Category: The Holy Ghost

What Does God Want Me to Do? #10

Saturday, April 7, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

Today’s Scripture tells us God’s “good pleasure” is to work in and through us to accomplish His will. When we place our faith in the sound (dispensational) Bible doctrine that tells us what God is doing today (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon), then God the Holy Spirit will use that doctrine to transform us from the inside (soul) out (lifestyle)!

Epaphras prayed that the Colossian believers “would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (4:12). Compare that to Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian believers: “Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:11,12; cf. Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-11). The goal of God’s working in and through us is to glorify “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in [us],” and to “glorify [us] in him.”

God wants “the word of Christ” to “dwell in [us] richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16)—to fill us with sound (dispensational) Bible doctrine that will literally “dwell” (live) in us (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:13)! The indwelling Holy Spirit takes the sound Bible doctrine we believe and He uses it to form Christ Jesus in us, so that the sound Bible teaching (Christ’s life) is literally transferred to us, and then our lifestyles better reflect God’s grace (Titus 2:11-15).

The “fruit of the Spirit” (evidence of the Holy Ghost working in us) will then be manifested in our lives: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22,23).

What does God want you to do? He (Jesus Christ) wants you to allow Him to live His life in and through you (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21) as your study and believe His Word His way (dispensationally).

What Does God Want Me to Do? #9

Friday, April 6, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

What does God want you to do? He wants you the Christian to walk in an intelligent understanding of His Word to you (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon).

Once you study, learn, and believe the King James Bible rightly divided (dispensationally), the indwelling Holy Ghost will use that sound Bible doctrine to work mightily in you (today’s Scripture). “…The word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). God wants to teach us Christians His doctrine, so we can then believe that doctrine, so He can then use that doctrine to form Christ Jesus in us (Galatians 4:19). Literally, the result will be “Christ [living] in us, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27; cf. Ephesians 3:16,17). “Christ… is our life” (Colossians 3:4). Galatians 2:20: “…Christ liveth in me….” Actually, our life is not our life; it is Christ living His life in and through us (Philippians 1:21).

Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote: “[Christ] Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect [spiritually mature] in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:28,29). The same Spirit of God that worked in Paul to accomplish his ministry now wants to do that same work in and through us!

God’s will is not so much for us to do His will, but for us to allow Him to accomplish His will in and through us as we cooperate by faith in His Word to us (“Without faith it is impossible to please [God];” Hebrews 11:6). God saved us, not simply to give us sinners an opportunity to avoid the hellfire that we deserve, but to make us trophies of His grace by Him doing the work in and through us (Ephesians 2:10).

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ [the rapture]” (Philippians 1:6).

What Does God Want Me to Do? #8

Thursday, April 5, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

God wants to build Himself a house, a place in which He can not only live, but an habitation where He feels right at home! Will you let Him work in you to accomplish that goal?

In Ephesians chapter 2 (which I encourage you to read on your own), the Apostle Paul describes our sinful lifestyles and wicked nature before our salvation in Christ Jesus (verses 1-3). Verses 4-10 discuss how God saved us from sin and His wrath in order to make us His “workmanship” (creation). Verses 11 and 12 explain that when God dealt with Israel in “time past,” we Gentiles were “without Christ.” Verses 13-18 explain “but now,” in our Dispensation of Grace, God has removed the division between Jew and Gentile. God is now forming a spiritual body of believers, Jews and Gentiles. Why?

Verses 19-22 explain: “Now therefore ye [believing Gentiles] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

God is forming the Church the Body of Christ so He can have a house (“an habitation”). Amazing, huh?! The Holy Spirit not only lives in us Christians (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 2 Timothy 1:14), He wants to also live through us—to manifest His life living in us, so the lost world can see our new lifestyles and glorify Him!! God wants to fill our minds with sound doctrine, which we gain from proper (dispensational) Bible study, so the Holy Spirit can then take that doctrine and work in us (1 Thessalonians 2:13), “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (today’s Scripture).

The world cannot see Christ’s physical body; instead, they see Him living in us Christians!

What Does God Want Me to Do? #7

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

Every person has an innate knowledge of the Creator God (Romans 1:17-23; Romans 2:14,15): those who deny His existence have a heart problem (a sinful heart; Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1)! For those of us who are willing to submit to God’s authority, what exactly does God want us to do? God does exist; why do we?

People naturally seek purpose and meaning in life, but, sorrowfully, they usually never find them because they always look in the wrong places. Scientific analysis, although very interesting, is not the method whereby we learn our origin and our purpose. In order to learn God’s will, we need to look in the right place (the Bible!).

The Apostle Paul wrote, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” (Ephesians 5:15-18).

As people who have trusted in Christ Jesus alone as our personal Saviour, God’s Holy Spirit wants to fill us—not to give us a “charismatic high,” but rather to transform us from the inside out. God does not want us Christians living carelessly: “walk circumspectly [carefully, cautiously], not as fools, but as wise….” God wants to fill us Christians with His Spirit so He can be glorified in our church families (Ephesians 5:19-21), our marriages and families (Ephesians 5:22–6:4), and our workplace (Ephesians 6:5-9).

God’s will is to “strengthen [us] with might by his Spirit in the inner man [soul]; that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:16,17). The indwelling Holy Spirit wants to strengthen us with sound doctrine so Christ can live His life in and through us (cf. Galatians 2:20)! This is “Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith,” and this is God “working in [us] both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (today’s Scripture).

What Does God Want Me to Do?

Thursday, March 29, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

Someone recently asked, “What does God want me to do in life?” Well, what would God want us to do?

God wants to use us for His glory, but sin interferes: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). So, in order to use us, God must first save us from ourselves (sin, death, and ultimately hell). This is why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, to shed His innocent blood for our forgiveness (to wash away our sins), and to resurrect the third day for our justification (to give us a right standing before God). That is Paul’s Gospel, the Gospel of the Grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

God’s will is to have “all men saved” (1 Timothy 2:4a); God wants no one to go to hell forever (2 Peter 3:9). Do you want to do God’s will? Get saved! Trust Christ Jesus alone as your personal Saviour (Paul’s Gospel) and receive eternal life in heaven. God the Holy Spirit will then take you and place you into the Church the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). Salvation is that simple!

But, God’s will is to also have “all men… come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4b). Once a person is saved, God then wants him or her to learn why He saved them. God wants to teach us His overall goal for creation and our role in accomplishing that purpose (we learn this by studying His Word, the Bible). Do you want to do God’s will as a Christian? Follow the Apostle Paul as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1)! Learn about God’s will for you in this Dispensation of Grace by focusing on Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

As today’s Scripture teaches, God wants to accomplish a magnificent work in us, a work that will literally reverberate throughout the ages to come (eternity future). He wants to save us forever so He can use us forever.

My Soul is Secure in Christ

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

“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” (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV).

According to today’s Scripture, those of us who have trusted exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we are eternally secure in Christ. We have committed unto God our very souls, and God Himself has promised that He will forever keep us. How can we unworthy sinners have such a glorious hope?

We Christians are unfaithful, rebellious creatures who still live in these sinful human bodies. Thankfully, our salvation is independent of our performance. “If we believe not, yet [Christ Jesus] abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). No matter what, we Christians are the Church the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ cannot deny Himself!

God the Father has given us Christians “the earnest [promise] of the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22). God has guaranteed our salvation by giving us the indwelling Holy Spirit, “the earnest of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14). God has promised us salvation in Christ, and He cannot lie (Titus 1:2).

We have confidence in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul writes: “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:5-8).

Verily, verily, once we members of the Body of Christ die physically, the Holy Spirit Himself will escort us to live with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven’s glory (to wait for the resurrection/rapture; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

I rejoice in the Lord: God Almighty has captured my soul and my soul is secure in Christ (Romans 8:35-39).

Read the King James Bible on Your Own #1

Friday, March 23, 2012

“How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Ephesians 3:3,4 KJV).

Does your local church forbid you to read the Bible on your own? Some groups (cults) want to keep their members in spiritual darkness, so they forbid them to read the Scriptures. These dear members are told they cannot understand the Bible on their own. They are reassured to rely on the “education” of the pastor/priest/pope and trust in his (or her!!) interpretation of the Bible. My, oh my, this is the most dangerous spiritual mistake of all!!!

The Apostle Paul, led by the Holy Ghost, instructed the Ephesians in today’s Scripture. If they would read God’s Word, the Bible, they would gain just as much knowledge about God and His will for this Dispensation of Grace as much as he (Paul) had: “when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” They were not to depend on Paul the man; they were to depend on God’s Word. Never, EVER rely on the word of someone—including me—without consulting God’s Word and studying it yourself.

Scripture does not say much about Berea, but it does say this town was the home of saints who “searched the scriptures daily, whether these things [the things Paul preached] were so” (Acts 17:10,11). They were reading and understanding the Bible without a priest or preacher’s “interpretation.”

You need not a decade of seminary (the Bible “cemetery!”) to understand God’s Word. Trust in Christ Jesus alone as your personal Saviour and then allow God the Holy Ghost to teach you His Word (1 Corinthians 2:9-16). Get a King James Bible (God’s preserved Word and words), and study and believe it dispensationally: Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon) are God’s Word to us, the rest of the Bible concerns Israel. Never take anyone else’s word or mine regarding the Bible. Take God’s Word and read it on your own to see if what was said or written is so!

God’s Workmanship #1

Friday, March 2, 2012

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV).

Many charge us Pauline dispensationalists with the following: “You are telling people to sin all they want because God’s grace and forgiveness cover it!” When we proclaim God’s grace, are we really encouraging people to pursue careless, frivolous lifestyles, as our (legalistic) critics claim? Or, are they simply misunderstanding grace?

The Greek word translated “workmanship” in today’s Scripture is poiema, meaning “creation,” from which we get “poem.” Interestingly, poiema is used one other time in Scripture: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

From salvation and the Christian life to the origin of the universe, the emphasis is not on the creation (us, the heavens, and the earth), but on the Creator, Jesus Christ (see Romans 1:25). Just as we did not engineer the heavens and the earth, neither did we work to receive salvation in Christ—Christ alone worked to save us. Now that God has saved us, His grace can permeate our inner man, and teach us how to live in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11-15).

Grace teaches us not to focus on what we do for God, for we sinners can do nothing to please God (Romans 3:23), but rather focus on what God did at Calvary for us. Our good works could not save us, so how could they keep us saved? They cannot! Thus, our receiving and keeping salvation, and our Christian lives, are not reliant upon our performance, but on Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary.

As today’s Scripture specifies, we are not doing good works. “Our” good works are actually the outward manifestation of what God the Holy Spirit is doing internally (Galatians 5:22,23; cf. Romans 8:1-14). When we study and believe sound Bible doctrine, God will use that doctrine to transform us from the inside out (Philippians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). We are God’s workmanship!

The Unholy Trinity

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2 KJV).

Satan is the master counterfeiter. Before his fall from heaven, he declared: “I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Satan mimics everything that God does, thereby getting man to focus on the counterfeits rather than paying attention to God’s original. Take, for instance, the unholy trinity, which will manifest itself after our dispensation closes. The Bible, in Revelation chapter 13, describes the “unholy trinity.” Just as God exists in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 5:7)—the devil has his “trinity.”

In today’s Scripture, we see two of the members of the “unholy trinity.” The first is a dragon, a metaphor for Satan (cf. Revelation 12:9). Next is the antichrist, the world ruler of the future seven-year Tribulation, who is described as a “beast” (not a literal animal, but a man with a bestial, or cruel, nature). In Revelation 13:11, we read of “another beast,” an additional bestial (vicious) man, “the false prophet,” a religious leader who will perform satanic miracles and serve as the antichrist’s assistant (Revelation 19:20).

God’s Word tells us in today’s Scripture that the dragon (Satan) will give power to the beast (antichrist). Just as God the Father will give the earth’s kingdoms to Jesus Christ one day (Psalm 2:6-9; Daniel 7:13,14; Revelation 11:15)—which will occur after the seven-year Tribulation—Satan will first give them to the antichrist. See how that mimics God’s program? Did you notice how Satan will mimic God the Father?

The antichrist will pretend to be Jesus Christ, thus he will mimic Him (Revelation 6:2; cf. Revelation 19:11-13). According to Revelation 13:11-15, just as the Holy Ghost directs worship to Jesus Christ (John 16:13), the false prophet (the counterfeit Holy Ghost) will direct worship to the antichrist (the counterfeit Jesus Christ). That unholy trinity, like Satan today, will deceive the masses during Daniel’s 70th week.

Do We Have Guardian Angels?

Monday, February 6, 2012

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is one of the scores of verses that speak of “guardian angels.” But do we have guardian angels today, in our Dispensation of Grace?

Throughout the Old Testament, angels protected and guided the nation Israel (Exodus 23:20,23; Exodus 33:2; Judges 6:11,12; 2 Kings 19:35; et al.). “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11,12).

In the New Testament, angels ministered to Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43). Angels rescued the imprisoned apostles (Acts 5:18-26) and delivered the Apostle Peter from prison (Acts 12:1-11). Yet, when we come to our Apostle Paul, God uses an earthquake—not an angel—to free him from prison (Acts 16:23-28). Why?

Notice what Paul writes about angels today. They should not be worshipped (Colossians 2:18) and that, if a supposed “angel” appears to us today, it would do so only to deceive by preaching to us a false gospel (Galatians 1:8; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14). But, Paul’s epistles are silent about guardian angels in our Dispensation of Grace. We are not guaranteed physical protection with angels like God promised Israel, but we Christians have something better: we have eternal spiritual protection because the indwelling Holy Spirit is guarding our souls (Ephesians 4:30; cf. Romans 8:35-39).

Furthermore, Paul writes that, while angels have no ministry to us today, we have a ministry to them! The angels are curious about what God is doing, so they learn this by watching us, the Church the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 11:10; Ephesians 3:9,10; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:21). Smile, they are watching! 🙂

But, what about Hebrews 1:14: “Are they [the angels of verse 13] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Notice, this is the book of Hebrews—this is speaking of future Israel.

We do not need angels today—they need us.