Category: counsel

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.

Pets Past, Prayer, and Peace

Monday, November 10, 2014

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7 KJV).

What comfort does God’s Word provide regarding pets that have died?

Recently, a Christian brother emailed me for advice. His family had just lost a young pet to an automobile accident, and his distressed children had inquired as to whether pets go to heaven. I too have faced this interesting question posed by young children, and what I have always responded with is that the Bible does not provide any details about that matter. While this answer is valid, it does not provide any comfort, particularly for very young minds. My reply to him was to share today’s Scripture with his children.

If ever confronted by young people asking about pets being in heaven, we should tell them today’s Scripture and explain it to them. God’s Word is so plain that even a child heartbroken by the death of pet, can profit from it. Small children should be reminded that, whenever they remember a pet that has died, they should thank God that He gave the pet to them for the time they had him or her. Part of praying is telling Father God that we are thankful for His provisions; after all, He is “the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

Prayer—talking to God about all the details of life, in every circumstance, in light of what His Word says to us—brings His peace to our worrisome hearts during difficult times. We talk to Him in light of what we read in His Word, and His peace guards our minds and hearts through Christ Jesus. Why do our minds and hearts need protection? Satan will use those awful circumstances to make us miserable, to discourage us, to defeat us. Father God knows how Satan operates, and He has made provisions for us in Christ to withstand Satan’s schemes and scams. Whenever our pets die, let us remember today’s Scripture, such soothing words of God. 🙂

Natural-Man Wisdom and Divine Wisdom

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12 KJV).

Beware of natural-man wisdom, for it naturally leads to death!

The following quote personifies human viewpoint: “In my belief one only needs to be a moral person and have faith [to be saved]. With the multitude of different religious groups that all revolve around Christianity and Judaism are you really that certain that the word that you read is to be taken word for word as written and all others are wrong? This would seem to me rather arrogant and to be a sin as well. It is not our position to judge. Have faith whatever it may be, be a moral person and in my belief you will be saved.”

Is it not fascinating that this individual posited that we Bible-believers should not “judge” those who disagree with us, but then he freely “judges” the “immoral” by saying only the “moral” can be saved? Furthermore, for him to claim “morality” means he believes there is absolute right and absolute wrong (but all religions disagree regarding what is “right” and “wrong,” so arguing “morality equals heaven” is far-fetched).

Why do I believe the Bible “word-for-word?” Firstly, it says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Every person in the world testifies to the truth of this verse—sin exists (we cannot avoid it)! Secondly, it says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). Every cemetery in the world testifies to the truth of this verse—sin kills (we cannot live here forever)! Thirdly, it says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in [God’s] sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Every religion in the world testifies to the truth of this verse—sin damns (we cannot perform perfectly)! Lastly, it says, “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b). Every Christian in the world testifies to the truth of this verse—Christ saves (we can trust Him alone for salvation)!

Ultimately, it is not arrogance. It is confidence! 🙂

Wayward or Wise

Monday, November 3, 2014

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15 KJV).

Today’s Scripture says we can be wayward, or we can be wise—one or the other is everyone before God’s eyes.

Sin is being our own authority, our operating independently of how God designed us to function. For 6,000 years now, the God of the Bible has tolerated our species, the sinful human race. Despite our technological advances that have made life easier, we are still so perplexed as to how to solve our basic problem, sin, that makes life harder.

For three years, the Lord Jesus Christ labored so fervently, so diligently, to turn around the nation He had delivered from Egyptian bondage 1,500 years earlier. He preached, and confirmed with miracles, that He was their long-promised Messiah—willing to evict their Gentile enemies and introduce Israel’s earthly kingdom. Yet, Israel largely disregarded Him. Precious few Jews, those who wisely hearkened to that divine counsel, trusted Him as Christ.

Chiefly, Israel’s works-religion—their striving to be accepted of God—was “right in [their] own eyes.” They refused to hear about their sin; they rejected the counsel Jesus Christ was providing through His sermons and miraculous demonstrations. The Lord Jesus spoke to unbelieving Jews in John 5:39,40: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Contrary to “irresistible grace,” one of the tenets of Calvinism, God never forces Himself on anyone who rejects Him. He gives them over to what they prefer. Jesus continued, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (verse 43). They did not want Jesus as Christ, so God will one day give Israel a false Messiah, the satanic Antichrist, one who will deceive them and they will gladly have him!

May we wisely come to Jesus Christ as He is presented in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon. Otherwise, we are just as wayward as Israel was in time past.

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Friday, October 31, 2014

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27,28 KJV).

“Looks can be deceiving” is not only true during Halloweentime, but confirmed year-round within Christendom.

Today is Halloween, when children dress up and feign themselves to be creatures they are not. Likewise, many church leaders today wear “Christian” garbs, but their ministries do not bring the Lord Jesus Christ glory and honor. They promote their denomination, and seek to perpetuate it, rather than serve and exalt the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Bible manifests these who appear to be good, as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ exposed Israel’s corrupt religious leaders who misled the nation in His day. In His Parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:24-30,37-43, Christ explained how just as He had sown good seed (wheat, believing Jews) in Israel, Satan had also sown tares/weeds (unbelieving Jews). Tares resemble wheat; unbelieving Jews resemble believing Jews. The unbelieving Pharisees and scribes, for instance, looked like God’s people (believing Israel). Judas Iscariot was another example of Satan’s tares—the apostles never realized who Judas really was until it was too late!

But Satan’s counterfeit believers are not confined to Israel’s program. Today, within local assemblies of the Body of Christ, there are people feigning themselves to be Christians: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Beloved, beware of the church leaders who are arrayed in hypocrisy, “and avoid them” (Romans 16:17b). If their teaching does not agree with the rightly divided King James Bible, you have no business as a child of God to be listening to them.

*This is excerpted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?”

What Shall Be on the Morrow?

Thursday, October 30, 2014

“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:13,14 KJV).

Plan in Jesus Christ today, that regardless of what else may happen to you, you will be in Him.

Just yesterday, while walking in a store’s parking lot, I began to smell a fire burning in the distance. Someone pointed in the direction of large black clouds of billowing smoke; someone’s house in a nearby subdivision was ablaze! It was not too long after that that I began to hear sirens of emergency vehicles passing. Later, I learned on the local news what happened. A man had come home and had found his house on fire, with his mother sleeping inside. Fortunately, he was able to save her before she perished!

There are so many news stories like this from around the world. People can come so close to death and have yet another opportunity to be saved from their sins through Jesus Christ. They come ever so close to the flames of hell, right up to death’s doorstep and hell’s threshold, and yet, they survive those dangerous situations. Then again, they may not be so fortunate the next time around. Death may come far too quick for them, and what have they done with Jesus Christ? It is rightly said, “Eternity keeps you where death finds you.”

James, writing today’s Scripture, rebuked the Jews for their careless thoughts and selfish lifestyles. They were not filled with God’s wisdom; they did not realize how brief this earthly life really is. Like a “vapour,” our earthly life will “vanish away.” It is just a “little time,” so may we come by simple faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now, that if death finds us tomorrow, the Lord Jesus Christ will have found us first! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “How does Satan operate today?”

Sinner’s Gospel or Scoffer’s Creed

Monday, October 27, 2014

“For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written” (Romans 2:24 KJV).

Dear saints, let us use today’s Scripture and learn a valuable lesson from Israel’s history, that it not be our history.

Someone once commented, “You are the only Bible this careless world will read. You are the sinner’s gospel, you are the scoffer’s creed.” What exactly does this mean? Quite simply, the world is watching us Christians. The lost people of the world, and even the angels, are watching us (1 Corinthians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 11:10; Ephesians 3:9-11; 1 Timothy 3:15,16). What do they see? Do they witness sound Bible doctrine on display, or do they see loose, sinful living? Dear friends, whatever they see, whether good or bad, they perceive it as “Jesus Christ” and “Christianity.” Either they will grow interested to see what you have, or they will laugh and distance themselves from such a hypocrite.

When JEHOVAH God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage, He gave them His Covenant of Law to have them display His Word in their lives, for all the Gentile nations to see. He instructed them through Moses: “[6] Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. [7] For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? [8] And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (Deuteronomy 4:6-8).

Still, King David later departed from God’s laws by committing adultery with Bathsheba, causing God’s enemies to laugh at Him (2 Samuel 12:14). Israel’s behavior made JEHOVAH a laughingstock in Assyria (Isaiah 52:5). Brethren, the choice is ours—act like Israel and act like the world, or let Jesus Christ live His life in and through us.

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Does Matthew 19:27-28 prove Judas is in heaven?”

How to Open God’s Safe

Saturday, October 25, 2014

“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 KJV).

Spread the word that today’s Scripture is the key to unlocking the Word!

Many centuries ago, God used holy men to write His Word in human language, He used holy men to copy it thousands of times over to preserve it for us, and He used holy men to translate it into our language, English. The King James Bible did not “just drop down from heaven in 1611;” it was the result of laborious collation, meticulous comparison, and diligent translation of various ancient Hebrew and Greek Bible manuscripts, and prudent consultation of previous translations (particularly, early English).

Our precious King James Bible is a safe—it contains the wealth of the Lord Jesus Christ’s wisdom. How do we extract the profit contained therein? We could spend the rest of our lives searching for the combination in religious tradition, scientific analyses, prayer closets, introspection of intuition, et cetera, but what a waste of time! While most theologians, ministers, and church members still grope and fumble searching for the obvious (sixth-grade English!), banging in frustration on the door, we rejoice evermore in Christ that we have discovered the Bible’s combination—“2 Timothy 2:15!”

Friend, dispensational Bible study is the key to accessing the priceless spiritual knowledge and wisdom God offers us in His Word. We can use the Bible as a nice decorative item to exhibit on a bookshelf or tote under the arm, but that is not what God intended. Only one verse in all the Bible tells us to study the Bible; that one verse tells us how to study the Bible.

“Rightly dividing the word of truth” liberated me from spiritual confusion and religious tradition. It will do the same for you if you let it. Do not let traditionalists mix God’s Word and mix you up. Flee from those who muddle dispensational boundaries—distinctions God has made in His Word—and who force you to consume such nauseous doctrine. For your own spiritual health’s sake, flee to God’s safe and open it quick! Then, share its combination and contents with others. There is plenty to go around! 🙂

Hophni, Phinehas, and the Millennials

Friday, October 24, 2014

“Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil doings by all this people” (1 Samuel 2:22,23 KJV).

What a striking parallel to our 21st century world!

Born between 1980 and 2000, some 80 million Americans are called the “Millennials” (or “Generation Y”), and most of them are very skeptical of organized religion (as compared to their parents). In layman’s terms, many of them have very little to no time for anything “religious” or “spiritual.” Hence, Bible-believing Christians have raised concern as to the direction of our society once older generations have expired. The next few decades will be interesting indeed, to say the least!

Many grim news stories of which we hear and read involve the Millennials—drug and alcohol abuse, promiscuousness, abortions, gang violence, college riots, murder, warped political insight, et cetera. However, regarding the many who complain about the Millennials’ defiant and outlandish lifestyles, I always wonder how many ever attempted to impact those Millennials with God’s Word. Just think, had more parents spent as little as five minutes (!) with their Millennials over an open Bible, telling them how to be saved from their sins by simple faith in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, there would be fewer Millennials to arrest, imprison, indict, convict, and sentence to death!

Frankly, the priest Eli asked a very foolish question in today’s Scripture. He inquired why his sons, also priests, behaved so wickedly. According to the Scriptures, it was not until they were well into adulthood (actually, roughly the age of the Millennials!) that he—a “very old man!”—reprimanded their habitual, ungodly behavior (1 Samuel 2:22-25; cf. verses 12-17). We need not wonder why Hophni and Phinehas acted like they did!

Dear saints, the Millennials (including me!) need God’s Word more than ever. They are now adults, but God’s Word can penetrate even the most callous heart. May we be there to show them the Holy Bible when they realize they need answers to the mess in which they are! 🙂