Category: Christian name

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #35

Friday, February 12, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

In the context of intense social difficulties, including religious deception, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul penned in chapter 3 of 2 Timothy: “[14] But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; [15] And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. [16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (Read the whole chapter for the contrast.)

Proceed into chapter 4: “[1] I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Christians should “continue… in the things” they have “learned,” remembering these “things” are Pauline doctrine, the grace principles of Romans through Philemon. The very reason the professing church is in such shambles today is because it refused to heed this advice 2,000 years ago (cf. 2 Timothy 1:15). Believe and preach the Word rightly divided! If we believers in Christ save ourselves from the erroneous teachings of Satan’s evil world system, then we have a pure message to share with lost people, that they might also believe and pass from death to life, that their sin not find them out in eternity and perpetually fracture them in twain.

-FINIS!-

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #34

Thursday, February 11, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

We recall Galatians 6:7, although with the next two verses now: “[7] Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [8] For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. [9] And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Firstly, we can sow to the flesh, and the flesh will give us a harvest of corruption (losing our battle with sin). Let us not be misled into thinking the flesh (our sin nature from Adam) will result in something other than failure. Or, we can sow to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will give us a harvest of life everlasting (winning our battle with sin). Let us not be tricked into thinking the Spirit (our new nature from Christ) will result in something other than victory.

We can have either no Christian living or triumphant Christian living. If we are not living with Galatians 6:7-9 in our thoughts, we are walking “in the vanity [emptiness, worthlessness] of [our] mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in [us], because of the blindness of [our] heart” (Ephesians 4:17,18). As the lost world has sown to the flesh—that is, lived in sin—and its sin has found it out and divided it (negative), so we can sow to the Holy Spirit—that is, live in righteousness—and our righteousness will find us out and unite us (positive). Our maintaining grace doctrine as Bible believers will hinder the lie program from advancing faster. Yet, if we continue in our ways of false teaching, the Body of Christ itself will be divided and hasten the furtherance of evil. It is our choice.

Let us (finally!) conclude this devotionals arc….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is a ‘propitiation?’”

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #33

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Not only are non-Christians living contrary to God’s will for them, many of us “Christians” are equally disobedient. As they refuse to hear the truth, so we have ignored the rightly divided Scriptures to keep our church traditions. Just as they have their “holy books,” so we have used 100 modern English (different!) Bible translations to confuse and divide us for 120 years. As they bow to their pagan idols, so we have worshipped our “wafer gods,” relics, scholarship, statues, and “experiences.”

The sins of the flesh are easy to spot, but the sins of the spirit are more insidious. Relying on the sins of the spirit to fight the sins of the flesh, have we finally learned we cannot conquer sin with sin? Substitutes tricked us. We were religious, but not Christian: we were “playing” church. If we read the Bible, it was a quick verse here and there, passages our denominations approved. Whatever Bible we read, we really did not believe it. Our “feel-good” inspirational/motivational speeches distracted us from sound Bible doctrine. If this is how we got into this mess, then we do the opposite to escape it.

We must get back to the King James Bible: we need one final authority, not a hundred competing books. Also, we must return to the principles of grace, the Apostle Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon—Jesus Christ’s ministry today. Paul is our apostle (Romans 11:13), God’s spokesman to us. Supporting lies appears to bring harmony and progress, but there is no true, lasting unity and victory without sound Bible doctrine. The lost world must learn that, but we as believers in Christ must realize it first. We expect lost people to think and act like Christians when we do not think and act like Christians ourselves! Ridiculous! Until we believers are thankful for testimony of the Scriptures—grateful for our Bible heritage (albeit meager)—we have no testimony ourselves.

Let us summarize this devotionals arc….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #32

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

As members of the Body of Christ, we have two choices. Firstly, we can throw our hands up and cry out, “We surrender! Why keep believing the truth when error abounds everywhere?!” Or, we can remind ourselves of the following facts. Although America has overwhelmingly languished in unbelief for centuries, there was a remnant of believers. Therefore, the truth passed down to us. Faithful saints, teachers, delivered to us the pure Word they were taught, being traced all the way back to the Apostle Paul.

Like they, we can continue the Christian ministry of 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” If we choose to follow our culture as it increasingly disintegrates, we will definitely be wasting our time. Remember, “the word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9). Also, “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8). With or without our cooperation, the Word of God rightly divided will continue and triumph—as always. It will never lose or be lost.

Christian friends, we will not reverse our culture’s inevitable collapse. Yet, we can slow it down with sound Bible doctrine. However, it is easier said than done because it has gained momentum—and, we have let it, since we have squandered our own time on foolishness instead of believing sound Bible doctrine and then teaching it to those lost souls who needed to believe on Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. If success is where we find the Word of God dispensationally considered and believed, why not join ourselves to it? Only what God does will last forever. If we find out what He is doing today, we can do that by faith, thereby ensuring what we do will last forever….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #31

Monday, February 8, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

As to what the future holds, or how to proceed in handling it, even at this late hour the professing church still seeks answers, searching for any scintilla of understanding or glimmer of hope. Many Christians have no idea what to think or do. Paralyzed with fear, they wonder what is God’s will. Again, this underscores Christendom’s spiritual ignorance and feebleness. Have they not read their Bible that He gave them to teach them His will?! “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” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Other believers are praying for revival, that God intervene and somehow perform a miracle to save our errant culture and nation from self-destruction. Honestly, dear friends, if I could be so bold in telling you, this is wishful thinking. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12,13).

For far too long, the Church the Body of Christ has fought evil using the wrong weapons. We have relied on the energy of our flesh instead of the power of the Holy Spirit via sound Bible doctrine. Our thoughts were not God’s thoughts. Underestimating Satan, we presumed we could beat him apart from the Word of God rightly divided. Hence, the church has failed. We have assumed we can “bring in the Kingdom”—that is, make Earth so heavenly and sweet that Jesus must come down to join us. The fact is, this evil world is headed for the Tribulation, God’s undiluted wrath, and nothing we can do will stop it. There will be no national or global revival until Christ’s Second Coming.

In the meantime, here is what we can (and should) do….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #30

Sunday, February 7, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

In my 25-plus years of being a Christian, I wasted the first half of that with denominational teaching (frailty and confusion!). Since then, I have come to understand and enjoy the Scriptures. Dispensational Bible study is the key to unlocking God’s Word. Contemplate Romans 16:25,26: “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:….” Here is God’s three-fold plan to “stablish” (stabilize) us.

Since this, the Lord’s pattern for the edification of the believer, has not been followed, all we have are weak, discombobulated, and sidetracked church members. They cannot share even a basic Gospel message with anyone; also, they have little to no understanding of victorious Christian living. American Christianity is described as: country simpletons who fill cold pews with their warm bodies every Sunday and Wednesday, narrow-minded voters who are conservative (small government, pro-life, heterosexual marriage, gun rights, et cetera), loonies who believe and promote baseless conspiracy theories, gullible viewers who support money-hungry televangelists, and naïve readers who trust a compilation of ancient Jewish myths told around campfires. This is the awful portrait the lost world has of us, and it was through our irresponsibility that the Lord’s precious name and words have been dragged through mire and tarnished!

Add to that chaos the struggling Grace Movement, whose sin has also found it out and fractured in twain. Pride, backbiting, snootiness, conspiracy theories, heresies, apostasy, and so on, are destroying even us from the inside out on social media. It is truly sickening, brethren! If we are believers in Jesus Christ, we will organize our affairs, stop walking in the flesh, and get on with our Father’s business….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #29

Saturday, February 6, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

It is no secret the professing church—even the true church—has lost its way. Many so-called “Christian” ministries and organizations have gained a reputation, but not for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching sound Bible doctrine. Instead of studying God’s words and concentrating on what He is doing, they have focused on what they are doing. They hold blood drives, clothing drives, food drives, and the like. Also, they provide relief and shelter to those who have experienced disasters (storms, earthquakes, floods, droughts, et cetera). Attempting to be philanthropic, and attractive to the world, they have ignored their primary mission!

While there is nothing wrong with charitable endeavors, they are not the main role of the Body of Christ. We are called first and foremost to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). The ministry of reconciliation and the word of reconciliation have been committed to our trust (2 Corinthians 5:14-21), but denominationalism and religious tradition have diverted our attention. Good works in and of themselves are no substitute for the proclamation of a clear Gospel message. Lost people need more than temporary, physical possessions. They are in dire need of the soul salvation found only in the Gospel of the Grace of God… the very message we have been given to preach!

Alas, the Body of Christ does not have enough spiritual discernment to realize just how far it has drifted from its purpose. We cannot see anything wrong with what we are doing, but we have found fault in what everyone else is doing. Religion screams at the “unchurched,” “Shame on you, sinners, you are all going to Hell!” Christianity is, “Christ died for your sins so you would not have to go to Hell!” Only once we the Body of Christ use sound Bible doctrine to straighten up our thinking and lives, can we then proceed to teach lost people to trust the Bible themselves….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #28

Friday, February 5, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Believe it or not, dear friends, there is something far worse than the culture of the evil world system. What is it? It is the dreadful condition of the Church the Body of Christ! Organized religion has so corrupted it, it simply cannot combat the negative cultural revolution. Both the professing church and the authentic church are overwhelmingly irrelevant: sadly, professing (nominal) and possessing (genuine) Christians are just as clueless in solving society’s problems as non-Christians.

As alleged “servants” of Jesus Christ, we have failed to display the advantages of the Biblical worldview. We have compromised our beliefs because we were not even sure of them in the first place. The lost world can sense hypocrisy and frivolity from afar, and we have made the Scriptures totally repulsive. Instead of being Bible teachers, we have been defenders of superstitious silliness. We have reduced God’s Word to nothing but a dusty book of fairytales and speculations. The Church the Body of Christ has rendered itself impotent.

In the names of “scholarship” and “higher education,” we permitted false teachers to infiltrate and pollute our seminaries and churches. How silent we were in condemning and addressing our own evils; yet, we have “boldly” reproved lost people for their pornography, abortion, violence, drugs, alcohol, vulgarities, and expletives. Again, the unsaved world noticed our two-facedness, so it is no mystery why they grimace and snicker when they hear about “the Bible,” “Jesus,” “God,” and “Christians.” We have given them no solid proof as to why the Scriptures are worthy of our—let alone, their—trust!

Ultimately, the blame always falls on the sinner, not God or Satan. Never should we hold lost people solely responsible for our depraved society. Professing Christians and even genuine Christians could have done more to improve the world, for they themselves claimed to own and believe the Bible! They should have taught the lost world the truth they declared to know….

Who is a Christian? #8

Sunday, February 23, 2020

“King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:27,28 KJV).

Just who exactly is a “Christian?”

Our English word “Christian” is a transliteration of the Greek “Christianos.” In its most basic form, it means “follower of Christ.” When we look at the Bible’s usage of the title, we can fine-tune the definition. The term was first applied to Gentiles who followed Jesus Christ in Antioch of Syria (Acts 11:26)—modern Turkey. It specifically described the disciples or students of the Lord’s doctrine committed to Saul’s (the Apostle Paul’s) trust. Their core belief was faith or trust in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for sins (cf. today’s Scripture and its context).

Finally, the name became attached to the Apostle Peter’s converts, especially in the sense of following Christ in suffering persecution according to God’s will. First Peter chapter 4: “[12] Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: [13] But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. [14] If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. [15] But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. [16] Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

Paul’s final recorded words to King Herod Agrippa II were: “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (Acts 26:29). That is, “King Agrippa, I would you and all my listeners to be like me in trusting the Gospel of Grace!” Whatever subsequently happened to Agrippa is unknown. Regardless, he had heard directly from God’s Apostle of the Gentiles how to become a Christian… and now have we!

Who is a Christian? #7

Saturday, February 22, 2020

“King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:27,28 KJV).

Just who exactly is a “Christian?”

Verses 22 and 23 again: “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”

It is greatly helpful to notice Herod Agrippa II had Bible awareness before he ever met the Apostle Paul. Even as a Gentile, Agrippa was familiar with the Hebrew Old Testament. Read today’s Scripture again: “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Herod did not deny he believed the Hebrew Scriptures. What he refused to do was agree with—believe—Paul’s Gospel presentation.

Moreover, it is surely insightful to appreciate how Paul was not trying to influence Agrippa II to join a local church, get water baptized, say a “sinner’s prayer,” walk an aisle, “feel sorry” for his sins, keep commandments, partake of a holy meal, confess his sins, ask God for forgiveness, kneel and weep at an “altar,” promise to “do better,” or obey any other such common appeals prominent at “invitation time” in most local churches today. Paul wanted Agrippa to believe—have faith in—the Word of God’s Grace!

Agrippa had head knowledge and head belief, but not heart knowledge and heart belief. It was just intellectual assent with the Old Testament, which therefore rendered him unable to receive Paul’s further revelation in heart faith. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10a). The same is true of most people today—even church members. Aware of the Bible, seeing some historical facts in it, they nevertheless cannot trust it in the heart. They speak of “God,” “Jesus,” “the Holy Ghost,” “grace,” “righteousness,” and so on, but there is no faith in the soul concerning Jesus Christ.

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….