Category: good vs evil

Vengeance Belongeth Unto the Lord #4

Thursday, May 24, 2012

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19 KJV).

Injustices abound. The wicked are applauded and often go unpunished while the righteous (God’s people) are despised and penalized. As the cliché goes, “God never sleeps.” All wrongs will be righted one day (today’s Scripture).

When the Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary’s cross, He purchased our salvation. There, He suffered God’s eternal wrath against our sin: “He became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21; cf. Isaiah 53:10; Matthew 26:46; Galatians 3:13). Once we trust Christ Jesus alone as our personal Saviour, Christ’s finished crosswork for our sins is applied (imputed) to us, and we will never suffer God’s wrath (Christ suffered that wrath for us).

However, those who physically die without having trusted Christ will remain forever dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23): physical and spiritual death. Thus, they must pay for those sins by suffering the eternal wrath of God against sin (the everlasting lake of fire; the “second [or spiritual] death” [Revelation 21:8]).

For the past 2,000 years, God has been offering the world His grace and peace. But, when this the Dispensation of Grace ends (at the rapture), God “shall speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure” (Psalm 2:5). During that seven-year Tribulation—“the day of the LORD’s vengeance” (Isaiah 34:8), “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2), and “the days of vengeance” (Luke 21:22)—our wicked world will finally experience God’s righteous wrath. According to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Christ’s Second Coming will conclude those seven years, and fire will further execute vengeance on God’s enemies (Christ-rejecters).

“God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked…” (Nahum 1:2,3).

Indeed, “vengeance belongeth unto the Lord….”

Vengeance Belongeth Unto the Lord #2

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19 KJV).

Today’s Scripture explains that God Himself will ultimately take vengeance on those who harm us. Its context explains how it is our responsibility as Christians to let God’s grace teach us how to handle that mistreatment.

“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (verse 17). When people do us wrong, our flesh wants to retaliate, to get even, but God’s Word exhorts us to “recompense to no man evil for evil.” (Note: Please understand that God instituted government, and He encourages us to seek legal intervention in severe cases of wrongdoing [Romans 13:1-5]).

As Christians living in a fallen (corrupted) creation, we will suffer abuse and injustice. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (verse 18). Because of sin, unity and peace are not always possible. But, it is our responsibility to get along with others as best as we can (without compromising God’s Word, of course).

When someone does offend us, grace teaches us that God will ultimately exact vengeance on the guilty (today’s Scripture). “Therefore [consequently] if thine enemy hunger, feed him: if he thirst, give him drink: for in doing so thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (verses 20,21; cf. Proverbs 25:21,22; Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27,28).

We can let evil “overcome” (defeat) us (grudges, bitterness, et cetera), or we can defeat evil by doing good to those who have harmed us (especially if they are Christians; Galatians 6:10). “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). We need not repay evil for evil: by faith, we send that mistreatment to Christ’s cross, we forgive it, and we move on (lest it be a hindrance).

Beloved, we need not avenge ourselves, for “vengeance belongeth unto the Lord.”

The Nations That Forget God

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17 KJV).

Beloved, today’s Scripture will always hold true: those who ignore God’s Word will experience apostasy, temporal misery, and eventually, everlasting hellfire. We would do well if we considered and believed today’s Scripture.

The Apostle Paul spent a large portion of his apostolic journeys around the Mediterranean Sea (Greece, Italy, Turkey [“Asia”], et cetera). Travel to these areas today, and you will find mere remnants of the Gospel of Grace and God’s doctrines for this dispensation. What was a hotbed for sound doctrine is now a hotbed for ungodliness. Pagan religion and sins of the flesh have just engulfed those regions. You could never tell God’s Word was even preached there! (Sadly, this even applies to our beloved America.)

Overall, no nation remembers God today. You can even go to the land of Israel today, and see God’s (former) earthly people so confused and spiritually blind (Romans 11:25). They have so departed from the Bible, which God originally entrusted to them (Romans 3:1,2)!!

During the yet future seven-year Tribulation, after our dispensation closes, every nation will turn upon Israel. Our Lord Jesus warned, “And ye [Israel] shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9b). All Gentile nations will forget God (by turning on His people Israel), and they will gather in battle against Israel at the end of the seven years (Revelation 16:14-16). Because of their hatred of Israel (which at that time will be God’s people), God will be just in pouring His wrath out on every Gentile nation. Jesus Christ at His Second Coming will destroy these pagan Gentiles (Revelation 19:11-21), as well as purge out the unbelieving Jews in Israel (Matthew 24:38-41).

When Jesus Christ sets up His kingdom, He will declare to the Gentiles that hated Israel during the Tribulation: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire…” (Matthew 25:41). Indeed, “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God….”

Those who have forgotten God need to wake up before God’s judgment comes!!!

Are We Bibliolators? #8

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2 KJV).

The Christian life is already difficult, for most of the world is against you. Being a King James-only Pauline dispensationalist maketh it more difficult, for most of Christendom is against you. Be not weary, saints. We would rather please God than man!

Counterfeit Bibles is Satan’s most effective tool in dividing and confusing the Body of Christ: by quoting numerous opposing Bible versions, God’s people have lost their common voice. Oftentimes, “King James-only” believers are called “church splitters” and “heretics.” Oh, what irony! Heretics, unlike “King James-only” people, do not hold firm to God’s Word; heretics criticize God’s Word, which is exactly what anti-King James people do!!! The real church splitters are those who teach, “All 200 modern ‘bible’ versions are good.” If congregants reading 200 opposing “bibles” does not split churches, what does?! Why not everyone use only the King James; that is unity!

Our critics call us “fanatics” for using and believing the King James Bible; SO BE IT! We are privileged to join our Apostle Paul and our Saviour Jesus Christ in being “reviled, persecuted, defamed, made the filth of the world, and [made] the offscouring [scum!] of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:12,13).

As King James Bible users, let us suffer “hardness,” let us “endure [it] as good soldiers of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). Compromise not. Never let go of your King James Bible. It will never let you down, for God’s Word will never let you down.

If we claim to be people of faith, let us also act like people of faith. What is God’s attitude toward the Bible? He hath “magnified [his] word above all [his] name” (today’s Scripture). If we are people of faith, we will share that attitude. Criticizing the King James Bible is not an act of faith; it is an act of doubting God’s Word (unbelief). Wilt thou “magnify” the King James Bible “above all [God’s] name?” The evidence doth indicate that thou shouldst!

These past eight devotionals have been combined and expanded to form the larger study, “Are We Bibliolaters?,” which can be read here or watched here.

Are We Bibliolators? #7

Monday, April 23, 2012

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2 KJV).

For the past 130 years, Christendom hath been under the impression that biblical scholarship is improving. The Bible saith otherwise.

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). If you hold to God’s pure and preserved Word (the King James Bible), expect the criticism. Paul continueth, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” (verses 13,14).

Paul warned Timothy, nearly 2000 years ago, that false teaching would grow worse and worse. More and more individuals would be “seduced” (drawn away) from God’s Word: this has happened in the past 130 years regarding English “bibles.”

The Apostle also encouraged Timothy to “continue” in God’s Word. By faith, we do the same, holding firm to the King James Bible as more are deceived by modern (corrupt) “bibles.” Overall, Christendom’s “scholarship” is “deceived” regarding Bible versions and manuscripts: these “educated fools” then “deceive” the unsuspecting “peons in the pew.” Sad, sad, SAD!!!

Satan attacketh the Christian’s mind, to have God’s people think on information that distracteth them from focusing on God’s Word to them (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; 2 Corinthians 11:3,4; 2 Thessalonians 2:2). The Holy Bible is the only means whereby God doth communicate with us. If Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:17, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God” nearly 2,000 years ago, we would be foolish to think that “many” are not still “corrupting the word of God” (modern “bibles” “corrupt” that verse too!).

I use only the King James Bible. I refuse Satan’s counterfeit “bibles” that seek to corrupt my mind. I am overjoyed when called a “Bibliolater” (Bible worshipper). I desire to please God, not man; I join God in “magnifying [his] word above all [his] name” (today’s Scripture). Wilt thou join us?

Are We Bibliolators? #6

Sunday, April 22, 2012

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2 KJV).

Why do we “King James-only” Christians have such a zeal for this one Bible translation? Because all Bible translations are not created equal!

Those who claim all Bible translations are equal are dishonest with respect to the irrefutable evidence. These people have either never intelligently examined the evidence themselves (they are just repeating what others say), or they have examined the evidence and willingly ignore it (especially the prideful theologians who will never subject themselves to a perfect King James Bible, and the money-hungry modern “bible” translators and publishers who “revise” God’s Word every six months for “economic purposes”).

Lest we be misunderstood, the heart of the Bible versions issue is not translation, but the source texts (the texts being translated). We are not opposed to modern English “bibles” because they are translations; we reject them because they prove themselves and their source texts to be untrustworthy.

Satan knoweth that he cannot destroy God’s Word, for God’s words “shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). But, Satan hath been allowed to corrupt God’s Word, to produce counterfeit books that resemble the Bible. Sinful mankind—apostate Bible translators and publishers—is willing to help Satan achieve that purpose!

We hold to the King James Bible (that which speaketh on behalf of God) and reject counterfeit modern “bibles” (they which claimeth to be of God, but “privily” [secretly] bringeth in “damnable heresies;” 2 Peter 2:1-3). If our critics are justified in labeling us “Bibliolaters” (Bible worshippers), we must also accuse Israel AND GOD of “bibliolatry” when God told Israel to reject false teaching (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).

Why did God want Israel to reject false prophets? Because of what they taught! So, why doth God want us to reject corrupt modern “bibles?” Because of what they teach!

We are people of faith, so rather than “correcting” the King James Bible, we “magnify” it as highly as God hath (today’s Scripture), and we let it correct us!

Are We Bibliolators? #4

Friday, April 20, 2012

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2 KJV).

It hath been often said, “A man is only as good as his word.” If thou canst not trust what someone saith, he or she is a liar. The Bible is God’s Word, so if the Bible containeth mistakes, then God is a liar. Beware; Satan doth seek to corrupt the Bible in order to attack God’s integrity!

God hath “magnified [his] word above all [his] name” (today’s Scripture). The devil, whose  Hebrew name Satan meaneth “adversary,” seeketh to degrade God’s Word, to corrupt it, to muddle it up, thereby portraying God as dishonest, thus confusing us, the recipients of God’s Word, causing us to believe something God never said. The Bible versions issue is that serious, beloved.

At this point, it is extremely interesting that today’s Scripture readeth in the (corrupt) NIV: “…for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame.” (HA! Lie! That rendering certainly hath Satan’s approval!)

Through the years, I have talked with countless professing Christians about the Bible versions issue. Sadly, most of these dear souls knew literally nothing (!) about it. So echoeth God’s lamenting for Israel, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6a). Millions upon millions of genuine Christians are so deceived by modern “bibles,” and the shameful seminarians and church leaders who should be warning them of the deception are actually promoting modern “bibles!” Shame! Shame! Shame!

We “King James-only” Christians reject “every false way:” we reject Satan’s counterfeit “bibles,” ignoring the fact that we are scorned as “heretical” and “fanatical” “Bibliolaters” (Bible worshippers). By faith, we join God in “magnifying” the King James Bible “above all [His] name.”

Furthermore, we believe in a perfect Bible and we can present it—the King James Bible. Others merely claim to believe in a perfect Bible, but only in the original manuscripts, which they cannot present to us today (those manuscripts disintegrated)! They deny God’s promise of Bible preservation. So, who is the heretic now?

Are We Bibliolators? #2

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2 KJV).

God’s Word is under attack! If thou dost hold firm to the King James Bible, expect the criticism from the “scholarly elite” and their minions. However, be not afraid of thy critics when they whine about thy “King James-only” position. This battle hath been waged for millennia.

Since the days of the apostles, the Church the Body of Christ hath used one Greek New Testament (the Textus Receptus, Latin for “received text [from the early churches]”) and hath rejected its opposing/satanic counterfeit (the Alexandrian Critical Text).

For at least the past 1700 years, the corrupt Alexandrian Critical Text (Satan’s counterfeit Greek New Testament) hath rivaled God’s Antiochian (Greek Textus Receptus) manuscript family. The New Testament of nearly all major early English Bibles (1526–1611, including the King James) was predicated on the Textus Receptus. Up until 130 years ago, Christians were almost exclusively using the Greek Textus Receptus and its resulting translations (including English Bibles). But, in 1881, under the direction of apostate “scholars” Drs. Westcott and Hort, a new English “bible” was released. The English Revised Version, a supposed “revision” of the King James, was actually translated from the corrupt Alexandrian texts that the King James translators rejected!

Since 1881, Bible scholars have been under the satanic spell of translating over 200 “modern” “bibles” from Codices (manuscripts) Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, Roman Catholic manuscripts that Bible-believing Christians deliberately ignored for over 1500 years! Historically, being “King James-only” is not heretical; being anti-King James is! Most—if not all—“modern” English “bibles” are based on manuscripts that Christians avoided (history testifieth that these saints preferred to be put to death as ‘heretics’ than use it!).

God’s people have always held firm to His pure Word, even it meant giving up their very lives. Thou shouldest be willing to do the same. If someone deemeth us King James-only Christians “Bibliolaters” (Bible worshippers), they also condemneth God who “hast magnified [his] word above all [his] name” (today’s Scripture).

I Will Also Ask of You One Question

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

“And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?” (Mark 11:27,28 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Israel’s religious leaders are up to their usual tricks. By asking Him, “By what authority doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority to do these things?,” they are trying to trip up our Lord Jesus, to make Him stumble in His speech, and to intimidate Him into silence. Will it work, or not?

Verses 29-33 continue, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things” (cf. Matthew 21:23-27; Luke 20:1-8).

These chief priests, scribes, and elders were being dishonest, and Jesus knew their hearts. Why did Jesus ask them that question? God the Father sent both Jesus (John 6:39) and John the Baptist (John 1:6), so if these religious leaders could not admit to Jesus that God the Father had sent John, then Jesus would be wasting His breath to tell them God the Father sent Him (Jesus). This is why Jesus did not answer them.

In these verses, we read of Jesus Christ’s authority and wisdom. Because they refused God’s truth, the Lord Jesus decided to outwit them by asking one simple question (“He taketh the wise in their own craftiness;” Job 5:13; 1 Corinthians 3:19). Wow!

The Glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ #1

Sunday, March 18, 2012

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13,14 KJV).

We enter this world as sinners, heirs of Adam’s sin nature (Romans 5:12). As King David wrote, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Saints, we were once hell-bound sinners, marred by sin—that was our “glory” in Adam. Now that we are “in Christ,” we have obtained the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Adam was “made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26,27). Originally, Adam was sinless, in complete and unbroken fellowship with his perfect Creator God. Once Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he lost that fellowship. Sin destroyed his link with his sinless Creator. Mankind had chosen the way of Satan, seeking his own glory instead of the glory of his Creator. He was now lost, God’s enemy.

Jesus Christ, humbly left heaven’s glory, to walk earth’s filthy streets and subject Himself to wicked man. Why? God the Son became a man, to undo what Adam did, and reconcile man unto Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18,20). He came to die for our sins, to be buried, and to be raised again for our justification (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus’ perfect blood was shed to restore us to the perfect fellowship that Adam (mankind) once had with God!

Now that we have trusted Christ alone as our Saviour (the Gospel), we have “obtained the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (today’s Scripture): we have been “sanctified” (set apart for God’s purposes) and “saved” (from sin and hell). We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ’s perfect nature has been now applied to us Christians! Jesus’ blood has made atonement for our sins (Romans 5:6-11); sin no longer prevents us from fellowshipping with our Creator God. Glorious truth!