Category: encouragement

A Worthless Witness, a Useless Report, and a Profitless Audience

Friday, August 2, 2013

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:16 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is a valuable lesson from Israel’s history. We need to learn it… and quickly!

One can never discern who is more misinformed about what is really going on in the world—the mainstream news media, or the gullible public who listens to them and parrots their “information.” Many news outlets report about topics that have little to no relevance to their readers: profit, not quality news reporting, is usually the goal. Even once well-respected news agencies and “conservative” reporters seem to repeatedly discuss the same worthless stories. Consequently, they distract the public from learning about the most important issues. As a dear Christian brother in the ministry confessed, “If you want to run me out of the room, turn on the news!” (A hearty “Amen!”)

Dear Christians, we should be aware of what is occurring in the world, and we need to analyze it from the Bible-believing viewpoint, but remember that prolonged exposure to the media’s programming and literature will only lead to depression. Those journalists and anchors discuss news from an unscriptural, worldly standpoint—usually their comments are just worthless speculations void of true wisdom.

Satan polluted Israel using false prophets (see today’s Scripture). The nation was so misinformed by these self-proclaimed “servants of God” that their resultant national idolatry brought God’s wrath upon them. Israel believed that so-called “wisdom,” but God said it made them “vain” (worthless, empty, useless). Even today, sadly, many Christians are so saturated with the world’s “wisdom”—even in many alleged “Christian” churches—they have almost no understanding of what Jesus Christ said in His Holy Bible. Their Christian lives are distracted, which does exactly to them what it did to Israel’s spirituality—it makes their lives “vain,” worthless, unacceptable to God.

Hearken not to the world’s “wisdom”—that goes for the mainstream media’s reports… and the denominational churches!

Instant

Thursday, August 1, 2013

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2 KJV).

Be ready to preach the Word, anyone, anywhere, anytime….

Today’s Scripture is an excerpt from the Apostle Paul’s final epistle to a young bishop, Timothy. In this farewell letter, the elderly apostle encourages young Timothy to endure the hardness that is coming, yea, to survive the intense hardships that he is already facing in his ministry. Soon after this epistle is written, Paul will pass off this earthly scene (verses 6-8), having been executed for, in the eyes of the Roman law, preaching an “illegal message.”

In today’s Scripture, Paul is not suggesting Timothy do something. He wrote in the previous verse, “I charge [command, order] thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;” What is the Holy Ghost’s commandment to Timothy? What is His commandment to us? “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” Why must we do this?

The next two verses explain: “For [Because] 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; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

As Christians, it is our responsibility—yea, our privilege—to study God’s Word rightly divided on our own so we can then preach it (thus allowing that truth to combat the apostasy, the doctrinal error). We must be “instant [ready] in season, out of season:” we will get into Bible conversations we would never expect, with some of the people we would never expect to hear from, at a time when we would never expect them. Today’s Scripture says to “reprove [expose sin; blame], rebuke [correct], exhort [advise, encourage, urge] with all longsuffering [patience when provoked] and doctrine [sound Bible teaching].” The only way we can do this is to study God’s Word rightly divided on our own.

Again, be instant to preach the Word, anyone, anywhere, anytime!

Grace Ambassadors

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…” (2 Corinthians 5:20a KJV).

We rejoice in our Lord Jesus Christ because arC Ministries celebrates its sixth anniversary today!

In July 2007, I saw the need on Facebook for a sound Bible study group. Back then, any Bible groups—let alone sound ones—were rare on Facebook. Thus, “ambassadors for the risen Christ” was born. I wrote one or more Bible studies a week and emailed them to our members. Over the next two years, the Bible study group grew to become “ambassadors for the risen Christ Ministries” (and expanded to Myspace). (The logo “arC” is stylized because the emphasis is not on the ambassadors, but on Christ!) In fact, our original Bible study group is still on Facebook, still reaching countless souls six years later. 🙂

The ministry began to reach my college classmates and professors on campus (still ongoing). By late 2010, we expanded to write a weekly newspaper Bible study column (for 22 weeks before cancellation) and a nursing home ministry (currently on hiatus). In 2011, we again expanded to become this daily devotional blog.

Last year, we initiated a grace study Bible project (currently underway) and another Bible study blog, this blog’s sister site (still ongoing). This year, we started home Bible studies and launched a YouTube channel (1611kjvambassador). Today, we launched our Twitter feed (@kjvambassador). I hope and pray regarding additional expansions into more avenues and mediums, so we can be grace ambassadors there to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Saints, Jesus Christ is still tarrying, so let us continue to labor in Him in the ministry. It will be worth it (1 Corinthians 15:58)!! Despite the challenges and discouraging moments, we can look back on all of them and shout, “My, if faced with the choice to do it all again, our answer would be, ‘What a privilege and joy to suffer for our Saviour’s name!’” We thank God for all of you who have been with us right from “day 1,” and we look forward to serving you in the future, as God’s grace enables…. ONWARD! 🙂

You can now follow us on Twitter.

With the Saints Versus With the Ain’ts

Sunday, July 21, 2013

“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26 KJV).

Dear Christian, lift up thy chin, for thou shalt see the saints again….

Bible conferences are wonderful occasions for which members of the Church the Body of Christ fellowship with another around God’s Word, the Holy Bible. These extended periods of time are (or should be) marked by edification, encouragement, and enlightenment. Meeting with like-minded Christian brethren is very enjoyable—unity that cannot be found elsewhere.

In today’s Scripture and its context, the Apostle Paul likens Christian believers of this the Dispensation of Grace to one unit, one body. “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (verse 27). Just like our physical body has many “members” (body parts), so the Church the Body of Christ has many individual members (with Jesus Christ as its Head; Colossians 1:18). Consequently, whether in health or sickness, all of the body is affected. One Christian’s time of sadness should be a time of grief for other Christians. When one Christian is filled with joy, every other Christian should rejoice with him or her.

As people who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, we are a family in Christ, united forever. It is only natural to miss Christians who are absent, and it is expected that we feel excitement when we see other Christians. After all, that is what family members do! Again, we cannot have that unity with lost people, for they are not family. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).

While we join all our Christian brethren in lamenting the conclusion of Bible conferences, we also join them in rejoicing in that the day is coming when we shall all assemble at the “grand Bible conference.” And that “family reunion” will never end! 🙂

The Word of God, Right Here and Out There

Friday, July 5, 2013

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105 KJV).

Whether near or far, let God’s Word illuminate your life….

The Bible says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4).

Satan is “the god of this world,” and the darkness with which he is associated is spiritual ignorance. While he knows exactly what God is doing, he wants to hide that information from us! Chiefly, he hides the Gospel of the Grace of God (Paul’s Gospel) from people: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Satan uses works-religion to deceive people into thinking that their “good” works will merit favor before God.

If someone does get saved by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ alone as his or her personal Saviour, Satan will attempt to hide God’s Word from that person using works-religion again! “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit [legalism, Law-keeping; Romans 8:15], which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4).

In today’s Scripture, when the Bible says, “[God’s] word is a lamp unto my feet,” it is referring to daily Bible study for daily Christian living (practical sanctification). Moreover, the phrase “[God’s word is] a light unto my path” concerns an entire lifetime as well as eternity (soul salvation).

Let us trust Paul’s Gospel for salvation, the lamp in spiritual darkness, and let us walk by faith in the Apostle Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, the light in spiritual darkness.

Fruit to Behold in the Ages to Come

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19,20 KJV).

Remember, we will not comprehend the full impact of God’s ministry through us until eternity future….

Invariably, any King James Bible, Pauline dispensationalist has had the thought cross his or her mind, “Is this worth it?” A doubt such as this is prompted by the usual replies, “Who believes that? How could so many people be so wrong? I have been in my [denominational] church for years, and I never heard what you are teaching before! I feel comfortable in my church tradition, so do not bother me anymore with your ‘heresy!’”

In spite of all the opposition you face, you meet someone who is tired of formalism, participating in mindless rites, ceremonies, and rituals just for the sake of “doing religion.” This one soul seeks liberty from works-religion, and you have the message whereby they can be set free from the shackles of sin—the message of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ!

Despite all the opposition you face, you meet someone who is sick of existentialism, committing the sins of the flesh just to have a “good time in this one life.” This one soul seeks freedom from selfishness, and you have the message whereby they can be set free from the shackles of sin—the message of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ!

Amidst all the opposition you face, you meet someone who is tired of fanaticism, seeking experiences, emotions, and encounters just for the sake of “doing religion.” This one soul seeks liberty from emotionalism, and you have the message whereby they can be set free from the shackles of sin—the message of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ!

These precious, few souls who want to hear God’s truth make Christian service and ministry worthwhile, and for their sakes, let us continue so the remaining souls who are interested, can also become “our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing!” 🙂

Wave Not the White Flag

Saturday, June 15, 2013

“Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions 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” (Acts 20:23,24 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, our Apostle Paul was certainly not hopeless….

Today, the average Christian looks at the world, throws up his or her hands in despair, and sighs, “I give up! This world is hopeless!” Beloved, indeed, it is so much easier to just sit back, close the Good Book, and “go with the flow.” After all, “everybody else is doing it!”

The Christian soldier is never called to surrender. Yea, it is senseless to capitulate when “God be for us” (Romans 8:31). As someone who has trusted in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the sufficient payment for your sins, it really makes no difference who your enemy is!! In fact, your enemy is the devil himself, and yet, even he will eventually be subdued and bound in an everlasting lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

A spiritually mature Bible-believing Christian—that is, one who is firmly grounded in the dispensational layout and study of Scripture—understands that God is not restoring earth today unto Himself (He will do that with His earthly people, Israel, as Exodus 19:3-6 declares, once our dispensation closes). We are not called to change the whole world system. As members of the Body of Christ, we are simply here to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). We share scriptural truths with those who want to hear them; we waste not our time with those who do not want to hear.

Regardless of the situations Paul faced, and did he suffer for the Gospel’s sake (2 Corinthians 11:23-27), it did not “move” (trouble, disturb) him. He ran the Christian race and undertook the Christian ministry, ending them with joy, undistracted by the evil world system. Let us follow our Apostle in that regard. 🙂

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #5

Saturday, June 8, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

Having received their glorified bodies, and left planet earth, Jesus Christ is now escorting His Christians across the heavens with speed unsearchable. He brings us outside of the universe.

After we each stand before “the Judgment Seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:9,10) where the Lord Jesus Christ evaluates the quality of the doctrine we believed and the quality of our Christian service (1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 1 Corinthians 4:4,5; Colossians 3:23-25), including suffering for His name’s sake (2 Timothy 2:12), He presents us to God the Father in the third heaven. This is where 1 Thessalonians 3:13 picks up: “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Jesus Christ is with His saints, bringing us before God, His and our Father!

Based on the results of the Judgment Seat of Christ (that is, dependent on the capacity of our inner man to function in the government of the heavenly places), we will receive a reward, an office of heaven’s government (again, these various ranks/offices will be filled up by Christians based on their spiritual maturity levels)—see, whether you believe sound Pauline Bible doctrine or vain religious tradition is of utmost importance!!!!

Once we are individually installed in the offices of government in the heavens, they will be “subdued” under Jesus Christ’s authority (today’s Scripture). Eternity will be busy, especially using those glorified bodies! We will be able to travel those astronomical distances in only a short period of time, carrying out the will of God the Father to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, reigning in the heavenly places, forever, and ever, and ever, and ever! 🙂

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #4

Friday, June 7, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

When no one else wants to trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as his or her personal Saviour, He will return to conclude the Dispensation of Grace. The “rapture” (“catching away”) is the event whereby the Church the Body of Christ is removed from Earth, thereby allowing Israel’s program to resume where it is currently paused. Unless we understand the Bible dispensationally—that the nation Israel and her prophetic program are separate and distinct from us the Church the Body of Christ and our mystery program—we will never understand the rapture (this is why many professing “Christians” either confuse the rapture with the Second Coming, or deny it entirely).

Scripture mentions “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and… our gathering together unto him” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, we learn, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [in Latin, ‘raptured’] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” The rapture is best illustrated by a magnet (the Lord Jesus Christ) attracting iron shavings (the Christians)—it is a forceful plucking or yanking.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51,52, Paul tells us about this secret resurrection (never revealed prior to him): “Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep [die physically], but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” (cf. today’s Scripture). We Christians will receive our glorified bodies instantaneously, soaring through Earth’s atmosphere, and zooming into the heavenly places with Jesus Christ….

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #3

Thursday, June 6, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

After spending 40 days with His disciples post-resurrection, teaching them and being seen of them, the Lord Jesus can ascend into heaven to sit down at His Father’s right hand, thereby fulfilling Psalm 110:1. Notice Acts 1:9,10: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;” Luke 24:51 affirms: “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”

Jesus Christ utters His final statements to His disciples, and then something thrilling happens. As they are watching Him, His feet suddenly begin to float away from the earth’s surface! He soars upward, as a rocket or space shuttle would depart from its launch pad! His disciples stand there amazed as He travels up, up, up!

An angelic escort carries Him off, literally, physically, visibly… and then, He vanishes completely, en route to the third heaven. The distance and speed the angels and our Lord Jesus Christ are now traveling are incomprehensible, but they are bringing Him across the universe and out of it. They arrive in the third heaven, and Jesus Christ then sits at His Father’s right hand, where He sits even today in the Dispensation of Grace (Colossians 3:1).

When no one else wants to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, Father God will send Him back to planet earth, to take home His people, the Church the Body of Christ. As the Dispensation of Grace winds down, Jesus Christ will cross the universe again. While standing in earth’s atmosphere, He will call up the Christians, who will also reach mindboggling speeds….