 


Thirdly, "looking for eternal life" That is, our hope. We are at this time in Christ, we have eternal life, but, when Jesus comes for us, or we go to be with Him, we will then enter into the next life, that life of being with Him forever, and forever. Keep your hope is another way of looking at the meaning of this phrase. 


Fourthly. On some have compassion, etc. This is God's outreach through our lives. To have compassion towards. To show mercy, be kind etc, etc. Pulling them out of the fire. The rescue operation of being used by God to bring them to salvation. God uses His people to see others come to Christ. 


Lastly, this beautiful benediction. Focusing on the Lord Himself of course. Here's what's said about Him. 


1. He is able to keep you from stumbling.
2. And to present you faultless before God.
3. This presentation will be done with joy and glory.
4. God deserves all praise and honor. 

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

God's way of blessing. To remember, His Word.

See Jude 17-19, directly below, followed then by my comments on these verses.  

1:17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

1:18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 

1:19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

In contrast to the wicked, who are the enemies of God, Jude now turns to God's people, and God's way of blessing His people. 

He begins with the familiar term "Beloved" Meaning, you are very dear and precious to God. So, here's what He has to say to His beloved. Remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

To remember, comes from a word meaning to fix in one's mind, or have a mental grasp of. And, to recall to your mind, to return to one's mind, or to be mindful of a thing. And the thing to recall to mind, is in this case the words, or the teaching of the apostles. They were the one's called and sent by Jesus, and upon whom along with Christ, the church is built. He of course is the foundation, but He used these men to be part of it. Thus, their teaching is in a unique class, as compared with anyone since. 

So, to God's beloved, He says, "remember what I've told you" And, what they had said, was that there would be "mockers in the last time etc, " There would be those who mock, and by implication, false teachers. 

They are said to walk, or to live, and conduct themselves according to their own ungodly lusts. They are living according to the flesh, rather then the Spirit of God. They have desires which are ungodly, and they live in those lusts or cravings.

By the way, Jude mentions "the last time" as do so many of the authors in the Bible. The last time is that period of time which started when Jesus first came to the earth, until He returns to it. And, it also means, the last period of time, of man's own governance of this world, prior to the return of Christ, where He will establish His kingdom in this world. It will be the answer to, and the fulfillment of the prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven"

Going on, Jude explains that these false teachers in three ways. See 1:19

1. These are sensual persons

2. Who cause divisions

3. Not having the Spirit. 

So, these three things describe them. They are sensual, means, they are natural men, as compared to spiritual. That is, they are not born again persons. They are not christians. They are in subjection to the sensuous nature, with it's appetites and passions. 

They cause divisions. They come into the church under the cloak and guise of being Godly, but by the time they leave, there is a division behind them. As compared with the genuine God loving, and christian loving people who come into the church, very genuinely, and sincerely, and they wind up building up the church, uniting her members, by loving and serving, and blessing, and sharing, etc, etc. 

They, ( these false teachers ) do not have the Spirit. They do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling, or living, or abiding within themselves. They are without God. He is not in them. They are not with Him. 

In closing, the christian of course is exactly opposite of these false teachers.

They are in subjection to the Holy Spirit, they walk according to the Spirit.

They unite the body of Christ. They help to build it up.

They have the Holy Spirit within them.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

God's Judgement on His enemies

See Jude 12-16, and my comments below the verses.

1:12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

1:13  raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,

1:15 “to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

1:16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Jude, continues his description ( it's really God's description and Word through Jude ) of these men who were creeping into the church to defile it. He has many things to say about them. 

1. These are spots in your love feasts. 

2. While they feast with you without fear.

3. Serving only themselves.

4. They are clouds without water.

5. Carried about by the winds.

6. Late autumn trees without fruit.

7. Twice dead.

8. Pulled up by the roots. 

9. Raging waves of the sea.

10. Foaming up their own shame.

11. Wandering stars. 

12. For whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

What a description. 

They participate with the church, but are spots, meaning, they are men who by their conduct damage others morally, and wreck them as it were. 

They feast without fear. They have no true fear of God in them. 

Serving only themselves. They are the primary focus of all their activities. It's themselves. Not the Lord, nor others. But themselves. 

They are clouds without water. They are a fabrication of the truth. They may look as if they have something to offer, but in fact, they do not. They are empty of the truth. 

Carried about by winds. They are driven by the winds of false doctrine. Rather then by the wind like ministry of the Holy Spirit. They are not guided by truth at all, only by error.

Late autumn trees without fruit. Again, an appearance, but no real truth. There is no fruit, there is no love, no love of God in them and through them. 

Twice dead. Dead in sins as anyone else. But then dead once again in their determination to oppose the truth. They are separated from God by their sins.

Pulled up by the roots. They had no fruit to begin with, but are like a tree pulled out of the ground. It essentially will not live at this point, and it will not bear fruit. That's these men. 

Raging waves of the sea. A horrible storm is created by these men. It's treacherous and dangerous to any who travel their waters. 

Foaming out their own shame. Just as the sea water, of itself produces a foam, that comes from within, so, these men produce a shamefulness that comes out of them. 

Wandering stars. They are not fixed, they are not rooted in the truth, they are moved about, being unstable. 

For whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. This is where they are going. This will be where they wind up. They will be in the blackness of darkness ( one of the many descriptions of hell given to us in the Bible ) forever. This is the fate of their own choosing. This is what the Lord will do with them. 

Jude mentions a quote from Enoch. When Jesus comes back, He will come with the multitude of His saints. He will come to execute judgement upon these people. To convict them of all their ungodly deeds. And, please notice in verse 15 at the end of that verse, it says, "and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" 

This is the fate that awaits these men. This is the Biblical teaching of God's judgement. It's no wonder, for God loves His church, and does not take kindly anyone who seeks to destroy it, and to harm His bride. These are His children, and they are being troubled by these men who have crept into the church. 


One last thing......in 1:16 it says These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

This is a further description of the ungodly. A number of things are said about them. They are first of all, grumblers. A grumbler, is someone who discontentedly complains against God. 
They are also said to be complainers. This word is also translated "finding fault" and means to complain of one's lot, and to be discontented. 


Going on, Jude says, "walking according to their own lusts" Which means, they are governed by their own desires, and are really doing what they want to do naturally. They are not allowing God to influence or guide them.


Finally, "they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage."
This of course does not need much explanation. It speaks for itself. They are big talkers, who are out to take advantage of people. 

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia 

God's description of His enemies

See Jude 8-11 ........directly below, and then see my comments on these verses.

Jude 1:8  Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Jude 1:10  But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Jude had been citing previous incidents of God's judgement in the past. And, here he continues by describing the false teachers who have crept into the church, bent on changing the truth of God's Word around. Making it something God never intended it to be. 

First of all, he calls them "these dreamers" And, there are three specific things said about them. They defile the flesh, and they reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 

So, what'a s dreamer? In this context, it refers to those who are filthy dreamers. They think about, and dream about sensual and sexual things, and then are carried away by these images to act in an immoral way. Their immoral thoughts and immoral actions are linked together. 

And, they defile, or stain, pollute, and contaminate the flesh with sins. They soil their flesh as it were.

And, they reject authority. They despise it. They set it aside. They disregard it. They refuse it, they slight it. 

And, they speak evil of dignitaries. Or they slander those in positions of dignity. They speak ill of those who are positions of honor and glory. 

In contrast to these people Jude cites one of the archangels, named Michael. When he was contending with the devil himself, at the time of Moses's death, Michael would not dare bring a reviling accusation against him. The only thing he said, was "The Lord rebuke you" So, Michael is set forth as a contrasting example of what ought to be, and what was not happening in the lives of these men who were creeping into the church to harm it. 

Going on, Jude says, they just go ahead and speak evil of whatever they don't know. And, the things that they do know naturally, they corrupt themselves in it. What a mixed up group of people, and what wasted lives they have. They really don't know what they are talking about, yet they blast away speaking evil. And, then the very thing that they do know, and know that they ought not to do, they do. They corrupt themselves in their own lives in the flesh, and seek to pawn this off as being ok for christians to do. 

Woe to them says God through Jude. Judgement is coming is the idea. Whenever Woe is used, that's what it means. He says these men have gone the way of Cain, ( an example of hatred and murder. No eternal life in this kind of person ) And, they are not only hateful, but they are greedy for gain. And, then cites this example of those who perished in the rebellion of Korah. This man and a group of over 200 rose up against God's leader, Moses and sought to diminish his leadership, and or have him removed. 

They fell into a opening in the earth that God created as they were standing there railing against Moses. This is generally what happens to people who follow the example of Korah. They fall into the hole that they have dug for others to fall into. They wind up being hung by the rope and gallows that they have created for others. The Bible tells this story over and over. I've seen it with my own eyes many, many times, and I'm sure will see more of it in the days ahead. 

The main thing Jude is saying in his letter, is that not only do we need to be aware of this kind of person who comes into the church and seeks to corrupt it by their false teaching, and false living, but we need to know that God is going to judge them, He has in the past, and is now, and will be doing this in the future. This is just the way the Lord takes care of things. 

We are to hold onto the Word of God, and keep ourselves in God's love, and mercy. And, make a difference in the world around us by the Word of God. 

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

The Lord is both Savior and Judge.

See Jude 1:5-7, and then below the verses are my comments.

1:5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Now, John wants to remind his readers, ( that would include us today of course ) just as Peter did.

It is interesting to note, that so often we find stories and different doctrinal truths, repeated, over and over again. God uses those who wrote the Bible to specifically bring things out, that both the writer and the readers were very familiar with. It's simply bringing to mind that which we already know. God have given us the ability to retain truth in our mind, and also has given us the ability to remember what we know, and thereby benefit in our walk with God, and such is the case here.

So, Jude now focuses on what happened to those who had been saved out of Egypt, and afterward did not believe. The Lord both saved them out of Egypt, and the Lord destroyed them as well.

And, concerning some of the angels, ( the ones who did not keep their proper domain ) which refers to the ones who followed Satan in his rebellion against God, have been reserved by God in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgement of the great day.

And, the Lord then gives us the example of what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah and some other cities around them. They had given themselves over to sexual immorality, and were also going after strange flesh, ( probably referencing their homosexual and lesbian lifestyles ) they suffered the vengeance of eternal fire from God.

Jude is building the case by what he says in 5-7, about the Judgement of God upon the ungodly men in the days ahead. God has already brought judgement in many cases as has been listed in these verses, and commented on.

God judged the unbelieving who had been saved out of Egypt.
God judged some of the angels who followed Satan.
( God will judge the evil angels who work for satan at this time )
God has judged a number of cities that gave themselves over to immorality and strange flesh.

So, this epistle of Jude, in addition to reminding us of how important it is to keep the truth that God has delivered to us, ( in light of the satanic efforts to remove it from the body of Christ ) reminds us that ultimately God will judge those who oppose His work in Christ.

Holding onto the truth, and not letting it go. And remembering what God has done in the past with those who did not believe and lived lives of immorality and homosexuality and lesbianism.

These are the things for us to consider.

Jude will in the next section of the letter continue his expose of those who work against the work of God and explain what will happen to them, and when it will happen, and what we should be doing in the meantime.

In closing, may I say to you, to thank God for those men and women in various churches who do teach the Bible, who are remaining in the Word of God, and seek to preach it, to teach it, to proclaim it, to make it available to the children and youth in your churches. It's no small thing to be thankful for.

Also to recognize how real and important all these matters are. These references in Jude are about real people, and about real angels. ( These angels by the way, were created by God, they lived in His visible sight. They saw Him as we will one day see Him. But, they decided to rebel, and now some are already in a prison waiting for their final judgment, and the others are on the loose, following the orders of Satan, and coming against you as a christian. ) What a tragic choice they made, and what a tragic future awaits them.

Finally, we can thank God for the fact, that by His grace, you as a believing follower of Jesus Christ are not only in Christ, but are on your way to eternal glory with God. There is no better future to be had, then the one that God has promised to His children.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia