Category: good vs evil

The LORD is On My Side #1

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5,6 KJV).

Although today’s Scripture is God’s Word to the nation Israel, we appreciate this doctrine and take comfort in it as its writer urged Israel to do.

Our human bodies are limited and frail; Satan’s evil world system is mighty. For centuries wicked men have imprisoned and killed Christians! As one would squeeze fruit to produce juice, so the daily struggles of life in this evil world continually batter us Christians, seemingly squeezing us until our strength is diminished and we are vanquished.

While Satan’s evil world system prevails today, it will manifest itself more fully once our Dispensation of Grace closes. It will become increasingly difficult for the nation Israel to exist once we (the Church the Body of Christ) are raptured from this earth. This horrible period following the rapture, the seven-year Tribulation, is the context of today’s Scripture.

Especially during the latter half of the Tribulation, God’s people (Israel’s believing remnant) will endure great oppression. The antichrist will persecute Israel (Matthew 10:16-33; cf. Revelation 13:10-17), even killing the Jews who disobey him by following Jesus Christ (Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 13:4-15).

In that time, the worst period of human history, God will comfort His people, Israel, using today’s Scripture: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” This is actually quoting Deuteronomy 31:6-8, when Moses encouraged Israel not to fear her enemies as they prepared to enter Canaan under Joshua’s leadership (cf. Joshua 1:5). Psalm 118:6 is also quoted: “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”

Brethren, despite our persecution in this life, Israel’s faithful God is our faithful God and He will never leave us either (Romans 8:31-39)!

Shhhh, Grace Believers!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

“Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth” (Acts 19:26,27 KJV).

God’s Word has always been unpopular with sinful mankind, but this is especially true of the Gospel of the Grace of God. In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul is preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven, angering the pagan idol makers. “Paul, quiet down, you are a threat to our ‘business’ (religion)!” Not surprisingly, we grace believers are told the same thing!

My local grace church has a television ministry. Once, viewers had great difficulty hearing the program. They would increase the volume of their televisions, but our pastor’s preaching was barely audible. When church members visited the office of the cable television provider which broadcasts the show, they learned that a technician was lowering the master transmit volume when our program would air. (The grace message was too offensive to either his religion or his sinfulness, so he was turning down the volume for all viewers!)

The Bible speaks of people who know the truth of God, but “who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:19,20)—they suppress God’s Word so that Satan’s error can flourish! In today’s Scripture, these pagans wanted to turn the crowds against the Apostle Paul. Paul would not be quiet regarding the message of God’s grace, so they were determined to kill him in a mob (see Acts 19:28–20:1)!

God’s grace, the message of Calvary’s cross, is offensive to people preoccupied with works-religion, for Calvary charges works-religion (man’s performance) as insufficient for heaven (see Galatians 5:11). Let us continue boldly sharing the Gospel of the Grace of God, and the rightly divided King James Bible, especially when they cry, “Shhhh, grace believers!” 🙂

Peace and Safety… Or Not!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJV).

For millennia, religious and political leaders have unsuccessfully attempted to achieve world peace, especially in the Middle East (the focus of Arab, Palestinian, and Israeli conflict). One day, two men will establish world peace: first, the antichrist, and then, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the world will be deceived into thinking the antichrist’s peace is that which Jesus Christ will establish years later.

Daniel 9:27 explains, “he [the antichrist] will confirm the covenant with many for one week.” The book of Revelation tells us this “one week” is a week of years—that is, seven years (two periods of 1,260 days each; Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6). The seven years begin once Satan uses the antichrist to sign a Middle Eastern peace treaty, causing Israel and her enemies to cease hostility.

Israel, wrongly believing that the antichrist is Jesus Christ, will relax, led to conclude that she is living in the peaceful earthly kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament. Jeremiah 23:5,6 says that when Israel’s Messiah-King comes, “Israel shall dwell safely.” Israel will apply this to the antichrist (when it was actually speaking of Jesus!). Remember what Jesus said to Israel? “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” (John 5:43). Jesus was speaking of the antichrist!

Halfway into the seven years, the antichrist’s flattery will vanish. His true motives now exposed by his breaking that covenant and desecrating Israel’s rebuilt temple (Daniel 9:27), and persecuting God’s people (believing Israel) by instituting capital punishment (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; Revelation 13:1-18). Israel will then realize (Isaiah 28:15), “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement!”

As Paul wrote in today’s Scripture, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” Notice the pronoun “they”—we, the Body of Christ, are not in the Tribulation.

The Unholy Trinity

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2 KJV).

Satan is the master counterfeiter. Before his fall from heaven, he declared: “I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Satan mimics everything that God does, thereby getting man to focus on the counterfeits rather than paying attention to God’s original. Take, for instance, the unholy trinity, which will manifest itself after our dispensation closes. The Bible, in Revelation chapter 13, describes the “unholy trinity.” Just as God exists in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 5:7)—the devil has his “trinity.”

In today’s Scripture, we see two of the members of the “unholy trinity.” The first is a dragon, a metaphor for Satan (cf. Revelation 12:9). Next is the antichrist, the world ruler of the future seven-year Tribulation, who is described as a “beast” (not a literal animal, but a man with a bestial, or cruel, nature). In Revelation 13:11, we read of “another beast,” an additional bestial (vicious) man, “the false prophet,” a religious leader who will perform satanic miracles and serve as the antichrist’s assistant (Revelation 19:20).

God’s Word tells us in today’s Scripture that the dragon (Satan) will give power to the beast (antichrist). Just as God the Father will give the earth’s kingdoms to Jesus Christ one day (Psalm 2:6-9; Daniel 7:13,14; Revelation 11:15)—which will occur after the seven-year Tribulation—Satan will first give them to the antichrist. See how that mimics God’s program? Did you notice how Satan will mimic God the Father?

The antichrist will pretend to be Jesus Christ, thus he will mimic Him (Revelation 6:2; cf. Revelation 19:11-13). According to Revelation 13:11-15, just as the Holy Ghost directs worship to Jesus Christ (John 16:13), the false prophet (the counterfeit Holy Ghost) will direct worship to the antichrist (the counterfeit Jesus Christ). That unholy trinity, like Satan today, will deceive the masses during Daniel’s 70th week.

Our Gospel Hid #4

Monday, February 13, 2012

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4 KJV).

God’s will is “to have all men saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). That is, God wants every lost person saved from hell, and He wants every Christian saved from religious tradition. The goal of Satan’s policy of evil is the opposite: to keep lost people unsaved (lost) and to keep Christians unaware (spiritually immature) of God’s doctrine for them (Paul’s epistles). Satan accomplishes this using over 4,200 world religions, 38,000-plus “Christian” denominations, in excess of 200 (corrupt) modern English Bibles, and various false gospels (some even mention “Christ!”). This is how Satan “blinds the minds of them which believe not.”

To Satan’s dismay…

  1. By the grace of God, we are “saved!” We who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as Saviour can rejoice today that “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ” shone unto us despite Satan’s attempts to keep us lost (today’s Scripture)!
  2. By the grace of God, we have “come unto the knowledge of the truth!” We who use the King James Bible can rejoice that we found God’s preserved and inerrant Word for us English-speaking Christians! By the grace of God, we who understand the “revelation of the mystery” (Paul’s special ministry) are no longer deceived by vain church tradition.

As King James Bible believers and Pauline dispensationalists who have trusted in Christ Jesus alone for salvation, we praise the Lord. Despite all the deception out there, we sought truth, and God made sure we found it!

How we are eternally grateful to God our Father to have found our Saviour (the Lord Jesus Christ), to have found God’s Word (the King James Bible), to have found our apostle (Paul), and to have found our place in God’s program (the Church the Body of Christ).

Our Gospel Hid #3

Sunday, February 12, 2012

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4 KJV).

Satan’s modus operandi is to multiply the counterfeits so you never discover God’s will for you. Over 4,200 world religions keep lost people from finding Christ. Religious tradition of 38,000-plus “Christian” denominations hinders Christians from discovering sound doctrine and spiritual growth. Over 200 (perverted) modern English Bibles keep Christians and lost people from even finding God’s pure Word in the first place! People “handling the word of God deceitfully” is how Satan “blinds the minds of them which believe not.”

Recently, I spoke with a family member about salvation. I asked her, “What is the gospel of your salvation?” Her reply was, “I believe in Jesus and I do the best I can!” This is the false gospel that God condemned in Galatians 1:6-9. It sounds good, deceptively mentioning “Jesus,” but this is “another Jesus,” what Satan’s men preach to send lost people to hell, and to confuse believers and ruin their Christian lives (2 Corinthians 11:3,4; Galatians 5:1-5)! This gospel mixes faith in Christ and man’s works, and God will NOT tolerate it—with lost people and with Christians (Romans 4:1-8; Galatians 2:16-21; Galatians 3:1-5; Ephesians 2:8,9; et al.).

Sinful men cooperate with Satan’s policy of evil by fabricating religious systems to mimic God’s work. But, they have also polluted Christianity (resulting in “Christendom,” the paganized version of Christianity). There are some people who have genuinely trusted in Christ alone. They are totally secure in the salvation in Christ Jesus, but they are “taken captive by [the devil] at his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).  They are told they need to work to make God happy, never being told that God has permanently accepted them in Christ (Ephesians 1:6)!

Paul’s Gospel—Christ crucified for our sins, buried, and raised again (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)—is the only way to heaven. NO WORKS FOR SALVATION! NONE!

Our Gospel Hid #1

Friday, February 10, 2012

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4 KJV).

How does Satan, “the god of this world,” keep our gospel hidden from lost people? Does he use drugs, alcohol, fornication, and the occult? According to the context of today’s Scripture, he uses something far subtler, what you would least expect.

God’s Word exposes the heart of Satan’s policy of evil. Previously, the Apostle Paul stated that he has “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully” (verse 2). Where was this “dishonesty” and “craftiness?” Paul explains, “nor handling the word of God deceitfully.” It was in religion! Before Paul’s salvation, he, as a Pharisee (Jewish religious leader) and participant in Satan’s religious system, had used God’s Word (of all things!) to send people to hell (Galatians 1:13,14; Philippians 3:3-7). Thankfully, Paul claimed, “Now that I am saved, I have given up that foolishness!” Sadly, today, preachers still use the Bible to guide over 100,000 people to hell every day! How?

Satan hides the Gospel of God’s Grace (what God has done for you at Calvary) by having you focus on religion (what you can do for God at church). These “ministers” (!) of Satan (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) tell you that Christ died for you, but that you need to work for salvation (Acts 15:1-5). How deceptive! They mention Christ (sounding godly), but they are totally anti-God because they exalt man’s efforts to please God (thereby ignoring the sufficiency of Christ’s finished crosswork). God warned against this “false gospel” in Galatians 1:6-9. God’s attitude toward one who preaches this heretical gospel: “Let him be accursed [removed from fellowship]!!!”

The Gospel of the Grace of God says you can do nothing, nothing, nothing to merit salvation.

Friends, either Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection are sufficient for our salvation, or He is dead for nothing (Galatians 2:16,21)!

Do We Have Guardian Angels?

Monday, February 6, 2012

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is one of the scores of verses that speak of “guardian angels.” But do we have guardian angels today, in our Dispensation of Grace?

Throughout the Old Testament, angels protected and guided the nation Israel (Exodus 23:20,23; Exodus 33:2; Judges 6:11,12; 2 Kings 19:35; et al.). “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11,12).

In the New Testament, angels ministered to Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43). Angels rescued the imprisoned apostles (Acts 5:18-26) and delivered the Apostle Peter from prison (Acts 12:1-11). Yet, when we come to our Apostle Paul, God uses an earthquake—not an angel—to free him from prison (Acts 16:23-28). Why?

Notice what Paul writes about angels today. They should not be worshipped (Colossians 2:18) and that, if a supposed “angel” appears to us today, it would do so only to deceive by preaching to us a false gospel (Galatians 1:8; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14). But, Paul’s epistles are silent about guardian angels in our Dispensation of Grace. We are not guaranteed physical protection with angels like God promised Israel, but we Christians have something better: we have eternal spiritual protection because the indwelling Holy Spirit is guarding our souls (Ephesians 4:30; cf. Romans 8:35-39).

Furthermore, Paul writes that, while angels have no ministry to us today, we have a ministry to them! The angels are curious about what God is doing, so they learn this by watching us, the Church the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 11:10; Ephesians 3:9,10; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:21). Smile, they are watching! 🙂

But, what about Hebrews 1:14: “Are they [the angels of verse 13] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Notice, this is the book of Hebrews—this is speaking of future Israel.

We do not need angels today—they need us.

Has Hell Departed Far Hence?

Thursday, February 2, 2012

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41 KJV).

Today’s Scripture (and its context of verses 31-46) explains that, after Christ returns to earth (His Second Coming), He will gather to stand before Him the saved and lost Gentile survivors of the seven-year Tribulation. The Gentiles (not us the Body of Christ) who blessed Israel during the Tribulation will be allowed to enter the earthly kingdom (verses 34-40) while those who refused to help Israel will be cast into hell, “everlasting punishment” (verses 41-46).

Hell is a real, spiritual place of “everlasting fire” that God originally created to punish Satan and his angels (today’s Scripture), but it also exists for those humans who participate in Satan’s rebellion against God. Here, the souls of the damned are eternally banished from God’s presence, confined to a place where God’s wrath is never appeased, where consciousness is rewarded with intense heat and painful remembrance (note the thirsty rich man tormented by memory and flames in Luke 16:22-31). Sin is allowed to disfigure their souls and hell’s fire preserves them forever (Matthew 10:28; Mark 9:43-50; John 5:28,29; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10). There is no consumption or annihilation—it is “everlasting punishment.”

Understandably, the doctrine of everlasting hellfire is quite unpopular in modern-day “feel-good” Christendom. You will rarely hear preachers (especially “mega-churchers”) mention everlasting hellfire. Moreover, hell is watered down and even removed from modern Bibles! The Greek words translated “hell” (hades) and “hell/hellfire” (gehenna) in our King James Bible have been left untranslated in modern Bibles (including NKJV). Which is more offensive—“hell” or “hades/gehenna?” Modern Bibles further deny the everlasting nature of hell by replacing “everlasting fire” with “eternal fire,” and omitting Mark 9:44,46 (which both read, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”).

“Hell” may have departed far hence from Christendom and modern Bibles, but those who reject Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour will depart far hence to the everlasting hellfire that God’s Word (King James Bible) clearly teaches!

The Crux of God’s Eternal Purpose

Friday, January 27, 2012

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20 KJV).

God the Father has one grand purpose for creation—to make His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the governments of heaven and earth (Ephesians 1:9,10). But, the Bible teaches that an angelic rebellion, led by Lucifer (Satan), sought to usurp Jesus Christ’s headship in heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-18). Once Satan enticed mankind to sin and cooperate with his policy of evil, that rebellion then infiltrated earth (Genesis 3:1-24).

Today, the governments that God created in heaven and earth are in rebellion. Satan has spoiled what was created “by” and “for” the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16,17; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:3,4; Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12). How will God reconcile unto Himself the governments of heaven and earth? How will Jesus Christ eternally subvert Satan’s strongholds in those two realms? Today’s Scripture provides the answer.

Using Christ’s shed blood, God is currently forming a heavenly people for His name, the Church the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 1:14). In eternity future, He will use this entity—us!—to restore His authority in the heavens. At Christ’s Second Coming, God will restore His earthly people, the nation Israel, forgive them of their sins through Christ’s shed blood (Acts 3:18; Hebrews 9:11-15; 1 Peter 1:18,19), and use redeemed Israel to reclaim His authority in the earth.

Indeed, the very thing at which Satan thought he defeated God—Calvary’s cross—is that which God will use to permanently conquer Satan’s policy of evil. Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary is the crux of God’s plans for eternity future: everything that God will accomplish in the ages to come hinges on Jesus Christ’s shed blood. In order to destabilize Satan’s power in heaven and earth, God must deal first with the sin issue in both realms, and Christ’s blood does just that in both realms. Behold the wisdom of our God!

Oh, by the way, interestingly, crux is Latin for cross….