Category: sin

Shallow #7

Monday, October 28, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

The Scriptural record demonstrates that, by the opening years of the first century A.D., the LORD God has dealt with the most wretched, rebellious, unbelieving race of creatures in all of His creation. Some 4,000 years since creation, and God’s will in the earth (His earthly kingdom) is still not accomplished.

When He offers Israel her Messiah-King (Jesus), the Person who alone can redeem her from sin and Satan, and who alone can cleanse her of her sins, Israel demands His crucifixion (John 19:15)! Even into the early Acts period, Israel is still unrepentant. She continues to intentionally reject God’s Word to her, as the Prophet Stephen testified: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51). Shortly after Stephen spoke these words, Israel stones and murders him; national Israel has now committed the “unpardonable sin” of Matthew 12:31,32, and thus (temporarily) falls before God.

In Acts chapter 9, God implements a plan that He has kept secret in Himself since the world began (Ephesians 3:1-11). He saves His chief enemy in the earth, Saul of Tarsus, commissions him as Paul the Apostle, and sends salvation to the Gentiles without Israel’s kingdom (Romans 11:11-13), thus beginning a new agency, the Church the Body of Christ, and His purpose and plan for the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:20-23).

And so, we (finally!) reach the context of today’s Scripture. Unfortunately, members of the Body of Christ are just as sinful and ignorant of God’s Word as the billions who lived during the previous 4,000 years (or 6,000 years if we include the present-day). Sin abounds in Corinth, in the lives of these Christians (read 1 Corinthians). Today’s Scripture, sadly, applies to many sincere Christians today. Religious tradition and the world’s “wisdom” have polluted their souls and corrupted their minds. Consequently, they too have rejected God’s Word to them… often, deliberately….

Shallow #6

Sunday, October 27, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

Adam deliberately rejected God’s Word—so did Cain, Noah’s generation, and the post-diluvial (“after the Flood”) human race at Babel. For 2,000 years, God has attempted to use mankind in the earth for His glory, but mankind has audaciously and willfully rejected His Word and will. Dear readers, secular humanism is nothing new!

So, in Genesis chapter 12, God finds Abram, a pagan Syrian, and through this one man—whom He will later rename “Abraham”—He will create a group who will accomplish His will in the earth (which Adam and all of his descendants up to that point had failed to do). According to the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3), God created that nation, Israel, using Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob and Jacob’s 12 sons (heads of the 12 tribes of Israel).

About 500 years after the Abrahamic Covenant was instituted, God through Moses leads Israel (now about two million in number) out of Egyptian bondage. In Deuteronomy 4:1-49, Moses cautions Israel not to reject God’s Word to them (the Mosaic Law). They are to obey His every command when they arrive in the Promised Land. “For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” (verse 7). The wayward nations (Gentiles) were to see the wisdom of the Creator God demonstrated in Israel’s behavior and lifestyle (verse 6).

Alas, as the centuries passed, Israel went deeper and deeper into apostasy. Circa 700 B.C., JEHOVAH chided Israel: “There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land” (Hosea 4:1). Rather than knowledge of God’s Word in Israel’s land, there is idolatry, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and violence (verses 2ff.). Like the billions before them, they too have intentionally rejected God’s Word and will for them (verse 6)….

Shallow #5

Saturday, October 26, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

For 120 years, Noah, “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), built the ark according to God’s instructions, and warned the world of the impending Global Flood. Eight people—Noah, his wife, and their three sons and their wives— boarded the ark just before the Flood (Genesis 7:7). God gave mankind an additional seven days to change their mind, believe His Word as spoken by Noah, and come into the ark of safety (verses 4,10). Of these perhaps four billion people in the world, not a single one came into the ark!

Jesus Christ Himself commented that when the waters of the Great Deluge came from above and from below, humanity was still pursuing carefree, satisfying lifestyles (Matthew 24:37-39). Although God’s Word, the warning of His impending judgment, was the least of their concern, violent waves of water immediately drowned their physical bodies and the flames of hell surrounded their souls. Most of the animal and plant species perished too (their fossilized remains form the geologic rock record that scientists still study today).

Approximately 150 to 200 years after the Great Flood, we come to the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). The new human population (Noah’s descendants) rejects the knowledge of God (just as Noah’s antediluvian generation did), defying God’s command to multiply and scatter over the face of the earth (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 9:1). Instead, they collaborate and begin to construct a city and a tower (place of false religious worship), Babel (just south of present-day Baghdad, Iraq). That false religious system is the “mother” of most present-day world religions. In order to slow down man’s rebellion against Him, God confounded their languages and scattered mankind across the globe (the origination of Gentile nations).

After God gave the Gentiles over to Satan, He selected one man, Abram, through whom He would create a nation of people, Israel. Now, let us see if Israel will be any different from the previous Bible-rejecters….

Shallow #4

Friday, October 25, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

Man’s fall into sin resulted because of his deliberate disregard for God’s Word. What was the result of this fall? It did not take very long for the degradation of human marriage (Adam turning on his wife, Eve), the decline of the family (Cain murdering his brother, Abel), and the collapse and nearly complete obliteration of human civilization (the wicked world destroyed in the Great Flood). We will briefly focus on the last two events.

Cain refused to bring the blood sacrifice that God commanded, so when his brother Abel confronted him, Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:1-7; Hebrews 11:4; 1 John 3:12). Not only did Cain reject God’s Word to him that Abel spoke, but Cain was unconcerned about his brother and he showed no remorse when God asked him where Abel was (see Genesis 4:8-15).

In Genesis chapter 6, some 1,600 years after the Fall of Man in Eden, we read: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (verse 5). Here, the human population may be as high as four billion, and nearly every soul is cooperating with Satan’s policy of evil. Amidst this worldwide corruption and violence (verses 11,12), we find one man, Noah, “a just [righteous] man and perfect [upright] in his generations, and [he] walked with God” (verse 9).

Of all the billions in the world, God commissions Noah to build an ark, in order to save the animal species and the human seed-line. There is a worldwide flood coming, and for 120 years, Noah preaches God’s Word to the world (Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:5). Instead, they ridicule and ignore God’s Word through Noah. As Noah constructs the huge ark, the world just continues—gleefully and deliberately—in its wickedness….

Shallow #3

Thursday, October 24, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

In the moments following Adam’s consumption of the forbidden fruit, he and Eve realized that Satan’s policy of evil was infiltrating creation. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). They knew what happened as a result of their abandonment of God’s Word. The effects of sin were felt immediately.

On the very day of man’s fall, we see the cessation of Adam and Eve’s perfect marital relationship. Man’s perfect relationship with his Creator also vanishes. When the LORD God asked Adam if he had eaten of the forbidden tree, Adam replied, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12).

Adam has now turned against Eve. Notice how he blamed Eve for his deliberate mistake in following her in her ignorance! Eve was tricked, and so she ate; however, Adam knew better and he ate anyway. Also, see how Adam shifted the blame from himself, to Eve, and ultimately, to God—“the woman whom thou gavest to be with me.” Adam blamed God for his sinful action because God had given him Eve. Again, recall, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14).

We must not look down upon Adam. To this very day, we all, at some time or another, deliberately reject God’s Word, sin, and then blame someone else—often God! Yes, Genesis chapter 3 is the best authority on human psychology!

As time passes, Adam and Eve have sons, Cain and Abel, with Cain eventually and unapologetically murdering Abel in a fit of religious rage (Genesis 4:1-15). Here, we see the breakdown of the family. By the time we get to Noah’s day, 1,600 years later, there is worldwide wickedness (Genesis 6:1-8). Now, we see the breakdown of civilization….

Shallow #1

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

Society, even here in our beloved “Christian” America, is becoming increasingly secular humanistic. Secular humanism is an outlook/worldview that boasts, “We humans are good enough to solve our problems, without God and His Word.” Secular humanists emphasize man and ignore God. There is no regard whatsoever for the Creator’s will: the only issue is what does mankind think is right, acceptable, and good. How did mankind ever get to such a pitiful condition? What would ever cause such a frail, short-lived creature—made of mere dirt!—to exalt himself to such a deified position?

Let us be clear about three points:

  1. CREATION: Man’s original spiritual and moral decay could have been avoided had he not willfully rejected his knowledge of God (just like the Christians referenced in today’s Scripture). We can, and later will, appeal to the Scriptures to see man’s spiritual and moral decline… less than a week after his creation!
  2. CIVILIZATION: The significant cultural transformation—the willful rejection of the knowledge of God—that we are witnessing today is nothing new (recall the Christians referenced in today’s Scripture). What is happening today in the United States and all nations is something that God has seen many times over. He is not surprised, and neither should the Bible student. We can, and later will, appeal to the Scriptures to see Israel’s spiritual and moral decline.
  3. CHURCH: The professing “Church” has repeatedly—and in many cases, deliberately—rejected their knowledge of God (just like the Christians referenced in today’s Scripture). This is nothing new, either, as God has seen it many times over. He is not surprised, and neither should the Bible student. We can, and later will, appeal to the Scriptures to see the professing “Church’s” spiritual and moral decline.

The serious Bible student can recognize a pattern in the three above points, which we will now carefully dissect….

Solved and Sentenced!

Monday, October 21, 2013

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3 KJV).

From God’s perspective, there is no “cold” case.

“Cold cases” are decades-old crimes unsolved due to lack of witnesses and/or conclusive evidence. During the last 6,000 years, people have committed, and are still carrying out, very heinous deeds, causing their fellow man unimaginable suffering, and yet they go “unpunished” (for now). Oppressive politicians and ecclesiastical leaders who mercilessly torture, imprison, and execute anyone who opposes their “progress.” The clever “explanations” invented to cover-up the disappearances and deaths, and the downplaying of those crimes, make the bereaved cry out for justice.

Homicide victims unable to testify as to who murdered them, and elaborate schemes of corruption and cover-ups among authorities make justice seemingly impossible. Who will expose them and make things right? So many unanswered questions, doubts that never bring grieving family and friends any peace or sense of fairness. How will those deaths ever be avenged?

Saints, let us thank our God and Father that He sees every crime committed (today’s Scripture) and He is fair in meeting out punishment. As God’s judgment was about to fall on the pagan Neo-Assyrian capital Nineveh, the Prophet Nahum wrote: “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (1:3). Like Nineveh of old, wicked (unbelieving) mankind has an appointment scheduled with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will not be in a good mood (Revelation 20:11-15)!

God has been so longsuffering (patient) toward unbelieving and rebellious mankind especially these last 2,000 years, the Dispensation of Grace, but His justice will indeed be satisfied eventually (at the cross of Jesus Christ for believers’ sins, or in the everlasting lake of fire for everyone else’s sins). “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19; cf. Deuteronomy 32:35).

Dearly beloved, let us not be troubled regarding the injustices occurring all around the world, for we know that the only Witness whose testimony truly counts, is still a faithful Witness whose testimony will one day be heard and whose justice will one day be executed! 🙂

A Permanent Government Shutdown

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15b KJV).

God has His own government shutdown planned, and we need it more than ever!

The American people are becoming increasingly aware of Satan’s evil world system. Never in our nation’s brief existence has the devil’s policy of evil been more clearly manifested than we are seeing today. Let us not be shocked—ancient Israel went “due south” politically, spiritually, morally, and economically as soon as she also threw away the Holy Scriptures!

How fervent are the cries for political reformation… their tones are becoming more urgent. Rising healthcare costs, increasing poverty, and rising unemployment are just some of the issues that are present in society because God’s Word is absent from society. That will change!

We who have trusted alone in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for our sins (Paul’s Gospel of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4), let us use these days to thank our Heavenly Father that we have been spiritually delivered from such a mess. While we are still here physically, we have God’s peace. Thankfully, we are not here forever.

While we are here, tarrying for the Lord as He tarries for more souls to be saved, let us use this time to the advantage of God’s Word. We should utilize the current events as conversation starters to share the Gospel of the Grace of God with all we meet.

Jesus Christ died on Calvary’s cruel cross so that He could one day shut down this world’s (evil) governments and replace them with His glorious kingdom (Colossians 1:16,20)! “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one” (Zechariah 14:9; cf. today’s Scripture). Howbeit, in order to allow more people to trust Jesus Christ and avoid His impending wrath, Jesus Christ’s earthly kingdom is delayed, and so Satan’s policy of evil will continue.

As we patiently wait for our Lord’s return to get us, let us continue to tell others that their only hope out of this mess is Jesus Christ, not a political party! 🙂

The Great Things The Lord Jesus Hath Done #7

Saturday, October 12, 2013

“And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel” (Mark 5:20 KJV).

Who is this man, and what “great things” hath the Lord Jesus done for him?

The crowd rushes to see the rumors are true—the savage is now sane, sitting at Jesus’s feet, submissive to His will and Word! They are astonished at such a transformation: “And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts” (Mark 5:15-17; cf. Luke 8:35-37).

“And when he [Jesus] was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee” (Mark 5:18,19; cf. Luke 8:37-39).

Now healed, the Gadarene symbolizes redeemed and restored Israel. When she accepts and trusts her Messiah-King Jesus at His Second Coming, He will bring her kingdom and deliver her from Satan and sin. Just as with the Gadarene, He will remove the evil spirits from the land (Zechariah 13:2). Jesus Christ will have compassion on Israel, just like with the Gadarene, and restore her unto Himself (Zechariah 12:10; Zechariah 13:8,9).

Israel will have a “sound mind,” just like the Gadarene, for once the New Covenant is instituted, God will put His laws in her mind (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10). She will be forgiven and clothed with God’s righteousness (Isaiah 1:18; Acts 3:19; Hebrews 10:17; 1 Peter 2:9,10). Israel will submit to God’s will. Her transformation will be just as amazing as the Gadarene’s.

And so, just like the Gadarene, Israel will go into her kingdom, liberated to proclaim to the Gentiles “the great things the Lord hath done for [her]!” 🙂

The Great Things The Lord Jesus Hath Done #6

Friday, October 11, 2013

“And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel” (Mark 5:20 KJV).

Who is this man, and what “great things” hath the Lord Jesus done for him?

While the story of the exorcism of the Gadarene (today’s Scripture) was indeed literal and should be believed as historical fact, it should also be understood as typical of (illustrative of) redeemed and restored Israel (prophetic fact). Whenever Jesus Christ cast out devils during His earthly ministry, it was literal, physical, visible proof for all Israelites to see and recognize as fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Remember, “for the Jews require a sign” (1 Corinthians 1:22a). In Israel’s program, the preaching of God’s Word was accompanied by miracles that validated those words of God.

The Bible says the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles preached, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 10:7; Mark 1:14,15). This was “the Gospel of the Kingdom” (Matthew 9:35), and miraculous demonstrations—casting out devils and healing the sick—followed its proclamation (Matthew 10:5-8; Mark 16:17-20; Luke 8:1; Luke 11:20; Acts 2:22; Hebrews 2:3-5; Hebrews 6:4,5). In that earthly kingdom of Jesus Christ, there would be no sickness or evil spirits.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land” (Zechariah 13:2). When Israel’s Messiah would come, He would rid her and her land of satanic captivity. Every time Jesus cast out devils, He was evicting Satan’s minions (although Israel rejected Jesus’ efforts; Matthew 12:24-32; Mark 3:22-30). Since Israel rejected Christ at His First Coming, and refused to let Him cleanse them and their Promised Land the first time (just as the Gadarenes asked Jesus to leave), Zechariah’s prophecy will not be completely fulfilled until Christ’s Second Coming (Revelation 20:1-3).

Let us now conclude the narrative and see Israel’s (future) restoration to her God….