Category: The Nation Israel

No Good Deeds, No Good Things #1

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you” (Jeremiah 5:25 KJV).

Here is the result of being under any performance-based acceptance system!

The Apostle Paul had been a rabbinical scholar—a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5; cf. Acts 26:5), an “uncompromising Judaistic fundamentalist.” He was certainly no ignoramus when it came to the precepts of the Mosaic Law. After all, he trained under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), a rabbi whom orthodox Jews know and revere even today!

When writing to young Pastor Timothy, Paul penned in 1 Timothy chapter 1: “[3] As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, [4] Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. [5] Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: [6] From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; [7] Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

“[8] But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; [9] Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, [10] For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; [11] According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

Verse 3 shows us that, in Ephesus, some legalists are causing spiritual turmoil by teaching doctrine contrary to Pauline revelation. The Holy Spirit exposes their error in verse 7: “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” Considering Paul’s background, he could rightly evaluate what was and was not the purpose of the Mosaic Law. Scripture can indeed be twisted to teach error….

See the King in His Beauty

Saturday, July 14, 2018

“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off” (Isaiah 33:17 KJV).

Jesus Christ quoted today’s Scripture in Matthew 5:8 when He said “the pure in heart… shall see God.” In the Millennium, they will come to see Him, the King of Israel—Immanuel, “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; cf. Zechariah 8:23).

The public goes to great lengths to meet a celebrity (actor, politician, writer, filmmaker, musician, religious leader, et cetera)—expensive trips and long wait times mean nothing. They want to snap “selfies” with that person, get his or her autograph, and/or shake hands. Screaming with delight, they blow kisses, joyfully leap, sometimes falling to the ground. Acts 10:26 paraphrased: “Stand up! They are just people!”

However, when Israel’s Messiah-King was born in little Bethlehem of Judah, no massive crowds came. The masses were “too busy” with their lives to “bother” seeing God in the flesh. Visitors were lowly shepherds whom angels had notified out in the countryside (Luke 2:7-20). Israel had “no room” for Baby Jesus in the inn, so they offered Him a stable. He was an outcast even in the virgin Mary’s womb! His own people (Israel) wanted nothing to do with Him. Nonetheless, within two years of His birth, Gentiles from the east (wise men) came to see and worship Him (Matthew 2:1,2). Verse 3: “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” The nations want God’s fellowship but Israel is not willing to be the channel of blessing. Horrible!!

Today is no different. Rather than the masses flocking to grace churches to commune with God’s people and learn the truths of His Word rightly divided, they gravitate to “places of worship” where they hear feel-good catchphrases, motivational speeches, and entertaining music concerts. Whether they know it or not, they have no time for the one true God. Satan, the god of this world, has distracted them. God is not mocked. Their spurning of Him is not going unnoticed! How urgent it is that they come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and embrace His pure Word to them, lest they see the King in His wrath!

333’s 2600th – To See God’s Truth

Friday, July 13, 2018

“Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:4,5 KJV).

Dear friends, if you can believe it, God’s grace has brought us to devotional #2600!

King David, representative of Israel’s Little Flock suffering through the (future even from us) reign of cruel Antichrist, penned today’s Scripture with the hope that the LORD God will deliver Israel “out of all his troubles” (verse 22). There is much confusion, great fear, and unspeakable pain, but the believing Jew continues holding to the Word of God. In those dark, precarious days, Psalm 119:105 is a beacon of hope: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Satan’s policy of evil involves hiding God’s truth from man—both saved and lost. Second Corinthians 4:1-4: “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 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.” May we be on guard not to be deceived!

During these past 2,600 days, we have hoped and prayed that our daily Bible studies—dispensationally delivered—have been received with grateful and (most importantly) believing hearts. How eternally thankful we should be to have not only had the privilege of meeting here, but also learning here all about God’s purpose and plan for man (us!). We have yet to see the Holy Scriptures as we need to see them. Therefore, we will continue on our journey studying God’s Word “rightly divided” (2 Timothy 2:15). Today’s Scripture should be our cry to Father God. Onward now, by God’s grace, to #2700! 🙂

Our two latest Bible Q&As: “Who are the ‘three shepherds’ of Zechariah 11:8?” and ‎“Who is the wounded man of Zechariah 13:6?”

Convert a Soul, Not the World!

Thursday, July 12, 2018

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1 KJV).

Are we called to convert the world? Nay! We are called to convert souls out of the world!

Recently, a Christian friend and fellow American told me he thinks “we have lost our nation.” My reply to that depressed brother was simple: “We [Christians] have never been called to turn our culture around. It must come to an end at some point anyway. Jesus Christ will straighten it all out at His Second Coming!” He thereby recalled today’s Scripture.

Indeed, brethren, we have never been called to turn around or destroy this evil world system. God’s purpose in the Gospel is to “deliver us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) rather than we fixing it. So many believers are discouraged because they see conditions worsening. Had they known their Bibles, they would not be surprised. God said it would happen!!

Today’s Scripture foretells “perilous” (dangerous) times. God the Holy Spirit continues: “[12] Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. [13] But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse [not better and better!!], deceiving, and being deceived. [14] But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;….” Yes, the world is out of control, but that is to be expected. In the midst of such evil, we should continue in God’s Word rightly divided!

Chapter 4 supplements: “[2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. [5] But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

Again, rather than growing angry at lost people, or becoming overwhelmed by fear and despair, we are to “preach the Word!” We are to convert a soul, not the world! 🙂

Liberated to Serve

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 KJV).

Today, as we in the United States celebrate the 242nd anniversary of our nation’s independence, we invite our Christian brethren worldwide to rejoice with us concerning our freedom in Jesus Christ.

When we proclaim Romans 6:14—“Ye are not under the law, but under grace”—people tend to assume “loose living.” Does “grace living” really mean we can now live any way we want? Lest anyone be misled in that regard, God the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write in the next verse, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid [May God never let that happen!]” (Romans 6:15). Grace living is not Law-keeping, but it certainly is not Law-breaking either.

God still cares how we live, albeit He is not operating the “weak and beggarly” system of “bondage” (Law) that He once did with Israel (Galatians 4:9). God proved to the entire world that since Israel could not keep His commandments perfectly, no other sons of Adam (the Gentiles) could either: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them [Israel] who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world [Gentiles] may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

We sinners cannot keep the Law. However, God in His grace provided us a way to escape that condemnation by sending Jesus Christ to offer Himself on Calvary’s cruel cross to pay for our sins. By simple faith in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the fully-satisfying payment for our sins, we can now be “made the righteousness of God in [Christ]” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can be delivered from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire) and the power of sin (flesh-walking).

Why are we Christians free? To selfishly live any way we want? NO! Today’s Scripture says we are liberated to now serve others, especially our Christian brethren, just as Jesus Christ selflessly served His Father and selflessly died on our behalf. That is grace living!!!!

Please see our 2011 Fourth of July Bible study “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” which can be watched here or read here.

A Small Moment Versus Everlasting #2

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:7,8 KJV).

The nation Israel is in terrible straits, but she also has a spectacular future!

While the fifth course of judgment is dreadful, it (looking into the future) is winding down. Jesus Christ returns to Earth to conclude its final seven years. Israel will be permanently restored to JEHOVAH God: He will marry her again, and marry her to her land again. He has not left her under His wrath indefinitely, oppressed of the Gentiles forever. It is “for a small moment” He has forsaken her, hidden His face from her. “In a little wrath” that is “for a moment,” He has punished her for her sins.

Now, with Christ’s Second Coming drawing closer, God will soon show Himself to Israel for the first time in millennia. He is approaching to “gather” her “with great mercies.” Wrath is passing; light is dawning. His face literally shines as He enters Earth’s atmosphere! They see Him! His people mourn that their ancestors crucified Him all those centuries ago! His enemies wail in fear—He is not happy! As He literally and physically stands in Israel’s land for the first time in 20 centuries, He shows her “everlasting kindness” and “mercy.” He is her “Redeemer,” having rescued her from sin, death, Hell, and Satan. Now, she will enjoy God’s goodness forever in His earthly kingdom, never again to be judged.

Isaiah chapter 49: “[24] Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? [25] But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. [26] And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”

A Small Moment Versus Everlasting #1

Monday, July 2, 2018

“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:7,8 KJV).

The nation Israel is in terrible straits, but she also has a spectacular future!

As per the Law Covenant (Leviticus 26:1-46; Deuteronomy 28:1-68), Israel’s obedience brought God’s blessing while disobedience occasioned curses. In today’s Scripture, she finds herself cursed. Unbelieving and rebellious (idolatrous), now God has chastised her with five courses of judgment. The fifth stage is operating. It began in centuries before Christ, it is currently suspended during our Dispensation of Grace, and (thus from our view) today’s Scripture is actually Israel yet future. In the seven-year Tribulation, Israel will be judged most terribly.

Today’s Scripture in context: “[5] For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. [6] For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. [7] For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. [8] In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.”

JEHOVAH God had married Israel, but she was unfaithful—“a whoring after other gods” (Judges 2:17; Judges 8:33; 1 Chronicles 5:25; Hosea 1:2; cf. Exodus 34:10-17). God divorced her (Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 4:1-9), evicting her from His Promised Land and giving her over to her Gentile enemies. Psalm 106:39-42: “[39] Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. [40] Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. [41] And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. [42] Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.”

Israel finds herself here in today’s Scripture….

The Work of the Ministry #6

Saturday, June 30, 2018

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11,12 KJV).

Ministry—what “work” it is!

Only one Man in ministry never had any trouble in dealing with the flesh. The God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, faithfully and tirelessly served Father God without fail. He said, “My meat [food] is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34). The Lord Jesus knew His purpose. Unlike so many Christians today, He did not aimlessly wander and wonder what Father God would have Him do in His life and ministry. He took the Old Testament Scriptures, found God’s words to and about His earthly ministry, and worked in accordance with them (Luke 4:16-21 cf. Isaiah 61:1-2; Matthew 8:16-17 cf. Isaiah 53:6; Matthew 12:15-21 cf. Isaiah 42:1-4; Mark 12:10-11 cf. Psalm 118:22-23; et al.).

“But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (verse 36). “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).

The night before His crucifixion, Christ prayed to the Holy Father: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me” (John 17:4,6,8). What work did Father God give His Son Jesus Christ? Heavenly Father wanted His Son to give (teach) His Word to His people. Jesus Christ did exactly that, “the work of the ministry!”

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is ‘shamefacedness?’”

The Work of the Ministry #3

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11,12 KJV).

Ministry—what “work” it is!

Long ago, a certain congregation was seeking a new pastor. A deacon asked a prospective preacher if he would let the Holy Spirit guide him in leading them, the irritated preacher replied, “I am here to retire!” He was not interested in “working” at their local church; rather, he wanted leisurely living. According to the Bible, this is not what Christians—especially church leaders—are called to pursue!

The Scriptures invite all Christians to be “workmen,” saints who are diligent in Bible study: “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). Paul instructed Timothy, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). When sending off His 12 Apostles to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Lord Jesus said of them, “the workman is worthy of his meat” (Matthew 10:10).

“This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work” (1 Timothy 3:1). “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them” (Acts 13:2). “And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled” (Acts 14:26).

“Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do” (1 Corinthians 16:10). “We then, as workers together with him [Jesus Christ], beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Christian living is about “work,” “the work of the ministry….”

Perfecting #6

Saturday, June 23, 2018

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11,12 KJV).

What does “perfecting” mean here?

Second Timothy 3:16-17 again: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” God the Holy Spirit not only inspired His Word, the Holy Bible, He also preserved it through history via a multiplicity of copies. As English-speaking people, His inspired and preserved Word for us is the King James Bible. Therein is everything we need to learn, that He may then do everything He wants to do in and through us members of the Church the Body of Christ.

Now, we look at the result of local churches “perfecting” (maturing, “throughly furnishing”) the saints, whether in Israel’s kingdom program (prophecy) or Paul’s mystery ministry (us). Again, this is all possible because of a completed Bible, a full revelation from God.

For the Body of Christ: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11). “Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:10).

For Israel’s Little Flock: “[The God of peace] Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:21). “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What if someone asks me a Bible question I cannot answer?”