Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

Good Riddance! #5

Saturday, April 13, 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!”

The context of today’s Scripture uses the historical narrative of Cain and Abel to reinforce the doctrine the Holy Spirit is communicating through the Apostle John: “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:11-13).

John, writing to believing Jews who will live after our Dispensation of Grace—that is, who will live during the seven-year Tribulation—uses material the Bible already taught to further educate them. We can gain two main points from this passage.

Firstly, John reminds them of the kingdom doctrine Jesus Christ uttered to His little flock (believing Israel) during His earthly ministry: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). These Jewish believers are to love one another, just as Jesus Christ loved them (contrast this with today’s Scripture).

Secondly, John reminds believing Israel that just as unbelieving, disobedient Cain murdered his brother, Abel, the man of faith and God’s prophet, so her unbelieving brethren (that is, apostate Israel) will seek to persecute and kill her. Remember, Jesus Christ warned “a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:32-42). Speaking of the Tribulation, Jesus predicted His Jewish followers would not only be hated by the unbelieving Gentiles, but also by unbelieving Israel (who are all following Satan’s evil world system and the antichrist’s apostate religious system).

John, in today’s Scripture, reminds his audience suffering in the Tribulation, that Satan’s world system and its members have always hated the Lord Jesus Christ’s people. They should not be shocked, nor should they lose heart….

Good Riddance! #1

Tuesday, April 9, 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!”

Our Lord Jesus Christ was certainly unpopular with the religious and political leaders of His day because they dared not submit to Him, the God of creation, and His righteousness. They hated His message, so they attempted to get rid of Him any chance they got. Ultimately, they were quite pleased to have Him hanging on Calvary’s cross and slowly dying, during which time they mocked Him, laughed at Him, and reviled Him!

Just hours before that crucifixion, Jesus reminded His Jewish followers: “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me” (John 16:1,2). Ironically, the Jews, only about half a day later, would kill Jesus because they believed He was an imposter, and they believed their JEHOVAH God would want Him to be put to death. Imagine their horror when He resurrected and started preaching again!

The Apostle Paul was called a “pestilent fellow” (Acts 24:5)—he was not just annoying to the hell-bound pagans to whom he preached, but he was also a “mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” Paul’s lost critics could not figure him out: he was a former Jewish religious leader who had hated Jesus Christ, and yet, for the past 25 years, he has constantly preached against Israel for killing her Messiah (Jesus), and unbelieving Israel had attempted to get rid of him for years! (For instance, read about the Jews fatally stoning Paul years earlier in Acts 14:19,20.) Regardless of who he was, he had to go, too!

We should not be surprised to experience the lost world treating us the same way….

A Doxology of Doctrine During Distressing Days #6

Saturday, April 6, 2013

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV).

A brief, light annoyance—an everlasting, much heavier weight of praise and worship….

It is very difficult not to focus on our temporary suffering. After all, we see it. It is equally hard to focus on the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. After all, we cannot see it… sort of. In reality, we can see it! The verse following today’s Scripture reads: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (verse 18).

How do we “look…at the things which are not seen?” Hebrews 11:1 tells us: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). When we place our faith in what God’s Word says about suffering in the Dispensation of Grace—which would be the contents of Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon—then we, by virtue of spiritual eyes, see what God sees. He is manifesting the very life of Jesus Christ in our mortal body (2 Corinthians 4:10,11). “…Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (verse 16).

The spiritual fortitude and edifice of sound Bible doctrine that God the Holy Spirit is constructing within our inner man, is eternal, for the inner man (soul and spirit) is everlasting. Our physical body experiencing the present sufferings is temporary, for the physical body is temporary. Actually, the same word—“moment”—used to describe the duration of our present suffering (today’s Scripture), is equivalent to the split-second rapture that will one day catch us members of the Body of Christ up into heaven’s glory (1 Corinthians 15:52)!

By allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us as we believe this sound Bible doctrine, it brings God praise now… and forevermore….

A Doxology of Doctrine During Distressing Days #5

Friday, April 5, 2013

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV).

A brief, light annoyance—an everlasting, much heavier weight of praise and worship….

One of the primary causes of the charismatic movement, besides a failure to understand the Bible dispensationally, is that its proponents are seeking God’s power and love. They believe that God needs to demonstrate His power and His love for them by removing their troubles and healing their sick bodies. They want literal, physical, visible proof of God’s presence. Because it is ironic, the thought never occurs to them that God’s wisdom, love, and power could be—and are—demonstrated by Him not removing their troubles and sicknesses.

In the context of today’s Scripture (4:1–6:18), the Apostle Paul discussed the ministry we have as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He lists various afflictions that he and we Christians suffer, but concluded: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Notice, “that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Why do we have the treasure—the life of Jesus Christ—in our earthen vessels—our weak, limited physical bodies? So the exceeding greatness of God’s power can be demonstrated and our inadequacy in and of ourselves can be manifested.

When the Apostle Paul later commented about his various sufferings, he wrote: “And [the Lord] said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9,10).

To wit, we can and do endure difficult circumstances, not because of ourselves, but due to God’s power strengthening us by transforming our inner man to become the very life of Jesus Christ. What a concept….!

A Doxology of Doctrine During Distressing Days #3

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV).

A brief, light annoyance—an everlasting, much heavier weight of praise and worship….

When we study the Bible dispensationally, and understand that Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, are God’s Word to us, we have a new outlook on sickness and suffering. What seems like God’s unhappiness with us, what appears to be God’s wrath upon us, what feels like God’s forsaking us, is not really that at all.

In the context of today’s Scripture (4:1–6:18), the Apostle Paul discussed the ministry we have as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). He lists various afflictions that he and we Christians suffer, but concluded: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

The “earthen vessels,” of course, are these physical bodies made “of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). As people who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, our earthly tabernacles are “vessels,” and they contain a “treasure.” What is this treasure? Paul identifies it in 2 Corinthians 4:10,11: “…That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” This produces the “eternal weight of glory” of today’s Scripture—nothing pleases the God of creation more than the life of His obedient, only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What Paul is saying is that the very life of Jesus Christ manifests itself in and through us Christians when we walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of God’s Word to us. The sound Pauline Bible doctrine enables us to think about sickness and suffering as Jesus Christ did. By faith, we look at the broader picture—the sound Bible doctrine works mightily in us to bring glory to its Author, the God of the Bible….

A Doxology of Doctrine During Distressing Days #2

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV).

A brief, light annoyance—an everlasting, much heavier weight of praise and worship….

All sorts of afflictions plague us—daily annoyances, life-threatening accidents, illness, painful results of our mistakes and those of others, physical death of loved ones, et cetera. Then, there are the troubles associated with being a Christian in this Satan-dominated world. Burdens, burdens, burdens! These circumstances cause us to grow weary and depressed. They generate doubt and gender all sorts of questions. “Is God angry with me?” “Is He punishing me because of un-confessed sin?” “Does God really love me?” “Just why am I suffering?” These uncertainties only add to the despondency.

In the context of today’s Scripture (4:1–6:18), the Apostle Paul discussed the ministry we have as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-12: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.”

Paul and Timothy, authors of 2 Corinthians (1:1), have suffered in the ministry for the sake of these Corinthians’ salvation and spiritual growth. They are “troubled on every side,” but they are not worrisome. Their suffering is difficult to comprehend, but they are not hopeless. They are persecuted, but the Lord is with them. Symbolically, they are thrown down, but their inner man has remained intact. This is God’s power, making the very life of Jesus Christ evident in their souls and their lives, and we have it too in Christ….

Christ Liveth in Me

Sunday, March 31, 2013

“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” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

“He is risen” is not a simple blasé cliché!

When Jesus’ disciples came to His tomb on that glorious Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago, they were startled to find it empty! Angels inform them that He has resurrected, but they are still in shock (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8). Jesus Christ Himself must later explain the Scriptures to them regarding what happened those last few days (Luke 24:44-46).

However, until Paul’s ministry, Christ’s finished crosswork is not preached as good news for salvation. Peter and Israel’s other apostles simply preach that Jesus Christ is now resurrected to “sit on [David’s] throne” (Acts 2:30)—that is bad news for much of Israel, for they still reject Him, weeks and months after His resurrection and ascension. Throughout early Acts, Israel’s apostles warn her that Jesus Christ is coming back to judge them.

When we come to the Apostle Paul’s ministry, we learn that we Gentiles can benefit from Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork. Israel’s rejected Messiah is now our way to heaven! Yes, Israel hated Him, and demanded that He experience the most awful method of execution devised, but God allowed it in order to accomplish His will. Satan attempted to hinder God’s will by having Christ killed, but all that did was provide the method whereby God could save us pagan Gentiles. Calvary’s finished crosswork frees us from Satan’s evil system and gives us a chance to be God’s people (Acts 26:17,18)!

As people who have trusted Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for our sins, that crucifixion is our death to self and sin, and that resurrection is our raising to walk in newness of life—His life (today’s Scripture; cf. Romans 6:1-11)!

Indeed, Jesus Christ is alive, and He lives in and through those who walk by faith in God’s Word to them, Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon! 🙂

HAPPY EASTER!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study by the same name. That (2012) study can be read here or watched here.

Messiah’s Joy Amidst Calvary’s Grief #2

Saturday, March 30, 2013

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 KJV).

Do you ever wonder what our Lord Jesus Christ was thinking about while He hung there on Calvary’s cross?

Jesus knew Bible prophecy had to be fulfilled: He had to suffer in accordance with the Old Testament prophets. Even when He spoke seven times from the cross, He quoted various Old Testament verses. The Old Testament prophets also gave Him comfort: “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (today’s Scripture).

For instance, He remembered that Jonah’s prophecy had to be fulfilled: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). On the third day, He would live again, and be reunited with His heavenly Father!

He knew that His Father would resurrect Him. His spiritual torment and physical death were only temporarily, as David quoted Jesus 1000 B.C., “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10; cf. Acts 2:24-31).

Our Lord thought of reigning over that glorious kingdom that His Heavenly Father would give Him after His resurrection. As the psalmist wrote centuries before Calvary’s crosswork, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psalm 2:6-8). “Begotten” refers to Jesus’ resurrection, not His nativity in Bethlehem (Acts 13:33,34).

Jesus Christ, during His torturous crucifixion, thought about and rejoiced in the promises in the Scriptures that applied to Him. Likewise, we, during difficult circumstances, can remember and joy in God’s promises to us—Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

We too can share Messiah’s joy amidst grief! 🙂

 

An Heretick Reject

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself” (Titus 3:9-11 KJV).

Beloved, never forgot that the greatest damage ever inflicted upon the Church the Body of Christ is not perpetrated by atheists or Bible skeptics—it is by people who claim to believe the Bible, who claim to follow Jesus Christ!

I read a recent, disturbing column in a national newspaper in which a prominent evangelical leader complained that some of his fellow evangelicals had rebuked him for urging other Protestants to join him in ecumenism (that is, compromising his “Protestant” doctrines in order to be more acceptable to the Roman Catholics, thereby hoping to partner with them regarding the threats of social issues such as homosexuality, Islamism, abortion, and relativism). What is appalling is that this leader called his critics “uncharitable:” pathetically, he considered them “unloving” because they recognized and chided a Bible compromiser when they heard one!

False teaching outside the Body of Christ is bad enough, but Satan furthers his plan the most by using false teaching within local churches (Acts 20:28-31; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Peter 2:1-3). All of the “Christian” “celebrities” leading our churches today are leading more people away from Jesus Christ than the strip clubs, science classrooms, pubs, casinos, and abortion clinics—all put together! “Hollywood-style” “Christianity” is just as damnable as no Bible whatsoever, if not worse because of the hypocrisy and subtlety.

Our Creator God has given every person free will. If one wants to ignore the Holy Scriptures, he or she can. However, as people who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, we should (hopefully…?) want to believe and obey the King James Bible. We cannot and should not fellowship with those who reject the King James Bible; reject Paul’s apostleship; and reject Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and risen again for our justification. On these three points we must agree, or we are just as deceived as the lost people who do not even have God’s Word!

The Spirit of God and the Word of God #7

Monday, March 25, 2013

“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13 KJV).

As today’s Scripture demonstrates, the Spirit of God never operates apart from the Word of God.

Without the Holy Spirit, we would not understand the completed Holy Bible.

The doctrine of Bible preservation is best described by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (cf. Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). God the Holy Spirit not only wrote God’s words, He also preserved them so we could have them today, and He illuminates our minds so we can understand them today.

According to today’s Scripture and its context, the Holy Spirit uses the Holy Bible’s words to teach us, “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (verse 12). Everything that God wants us to know, He tells us in the Holy Bible, that we may be “throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:17). The Holy Spirit takes those Bible verses we read and believe, and works in our souls to bring into our lives the reality of those doctrines. He takes the sound Bible doctrine He has inspired and preserved, the doctrine we read and believe, and He makes our lives the very life of Jesus Christ, the life the Bible describes!

This “filling with the Spirit” in Israel’s program empowered her regarding God’s will for her in her program (Acts 2:4; Acts 7:55). Likewise, God the Holy Spirit teaches us His will for us the Church the Body of Christ in our program. He enables us to do His will when we read and believe sound Pauline Bible doctrine (see Ephesians 5:18–6:9)—not to be confused with emotional highs, incontinence, gibberish, nonsense, or the other errors of denominationalism. When we prevent the indwelling Holy Spirit from using sound Bible doctrine to transform our inner man, we “quench [hinder] the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

In both Israel’s prophetic program and our mystery program, the Holy Spirit works using His Word, to publish His Word….