Category: Christ’s earthly ministry

A Holy Nation #7

Sunday, January 26, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

When Messiah (Jesus) finally came to the nation Israel, the fifth course of judgment was still operating: Israel was still scattered worldwide and under Gentile domination (here, the Roman Empire). JEHOVAH knew that He had to keep His covenant—Israel was to be punished for breaking it. The devil had one goal: continue to work in and through Israel’s religious and political leaders to prevent Jesus Christ from assuming David’s throne, and stop Him from delivering Israel (and earth) from his captivity. Satan had Israel exactly where he wanted her, and he was not about to give up the nation without a fight—and fight he did!

King Herod attempts—but fails—to kill young Jesus by murdering Jewish babies age two and under (Matthew 2:1-20). Once Jesus begins His three-year earthly ministry 30 years later, Israel’s religious leaders denigrate and persecute Him and His followers. Satan is still doing everything he can to hinder Jesus from converting Israel. The battle intensifies and culminates: Israel’s religious leaders finally conspire with the Roman government to have Jesus killed. When Roman governor Pontius Pilate asks Israel, “Shall I crucify your King?,” Israel’s chief priests (leaders) reply, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15)!

Messiah Jesus (knowing something no one else does) does not fight the muscular soldiers who grab Him, punch Him repeatedly, spit in His face, force a crown of thorns on His head, curse at Him, mercilessly scourge Him with whips, drive long spikes into His hands and feet, and display Him on a cross for everyone to see and mock. Satan beholds and delights in the spectacle; he can keep ruling over Israel because her rightful King is slowly dying. Just before Jesus Christ allows Himself to die, He remembers that Israel will become holy as He intended, that His death will literally become the “deathblow” to Satan.

Satan will certainly be surprised to discover God’s wisdom….

Bible Study 101 #13

Friday, January 17, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to study the Bible!

Religious tradition has completely destroyed the clarity of the rightly divided Word of God. Hence, many apostasies and heresies (denominations, sects, cults, et cetera) afflict Christendom. By following what God did in the past, we are not doing what God is doing today, and if we are not doing God’s will today, then Satan’s work is accomplished. Thus, dispensational Bible study is critical to understanding God’s plan of salvation for today as well as recognizing his plan for the Christian today.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). All of the Bible is God’s Word, so we study all 66 books of the King James Bible (Genesis to Revelation). But, unlike most churches and professing Christians, we study the entire Bible according to the “revelation of the mystery” (in light of Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon; Romans 16:25,26).

We must stop grabbing and claiming Israel’s verses (Genesis through Malachi, Matthew through John, early Acts, and Hebrews through Revelation), and we must get into the meat of the Scriptures written to us (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon). All of the Bible is for us, but not all of the Bible is to us or about us (remember, most of Scripture is written to and is about the nation Israel, not us). We follow God’s design for Christian edification, and we seek God’s approval, not man’s approval (today’s Scripture).

When studying a particular Bible passage, you first need to establish the following, in this order:

  1. who is writing/speaking,
  2. to whom are they writing, and
  3. what are they writing.

Again, remember that Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, are what God has to say to you, and the rest of the Bible deals with another program, Israel’s program. If Paul does not instruct you to do it, then God does not expect you to practice it in your life. This is the key to doing God’s will for you….

Bible Study 101 #10

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to study the Bible!

Some two billion people worldwide—on “Christian” radio, television, and websites, and in “Christian” Bible colleges, seminaries, churches, and Bible study groups—are quoting the Bible. Most of them are also outside of God’s will: they are following verses that have nothing to do with what God is doing today. They are causing such extensive confusion in an already-lost and dying world. In a society that is starving for the truth, these Bible-quoters contribute to that spiritual malnutrition by “deceitfully handling” (2 Corinthians 4:2) and “wresting” (twisting) (2 Peter 3:15,16) God’s Word. They need to be quiet and study God’s Word, and especially study it “rightly divided” (today’s Scripture).

Satan, by quoting non-rightly divided Scripture (out of its context), attempted to destroy the work of the Son of God, Jesus Christ (even before His ministry began!). Never forget that Satan is still using God’s Word to hinder God’s purpose and plan. The lack of dispensational Bible study, especially a failure to see the Apostle Paul’s unique ministry to us, has so confused and divided Christians. So much time is wasted arguing about such elementary topics that God’s will for the Church the Body of Christ is rarely grasped.

God intended the Holy Bible to be beneficial to man. However, when not rightly divided, it is a weapon that further damages man’s spiritual body. For example, the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-16) and the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) are preached as though they describe Christian living today. How sad! The most critical passages that actually describe grace living in this the Dispensation of Grace—Romans chapters 6-8 and 12, Ephesians chapter 4, and Colossians chapter 3—are ignored.

Again, no wonder the Body of Christ is so ineffectual in reaching the lost world for Jesus Christ, and no wonder the life of the average Christian is so confusing and burdensome. Christendom has stolen Israel’s doctrine and pretends it belongs to the Church the Body of Christ….

Bible Study 101 #9

Monday, January 13, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to study the Bible!

Many vehemently oppose dispensational Bible study. “Paul is just a man. I go by what Jesus said.” “So, you believe Paul’s epistles alone are inspired of God?” “Dispensational Bible study was invented in the 1800s.” “You only study Paul’s epistles.” How should we answer these objections?

Firstly, the Holy Spirit said Paul’s writings are “the commandments of the Lord.” God the Holy Spirit believed that Paul’s Bible books were “the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37)—Paul’s words are Jesus’ words! Paul’s writings are not inferior to Jesus’ words in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus Himself said, during His earthly ministry, He was not speaking to us Gentiles anyway (Matthew 10:5-7; Matthew 15:24; Romans 15:8). Paul is our apostle (Romans 11:13); Jesus is Israel’s Apostle (Hebrews 3:1).

Secondly, Paul himself wrote, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). We agree with the Holy Spirit here too—every Bible book, not just Paul’s epistles, came from God’s mouth, so we study all of the Bible.

Thirdly, Paul mentioned the term “dispensation” four times (1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:2; Colossians 1:25). Dispensational Bible study existed with the Apostle Paul 2,000 years ago. Actually, it was necessary even in Moses’ day (Genesis 9:1-4 and Leviticus chapter 11 could not be followed simultaneously; these two dispensations had to be “rightly divided”). God Himself invented dispensational Bible study.

Following God’s Word to Israel (the non-Pauline books) is not faith—it is doubting what the Holy Spirit through Paul wrote to us. The “words in red” are not the only words of Jesus, for after His ascension, Jesus Christ also spoke to the Apostle Paul (Acts 26:16-18; 2 Corinthians 12:1; Galatians 1:11,12). The same Lord Jesus Christ who spoke to Israel on earth (Four Gospels) also spoke to Paul from heaven to speak to us. Sadly, many ignore what God is doing and saying today and follow what He did and said in the past….

Bible Study 101 #8

Sunday, January 12, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to study the Bible!

Ephesians 2:11,12 explain that the “Old Testament” Scriptures (Genesis through Malachi), Matthew through John (the Four Gospels), and Acts chapters 1-8 are “time past,” and thus have no direct application to us. Verse 13 says we are in the “but now,” and that distinction between Jew and Gentile is currently rescinded (Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon). Ephesians 2:7 speaks of the “ages to come,” the future (discussed primarily in Hebrews through Revelation [for the nation Israel], but also throughout Paul’s epistles [for us, the Church the Body of Christ]).

Thus, we cannot steal Israel’s Old Testament passages and promises and pretend they belong to us. We cannot go into Christ’s earthly ministry and follow His teachings as though He was speaking to us Gentiles (when He said He was speaking to Israel only; Matthew 10:5-7; Matthew 15:24; cf. Romans 15:8). We cannot grab passages in Hebrews through Revelation and conclude they are talking to or about us, when their contexts indicate they are not. And yet, the professing Church has done just this for the last 2,000 years, and created over 38,000 rival denominations in the process!

In the context of today’s Scripture, Paul writes that false teachers, Hymenaeus and Philetus (verse 17), “concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (verse 18). These men were mixing our mystery program with Israel’s prophetic program. They had misled Christians to believe that they had missed the rapture (“the resurrection”) and caused them to believe that they were now living in Israel’s seven-year Tribulation (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-14). Even today, many do not “rightly divide the word of truth” (today’s Scripture)—that is, they fail to recognize the distinction between prophecy and mystery—so, they confuse doctrines (here, confusing the timing of the rapture).

Again, we must stop mixing the dispensations in God’s Word if we are to understand God’s Word….

Bible Study 101 #2

Monday, January 6, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to study the Bible!

Let us begin by addressing three common misconceptions about Bible-studying and Bible-quoting. Firstly, everything in the Bible does not belong to us—we cannot grab any verse, rip it out of context, and attempt to claim or apply it (this is how a denomination begins). Secondly, just because someone quotes the Bible does not mean that he or she is serving the God of the Bible. Thirdly, even false churches quote the Bible to some extent, so a “Bible-preaching” church is not necessarily a church worth attending or joining.

Did you know that Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus Christ? In Matthew 4:5,6 and Luke 4:9-11, Satan demonstrated that he knows the Bible, and if it furthers his policy of evil, he will actually quote Scripture and encourage others to quote it (of course, Satan also ignores the context of the verses he quotes). Upon studying the passage Satan quoted to Jesus (Psalm 91:11,12), we learn that angels will come at Jesus’ Second Coming (Satan quoted the passage as though it applied to Christ’s First Coming, but Jesus knew better and was not misled).

How many deceived souls have gone to hell after having trusted Acts 2:38—“repent and be baptized” (Scripture!)—as though it were our plan of salvation today? How many Christians have used the Mosaic Law (Scripture!) to follow the Galatians into apostasy, making naught the grace of God in their lives and causing themselves misery and defeat (Romans 6:14,15; Galatians 2:21; Galatians 3:1-3)? How many church members follow Peter and the other eleven apostles’ teachings (Scripture!), and completely miss that the Apostle Paul’s epistles are written to them as Gentiles (Romans 11:13)?

One cannot simply be Scriptural, for even Satan is “Scriptural;” one must also be dispensational. God has more than one people, one program, and one operating system in His Word. Today’s Scripture says we must understand the divisions God has made in His Word….

The Misunderstood Messiah #5

Monday, December 30, 2013

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Once Christ replied with sound doctrine (verses 42-47), Israel’s religious leaders simply resorted to name-calling again (verse 48): “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” A Samaritan was half-Jew/half-Gentile, and “the Jews [had] no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Notice Jesus was insulted twice more—they called Him a “Samaritan” and “devil possessed.” Throughout the rest of John chapter 8, Israel’s religious leaders continue arguing with Jesus and nearly stone Him to death (verse 59)!

Why did Jesus not simply “zap” these religionists and instantly throw them into hellfire? They belittled and blasphemed Him several times in this one account, and then attempted to murder Him, but rather than Jesus killing them with His spoken word (which would have been justified), He only conversed with them. Why?

Remember, when the Apostles James and John saw how the Samaritans refused to accommodate Jesus, they asked Him if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven and consume those sinners, He replied, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55,56). This First Coming of Christ was His “meek and lowly” coming: He did not come to judge man’s sins, but to die for them!

Even today, God is still not pouring out His wrath on wicked mankind (2 Corinthians 5:19), creatures who still snicker at Jesus Christ, deceive others in His name, persecute His saints, ignore His Word, and “rub His nose” in their sins. Lost mankind is wasting God’s grace and mercy that He is offering so freely. When His grace is finally exhausted, the undiluted wrath that has accumulated will finally be poured out (His Second Coming). May we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now so we have our sins forgiven now, lest we face that angry, righteous God in judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)!

The Misunderstood Messiah #4

Sunday, December 29, 2013

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Society’s anti-Bible, anti-Christian attitude is nothing new. While today’s Bible-believing, Bible-quoting Christian is accused of “hate speech” and “bigotry,” the “non-narrow-minded” face no repercussion for their slandering of the Lord Jesus Christ and their trampling His Word under foot. Due to sin, the world is upside down, and when the Christian attempts to expose it, he or she is to blame. The world wants Romans 3:4 to read, “Let every man be true, but God a liar!”

Like the (self-righteous) Pharisees of old, lost mankind, despite religious participation, has no capacity to stop sin. Never become angry at the world and never let their behavior puzzle you. Sinners do nothing but sin: by nature, man literally knows nothing but sin. As Jesus said to the lost Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44a). What they need is not simply to stop their activity (sins); they need a new nature from God! Today’s Scripture demonstrates the Pharisees’ willful ignorance of their sinful state.

Like the (“educated”) Pharisees of old, lost mankind, despite several degrees, has no capacity to understand the Bible. The Pharisees studied their Old Testament scrolls, yet they were equivalent to today’s average seminary graduate—years of Bible “study” and no (!) Bible understanding. Today’s Scripture demonstrates the Pharisees’ willful ignorance of one of hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that foretold Jesus Christ’s coming. They had plenty of philosophy and religion, but they had no capacity to understand and appreciate the Bible. People today do not need degrees to comprehend the Bible; they need the Spirit of God! “But the natural [lost] man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned [judged, evaluated]” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Let us summarize and conclude this devotional arc….

The Misunderstood Messiah #3

Saturday, December 28, 2013

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

The Pharisees are personally attacking the reputation of Jesus Christ, attempting to humiliate Him by saying, “We be not born of fornication.” After denigrating His virgin conception (that is, His deity), they exalt themselves by declaring, “We have one Father, even God.” What irony!

Notice Jesus’ response: “If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (verse 42). Had these Pharisees really known God on an intimate level, they would have understood His Word (that is, their Old Testament Scriptures) prophesied the coming of the Man they were now ridiculing. Had these religionists believed the prophecy that God had sent His only begotten Son, they would not have insinuated that Jesus was “born of fornication.” They would have known what He meant by the words, “I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.”

Alas, God’s Word was “foolishness” to their dead souls (1 Corinthians 2:14). Jesus explained why they misunderstood Him: “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:43,47). They could hear the sound of Jesus’ voice, but could they hear with comprehension? Nay, they were spiritually dead, not of God like they claimed. Thus, Jesus told them, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (verse 44).

The Pharisees were spreading lies about Jesus Christ because they were lost. Lost mankind has not changed one bit….

The Misunderstood Messiah #2

Friday, December 27, 2013

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Like the Bible scoffers of today, those during Christ’s earthly ministry rejected the notion of the virgin conception of a human (His own conception).

“Then Joseph her husband, being a just [righteous, fair] man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily” (Matthew 1:19). Joseph, still wondering what happened to Mary, decides to divorce her in secret to spare her from becoming a public spectacle. Suddenly, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and informs him that the Holy Ghost has generated the Christ child in Mary (verse 20).

Imagine the humiliating rumors that circulated: “Mary was a pregnant virgin before she consummated her marriage to Joseph.” The story just did not make sense to most. Evidently, the general Israeli public, unwilling to believe God’s fulfilled Word, believed Mary was unfaithful to Joseph. That gossip lingered for over three decades, which is why the Pharisees said to Jesus what they did in today’s Scripture: “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” In other words, they called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, an illegitimate child, and they claimed they were God’s children! (You can sense the vicious attitude these self-righteous religionists had toward our Lord Jesus, another attempt to intimidate Him into silence, seeing as to they are all in the Temple and a crowd of people is listening to this entire conversation.)

At this point, we need to remember that Satan is actively working in and through these Pharisees. Jesus Christ’s deity is being questioned and His credibility is being attacked, which causes those in the Temple to doubt God’s Word (thereby leaving room for Satan’s error to creep in). Our Lord is aware of this, but He does not waver in His Father’s Word. Let us see how He wisely responds to this insult….