Category: encouragement

He Took My Sins Away #5

Sunday, August 24, 2014

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:25 KJV).

The chorus of Margaret Jenkins Harris’ classic 1903 hymn “He Took My Sins Away” highlights today’s Scripture.

“He took my sins away, He took my sins away,
And keeps me singing every day!
I’m so glad He took my sins away, He took my sins away.”

When our King James Bible references “propitiation” (today’s Scripture; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10), it means “a fully-satisfying payment for sins;” the Greek word is translated “mercyseat” in Hebrews 9:5. The God of Scripture, once angry with us sinners (Psalm 7:11), is now satisfied because of Jesus’ shed blood. Jesus Christ is the only Person in whom we find mercy before Father God, where we can be spared God’s righteous wrath against our sin, where our sin debt can not only be covered, but completely canceled. “…[T]he blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Not only are we forgiven in Christ, but we are also justified (made right in God’s sight) in Christ (Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Our spiritual debt is not only gone, but we have been given spiritual riches (Romans 8:32; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10). In banking terminology, we went from “red” (sin, ungodliness), to “0” (forgiveness), to “black” (justification, righteousness). Praise our Lord Jesus Christ for His grace!

Such marvelous Bible truths should make the saint shout and sing from the rooftops! It is often said that Christians should be the happiest people on earth, and yet, many times, Christians frown and sag their heads more than lost people (who do not have God’s acceptance, peace, hope, and love). The Scriptures say that if we learn God’s will (by studying His Word), and we allow the Holy Spirit to use those Scriptures in us, we will naturally begin to sing, rejoice, and be thankful to our Lord in light of such doctrine (Ephesians 5:17-20; Colossians 3:15,16).

He took our sins away! Praise our Lord Jesus Christ! He took our sins away! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “We are saved by faith, but are we blessed by works?”

He Took My Sins Away #3

Friday, August 22, 2014

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 KJV).

The third verse of Margaret Jenkins Harris’ classic 1903 hymn “He Took My Sins Away” highlights today’s Scripture.

“No condemnation have I in my heart,
He took my sins away, He took my sins away.
His perfect peace He did to me impart,
He took my sins away.”

Sin produces guilt, and guilt weighs heavy on the sinner’s heart and mind. Many people go to bed at night feeling so horrible because of their actions earlier that day. They beat themselves up over and over—as if the rigid religionists at the local church do not knock them “black-and-blue” enough on Sunday mornings!

Yea, many Christians lay their heads on their pillow wondering if God really loves them, if He really is for them, and if He really has forgiven them in Jesus Christ. They feel so rotten, so “sorry” (?) for their sins, that they promise to change, but despite all the remorse, they wake up the next morning and wind up repeating their mistakes of the previous day. It would behoove them to read and believe the first eight chapters of the book of Romans, and if they would apply those verses by faith, they would literally see a whole new life. They would be released from such misery, self-pity, guilt, and failure.

If you have relied exclusively on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork at Calvary for the complete payment for your sins, you are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). You be loved in Christ! The most important barrier in your life—sin, separation from God—has been dealt with in full. Today’s Scripture says that you are “justified” (made right before God) and you have “peace with God” through Jesus Christ. God is not mad at you, saint, He loves you in Jesus Christ; He has completely paid for your sins, and that sin is hidden in His tomb forever. If God is not bringing them up, why are you? Because of Calvary, we can talk to Him in prayer, and have His peace to enjoy despite our failures.

Yea, He annulled our sin debt….

For Students This is Safe

Monday, August 18, 2014

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128 KJV).

As a new school year dawns, let us awake unto spiritual truth!

Although the autumnal equinox is still over a month away here in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is finally beginning to wind down for most of us. Students—with long faces and deep sighs—have returned or are beginning to return to school. In the near future, I will return to college to hopefully complete my master’s thesis in geology this fall semester. As we students return to the classroom, we need to be particularly mindful of the following.

Firstly, learning in and of itself is not a sin. Moses was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). Luke was a medical doctor (Colossians 4:14). Daniel and his companions were skilled in science (Daniel 1:4). Adam was the first taxonomist (Genesis 2:19,20). The God of the Bible is never against learning new things—remember, He gave us His Holy Bible so we can have plenty to learn for all of eternity!

Secondly, what the God of the Bible opposes is when we believe/trust ideas that do not seek our best interests, that contradict the way He designed our lives to function. Certainly, we Christians should never go around believing anything and everything heard and seen. Just because the professor, preacher, pope, or president says it is true, that does not make it so. Scientific consensus has been wrong before, religion has been wrong before, politicians have been wrong before. Much of the ideas that permeate our world today are wrong.

Lastly, there many wonderful, exciting ideas and concepts out there—medical advancements, technological breakthroughs, and so on—but there are equally detrimental ideas that will mess up your life—religious traditions, secular humanism, and other philosophies. Daily intake of the King James Bible rightly divided will cleanse our souls of the filth and foolishness that we hear and see day in and day out in this evil world system. We highly exalt God’s Word, we know it is right “concerning all things,” and we hate and ignore the error.

Have a wonderful school year in our Lord Jesus Christ! 🙂

NOTE: You may also see our study “The Spirit-Filled Student.”

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Must Christian women wear head coverings?”

Three On Your Side

Friday, August 15, 2014

“If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b KJV).

Saint, although no one may be at your side, you can rejoice that there will always be three on your side!

  • GOD THE HOLY GHOST IS FOR YOU. Romans 8:26,27: “[26] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. [27] And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” God the Holy Spirit takes the sound Bible doctrine you have studied and believed, and works in you to cause you to pray more effectively regarding matters that you could not otherwise adequately express in words.
  • GOD THE FATHER IS FOR YOU. Romans 8:31,33: “[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? [33] Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” God the Father looks at Jesus Christ’s blood, and sees it rather than your sins. You are innocent in God’s sight because you are in Christ!
  • GOD THE SON IS FOR YOU. Romans 8:34: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Jesus Christ has taken Father God by the hand and you by the hand, and joined you both together forever. As 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

When you feel alone, like the whole world is against you, like there is no one on your side, when all your friends and “Christian” brethren have left you, Romans chapter 8 says that the three Persons of the Godhead are all for you! All the power that generated creation from nothing, is on our side! Who cares who may leave—or come against—us?! 🙂

Twenty-Six

Thursday, August 7, 2014

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV).

By God’s grace, I celebrate my birthday today!

In this sin-cursed world, life is ever so fragile—it can be gone in an instant. In this sin-cursed world, life is ever so brief—it will be gone in an instant. With every passing year, I recall an aged Christian’s words to me some years ago: “Life goes by even quicker when you reach my age!” (Our older readers probably heartily agree with her.) Whether young or old(er), every Christian needs to be mindful that this earthly life is just one grain of sand compared to the “beach” of eternity future. This truly sobering thought will certainly cleanse our minds of the limited, deceptive, polluted “here-and-now” attitude.

As a dear brother and friend in the ministry often says, “All the healing claims aside, the death rate is still one a piece!” Thankfully, there is life beyond this earthly one, but we can enjoy that eternal life today. By simple faith alone in Jesus Christ’s death, bloodshed, burial, and resurrection, we can approach God the Father, and have Him deal with our sins in full forever. In Christ, we can enjoy the very life of God Himself right now. We can enjoy fellowship with Him right now when we take His written and preserved Word, the King James Bible, and study and believe it rightly divided. His Word will cause us to look beyond these things that are seen to see (by faith; Hebrews 11:1) the things that are not seen, not the temporal things of this world but the eternal things of the next (2 Corinthians 4:18).

As today’s Scripture affirms, with each passing year, our outer man grows older, weaker, and slower, but with each passing year, our inward man—provided that we daily study and believe God’s Word rightly divided—is growing stronger and stronger in God’s grace. Beloved, may we never take this earthly life for granted, and we who are in Jesus Christ, may we never take our eternal life for granted either! 🙂

arC Ministries Turns 7!

Thursday, July 31, 2014

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV).

Rejoice with us in Christ Jesus as arC Ministries celebrates its seventh anniversary today!

On July 31, 2007, I started a Facebook group titled, “ambassadors for the risen Christ.” It was one of the first Bible study groups on Facebook, designed to serve as a platform where I would write and post Bible studies for college students to read and discuss (it still exists today). These last seven years have certainly flown by. To dream that that small group would lead to where our ministry is today was totally unexpected!

For the last three years, we have dedicated much of our time to this devotionals blog, and for the last two years, we have focused on developing and drafting a grace study Bible (entering its third year tomorrow). Other ministry projects include a 22-week newspaper ministry column (this devotionals blog’s predecessor), a YouTube channel with home Bible study videos, a Twitter feed, a full-length Bible studies blog, a college campus ministry, a nursing-home ministry, and late last year, we introduced our Bible-question-and-answer blog.

We have heard from people from five continents and from many walks of life—atheists, pastors, priests, seminarians, common church members, and Bible teachers. It has been quite a joy to see countless people come to understand and rejoice in Bible truth, whether they were saved unto eternal life or rescued from vain religious tradition unto spiritual maturity.

Our very name says it all: we serve the risen Lord Jesus Christ, not some “dead Jew” and not ourselves. Dear saints, for those of you who have been with us these last seven years, we thank you for your prayer support. This is your fruit, and in eternity, you will partake of the benefits. How we are ever grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ, who committed unto all of us the ministry of reconciliation, that we may tell others God has paid the price of their sins in full at Calvary, and teach them from the rightly divided Bible what it all means in light of eternity.

Here is to another seven years to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! Onward in Him we go! 🙂

Delight in the Light

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

“Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors” (Psalm 119:24 KJV).

Let us delight in the Holy Bible’s spiritual light!

While shopping at a store recently, I could hear a young child pitching a fit in the distance but who was drawing closer to me. Then I saw him. In tears, this three- or four-year-old boy was walking around and repeatedly exclaiming, “I want a toy!” No matter what his parents were telling him, he would not be dissuaded. He still remembered what he wanted and he continued to whine for it. He had such delight and such determination. He wanted a toy!

If only everyone in the world were so fervent in seeking soul salvation unto eternal life through Jesus Christ, rather than focusing so much on this temporary world about us! If only all Christians would be so desirous of Bible understanding, rather than dedicating so much time and effort on concentrating on that which will pass away! To think that a child would value a temporary item so much when the average adult gives far less thought concerning things of eternal value.

Think of the many people who take lightly the topics of soul salvation from eternal hellfire unto eternal life and soul salvation from false teaching unto spiritual maturity. They have no idea that they are lost and they have no hint that they are not where they need to be in their spiritual understanding. We have to tell them God’s truth!

I am reminded of a Christian brother who has since “relocated to heaven,” how he used to be so eager to learn God’s truth. He would repetitively utter about spiritual matters, “Give me nothing but the truth. I want to hear the truth.” In this day of “itching ears,” such a plea is rarely heard (2 Timothy 4:3,4). The Psalmist of today’s Scripture desired, recognized, and delighted in the truth. He took great pleasure in the solemn declarations of JEHOVAH God, utilizing His written words as his advisers. Beloved, may we desire, seek, find, and enjoy the preserved words of God in English, the King James Bible, and may we share it with others so they can delight in it, too! 🙂

Planting and Watering in God’s Garden

Thursday, July 24, 2014

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6 KJV).

God is growing the plants; we are here to simply plant and water them!

The other day I talked with a Christian brother in the ministry who expressed his desire to see an immediate conversion in the life of one particular lost person steeped in a cult. He wanted to see that person saved the very next day!

Let us read today’s Scripture within its context: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (verses 6-9).

The Apostle Paul first visited Corinth in Acts chapter 18; here, some pagans had heard Paul preach the Gospel of God’s Grace, and they trusted Jesus Christ unto justification and eternal life. In late Acts chapter 18 and early chapter 19, Apollos, a new Christian and Bible teacher, came to Corinth and taught these newly-saved Corinthians. In today’s Scripture, Paul refers to these events. He had “planted” (soul salvation unto eternal life, God giving the believing sinner, Christ’s life) and Apollos had “watered” (soul salvation unto sound doctrine, the saint allowing Christ’s life to manifest in his or her own life). Whether it was passing from death to life, or learning about the life we have in Christ, it was ultimately God Almighty’s task to generate the results—it is NOT our responsibility to force people to be saved or spiritually mature.

Many people never trust Jesus Christ; many Christians never study their Bibles and mature spiritually. Yet, it takes some people many years before they trust Jesus Christ; it takes some Christians many years before they study the Bible for themselves. Beloved, people prayed for us without ever seeing results in their lifetime. Let us not be so self-willed as to think that God must satisfy us by rushing His work in people to whom we minister. 🙂

Beyond Our Comfort Zone

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12 KJV).

Our Christian lives are really not our own, so may we remove ourselves from our “comfort zone!”

The “comfort zone” is “a situation where one feels safe or at ease.” How many professing Christians, yea how many true Christians, are “too comfortable” to be “bothered” with witnessing and Gospel-tract distribution? Beloved, let us not be selfish! “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:7,8; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

From the time He began His ministry near age 30, to when He laid down His life at Calvary three short years later, Jesus Christ accomplished every single work that His Heavenly Father required of Him (John 17:4,8; John 19:30). However, His fellow man hated Him beyond words. Most all of Israel’s apostles are assumed to have died martyrs’ deaths. Right up until his execution, the Apostle Paul labored fervently for the sake of the Gospel of Grace (2 Timothy 4:6-8). As a dear friend in the ministry quips, Paul first inspected the jail whenever he entered a city because he knew he would probably be “checking-in” there that night! The Lord Jesus and His saints stepped out of their comfort zone, risking and losing their lives for Father God’s will. Intense opposition and persecution did not deter them.

Rather than just sitting around condemning the lost world for behaving like the sinners they are, Christianity needs to study their Bibles rightly divided and learn God’s truth so they can tell it to others. We have Jesus Christ, the only key to mankind’s sin problem. As people who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, it is our privilege and responsibility to share Him with others. Absolutely, this means jeopardizing our social status, friendships, acceptance in the family, and yes, our lives. Sure, they will dismiss as crazy, shun us, perhaps imprison or kill us, but at least we cared enough about them that we told them the truth! 🙂

Sin, Death, Jesus, and Life

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15 KJV).

Wherever we find sin, we find death—wherever we find death, we find sin. Wherever we find life, we find Jesus—wherever we find Jesus, we find life.

Early yesterday morning my family learned the sad news that my paternal grandmother passed away in her sleep at age 87, at a family member’s home. Grandma suffered numerous, chronic health issues during her final years alive. These last several months she had been growing weaker, so we had been preparing ourselves for her departure. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to tell her goodbye. Mom and I had been sitting by her bedside, and it was not long after that that she passed.

We all know that one of the hardest events to bear is the death of a family member. Considering, we cannot imagine the pain that Mary experienced as she witnessed Jesus her son slowly suffocating on Calvary’s cross. For God the Father to see His Son experiencing such a horrible event, we will never even partially grasp that pain Father God felt. In the end, sin will always cause suffering. Ultimately, as today’s Scripture avows, “When it is finished, sin bringeth forth death.” Because of sin, even Jesus Christ had to die—not for our His own sins, of course, for “[Jesus] knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21), but He “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

In the midst of this lost, sinful, hopeless, dying world, the Lord Jesus Christ offered hope in the following words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). In this world of sin and death, the only answer is righteousness and life (by faith, we find both in Jesus Christ alone). We find eternal rest in Him, we find everlasting life in Him, and we have abounding grace and mercy in Him, that we can bear the grief and burdens we face in this fallen world. When Jesus Christ is all we have, we learn that He is all we need!

-IN MEMORIAM-
Hester Tweedel Brasseux
(30 April 1927 – 21 July 2014)