Category: sin

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….

The Great Things The Lord Jesus Hath Done #5

Thursday, October 10, 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 devil-possessed Gadarene of today’s Scripture is a perfect picture of the nation Israel when her Messiah, Jesus, came to her, saying, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24; cf. Matthew 10:6).

This Gadarene has been possessed of devils for a long time, just as Israel has been in satanic captivity for centuries. The Gadarene lives out in the mountains and wilderness, just as Israel is “in the wilderness,” spiritually speaking—she has wandered far from JEHOVAH’S ways. Just as the devils have corrupted the Gadarene’s mind so he cannot think properly, so Satan has used apostate religious tradition to prevent Israel from having the mindset God had given to her through the Old Testament Scriptures.

As the Gadarene is physically naked, so Israel is destitute of God’s righteousness (spiritual clothing). One can neither tame the Gadarene nor “stiffnecked” Israel. The Gadarene prefers to live in and among tombs; Israel is content to physically live while remaining spiritually dead in her trespasses and sins.

The Gadarene screams, drawing attention to his devil-inspired lifestyle that led to ridicule, just as Israel’s sinful behavior grabbed the attention and generated mocking from the Gentiles. Neither the Gadarene nor the nation Israel can free themselves from Satan’s power. It is this very nation Israel for which Jesus Christ has come to die, so that He may give them a new life when He resurrects!

For a long time, the Gadarenes have heard of the wild man living nearby. No one can help him—humanly speaking, he literally is hopeless and helpless. The only Person who can deliver him from such a miserable existence is the one and the same Person who alone can save his nation… and this former miracle He will perform to demonstrate He can also accomplish the latter….

Consider Your Ways, Saints! #5

Saturday, October 5, 2013

“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:59 KJV).

Oftentimes, the Christian is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him….

The Christian—the one who is trusted alone in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for his or her sins—is to allow the life of that Saviour to live in and through him or her. This is only possible if the Christian is primarily focusing on the part of the Bible written to and about us in the Dispensation of the Grace of God (which the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle Paul; Ephesians 3:2).

Many true believers in Jesus Christ often struggle to do right and yet still fail. They have not learned the most basic principle of the Dispensation of Grace: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Unquestionably, sin will triumph over us every time when we walk in our own strength, relying on our own resources, our own intellect, our own efforts (this is the system of Law, the enemy of God’s grace). Our works and our performance cannot save us from hell, so they certainly cannot save us from misery either!

Romans chapter 12, Ephesians chapter 4, and Colossians chapter 3 are great passages that deal specifically with daily Christian living. We read these verses, and most importantly, believe them, applying them to our lives by faith. God the Holy Spirit will then take those words and work mightily in and through us to accomplish those attitudes and actions, and it will literally be the life of Jesus Christ. It will be the same life that He lived on earth, and it will be the life He still lives today. This is the grace life that God wants for us Christians!

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11,12).

May we, by faith, submit to the Lord Jesus Christ’s desire to build a temple, a dwellingplace—using us! 🙂

Consider Your Ways, Saints! #1

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:59 KJV).

Oftentimes, the Christian is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him or her….

The Bible makes it very clear in Ephesians 1:9,10 that God the Father’s overall purpose and plan for creation is to make the heaven and the earth operate in unison in bringing praise and glory to His Son, Jesus Christ. How God will accomplish this plan is summarized 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.”

Jesus Christ suffered, shed His precious and sinless blood, and died on Calvary’s cruel cross to pay for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), He was buried to put away those sins, and He was raised again the third day to give us a right standing before God (Romans 4:25), proving that He conquered Satan and sin (otherwise, death would have held Him; Acts 2:24; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14). When we trust alone in this finished crosswork of Jesus Christ as the fully-satisfying payment (propitiation) for our sins, we are “saved” from those sins, hell, death, the lake of fire, and Satan’s power (Colossians 1:13).

Howbeit, God’s will involves much more than people receiving salvation from their sins and receiving a place in heaven. He also wants those who do get saved—the Christians—to understand why He saved them and what He will do with them in the ages to come. This spiritual edification and maturity is what the Bible calls “coming to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:25).

How disturbing and extremely sad it is to see many Christians with very little to no understanding of God’s will for their lives. Using counterfeit modern “bibles,” being completely engulfed by religious tradition and denominational thinking, and neglecting personal Bible study are the three primary reasons for this dire state of affairs within Christendom.

Before we Christians can have the Lord Jesus Christ’s mindset, we must first learn it ourselves through the study of the rightly divided Scriptures….

Consider Your Ways, Mankind! #5

Monday, September 30, 2013

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29,30 KJV).

Mankind, in his natural state, is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him….

Ephesians 6:12 talks about “spiritual wickedness in high places” (the Greek word here rendered “high” is translated “heavenly” in Ephesians 1:3 and Ephesians 2:6). “Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight” (Job 15:15; cf. Job 25:5). Satan has corrupted the heavens (outer space) with sin, and he will not be banished from there and cast down to earth until a future date (Revelation 12:7-10).

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:16). God had given the earth to man in order to keep earth out of Satan’s hands, but Adam sinned and Satan’s policy of evil, which rebellion started in heaven, infiltrated earth. Both the heavens and earth are corrupted by sin. Until we come to the salvation and ministry of the Apostle Paul in Scripture, we only read about God’s purpose and plan for the earth. God, until revealing it to and through the Apostle Paul, was silent about how he would restore the heavens unto Himself (Colossians 1:16-21).

Through Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, alone, we learn God’s purpose and plan regarding the heavenly restoration. The ascended Lord Jesus Christ will use the same pagan Gentiles He had given over to Satan back in Genesis chapter 11, He will save them from their sins and give them a place in heaven (Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:6,7), even giving them bodies to function in outer space and replace Satan’s minions (2 Corinthians 5:1). This is the story of the pagan Greeks to whom Paul spoke (today’s Scripture)—it is our story, too!

No one would have guessed that God would use formerly idolatrous Gentiles such as us to be His vessels, His temple, to glorify Himself in the heavens forever…!

Consider Your Ways, Mankind! #4

Sunday, September 29, 2013

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29,30 KJV).

Mankind, in his natural state, is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him….

Satan’s rebellion against God, which started in heaven, then infiltrated the earth with the fall of man. Adam—actually all of mankind—was to be God’s vessel in fulfilling His will in the earth (Genesis 1:26,28), but Adam sinned and failed (Romans 5:12). God then created the nation Israel to do in the earth what Adam failed to do (Exodus 19:5,6), but Israel also sinned and failed (Jeremiah 31:32).

Once Israel reached the point where she adamantly and continually rejected God’s will for her—the culmination of her unbelief was Acts chapter 7 with the stoning of the prophet Stephen—God set into motion a plan for the heavenly places, a plan that He had kept secret during the entire time He was revealing to man His purpose and plan for earth (Romans 16:25 cf. Acts 3:21).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul is preaching in Athens to remind these lost pagans that their idols of silver, gold, and stone that they have invented and carved and molded, are the results of their spiritual blindness. God, having given these Gentiles over to Satan in Genesis chapter 11 (so He could form the nation Israel in Genesis chapter 12 with Abraham), is now reaching out to them through the fall of Israel and through Paul’s ministry (Romans 11:11-13).

Paul urged these Gentiles, whose spirits were dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) and whose souls were darkened by Satan the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:3,4), to receive the light of God’s Word that he is preaching to them. They are to recognize their error, change their mind (repent), and start thinking of the triune God as the living and true God, not as some worthless, inanimate idol.

By faith, they are to submit to the construction of JEHOVAH’S new temple….

Consider Your Ways, Mankind! #3

Saturday, September 28, 2013

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29,30 KJV).

Mankind, in his natural state, is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him….

When preaching about Jesus Christ returning to earth one day and bringing “the times of restitution [restoration] of all things,” the Apostle Peter confessed that this coming of God to establish an earthly kingdom was what “God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21). From the time the Lord Jesus put man on the earth until the salvation and ministry of the Apostle Paul, the Bible’s focus is God’s purpose and plan for the earth. God wanted the earth to be His “temple,” His dwelling place!

In the book of the Revelation, the Apostle John wrote about the future: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Revelation 21:1-3). This will be the fulfillment of Messiah’s title “Immanuel,” “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). Again, the hope of believers in Israel’s program was not dying and going to be with God in heaven, but being resurrected to have God come down to earth and live with them (Job 19:25-27)!

Daniel 2:35,44 speak of Jesus Christ’s kingdom as one that will “fill the whole earth” and will last forever and ever. Exodus 19:3-6, Isaiah 2:1-3, and Zechariah 8:20-23 demonstrate the earthly nature of Israel’s kingdom. Sin has continually delayed the establishment of this “temple” of God….

Consider Your Ways, Mankind! #2

Friday, September 27, 2013

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29,30 KJV).

Mankind, in his natural state, is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him….

“For by him [the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16). God created and placed angels in heaven to serve Him there, and He created and placed man on earth to serve Him there.

Man was to govern earth for God’s glory as Genesis 1:26,28 explain: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God blessed them [Adam and Eve], and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish [fill up] the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Psalm 8:4,7-9 elaborate: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”

Adam was to prepare earth for God to come down and dwell on, but Adam sinned, delaying the construction of that “temple….”