Month: March 2023

Two Hungry Men! #1

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry” (Mark 11:12 KJV).

Who is this hungry man? Who else is a hungry man in the Bible? What exactly has caused their hunger?

Read today’s Scripture in context, chapter 11 of Mark: “[12] And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: [13] And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. [14] And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it…. [20] And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. [21] And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.” Of course, the “hungry man” of today’s Scripture is Christ Jesus Himself.

Observe the analogous passage in Matthew chapter 21: “[18] Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. [19] And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. [20] And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!” Again, we see that the Lord Jesus hungers—His humanity is in full view once more.

The other “hungry man” in the Scriptures is found in chapter 10 of Acts: “[9] On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: [10] And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,….” Here is the Apostle Peter, and he, like Christ, is hungry. Why do they both hunger, and why would the Holy Spirit bother to put it into the Bible record? Let us search the Scriptures for the fascinating answer….

Give Me Another Day to Think About It

Monday, March 20, 2023

“The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity” (Psalm 94:11 KJV).

Dear friends, are we so silly as to want another day to think about more folly?

Once, a police officer patrolling his neighborhood noticed a prostitute hobbling on crutches and wearing a conspicuous cast on her leg. He stopped his car and began talking with her. She explained how one of her “clients” had recently shot her in the foot and disabled her. In fact, she refused to name the perpetrator so the police could arrest him, fearing he would have her “coworkers” retaliate. At this point, the officer asked her if she wanted to leave her line of work and find a more respectable job. She hesitated and then replied, “Give me another day to think about it.” What ultimately happened to that poor woman is unknown.

As sinners, we engage in self-destructive behavior because it is fun. That woman working the streets was having a “good time,” and she was making a lot of money in the process, but her profession was indecent, hazardous, and even life-threatening. She wanted to wallow in sin just a little longer—knowing full well she was not acting in her best interests. There is pleasure in sin for a season, Hebrews 11:25 tells us. Read today’s Scripture in context (all of Psalm 94). The wicked are persecuting Israel’s believing remnant during Daniel’s 70th Week. With the Antichrist in office, crime abounds and no one is there to deliver the righteous. The saints suffer while the evildoers prosper; the evildoers believe they can continue in their sin and not reap the bitter consequences (see their empty thoughts in today’s Scripture).

The Psalmist asks God to “shew thyself” and take vengeance (verse 1). Here is one of the many “imprecatory psalms” of Scripture, the believers praying for the LORD to punish sinners and rescue saints. Psalm 94 summarizes the Second Coming of Christ, when He deals with such sinners in wrath (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). If we are sinners without Jesus Christ today, may we come to Him by faith in His finished crosswork as sufficient payment for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4), while we still have opportunity. May we not say, “give me another day to think about it!”

Two Obscure Parents

Sunday, March 19, 2023

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment” (Hebrews 11:23 KJV).

Dear friend, would you be able to name Moses’ parents?

The writer of the Book of Hebrews lists nearly 20 saints by name in the eleventh chapter (the context of today’s Scripture). However, the Holy Spirit did not move him to identify Moses’ parents. Who were they? What could account for this omission?

Let us consult the familiar, original passage of Exodus 2:1,2: “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.” Again, neither Moses’ father nor mother is named. Moses himself, writing Exodus, withheld their identities.

If we make our way through the Book of Exodus, we eventually arrive at chapter 6, verse 20, and we make a striking observation here: “And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.” If we move over to Numbers, chapter 26 and verse 59, it is confirmed: “And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.”

These two verses supply us with their names, but this is simply in the context of genealogical records. Regarding their actual sparing of Moses, they are unknown in Hebrews 11:23, Exodus 2:1-2, and even Acts 7:20 (“In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:”). One obvious reason is it did not really matter what their names were. What was more important was their faith (today’s Scripture). It was not so much what they did, but what the Lord did in and through them. God knew their names. While He ultimately did reveal them in the Bible record later on, He kept their names a secret again as we move toward the end (Acts and Hebrews).

His Most Valuable Discovery

Saturday, March 18, 2023

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:23-26 KJV).

Here is “the most valuable discovery!”

In 1847, Dr. James Young Simpson of Edinburgh, Scotland, discovered chloroform was an anesthetic (useful in rendering patients insensitive to pain—especially women during childbirth). Some years after, while delivering a lecture before students at the University of Edinburgh, one pupil inquired of the obstetrician, “What do you consider to be the most valuable discovery of your lifetime?” They all expected him to reply, “Chloroform.” Instead, the physician shocked them with his answer, “My most valuable discovery was when I discovered myself a sinner and that Jesus Christ was my Saviour!”

This serves as a simple reminder. While we can acquire education, pursue careers, gather and publish valuable data in our respective fields, win prestigious awards and become recognized around the world, how can all of this even partially compare to our recognizing our sinful estate and coming to realize what God did at Calvary’s cross to rescue us? As brilliant as Dr. Simpson was, he knew his weaknesses and failures and humbly admitted them and his need to be delivered from them. In the world’s eyes, his accomplishments in medicine had (still have) preeminence, but, in his own eyes, he was a sinner like everyone else and was eager to share his testimony about how the Lord Jesus Christ saved him from the deadliest disease of all—sin.

“Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

Orange, You Protestant (?)

Friday, March 17, 2023

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:3-5 KJV).

Well, today is Saint Patrick’s Day. People of Irish descent celebrate their culture by hosting parades, parties, dances, and the like (resembling raucous Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday!). Green articles, especially clothing and decorations, are prominent. Should we as Bible-believing Christians wear green on this day, March 17?

While I am partly Irish through my mother (and possibly my father), I am predominantly French by blood. I have never actually celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day as an Irishman though. Many years back, I “wore green” as an ignorant Protestant. Then, I did research!

Who is the “Patrick” of Saint Patrick’s Day? One or two figures in church history are known by this name (one man may have been a fictional character). What we can say is that a Protestant missionary named Patrick conducted a ministry in Ireland back in the A.D. 400s. He converted many Irish people from paganism to Bible-believing Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church, claiming that Patrick was not Protestant, seems to have fabricated a “Patrick” to become one of its many “patron saints.”

Where does green come into the picture? Why is it a popular color today? Ireland’s flag, from left to right, consists of three vertical stripes—green, white, and orange. Very few understand that tripartite arrangement. Green represents Ireland’s Roman Catholic history whereas orange signifies its Protestant history. Situated in the middle is the color white, symbolizing the longing for peace and harmony between these two groups that have warred for centuries there.

What we can say as Bible believers is that we should not be aligning with or supporting Roman Catholicism within Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter). Protestantism is the Bible-believing position to take. Wearing green on Saint Patrick’s Day is to advertise Bible ignorance—you exhibit yourself as a Roman Catholic or an uninformed Protestant. Instead, wear orange, and use that as an opportunity to educate and give inquirers the Gospel of Grace (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

You may read our archived study: “Should Christians celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day?”

I Have Finished the Work! #7

Thursday, March 16, 2023

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4 KJV).

Could we say this at the end of our life, at the conclusion of our ministry?

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection [mind, focus, regard] on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1,2). We must have this renewed mind (laid out in the first two chapters), or sin will master us. Remember Paul’s dilemma in Romans chapter 7.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1,2).

Ephesians 4:17-24: “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). When we by faith let the Holy Spirit use the Word of God rightly divided to work in us, the very life of Jesus Christ is on display!

I Have Finished the Work! #6

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4 KJV).

Could we say this at the end of our life, at the conclusion of our ministry?

Dear friends, in order for today’s Scripture to be true of us, we need only to discover what God is doing today and do that by faith. We will thus do God’s will. (It is not complicated!) Philippians 1:9-11 summarizes the Holy Spirit’s desire for us: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ [He produces the fruits!!], unto the glory and praise of God.” We are just walking by faith in our identity in Christ, and He does the work.

Philippians 2:13-16 amplifies: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”

In his parting words to the Ephesian church elders, the Apostle Paul spoke: “But none of these things [trials and tribulations] move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify [bear record of, bear witness of] the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul is no longer here, so we (other members of the Church the Body of Christ) have inherited his grace ministry. Read our “grace commission” outlined in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. The Holy Spirit worked in and through Paul, and He will work in and through us. We must be willing to learn, believe, and apply sound Bible doctrine….

I Have Finished the Work! #5

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4 KJV).

Could we say this at the end of our life, at the conclusion of our ministry?

First and foremost, we must realize a truth commonly overlooked. Not only is it difficult for us to live the Christian life, it is impossible, for only (!) Jesus Christ can live His life. Thankfully, never does God call us to copy the life of Christ. As it was so eloquently stated long ago, “Christ laid down His life for us on Calvary, that He might then give that life to us when we trust Him, that He might ultimately fill us with that very life as we walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of His words to us.” The Bible tells us, “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Here is “the Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24), by which we “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” to be “saved” (Acts 16:31).

Dear friend, read Romans chapter 6 in its entirety. What Father God desires of us is that we be rendered dead to sin—and He does that Himself when we believe on Jesus Christ’s death as our death. Now that we have come to faith in Christ as our personal Saviour, He will not only save us from Hell (the penalty of sin), He will deliver us from sinful living (the power of sin). When He died on Calvary, we died with Him. When He was buried, we were buried with Him. When He resurrected, we were resurrected with Him. Sin is not who we are anymore, for, though we were in Adam, we are now in Christ, and therefore have a new identity: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new identity will produce fruit to glorify God (righteousness), just as our old identity in Adam bore fruit to exalt self (sin). We are not doing the good works, but rather Jesus Christ is performing them in and through us….

I Have Finished the Work! #4

Monday, March 13, 2023

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4 KJV).

Could we say this at the end of our life, at the conclusion of our ministry?

Doubtless, today’s Scripture summarizes the best human life ever lived: it was the life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. There was never any sin, and never any chance of sin. What Father God had sent Him to do, He did it without fail and without hesitation (Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 3:17; Matthew 12:18; John 8:29).

Firstly, He faithfully gave His Father’s words to a believing remnant in Israel, manifesting all that the Father is and does (see John 17:6,8,14,26). By the time of today’s Scripture, that work was finished. He had one final task to accomplish. Secondly, on Calvary’s cross, He faithfully gave up His life: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). That too was now completed, and note well Hebrews 10:4-14, recalling this as the fulfillment of Psalm 40:6-8.

Re-read today’s Scripture: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” When this earthly life is over, could we honestly say those words with our Lord? Did we glorify Father God on the Earth? Did we finish His work which He gave us to do? Were we walking by faith in His words to us, the Pauline epistles of Romans through Philemon? Of course, for us, it would not be 100% as it was for Christ. For a great many of us, we could say nothing more than, “I glorified thee on the earth a little here, and a little there, but it was not much.” Maybe it would be 50%, or even as low as 1%! We let religious tradition and philosophy interfere with our spiritual growth, we refused personal Bible study, and we allowed sin to master us.

In order to maximize that percentage, we need to pay attention to certain Scriptures and apply them to life by faith in the heart while we still have time to make things right….

I Have Finished the Work! #3

Sunday, March 12, 2023

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4 KJV).

Could we say this at the end of our life, at the conclusion of our ministry?

In his farewell epistle, the Apostle Peter wrote to Israel’s believing remnant: “[12] Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. [13] Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle [physical body], to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; [14] Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. [15] Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance” (2 Peter chapter 1). Peter knew he was soon to leave this life, but the Holy Spirit would not let him depart until he penned this second and final Bible Book that bears his name. He still had something to teach these saints (and he did it throughout these three chapters)!

The Apostle Paul, penning his farewell epistle to the Church the Body of Christ, remarked: “[6] For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. [7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: [8] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy chapter 4). Paul was aware that his parting was near, yet the Holy Spirit would continue to use him to complete the Bible with this last Book, and then he could move on.

Both Peter and Paul left this world only when they had written their last words and preached their final sermons. They had brought saints to a place of doctrinal maturity, as the Lord Jesus Christ had taught them (these Apostles), so they trained others. We can learn much from this….