DBF-001-034 continues with John 2:13. John now moves from the quiet days in Capernaum to Jerusalem at Passover. This verse begins an important change of scene that will reveal Christ’s concern for the holiness of His Father’s house.

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Today’s Scripture

John 2:13 (ESV)

“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

Opening the Scriptures

Jesus had spent a few days in Capernaum with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples.

Now John takes us to Jerusalem.

The reason was Passover.

Passover was one of Israel’s great appointed feasts. It looked back to the time when God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt. On that first Passover night, judgment came upon Egypt, while the Israelites were protected according to God’s command concerning the blood of the Passover lamb.

Generation after generation remembered God’s mighty act of deliverance.

Now Jesus Himself was going to Jerusalem for Passover.

John has already introduced Him with the remarkable words of John the Baptist:

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The full significance of those words has not yet unfolded.

But John is directing our attention toward Christ.

Living God’s Word Today

Passover reminded Israel that deliverance came from God.

That remains an essential truth for us.

Human beings naturally want to contribute something toward their acceptance before God.

We trust our morality.

We remember our good deeds.

We compare ourselves with people whom we consider worse than ourselves.

We may even trust our church attendance, religious service, or knowledge of Scripture.

But none of these things can remove our sin.

Salvation belongs to the Lord.

The Passover pointed backward to God’s deliverance from Egypt, but it also helps us understand the greater deliverance accomplished through Jesus Christ.

The New Testament identifies Christ as our Passover Lamb.

He did what we could never do for ourselves.

He lived without sin.

He willingly went to the cross.

He bore the judgment deserved by sinners.

He rose from the dead.

Our hope before God therefore rests not upon the strength of our religious performance but upon the finished work of Jesus Christ.

This should also produce humility.

We cannot boast about rescuing ourselves.

We cannot look down upon another sinner as though we earned our place before God.

If we are saved, we are recipients of grace.

Jesus was traveling toward Jerusalem.

The disciples could not yet understand everything that Jerusalem would eventually mean.

But the Lamb of God was moving according to His Father’s purpose.

Today, remember where your confidence must rest.

Not in yourself.

Not in your goodness.

Not in your religious activity.

In Christ alone.

Question for Today

What are you trusting in for your acceptance before a holy God?

Respond: “My hope is in Jesus Christ alone.”

Three Angels’ Messages?
The Three Angels’ Messages are God’s special messages for last-day Christians. This message is to be shared with the world and will reach its climax with the second coming of Jesus. This threefold message appears in Revelation 14:6-16.

The First Angel’s Message

The first angel proclaims the everlasting gospel and calls for the restoration of the true worship of God as Creator, because the judgment hour has arrived.

Read more about the first angel’s message

“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’” (Revelation 14:6, 7).

The Second Angel’s Message

The second angel warns against all humanly-originated forms of worship and beliefs that are not based completely on God’s Word.

Read more about the second angel’s message

“Another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication’” (Revelation 14:8).

The Third Angel’s Message

Finally, the third angel proclaims God’s solemn warning against worshiping the beast and his image.

Read more about the third angel’s message

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation....they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:9-12).

Note: though Scripture symbolically portrays these messages as being proclaimed by three angels, it is actually God’s people—His last-day church—who deliver them to the world. Additionally, two groups emerge—those who choose to follow God’s Word completely and those who choose to mix biblical teachings with human traditions.

Accept Jesus Christ as your savior, while there is still time.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Keep all of God's commandments including the fourth Commandment (the Seventh day Sabbath).

If you love Me keep My Commandments John 14:15.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10

His answer: (Jesus) "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" Matthew 19:17
(Emphasis added).

Salvation is all of grace and not of works, and its fruit is obedience to the Commandments. This obedience develops Christian character and results in a sense of well-being. It is evidence of our love for the Lord and our concern for our fellow human beings.

The Story Behind the Hymns.
THE STORY BEHIND "O JESUS, I HAVE PROMISED"

“O Jesus, I Have Promised” was written by English hymn writer John Ernest Bode (1816–1874), an Anglican clergyman and scholar. Bode wrote the hymn in 1868 for the confirmation service of his own children at Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England.

The hymn grew out of a deeply personal moment. Bode’s children were publicly affirming their Christian faith and promising to remain faithful to Christ. He wrote the words to express the seriousness of that commitment, not simply as a promise made during confirmation, but as a lifelong decision to follow Jesus.

The opening words, “O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end,” immediately establish the hymn’s central message: faithful Christian service. The following verses recognise that keeping such a promise is not always easy. Temptations, distractions and the pressures of life can weaken a believer, which is why the hymn repeatedly turns to Jesus for strength and guidance.

Its most familiar lines include the prayer:

“ O Jesus, Thou hast promised
To all who follow Thee,
That where Thou art in glory,
There shall Thy servant be.”

The hymn became widely known in churches and schools and has remained a beloved hymn of commitment, especially at confirmation services, because of its direct and personal language.

“O Jesus, I Have Promised” continues to speak across generations because its message is simple but demanding: to follow Christ faithfully, to resist the distractions of the world, and to depend on Him for the strength to remain true to the promise.

Need to know.
The State of the Dead

According to the Bible, death is like a deep, unconscious sleep. When a person dies, they are not aware of anything. The Bible says, “the dead know not any thing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Jesus also compared death to sleep (John 11:11–14).
Therefore, the dead are not consciously living in heaven, hell, or anywhere else immediately after death. They remain unconscious in the grave, waiting for the resurrection at Christ’s return.
This truth protects us from spiritualism and deception. If the dead are unconscious, then any supposed “spirit of a dead person” that appears to the living cannot truly be that person. Satan and evil spirits can use such appearances to deceive people.

The Advent Truth.
There is a difference between struggling with sin and settling into sin.

A struggle means there is a WAR. You fall, you hate that you fell, you confess it, you get back up, and by the grace of Christ you keep fighting. “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16).

But we need to stop calling deliberate, planned, cherished disobedience a “struggle” simply because the word makes us feel better about it.

Jesus did not die merely to forgive us while leaving us enslaved to the very sins that nailed Him to the cross. The angel said, “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Grace does not make sin safe.

Paul asked the question plainly: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid” (Romans 6:1-2).

Biblical repentance is more than feeling guilty afterward. It is a change of mind that produces a change of direction. Yes, Christians can stumble. Yes, Christians can have deeply rooted sins that take earnest warfare, prayer, discipline, and dependence upon Christ to overcome. But there is an enormous difference between falling in battle and making peace with the enemy.

God knows the difference.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

And here is the good news: you do not have to remain a slave.

Jesus says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Don't lower God's standard because you've fallen short of it. Run to Christ. Confess it. Forsake it. Get back up. Surrender again.

We don't need a gospel that teaches us how to become comfortable in bondage.

We need the Gospel that sets captives free.

A Nugget of Truth.
THE LAW OF GOD WILL BE THE STANDARD OF JUDGMENT

Christ did not teach His followers to run from the Scriptures. He repeatedly appealed to the Word of God.

Jesus said, “Have ye not read in the scriptures?” (Matthew 21:42). He also declared, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Paul did the same. He said, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). He also taught that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12).

The apostles did not teach believers that God’s Law had become meaningless. John wrote, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). He further declared, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

So why does much of Christianity today suddenly declare that God’s Law is no longer binding?

Could it be because people want Christ without His commandments? Grace without obedience? Faith without transformation?

We must be careful. We cannot reject a commandment simply because we do not want to obey it.

And when the world stands before God in judgment, human opinions will not be the standard.

The Bible says, “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12).

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 gives the solemn conclusion:

“Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment.”

Judgment is coming. The question is not, “What does my church say?”

The question is: What has God said?

The Law does not save us. Christ saves us. But the grace that saves us does not teach us to despise the Law of the God who saved us.

When God judges, His Word—not our traditions, preferences, or excuses—will have the final authority.

Do not run from God’s Law because you are uncomfortable with one of its commandments. Search the Scriptures. Test everything by the Word of God.

Christ is our Savior. His Word is our standard. And judgment is certain.

Amazing Love

Daily Bible Lesson.
IF THE DEAD ARE ALREADY IN HEAVEN OR HELL… WHY IS THE RESURRECTION SO IMPORTANT?

1 Corinthians 15 is one of the clearest chapters in the Bible about the resurrection of the dead.
Paul repeatedly points to a future resurrection when Jesus Christ returns. This raises an important question:
If the dead are already consciously enjoying heaven—or suffering in hell—immediately after death, why does the Bible place such enormous emphasis on a future resurrection?
Let’s examine the biblical picture.

1. THE RESURRECTION IS CONNECTED TO CHRIST'S SECOND COMING
“Afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.” — 1 Corinthians 15:23
Paul gives a clear sequence:
Christ was raised first.
Christ's people are raised at His coming.
The resurrection is therefore connected with the Second Coming.
“The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” — 1 Corinthians 15:52
This points to a great future resurrection event—not something that happens individually every time a believer dies.

2. THE RESURRECTION IS CENTRAL TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
Paul does not treat the resurrection as a minor detail.
“If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” — 1 Corinthians 15:14
“If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” — 1 Corinthians 15:17
Paul's message follows this powerful sequence:
Christ died

Christ was raised

Believers will be raised

Death will ultimately be destroyed
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” — 1 Corinthians 15:26

3. WHEN DO WE RECEIVE IMMORTALITY?
Paul says:
“This mortal must put on immortality.” — 1 Corinthians 15:53
Notice the context: immortality is associated with the resurrection.
The Bible's emphasis is not simply that a person dies and immediately receives the final reward. Paul directs our attention toward the resurrection, when God's people are changed and receive immortality.
The resurrection is not an afterthought—it is central to the Christian hope.

4. THE BIBLE DESCRIBES DEATH AS SLEEP
The Bible repeatedly uses sleep as a description of death.
Jesus and Lazarus
“Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” — John 11:11
Jesus then made it unmistakably clear:
“Lazarus is dead.” — John 11:14
Daniel 12:2
“Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13–16
Paul speaks of those who are asleep and then describes their resurrection when Christ returns.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
“The dead know not any thing.”
Psalm 146:4
When a person dies, “his thoughts perish.”
Together, these passages provide a biblical basis for understanding death as an unconscious state awaiting the resurrection.

5. THE BIBLICAL SEQUENCE BECOMES VERY CLEAR
DEATH
The person rests in the grave.

CHRIST RETURNS
The trumpet sounds.

THE DEAD IN CHRIST RISE
1 Thessalonians 4:16

THEY ARE CHANGED
1 Corinthians 15:51–53

THEY RECEIVE IMMORTALITY
1 Corinthians 15:53–54

DEATH IS DEFEATED
1 Corinthians 15:54–55
This makes Paul's argument especially powerful:
The Christian hope is not merely, “When I die, I go to heaven.”
The great biblical hope is:
JESUS IS COMING AGAIN!
THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE!

6. WHAT ABOUT PASSAGES THAT SEEM TO TEACH IMMEDIATE LIFE AFTER DEATH?
There are passages that Christians interpret differently, including:
Luke 23:43 — “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Philippians 1:23 — Paul speaks of departing and being with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:8 — “Absent from the body… present with the Lord.”
These passages should not be ignored.
However, Christians who believe in the sleep of death understand these verses alongside the many passages that explicitly describe death as sleep and emphasize the future resurrection.
Questions involving punctuation, translation, context, and the meaning of being “with Christ” have contributed to different interpretations.
The safest approach is to study the whole Bible rather than build a doctrine on one verse.

7. WHY DOES THE TEACHING OF DEATH AS SLEEP MATTER?
It keeps the resurrection central.
Paul makes the resurrection absolutely essential to Christian faith.
It teaches that immortality is God's gift.
“This mortal must put on immortality.” — 1 Corinthians 15:53
It gives greater meaning to the Second Coming.
“The dead in Christ shall rise first.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:16
It warns against attempts to communicate with the dead.
Deuteronomy 18:10–12; Isaiah 8:19
If the dead are unconscious, claims that deceased relatives are communicating with the living cannot automatically be accepted as genuine communication with the dead.
It gives comfort through the resurrection hope.
“Sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:13
Why?
Because those who have died in Christ will rise again when Jesus returns!

THE GREAT BIBLICAL HOPE
The ultimate hope of Scripture is not death.
It is not the grave.
It is not merely an immortal soul escaping the body.
The great hope is:
JESUS CHRIST'S RETURN

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

THE GIFT OF IMMORTALITY

THE DESTRUCTION OF DEATH

ETERNAL LIFE WITH CHRIST
“This mortal shall have put on immortality… then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” — 1 Corinthians 15:54

IN SHORT
If the dead are already enjoying the complete reward of heaven immediately after death, the resurrection remains important—but it raises a significant question:

Why does Paul place such extraordinary emphasis on the future resurrection as the moment when the dead are raised, changed, receive immortality, and experience final victory over death?

Understanding the biblical teaching of death as sleep makes Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 especially straightforward:
The dead are resting.
They are awaiting the voice of Christ.
Jesus will return.
The dead in Christ will awake.
They will be changed.
Death will be swallowed up in victory.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout… and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:16

THAT IS THE CHRISTIAN HOPE!
Not merely that we die and go somewhere…
But that JESUS IS COMING—AND THE DEAD WILL RISE!

My Daily Witness.
Jesus loves you so much that HE died for you, and Rose from the dead for you, and now desperately longs to have a personal relationship with you, will you accept Him into your heart and life today, as your Savior, and King? Repent of sin in your life, and live for HIM, and let Him live through you.

For God so loved the world, that HE gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

After accepting Jesus as your Savior, show your love for HIM by keeping His Commandments.

"If you love me keep my commandments". John 14:15.

ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR, REPENT OF SIN IN YOUR LIFE, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, INCLUDING THE 4TH COMMANDMENT (THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH).

FOR JESUS CHRIST IS SOON RETURNING, AND HIS REWARD IS WITH HIM, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, SOME TO EVERLASTING DEATH!!!!!
Revelation 12:14
Revelation 22:12
Daniel 12:2

Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

Psalm 34:14 NLT

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True security and satisfaction are found not in what we possess but in trusting God with all we have.

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If you need direction for your future, depend on God’s instructions instead of your own; let Him direct your path.

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Sovereign God, please help me surrender every part of my life to You so I can stand firm against the enemy's schemes.

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This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

1 John 4:10 NLT