Category: local church assembly

Instant Christians #9

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

On his second apostolic journey, in Corinth, Paul met a Jewish couple, Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:1-3). They became co-workers in tent-making… and ministry. As they worked with Paul, he preached to them Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery. Aquila and Priscilla were now saved and skilled in God’s Word rightly divided. This husband and wife became some of Paul’s most dedicated and helpful ministry companions (Romans 16:3,4). Risking their lives many times for Jesus Christ over the next decade, they were active in ministry even as Paul’s execution date was approaching (2 Timothy 4:19).

Acts chapter 18 closes, “[24] And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. [25] This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. [26] And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. [27] And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: [28] For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”

Apollos was confused and lost, hell-bound. He was not preaching or believing the Bible dispensationally—he was preaching John’s water baptism. All he knew was a now-defunct salvation message preached 20 years earlier, completely ignorant of Christ’s earthly ministry or Paul’s new ministry! Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos’ fallacious preaching, took him aside, and gently taught him God’s Word rightly divided. He was then saved, grounded in sound Bible doctrine, and able to help Paul in ministry (Acts 19:1; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 16:22; Titus 3:13).

The Body of Christ needs “instant” Christians such as Aquila and Priscilla today….

Instant Christians #7

Monday, January 12, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

Travelling out-of-state, I once had a very interesting conversation with an Evangelical seminarian-pastor who had a testimony of salvation in Christ. Meeting privately with this brother, I lovingly explained to him that the Greek New Testament he was preaching from was unreliable. Then, I showed him the error in his book, hoping he had an ear to hear and a heart to believe. Although I expected his reaction, I will never forget it. He blurted out to justify the error in his Bible, “We do not have what [Saint] Mark wrote anyway!”

Dear friends, he was no “cultic kook” but a “Bible-believing, Jesus-Christ-loving” preacher who would never, ever, ever even think of saying in his pulpit that today’s Bible is not—yes NOT—identical to the apostles’ Bible! (This heretical view of “textual criticism” drives the endless search for another manuscript reading “closer to the originals,” so another translation “more scholarly” [?] than its predecessors can be publi$hed.) Had this assembly and its deacons known their Bible, they would have asked this pastor the right questions before choosing him… to lead them “into the [doctrinal] ditch” (Matthew 15:14)! Friends, if most preachers spoke their true beliefs about Bible versions, they would agree with this wayward brother. Seminary has polluted them concerning manuscript evidence and Bible versions. Bible critics are the very people leading most “Christian” churches!

Had the Body of Christ studied, known, and appreciated/believed their 400-year-old King James Bible, they would have never purchased a century’s worth of 200 (pathetic, corrupt) modern English versions. They would have known that Satan questions God’s Word and robs mankind of its clarity at every opportunity (Genesis 3:1-5). Had the pastors educated their people in God’s English Bible, and warned them of counterfeits (2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 1:18–2:3), Bible publishing companies would have gone bankrupt, no one buying their worthless modern-speech perversions predicated on equally-godless manuscripts. Very few want to hear such strong language, but it is true nonetheless (2 Timothy 4:3,4).

Oh, how we NEED “instant” Christians….

Instant Christians #6

Sunday, January 11, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

The charge in today’s Scripture is amplified by the next two verses: “[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.” False teaching masquerading as “Christianity” is not isolated to the last few hundred years or even several decades—these two verses are a clear description of the professing church during the last 20 centuries.

God the Holy Ghost never spoke about a great revival just before the close of our Dispensation of Grace. Inversely, He predicted a great apostasy, a willful rejection of sound Bible doctrine. The professing church has not tolerated sound Bible doctrine. Contrariwise, it has hoarded more and more and more false teachers, “feel-good” men-pleasers, proclaimers of nice-sounding clichés destitute of spiritual truth. Preferring worthless works-religion, denonominational theology, and pagan error, they are covering their ears as God’s ambassadors boldly preach the message of His grace and Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery! Barring God’s precious words from their assemblies, they embrace “fables”—superstition, entertainment, religious tales that literally amount to nothing.

False teaching has increased since Bible days because: (1) new denominations and seminaries with unique statements of faith and ecclesiastical creeds, have arisen; (2) new means to disseminate error (advances in printing, telephones, satellite television, internet, smartphones, and so on); (3) new world religions for “Christian” groups to borrow from when forming their belief systems; (4) new corrupt Bible manuscripts have been drafted, popularized, and translated hundreds of times over; and (5) new billions of people to be converted to these wayward groups, who can then proselytize others, the cycle repeating indefinitely.

Timothy, like all church leaders, was urged in today’s Scripture, that he slow down (not prevent) doctrinal error from spreading by studying and standing for God’s Word rightly divided. To do the same in our local assemblies, we must be “instant” Christians….

Instant Christians #5

Saturday, January 10, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

Today’s Scripture reads within its context: “[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.” Before Father God Himself, and before Jesus Christ our Lord, the Holy Spirit through Paul gave very clear instructions to Timothy (primarily, to all local church leaders, but all Christians can benefit as well).

Note the three specific commands: (1) “Preach the word,” (2) “Be instant in season, out of season,” and (3) “Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” Firstly, we are to preach God’s Word, the Holy Bible, not impressions, traditions, speculations, and superstitions. Secondly, we are to be so skilled in God’s Word rightly divided that we can quickly bring inquisitive people to verses pertinent to their situations or questions. Lastly, we are to “reprove” (blame, disapprove), “rebuke” (stronger than “reprove,” “rebuke” is sharp disapproval or severe criticism), “exhort” (strongly encourage) “with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Christians skilled in God’s Word rightly divided are commanded to “with all longsuffering [patience for an extended period of time] and doctrine [teaching that is to be believed]” correct false teachers. They do this by lovingly, meekly, and gently preaching or teaching God’s Word dispensationally (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Doctrinal errors will be thus manifested, and these erring people have opportunity to turn from such nonsense. The skilled Bible students are to then encourage the false teachers to embrace the truth he or she has set forth (the skilled Bible student was “instant,” ready, to correct error). Ultimately, the false teacher is to decide which to seek. In the context of the epistle, Timothy, as a mature church leader, is to stifle false teaching in the local assembly and remove from teaching/leadership positions Christians who refuse to turn from the doctrinal error (see 1 Timothy 6:3-6).

“Instant” Christians are the key to solid and stable local Christian assemblies….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Where did Matthias go after replacing Judas?”

Instant Christians #4

Friday, January 9, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

Higher education trains people for special fields. These graduates’ minds are so engrained with the terms and concepts of their particular disciplines that they can instantly enter the mode needed to fulfill that role. For example, when a medical professional witnesses a medical crisis, he or she is skilled to assess quickly, act quickly, and amend the situation quickly. The healthcare professional does not stand or sit there idly, utterly clueless regarding what needs to be done, waiting for someone else to act. Their medical training just naturally takes over, and they respond appropriately. Today’s Scripture says that a Christian should behave similarly when confronted with any matter in life. We need to simply let the Holy Spirit train us by studying and memorizing His Bible.

With great sadness we acknowledge that the average Christian has not been trained in God’s Word (just familiar with denominational creeds, ecclesiastical prayers, religious clichés, and manmade dogmas). Thus, when confronted with even the simplest Bible questions, let alone the deeper ones, he or she has very little input (sometimes no input whatsoever!). The Bible critics go unanswered (most Christians equally ignorant of Scripture).

We endlessly thank and praise our Lord Jesus Christ for the precious few saints, men and women, who, throughout church history, stood boldly for God’s truth because they knew God’s truth. God used them to give us our English Bible (King James). While the vast majority of Christians were wanting in Bible understanding and doctrine, and still are today, these few “instant” Christians continue in God’s ministry.

Actually, I entered the ministry over seven years ago because I so desired to share God’s truth with others—the timeless Bible truths that religion hid from me for the first 20 years of life and the first 15 years of my Christian life! Our goal in this very ministry is to equip God’s people with His truth, that fewer Christians find themselves in the “clueless” predicament that so infects the professing church. How we share God’s desire in having “instant” Christians….

Instant Christians #2

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

The Greek word translated “instant” in today’s Scripture is ephistemi, used elsewhere to describe: an angel “coming” (Luke 2:9; Acts 12:7), Anna “quickly coming” in gratitude to see the Christ Child (Luke 2:38), Jesus “immediately” healing Peter’s mother-in-law of a high fever (Luke 4:39), irritated Martha “approaching” Jesus (Luke 10:40), Israel’s religious leaders “coming” to intimidate Christ and His apostles and disciples (Luke 20:1; Acts 4:1; Acts 6:12), Cornelius’ three messengers “immediately” coming and “standing” before Simon’s door awaiting Peter’s arrival (Acts 10:17; Acts 11:11), the unbelievers “assaulting” the members of the household of Jason (Acts 17:5), Ananias “standing” near newly-converted Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:13), Saul of Tarsus “standing by” holding the coats of those who were stoning Stephen to death (Acts 22:20), the Lord “standing by” Paul to comfort him (Acts 23:11), chief captain Claudius Lysias “coming” with an army to deliver Paul from a mob that wanted him dead (Acts 23:27), the “present” rain that poured as Paul and his shipmates reached the island of Melita (Acts 28:2), the sudden destruction of the future Tribulation “coming” upon the unsuspecting unbelievers (1 Thessalonians 5:3), and Paul’s execution and departure to heaven being “at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6).

In today’s Scripture, “instant” means “ready to act”—it implies intense activity or an impending quick motion (see examples in previous paragraph), not idleness or inactivity (sitting or standing around doing nothing). Paul is charging Timothy (and all Christians) to not be slothful in the ministry, hoping “someone else” will share the Gospel with others, hoping “someone else” will teach Christians God’s Word rightly divided. The Holy Ghost knows that it is easy for our flesh to surrender to opposition, to be passive or lazy, to keep the Bible but just teach it according to a denomination or church tradition for the sake of pleasing man, or to throw away the Bible completely and do what “everyone else is doing” (in religion or in “the world”).

Let us continue hearing the Holy Spirit through Paul….

Instant Christians #1

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

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

In this day and age of “instant this and instant that,” we need more “instant” Christians!

Today’s Scripture is a highlight from Paul’s farewell epistle. In this concluding treatise, the Holy Spirit presents the final marching orders to the Church the Body of Christ. Once this last epistle was written, the Bible’s canon was complete—all 66 inspired books were present as scrolls in the first century A.D., ready for copying and distribution to all saints everywhere. Since the penning of 2 Timothy, there has been no further revelation from God: today’s Scripture indicates that Timothy had a complete Bible, a complete divine revelation, and that he was to preach “the word” and nothing else.

According to 2 Timothy 3:15-17, verses previous to today’s Scripture, Timothy was to preach “the scripture” (written text), not “oral church tradition!” Yea, there would be no subsequent “development of doctrine through Sacred Tradition,” but rather depravity of doctrine through church tradition (clearly predicted in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and 2 Timothy chapters 3 and 4). According to 2 Timothy 1:15, apostasy had already infected and misled most Christians, even before Paul wrote that very letter! Few ever realize that the Body of Christ was doctrinally deficient, weak, confused, and deceived 2,000 years ago—even today, the Bible is pushed aside and church members read everything else.

As secular humanism grows stronger culturally, the Christians remain weak. Rather than learning God’s truth to preach it so people can have an alternative to error, church members stay silent (except for the whining about how deception runs rampant). How we grieve with the Holy Spirit that the church abounds with weak Christians! They are learning nothing solid in church meetings, just shallow messages that keep them happy (and ignorant of the deeper things of God’s Word). The cults and world religions thoroughly indoctrinate their members with nonsense, but they put most Christian pastors and members to shameful silence—they know more about their own holy books and our Bible than the Christians do of either!

Oh, how we need “instant” Christians….

Redeem the Year!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

“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 KJV).

What great advice for 2015!

Despite 2,000 years of Bible schools and seminaries, 2,000 years of a completed Bible canon, 2,000 years of Bible reading in churches, several decades of “Christian” television and radio, and just over a decade of widespread use of “Christian” websites, how sad that Bible ignorance is still quite extensive (it is as if God never gave His Word to start with!).

Frankly, the Church the Body of Christ needs to wake up! The verse previous to today’s Scripture says, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (verse 14). Paul, loosely quoting Isaiah 60:1, reminded us that the spiritual ignorance that gripped Israel in Isaiah’s day seized Christians in his day—and it still grips Christians 20 centuries later. Feel-good sermons, enjoyable “worship” services, and rites, rituals, and ceremonies will NOT solve this problem—they exacerbate it!

“[God] will have all men to be saved…” (1 Timothy 2:4a). Do you want this New Year to count for God’s glory? First, you need to get saved from sins and hell! You need to become a Christian by trusting in and relying on Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for your sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). That is only part of God’s will for you, for 1 Timothy 2:4b continues, “[God] will have all men… to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Now, God’s will for your Christian life is daily, personal Bible study to renew your mind, so your faith in those verses can cause God to work in your life—it will be His life, thus making you “perfect [spiritually mature], throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Today’s Scripture urges us to buy back the time Satan has robbed from God (time created for God’s glory). By faith, we need to make that time glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by applying His Word, particularly Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon, to our lives. Have a good year in Christ! 🙂

You can download our free “One-Year Bible Reading Schedule.”

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What Scriptural advice can you give me for the New Year?”

Ephesians, Parallelism, Edification, Perfection

Saturday, November 29, 2014

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11,12 KJV).

Can you spot a literary device known as “parallelism” in today’s Scripture?

As a Bible teacher, I gladly receive various Bible questions by phone, in person, or by email. I certainly encourage them. If today’s average church member had asked those questions long ago, he or she probably would not be attending that “church.” Bible questions drive us to study for Bible answers; we have no desire to search religions and denominations for Bible answers, for they can provide only religious and denominational answers.

Today’s Scripture says that, after His ascension into heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ “gave”—notice past tense—five spiritual gifts to cause the Church the Body of Christ to progress in spiritual maturity, that we be “no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (verse 14).

God gave those gifts, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” (verse 13). Once the completed Bible canon came in the first century A.D., before the Apostle Paul died, the Body of Christ had every revelation it needed from God. Alas, today’s “church” is the epitome of perplexity. Look around at professing “Christianity,” and you see nothing but immature people, ever so confused, deceived, and laden with sins. What happened? Between the apostles’ time and our time, organized religion slowly infiltrated the Body of Christ, and gradually transferred the authority of the Scriptures to fallible men, denominations, and manmade books.

God’s work, not religion’s, will lead to “the perfecting [maturing] of the saints,” which leads to “the work of the ministry” (mature saints laboring in the local church, teaching God’s Word rightly divided), which causes “the edifying of the body of Christ” (all members of the Body growing together). Any other way to do “ministry” is foolish!

Attendance to Apprehending

Saturday, November 22, 2014

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13 KJV).

Grace Bible conferences are always a joyful and edifying time!

We meet new people and old friends, most of who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are really seeking God’s truth rather than those who would come to be merely religious or simply entertained. We desire Jesus Christ to live His life in and through us, and it will only come about by God’s Word renewing our minds on a daily basis. Conferences are not simply about Bible study, but Bible understanding so that it can become Bible application to life. While plenty of people read the Bible, very few study it; and of the few who study it, even fewer understand it; and of the few who understand it, even fewer apply it to life by faith. Our goal is to be in that last class listed, that very small remnant.

Father God is doing something wonderful today in creation and He wants us to participate. A grace Bible conference is to grasp the Bible on a large-scale, to the intent that we may see a fuller picture of the Bible rather than just a glimpse of it (as in a regular sermon or teaching session), that we may find where we are in Scripture (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon), that we may then discover how Jesus Christ can give us His life and how He can fill us with it (grace living)!

It is an extremely high plane of living that very few Christians grasp, since organized religion opposes it and hides it from the masses (2 Corinthians 4:1-4), but oh, how we have cast off religious works and our vain performance (Philippians 3:1-21), how we have begun to search the Scriptures for ourselves (Acts 17:10,11), how we have a better understanding of such a wonderful Saviour who not only died that we might live but that we died with Him so that He might live in us! We assemble locally to study the Scriptures rightly divided to learn how Christ Jesus is living His life in each of ours, and we rejoice that it is not us, but Him (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:4)!

NOTE: The 2014 Slidell Grace Bible Conference is currently underway! Videos of the messages to be uploaded to YouTube in due time, so stay tuned for updates.