Author: Christian ambassador (Shawn Brasseaux)

Grace and peace! What a privilege to be an ambassador for the risen Christ here on WordPress! I am a Pauline dispensationalist Christian saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus plus nothing! My goal is to "have all men saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3,4). I seek to preach Jesus Christ crucified for our sins, buried, and raised again for our justification as the only way to salvation. Also, I seek to edify and perfect the saints using dispensational Bible study and the Authorized Version King James Bible!

Cain Came and Brought Shame #5

Thursday, June 26, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

As dispensational Bible students, we understand that the Bible books of Hebrews through Revelation are God’s dealings with mankind following His dealings in this the Dispensation of Grace. Hebrews speaks of “the world to come” (Hebrews 2:5)—Hebrews through Revelation encompass the future resumption and fulfillment of Israel’s program. Once our Dispensation of Grace ends with the Rapture (when we, the Church the Body of Christ, are caught up into heaven to meet our Saviour Jesus Christ; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), the nation Israel will have to consult the books of Hebrews through Revelation to see how God will recommence and accomplish her program.

To appreciate the prophetic significance of the story of Cain and Abel, we must consult two end-time Bible books, 1 John and Jude (two of the books of Hebrews through Revelation). Let us examine 1 John 3:11-16 first: “[11] For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [12] Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. [13] Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. [14] We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. [15] Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. [16] Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

The Apostle John warns Israel in the seven-year Tribulation, how unbelieving Jews will hate and slay their believing Jewish brethren. As Cain killed Abel, so lost Jews—misled by false religion, which wicked “way” Cain began—will kill their own relatives who believe and obey JEHOVAH God….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #4

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

The Bible says, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4). Abel brought the blood sacrifice that God specified, but Cain did not believe God’s Word, so he did not bring the proper sacrifice (Genesis 4:1-5). Cain simply did what he wanted, and literally offered the fruit of his own efforts; thus, God rejected him.

Verses 6-8 continue, “And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

Despite Adam and Eve’s high hopes for their firstborn son Cain, he brought them unspeakable heartache: he mercilessly murdered his younger brother, Abel. Moreover, the son they once thought was the Redeemer (“a man from the LORD;” today’s Scripture cf. Genesis 3:15), Cain, was now exposed to be a Bible-rejecter and a murderer. What disappointment they felt that he exacerbated Satan’s corruption of creation, and especially of mankind! Adam and Eve were now bereaved of one son due to fratricide, and they would soon lose their remaining son to organized false religion (see Genesis 4:9-17).

The historical narrative of Cain and Abel—yes, it literally happened—seems to many to be nothing more than “boring antiquity.” We fervently disagree. Dear friends, there is a prophetic significance to this account, and it affects the world even today. We should not think of the account of Cain and Abel as “a thing of the past….”

Cain Came and Brought Shame #3

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

At Cain’s birth, Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (today’s Scripture). Eve and her husband, Adam, had great hopes for Cain, their firstborn son (they named him with Genesis 3:15 in mind, assuming he was the Redeemer whom God had promised, the Man who would undo what they did). Genesis 4:1,2 says Cain matured and worked with his father as a tiller of the ground; Abel, growing up in his older brother’s “shadow,” was overlooked, and thus had the lowly task of tending sheep.

When Cain and Abel were old enough to be accountable to God, they brought sacrifices to Him. Genesis 4:3-5 explicates: “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”

The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Hebrews 11:4 explains what happened in Genesis chapter 4: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” The Bible says Abel brought a blood sacrifice by faith, so that means that Cain brought his sacrifice of vegetation in unbelief. Cain brought a sacrifice that God never instructed him to bring, whereas Abel did exactly as God said. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and He rejected Cain’s. (Cain should not have been surprised at his rejection, for he knew God’s decree.)

Still, Cain was determined to avenge himself… even if it meant murder… even if it meant Abel….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #2

Monday, June 23, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Moments after Adam and Eve—literally, all of mankind—fell into sin, the wise Creator God promised the first Good News (or Gospel) recorded in Scripture: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Essentially, God promised that He would send a Man who would destroy Satan’s works, a Man who would do what Adam failed to do.

We see Adam’s faith demonstrated in verse 20: he called his wife’s name “Eve” (meaning “life-giver,” or “the mother of all living”). Adam knew that he and Eve would physically die as the result of sin (verse 19), but he believed God’s promise that he and Eve would live long enough to have children (verse 16).

An indeterminate period of time passes, and Adam and Eve have two sons (Genesis 4:1,2). Cain is “a tiller of the ground” (farmer) and Abel is “a keeper of sheep” (shepherd). Recall that God had placed Adam on the earth to “dress and keep” (cultivate and reign over) the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). Cain works with his father Adam in the “family business” of farming, while Abel is an outcast and a herder of (stinky!) sheep. These facts provide insight into why Eve said in today’s Scripture, “I have gotten a man from the LORD.”

When Eve conceived her first son, both she and Adam remembered the Good News God had spoken to them just after their fall, that “her seed” (one of her descendants) would defeat Satan. Adam and Eve concluded that Cain was that special Man, which is why they named him what they did (“Cain” in Hebrew is related to a Hebrew word meaning, “recover, redeem, possess”).

Nonetheless, to Adam and Eve’s heartache, Cain would not destroy Satan’s plan of evil. Cain would actually advance it….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #1

Sunday, June 22, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Unfortunately, modern English translations water down today’s Scripture (like they do with countless other verses!). The NIV, representative of the modern English “bibles” and their underlying (and corrupt) Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, complete with an extra wresting by minds polluted with textual criticism and its vain theories, reads in today’s Scripture: “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.’” (And this is “more scholarly” than the “archaic” King James Bible?!)

It is a very subtle rewording, but, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man,” notice how God’s Word is retranslated so that it exalts Eve—Eve did it with God’s “help!” Friends, we sinners do not need God’s “help” to do anything; we sinners need God to do everything for us!

However, unlike many (if not nearly all) of the modern Bible translators, we are people of faith, and we have God’s Holy Spirit to teach us. We do not look at the Bible with unbelieving minds and eyes and “correct” it when it does not make sense to us. God’s preserved Word in English, the King James Bible, says exactly what He wants it to say, and how He wants it said. Re-translation causes us to miss subtleties in vocabulary and semantics; if we simply leave the King James Bible alone and just believe it, it will correct our thinking and cause us to appreciate a seemingly insignificant doctrine.

Indeed, it takes some thoughtful study (which Bible readers rarely do!), but there is something special being communicated in Eve’s words as found in our “old” King James Bible. Take this time to consider why Eve said what she did, and, in the coming devotionals, we will discuss why she said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD….”

At Calvary #5

Saturday, June 21, 2014

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24 KJV).

The chorus of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Mercy there was great, and grace was free,
Pardon there was multiplied to me,
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.”

“Mercy” means “pity, compassion,” God holding back what we deserve (His wrath). “Grace” is God’s unmerited favor—it is free to us (apart from our works) because Jesus Christ paid for it with His life (it is not “cheap grace!”). In Christ, we are liberated from sin’s dominion and works-religion bondage (Galatians 5:1)—the “redemption,” the purchasing of our freedom, through Jesus Christ’s shed blood. We received “redemption through [Christ’s] blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of [God’s] grace” (Ephesians 1:7; cf. Colossians 1:14). The riches of God’s grace—where our sin abounds, God’s grace abounds far, far, far, far more (Romans 5:20). God’s forgiveness, His abundant pardon, is offered to us at Calvary’s cross.

For our dear readers who are lost, who have never come to a point in their lives where they relied exclusively on Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for their sins, we urge them to do so today before it is eternally too late. No matter what you have done in your life, there is no sin so vile that Jesus Christ’s blood cannot cover it. At Calvary, the God of the Bible offers all the mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness you will ever need, but none of it can be applied to you until you trust Jesus Christ alone as your personal Saviour.

After soul salvation unto eternal life, we join our Apostle Paul in reflecting upon our former lives, and we conclude with him, “but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:13,14). Indeed, the mercy, grace, faith, and love of Jesus Christ are more than enough.

Saints, being mindful that our (self-) life ended at Calvary, and our (eternal) life began at Calvary, let us sing “At Calvary” with grateful hearts! 🙂

At Calvary #4

Friday, June 20, 2014

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9 KJV).

The fourth verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!”

God gave heaven’s best—Jesus Christ—to save earth’s worst—us, sinful mankind. God’s love for us drove Him to Calvary’s cross: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s grace, His unmerited favor toward us, enabled Him to endure Calvary’s cross for us: “…Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).

We could not meet God’s righteousness in our own strength: we were spiritually poor. Jesus Christ had God’s spiritual wealth—righteousness, majesty, glory, and so on. Today’s Scripture says Jesus Christ “became poor” (“he humbled himself;” Philippians 2:5-8). He became a man, to serve instead of be served (Matthew 20:28), to have our sin imputed to Him (2 Corinthians 5:21), to die as “the just for the unjust” (1 Peter 3:18). When He completely paid our sin debt, He resurrected to give us His righteousness (Romans 4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Titus 3:4-6 reminds us: “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;….”

The Apostle John affirmed: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: … Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 3:16a, 4:10). Christ’s finished crosswork at Calvary is now the bridge between God and us.

At Calvary #3

Thursday, June 19, 2014

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25 KJV).

The third verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary.”

In 2 Timothy 1:11,12, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” Some 35 years earlier, Paul had entrusted his very soul to Jesus Christ. The Apostle, in prison awaiting execution, knew that, no matter what happened to his physical body, his soul was secure in Christ. Never would his Saviour disappoint him.

Once, when we were “children of pride,” Satan was our king (Job 41:34). Now, we recognize Jesus Christ as King in our lives. Paul’s doxology, 1 Timothy 1:17, reminds us: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Verse 16 says we praise Jesus Christ because of His “mercy and longsuffering” that caused Him to save us).

In Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas, having just been beaten and whipped for preaching the Gospel of Grace, sat in a Philippian jail with their feet chained. Despite all their troubles, they sang praises to the Lord Jesus Christ—and the prisoners heard them (today’s Scripture)! Evidently, now, they were singing about the Gospel of Grace, for the Philippian jailor later asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Their timeless reply was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (verse 31).

We have relied on Jesus Christ for our soul salvation. Hence, our delighted souls cannot help but remember that our eternal life began at Calvary’s cruel cross where the Son of God died. What a song we can sing, even in the midst of heartache! 🙂

At Calvary #2

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 KJV).

The second verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.”

It is by God’s Word—specifically, the Law (the Ten Commandments)—that we learn what sin is (today’s Scripture). “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression [or “overstepping”] of the law” (1 John 3:4). The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1:8-11: “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

Read today’s Scripture with the previous verse: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19,20).

Romans 3:21,22 gives us the solution to our sin problem: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.” Jesus Christ shed His sinless blood to pay for our sins, and by faith in that alone, God’s righteousness would be given us, and our guilt and shame of disobeying God’s Law would be imputed to Christ!

At Calvary #1

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 KJV).

The first verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.”

Before we came by faith to Jesus Christ, our lives epitomized emptiness and arrogance. We may not have been murdering, stealing, committing adultery, bowing before statues, or cursing the Lord Jesus Christ’s name; yet, our lives were vain and prideful. We were “walking, in the vanity [emptiness] of [our] mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that [was] in [us], because of the blindness of [our] heart: who being past feeling [had] given [ourselves] over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19).

Romans chapter 1 explains how God gave us Gentiles up and over to our “vain imaginations” and “foolish, darkened hearts” (verse 21). In Genesis chapter 11, God relinquished us Gentiles to enjoy the spiritual ignorance—“reprobate [worthless] mind” (verse 28)—we so desired. Once He let the Gentile nations go on their way, He created the nation Israel to become His earthly people. For the next 2,000 years, Satan’s sin (pride; 1 Timothy 3:6) operated in us Gentiles; hence, the Devil himself, the ruler “over all the children of pride” (Job 41:34), was our king. While we Gentiles were “without God” and “without Christ” (Ephesians 2:12), Jesus Christ died for us (today’s Scripture). As our pagan Gentile ancestors offered their worthless sacrifices in their heathen temples, Jesus Christ offered Himself to pay for their sins.

“Calvary” (Greek, kranion; Latin, calvaria, “skull”) only appears once in our King James Bible (Luke 23:33)—modern English versions eliminate it. In Hebrew, the place is “Golgotha” (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17), meaning “the place of a skull.” It was on this hill whose rocky formation resembles a human cranium, outside of Jerusalem, that Jesus Christ was crucified for us. While we were on our merry way to eternal hellfire, the eternal Son of God was put to death on Calvary’s cross that we might have eternal life!