Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

What is God Doing? #6

Thursday, January 10, 2019

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 KJV).

What exactly is God doing? Can we say? Or, must we remain clueless?

Miserable Job wailed, “Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!” (Job 19:23,24). Little did he know that his distress, and even these very words about them, would be entered into the record of God’s eternal Word! Job was likely the first Bible Book written, as it highlights events that occurred a few decades before Israel escaped Egypt under Moses’ command. Yes, it seems this Job was the Job who was a son of Issachar (Genesis 46:13), thus making Job grandson of Jacob, great-grandson of Isaac, and great-great-grandson of Abraham.

Job did not know it, and neither did his friends “the miserable comforters,” but God allowed his unpleasant circumstances to transpire in order to hearten the Jewish saints living in the end times. The Apostle James remarks: “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:10,11).

First Peter 4:19 aptly summarizes both Job’s plight, suffering under Satan’s “reign,” and the end-times saints’ dilemma, anguishing under the Antichrist’s brutal rule: “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” Even in the midst of trouble, God is still hard at work, fully dependable. No matter who opposes His efforts or troubles His people, He will bring His will to pass and He will bring them through it. Right now, in spite of the world’s mess, society’s degradation, God is quite busy doing His good pleasure….

What is God Doing? #5

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 KJV).

What exactly is God doing? Can we say? Or, must we remain clueless?

Although it is impossible for man to naturally comprehend what Almighty God is doing, there is a supernatural way to grasp such information. First Corinthians chapter 2 continues, “[10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. [11] For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

“[13] 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. [14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. [15] But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. [16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.”

The above passage underscores the idea of knowing what God is doing. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit imparts to us this knowledge we would otherwise never have. The key is, “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” (verse 13). Words from the Holy Spirit, not man’s wisdom, are how we comprehend the things of God. The Holy Spirit wrote (inspired) a Book, the Holy Bible, and then preserved it through time so we can study it today. We hereby can understand what God is doing….

What is God Doing? #4

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 KJV).

What exactly is God doing? Can we say? Or, must we remain clueless?

From time immemorial, philosophers in all cultures have speculated as to the origin of the universe, the existence of one God or numerous deities, what that God or those gods might be doing, and sundry related beliefs. Overwhelmingly, however, their explanations can be summed up as “excellency of speech” and “excellency of wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:1), and “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (verse 4). It sounds right and appears good but it is grandiose verbosity—impressive long-windedness—failing to adequately address the matters at hand. Such was the dialogue between Job and his three friends!

As their name implies, the Corinthians resided in Corinth, a city close to Athens (then world intellectual capital). After the Apostle Paul visited them in Acts chapter 18 and led them to faith in Jesus Christ, they became increasingly infatuated with human philosophy. They supposed that man’s knowledge could provide them with insight into God’s wisdom. You would do well, dear friends, to read the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians. They gently rebuke these precious saints to return to the simplicity of God’s Word spoken through Paul. Despite all their philosophy and education, they were spiritual children, utterly clueless to the workings of God. True wisdom—the wisdom they lacked—would not be found “in the wisdom of men” but “in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5).

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (verse 9). Science, empiricism, could not help them learn God’s wisdom. Rationalism, reasoning, religious tradition, afforded them no Divine understanding. Intuition, hunches and inner impressions, could not bring them spiritual insight. If they were to “find out God,” “find out the Almighty unto perfection,” they would have to come God’s way….

What is God Doing? #3

Monday, January 7, 2019

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 KJV).

What exactly is God doing? Can we say? Or, must we remain clueless?

Early man knew a fragment of what Almighty God was working to accomplish. With a completed Bible canon in hand, however, we can see just how minute their peek was. Now, the entire Divine counsel has been disclosed, exposed for all to see if they want to see it, proclaimed for all to hear if they want to hear it, and available for all to believe if they want to believe it! Just how do we go about discovering that information though?

First Corinthians chapter 2: “[1] And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [2] For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. [4] And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: [5] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

“[6] Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: [7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: [8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

What God is operating today is “hidden wisdom” (verse 7)—something once secret but now made manifest….

What is God Doing? #2

Sunday, January 6, 2019

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 KJV).

What exactly is God doing? Can we say? Or, must we remain clueless?

The Biblical Book of Job is one of the most well-known pieces of ancient world literature. Its protagonist, Job, although a righteous man, experiences disturbing inconveniences after God grants Satan permission to afflict Job (1:1-12; 2:1-6). Basically, wealthy Job loses his oxen, his asses (donkeys), his sheep, his camels, his sons, his daughters, and his servants (1:13-22). His health fails as he suffers a plague of boils or sores (2:7-10). Remarkably, after these ordeals, Job is still faithful to God (1:22; 2:10). Such bad news would send the ordinary saint into apostasy, but Job will neither accuse God foolishly nor sin with his lips. He worships and declares, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (1:21).

Chapter 2, verse 11: “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.” Most unfortunately, these three “friends” are, in Job’s own words, nothing but “miserable comforters” (16:2). They accuse him of all sorts of wrongdoing, that he is responsible for his troubles, and so on.

Much of the Book of Job is he and his friends, along with a fourth man (Elihu), engaging in many, lengthy, theological squabbles. Zophar is the speaker in today’s Scripture. He essentially tells Job that he cannot know what God is doing—it is just too high, simply too deep, just too long, and simply too broad. My, oh my, dear friends, what comfort indeed (uh, NO)! Thank Almighty God we can understand (and in great detail!) what He is doing….

What is God Doing? #1

Saturday, January 5, 2019

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9 KJV).

What exactly is God doing? Can we say? Or, must we remain clueless?

Dear friends, looking at the world around us, is it not difficult to believe that God is doing anything? After all, human society seems to be quite busy in doing what it wants—killing, stealing, dealing drugs, waging war, abusing, raping, using profanity, kidnapping, lying, tyrannizing citizens, and so on. Wherever we turn, evil, evil, evil is before us! Where is God? Is He “on vacation?” If so, is it temporary—or permanent? Does He even exist at all? These inquires exasperate millions of poor souls. Some are genuinely seeking the truth; however, many seem to be thoroughly content in ignorance.

It is ever so easy to get intertwined with the affairs of this world. Therefore, in 2 Timothy chapter 2, the Bible exhorts the Christian, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (verses 3,4). Distractions abound, for Christian and non-Christian alike. Additionally, we are quite enthralled in what we are doing—what we want, what we like, what we have, and so on. In all our hustle and bustle, do we ever bother to consider God’s desires? Have we contemplated what He would have us do? It is quite unlikely that we have spent even five seconds asking these questions.

The Holy Bible is not an accident; it came by “special delivery,” for a special reason. If we truly desire to know what God is doing (and yes, contrary to what we see in our circumstances, He does exist!), then we can open up His Book and read to see what He is doing. Rather than being content sitting in ignorance, we must we endeavor to see what God is doing and what He would have us do as well….

A Life That Will Please

Friday, January 4, 2019

“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).

Today’s Scripture tells us who alone can live a life pleasing in God’s sight!

Everyone does “good” deeds. Yet, doing “good” is not necessarily good. For instance, people often do “good” just to receive praise/reward, make up for their wrongs, feel good, et cetera. Furthermore, despite our “good” deeds, we have plenty more bad ones! Pride, lying, evil thoughts, being a false witness, and being contentious are some of the things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Mankind cannot even keep 10 simple rules from God. However, religion continues to urge us to keep seven sacraments, utter various prayers, give assorted offerings and “tithes,” attend numerous feasts and festivals, and perform sundry other tasks to “hopefully” please God and avoid hellfire. Whether we attempt to keep a church’s laws, our laws, or God’s laws, our flesh is far too weak to ever measure up. Just look at what God’s religion did to Israel—how much worse some man-made religion does to us!

As Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, a religious leader of Israel. He was a nitpicker concerning Law-keeping, and yet, after his soul salvation, he admitted that all of his religion was “but dung” compared to Jesus Christ’s righteousness (Philippians 3:3-11). Even for the Christian, to live a perfect life is impossible (read of Paul’s miserable existence in Romans chapter 7). Paul had to forsake his vain religion and learn today’s Scripture: the Christian life is NOT the performance of the Christian, but the Lord Jesus Christ living and working in the Christian, as the Christian walks in an intelligent understanding of God’s Word to him or her!

If we trust a Saviour who will save—the Lord Jesus Christ—and trust a Book that will teach—the King James Bible—we can redeem the year for the great God and our Saviour, “who loved [us], and gave himself for [us]!” 🙂

Saints, throughout the year, please remember us in your monthly giving—these websites do cost money to run! 🙂 You can donate securely here: https://www.paypal.me/ShawnBrasseaux, or email me at arcministries@gmail.com. Do not forget about Bible Q&A booklets for sale at https://arcgraceministries.org/in-print/booklets-bible-q-a/. Thanks to all who give to and pray for us! By the way, ministry emails have really been backed up this year. I am handling them as much as humanly possible. Thanks for your patience. 🙂

Redeem the Year!

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

“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).

What great advice for 2019!

Despite 2,000 years of Bible schools and seminaries, 2,000 years of a completed Bible canon, 2,000 years of Bible reading in churches, several decades of “Christian” television and radio, and just over a decade of widespread use of “Christian” websites, how sad that Bible ignorance is still quite extensive (it is as if God never gave His Word to start with!).

Frankly, the Church the Body of Christ needs to wake up! The verse previous to today’s Scripture says, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (verse 14). Paul, loosely quoting Isaiah 60:1, reminded us that the spiritual ignorance that gripped Israel in Isaiah’s day seized Christians in his day—and it still grips Christians 20 centuries later. Feel-good sermons, enjoyable “worship” services, and rites, rituals, and ceremonies will NOT solve this problem—they exacerbate it!

“[God] will have all men to be saved…” (1 Timothy 2:4a). Do you want this New Year to count for God’s glory? First, you need to get saved from sins and hell! You need to become a Christian by trusting in and relying on Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for your sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). That is only part of God’s will for you, for 1 Timothy 2:4b continues, “[God] will have all men… to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Now, God’s will for your Christian life is daily, personal Bible study to renew your mind, so your faith in those verses can cause God to work in your life—it will be His life, thus making you “perfect [spiritually mature], throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Today’s Scripture urges us to buy back the time Satan has robbed from God (time created for God’s glory). By faith, we need to make that time glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by applying His Word, particularly Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon, to our lives. Have a good year in Christ! 🙂

You can download our free “One-Year Bible Reading Schedule.”

See our archived Bible Q&A: “What Scriptural advice can you give me for the New Year?”

The Misunderstood Messiah #5

Sunday, December 30, 2018

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Once Christ replied with sound doctrine (verses 42-47), Israel’s religious leaders simply resorted to name-calling again (verse 48): “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” A Samaritan was half-Jew/half-Gentile, and “the Jews [had] no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Notice Jesus was insulted twice more—they called Him a “Samaritan” and “devil possessed.” Throughout the rest of John chapter 8, Israel’s religious leaders continue arguing with Jesus and nearly stone Him to death (verse 59)!

Why did Jesus not simply “zap” these religionists and instantly throw them into hellfire? They belittled and blasphemed Him several times in this one account, and then attempted to murder Him, but rather than Jesus killing them with His spoken word (which would have been justified), He only conversed with them. Why?

Remember, when the Apostles James and John saw how the Samaritans refused to accommodate Jesus, they asked Him if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven and consume those sinners, He replied, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55,56). This First Coming of Christ was His “meek and lowly” coming: He did not come to judge man’s sins, but to die for them!

Even today, God is still not pouring out His wrath on wicked mankind (2 Corinthians 5:19), creatures who still snicker at Jesus Christ, deceive others in His name, persecute His saints, ignore His Word, and “rub His nose” in their sins. Lost mankind is wasting God’s grace and mercy that He is offering so freely. When His grace is finally exhausted, the undiluted wrath that has accumulated will finally be poured out (His Second Coming). May we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now so we have our sins forgiven now, lest we face that angry, righteous God in judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)!

For more information, you may also see our archived Bible Q&A: “Did God ‘rape’ Mary?”

For What Saith the Scriptures?

Saturday, December 15, 2018

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3 KJV).

Today, our Bible Q&A website, “For What Saith the Scriptures?,” celebrates its fifth anniversary!

A question rarely asked in Christian circles, “What saith the scripture?” is found twice in the Bible—today’s Scripture, and Galatians 4:30, “Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

God’s will for our lives is summed up in 1 Timothy 2:4, “[God our Saviour] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” There are two issues here—soul salvation from sins and everlasting hellfire, and soul salvation from false teaching unto sound Bible doctrine. Firstly, God wants everyone to become Christians by trusting in and relying exclusively on His Son Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork at Calvary as sufficient payment for their sins. Secondly, God wants Christians to trust in and rely on the grace doctrines found in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

Amazingly, both occurrences of “What saith the scripture?” have a special application to us—each instance correlates to one of the issues in 1 Timothy 2:4! The question “What saith the scripture?” in today’s Scripture uses the Bible to answer the question of soul salvation from sins and everlasting hellfire (faith instead of works, “all men to be saved;” 1 Timothy 2:4). The question “What saith the scripture?” in Galatians 4:30 uses the Bible to answer the question of soul salvation from false teaching unto sound Bible doctrine (grace instead of legalism, “come unto the knowledge of the truth;” 1 Timothy 2:4).

For these past five years, we desired you to have a clear understanding of how to have forgiveness of sins and justification unto eternal life, and for you to have a clear understanding of what God’s Word has to say about issues in your Christian life. We were honored to serve you in this additional capacity; thank you for the prayer and support this past year. As always, we welcome your Bible questions, and hope to serve you in that way for years to come! 🙂

Our final Bible Q&A of 2018 (Q&A #565): “Should we Bible believers investigate and promulgate conspiracy theories?” (~23 pages)