The Nation Israel – Page 303 – 333 Words of Grace

The Awareness of a Temporary Earth

Monday, April 22, 2013

“And, Thou, O Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail” (Hebrews 1:10-12 KJV).

On this Earth Day, let us not confuse the creation with the Creator!

Today, people worldwide celebrate “environmental awareness.” According to the secular, naturalistic worldview, our planet and its sun could last many more billions of years. They claim that we have done so much damage to our planet—climate change, overpopulation, deforestation, pollution, et cetera—that we must change our attitude toward “mother earth” and change our lifestyles before we destroy her and civilization as we know it! You can sense the zeal in their message, can you not? While these people are sincere, they are wasting all of their time, energy, and resources on a temporary planet.

Let us be very clear that the Lord Jesus Christ placed man on the earth, especially the Garden of Eden, to “dress it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam was to take care of the Earth: he was God’s representative, God’s king, who had a divine commission to rule this planet for God’s glory (Genesis 1:26-28).

It was not long, however, before Satan distracted mankind from understanding God’s purpose for him. Adam began to focus on himself: like Satan, he began to “worship and serve the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Thus began man’s continual downward spiral into spiritual ignorance. He would continually worship himself, as we well know today.

Today’s Scripture reminds us that, because of sin, this creation will pass away. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, will live forever. Why worship that which is temporary? It makes no sense! The Lord Jesus Christ gave you life, not the pagan goddess “mother earth.” Environmental awareness? Indeed, be aware that our world is temporary, as God will one day create “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).

Good Riddance! #10

Thursday, April 18, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

Originally, mankind had the spiritual light of God’s Word. Once he fell into sin in Genesis chapter 3, his heart was darkened. When God gave up the unthankful and willfully ignorant Gentile nations in Genesis chapter 11, in chapter 12, He created a new group of people, Israel, through Abraham, who would accomplish His will in the earth (Adam’s original purpose before sin entered). For 2,000 years, as we Gentiles groped in spiritual darkness (Acts 14:16; Acts 26:17,18; Ephesians 2:11,12; Ephesians 4:17-19), Israel had God’s Word and God’s light (Romans 3:1,2; Romans 9:4,5). Alas, Israel too rejected that wisdom!

And so, we come to today, the Dispensation of the Grace of God, which has been operating for nearly 2,000 years. While Israel is temporarily blinded (Romans 11:25), God is forming the Church the Body of Christ, an agency of people who will do in the heavenly places in eternity future, what Israel will do in the earth in eternity future—rule for Jesus Christ’s glory.

As people who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, we are members of the Church the Body of Christ. When we teach God’s Holy Word and the principles found therein, we are actually publishing the original laws and social structure that existed before sin entered. We are not “bigoted” for opposing the sins of the world; actually, they are presumptuous for defending and engaging in activity that never belonged in creation in the first place!

The lost world wishes we members of the Body of Christ were not here—they want to tell us “good riddance” for being hindrances to “progress.” One day, when the Lord Jesus catches us away to be with Him in the heavenly places, as we leave this earth, we can say, “Good riddance!” to this evil world system! 🙂

Good Riddance! #9

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

Let us leap into the future and observe the world’s moral conditions during the Tribulation period: “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: neither repented they of their murders, not of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:20,21). Even as God’s wrath is being poured out on earth, mankind just defiantly and unapologetically continues its murdering, its stealing, its idolatry, its sexually-perverted activities, and its devil worship! (This will be the result of today’s “progress,” and believing Israel will confront such a depraved society during the Tribulation.)

As Jesus Christ Himself affirmed, the first person to die for having faith in the God of the Bible was Abel (Luke 11:50,51). Abel adamantly stood for the principles of the God of heaven and earth, and he died because of it. God commanded the blood sacrifice, and his brother Cain willfully ignored that instruction and brought his “alternate” belief and sacrifice. Even after Abel and he talked, Cain was still convinced that his religion was “just as good” as Abel’s, and that he would be right with God without doing it God’s way (sounds just like today’s “everyone will make it to heaven eventually” argument, huh?).

Cain hated God’s testimony that his brother the prophet Abel uttered. Just as lost people execute Christians and silence God’s messengers today (and they will do it in the Tribulation), it all goes back to the first brother of the human race who got rid of his godly sibling who stood up for God’s Word….

Good Riddance! #8

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

While today’s Scripture is not written directly to us members of the Church the Body of Christ in the Dispensation of Grace, what John wrote is just as applicable to us as it is to his audience, Israel’s believing remnant during the seven-year Tribulation (which is still future). Regardless of the dispensation, lost people always hate God’s people.

Just as Abel withstood Cain’s unbelief by rejecting his “form of worship,” Israel’s believing remnant will refuse the antichrist’s “form of worship” (the religion in which apostate Israel will participate in the Tribulation). Both Abel and Israel’s little flock are persecuted for obeying God’s Word, and both are executed for believing God’s Word.

Moreover, this has been true for many members of the Church the Body of Christ. Currently, Jesus Christ is sitting at the Father’s in heaven’s glory (Colossians 3:1); nevertheless, Jesus Christ is here on earth in the form of us Christians. Just as Jesus Christ resurrected and ascended back into heaven as a hated exile, the lost world also wants to get rid of us! They cannot harm Him, but they can (and do) attack His people, the Church the Body of Christ.

Ever since Adam and mankind’s fall in Genesis chapter 3, man has become dumber and dumber spiritually: “when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). The result? Read verses 22-32, which mention, among other things, homosexuality, fornication, envy, murder, deceit, haters of God, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, those without natural affection [abortion, for instance!], unmerciful, “[who] not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (verse 32). We just outlined the social “progress” in “progress” today, and like Abel and believing Israel, we receive flak for opposing it….

Good Riddance! #6

Sunday, April 14, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

Satan is God’s enemy (Satan is Hebrew for “adversary”); hence, Satan’s children hate and oppose God’s children. Recall Jesus’ rebuke of Israel’s unbelieving religious leaders, Satan’s counterfeit Jews: “If God were your Father, ye would love me…. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning [referring to Cain killing Abel], 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” (John 8:42,44).

The conflict between lost people and Christians is actually the visible manifestation of the invisible spiritual battle that Satan’s lie program is waging against God’s truth. Unbelievers have slaughtered millions of God’s people throughout the ages. Even today, Christians worldwide are imprisoned, tortured, and slain for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth. (Fret not, for He knows the names of all, and His righteous judgment will be expressed in due time!)

In the context of today’s Scripture, John is comforting his believing Jewish audience who will experience the seven-year Tribulation. He instructs these Jewish Christians to neither be startled nor distressed when the apostate Jews embrace the antichrist and shun and persecute them for rejecting him as false (cf. Matthew 10:16-42). As satanic Cain hated and slew godly Abel (1 John 3:11,12), so unbelieving Israel will despise and betray the believing Jews, the Israel of God. John consoles them to be strong by faith in Jesus Christ, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

The satanic opposition that Abel faced and that Israel’s believing remnant will face, is what we Christians face today….

Good Riddance! #5

Saturday, April 13, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

The context of today’s Scripture uses the historical narrative of Cain and Abel to reinforce the doctrine the Holy Spirit is communicating through the Apostle John: “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:11-13).

John, writing to believing Jews who will live after our Dispensation of Grace—that is, who will live during the seven-year Tribulation—uses material the Bible already taught to further educate them. We can gain two main points from this passage.

Firstly, John reminds them of the kingdom doctrine Jesus Christ uttered to His little flock (believing Israel) during His earthly ministry: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). These Jewish believers are to love one another, just as Jesus Christ loved them (contrast this with today’s Scripture).

Secondly, John reminds believing Israel that just as unbelieving, disobedient Cain murdered his brother, Abel, the man of faith and God’s prophet, so her unbelieving brethren (that is, apostate Israel) will seek to persecute and kill her. Remember, Jesus Christ warned “a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:32-42). Speaking of the Tribulation, Jesus predicted His Jewish followers would not only be hated by the unbelieving Gentiles, but also by unbelieving Israel (who are all following Satan’s evil world system and the antichrist’s apostate religious system).

John, in today’s Scripture, reminds his audience suffering in the Tribulation, that Satan’s world system and its members have always hated the Lord Jesus Christ’s people. They should not be shocked, nor should they lose heart….

Good Riddance! #2

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

Beloved, detrimental cultural shifts are occurring, especially since the last few years. Even here in the “Christian” United States, the Bible’s principles are being increasingly ignored. Our world has always been sinful, but here is the problem: the generations who grew up hearing at least some of God’s Word, are passing off the scene, and generations who know even less—almost nothing (!)—from the Holy Bible, are being born and reaching adulthood. Today’s youth are frightfully ignorant of Scripture, but this is nothing new in Scripture.

“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). With Joshua’s generation (people of faith who saw God’s miracles in Egypt and the wilderness) now passed away, Israel’s new generation had only one way to go spiritually—south! The rest of the book of Judges documents their downward spiral into apostasy for the next 300 years: Israel just drifted further and further away from JEHOVAH, until His wrath finally fell upon them and they were deported out of the Promised Land via the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.

Has our world learned nothing from Scripture?! God will not tolerate sin forever; the wrath that Israel felt, is not being poured out on us because we live in the Dispensation of Grace. Jesus Christ is so longsuffering, but He is also holy and righteous, and sin will be punished eventually—either at Calvary’s cross (for believers), or hell and the lake of fire (for lost people). The world hates Christians (today’s Scripture) because the world hates Jesus Christ! The lost world does not like the message we preach, for we stand in way of “progress”… this is why they want to bid us “good riddance…!”

Good Riddance! #1

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

Our Lord Jesus Christ was certainly unpopular with the religious and political leaders of His day because they dared not submit to Him, the God of creation, and His righteousness. They hated His message, so they attempted to get rid of Him any chance they got. Ultimately, they were quite pleased to have Him hanging on Calvary’s cross and slowly dying, during which time they mocked Him, laughed at Him, and reviled Him!

Just hours before that crucifixion, Jesus reminded His Jewish followers: “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me” (John 16:1,2). Ironically, the Jews, only about half a day later, would kill Jesus because they believed He was an imposter, and they believed their JEHOVAH God would want Him to be put to death. Imagine their horror when He resurrected and started preaching again!

The Apostle Paul was called a “pestilent fellow” (Acts 24:5)—he was not just annoying to the hell-bound pagans to whom he preached, but he was also a “mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” Paul’s lost critics could not figure him out: he was a former Jewish religious leader who had hated Jesus Christ, and yet, for the past 25 years, he has constantly preached against Israel for killing her Messiah (Jesus), and unbelieving Israel had attempted to get rid of him for years! (For instance, read about the Jews fatally stoning Paul years earlier in Acts 14:19,20.) Regardless of who he was, he had to go, too!

We should not be surprised to experience the lost world treating us the same way….

A Vegetable Garden Worth Defending

Monday, April 8, 2013

“And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory” (2 Samuel 23:11,12 KJV).

Why did Shammah passionately fight for such seemingly insignificant real estate?

The Bible says very little about this Sammah, but here is the description that God’s Word gives him. Firstly, he was one of King David’s “mighty men,” a brave man of war who served David (verses 8-39). Secondly, he engaged in a battle that, to us, seems ridiculous, but to Israel, was highly significant.

In today’s Scripture, we read of one of Israel’s many battles with the Philistines, a group of Gentiles who lived in the land of Canaan along the southeastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines have gathered together where there is “a piece of ground full of lentiles.” A lentil is a bean plant that is grown for its seeds. In other words, the Philistine soldiers are standing near a vegetable garden, and Israel has fled in fear!

Shammah, however, literally stood his ground. He defended that “pea patch,” and killed these Philistine soldiers. Again, we ask, why would this mighty man of David passionately fight for a bean plant garden?

We find the answer back in Genesis 15:18, what we call the Palestinian Covenant: “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” Circa 2100–2000 B.C., the God of heaven and earth gave the title deed of the Promised Land—much of the Middle East—to Abraham (later, to Abraham’s son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob).

Even if it was a simple garden of beans, Shammah was willing to die for that holy land God had given his people—he was not about to let pagan Philistines have it! (Interestingly, the names “Palestine” and “Philistine” are etymologically related.)

Christ Liveth in Me

Sunday, March 31, 2013

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

“He is risen” is not a simple blasé cliché!

When Jesus’ disciples came to His tomb on that glorious Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago, they were startled to find it empty! Angels inform them that He has resurrected, but they are still in shock (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8). Jesus Christ Himself must later explain the Scriptures to them regarding what happened those last few days (Luke 24:44-46).

However, until Paul’s ministry, Christ’s finished crosswork is not preached as good news for salvation. Peter and Israel’s other apostles simply preach that Jesus Christ is now resurrected to “sit on [David’s] throne” (Acts 2:30)—that is bad news for much of Israel, for they still reject Him, weeks and months after His resurrection and ascension. Throughout early Acts, Israel’s apostles warn her that Jesus Christ is coming back to judge them.

When we come to the Apostle Paul’s ministry, we learn that we Gentiles can benefit from Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork. Israel’s rejected Messiah is now our way to heaven! Yes, Israel hated Him, and demanded that He experience the most awful method of execution devised, but God allowed it in order to accomplish His will. Satan attempted to hinder God’s will by having Christ killed, but all that did was provide the method whereby God could save us pagan Gentiles. Calvary’s finished crosswork frees us from Satan’s evil system and gives us a chance to be God’s people (Acts 26:17,18)!

As people who have trusted Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for our sins, that crucifixion is our death to self and sin, and that resurrection is our raising to walk in newness of life—His life (today’s Scripture; cf. Romans 6:1-11)!

Indeed, Jesus Christ is alive, and He lives in and through those who walk by faith in God’s Word to them, Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon! 🙂

HAPPY EASTER!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study by the same name. That (2012) study can be read here or watched here.

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