Category: good vs evil

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God #5

Monday, October 20, 2014

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21 KJV).

How will today’s Scripture benefit the nation Israel in “the ages to come?”

In the midst of all the seven-year Tribulation’s suffering and heartache, Jude encourages Israel’s believing remnant in verses 20 and 21: “But ye, beloved, [1] building up yourselves on your most holy faith, [2] praying in the Holy Ghost, [3] keep yourselves in the love of God, [4] looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Notice the four-fold edification the Holy Spirit has for them.)

Firstly, they are to “[build] up [themselves] on [their] most holy faith” (belief system). Paul declared, “the word of [God’s] grace… is able to build you up” (Acts 20:32). Just as we are to use God’s Word to us (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon) to build an edifice of sound doctrine in our hearts and lives (see 1 Corinthians 3:10,12,14), Israel’s believing remnant is to use the Old Testament, the Four Gospels, and Hebrews through Revelation to build an edifice of sound doctrine in their hearts and lives.

Secondly, they are to “[pray] in the Holy Ghost.” To reinforce that kingdom doctrine in their hearts and minds, they are to pray according to what the Holy Spirit will be doing at that time, activity described in their Scriptures (particularly Hebrews through Revelation, but all of the Bible outside of Paul’s epistles). The Holy Spirit will teach them His Word (1 John 2:27; cf. Matthew 10:19,20; Luke 21:14,15).

Thirdly, they are to “keep [guard] [themselves] in the love of God.” They are to remember God’s love for them, and not worry about the nations and their relatives and friends who hate them. (Later, we will look at this more closely.)

Lastly, they are to “[look] for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” They are to anticipate Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, when He will show them mercy, defeating their enemies, delivering them and ushering them into the eternal life of His earthly kingdom (Mark 10:28-31)….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What does ‘saved, if ye keep in memory’ mean in 1 Corinthians 15:2?”

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God #4

Sunday, October 19, 2014

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21 KJV).

How will today’s Scripture benefit the nation Israel in “the ages to come?”

During the seven-year Tribulation, Israel’s believing remnant will be unloved and unwanted, pressured to surrender to the evil world system, the Antichrist and his false religious system. Unbelieving Jews will unite against their believing brethren (Matthew 10:34-36; Mark 13:12; Luke 21:16). Hence, we read of widows and orphans (James 1:27), as well as imprisoned, homeless, and destitute Jews (Matthew 25:35-46). Remember, “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another…. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:10,12). Yes, they will be “hated of all men for [Jesus’] name’s sake” (Mark 13:13; Luke 21:17).

The book of Psalms is replete with the heartaches of Israel’s little flock, suffering through the seven-year Tribulation. These precious saints ask God how long before He will punish their tormentors, and rejoice in God’s graciousness and faithfulness in seeing them through those very dark years. A sample of these passages includes Psalms 3, 5, 7, 9-13, 17, 18, 23, 27, 28, 34, 36, 46, 56, 68, and 83, as well as Psalm 86:12-16 and Psalm 145:8,9.

In his very short epistle, Jude wrote that Jesus’ apostles had already warned about mockers in the last days, people who would “walk after their own ungodly lusts,” who would “separate themselves,” who would be “sensual” (carnal, sin-dominated), who would not have God’s Spirit (verses 17-19). They would embrace the Antichrist, who himself would be the epitome of natural-man wickedness, man operating in his ultimate fallen (sinful) capacity (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12). To keep his favor, they would turn his enemies over to him (that is, they would betray their Jewish Messianic relatives and friends). But, Jude says that his audience will not be among these ungodly people. Thus, his Jewish believers would experience such hatred. Still, God would provide them encouragement. We finally reach verses 20-22, today’s Scripture and its immediate context….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Do not Hebrews 13:8 and Malachi 3:6 disprove dispensational Bible study?”

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God #3

Saturday, October 18, 2014

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21 KJV).

How will today’s Scripture benefit the nation Israel in “the ages to come?”

Near the completion of His ministry, in what is called His “Second Olivet Discourse,” the Lord Jesus replied to a question about the “sign of [his] coming, and of the end of the world” (Matthew 24:3). The Bible quotes Him as saying (in part): “[9] Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. [10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. [11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. [12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

Luke 21:16,17 is a companion passage: “[16] And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. [17] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” (Also see Mark 13:9-13.)

The night before He died, He again prepared His disciples for the time of their coming persecution, “[2] They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. [3] And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me” (John 16:2,3).

Considering all what Israel’s little flock will experience during the time of Jacob’s trouble, the final seven years of God dealing with her national sins, these precious Messianic Jews need to hear, understand, and believe the words of the Holy Spirit spoken through Jude. Today’s Scripture and its context are actually a four-fold method that God will strengthen the Jewish believers as they suffer at the hands of their enemies—yea, their hateful family members—for Jesus Christ’s sake. Let us now briefly analyze this four-fold edification, with today’s Scripture particularly in mind….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Why did Israel have to keep so many ‘strange’ laws?”

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God #2

Friday, October 17, 2014

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21 KJV).

How will today’s Scripture benefit the nation Israel in “the ages to come?”

In the first installment of the so-called “Great Commission,” the Lord Jesus prepared His believing Jewish remnant to withstand the immense hostility that Satan and his associates would direct toward them. Matthew 10:34-36 quotes Jesus’ words to His little flock, especially His 12 apostles: “[34] Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. [35] For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. [36] And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”

Some months later, Jesus continued that line of thinking: “[9] But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them… [12] Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death” (Mark 13:9,12). As we will see shortly, these verses are yet future, and actually coincide with today’s Scripture.

Man is naturally opposed to the plan and work of the Creator God, the Lord Jesus Christ—that is what sin is. Satan will exploit man’s natural anti-God attitude to further his policy of evil. As people today grow sick and tired of us Christians preaching the Lord Jesus Christ, it was also true in time past and it will be true in the ages to come. Jesus knew that unbelievers would eagerly rid the world of His followers—even family members would betray one another! Unsaved people would gladly turn in their Christian relatives to the authorities for punishment. It will be especially true during Daniel’s 70th week, the seven-year Tribulation….

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God #1

Thursday, October 16, 2014

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21 KJV).

How will today’s Scripture benefit the nation Israel in “the ages to come?”

One of the basic needs of humans is to feel accepted, to be loved. Alas, this sin-cursed world is very cold, very cruel, and very warped. We hear about autonomous women readily terminating their babies in their wombs, or leaving their newborns in the trash, without so much as a wince! Think of the chauvinistic husbands mercilessly abusing their wives to appear “masculine,” or murdering them to reap life-insurance benefits! Consider the thrill-seeking bullies amongst our young people in grade school, attempting to be popular with others by harassing their peers! Imagine the pompous “ethnic-cleansers” who brutally slaughter millions of a different nationality or religion!

Let us be completely honest. People will do practically anything to be accepted by others, and those “others” will do practically anything to those people if those people are not accepted. For the Christian, there is always that temptation to give up the Bible and recant Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork; afterward, less people would shun you, fewer people would call you a “nut,” and less people would seek your life! While it is not readily apparent yet, today’s Scripture should be understood in that light.

Just as we Christians today in the Dispensation of Grace suffer persecution for “living godly in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:12), so the believing Jews, the “little flock,” of the future seven-year Tribulation will face an even more hostile world, a colder world, a crueler world, and a more warped world. Hence, the Holy Spirit selected specific phrases and words for Jude to write to these precious saints… a people who would live at least 2,000 years into the future (beyond our present-day as well). They would feel more unwelcome than even we feel at times, they would grow even more weary of the wicked triumphing, and they would need today’s Scripture and its context to have spiritual stability….

People of the Book

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:28 KJV).

If we are to be “People of the Book,” we must first be able to identify “the Book.”

According to The Oxford Dictionary of English, Muslims know Jews and Christians as, “People of the Book.” Muslims understand that the Holy Bible plays an integral role in the lives of Jews (Old Testament only) and Christians (both Testaments). I am not a Jew and thus cannot comment from their standpoint, but I, a Christian, can remark that I depend on the Holy Bible in all matters of faith and practice. No, I do not appeal to scientific consensus, denominational tradition or approval, and humanistic opinions, to form my worldview and conduct my life. My conviction is to compare what I hear and see to the Holy Scriptures, before I believe what I hear and see.

The Holy King James Bible proves itself to be trustworthy and inerrant. Thus, I rely on it. Whenever someone offers me another book and says, “Many scholarly translators used older and better manuscripts to produce this version,” I gladly take it and evaluate it with an open mind. In the last seven years of doing just that with numerous modern versions, I have discovered that Bible scholarship has not waxed better, but worse. Apostasy has not waned, but proliferated exponentially. May the Lord help us if we are so naïve and irrational as to believe that He is using today’s religious leadership to produce better Bibles!

In the context of today’s Scripture, some 600 years before Christ, false prophets had infiltrated Israel. Israel could not distinguish God’s pure Word from counterfeit “bibles,” and vice versa. The Church the Body of Christ finds itself in the same predicament today… confused, weakened, defeated! Even today, people are still “perverting the words of the living God” (Jeremiah 23:36).

As today’s Scripture says, if we have God’s Word, let us speak it faithfully. If we do not know what is God’s Word, may we be silent until we locate it!!

Abounding Grace

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22,23 KJV).

What a timeless verse; what a faithful Creator God!

The political, economic, medical, social, religious, and moral issues facing our beloved United States of America are causing Christians here to want to leave this planet. Several Bible believers have expressed this heartfelt attitude to me in the recent past: “I wish the Lord would come and take us out of here!”

Beloved, while we should be “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), we should not be so anxious for the Lord to return that we ignore why He left us in the first place. He did not save us so we could beg Him to come and get us; He left us here to be His “vessels,” His “lights in the world,” His “ambassadors” (2 Corinthians 5:20; Philippians 2:15; Philippians 3:20; 2 Timothy 2:21). May we not be lax in sharing with others the Gospel and God’s Word rightly divided.

Think about it. If the Lord Jesus Christ really came today to remove His Body from Earth, the most glorious dispensation ever, would end! All those who heard us preach the Gospel of Grace, and rejected it, would have no chance to be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). God would just give them over to Satan’s lie; they did not want His truth so He would give them their preference—error, the Antichrist.

Yes, with each passing day, our Dispensation of Grace is growing shorter and shorter and shorter. To have operated almost 2,000 years now is quite a miracle; that it still operates even now despite all of the wickedness, is another fact our human mind cannot grasp. Just as Jeremiah wept over the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.), God’s punishment on Judah’s prolonged spiritual wickedness, he still praised JEHOVAH God for not completely wiping out His (Jewish) people. That same faithful God is the only reason any of us even remain here! “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20b).

Words for Weary and Wounded Warriors

Friday, October 3, 2014

“Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets” (Luke 6:22,23).

Although spoken to Israel’s believing remnant, our Lord Jesus’ words still comfort us weary or wounded Christian ambassadors.

A little brother in Christ recently telephoned me (and we later continued our conversation face-to-face). He was despondent because of the disrespectful way lost people—and even professing Christians—treated him. I told him that I could identify with that “coldshouldering” and assured him that he must not let it bother him; God has made provisions for us in Christ to withstand all of the Adversary’s darts (and occasional cannonballs!) aimed at us. Denominational divisions run ever so deep between professing Christians. The greatest spiritual division of all is between children of Father God and children of the Devil. The Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh experienced it, and the early Christians knew it, too.

Before dying, Jesus reminded His disciples, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). Later, the Apostle John amplified those words by recounting the story of Cain killing his righteous brother Abel, concluding with, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13). The Apostle Peter wrote to his Jewish readers who abandoned their lost lifestyles, “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you” (1 Peter 4:4). Beloved, people hated Jesus Christ living in His flesh; they equally hate Him living in us!

While quality Christian friends are very rare, hold them close once you find those few. We do pray for those who persecute us, that they step out spiritual darkness and into the light of God’s grace to us in Christ; still, we will not let their shunning of us, bother us! 🙂

Ye Do Err!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29 KJV).

If Jesus spoke audibly today, He would say this not only to much of the world, but also to 99 percent of “Christian” church members and leaders!

Today, Christianity has more books than ever before—millions and millions of books, millions upon millions upon millions of copies of those books. You would assume that, because of all these “Christian” books, today’s churches would abound with the most Biblically-literate people to ever walk the planet. Alas, this is not so—quite the opposite, actually. They know books, but not the Book! Not long ago a dear, elderly friend in the ministry bemoaned, “The average lost person fifty years ago knew more about the Bible than the average preacher does today!”

For example, a friend and I were recently researching a local church that touts its thousand-plus weekly attendance. When I found their statement of faith online, I discovered that it cited 12 basic Bible verses and one familiar 15-verse-long passage. Yea, it was a very doctrinally-shallow document—one verse supporting almost every tenet.

More recently, I skimmed a “Christian” handbook for teens, published less than a decade ago. The “Bible-believing” author, with denominational approval, wrote: “So when the creation story of Genesis describes the earth as flat, is that true in the sense of factual? Of course not. Did creation take six days as we know them? Not likely.”

While much could be said about his faulty theology (and horrific grammar!), I can only wonder what “creation story of Genesis” (?) he was reading when he claimed God’s Word indicated that the earth was “flat!” Like many today in religion, the author just fabricated an idea (denominationalism), he pretended it was “Scripture” (the average reader would never check the Bible for himself anyway!), and then he demeaned the very God and Book he claimed to adore (“I only believe the Bible verses my church supports literally!”)! As Jesus told the religious leaders of His day, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures!”

Beloved, be on guard against these “wolves in sheep’s clothing!”

Three Weeks and New Spiritual Habits

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

“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).

Saint, you may be surprised to learn that you can get in the habit of doing God’s will in just three weeks!

While it is extremely difficult to break away from religious tradition, ideas that you heard in church all your life and you had assumed were true, it is not impossible if you truly wish to see God’s truth and do His will (John 7:17). It is usually easier just to “go with the flow,” to do what most everyone else is doing, to encounter the least resistance. However, the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles and prophets certainly went contrary to the evil world system of their day, and if we are people of faith, we will do the same. Today’s Scripture tells us to “redeem the time, because the days are evil.” We should not be “unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” God’s will is that we understand what He is doing today and by faith do the same with Him—this is how we do God’s will!

Statistics show that we can form a new habit in as little as three weeks. If you read through Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, in three weeks (about four chapters a day), you would form a habit of daily Bible reading. In three weeks, you could gain a brief overview of what God is doing today! If you prayed in accordance with Paul’s model prayers (Ephesians 1:15-23; Ephesians 3:14-21; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-12) every day for three weeks, your prayer life would be permanently revolutionized. You would be speaking to God in light of what He is doing today in this the Dispensation of Grace, and you would begin to rid yourself of vain denominational prayers.

Our earthly lives are short, and Satan’s policy of evil is quite active, so let us buy and take back for the Lord Jesus’ glory the time that His adversary has taken from Him! 🙂