Category: God’s will

Joy to the World! #4

Monday, December 14, 2015

“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Psalm 45:6,7 KJV).

The final verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.”

When Satan’s reign on Earth and in Heaven concludes, voices in heaven cry out, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). Hebrews 1:8,9 quoted today’s Scripture as true of Jesus Christ’s righteous reign. Notice how Father God addressed Jesus as “God.” Human history has never experienced a global, benevolent, theocratic monarchy. For the first time ever, all power in Heaven and Earth will be consolidated forever in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:8-10). All governments in Heaven and Earth will be cleansed of evil. By faith in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, we will participate in that operation of God (Colossians 1:16-22). We will reign with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6,7)!

Zechariah 14:9: “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” Daniel 2:44: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” And, Jeremiah chapter 23: “[5] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. [6] In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Indeed, there will be such joy! Jesus Christ glorified forever, in Heaven and Earth! 🙂

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing #5

Monday, December 7, 2015

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 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 5:14-17 KJV).

The final verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!”

Religion has done an excellent job (wrongly) teaching us that God likes to rehabilitate humans—that He wants to make us quit doing certain things (“fleshly”) and make us start doing other things (“churchy”). What a very shallow, and actually a false, perception. God wants to do much more than what we could ever do by ourselves.

For good works to reign in our lives, God has to kill us! As sinners, in Adam, we are dead in our trespasses and sins, no life in ourselves (see today’s Scripture). Nothing we can do in our own strength will ever change our (sinful) nature in Adam. However, God offers us death to Adam and a new identity through Christ at Calvary. When we trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins, in God’s mind, we died to sin, too. Christ did not simply die for us but as us. Romans chapters 5 through 8 describe the victory is in Christ, not in Adam or in ourselves. Success is by the power of the Holy Ghost working with the grace doctrines we study and believe, not in our struggles to do right. And so, “Christ [is] formed in [us]” (Galatians 4:19).

Something about which the angels cannot sing, but we can, should, and do! 🙂

What Child Is This? #4

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

“O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:1,2 KJV).

The final verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.”

As the shepherds and angels gathered around Baby Jesus’ manger, we can only wonder what immense joy filled their hearts. In that world of old—plagued by the same basic problems of our modern world—He was a Beacon in the dark and a Solace in the misery. They undoubtedly sang right in the midst of all those farm animals! They were so thrilled to see God working in their presence. They were now standing before His baby crib!

Sinners today are greatly encouraged—yea, urged—to come by faith to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, right this moment. They are not to come by faith to His crib, for He is no longer a Baby. Rather, they are to come by faith to His cross, where He gave up that life for us! “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). What we need to do is rely exclusively on Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, His shed sinless blood and His resurrection, as sufficient payment for our sins.

As with Jesus’ birth, for those who do not want to see anything, they do not see anything. Those who see are people who want to see. It has nothing to do with God hiding anything from anyone. What did Jesus tell the Jews? “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

Although Jesus Christ is not physically here today, we can still haste to bring Him laud. We can praise Him highly in a public context. First, we can believe on Him and His finished crosswork. Then, we can tell others how they too can be saved through Calvary!

Attendance to Apprehending

Saturday, November 28, 2015

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13 KJV).

Grace Bible conferences are always a joyful and edifying time!

We meet new people and old friends, most of who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are really seeking God’s truth rather than those who would come to be merely religious or simply entertained. We desire Jesus Christ to live His life in and through us, and it will only come about by God’s Word renewing our minds on a daily basis. Conferences are not simply about Bible study, but Bible understanding so that it can become Bible application to life. While plenty of people read the Bible, very few study it; and of the few who study it, even fewer understand it; and of the few who understand it, even fewer apply it to life by faith. Our goal is to be in that last class listed, that very small remnant.

Father God is doing something wonderful today in creation and He wants us to participate. A grace Bible conference is to grasp the Bible on a large-scale, to the intent that we may see a fuller picture of the Bible rather than just a glimpse of it (as in a regular sermon or teaching session), that we may find where we are in Scripture (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon), that we may then discover how Jesus Christ can give us His life and how He can fill us with it (grace living)!

It is an extremely high plane of living that very few Christians grasp, since organized religion opposes it and hides it from the masses (2 Corinthians 4:1-4), but oh, how we have cast off religious works and our vain performance (Philippians 3:1-21), how we have begun to search the Scriptures for ourselves (Acts 17:10,11), how we have a better understanding of such a wonderful Saviour who not only died that we might live but that we died with Him so that He might live in us! We assemble locally to study the Scriptures rightly divided to learn how Christ Jesus is living His life in each of ours, and we rejoice that it is not us, but Him (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:4)!

NOTE: The 2015 Slidell (Louisiana) Grace Bible Conference is underway! Videos of the messages to be uploaded to YouTube in due time, so stay tuned for updates.

A Conference Worth Attending

Friday, November 27, 2015

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13 KJV).

A great Bible conference begins today!

This evening, we will hold our fourth annual Slidell Grace Bible Conference in southeastern Louisiana. It will be nice to see old friends in the ministry as well as new ones. We are all going to fellowship with each other around our Saviour (Jesus Christ), our final authority (King James Bible), and our apostle (Paul). There will be delicious food for the (temporary) outward man to enjoy, but more importantly, there will be strong spiritual meat on which the (eternal) inner man can feast forever!

We saints are not assembling to feel religious, but rather to be reminded of God’s life in us. We saints are not assembling to be entertained, but rather to be edified by God’s Word rightly divided. We saints are not assembling to fill our minds with complex denominational doctrines, but rather to fill our hearts with the simple doctrine that is in the King James Bible. We saints are not assembling to exalt preachers, but rather to encourage one another to continue in sound Bible doctrine. We saints are not assembling to tell God the Holy Spirit what He should be doing in the present-day, but rather to let God the Holy Spirit tell us what He is doing so we can by faith do that as well.

It is because of today’s Scripture that, at our Bible conference, we will “give attendance” (or, pay attention to) “reading,” “exhortation [encouragement/advice],” and “doctrine [teaching].” Very rarely is the Bible actually read in “Christian” churches today. They read novels, commentaries, and Greek grammars, but not much Bible (unless it fits the system the denomination promotes). Oftentimes, the “encouragement” in “Christian” churches today is some feel-good message instead of a sound (“healthy”) message. Very rarely is “doctrine” mentioned in most “Christian” churches today. “Boring” Bible study and “divisive” doctrine have been replaced by moving, jumping, and singing. No need to wonder why the professing church is so impotent and functionally dead!

Above all, we are meeting to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, right now, and forever! 🙂

NOTE: For those of you who cannot attend our conference in person, we will have the videos available on YouTube within the next few weeks. On behalf of the speakers, Richard Jordan, Frank Redman, Charlie Fouche, and myself (Shawn Brasseaux), your prayer is greatly appreciated!

In Every Thing Give Thanks

Thursday, November 26, 2015

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV).

Dear saints, take a moment this Thanksgiving to learn a valuable lesson from the Holy Scriptures!

God wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). To be “saved” here means you have been rescued from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire), and that you have a home in heaven, because you have trusted the death, shed blood, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for your sins. To “come unto the knowledge of the truth” is when a person who has trusted Christ, begins to understand why God saved him or her, and how God will use him or her for His glory. Although soul salvation is instantaneous, spiritual maturity is a life-long process (that is especially true regarding handling difficulties, the grace way!).

It is human nature to avoid difficulties and stress, to flee them, rather than confront them. This self-preservation is advantageous, particularly in “life or death” situations. However, running from troubling circumstances is not the way God has designed our life in Christ to function. Today’s Scripture says, “In every thing give thanks,” not “For every thing give thanks.” We do not thank God for our troubles; we thank God while we are enduring those troubles. This is tough, I know, but it takes time for us to learn it. Even the Apostle Paul had to learn this.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Be thankful in every thing. God’s grace is sufficient for you, dear saint, in all of life’s circumstances. When you learn this, you are “[coming] unto the knowledge of the truth.”

*Excerpted from our Thanksgiving 2012 Bible study with the same name. That study can be read here or watched here.

You may also see, “What are our spiritual blessings in Christ?”

Follow Father’s Folly Versus Follow Father’s Faith

Saturday, November 7, 2015

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:6,7 KJV).

May we save our future generations from apostasy!

Recently, I watched an online video, the only interview of a notorious American serial killer later murdered in prison. Psychologists and psychiatrists alike were baffled. Why did this young man commit nearly 20 extremely graphic mutilations and murders? Beloved, we need not several years of psychology training to figure it out. It is called sin! He simply acted naturally, and his particular sin was murder (for others, it is lying, stealing, pride, et cetera).

The saddest part of the interview was when the father told the reporter he often wondered what he could have done to prevent his son’s horrific behavior. (Today’s Scripture?!) Then, the father admitted that he was not there for his son growing up. He did not teach him any values or morals. His poor son had no spiritual leader growing up. Think. Twenty people—and 20 families—suffered the consequences!

We can see why God through Moses warned Israel in today’s Scripture not to forget to teach the Ten Commandments to their children. Those laws, given in the previous chapter, were the foundation of the Jewish religion. Israel had just spent 40 years breaking them in the wilderness wanderings. Now, 120-year-old Moses is cautioning these new generations of Jews not to forsake JEHOVAH’S Word to them. He advises them to diligently teach those divine words to their children. That was their salvation from Satan’s deception.

It is sad, but many fathers today are not teaching their children God’s Word to us. And we wonder why society is falling apart? Our salvation from sin and Satan’s deception is found in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon. Men, I exhort you to remember and fulfill your role as spiritual leaders in your households. You can pass on an eternal heritage—the Message of God’s Grace and the Epistles of the Grace Life! Let it be “father’s faith” rather than “father’s folly!” 🙂

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Saturday, October 31, 2015

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27,28 KJV).

“Looks can be deceiving” is not only true during Halloweentime, but confirmed year-round within Christendom.

Today is Halloween, when children dress up and feign themselves to be creatures they are not. Likewise, many church leaders today wear “Christian” garbs, but their ministries do not bring the Lord Jesus Christ glory and honor. They promote their denomination, and seek to perpetuate it, rather than serve and exalt the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Bible manifests these who appear to be good, as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ exposed Israel’s corrupt religious leaders who misled the nation in His day. In His Parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:24-30,37-43, Christ explained how just as He had sown good seed (wheat, believing Jews) in Israel, Satan had also sown tares/weeds (unbelieving Jews). Tares resemble wheat; unbelieving Jews resemble believing Jews. The unbelieving Pharisees and scribes, for instance, looked like God’s people (believing Israel). Judas Iscariot was another example of Satan’s tares—the apostles never realized who Judas really was until it was too late!

But Satan’s counterfeit believers are not confined to Israel’s program. Today, within local assemblies of the Body of Christ, there are people feigning themselves to be Christians: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Beloved, beware of the church leaders who are arrayed in hypocrisy, “and avoid them” (Romans 16:17b). If their teaching does not agree with the rightly divided King James Bible, you have no business as a child of God to be listening to them.

*This is excerpted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Are Galatians 1:18-19 and Acts 9:26-28 contradictions?”

You may also see our special study, “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?”

Satan and Dispensationalism #25

Friday, October 30, 2015

“Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:” (Colossians 1:25,26 KJV).

Dispensational Bible Study enables us to see and appreciate the final revelation from God. Satan is thus utterly embarrassed!

It is written down forever in the eternal Word of God. Looks were indeed deceiving at Calvary. Satan, appearing victorious, actually participated in his own defeat! Beloved, the preaching of the cross is that God outsmarted Satan. Jesus Christ’s shed blood can deliver sinners—even wretched, uncircumcised Gentiles such as ourselves—from Satan’s domain!

“[12] Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: [13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: [14] In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14).

That God would take Jews and Gentiles who would simply trust His Son’s finished crosswork, and form one new man, the Church the Body of Christ—completely unheard of in the Old Testament! Even Satan could not and did not figure it out. It was not revealed to Satan, his fallen angels, God’s elect angels, and man until God saved miserable Saul of Tarsus and commissioned him as the Apostle Paul. As God’s apostle of the Gentiles, Paul had a special role. He was given the privilege to finish God’s Word (today’s Scripture).

Through the Pauline epistles, Romans through Philemon, God has made known unto us “the mystery of his will” (Ephesians 1:9). God had a secret will, friends. Now that God has revealed His secret through Paul’s writings, Satan has an active campaign to keep it hidden. Dispensational Bible Study is watered down, slandered, and ignored by the religious crowd and the modern English versions, that Satan not be exposed as foolish. Let us not be foolish. Lest we miss God’s latest (and final) revelation, may we recognize and hold fast to by faith the Dispensation of Grace given to us by Jesus Christ through the Apostle Paul.

-FINIS!- 🙂

Satan and Dispensationalism #20

Sunday, October 25, 2015

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:” (Ephesians 3:1,2 KJV).

Satan knows that Dispensational Bible Study is the key to understanding God’s Word. Thus, he denies it and corrupts it every chance he gets!

Unfortunately, my beloved brethren, until the Lord returns, the book of Acts will always be a battleground of confusion and nonsense. Some hold to one extreme, clinging to Acts chapter 2 as the beginning of our program. Others hang on the other extreme, adhering to Acts chapter 28 as the beginning of our program. One does not go far enough, the other goes too far. Neither is a dispensational boundary. We need not be confused by either tradition of men.

Paul is our “pattern” concerning salvation unto eternal life (1 Timothy 1:13-16). The Gospel that saved him is the Gospel of Grace that saves us in the Dispensation of Grace. There was always only one gospel in Paul’s ministry. That gospel was available to all men, the whole world, during the Paul’s Acts ministry (Acts 13:46-48; Acts 17:30; Romans 1:5,14; Romans 16:26; 2 Corinthians 5:19). That “all-men message” is true even today, after Acts. Paul’s epistles cover one dispensation and one program, not two dispensations and not two programs. Paul’s epistles in no way depend on Israel’s covenants, either during Acts or after Acts.

Israel had no special status during Paul’s Acts ministry (Romans 11:11-14; Galatians 1:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16—all written during Acts). The only advantage a lost Jew had was joining the Body of Christ via Paul’s Gospel. Israel still lacks any special status before God. The middle wall of partition—no distinction between Jew and Gentile—was abolished long before Acts ended. Paul’s earliest epistle, written during Acts, says there is no difference between “circumcision” (Jew) and “uncircumcision” (Gentile) in the Body of Christ (Galatians 5:6; Galatians 6:15). That is true even today, after Acts.

Our dispensational boundary, the Dispensation of Grace, is found in Acts chapter 9, when the Church the Body of Christ began, and when the Gospel of the Grace of God began. We need not complicate God’s Word, beloved!

NOTES: My dear friend, if you are struggling to understand Paul’s “Acts” ministry, please see our study here. Struggle no more!

Also, within the next two days, as our special-edition Bible Q&A #200, due to repeated requests, we will be releasing a massive Bible study project. It is a 60-page full-length study, a 25-page abbreviated study, and five one-hour teaching videos. This project will address the corrupted system within the Grace Movement known as “Acts 9/28 Hybrid Theology.” Please stay tuned.