Better is Little with the Fear of the LORD

Friday, March 9, 2012

“Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith” (Proverbs 15:16 KJV).

God’s Word uses the expression “better is little” twice, and both instances are found in the book of Proverbs. One is today’s Scripture; the other is Proverbs 16:8: “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.” Today’s materialistic world recommends: “Get all that you can in this life because you only live once.” While this appeals to our sinful flesh, it does not agree with God’s Word.

Wealthy people could not be saved during Christ’s earthly ministry because they preferred their wealth/“mammon” (Matthew 6:24; Matthew 13:22; Matthew 19:16-24; Mark 10:17-25; Luke 16:13; Luke 18:18-25). Thus, Jesus warned Israel (Mark 10:24): “Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” These Jews would have to endure the horrible seven-year Tribulation and they would lose their material possessions therein (cf. Matthew 6:24-34). Consequently, Jesus instructed His followers, “Sell that ye have, and give alms” (Luke 12:31-33; Luke 18:22). God would then deliver them from the Tribulation and usher them into their kingdom of prosperity and peace.

Our Apostle Paul writes to us in our dispensation: “And having food and raiment [clothing] let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows…. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;” (1 Timothy 6:6-10,17).

Being rich is not a sin, but when gaining material wealth and possessions becomes your priority, that is sin. As a Christian, your priority should be Jesus Christ (and His Word). “Better is little” with “the fear of the LORD” (being a Christian) than owning “uncertain riches” without God.

Where is Thy Confidence?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

“Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint” (Proverbs 25:19 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is straightforward: having confidence in an unfaithful person is like depending on a broken tooth or an out-of-joint foot. None of them art reliable and trustworthy. Where is thy confidence regarding the following?

  • CONFIDENCE IN THE RIGHT GOD: Is thy confidence in the God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ, or art thou trusting in wooden and stone idols? Art thou confident in thy ability to perform, wrongly assuming that thou art thy “own god?” Idols of wood and stone canst do nothing for thou—they cannot hear, see, speak, or breathe (Psalm 135:15-18). Trust not in thyself either (2 Corinthians 1:9). The God of the Bible, He alone is the “living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9)—everyone and everything else shall fail thee. Is thy faith in Christ Jesus alone? I hope so. Trust in Jesus Christ alone—anything else is a broken tooth and an out-of-joint foot.
  • CONFIDENCE IN THE RIGHT BIBLE: Is thy confidence in the King James Bible, God’s perfectly preserved Word for us English-speaking people, a Book that thou canst trust completely? Or, doth thou use a modern English Bible, one that shall fail and disappoint thee because it hath contradictions, deletions, historical errors, and theological blunders? In 2 Thessalonians 2:2, these believers had faith in a false “bible,” one that troubled their minds and caused them great spiritual harm. The King James Bible alone is God’s Word in English—anything else is a broken tooth and an out-of-joint foot.
  • CONFIDENCE IN THE RIGHT GOSPEL: Hast thou complete confidence in Paul’s Gospel—how that Christ died for thy sins, He was buried, and He was raised again for thy justification (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)—as thy only way to salvation? False gospels, including other “gospels” in the Bible, cannot save thee from thy sins. Only the Gospel of the Grace of God can save thee in this the Dispensation of Grace—anything else is a broken tooth and an out-of-joint foot.

We Do Not Want to Be Different Anymore!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:4,5 KJV).

In the context of today’s Scripture, for the past 500 years, Moses, Joshua, and several judges (rulers) have led Israel (Acts 13:17-20). Here, Samuel, Israel’s prophet-judge, is old and his sons are too wicked to lead the nation in God’s ways (1 Samuel 8:1-3). Furthermore, Israel is tired of being different. Sadly, they want a king so they can be like “all the nations.”

Read the two verses following today’s Scripture: “But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (verses 6,7). S-A-D!

Israel is tired of being God’s “peculiar” (unique; Exodus 19:5) people! They want to be like everyone else (pagans!). By rejecting God’s prophet Samuel, Israel is rejecting God. God instructed Samuel to “protest solemnly” with Israel (verse 9). So, Samuel fervently complained to Israel regarding the disadvantages of a monarchy (1 Samuel 8:10-18). “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations” (verses 19,20). Amazingly, God foretold their cry for a king in Deuteronomy 17:14… 500 years earlier!

After everything God did for them, ungrateful, sinful Israel argues with Him and rejects Him. Yet, how many today share Israel’s attitude? Despite everything that God did for them at Calvary, they reject Him. Or, think of the Christians, who are tired of being outcasts—like Israel, some compromise with the world to “fit in.” Thankfully, as God in His grace tolerated Israel, so He tolerates us when “we do not want to be different anymore!”

When Christ Returns

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things…” (Acts 3:19-21 KJV).

The perfect planet that existed prior to man’s rebellion and fall has been absent for 6,000 years now. According to the Bible, “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin” (Romans 5:12). It was in Genesis 3:16-19 that the LORD placed a curse on creation, “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21). Consequently, we have sickness and death, thorns and thistles, and women have birth pangs. That is only until Christ returns….

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Peter tells Israel that Jesus Christ will return one day to earth to set up His earthly kingdom (“the times of refreshing” and “the times of restitution of all things”). He will also restore and forgive Israel. After Christ’s Second Coming, the curse of sin will be lifted from creation and Earth will revert back to the conditions of the Garden of Eden! Isaiah 51:3 says: “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”

Ezekiel 36:33-36 also describes Israel’s barren land restored: “This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited” (verse 35). Isaiah 11:1-10 describes Christ’s earthly kingdom. There will be no carnivorous or venomous animals—children will not be harmed by snakes, wolves will dwell peacefully with lambs, and leopards will coexist calmly with baby goats. Wow!

For now, the human, plant, and animal kingdoms will continue to suffer—sickness, heartache, and ultimately physical death. But, this is not permanent. Creation will be restored to its original glory, and finally delivered from the curse of sin… when Christ returns….

Avoid Them

Monday, March 5, 2012

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17,18 KJV).

When a believer in Christ Jesus comes to understand dispensational Bible study—that is, Pauline dispensationalism—he or she comes to a crossroads in the Christian life. They struggle between two choices: Do I continue attending my local denominational church, where my friends and family go? OR Do I find and attend a local grace church where sound doctrine (right division) is taught? For some time, my family and I struggled with that issue. What would God have us to do?

What makes this situation most difficult is that a local grace church is hard-to-find (my “local” grace church is over an hour’s drive away!). There are scores of denominational churches that are much closer to my house, but I would rather an hour-long drive to hear God’s truth (the King James Bible rightly divided) than drive five minutes and hear Satan’s error (denominationalism, church tradition, human viewpoint, et cetera).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul gives the Roman believers a strong admonition: the teachers and preachers who depart from or ignore the doctrine that the ascended Lord Jesus Christ committed unto Paul’s trust (Romans through Philemon) are to be “marked” (identified, singled out) and they are to be avoided. We should only attend a local church where sound, King James Bible Pauline dispensationalism is believed, preached, and taught. Paul wrote, “If any man thinketh himself to a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37).

Paul is our apostle (Romans 11:13); we find our doctrine, duty, walk and destiny for this the Dispensation of Grace in Paul’s epistles alone. Those who do not teach the Bible rightly divided teach religious tradition, and they “serve not our Lord Jesus Christ.” Beloved, the Bible says avoid them (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 1 Timothy 6:3-5).

*Adapted from a larger Bible study titled “Be Ye Separate.” The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

God’s Workmanship #3

Sunday, March 4, 2012

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV).

The Bible presents God as the Poet; we Christians are but His poem. He is the Mastermind; we are merely His design. God has the power; we are just His vessels. Our will and our works have not the preeminence; God’s will and God’s achievements do. The Creator of the universe is doing something excellent; the creatures’ work, our work, pale in comparison. What God did for us is foremost (grace), not what we do for Him (religion). This is God’s grace, and we are His workmanship.

Religion is not the work of God; it emphasizes man’s performance to make himself acceptable to God. Christianity is God’s workmanship, for it stresses how God can use mere frames of dust (us) for His glory (see today’s Scripture). Those of us who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, God is using us to make a “new man,” a “new creature,” the Church the Body of Christ, an entity He will use in heaven forever (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:13-17); this is something that God, not us, does. God is building us—a temple, a house for Himself (1 Corinthians 3:16,17; Ephesians 2:18-22). We are “God’s husbandry, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Currently, God is preparing us Christians for eternity. We have His preserved and inerrant Word, the King James Bible, to learn and grow in His knowledge. The more sound doctrine we study and believe in the rightly divided Bible, the more equipped we are to function here and in eternity (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). In the ages to come, God will use us to restore the government of the heavens unto Himself (Ephesians 2:6,7; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1; Colossians 1:16-22).

God saved us to use us for all of eternity future, to do His good work in us now on earth, and to do His good work in us forever in heaven. Verily, verily, we are God’s workmanship… forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever! 🙂

God’s Workmanship #2

Saturday, March 3, 2012

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV).

When we Pauline dispensationalists proclaim God’s grace, are we really encouraging people to pursue careless, frivolous lifestyles, as our (legalistic) critics claim? God forbid!

Religion deceives billions through indoctrination: to wit, lies repeated long enough are accepted as truth. Works-religion (legalism) prevails in the professing church today: “Perform so God can save you!” Thus, the average church member, upon hearing the Biblical truth, “God will save you, regardless of your works,” they mistake this as careless living. They are programmed to accept error as truth; consequently, they reject contradictory information (God’s truth!).

When we Pauline dispensationalists declare, “Salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing,” we mean salvation is COMPLETELY independent of our performance (Romans 3:28; Romans 4:1-5; Galatians 2:21; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; et al.). Grace saves us solely because of the merits of Jesus Christ at Calvary; grace does not save us on the basis of our good works—grace is unmerited favor (Romans 11:6).

Grace is what God can do for us because we sinners can do nothing for God. The Greek word translated “workmanship” in today’s Scripture is poiema, meaning “creation,” from which we get “poem.” Interestingly, poiema is used one other time in Scripture: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

From salvation and the Christian life to the origin of the universe, the emphasis is not on the creation—(us, the heavens, and the earth), but on the Creator, Jesus Christ (see Romans 1:25). The focus is not on the poem (workmanship), but rather the POET (Creator)!

God the Holy Spirit is doing something amazing in us believers. He is transforming us from the inside out for His glory. “Our” good works are God’s sound doctrine working in us. It is God’s work (1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 5:16-26; Philippians 1:9-11). Indeed, we are God’s workmanship!

God’s Workmanship #1

Friday, March 2, 2012

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV).

Many charge us Pauline dispensationalists with the following: “You are telling people to sin all they want because God’s grace and forgiveness cover it!” When we proclaim God’s grace, are we really encouraging people to pursue careless, frivolous lifestyles, as our (legalistic) critics claim? Or, are they simply misunderstanding grace?

The Greek word translated “workmanship” in today’s Scripture is poiema, meaning “creation,” from which we get “poem.” Interestingly, poiema is used one other time in Scripture: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

From salvation and the Christian life to the origin of the universe, the emphasis is not on the creation (us, the heavens, and the earth), but on the Creator, Jesus Christ (see Romans 1:25). Just as we did not engineer the heavens and the earth, neither did we work to receive salvation in Christ—Christ alone worked to save us. Now that God has saved us, His grace can permeate our inner man, and teach us how to live in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11-15).

Grace teaches us not to focus on what we do for God, for we sinners can do nothing to please God (Romans 3:23), but rather focus on what God did at Calvary for us. Our good works could not save us, so how could they keep us saved? They cannot! Thus, our receiving and keeping salvation, and our Christian lives, are not reliant upon our performance, but on Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary.

As today’s Scripture specifies, we are not doing good works. “Our” good works are actually the outward manifestation of what God the Holy Spirit is doing internally (Galatians 5:22,23; cf. Romans 8:1-14). When we study and believe sound Bible doctrine, God will use that doctrine to transform us from the inside out (Philippians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). We are God’s workmanship!

The LORD is On My Side #2

Thursday, March 1, 2012

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5,6 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is God’s Word to Israel’s believing remnant, who will suffer the wrath of Satan and the antichrist during the seven-year Tribulation. Despite the dire circumstances around them, God comforts His people Israel by reminding them of His faithfulness, that He will be with them as He was with their ancestors (Deuteronomy 31:6-8; Joshua 1:5; Psalm 118:6). But, Israel’s faithful God also happens to be our faithful God!

The vicissitudes of living in this “present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) can be very depressing. Our Apostle Paul endured depression in the ministry, especially after the pagan riot in Ephesus in Acts 19:22–20:1 (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11). But, Paul wrote, “we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7-11). Beloved, our flesh is too weak to endure, so we must rely on God’s strength if we are to get through this life!

Romans 8:31 asks, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” No matter what we face in this life, we have the victory through Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:57). The “peace of God [will] keep [guard] our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7). Rather than succumb to despair, we rejoice that “our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)! God’s grace is sufficient for us to endure all of life’s troubles (2 Corinthians 12:9,10; Philippians 4:13).

We join believing Israel in declaring, “The Lord is on my side! The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me!” Brethren, despite our persecution in this life, Israel’s faithful God is our faithful God and He is on our side too! 🙂

The LORD is On My Side #1

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5,6 KJV).

Although today’s Scripture is God’s Word to the nation Israel, we appreciate this doctrine and take comfort in it as its writer urged Israel to do.

Our human bodies are limited and frail; Satan’s evil world system is mighty. For centuries wicked men have imprisoned and killed Christians! As one would squeeze fruit to produce juice, so the daily struggles of life in this evil world continually batter us Christians, seemingly squeezing us until our strength is diminished and we are vanquished.

While Satan’s evil world system prevails today, it will manifest itself more fully once our Dispensation of Grace closes. It will become increasingly difficult for the nation Israel to exist once we (the Church the Body of Christ) are raptured from this earth. This horrible period following the rapture, the seven-year Tribulation, is the context of today’s Scripture.

Especially during the latter half of the Tribulation, God’s people (Israel’s believing remnant) will endure great oppression. The antichrist will persecute Israel (Matthew 10:16-33; cf. Revelation 13:10-17), even killing the Jews who disobey him by following Jesus Christ (Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 13:4-15).

In that time, the worst period of human history, God will comfort His people, Israel, using today’s Scripture: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” This is actually quoting Deuteronomy 31:6-8, when Moses encouraged Israel not to fear her enemies as they prepared to enter Canaan under Joshua’s leadership (cf. Joshua 1:5). Psalm 118:6 is also quoted: “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”

Brethren, despite our persecution in this life, Israel’s faithful God is our faithful God and He will never leave us either (Romans 8:31-39)!