Category: spiritual growth and maturity

Silent Building #5

Friday, December 5, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 3: “[9] For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. [10] According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. [11] For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Scripture is quite clear that we need to “take heed how [we] buildeth thereupon.” Beware! Beware! Beware! The Apostle Paul is “a wise masterbuilder,” the “chief architect”—the ascended Lord Jesus Christ gave him the blueprints of what He is doing today. If we go anywhere else in the Bible but Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, we will miss God’s blueprints for today, and we will thus build something God is not building. We will be using the wrong materials, placing those materials in the wrong place, thus weakening the structure, and so on. The “preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25), He is the foundation. We only read about this “mystery” (secret information) in Paul’s epistles.

If we do not “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), we will not recognize Paul’s special apostleship and ministry to us. As the builders of Solomon’s Temple were ever so careful to handle their instructions and their materials (today’s Scripture), we too are working. Are we following the directions God gave us through Paul? Are we using “gold, silver, precious stones?” Or, are we using “wood, hay, stubble?” Are we using God’s Word rightly divided, or worthless materials such as church tradition, human wisdom, and non-dispensational Bible verses? It will make a difference in the structure we build in our lives….

Silent Building #4

Thursday, December 4, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

In this the Dispensation of the Grace of God, the God of creation is doing something unheard of prior to the salvation and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Rather than forming the nation Israel, He has postponed that prophetic program, information “spoken since the world began” (Acts 3:21). Now, He has begun a mystery program, information “kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest [in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon]” (Romans 16:25,26). God is not continuing what He did with Israel, but has started a “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15), a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), the Church the Body of Christ.

If we fail to make even this most basic distinction between the Church the Body of Christ and the nation Israel, we have no hope whatsoever in understanding the Holy Bible. Unless we take the time to see that Paul is “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), and that his epistles, Romans through Philemon, are God’s message to us non-Jews being saved apart from Israel and her program, we will never know what God is doing with us today and never know what He wants us to do today.

We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 3: “[6] I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. [7] So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. [8] Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. [9] For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”

Again, God is doing a silent work, work that starts in our inner man and then manifests itself in our daily activities. Let us allow God’s spokesman to us, to delineate the materials we can use to work with Father God today….

Silent Building #3

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

The Apostle Paul, writing one final time to young Timothy, penning his farewell letter to the Church the Body of Christ, provided the key to guarding ourselves against the ravening wolves now attacking the completed Bible (and thus us): “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Not only were we to “study” that Bible—to read it, carefully consider it, and compare verses with verses—we were also to “rightly divide” it. Note that the Christian is called a “workman.” We are already saved unto eternal life, forgiven, justified, and redeemed, but God saved us, forgave us, justified us, and redeemed us for a purpose. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). There are some mighty works God wants to perform in us, and He accomplishes them when we walk by faith in His Word to us (the Bible rightly divided) (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

We read in 2 Corinthians chapter 5: “[8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. [9] Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

The quality of the doctrine we store in our inner man is either “good” or “bad,” to be evaluated when we get to heaven. We can be faithful workmen, Christians “skilled in the word of righteousness,” experienced workers as those of today’s Scripture; or we can serve denominations, traditions of men, philosophy, ourselves, the world, et cetera, and sabotage our Christian work….

Silent Building #2

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

Long ago, beginning with Abraham, God set the Jews apart to be His special people (Israel became a nation in Egypt). Letting the Gentiles go their way of ignorance (Romans chapter 1), He dealt solely with the nation Israel (Romans chapter 2). Beginning with the Ten Commandments (Exodus chapter 20), but throughout the Old Testament, JEHOVAH God constantly warned Israel not to pollute herself with false doctrine. He was building her into a marvelous nation, His kingdom of priests to reach the (Gentile) nations. Israel was not to sabotage that plan by forsaking Him and following pagan idols and bad doctrine.

Moses, just before dying, advised His people in Deuteronomy 4:1-2: “[1] Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. [2] Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

Simple! Simple! Simple! Israel was not to add and not to take from God’s Word. Israel did not listen. Before we point fingers at Israel, professing Christianity has added to and taken from the revelation the ascended Jesus Christ gave to the Apostle Paul, Romans through Philemon. They are not content with God’s grace as Paul presents it; they toss that away. Instead, they prefer everything He gave Israel—water baptism, tongues, tithing, miraculous demonstrations, Sabbath day, rules and regulations, angels, and so on.

When Solomon’s Temple was being erected (today’s Scripture), it did not go up haphazardly. Its elements fit together perfectly. Lest we upset God’s perfect plan for us the Church the Body of Christ, we are not going to carelessly use worthless building materials, elements that do not belong there and will actually weaken the structure….

Silent Building #1

Monday, December 1, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

We normally associate construction sites with very loud noises—jackhammers, front loaders, drills, hammers, cranes, dump trucks, et cetera. Yet, today’s Scripture says that the builders of Solomon’s Temple (960 B.C.) were knowledgeable about geometry and masonry to the extent that they chiseled out stone blocks at the quarry and transported them to the building’s foundation, fully knowing that these stones would fit perfectly with each other! There was no hammer or axe or other iron tool heard at the Temple Mount; JEHOVAH’S house was literally erected silently! (I wonder if any architect or construction worker today could manage such a massive project so quietly?).

Ephesians talks about how God is silently building another house for Himself. Solomon’s Temple was built and destroyed centuries before Christ’s earthly ministry, but, today, God can be found in something other than a man-made structure. We read about this in Ephesians 2:19-22: “…[20] And [ye] are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; [21] In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: [22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

The “preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25,26)—His death, burial, and resurrection as the fully satisfying payment for our sins (Romans 3:24; Romans 4:24,25; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—is the means whereby God is building a new house. Hence, Christians are called “an holy temple in the Lord” and “builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Notice how verse 21 says that we are built in Jesus Christ—like the stones of the Temple, “fitly framed together” (meaning, “organized compactly/neatly;” cf. Ephesians 4:16).

Let us delve deeper into God’s blueprints for this new temple….

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!

In Every Thing Give Thanks

Thursday, November 27, 2014

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV).

Dear saints, take a moment this Thanksgiving to learn a valuable lesson from the Holy Scriptures!

God wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). To be “saved” here means you have been rescued from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire), and that you have a home in heaven, because you have trusted the death, shed blood, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for your sins. To “come unto the knowledge of the truth” is when a person who has trusted Christ, begins to understand why God saved him or her, and how God will use him or her for His glory. Although soul salvation is instantaneous, spiritual maturity is a life-long process (that is especially true regarding handling difficulties, the grace way!).

It is human nature to avoid difficulties and stress, to flee them, rather than confront them. This self-preservation is advantageous, particularly in “life or death” situations. However, running from troubling circumstances is not the way God has designed our life in Christ to function. Today’s Scripture says, “In every thing give thanks,” not “For every thing give thanks.” We do not thank God for our troubles; we thank God while we are enduring those troubles. This is tough, I know, but it takes time for us to learn it. Even the Apostle Paul had to learn this.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Be thankful in every thing. God’s grace is sufficient for you, dear saint, in all of life’s circumstances. When you learn this, you are “[coming] unto the knowledge of the truth.”

*Excerpted from our Thanksgiving 2012 Bible study with the same name. That study can be read here or watched here.

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What are our spiritual blessings in Christ?”

A Bible That (Effectually) Works #2

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV).

If God’s Word is to “effectually work” in us, we must first have it.

“Effectually worketh” means something that will produce the intended result. God wants to use His written Word, the Holy Bible, to build in our inner man, our soul, an edifice or structure of sound doctrine. This fortification of doctrine enables us to accomplish His will with Him, as well as protects us from the Adversary who wants to harm us and hinder God’s purpose and plan for us.

Thus, Satan knows that the best way to attack us is to divorce us from God’s Word, for then we are powerless against his schemes and scams. Nevertheless, Satan is a very sneaky creature; rather than trying to take the Bible completely away from us, for then he would be obvious, Satan will counterfeit the Bible, and then encourage us to use the counterfeit. We will never know otherwise, and we will sabotage our Christian life by defiling it with “junk doctrine.” Beloved, this is what makes the Bible versions issue so serious. If it is a translation not derived from pure Bible manuscripts, it is not God’s Word but man’s word, and man’s word will never produce what God’s Word will produce.

Just as false Bible manuscripts troubled Christians in Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians 2:2), just as false prophets misled Israel with untrue doctrine (2 Peter 2:1-3), so Satan uses counterfeits to confuse and undermine us. The Devil’s evil world system incites us to embrace modern Bible versions, so-called “easy-to-read” books but whose underlying manuscripts abound with historical and theological mistakes, and lack whole verses, passages, and even Bible books (!).

For over 400 years, the King James Bible has faithfully served the Body of Christ. Beloved, we would be foolish to believe present-day, “ear-tickling” Christendom could ever produce a Bible that even comes to close to the King James Bible, “a Bible that effectually works!” 🙂

Preaching to Perfect

Monday, November 24, 2014

“[Christ] Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:28,29 KJV).

And so, our grace Bible conference has concluded.

Our ministry goal as Pauline dispensationalists is to “have all men saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4)—to see that they hear the right Gospel (Paul’s Gospel, Christ’s finished crosswork [1 Corinthians 15:3,4]) so as to believe it, and to see that they hear the right Bible doctrine so as to receive it (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon). That is Father God’s will for them; if we delight in His will, it will become our will; and we will then do His will.

We are not here to prove ourselves right, or to force people to agree with us; we are here to declare that God is right and everyone else is wrong, and to be helpers of others’ joy. We know the heartaches and perplexities of religious tradition, we have found the key to recovering ourselves out of the snare of the devil, and now we hold forth “the word of life”—not in arrogance, but in compassion, for we too were once foolish and deceived. We care about their souls, that they not be defiled with either sins of the flesh (“secular” human evil) or sins of the spirit (“pious” human good).

Rather than trying to take away something worthless that they have, we offer them God’s priceless wisdom that they need; if they embrace the latter, they will discard the former! If they prefer spiritual ignorance, that is their prerogative, and we should say no more; if they want spiritual maturity, that is our privilege of teaching them God’s Word rightly divided (today’s Scripture).

As our apostle Paul knew, it was really God’s Holy Spirit working in him mightily; it was not Paul struggling in himself to do the work of the ministry. When it is God working, there is no pride, failure, or misery; only charity, love in action, to see that lost souls are saved (justified) and those Christian souls are edified (strengthened). Yes, we “preach to perfect!” 🙂

NOTE: The 2014 Slidell Grace Bible Conference concluded yesterday. Videos of the messages to be uploaded to YouTube in due time, so stay tuned for updates. If you are interested in purchasing CDs or DVDs, please email me for more information at arcministries@gmail.com.

Conferring to Edify

Sunday, November 23, 2014

“As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do” (1 Timothy 1:3,4 KJV).

When grace Bible conferences conclude, a sense of sadness is present because the Christian fellowship must end.

In reality, it is leaving the closest thing to “Heaven on Earth” that the Church the Body of Christ will ever experience. We have been “godly edified which [was] in faith” (today’s Scripture): rather than proclaiming fictitious and moral stories (“fables”), stumbling over personalities (“endless genealogies”), and preaching Law-keeping for Christian living (verses 5-11), we taught sound Bible doctrine, glorified the Lord Jesus Christ, and preached His grace as means for daily victory over sin. How enjoyable! Thus, to part with like-minded Christians is not easy, but it demonstrates the unity, the brotherly love, that should exist between God’s people when they let His Word work in them when they believe it.

Rather than biting, devouring, and consuming one another, we simply “walked in the Spirit,” and enjoyed doctrinal unity and peace between each other. We united around three cardinal truths: the King James Bible as our final authority, the Gospel of the Grace of God (Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for our sins), and Paul’s apostleship and ministry to us Gentiles regarding grace living. We read, studied, and rejoiced in Israel’s verses, but we did not claim them for ourselves because God is doing something else today. We also read, studied, and rejoiced in our verses, Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, recognizing that they described what God is currently doing and what He wants to do with us.

We had wonderful discussions about how the Lord Jesus Christ is working in our lives today, and we gladly shared Him with those who were visiting. While we had a small group, we had more than the seven Noah had with him on the Ark, and we look forward to fellowshipping with one another around God’s Word rightly divided, one last day today! 🙂

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