Category: victory

Strength in Weakness

Saturday, November 2, 2013

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV).

When you realize God’s grace is all that you have, then you realize that God’s grace is all that you need!

Yesterday, I visited Brother “G.” for the first time since his wife of 55 years died Wednesday. He knows that she is present with the Lord, but understandably, he is lost without her. In his own words, “I know the verses, but they seem like ‘just words’ right now.” In his own strength, he cannot make it; but God’s grace is more than enough to get him through it.

Beloved, knowing the verses is easy, but applying them to life is hard. Our old sin nature rejects God’s Word, as the Apostle Paul delineated in Romans 7:22,23: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Paul, as a saved individual, took pleasure in God’s Word in his spirit (spiritual body). However, he still lived in a physical body—“the body of sin” (Romans 6:6)—that was genetically related to Adam (the origin of man’s anti-God nature). You are strongly encouraged to read Romans chapter 7 in its entirety, but suffice it to say that Paul labored in vain to live the Christian life in his own strength. Sin would defeat him every time, and he lamented in verse 24: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

The solution to this “flesh-walking” is Romans chapter 8: “walking after the Spirit.” We study the Bible rightly divided for ourselves, and no matter what circumstance in life, we, by faith, allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to then work in us using the verses that apply to those specific circumstances. We are weak; Jesus Christ is strong. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). In Christ, we are equipped to handle every situation, good or bad, and He will live His life in us if we let Him.

Where Was God? #7

Friday, September 20, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

Jesus Christ said of Israel, “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John 4:48). Signs, miracles, and wonders are the nation Israel’s birthright: in Psalm 74:9, Israel confesses they are “our signs.” Paul wrote, “For the Jews require a sign” (1 Corinthians 1:22a).

Rather than seeking visible and audible proof of God’s working today—angelic visitations, miraculous healings, financial deliverance, “small still voices,” et cetera—we walk by faith. When writing to and about us in this the Dispensation of Grace, Paul wrote, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight: )” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus Christ stated, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Where is God during tragedies? He is working in and through us Christians using His Word, that those troubles not destroy us. The way God intervenes today is by directly (yet invisibly) working in our inner man: He takes His rightly divided Word that we study and believe, and His indwelling Holy Spirit uses it to transform us from the inside out. Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “…the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”

God gives us strength (Philippians 4:11-13) and grace to bear those troubles (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Philippians 2:13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Paul prayed: “That he [God] would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). See 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is exiled today. He is sitting at His heavenly Father’s right hand in glory. Until He returns to earth and deposes Satan and his minions, this “present evil world” will continue as is (Galatians 1:4; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4). Let us remember that we have hope: we Christians are not here forever, and while we are here, the Lord is in us and here with us! 🙂

Where Was God? #5

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

The psalmist, like many today, wonders and inquires of God’s whereabouts in times of trouble. Actually, Psalm 10 is a prayer of imprecation: it is the prayer of a believing Jew living during the (future) seven-year Tribulation, a prayer in which that believer is beseeching the Lord Jesus Christ to appear and judge the wicked who are severely oppressing and mercilessly executing His people, to avenge the deaths of His believing remnant in Israel.

Actually, the Apostle John, centuries later, elaborated: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation 6:9-11).

Notice, in the future, the souls of the slain Tribulation saints will be in heaven, begging the Lord to no longer delay in avenging their deaths. Now we understand why the psalmist, still alive on earth, says what he does in today’s Scripture. Jesus Christ cannot come back and judge the earth in His righteous indignation until Satan’s evil world system has fully run its course.

Concerning us in this the Dispensation of Grace, Christ’s delay is advantageous to lost people. Jesus Christ Himself is truly the only hope planet earth has. Before He pours out His wrath and rids the world of Satan’s influence, He will continue to be “longsuffering” so people can escape that impending wrath by faith in Him (2 Peter 3:3-9,15,16). Jesus Christ is purposefully tarrying.

Until Jesus Christ returns to make every wrong right, God offers us a wealth of resources in Christ to cope….

Good Riddance! #6

Sunday, April 14, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

Satan is God’s enemy (Satan is Hebrew for “adversary”); hence, Satan’s children hate and oppose God’s children. Recall Jesus’ rebuke of Israel’s unbelieving religious leaders, Satan’s counterfeit Jews: “If God were your Father, ye would love me…. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning [referring to Cain killing Abel], and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:42,44).

The conflict between lost people and Christians is actually the visible manifestation of the invisible spiritual battle that Satan’s lie program is waging against God’s truth. Unbelievers have slaughtered millions of God’s people throughout the ages. Even today, Christians worldwide are imprisoned, tortured, and slain for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth. (Fret not, for He knows the names of all, and His righteous judgment will be expressed in due time!)

In the context of today’s Scripture, John is comforting his believing Jewish audience who will experience the seven-year Tribulation. He instructs these Jewish Christians to neither be startled nor distressed when the apostate Jews embrace the antichrist and shun and persecute them for rejecting him as false (cf. Matthew 10:16-42). As satanic Cain hated and slew godly Abel (1 John 3:11,12), so unbelieving Israel will despise and betray the believing Jews, the Israel of God. John consoles them to be strong by faith in Jesus Christ, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

The satanic opposition that Abel faced and that Israel’s believing remnant will face, is what we Christians face today….

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? #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!

Future Christian Veterans

Sunday, November 11, 2012

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3 KJV).

Let us not grow weary, dear saints, for we are Christian veterans-in-the-making!

As one older Christian and veteran affirmed, the spiritual warfare in which we Christians are engaged is far more intense than any flesh and blood battle. The war between good and evil is worldwide, and has transpired for 6,000 years!

Before we trusted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we were on Satan’s side of the conflict. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, fighting against God, opposing His will for us (Ephesians 2:1-3)! Now that we have received salvation and become God’s children, we have become Satan’s enemies.

Life is very difficult under the curse of sin and death. What exacerbates that trouble is that we Christians are subject Satan’s attacks. This “present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) is certainly cruel to us, but we should not expect better treatment anyway. After all, the Lord reminded His disciples, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord” (Matthew 10:24). If the world slandered and executed Christ, they will do the same to us Christians without compunction! Remember, we are in a war, and every conflict has casualties.

Howbeit, the Holy Ghost through the Apostle Paul encourages Timothy (and us) to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (today’s Scripture). We Christians are not shielded from pain and suffering. Christians worldwide are afflicted for standing firm on God’s Word rightly divided. Hence, we lapse into periods of doubt, wondering if it really is worth it. We grow weary of the suffering, wondering when it will end.

The Holy Ghost reminds us, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1). We are to be strong, not in ourselves, but “in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Everything that God can do for us through Christ (grace) enables us to “bear” all troubles (1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:13).

Take comfort, this battle will end, and we Christians will go home to heaven’s glory, becoming Christian veterans! 🙂

Do We All Worship the Same God? #5

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7 KJV).

Two common misconceptions are: (1) everyone worships the same God, and (2) everyone will eventually make it to heaven. Today’s Scripture answers both with a resounding “NO!”

King David extols the LORD for His faithfulness: “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side; now may Israel say; if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us,…. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:1-4a,6,8).

David understood that Israel’s military victories were because faithful JEHOVAH was on their side: “[Israel’s] help [was] in the name of the LORD,” because He “made heaven and earth.” Their Almighty Creator God was unlike the idols of today’s Scripture; those idols could do nothing, for Israel or for the heathen (who lost to Israel militarily because they served helpless idols). Thus, the context of today’s Scripture again exhorts Israel to trust in the all-powerful LORD, who “made heaven and earth” (Psalm 115:9-12,15, but especially 15).

Just as Israel was weak without the faithful LORD in physical battles, we have no spiritual victory apart for the faithful Lord Jesus Christ. Only the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, our unfaithfulness; in Him alone is there spiritual life. No religion or idol can provide forgiveness of sins or a way to heaven. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Unless we bypass pagan idols and come by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ alone, we are neither worshipping the one true God nor going to heaven.

Expect the Adversaries

Sunday, September 30, 2012

“For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9 KJV).

Hypothetically, if we are the Lord’s children, then we will have an easy life? Right? Wrong!

As one Christian brother expressed it, “God has not promised us Christians a rose petal pathway.” Contrary to the feel-good cliché “God wants you healthy and wealthy,” our membership in the Church the Body of Christ does not ensure our lives will be trouble-free.

While we Christians serve the Lord Jesus Christ, this world has never been and will never be His friend: “They hated [Jesus Christ] without a cause” (John 15:25; cf. Psalm 35:19). During His 33 years on earth, the world was very unkind to our Lord and Saviour. He was hated, belittled, and executed by His own people. The world will “love” Christ living His life in us to the same extent they “loved” Him living His life during His earthly ministry—not at all!

In the verse previous to today’s Scripture, Paul is staying at Ephesus until Pentecost. Today’s Scripture says that while Paul had opportunity to preach and teach in Ephesus, the satanic policy of evil had its men in place. Evil men, Satan’s cohorts, were eager to divide Paul’s audience and persecute Christians, including harming the Apostle himself. Today’s Scripture refers to Acts 19:21–20:1, when Paul preached against the pagan goddess Diana in Ephesus. Fearing financial ruin, the local idol makers anger the Ephesians and cause them to turn against Paul. This riot in Ephesus (present-day western Turkey) forces Paul to depart to Macedonia (present-day northern Greece).

The Philippian believers endured intense persecution, yet Paul encouraged them: “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God” (1:28). Do not fear or be intimidated by Satan’s evil world system. (“Satan” is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary.”) The devil is our adversary because he is God’s adversary. Thankfully, Satan’s tactics do not have to destroy us: God’s grace is sufficient for us to bear them (2 Corinthians 12:9,10).

Expect the adversaries, and expect God’s grace to endure them! 🙂

Hope Deferred, Sick Heart Incurred

Sunday, September 2, 2012

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12 KJV).

Regarding today’s Scripture, we can all shout, “Amen!”

Have you ever had an intense desire to have something (or perhaps, someone)? Your heart was thrilled beyond words, was it not? How you looked forward to that wish coming true. In effect, that want became a crutch, something that you depended on entirely. You had such hope, and you looked forward to that certain event happening (a relationship, raise at work, new car or house, friendship, job, vacation trip, et cetera).

But to your horror, that hope was shattered, as that dream was “deferred” (delayed), or worse, it never even came to pass. Were you not sick to your stomach? Did you not have a horrible feeling inside, like something in you died? Maybe you despaired even of life? Perhaps you felt angry, sad, or both. This is to be expected, since the first part of today’s Scripture reads: “Hope deferred [delayed, overdue] maketh the heart sick.” When we hope for something, and it fails to come to pass, it wounds us emotionally. Our innermost being feels sick.

Now, the second part of today’s Scripture declares: “but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” Here is the flipside to our previous paragraph: suppose that wish or hope did come true. Were you not overjoyed? You wanted to live and enjoy that good time, right? The Bible describes this as “a tree of life,” something that makes you want to live and makes you happy that you are alive.

Saints, life is full of disappointments. While we are emotional beings, we need to be reminded that our emotions should not be in control of our lives. Let us walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of God’s Word to us (believing the King James Bible rightly divided), and let our emotions follow us (not vice versa). Above all, let us hope in Jesus Christ and our sufficiency in Him, which hope is never deferred, and a sick heart is never incurred.