Category: counsel

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! 🙂

Tossed To and Fro

Monday, July 21, 2014

“That we henceforth 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;” (Ephesians 4:14 KJV).

Art thou “tossed to and fro?” To the King James Bible thou must go!

The following recent quotation from a church leader typifieth the dire spiritual condition of the average church leader and church member: “For years I bounced around between different translations, using one with my Sunday school students, one at the office (with multiple translations) and a King James version of the New Testament and Psalms that I read on my subway commute.” “Bouncing around between different translations?!” Today’s Scripture saith that this is the very opposite of what the Lord Jesus Christ desireth for His people!

The Greek word translated “tossed to and fro” in today’s Scripture is kludonidzomai. It is related to the word, “raging of the water” in Luke 8:24 (the offshore storm Jesus calmed), and “he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” in James 1:6 (describing a double-minded man). Today’s Scripture portrayeth such imagery—a soul violently pushed around in one direction by one doctrine, another doctrine coming along and forcing the soul to drift in a totally different direction (repeat cycle).

Not surprisingly, one reason why church members abandon Christianity is because of the Bible versions issue: they know not what to believe and simply recant the Bible altogether. The King James Bible believer is not the troublemaker; those who ridicule God’s preserved Word in English and attempt to supplant it with 200 (!) contradictory counterfeits are the ones causing the confusion and ignorance.

Dear readers, God gave us His Word so we could have soul stability; Satan wanteth to take it from us so we can fall for his error. Beloved, modern Bible translators and publishers want to make “a quick buck” at the cost of your souls, so do not let them! Settle thy feet on the rock of the King James Bible rightly divided…. all else is sure to “wash out to sea!” 🙂

An Ear to Hear

Saturday, July 19, 2014

“But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 3:27 KJV).

May we always keep today’s Scripture in mind when sharing God’s Word with others, lest we grow discouraged and quit.

As King James Bible believers and Pauline dispensational Christians, we receive much criticism from denominational Christians and modern-version Christians. Many times, we learn firsthand that lost and saved alike are not interested in sound Bible doctrine. Lost people (including professing “Christians”) usually refuse to believe (trust) the Gospel of God’s Grace that we preach. Professing Christians usually prefer their long-held denominational doctrines than embrace the clarity of God’s Word rightly divided, and they rather their “easy-to-read” modern versions than have God’s preserved Word in English. Today’s Scripture attests to the fact that such willful Bible ignorance is nothing new.

In today’s Scripture, right at the beginning of the Prophet Ezekiel’s ministry (600 B.C.), Adonai JEHOVAH (“Lord GOD,” God the Father) warned him that some of Israel would listen to him preach His Word, and the rest would not want to hear anything from God. “For they are a rebellious house!”

The Four Gospels record Jesus Christ as saying, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,” some eight times (Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9,43; Mark 4:9,23; Mark 7:16; Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35). In the book of the Revelation, Jesus Christ says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,” some seven times (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; Revelation 3:6,13,22). In Revelation 13:9, it is repeated, “If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

God Almighty, Author of the Holy Bible, knew that many would reject His words. If someone does not want to hear His Word, God grants him or her free will, permitting that person to “enjoy” the spiritual ignorance they so desire (1 Corinthians 14:37,38; cf. Romans 1:18-32). Beloved, when dealing with people who do not have an ear to hear God’s Word, may we have an ear to hear 1 Corinthians 14:38, “If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”

A Glass of Water

Saturday, July 5, 2014

“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:23,24 KJV).

May we never take a glass of water for granted again!

A bygone Bible teacher wrote that he would literally thank God when he would drink a glass of ice-cold water (see today’s Scripture). The brother had relied completely on the Lord Jesus Christ for his soul salvation unto eternal life, so he had the assurance of the forgiveness of sins and he knew that he had a home in heaven. He knew that Jesus Christ had tasted God’s wrath on his behalf at Calvary, so he would never have to face that wrath in hellfire. The rich man’s plea in today’s Scripture would never be his in eternity.

Interestingly, the rich man had rejected the God of Bible during his earthly life, and he was neither repentant nor accepting of God in everlasting hellfire; he merely wanted water and comfort. By no means was the context of today’s Scripture a parable (Luke 16:19-31)—never once did Jesus’ parables contain proper names (notice “Lazarus” was a real person). To imagine such a place where so much as one single drop of water is coveted and never granted, is to understand why the Scriptures make reference to “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12; Luke 13:28) and “a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42, which Jesus interpreted literally in verse 50). The rich man’s soul would always cry out, and would always be deprived of even one drop of water!

We Christians should never forget—yea, not even for one second—the terrible destiny from which God Almighty saved us. Every time we drink ice-cold water, may we thank our Lord Jesus Christ that we will never face “water-deprivation” in eternity. May we be motivated to share the Gospel of Grace with our lost loved ones, that they not echo the plea of today’s Scripture in eternity!

Liberated to Serve

Friday, July 4, 2014

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 KJV).

Today, as we in the United States celebrate the 238th anniversary of our nation’s independence, we invite our Christian brethren worldwide to rejoice with us concerning our freedom in Jesus Christ.

When we proclaim Romans 6:14—“Ye are not under the law, but under grace”—people tend to assume “loose living.” Does “grace living” really mean we can now live any way we want? Lest anyone be misled in that regard, God the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write in the next verse, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid [May God never let that happen!]” (Romans 6:15). Grace living is not Law-keeping, but it certainly is not Law-breaking either.

God still cares how we live, albeit He is not operating the “weak and beggarly” system of “bondage” (Law) that He once did with Israel (Galatians 4:9). God proved to the entire world that since Israel could not keep His commandments perfectly, no other sons of Adam (the Gentiles) could either: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them [Israel] who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world [Gentiles] may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

We sinners cannot keep the Law. However, God in His grace provided us a way to escape that condemnation by sending Jesus Christ to offer Himself on Calvary’s cruel cross to pay for our sins. By simple faith in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the fully-satisfying payment for our sins, we can now be “made the righteousness of God in [Christ]” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can be delivered from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire) and the power of sin (flesh-walking).

Why are we Christians free? To selfishly live any way we want? NO! Today’s Scripture says we are liberated to now serve others, especially our Christian brethren, just as Jesus Christ selflessly served His Father and selflessly died on our behalf. That is grace living!!!!

Please see our 2011 Fourth of July Bible study “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” which can be watched here or read here.

Your “Home” Grace Church

Thursday, July 3, 2014

“These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14,15 KJV).

Searching “to no avail” for a local grace church? (Search no more, for you already know its address!)

Replying to yesterday’s devotional, one of our readers emailed me. Like so many we hear from, she voiced her discouragement and asked where she should “go to church” when no pure local church could be found! My family and I were in a similar predicament years ago, until I heard a Christian brother and ministry coworker say, “Walk out your front door, stand in your front yard, turn around, and voila—your local grace church building!” 🙂

Until organized religion began to dominate Christianity during the first few centuries A.D., and construction began on elaborate cathedrals and other monuments to man’s “goodness,” God’s people met in homes. We read about the “church” that met in Rome in Priscilla and Aquila’s house (Romans 16:3-5)—note, not Peter’s house! Scripture also mentions the “church” in Nymphas’ house in Laodicea (Colossians 4:15), and the “church” in Philemon’s house in Colosse (Philemon 2).

In Paul’s ministry, a “church” was not a building, for the God of the Bible lives in Christians instead of manmade structures (Acts 17:24). “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place…” (1 Corinthians 14:23)—the “church” is not the place, but the Christians in the place. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

As King James Bible-believing, Pauline-dispensational Christians, we are God’s church. Our homes are where the “church” meets! If we have no teacher or pastor, we can locate sound grace Bible study material and utilize it (you are more than welcome to use our studies). We have no desire to attend “worship services” that abound with denominationalism and religious tradition, so we stay at home with our Bibles and invite any like-minded Christians to join us!

Meat and Bones

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV).

Eat the meat but do not choke on the bones!

A discouraged Christian friend once emailed me to explain his dilemma. He had discovered a source that contained sound Bible doctrine and church tradition. He recognized the doctrinal error, yet he was so disturbed that he was questioning everything in the source (even the sound doctrine). My advice to him was simple, “Eat the meat but do not choke on the bones!” (The same advice conveyed in unique phraseology was also helpful to me when I was in the same predicament years earlier.)

Having visited our local “Christian” bookstore recently, I could not help but chuckle at much of the literature I saw there. There were shelves after shelves after shelves of volumes that had nothing to do with the God of the Holy Bible, nothing to do with the Holy Bible, nothing to do with the Christian life God has given us in Christ. If were were to purge today’s average “Christian” bookstore of everything non-Christian, doubtless the store would soon declare bankruptcy!

Since organized religion has corrupted pure Christianity, Christendom is a spiritual minefield—it is dotted with thousands of gimmicks, heresies, and other traps. If the Christian is to survive Satan’s military tactics and assaults, he or she must be grounded in God’s Word rightly divided. The Christian must always remember that the Holy Bible rightly divided is the “minesweeper,” detecting and destroying the mines that would otherwise destroy the Christian. As today’s Scripture says, we need to sort truth from error. Our standard as English-speaking Christians is the King James Bible rightly divided. That which fails the test is worthless, so we toss it out; that which passes the test is “good,” so we retain it!

Dear saints, we will never find a perfect local church, but that is not our desire anyway. We “make no bones about it”—we seek a pure church, for that is what the Holy Spirit desires us to have (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Corinthians 11:1-20). We seek neither “milk” nor bones, but “meat” (1 Corinthians 3:2)! 🙂

At Calvary #5

Saturday, June 21, 2014

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24 KJV).

The chorus of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Mercy there was great, and grace was free,
Pardon there was multiplied to me,
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.”

“Mercy” means “pity, compassion,” God holding back what we deserve (His wrath). “Grace” is God’s unmerited favor—it is free to us (apart from our works) because Jesus Christ paid for it with His life (it is not “cheap grace!”). In Christ, we are liberated from sin’s dominion and works-religion bondage (Galatians 5:1)—the “redemption,” the purchasing of our freedom, through Jesus Christ’s shed blood. We received “redemption through [Christ’s] blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of [God’s] grace” (Ephesians 1:7; cf. Colossians 1:14). The riches of God’s grace—where our sin abounds, God’s grace abounds far, far, far, far more (Romans 5:20). God’s forgiveness, His abundant pardon, is offered to us at Calvary’s cross.

For our dear readers who are lost, who have never come to a point in their lives where they relied exclusively on Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for their sins, we urge them to do so today before it is eternally too late. No matter what you have done in your life, there is no sin so vile that Jesus Christ’s blood cannot cover it. At Calvary, the God of the Bible offers all the mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness you will ever need, but none of it can be applied to you until you trust Jesus Christ alone as your personal Saviour.

After soul salvation unto eternal life, we join our Apostle Paul in reflecting upon our former lives, and we conclude with him, “but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:13,14). Indeed, the mercy, grace, faith, and love of Jesus Christ are more than enough.

Saints, being mindful that our (self-) life ended at Calvary, and our (eternal) life began at Calvary, let us sing “At Calvary” with grateful hearts! 🙂

At Calvary #3

Thursday, June 19, 2014

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25 KJV).

The third verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary.”

In 2 Timothy 1:11,12, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” Some 35 years earlier, Paul had entrusted his very soul to Jesus Christ. The Apostle, in prison awaiting execution, knew that, no matter what happened to his physical body, his soul was secure in Christ. Never would his Saviour disappoint him.

Once, when we were “children of pride,” Satan was our king (Job 41:34). Now, we recognize Jesus Christ as King in our lives. Paul’s doxology, 1 Timothy 1:17, reminds us: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Verse 16 says we praise Jesus Christ because of His “mercy and longsuffering” that caused Him to save us).

In Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas, having just been beaten and whipped for preaching the Gospel of Grace, sat in a Philippian jail with their feet chained. Despite all their troubles, they sang praises to the Lord Jesus Christ—and the prisoners heard them (today’s Scripture)! Evidently, now, they were singing about the Gospel of Grace, for the Philippian jailor later asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Their timeless reply was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (verse 31).

We have relied on Jesus Christ for our soul salvation. Hence, our delighted souls cannot help but remember that our eternal life began at Calvary’s cruel cross where the Son of God died. What a song we can sing, even in the midst of heartache! 🙂

The Songs of Sound Doctrine

Monday, June 16, 2014

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16 KJV).

Once we take in God’s Word, it will surely come out in song!

One of the primary texts Israel used in worship was the Book of Psalms. The Bible says that, just moments before His arrest, Jesus and His disciples sang a “hymn” (Matthew 26:30). Paul and Silas, albeit in prison, “sang praises unto God” (Acts 16:25). Moses and Israel sang “the Song of Moses” after they crossed the Red Sea (Exodus chapter 15); in Deuteronomy chapter 32, just before Moses died, he taught Israel another song.

Ephesians 5:19, the companion verse to today’s Scripture, exhorts: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (The Greek word rendered “psalms” is related to the word translated “making melody.”) Derived from the Greek, our English word “psalm” (meaning “a sacred song or hymn”) conveys the idea of “a song sung to harp music.” The English word “hymn” (meaning “a song or ode to God”) is derived from a Greek word that means, “to touch or beat, to sing” (“hymn” emphasizes the tune). A “spiritual song” is simply a poem or group of verses sang in order to communicate spiritual truths (information that involves the Holy Spirit).

Throughout history, the Lord Jesus Christ’s people have written and sung hymns to express their understanding of the Holy Scriptures. While some of these songs demonstrate a misunderstanding of Scripture, there are many that convey sound Bible doctrine in a very creative, beautiful manner. When memorized with supporting Bible verses, they are useful to occupy the mind when an actual Bible is not readily available. Sadly, many of the old-time hymns are often forgotten in favor of “contemporary worship songs” (which, in keeping with the deterioration of Christendom, can be quite “watered down” doctrinally).

Our goal is, in the future, to occasionally provide devotional arcs (series of studies) aimed at retaining the rich Bible doctrine that these hymns communicate.

Saints, let us begin our first installment of “The Songs of Sound Doctrine!” 🙂