Category: encouragement

Unlearned and Ignorant Men… Sort Of

Saturday, February 23, 2013

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 KJV).

They were not entirely “unlearned and ignorant….”

Christendom often requires one to have a degree to teach the Bible… or, ludicrously enough, even to sing in the church choir (!). Dear saints, memorize today’s Scripture, and let it, not traditional thinking, be your authority in that matter.

Firstly, studying the Bible’s original languages of Hebrew and Greek is not evil in and of itself. Regardless, our King James Bible says in English exactly what the divinely preserved Bible texts read in Hebrew and Greek. Also, it is critical to note that knowledge of Greek and Hebrew does not necessarily make one a sound Bible authority. Millions of heretics and apostates are Hebrew- and Greek-literate!

Music degrees are not evil either, but they do not necessarily equip us to worship God with musical instruments and singing. Millions of hell-bound Bible-haters have prestigious music awards and impressive discographies: their lyrics and lifestyles are certainly not bringing the God of the Bible any glory.

The second greatest blunder of the professing “church”—ranking just under its failure to study the Bible dispensationally—is its emphasis on education. Frankly, unless you have attended seminary for a decade, and save you have been “approved” by some denomination, you really are a nobody. While you certainly want a degreed surgeon, you might want to reconsider that principle when seeking a church leader! Why? Some of the most ridiculous, heretical, and blasphemous statements I have ever read and heard came from the pens and lips of preachers and teachers from seminary!

In today’s Scripture, Israel’s “educated” religious leaders were amazed when they observed the Apostles Peter and John. “Look at those silly fishermen who lack our education! How can such unlearned and ignorant men boldly preach such wisdom?!” HOW? “They had been with Jesus.” They had the Lord of glory as their personal teacher, as do we (1 Corinthians 2:11-16). Beloved, be not intimidated by the “sort of educated” (1 Corinthians 1:25-31). 🙂

Saved from Hell, But Lost in Tradition #7

Thursday, February 21, 2013

“…God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4 KJV).

Can someone go to heaven without ever learning dispensational Bible study?

Yes, provided that they had faith in the right Gospel message, the Gospel of the Grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:3,4): “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day.” Acts 2:38, Matthew 3:2, and Mark 1:15 are not valid Gospels for us today—they are Israel’s salvation message, and they belong in Israel’s program.

While God wants all people to be saved from hell—that every person trust in the shed blood, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for his or her sins—God also wants every Christian to understand why He saved him or her (today’s Scripture). Although dispensational Bible study does not provide eternal life and salvation from hell—the Gospel of the Grace of God does that!—it does provide salvation from false teaching by explaining the practical implications of our salvation from hell. God has two programs in His Word, Israel’s prophetic program for earth and our mystery program for the heavenly places, and in the end, “in the dispensation of the fulness of times,” these two programs will bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:9,10; Colossians 1:16-20).

Today, there are millions of Christians who are heaven-bound. However, it is unfortunate that the majority have little to no understanding of “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Due to church tradition, they often confuse God’s Word to Israel (Genesis through Malachi, Matthew through John, early Acts, Hebrews through Revelation) with God’s Word to us (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon); they apply Israel’s doctrine to their lives and then wonder why Bible study becomes burdensome confusion! They, ignorant of God’s will for them, are “taken captive by [the devil] at his will” (2 Timothy 2:26).

Beloved, in Christ, we are saved from hell forever. Now, let us remain steadfast in the rightly divided Scriptures, and let us not be lost in tradition.

We are thrilled to have recently launched our ministry YouTube channel. We only have one home Bible study video uploaded at the moment, but we will upload more as time goes by. By next week, we should have three additional home Bible study videos on YouTube next week! 😉 Praise the Lord! You can “meet” me teaching God’s Word rightly divided at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PncTlYsZ9eA.

Saved from Hell, But Lost in Tradition #6

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

“…God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4 KJV).

Can someone go to heaven without ever learning dispensational Bible study?

Salvation from hell—“God who will have all men to be saved” (today’s Scripture).

What has God done for man that man could never do for himself? How has the Lord Jesus Christ dealt with our sin problem, fully and completely? What must we do to be saved, to appropriate to our account, what Jesus Christ did for us, so we can avoid eternal hellfire?

The Gospel of the Grace of God answers these questions. “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Salvation from false teaching—“God who will have all men to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (today’s Scripture).

Why is Almighty, holy God willing to save us weak, sinful humans from the hellfire we deserve? What will He do with us who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour? How does Christ’s finished crosswork impact our lives on a daily basis?

Dispensational Bible study answers these questions. We study all of the Bible, but we emphasize Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, God’s Word written to and about us members of the Church the Body of Christ. God will use us in the heavenly places for all eternity to glorify Jesus Christ there (2 Corinthians 5:1; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:6,7; 2 Timothy 4:18). “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). We received Christ by faith without our works; our Christian life will operate likewise—by faith in what Christ will do in and through us. “Ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). We are “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

God is Love

Thursday, February 14, 2013

“…God is love… God is love… We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:8b,16b,19 KJV).

The word “love” is used very flippantly in today’s world. Of the many who speak about “love,” few know what it is. On this Valentine’s Day, we offer sound doctrine from God’s Word to correct the misunderstandings of what love really is. What is love, according to God’s Word?

Today’s Scripture says that “God is love”—God does not simply love, but His very nature is love. What does that mean? In 1 John 3:16, we read: “Hereby we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us:” Our Apostle Paul put it this way: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s nature is love—selfless, self-sacrificing!

God’s Word defines love and charity in 2 Corinthians 12:15: “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” Love is seeking the best interest of others, even if it costs you something (time, energy, resources, et cetera). Charity is love in deed (demonstrated, manifested in action). God loved us, so He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. It cost God the Father His Son, and it cost God the Son His life. What a selfless act!

Our nature in Adam is selfish, but our nature in Christ is not. Paul declares, “the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). We who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, our Christian lives are driven and motivated by Christ’s love for us, not our love for Him. It is this unselfish love of Christ working in us that causes us to look on the things of others, to seek their edification and their benefit, not ours (Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 10:24; Philippians 2:1-11). This will result in charity, our selfless actions reflecting that love of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:15).

As the lost world observes our Christian service, they will see, “God is love.”

*Adapted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The (2012) Bible study can be read here or watched here.

Fearful Versus Fearless

Monday, February 4, 2013

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV).

As our world wallows in fear and uncertainty, we have peace and strength in Christ.

In recent months, I have spoken to Christians and lost people who are concerned about national and world events. Both lost and saved people alike know that our culture, especially in the United States, is undergoing significant change. Decades ago, one Christian brother lamented, “Society’s moral fabric is rotting.” I wonder what he would say today?! To exacerbate the situation, the quality of much of Christendom’s teaching and preaching is just as godless and unscriptural as society’s morality. But there is hope!

God did not take us to heaven the moment we trusted Christ as our personal Saviour. Instead, He left us here on earth. Why? Jesus Christ, “the light of the world” (John 8:12), now lives in us members of His Body. We Christians are the vessels in which God has deposited the life of His Son, so He can then manifest His spiritual light to this dark world! Beloved, it is our privilege to be here as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Let us not shrink away in fear.

Instead of being fearful and hiding in our homes to avoid the evil world system, we can be fearless beacons of hope and light in and to this lost and dying world. Paul’s encouraging words to the Philippians were: “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (2:14-16).

We, the Church the Body of Christ, may be a small group of people, and yes, we King James Bible Pauline dispensationalists are a remnant within that remnant, but God Almighty is on our side, and nothing He does is in vain. Let us fearlessly continue in sound Bible doctrine!

Saint, Why Sayest Thou Nothing? #7

Saturday, February 2, 2013

“Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13 KJV).

You are not alone in being shy about witnessing for Jesus Christ….

Until we leave these physical bodies of sin, we will continue to deal with our weak, sinful flesh. Hence, we are not always bold in witnessing. The world still appeals to our flesh: we keep quiet about the Bible in order to keep our social standing—our “friends” and their “respect.” We want to avoid conflict and persecution. As our Lord Jesus Christ declared, “It is the spirit that quickeneth [makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Though our flesh is weak, and “good for nothing,” we who have trusted exclusively the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, have life in Christ! Rather than pining away in the old thinking patterns (the ‘say nothing’ attitude), we can have faith in God’s Word. We can believe Christ’s words and let them transform us. “…The word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

The Holy Spirit lives within us members of the Church the Body of Christ. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit strengthens us through His Word, and gives us the boldness to preach and share Jesus Christ with this lost and dying world. As the Lord told Paul, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee…” (Acts 18:9,10). God says the same thing to us!

Remember, if the people suffering in hell could come back, they would urge you to tell their surviving family and friends about Jesus Christ, lest they too wind up suffering God’s righteous wrath forever. The rich man in hell told Abraham: “…Send [Lazarus] to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:27,28).

“Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee….”

Saint, Why Sayest Thou Nothing? #6

Friday, February 1, 2013

“Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13 KJV).

You are not alone in being shy about witnessing for Jesus Christ….

In the first half of Acts chapter 18, Paul is on his secondary apostolic journey (circa A.D. 54). He arrives in Corinth, a port city adjacent to Athens (southern Greece). After preaching there some Sabbath days—indicating weeks—the Jews begin to “oppose themselves” (verse 6). They do not want to hear that they have killed their Messiah; they refuse to believe that their prophetic program is passing away. Paul, like earlier in Acts 13:46, announces to Israel that God is now ministering to Gentiles without her: “From henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles” (Acts 18:6). Understandably, they grow upset! “God is saving those wretched, pagan Gentiles [us]?!”

Paul fears what these unbelieving Jews might do now that Crispus, the chief of the synagogue, his household, and other Corinthians, have trusted Christ (verse 8). “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city” (verses 9,10). Paul continues preaching in Corinth for 18 months (verse 11), no man killing him… yet!

About six years later, Paul is in Ephesus (western Turkey). He convenes with the Ephesian church leaders, informing them that he now goes to Jerusalem, “not knowing the things that shall befall [him] there” (Acts 20:22). Still, Paul explains what he does know: “The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds [chains/imprisonments] and afflictions [troubles] abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (verses 23,24).

Paul’s attitude should be our attitude. Persecution should not discourage us, nor should it silence us. We have the Gospel of the Grace of God to preach, so let us do that boldly!

Saint, Why Sayest Thou Nothing? #5

Thursday, January 31, 2013

“Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13 KJV).

You are not alone in being shy about witnessing for Jesus Christ….

Once the Apostle Paul began his ministry, and started preaching the glorious Gospel of the Grace of God (that we are saved by grace through faith without works), legalism (works-religion/Mosaic Law-keeping) contradicted his message and confused and divided Christians (sound familiar?). Two areas where legalism was dominant were Ephesus and Galatia.

Paul instructed Timothy, a church leader in Ephesus, to “charge [command] some that they teach no other doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3). They have swerved from “godly edifying” and “faith unfeigned [genuine],” and have “turned aside unto vain jangling [useless, foolish talking]; desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm” (verses 6,7).

Sometime later, Paul writes a second epistle to Timothy. It is the Apostle’s final letter. Paul pens that he is “mindful of [Timothy’s] tears” (2 Timothy 1:4). Timothy is very discouraged in the ministry, as evidenced by Paul’s encouragement: “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (verses 6-8).

Timothy is now ashamed of God’s Word and of Paul’s imprisonment. He once courageously proclaimed God’s Word, but now he is craven. The false teachers in Ephesus have intimidated him to silence, lest they have “competition.” Paul instructs Timothy not to fear the lost world. He should endure the suffering that comes with being a Christian. He should speak up about God’s Word! How can he do this? “According to the power of God!” Dear saints, our flesh is weak, but God’s power is more than sufficient to give us boldness to speak His Word to this lost and dying world.

Saint, Why Sayest Thou Nothing? #4

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

“Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13 KJV).

You are not alone in being shy about witnessing for Jesus Christ….

In Mark 14:27 (cf. Matthew 26:31), just before His arrest, the Lord Jesus declared to His disciples, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night.” Peter replied, “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I” (Mark 14:29; cf. Matthew 26:33). When Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him thrice, Peter spake the more vehemently, and all the other disciples affirmed that, to the death, they would never be ashamed of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:34,35; Mark 14:30,31).

Once the multitude came and bound Jesus, “all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (Matthew 26:56). When thrice asked whether or not he was with Jesus Christ, Peter denied it all three times (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:55-62). “And Peter went out, and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). The very men who claimed they were going to die for and with Jesus Christ, were the ones who abandoned Him during the moments leading up to His death!

Our flesh is weak, as the above verses demonstrate. We can say we will do one thing, but end up doing the opposite. Nevertheless, there is hope for them… and us! Many weeks after Calvary’s crosswork, these timid men, “…Prayed, [and] the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). Earlier, on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preached a magnificent sermon to Israel (Acts 2:14-40). “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (verse 4).

Notice this stark difference. Christ’s disciples were shy and weak in their own strength. However, when they relied on the power of the Holy Ghost, they boldly proclaimed God’s Word! The same is true with us today. We grow timid and fearful when witnessing because that is our weak flesh. However, God the Holy Spirit is more than willing to speak through us!

Saint, Why Sayest Thou Nothing? #3

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

“Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13 KJV).

You are not alone in being shy about witnessing for Jesus Christ….

In John chapter 9, Jesus Christ heals a man who was blind from birth. Because it is the Saturday Sabbath, the pedantic, “law-keeping” Pharisees are filled with anger (verse 14). They proceed to interrogate and harass the healed man, further hardening their unbelieving hearts. Unless they can ask His parents if he was blind, they will not believe that he was healed. So, they call forth his parents.

Read their “testimony” in John 9:20-23: “His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.”

Notice why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” They would have to admit that Jesus Christ performed the healing miracle, and this they refuse to do because it would jeopardize their social standing. They would be labeled a “God nut” and they would lose their “friends,” so, they do not dare declare Jesus is Christ/Messiah.

John 12:42,43 summarizes this issue: “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

People do not always welcome us with “open arms” when we preach the Gospel of the Grace of God, so we are prone to stay silent, just as these people in the Bible did, lest we are relegated to a “Bible-believing fanatic” status. This should not be so. Thankfully, with God, there is a solution!