Category: King James Bible Authority

Where Was God? #6

Thursday, September 19, 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….

When God does not react to situations, especially tragedies, the way people expect Him, He is accused of being “negligent.” They consider how He visibly and directly intervened and rescued people from various dangers in Bible times. Since He does not do this today, people erroneously conclude that He must be unconcerned, that He is judging us for un-confessed sin, et cetera.

This outlook results from a rather simple error—a failure to approach the Bible dispensationally. We are not Israel, so by going to the Bible verses written to and about Israel in an attempt to discover what God is doing today with us, is simply a dangerous—and, quite frankly, satanic—method of handling the Scriptures. To ignore the verses written to us, and to “name and claim” the verses not written to us, is dishonest. We cannot make God do something He is not doing: He is not operating Israel’s program today.

God is not using extra-biblical methods (circumstances, angels, feelings, emotions, “visions,” et cetera) to reveal His will to us—we have God’s complete, written, and authoritative Word, the Holy King James Bible (Ephesians 1:9,10; Ephesians 3:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). Specifically, Jesus Christ is speaking to us through Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, for those 13 Bible books are God’s Word written to and about us Gentiles (Romans 11:13; 1 Corinthians 14:37). Today, God is dispensing grace, not law (Romans 6:14,15). God is currently forming the Church the Body of Christ, not the nation Israel (Ephesians 2:13-22). Today, God is forming a heavenly people, not an earthly people (Ephesians 2:6,7).

In this the Dispensation of Grace, members of the Church the Body of Christ endured bodily sickness and other difficult circumstances (Romans 8:18-25; 2 Corinthians 11:22-30; 2 Corinthians 12:7,8; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20). Rather than God removing those troubles, He gave those Christians strength, hope, and grace to bear them (Romans 8:24,25; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9,10; Philippians 4:11-13). In Christ, we are equipped to endure “all things….”

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….

Where Was God? #4

Tuesday, September 17, 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….

People usually blame God for their problems. Beloved, God is not “out to get us”—Satan is! God offers us peace, joy, forgiveness, salvation, and righteousness in and through Jesus Christ. Satan’s policy of evil attempts to prevent us from ever learning God’s Word to us (which averts praise and glory the Lord Jesus receives when someone does hear and believe His Word).

Frankly, Satan desires to keep us ignorant of God’s Word to us—he prefers lost people to stay dead in their sins and continue on their way to hell (2 Corinthians 4:3,4) and he wants Christians to remain uninformed regarding God’s will for their lives (2 Corinthians 11:3,4). The devil’s primary method of hiding God’s truth is to use religious tradition and works-religion.

Hence, very few, even Christians, understand suffering from the perspective of the Holy Bible rightly divided. Every person suffers because of: (1) living in a fallen creation due to Adam’s sin, and (2) poor choices made in life—their choices and the choices of others. For the Christian, there is a third source of suffering—persecution for Jesus Christ’s sake. These three sources of suffering are all the result of sin and Satan’s policy of evil. While God does not remove these troubles, that does not mean that God is unconcerned with us.

In the context of today’s Scripture, the psalmist is prophetically speaking from the viewpoint of a believing Jew living during the (still future) seven-year Tribulation. As that believing Israeli witnesses the antichrist (“the man of the earth;” verse 18) slaughtering the Messianic Jews (who trust Jesus as Christ), and God permitting it, the perplexed soul asks in today’s Scripture, “Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?”

So, why does God does not prevent such tragedies? He is allowing mankind to “do his own thing,” to let man choose between following His plan for creation and participating in Satan’s policy of evil. God is thus laying the groundwork to cleanse and restore creation unto Himself….

Where Was God? #3

Monday, September 16, 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….

Adam, the federal head (representative) of the human race, exercised his free will, and he deliberately made the wrong choice (1 Timothy 2:11-15). Today, all of creation, especially man, suffers the consequences, as the Apostle Paul explains so clearly: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:… for if by one man’s offence death reigned by one… therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation… for as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…” (Romans 5:12,17-19).

By Adam, sin infiltrated the original, perfect (sinless) world system: hence, the Scriptures speak of “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). God had already warned Adam, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). After partaking of that forbidden fruit, however, Adam continued to physically live another 930 years (Genesis 5:5). And yet, he and Eve died right there in the Garden of Eden just as God had foretold (in Eden, they died spiritually, unable to commune with God, which is the natural state of man right from birth).

Where was God on September 11, 2001? In the same place He was when Adam sinned that first time. From heaven’s glory, God Almighty watched man make a choice to follow Him or Satan. God’s wrath against the world’s sin is coming, but the 9/11 terrorist attacks were just sinful man’s actions (remember, where there is sin, there is death). Our world has never seen God’s wrath, yet.

Thankfully, just as God was there to provide man with a free will, and He was there to observe man exercise that free will, He was also there to graciously make provisions (Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork) for the inevitable sins that man would commit….

Waste Not Thy Time

Friday, September 13, 2013

“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).

Thy time on earth is short, so use it wisely!

There are so many distractions in this world, especially various electronic devices popularized in the last half-century. Technological progress and its products are not evil in and of themselves. Our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, equipped mankind with extraordinary mental abilities that allow him to take resources from His creation and make various objects. The problem is when we become so distracted by and addicted to these inventions that we have neither time nor energy to think about the literal eternity that awaits once those things pass away!

How true are the words of the late Christian brother who said, “People throw away the things that matter and they hold on to the things that do not.” Although he was referring to lost people, even many Christians have fallen prey to this improper thinking. Think of the hours upon hours upon hours the average Christian sits in front of the television and/or computer per day. Where is the Bible study? The prayer? The soul-winning? The inner man is starving, waning and becoming lean, saturated with the world’s foolishness. Instead of the Christian teaching the lost and dying world the things of God, the lost and dying world is teaching the Christian the things of the adversary!

Beloved, do not let the world distract you from your Christian ambassadorship (today’s Scripture). We all need to guard against this by understanding God’s will. We need to study God’s Word rightly divided every day; otherwise we have no sound doctrine to compensate for the error of the evil world system that we hear and see every day. Extended exposure to the “wisdom” of the world pollutes the Christian’s soul, that which will profit you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-20).

Thy time on earth is extremely brief, so redeem it for God’s glory! 🙂

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #7

Thursday, September 12, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

The Pharisees, as well as other religious leaders of Israel, were not serving the LORD of the Old Testament Law that they studied. While they were highly educated and appeared good, they were not merciful toward the sick and hungry. They were sticklers for not working on the Sabbath day, and yet, they had no idea what the Sabbath day even represented. Blinded by their religious tradition, they preferred to see the hungry faint and the sick suffer, than even dare break the Sabbath!

Jesus told the Pharisees, “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (today’s Scripture). The Pharisees’ heartlessness originated from a desire to serve a denominational system rather than let the love of the Lord Jesus Christ operate in their hearts and actions. The disciples were hungry, so Jesus Christ—the Person who authorized Sabbath-day observance—permitted them to pick food on the Sabbath. The Pharisees erred in presumptuously criticizing Christ’s disciples. They failed to realize that the JEHOVAH who had instituted the Sabbath-day observance, the “Lord of the sabbath day,” was Jesus Christ—the Person standing right in their midst!

One last interesting tidbit to conclude: In the companion passage of today’s Scripture, our King James Bible has the unique expression, “the second sabbath after the first” (Luke 6:1). That Sabbath of today’s Scripture loops back to the original (first) Sabbath of Genesis 2:1-3. The time of the fulfillment of the purpose of that original Sabbath—the establishment of God’s earthly kingdom—was near during Christ’s earthly ministry. Alas, the Pharisees failed to make that connection between those two Sabbaths. Religious tradition had caused them to ignore the God of the Sabbath, thereby causing them to be merciless and self-righteous for the sake of religion, and worst of all, they missed God’s kingdom altogether!

That is what our Lord meant in today’s Scripture.

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

Thursday, September 5, 2013

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 KJV).

In these twelve simple words, we see the Christian’s life and death….

The Christian (“Christlike”) life is the life that Jesus Christ lives in and through the Christian. Here on this earth, Christ lives His life in us Christians. Galatians 2:20 affirms: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear….” The Bible also says in Colossians 1:27, “…Christ in you [Gentiles], the hope of glory….” We do not live the Christian life because we, even as Christians, cannot live the Christian life. Only Jesus Christ can live His life. When we place our faith in God’s Word to us, Romans through Philemon, the Holy Spirit will take that sound doctrine and transform our inner man (soul and spirit; 1 Thessalonians 2:13), thereby changing the outward man (the actions of the physical body).

In today’s Scripture, we also learn that for the Christian, physical death is “gain.” In 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, we read: “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

While here in this physical world, we are absent from the third heaven where God our heavenly Father dwells. However, we have a responsibility—yea, a privilege—to care for our Christian brethren here on earth and tell the lost world about the salvation in Jesus Christ!

Until we reach heaven’s glory, we agree with Paul: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:23,24). 🙂

Words Spoken at Baptism?

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19 KJV).

How do we resolve these instructions with what the Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38?

Water baptism, the most divisive issue within Christendom, is rightly called “religious TNT.” There is tremendous confusion about water baptism. Who should administer it (priest, pastor, deacon)? What is the proper mode (sprinkling, pouring, immersion)? What words should be said? Who should be water baptized (adults only, or adults and babies)? How many times forward and backward? Where should it occur? For salvation, for a testimony, or not at all?

Confusion especially arises regarding today’s Scripture and Acts 2:38. Post-resurrection, Jesus commissioned His apostles: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (today’s Scripture). Yet, read Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Which is it? Water baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” as Jesus Christ declared (Matthew 28:19)? Or, be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ,” as the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter taught (Acts 2:38)? Even today, some denominations follow Matthew 28:19 while others obey Acts 2:38, fervently accusing each other of not having the valid baptism!

Resolving the apparent contradiction between Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38 is as simple as reading and believing the verses and their context. To whom does Matthew 28:19 refer? “All nations”—Gentiles—just as the verse says. Whom does Acts 2:38 involve? “All the house of Israel” (verse 36).

Matthew 28:19 refers to believing Gentiles in Christ’s millennial kingdom (verse 20) being cleansed from their pagan idolatry and embracing the triune Godhead, the only true God. Acts 2:38 is God’s plan of salvation for Israel: Peter is instructing Jews to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Person they rejected and crucified on Calvary’s cross.

The Thing Which is Good

Monday, September 2, 2013

“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28 KJV).

On this Labor Day, we talk about work, “the thing which is good.”

In this day and age of increasing “government assistance,” people are becoming less and less aware of our hard work being the Lord Jesus’ preferred method of the source of our incomes. While the physically and mentally disabled are obvious exceptions, the God of the Bible expects all of us to contribute labor in order to provide for ourselves. For children and young adults, even being a student in school is work enough!

Observe the doctrine being communicated in today’s Scripture. The grace life does not merely teach us to quit doing bad things, but it also instructs us to start doing good things (Titus 2:11,12). Once a thief trusts the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork as sufficient payment for his sins, then God expects that thief to quit stealing and find a job so he can provide for his needs!

The God of creation calls work “the thing which is good” (today’s Scripture). Work is not something to be avoided; it is something to be embraced for the Lord’s glory!

When the Lord Jesus Christ put the first man, Adam, on earth, that man had a divine commission. Adam was not to simply loaf around and do nothing: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam was to protect that garden, to till its ground, to prepare it for Jesus Christ to come down and dwell in with he and Eve (because of sin, that earthly kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule is still awaiting fulfillment!).

Saints, may we work to provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and may we work to help those who truly are needy (today’s Scripture). In the words of God the Holy Spirit, that is “good!” 🙂

Who Is a Saint? #7

Sunday, September 1, 2013

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV).

Behold, the identity that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Father God has one overall plan for creation, and not even hell itself will prevent Jesus Christ from becoming the Head of all the governments of heaven and earth (Ephesians 1:9,10; cf. Colossians 1:16-20). “In the dispensation of the fulness of times,” Jesus Christ will be crowned the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, and He will appoint rulers to fill those positions of government that are corrupted by Satan and sin today.

When we study and believe God’s Word rightly divided, we learn that Jesus Christ will one day rule this planet earth through redeemed Israel. These believing Jews—yea, “saints”—will be God’s channel of blessing and salvation to the Gentiles (Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:3-6; et al.). We also understand that Jesus Christ will one day rule the heavenly places through us, the agency called “the Church the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 1:20-23; Ephesians 2:6,7; et al.)—we are God’s other set of “saints.” We, believing Jews and Gentiles in this the Dispensation of Grace, will be God’s vessels that He will use in outer space for His glory!

The doctrine that the LORD taught Israel in the “Old Testament,” Four Gospels, early Acts, and Hebrews through Revelation will finally come to a head, as Israel’s believing remnant is led by Jesus Christ Himself into their Promised Land (earthly kingdom) to dwell safely in it forever. For us, the doctrine in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, will be the life lived in and through us forever in the heavenly places… get a head-start learning and believing that doctrine now!

Dear saints, we cannot begin to fathom the joyous, busy schedule eternity future will be for us in the heavenly places. In Jesus Christ, we have wisdom, we have righteousness, we have sanctification, and we have redemption (today’s Scripture). May we never forget—that identity is not just to keep us out of hell, but to enable us to be used of God throughout all the endless ages to come! 🙂