Category: Second Coming of Christ

The Counsel of the LORD Shall Stand

Monday, November 12, 2012

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” (Proverbs 19:21 KJV).

No matter what mankind has done, is doing, or will do, God’s “eternal purpose” will still be accomplished.

Christians disturbed by the results of the recent United States’ presidential election, are voicing their concerns. Some fear God’s impending judgment, while others believe those election results were “God’s decision.” “What saith the scriptures?”

Did God really foreordain the president-elect from eternity past, as claimed? We think not. American voters went to the poll. God gave voters the ability to choose who they wanted, and they did. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that God chose our leaders today. God has merely “ordained” the offices and authority (“powers”) of government, not the people occupying and exercising them (Romans 13:1,2).

Will God judge America for its wickedness? Of course, according to Romans 2:6-11, but not in this the Dispensation of Grace. Today, God is extending to us through Christ’s finished crosswork His grace, His mercy, His love, and His kindness. God is not imputing the world’s trespasses unto it (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)… yet.

For the last 6,000 years, God has let mankind “do his own thing.” Mankind has devised his own way of life, his own beliefs, and his own rules (just as today’s Scripture declares). But, there is pleasure in sin only for a season (Hebrews 11:25b). This current arrangement of autonomous man ruling earth will persist only until Jesus Christ returns at His Second Coming to restore earth’s governments unto Himself (Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19:11-16).

“The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought [nothing]: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect” (Psalm 33:10).

What has God planned from eternity past, despite what mankind “devises” he will do? God is determined to glorify His Son, Jesus Christ, in two realms, heaven and earth (Ephesians 1:9,10), using two agencies, the Church the Body of Christ, and the nation Israel, respectively (Colossians 1:16-20). When our dispensation closes, God will begin to execute that plan. That is the “counsel of the LORD,” and that shall stand! 🙂

My Kingdom is Not of This World? #5

Thursday, September 27, 2012

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36 KJV).

What did Jesus mean when He spoke today’s Scripture?

“Iniquity”—a selfish, rebellious, anti-God attitude—existed first in Lucifer/Satan (Ezekiel 28:15), who is now “the god [ruler] of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Hence, the world’s governments abound with injustice and iniquity (“not equal;” that is, “not fair”). “[T]he mystery of iniquity doth already work” (2 Thessalonians 2:7), whose context describes the seven-year Tribulation, when the antichrist will epitomize this world’s blasphemous political system by claiming to be and exalting himself as God (Daniel 8:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4), just as Lucifer did in Isaiah 14:14.

Daniel 2:31-45 is King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and God’s interpretation as spoken through the prophet Daniel. Essentially, Nebuchadnezzar saw a giant image, symbolizing major Gentile world empires (most of which were future from his time). Nebuchadnezzar then saw a “stone cut out without hands” demolish this image, which stone “became a mountain [kingdom], and filled the whole earth” (verses 34,35).

This stone is “cut out without hands,” meaning it is not of human origin: it is “not of this world” (this is what Jesus meant in today’s Scripture). This stone is Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:6-8) at His Second Coming to set up His glorious kingdom on earth, a kingdom established by “the God of heaven” (Daniel 2:44), one not founded by “the god of this world,” Satan, nor influenced by his autonomous spirit.

Try as we might, political reform is impossible in this world. Though politicians can and are replaced, the underlying corrupt political system (described earlier) remains the same. Political reformation is only possible if the existing satanically inspired world system is replaced with God’s, and none of us mortal humans can achieve this. In God’s own time (Christ’s Second Coming), He will abolish Satan’s evil world system that has dominated earth for 6,000 years, and replace it with His righteous world system.

Indeed, Christ’s kingdom is “not of this world!”

My Kingdom is Not of This World? #4

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36 KJV).

What did Jesus mean when He spoke today’s Scripture?

In the context of today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ, just hours before His crucifixion, is standing before Judaean governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate asks Jesus, “Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?” Today’s Scripture is Jesus’ response.

Pilate asked Jesus how His own nation, Israel, and its chief priests could deliver Him to the Roman government to be sentenced to death. Our Lord’s reply was simple: (sinful, unbelieving) Israel rejected Him as their Messiah-King because He was righteous. They did not want God ruling over them, as the psalmist prophesied: “The kings of the earth [Roman rulers] set themselves, and the rulers [of Israel] take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed [Messiah/Christ], saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:2,3; cf. Acts 4:25-28).

Interestingly, our Lord said, “but now is my kingdom not from hence.” His kingdom would be established on earth, just not “now,” not during His First Coming. As He knew, He could not reign as King until after He had gone to Calvary’s cross and died for man’s sins (Luke 17:24,25). In addition, the institution of our 2,000-year-long Dispensation of Grace has further delayed Christ’s reign on earth.

Upon Christ’s Second Coming, to conclude the seven-year Tribulation, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit during the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1-3). Satan’s evil world system, and all its governments, will be demolished when Christ establishes His earthly kingdom (see Daniel 2:31-45). “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (verse 44).

My Kingdom is Not of This World? #2

Monday, September 24, 2012

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36 KJV).

What did Jesus mean when He spoke today’s Scripture?

Today’s Scripture is often misconstrued to deny a literal, physical, visible reign of Christ on earth. Because Jesus Christ is not literally, physically, and visibly ruling on earth today, it is assumed the kingdom spoken of in the Old Testament and Four Gospels was an invisible, spiritual kingdom. This belief is without merit.

The apostles inquired in Acts 1:6: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” What type of kingdom did Israel have? A literal, physical, visible kingdom! The apostles are asking if Christ at that time would “restore again” Israel to her glorious kingdom days, especially those of Kings David and Solomon. They were obviously speaking of a literal, physical, visible kingdom.

In the book of the Revelation, which is still unfulfilled, we read of voices in heaven saying: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (11:15). (Here is when Luke 1:33 will be fulfilled.) What kingdoms exist in the world? Invisible, spiritual kingdoms? No, they are literal, physical, visible kingdoms, and, at His Second Coming, Jesus Christ will reign over them all. “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).

When Jesus Christ, in today’s Scripture, admitted His kingdom was “not of this world,” He was not implying that it was spiritual and/or invisible. Actually, He meant that His kingdom is separate and distinct from the system upon which the world’s governments of Pilate’s time (and even those of today) are built. It will be a kingdom that God Himself, not some mortal man, will establish and administrate, a glorious monarchy in which God’s will shall always be accomplished on earth.

My Kingdom is Not of This World? #1

Sunday, September 23, 2012

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36 KJV).

What did Jesus mean when He spoke today’s Scripture?

Within Christendom, there is a strange doctrine that, because Jesus Christ’s kingdom has never been established literally, visibly, and physically on earth, it must have been a “spiritual kingdom,” an invisible kingdom “in the hearts of men.” Today’s Scripture is often twisted to promote this warped theology. Such nonsense is the result of a failure to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), a negligence to understand and believe the Bible dispensationally.

“JESUS… shall reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33). Did this ever happen? No. Jesus Christ came to earth and left 2,000 years ago as Israel’s rejected King: He never did rule Israel, for Israel declared in John 19:15: “We have no king but Caesar!” So, how can Luke 1:33 say Jesus Christ will rule Israel “for ever?”

Dispensational Bible study relieves us of confusion and consternation. Luke 1:33 is to be taken literally, but it is to be believed dispensationally. Israel’s prophetic (kingdom) program, the program to which Luke 1:33 belongs, is currently suspended. God is not restoring the earth’s governments today. Instead, He is forming the Church the Body of Christ, a heavenly people whom He will use to restore the heavenly governments in the ages to come (see Colossians 1:16-20).

While our Dispensation of Grace is operating, Israel’s kingdom program is delayed. Once our dispensation ends (at the rapture), then God will resume Israel’s program and Christ will return at His Second Coming to fulfill Luke 1:33 (establishing His literal, physical, visible earthly kingdom).

Returning to today’s Scripture, what then did Jesus mean there? His kingdom is a literal, physical, visible kingdom, so how is it “not of this world?” We will study the Scriptures for the answer.

A Perpetual Marriage

Friday, September 21, 2012

“And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD” (Hosea 2:19,20 KJV).

The nation Israel is engaged to the LORD, but the wedding is postponed….

In the context of today’s Scripture, the LORD is sending the prophet Hosea, who preached circa 785–725 B.C., to warn Israel of His impending judgment. “For [Israel] hath committed great whoredom, in departing from the LORD” (Hosea 1:2). Pagan idol worship abounds in Israel, and it has for centuries. Spiritually, Israel is “playing the harlot” (Hosea 2:5): she was the LORD’s wife, but now she is an adulterous wife by worshipping other gods.

God’s wrath came on apostate Israel! Eventually, the Assyrians captured and deported Israel’s ten northern tribes (722 B.C.), and the Babylonians captured and deported Israel’s two southern tribes (606–586 B.C.). From the time of these deportations to our present-day, the Jews are scattered worldwide, still waiting for their Messiah to come the first time and rescue them (sadly, they are blinded, unaware that their Messiah, Jesus, came 2,000 years ago).

But today’s Scripture is a gleam of hope for Israel: after God would judge her, He would restore her to Himself (Christ’s Second Coming to establish Israel’s kingdom). After our Dispensation of Grace ends (rapture), God will return to dealing with Israel, and she will be saved (Romans 11:25-29; cf. Hosea 2:23). Peter writes to future Israel: “which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God…” (1 Peter 2:10). Had God not interrupted Israel’s program with our dispensation, Israel would already be married to the LORD!

Israel was unfaithful to God, but never has God been unfaithful to Israel. At Christ’s Second Coming, He will fulfill His promise (today’s Scripture) to Israel. Via the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-13), Israel will be rejoined to the LORD, forgiven of all her sins. She will be married to the LORD forever, living with Him in her Promised Land forever (Isaiah chapters 61 and 62). Wow!

The Great LORD God #2

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

“Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Samuel 7:22 KJV).

As King David of old praised his LORD God, so do we!

The prophet Nathan has just relayed God’s Word to King David, the Davidic Covenant (verses 12-16), God’s promise to make one of David’s descendants an everlasting King of Israel. Today’s Scripture is a portion of a prayer that David offers to the LORD, thanking and praising Him for what He has done for him and Israel thus far, and what He will do for them in the future (verses 18-29).

David, once a lowly shepherd boy (1 Samuel 16:11), is now the mighty king of Israel. Moreover, his “house” (royal lineage) will transcend the eons of eternity: Jesus Christ, David’s descendant, will establish His earthly kingdom at His Second Coming, and He will reign over Israel forever (Luke 1:31-33).

Israel, once a group of about 75 people (Exodus 1:5), left Egypt being at least two million strong: when viewed from a distance, the Jews “covered the face of the earth [horizon]” (Numbers 22:5)! In David’s day, about 500 years after departing Egypt, they have multiplied even further.

Notice the verse following today’s Scripture: “And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?” (verse 23).

Moses told Israel: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people” (Deuteronomy 7:6,7).

Lowly David, weak Israel, made mighty by the great LORD God.

The Detail of the World’s Chief-of-State #2

Friday, August 3, 2012

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53 KJV).

At His First Advent, Jesus Christ did not fight back, nor did the angels rescue Him from enduring Calvary’s cross. Now, at His Second Coming, the World’s Chief of State returns to earth…. with the angelic armies!

In hindsight, we understand that the Old Testament spoke of two comings of Christ, as 1 Peter 1:11 delineates: “the sufferings of Christ” (His First Coming in meekness to die) and “the glory that should follow” (His Second Coming in wrath to reign). Jesus Christ, had He asked His heavenly Father, would have been rescued by tens of thousands of angels (today’s Scripture). Nevertheless, He permitted His arrest, and crucifixion on Calvary, because the Old Testament prophecies regarding His suffering had to be fulfilled first. Now, the prophecies concerning His majestic return to earth to reign are awaiting fulfillment (see Zechariah 14:1-21).

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels…” (Psalm 68:17; Psalm 68 deals much with Christ’s Second Coming in wrath). “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels…” (Matthew 16:27a). “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31). “And the armies which were in heaven followed him [Jesus Christ] upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14).

The prophet Enoch lived over 5,000 years ago (Genesis 5:18-24), but we only read of the (interesting) message he preached, in Jude 14,15: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these [the wicked], saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints [“holy” angels], to execute judgment upon all, and to convince them that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against.”

Rest assured, those angels mentioned in today’s Scripture will come and fight!

No More Sacrifice for Sins?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,…” (Hebrews 10:26 KJV).

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (verse 25) is often quoted as applicable today, but many stumble over the next verse (today’s Scripture). Exactly what does today’s Scripture mean?

We are eternally secure in Jesus Christ if we have trusted Him alone as our personal Saviour (Ephesians 4:30; 2 Timothy 1:12). Yet, critics of our “once saved, always saved” position usually quote today’s Scripture to contend that we can lose our salvation. Is this a “Bible contradiction?”

Failing to approach the Bible dispensationally only causes doctrinal chaos. This is especially true of the book of Hebrews. The title—Hebrews—indicates the nation Israel is the audience, not us Gentiles in the Dispensation of Grace. Also, Hebrews addresses the time period after our dispensation (that is, the seven-year Tribulation and Second Coming of Christ).

The verses following today’s Scripture explain: “But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:27-29).

Previous verses (1-24) discuss how Jesus Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on Calvary’s cross has abolished Israel’s Old Testament animal sacrifices commanded in “Moses’ law.” If a Jew living in the seven-year Tribulation will “sin wilfully”—that is, will return to offering those animal sacrifices (which ceremonies the antichrist will re-establish and then abolish during that time [Daniel 9:27])—this Jew cannot be saved because he has blasphemously rejected Jesus Christ’s blood and he will literally be participating in Satan worship (the antichrist’s religion). Only God’s “judgment,” “fiery indignation” (fire at the Second Coming of Christ, and eternal hellfire), awaits those wicked Jews, God’s “adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27,30,31; cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

Today’s Scripture does not involve us.

Israel’s Three Prophetic Baptisms #8

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” (Matthew 3:11 KJV).

Let us review why Israel’s three prophetic baptisms do not apply to us:

  1. John’s water baptism: God the Father sent John the Baptist to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). John preaches to Israel, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [approaching, near]” (Matthew 3:2). John’s water baptism is to prepare Israel to become a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5,6; cf. 1 Peter 2:5,9), since Israel needs the Old Testament priests’ ceremonial washing. Jews who listen to John’s message and experience his water baptism form “the little flock,” the believing remnant of Israel that will inherit Christ’s earthly kingdom (Luke 12:32).
  2. The baptism with the Holy Ghost: On Pentecost (Acts chapter 2), Jesus Christ baptized that “little flock” (His apostles and disciples) with God’s Holy Spirit. This was to empower them to continue what He (Jesus Christ) had begun during His earthly ministry (that is, lead Israel to faith in Him as their Messiah-King; Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:8).
  3. The fire baptism: Jews who refused the two above baptisms would receive the fire baptism, God’s wrath. Unbelieving Jews would never enter Christ’s earthly kingdom. They would perish in the fire baptism (the Tribulation, Christ’s Second Coming, and eventually hellfire), as described in Matthew 24:36-42, Luke 17:26-37, and Revelation 19:11-21.

When we understand that the three “baptisms” in today’s Scripture are unique to Israel’s prophetic kingdom program spoken by the Old Testament prophets (Acts 3:21), and that we Gentiles in the Dispensation of Grace live in the mystery (secret) program which God hid from the Old Testament prophets (Romans 16:25), it becomes apparently clear that we are totally isolated from Israel’s baptisms. When we understand that Paul is our apostle (Romans 11:13), we follow his epistles Romans through Philemon, and faith does not lead us to practice Israel’s water baptism, seek Israel’s “Pentecostal power,” or fear Israel’s Tribulation.