Category: The Holy Ghost

Excruciating Thursday

[Reader discretion advised: Christ’s sufferings are graphically described below.]

Thursday, April 17, 2014

“But we see 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 KJV).

His three years of earthly ministry have expired, but His greatest work is yet to come!

During the all-night interrogation in the “kangaroo court,” His sentence is passed—execution by crucifixion. They have scourged, beaten, and punched Him. Covered in their spit, they laugh at Him, and strike His head with a rod to force on the crown of thorns. His back shredded, His skull possibly fractured, His beard ripped off. His massive blood loss weakens Him further. Having been stripped of His clothing, He struggles to carry His heavy cross to Mount Calvary: Simon must carry His cross for Him. The crowds watch Him, laughing and jeering. His little flock looks on in total shock.

They lay Him on the wooden cross, yanking His limbs to nail them in place. His bones unbroken, but exposed, and His limbs dislocated. They pierce His hands and feet with long spikes, severing the median nerve in the hands, causing permanent hand paralysis. They raise up that cross, and He hangs, slowly suffocating due to His own weight. Every breath becomes increasingly difficult, His lungs fill with fluid, His heart becomes progressively strained. Eventually, He cannot breathe, and thus dies.

Now imagine His spiritual suffering. Three hours into His crucifixion, His heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost have abandoned Him. For the first time ever, He is totally alone. Physical and spiritual darkness now cover the earth. The weight of all the world’s sin and sins of all time crushes His soul. God’s undiluted wrath falls upon Him, as it does on those suffering in hellfire. He cries out in agony. Hanging on that cruel cross, with His spiritual eyes, He observes Satan himself and all his evil creatures snickering and cheering. He looks out to see His disciples staring at His helpless disfigured body. Oh, if only they knew how His physical and spiritual bodies were being tormented, utterly tortured beyond imagination!

After six hours of excruciating pain, He finally lets Himself die….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Was Jesus Christ really crucified on Friday?” 

Fishers of Men #1

Saturday, April 5, 2014

“And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes” (John 21:6 KJV).

Today’s Scripture foretells the greatest fishing trip Israel’s apostles will ever enjoy!

The Bible book we call “The Gospel According to John” is the fourth and final record of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry. John is starkly different from the so-called “Synoptic Gospels” (Matthew, Mark, and Luke): the Apostle John emphasizes aspects and events of Christ’s earthly ministry that Matthew, Mark, and Luke usually entirely disregard.

John 1:11-13 introduces the theme of the Book of John: “He [Jesus Christ] came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 20:30,31 elaborate: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

When moving the Apostle John to write his Gospel record, the Holy Ghost selected specific events of Christ’s earthly ministry, eight unique miraculous demonstrations through which Jesus taught Israel various doctrines (our King James Bible calls these miracles “signs”). These signs communicated to Israel that Jesus Christ was their Messiah/Christ, the Son of God, and that He had the ability, the power, to equip them to function as “the sons of God,” men and women who could work with God and delight in accomplishing His earthly purpose and program.

In our next few studies, we want to focus on the eighth and final sign of Jesus as recorded in John’s Gospel record. This sign, noted in today’s Scripture, is the key to understanding God’s purpose and plan in forming the nation Israel….

Religion, Riches, and Robbery

Friday, April 4, 2014

“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2:3 KJV).

Do not let religion “take you for a ride,” for you will end up paying for the trip!

In recent years, news stories involving “filthy rich” bishops, priests, and ministers seem to have become more prevalent. Only after they are caught, they “apologize” for their multimillion-dollar mansions, exotic trips and vehicles, and other lavish expenditures using “church money.” The “peon-parishioners” are forced to contribute to “God’s work” by giving, and, in return, they are reassured that their “merit” will reap “eternal benefits.” Religion is the world’s most profitable business indeed!

Dearly beloved, we must, must, MUST exercise great caution when giving to any ministry or local church. Remember, Jesus sternly rebuked the “thieves” who defiled His Father’s house, the Temple (Matthew 21:12,13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-17). Our Lord Jesus said these religious leaders “devoured widows’ houses” (Matthew 23:14; Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47). They did not think twice about taking everything they possibly could from the common Jews! Before the Apostle Paul was saved, as one of these religious leaders, he (as Saul of Tarsus) confessed that he “profited in the Jews’ religion above many [his] equals in [his] own nation” (Galatians 1:14). We read about false religious leaders swindling the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:13-20).

In the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Peter reminds his Jewish audience that just as the Holy Spirit operated through holy prophets, Satan operated through false prophets (2 Peter 1:19–2:3). These teachers of “damnable heresies” fell into the trap of materialism (1 Timothy 6:6-10) and coveted their converts’ possessions—they preached “feigned” (worthless/fake, but nice-sounding) words. The Prophet Micah, writing circa 750 B.C., reported, “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money” (3:11).

God’s grace is not against giving (2 Corinthians chapters 8-10); God’s grace is against tithing (forceful giving). We give “cheerfully” (happily; 2 Corinthians 9:6,7) to sound grace Bible churches and ministries, but, most importantly, we give carefully!

A Heart Transplant for Israel #9

Sunday, March 30, 2014

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26 KJV).

The Great Physician must perform this surgery if His beloved patient is to live!

In the prophetic program, God deals with a Jew on a two-fold basis—personal and national. For example, God wanted every individual Jew to be a priest (Isaiah 61:6; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10) so that the entire nation Israel would be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5,6; 1 Peter 2:5,9). In Jesus Christ’s earthly kingdom (yet future), Israel is to become God’s chief nation in the earth, a holy nation, the agency whom God will use to reach pagan Gentiles with His salvation (Zechariah 8:20-23; Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; et al.). However, Israel cannot lead others to salvation unless she herself is saved from Satan and her own sins.

Recall that when God promised childless Abraham a son (and a nation, Israel; Genesis 12:1-3), and did not bring it to pass until many years later, Abraham grew impatient. After waiting for a decade and still no child from God, Abraham listened to his wife and fathered a son, Ishmael, through her handmaid (Genesis 16:1-6). Twelve years later, God appeared to Abraham and instituted his physical circumcision (Genesis chapter 17). A year later, God gave Abraham, aged 100 and unable to father children, a son, Isaac, through his wife Sarah (Genesis chapter 21).

Galatians says that Ishmael was “born after the flesh” (4:23,29)—Abraham’s performance—while it says that Isaac was born “by promise, born after the Spirit” (4:23,29)—God the Holy Ghost’s performance. If God could ever use a nation born of Abraham, it could never come by human performance (Abraham’s sons were sinners, Adam’s sons)—that nation’s creation would have to be solely God’s working. Physical circumcision was God teaching Abraham and his seed through Isaac that they were dead to the flesh, sin (their performance), and the very reason they existed as a nation was because of what He did for them, not because of what they did for Him….

A Heart Transplant for Israel #5

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh”(Ezekiel 36:26 KJV).

The Great Physician must perform this surgery if His beloved patient is to live!

Recall the Holy Spirit’s words to Israel as He spoke them through the Prophet Stephen in Acts 7:51-53: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”

These specific words certainly caught Israel’s attention. “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on [Stephen] with their teeth” (verse 54). Israel’s religious leaders were greatly angered: “How dare Stephen liken us to Gentiles [‘stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears’] and how dare he call us ‘betrayers and murderers!’” They became so berserk they began chewing on Stephen! His next few words (verses 55,56), even more “offensive,” caused them to cry out, close their ears, run upon him, throw him out of Jerusalem, and stone him to death (verses 57-60)!

As Stephen stated before he died at their hands, throughout the Old Testament, Israel repeatedly broke God’s laws. Through His (their) prophets, God warned them of coming judgment. Nevertheless, Israel’s fathers persecuted—imprisoned and/or murdered—JEHOVAH’S prophets because they hated His Word the prophets spoke. Here in Acts chapter 7, Israel has not only betrayed and murdered Jesus their Messiah (God the Son), their unbelief has culminated to rejecting God the Holy Ghost and murdering His spokesman Stephen (cf. Matthew 12:31,32).

Let us proceed to discover how Stephen’s final comments (quoted above) enlighten us as to the meaning of Israel’s physical circumcision, and how it explains the necessity of Israel’s heart transplant….

A Heart Transplant for Israel #4

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26 KJV).

The Great Physician must perform this surgery if His beloved patient is to live!

Crucified on Calvary’s cross, slowly dying a most excruciating demise, Jesus interceded on behalf of His beloved nation, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). They knew they were killing their Messiah (it was impossible to accidentally overlook the hundreds of Old Testament Messianic prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His few short years on earth). Israel intentionally ignored those fulfilled prophecies, lest they agree with God. Their “desperately wicked, deceitful heart” (Jeremiah 17:9) caused them to act irrationally—they were spiritually insane, out-of-control (sinners “make haste to shed innocent blood;” Isaiah 59:7).

A year after Calvary, the Holy Spirit indicted Israel through the Prophet Stephen (just before they murdered him, too): “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it” (Acts 7:51-53). Paul, quoting the Prophet Isaiah, “But to Israel he [the LORD] saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying [rebellious] people” (Romans 10:21; Isaiah 65:2). In Old Testament times, in Christ’s earthly ministry, and even in Acts, Israel had a heart problem!

Spiritually, Israel was just as opposed to God’s Word as the Gentiles who worshipped vain idols. Jews and Gentiles were equally stubborn—the old sin nature worked mightily in both races. In order for God to use Israel (and later on, us Gentiles), He would have cut out that heart of sin that all descendants of Adam have. That old sin nature would have to be surgically removed.…

Bible Study 102 #13

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to understand the Bible!

Beginning in Acts chapter 9 with our Apostle Paul’s salvation unto eternal life, but also throughout his ministry, the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ directly revealed Himself to him (Acts 26:12-18; 2 Corinthians 12:1; Galatians 1:11,12; Ephesians 3:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:10,11)—Christ’s heavenly ministry. The Holy Spirit, through our reading and studying of Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, reveals those Pauline (grace) doctrines to us, enabling us to understand them (Ephesians 1:17,18; Ephesians 3:4,5).

According to God the Holy Ghost, the test for true spirituality today is Pauline doctrine: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I [Paul] write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). If someone is speaking on God’s behalf (called a “prophet” in Bible days) and/or if someone is “spiritual” (led by the Holy Spirit), then he or she will magnify the Lord Jesus Christ’s heavenly ministry, Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon. Those who emphasize Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry (Matthew through John), Hebrews through Revelation, Genesis through Malachi, or even early Acts, as doctrine that we should follow and apply today, the Bible says they are not led by God’s Holy Spirit and they are not speaking on God’s behalf! (Just as Jews who rejected Moses’ writings were not led by God’s Spirit or speaking for God.)

Beloved, any church, any minister, any seminary, or any literature or media that does not instruct you to follow God’s grace doctrines as found in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, the Bible says “avoid them” (Romans 16:17,18) and “from such withdraw thyself” (1 Timothy 6:3-5)—God says avoid 99.9999 percent of so-called “Christianity!!!” Regardless of their sincerity or appeal, God the Holy Spirit insisted through Paul and Peter that we are not to hinder or destroy our spiritual growth with non-dispensational Bible doctrine (2 Corinthians 11:3,4; Colossians 2:4,8; 2 Timothy 2:14-26; 2 Peter 3:15,16). We need not do Satan’s work for him….

Bible Study 102 #12

Monday, March 17, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to understand the Bible!

From Genesis through Revelation, God the Holy Ghost reveals, inspires, preserves, translates, and teaches God’s Word. Genesis 1:2,3 say, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Jesus declared, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). The Apostle Peter penned: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20,21).

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) really means that the Spirit of God spoke those words. First, notice the root –spir (as in “spirit”) in “inspiration.” Now, consider that “spirit” and “air” (as in “breathe” or “Spirit”) are actually the same word—pneuma—in Greek (the original language of the New Testament Scriptures). Interestingly, theopneustos is the word translated “inspiration of God”—notice the prefix pneu– (as in the Holy Spirit). Finally, recall Jesus Christ’s declaration, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). In summation, the words of Scripture are the words that God the Holy Ghost breathed out/spoke (“given by inspiration of God”).

The Holy Bible is “given by inspiration of God,” meaning His Holy Spirit initially gave it to mankind. If we are to understand the words that God the Holy Spirit has revealed, inspired, preserved, and translated, we must allow the Holy Spirit to teach us to “rightly divide the word of truth” (today’s Scripture), to recognize Paul as God’s spokesman to us (1 Corinthians 14:37; Ephesians 3:1-11)….

Bible Study 102 #8

Thursday, March 13, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to understand the Bible!

When Scripture says we Christians are “workmen” (today’s Scripture), Ephesians 2:10 (“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”) and 1 Corinthians 3:9 (“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building”) explain that God has saved us unto eternal life so we could join Him in accomplishing His will (which we could not do when we were lost, headed for eternal hellfire, participants in Satan’s policy of evil).

Recall that God has a two-fold will: save all people from their sins and Satan, and then save all Christians from all false doctrine (1 Timothy 2:4). Satan has a two-fold will that counters God’s: hide the Gospel of Grace from all people, and hide sound Pauline (grace) doctrine from all Christians. Religious tradition—a non-dispensational approach the Scripture—furthers Satan’s policy of evil, for it keeps lost people lost, and it keeps Christians ignorant of God’s will, His Word to them.

Satan, “the god of this world,” “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,” by causing lost people to ignore Paul’s Gospel and trust in their own religious performance to gain a right standing before God (2 Corinthians 4:3,4). Moreover, Satan misleads Christians to introduce into their lives everything but God’s grace to them in Christ—the wrong “Jesus” (His earthly ministry in Matthew through John, rather than His heavenly ministry as revealed through Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon), the wrong “spirit” (law rather than grace, Romans 6:14 cf. Romans 8:15), and the wrong “gospel” (Israel’s kingdom gospel rather the Gospel of Grace of 1 Corinthians 15:3,4) (2 Corinthians 11:3,4).

We Christians are “workmen” when we “study… rightly dividing the word of truth,” and our faith in those verses causes the Holy Spirit to bring them to life in our lives, thus aligning us with God’s will for us….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Should Christians observe Lent?“

Bible Study 102 #7

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to understand the Bible!

Moved by God the Holy Ghost, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder [Greek, arkitekton, “architect”], I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed [beware!!] how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:9-11).

Father God is currently forming the Church the Body of Christ (as opposed to the nation Israel in time past and the ages to come). He is the Builder of this edifice, this vessel in which He desires to deposit His sound doctrine (the body of truth called the “Dispensation of Grace;” Ephesians 3:2). He has revealed “blueprints” for this new creature, this “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15), this agency the Body of Christ, through Paul, His “wise masterbuilder.”

Jesus Christ had a ministry prior to Paul’s ministry, and He had 12 apostles before Paul’s apostleship, but the risen and ascended Lord Jesus from heaven selected and commissioned Paul to be a new apostle, to serve in a new program—mystery (Romans 16:25)—rather than Israel’s prophetic program (Acts 3:21), to impart a new revelation to mankind (Dispensation of Grace), another way to view the Person of Jesus Christ (Head of the Body, Saviour of all men, King of the heavenly places).

If we are to join God in accomplishing His will, and build what He is building today, we must study and follow the blueprints, and Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, are God’s blueprints for His will today. God the Holy Spirit cautioned us not to ignore or forsake His instructions to us through Paul, by following His will for Israel (the remainder of the Bible). Dispensational Bible study is the only way we discover God’s blueprints for His current will….