Month: April 2015

A new creature!

/ grace country pastor / 1 Comment

2 Corinthians 5:17… “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

While to me, all of the King James Bible is stunning and amazing, this verse in 2 Corinthians stands out as one of the most remarkable because of what God in Christ has done for us at the moment of salvation; the moment we accept His gift of free grace.  Lets explore what this newly saved man has become in Christ, as these are the things he must learn in order to walk worthy of the ambassadorship wherein he has been called.

First of all the saved man has absolute peace with God and therefore zero fear whatsoever of wrathful reprisals presently or in the future.

Romans 5:1… “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Romans 5:9… “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

How can this be, you ask?  Well, what separates a man from God, I reply?  It is sin… imperfection.  We know that Christ has taken our own sin upon Himself and paid the debt for us.  This is the unfathomable love and purpose God shows toward His creation at large.  Knowing this, we must learn to:

Romans 6:11-12… “Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This is easier said than done as we currently exist in bodies of sinful flesh (see Romans 7).  The truth of the scripture stands however, and we have been made immune to the effects of sin spiritually and judicially (though not yet physically) in the sight of God.  As the power of sin itself (death) was crucified with Christ, and demonstrated by His resurrection…

1 Corinthians 15:26… “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

…so too have we been judicially crucified with Him and therefore the power of sin, death itself, has no dominion over us.

Romans 6:6… “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

As Christ is free from the power of sin and death, so too are we, in the here and now.  Wow… quite a reckoning indeed!  And, this is just the beginning.  As God sees His Son as Perfect and Holy, so too will He view the saved man; the man who is in Christ.

Colossians 1:21-22… “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight:”

When God sees the saved man it is as if He is looking upon His own Son, as that is what the saved man has been made in Christ!  God the Father sees Christ the Son in the saved man.  The Lord JESUS CHRIST… “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”  Colossians 1:15-17

The saved man has been returned to the image in which original man, Adam, was made (and lost); by way of the second Adam, Christ.  The relationship between man and God is restored by the working of the manifold wisdom, mighty power and unfathomable love of God to His creation.  And we are still far from finished…

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A short aside:  Many believe that all people in general are made in the image of God and take pride in that.  Only Adam however, was made in the image of God.  When Adam sinned, he was no longer in God’s image.  Subsequently, Adam’s offspring were made in the image of fallen Adam.

Genesis 5:3… “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:”  From Seth eventually came Noah and from Noah’s sons came you and I; all in sinful Adam’s image, not God’s.

You and I are not made in the image of God until we accept Gods gift of salvation through His Son.

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As God sees His Son, so too does He see the saved man as a son.  The saved man is given the Spirit of God as the “earnest” (meaning down payment, in eager anticipation) of his eventual inheritance; and by which he is permanently sealed.

2 Corinthians 1:22… “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”

Ephesians 1:13-14… “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

As sons (children of God) we are led by the Spirit which is given unto us.  This is inescapable, eternal fact.  How we allow the Spirit to work in our lives as we learn to reckon ourselves dead unto sin and begin to effectively battle our sinful flesh is a topic for another post.  As saved men and women (Gods children) we are in fact led by the Spirit of God, and therefore learn we have an inheritance coming to us.

Romans 8:14-17… “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Joint heirs with Christ.  Christ who is the Creator Himself.  Joint heirs with the Creator God of the universe, by Whom all things consist…  Allow that to sink in as much as it possibly can.  A finite mind will find some difficulty comprehending such, but that difficulty does not negate the scriptures ultimate truth.

While we exist here on earth, in this created space/time continuum, we are trapped in bodies of sin and death.  Our souls have been made Pure in Christ, as Pure as Christ, that we may have current and eventual Perfect fellowship with the Creator God of the universe.  At some point in the future these bodies will perish and our souls will be liberated from them.  We will be given new celestial bodies that we may exist with God outside of this matter/space/time continuum.  As the Lord Jesus Christ’s body was glorified, so too will we one day be!

Romans 8:23… “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

1 Corinthians 15:49-53… “And as we have borne the image of the earthy (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ). Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

Our physical bodies will one day be changed (resurrected if we be physically dead / transfigured if we be alive at His call) and we will rule and reign with Him for all eternity.  Amen and amen!  How magnificent a reward; all for simply believing what God says to us.

While we remain here, judicially freed from the penalty of sin/death, we have been given complete, total and utter liberty.  This is something to be taken very literally and with the deepest respect.  There is no law we might break.

Romans 6:14… “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Galatians 5:1… “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yolk of bondage.”

Paul is commanding us to keep away from religious law which he calls bondage, and allow our growing realization of the love of Christ toward us, by learning what He has done for us, to constrain our earthly actions.  It is in this way alone that we may grow in the grace of God; not by following the law, as the law was designed to produce the knowledge of sin in a man; not to produce a mans righteousness by how well he followed it.  Such a critical error the religious world makes here.  We learn by studying what God tells us in the Book He wrote.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15… “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

When I look at the majority of people in the world it is impossible for me to fathom how so few want to know such things as what the Lord has done for mankind.  He asks so very little in return, yet humanity is so very caught up with itself, it is too busy, too preoccupied.  He asks only that we recognize Him for who He is in relation to us… that we see ourselves as the fallen creatures, the sinners we naturally are; and Him as far above us, where He deserves to be.  He asks only that we accept the most precious gift that has ever been conceived, the gift of His own Righteousness imputed to our own accounts through the faithful work of Jesus Christ.  How could any at all say no to such?

2 Corinthians 5:21… “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

So many religious people honestly feel that they have something to offer God as payment for what He has done for them.  How is it possible that anything a man could do, be anywhere near the equal of what God has done for man?  A mans “righteousness” cannot approach the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God.  A poor analogy would be me offering the homeless man on the street corner a new home and car, bought and paid for, free and clear; and he offering me the change he collected from a stranger that day as payment in return.  What an insult that would be.  What an insult it must be to God to have human works offered to Himself as payment for the incomparable price He paid to redeem us back to Himself.  The lack of human humility is staggering.

With all God has done for us and given to us, with all that we have been made in Christ, completely free; how indeed “ought” we to walk through this world?

Next Post: “A new creature, part 2.“

A video creation seminar.

/ grace country pastor / 1 Comment

Psalm 19:1… “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.”

Presented here is one of the best seminars on the creation versus evolution “debate” which has ever been compiled.  It is given by Dr. Kent Hovind over 7 deeply thought out, researched, well presented and enjoyable sessions.  Kent is a true Christian brother (unfortunately not yet understanding of right division) with a great big heart for the Truth of our Creator God, Jesus Christ.  I pray they bless, instruct and edify you in your walk with our Lord.

Romans 1:20… “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:”

I ask a single question to any and all who might view this series.  Where has simple logic gone from our everyday thought processes?  The world has been conditioned (yes, intentionally conditioned) to NOT THINK; to just accept what so called “experts” say.  We have been taught what to think and not HOW to think.  This is the ultimate cause of our societal downfall into tyranny and ultimately, satanic rule.  We no longer question “them”.  We just take “them” at “their” word and do what “they” say.  We believe “them” with truly religious fervor instead of believing the pure and simple logic of the Bible and the inherently reasonable minds God provided us.  We have no excuse for this.  It is spiritual and intellectual laziness on our parts.

There is a great deal of knowledge, wisdom and simple common sense here.  It will take some time to view and absorb it all.  I encourage you to find the time to invest into watching these.  Your worldview will be changed remarkably, and for the far better!  Life itself will take on amazing new meaning and your walk with our Creator will be quickened in ways I can’t begin to explain.  I speak from experience as only a few short years ago, I too believed in evolution.  I now believe, without a shadow of doubt, that all the Bible is true… every single Word.

I feel it is important to include a political statement at this point.  It is the opinion of this writer that Dr. Hovind is experiencing the early manifestations of Christian persecution in these United Socialist States of America.  He has been in federal prison since 2007 on trumped up financial and mail fraud charges (this is hardly a wealthy man) simply because he is poses a very real and grave threat to the establishment statist religion of evolution.  You may learn more at the Free Kent Hovind website.

As of July 8, 2015 Kent Hovind has been freed from prison!  Amen; more “here” from Dave Daubenmire.

I present to you, “The Kent Hovind Creation Seminar“.

Part 1: The Age of the Earth

Part 2: The Garden of Eden

Part 3: Dinosaurs and the Bible

Part 4: Lies in the Textbooks

Part 5: The Dangers of Evolution

Part 6: The Hovind Theory

Part 7: Questions and Answers

I truly hope you enjoy this presentation!  It is so very critical to our understanding of things in general.  Amen and Gods peace to you.

2 Thessalonians 3:16… “Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means.  The Lord be with you all.”

Next Post: “A new creature!“

Gods perfect original creation!

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I have heard many say that the Bible is not a scientific book in any way.  I must disagree as I find scientific fact all throughout the King James Bible.  Let’s look at the opening statements carefully and thoughtfully.

Genesis 1:1-3… “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

Let’s put each under the microscope of logical contemplation.

“IN THE BEGINNING (here, linear time itself is begun) GOD (the Prime Mover in all things and Ultimate Creator of all things) CREATED (ex-nihilo – everything from nothing) THE HEAVEN (space is now made available to be filled; with…) AND THE EARTH (…with matter itself).

AND THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM (consequently and by its essential creation from nothing, the earth (matter itself) was yet undifferentiated and without true form), AND VOID (and thus empty of any content); AND DARKNESS (absolute zero – no molecular or wave form motion of any sort) WAS UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP (the physically substantial building blocks of physical reality as we know it are now in place, ready to obey and be formed to the will of our Creator).

AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD (the Holy Spirit itself) MOVED (with any motion comes frictional heat energy thus the universal temperature energetically rises above zero K and molecules are formed for the first time) UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS (the first meaningful substance, water, is formed out of the un–substantive and as of yet un–formed, though extant, deep).

AND GOD SAID (Gods spoken Words, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, IS creative power, John 1:1-3, Col 1:16-17), LET THERE BE LIGHT (full spectrum electromagnetic radiation – vibration or particular/wave “motion” itself): AND THERE WAS LIGHT (the universe, (space, matter in motion over time, energy); is prepared to be filled with the content of Gods imagination).

God continued to speak the content of our universe into existence for 6 literal days and nights, culminating with the first human beings created in Gods own image, Adam and Eve.

Genesis 1:27… “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”

God gave man dominion over His living creation and for sustenance gave man (and beast – Gen 1:29-30) vegetation to eat.  Living breathing things were all vegan in the beginning!  God then examined ALL that He had made and deemed it to be “very good”.

Gen 1:31… “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

It is most interesting to note that all who physically consumed food were vegan by nature.  Why is this?  It is because physical death had not yet entered into Gods “very good” creation.  The creation did not know nor comprehend death as the creation was ultimately sustained by God Himself and the input of energy (His Spirit moving) which He provided the universe.  Adam and Eve (and all the animals) were created to live for and in eternity, not ever seeing death.  Original creation was perfectly eternal; perfectly sustained.  The world was a very different place in antediluvian times.

As in the last post I wrote that Perfection and imperfection were completely incompatible; that one of necessity annihilates the other.  Yet in the Garden we find Adam and God living in communion with one another, God having placed Adam personally in the Garden He created for him.  Adam had not yet disobeyed the single command God gave him.  Sin (imperfection) had not yet separated man from his Creator.

The animals at the time before the fall must, of logical necessity, have been remarkably friendly and approachable; given to Adam each to name and have careful dominion over.  It is only after the great flood as punishment for the worlds sin, and Noah’s subsequent exit from the Ark, that the animals were made to fear man.

Genesis 9:2… “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.”

Indeed, it is here that animal flesh is for the first time on mankind’s menu (Gen 9:3).  What has changed?  Death has entered Gods perfect eternal creation.  Imperfection has come into contact with Perfection and Perfection is no longer…

Romans 5:12… “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

With a single act of disobedience (man choosing satan over his Creator) the universe lost the sustaining energetic influence God had over it and began to die what is scientifically known as “heat death”; the inevitable result of entropy in a closed system which our universe is, no matter how large.  Everything, everywhere is winding down as matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed; just altered with net losses toward the lowest form of energy; heat.

God, in nothing but perfectly infinite wisdom, created a universe where nothing was to die, all creation was to live eternally with Him; instituted death to eventually free His creation once again.  Paul explains the resurrection in…

1 Corinthians 15:36… “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:”

Quickened means “made alive” and “revived”!  We “sow” earthly bodies which are spiritually dead prior to salvation.  Praise God for the death of our earthly bodies… as if not for physical death we should be trapped forever in a physically sinful condition (saved or not).  It is the physical death of the saved (spiritually alive) man which releases him from his sinful physical condition and places him into renewed and eternally perfect fellowship with his Perfect Creator, to one day be given a glorified perfected eternal body as Christ possessed after His own resurrection.

God began by creating a perfectly flawless universe.  He called it very good.  It was destroyed willfully by man and angel.  Death and decay is our collective fault.  God however, will once again bring all His creation back into physical perfection with Himself, for those who are made spiritually perfect in Christ.  Have you trusted Christ as your Savior?  It was His intent from the start; and from there it is the imagination of God Himself which will plot the infinite and eternal course.  I for one cannot wait to join Him in His next “adventure”!

Ephesians 1:10… “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

The Bible is chock full of science fact and Paul warns us of science falsely so called; speaking to his son in Christ, Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:20-21.. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”

Science “falsely so called” would be the satanic (yes, satanic and not just “darwinian”) doctrine of evolution which tries to demonstrate creation as its own creator… that existence itself exists by accident alone and morphs itself into impossibly highly specialized and ever increasing states of functionality.  “Ye shall be as gods…”  Ridiculous on its face (and so horribly sad and empty) yet so many believe the lie.  I want to alter your views toward the creation side of the creation/evolution debate if you are not with me already.

Next Post: “A video creation seminar.“

Nobody’s perfect…

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…except God of course, so let us for a moment examine the condition of “perfection”.  Websters 1828 Dictionary defines perfection as the state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing requisite is wanting.

1)  Physical perfection, is when a natural object has all its powers, faculties or qualities entire and in full vigor, and all its parts in due proportion.

2)  Metaphysical or transcendental perfection, is the possession of all the essential attributes or all the parts necessary to the integrity of a substance.  This is absolute, where ALL defect is precluded, such as the perfection of God; or according to its kind, as in created things.

3)  Moral perfection, is the complete possession of all moral excellence, as in the Supreme Being; or the possession of such moral qualities and virtues as a thing is capable of.

4)  A quality, endowment or acquirement completely excellent or of great worth.

5)  An inherent or essential attribute of supreme or infinite excellence; or one perfect in its kind; as the perfections of God.  The infinite power, holiness, justice, benevolence and wisdom of God are denominated His perfections.

6)  Exactness; as, to imitate a model to perfection.

Must I ask how we measure up to such?

What takes place when imperfection makes any contact whatsoever with perfection?  Is imperfection improved… or is perfection tainted?  Analogous question: what happens when a clean white shirt makes contact with a mud puddle?  Does the mud puddle become clean or does the shirt become dirty?  Regardless of the argument one might construct that imperfection and mud puddles may be regarded ever so slightly more favorably than they were before making contact with the other, it is obvious that perfection immediately becomes imperfect and that clean white shirt is immediately soiled.

God, as THE Perfect Being, therefore MUST maintain Perfection as His ultimate standard that Perfection remains Perfect.  It is not possible for an imperfect being to behold perfection and survive.  Moses requested of God that he see Him…

Exodus 33:18-20… “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”  And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”

Perfection must stand completely alone and unpolluted by imperfection.

If Gods literal and actual standard is perfection, as perfection annihilates imperfection and imperfection makes perfection necessarily imperfect; how can a man ever hope to be “good enough” to meet Gods standard of Holy Perfection?  Imperfection is implied within our understanding of good “enough”.  Good enough, by definition, is NOT Perfect and that is Gods requirement.

A man cannot meet that standard.  It is not possible.  A wise man finds himself in a perfectly hopeless imperfect condition.  One single sin in life mars perfection completely and irrevocably.  God says:

Romans 3:23… “For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 3:19… “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and ALL the world may become guilty before God.”

Romans 6:23(a)… “For the wages of sin is death;…”

Death is the necessary result of imperfection.  God created perfection and gave it to man.  Man, in lust, destroyed the perfection God created, by choice… we wanted even more.  In infinite love, infinite wisdom and with infinite purpose in mind and heart, God makes a way for the imperfect man to once again be perfectly justified in the sight of Himself.

Romans 6:23(b)… “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God gives us His Perfect Son that we, us pathetic and imperfect humans, might be made the very righteousness of God Himself, in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21… “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Made the righteousness of God in Him!  How can we ever be thankful enough to a Creator God who makes His Sinless Son into our sin nature itself (Christ BECAME sin FOR us) takes the universal punishment for OUR sin upon Himself (My God, my God, why hast thou FORSAKEN me?); and then, to whomsoever chooses to accept such an infinitely graceful gift, provides His Own Perfect Righteous Nature to us; that we are made Perfect in Him, that we may be with Him in life for all eternity, if we but trust in that Perfect Gift and not in ourselves?

Colossians 1:21-22… “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:”

My mind reels trying to conceive of such…  Looking at the condition of sinful humanity, how is it possible that we were even remotely worth it?

Infinite love, infinite wisdom, infinite purpose… can be the only answer.

John 14:6… “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Nobody’s perfect.  Nobody.  Unless Christ stands in your place by grace through faith.  At that very moment a perfect eternity awaits.  Why would anyone wait a moment longer?  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for you and be saved right here, right now!

Romans 8:38-39… “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amen.

Next Post: “Gods perfect original creation!“

The new creation, a future dispensation for Gods people.

/ grace country pastor / 3 Comments

People who do not believe that god is a “dispensationalist” mislead themselves terribly.  Their strongest argument AGAINST dispensationalism is to say that “God does not change… He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow!”  To which we dispensationalists wholeheartedly agree!  God does not change, but the ways in which He deals with mankind, in fact does.

In the beginning was that period of time (or dispensation) of innocence.  Adam and Eve were created perfect, eternal and completely innocent, only knowing what God wanted them to know and nothing of “good and evil”.  (We cannot discern one without comprehending the other.)

How blissful that must have been!  Ecclesiastes 1:18… “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseeth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”  Yet because of that “fall of man”, we must now face things we were not created to know.

Following Adam’s (mankind’s) fall, God instituted the dispensation of conscience.  A conscience was placed into man that he would know when he was engaged in something “inappropriate”.  This lasted some 1,500 years.

Genesis 3:7… “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

Man failed to govern himself and to heed the conscience God gave him, and the Antediluvian world, not surprisingly, became completely evil.  God destroyed it utterly saving only 8 out of an estimated (by population growth standards over time) 6 billion people.  When Noah and his family exited that gracefully saving Ark, God instituted the dispensation of human government where men were given authority over other men.

Genesis 9:6… “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”

Capital punishment was instituted that if a man murdered another man, by men (not God) should that same man be killed.  Noah’s sons scattered and repopulated the earth as God would have them; but after a while the first “One World/New World Order” came into being and all the world became of one language and had the same goal.  To be “like gods” and “not die”; (remember the garden conversation between satan and Eve… sounds much like our evolution worshiping, technology loving, transhumanist counterparts today, such as Michio Kaku, Ray Kurtzweil, Stephen Hawking and the like) and build a tower that extended their reach (be “like” God) and their very selves (not see death) into heaven.  Oh will these surely be disappointed in eternity!  God never created us to die, as Adam and Eve were created immortal.  We killed ourselves by choice and cannot fix this deadly condition alone or technologically.

Genesis 11:1-4… “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.  And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.  And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

Here we see the “end” of human government in the hands of fallen men.  Ultimate power and ultimate control in the hands of very few… well, one really.  satan, as that is satan’s ultimate goal (as we learned in the last post); to be like the Most High and rule the universe.  God puts a stop to this, not by destroying the world as in the flood, but by confusing the people’s language that they could not communicate with one another.  Their progress ground to a halt, they then scattered once again into separate nations and God changed the parameters of His dealings with man once again.

It is here God calls Abram out of the general population, to eventually form of his seed the nation Israel, where the dispensation of the Law was instituted.  (Interesting fact that the “Old Testament” in the Bible does not begin until Exodus 19.)  This dispensation of Law continues through the crucifixion of Israel’s Messiah (the “New Testament” does not begin until Christ’s death) and comes to an end at the calling of the Apostle Paul in Acts 9.  We currently, as you now know, live in the dispensation of the free grace of God.  The yellow “but now” period on the Bible Chart.

Romans 3:20-21… “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.  BUT NOW the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;”

The Law has been suspended as it had been in the centuries before God called the nation Israel His own, and grace is “but now” instituted.  As we saw in the last post, the dispensation of judgement and war will (likely) begin very shortly after Gods longsuffering grace is concluded; and after that, the dispensation of God’s Kingdom come to earth for 1,000 years.

Question: has God changed throughout any of this?  Of course not.  He just alters the way He deals with us, that His ultimate purpose may be fulfilled.  So what is that ultimate purpose (the ultimate purpose of this post)?

Ephesians 1:10… “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

That God can and will re-create the perfect universe He always intended… with “beings” who DESIRE to be there!

Revelation 4:11… “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and FOR THY PLEASURE they are and were created.”

We were created FOR Gods own personal pleasure!  He created, because He could… simply because it is His nature to create and only to destroy when man and fallen angel have taken things too far.  This destructive activity is reserved to re-constructive purposes.  Destruction itself, destructive activity for destruction’s sake, is reserved for satan and mankind.

Creation itself will eventually be purged completely of sin and the universal curse sin resulted in, which we now know as the second law of thermodynamics.  He will gather together all things:  What things?  1) Those which are in heaven.  We are going to be in heaven, so these would be Gods heavenly people – the body of Christ.  Also the non-fallen angels.  2) Those which are on earth.  Israel will be on earth, Gods earthly people – the nation of priests ministering to those Gentiles who will listen to them.  These two “programs” will ultimately be combined IN CHRIST and a “new” eternity will begin for God’s creation.  Those who now CHOOSE to be separate from God, both men and angels, will be separated from God for all eternity in the lake of fire where their worm dieth not (Mark 9:43-48).

Whereas we NOW have spiritual and judicial redemption (with the nation Israel “on hold”):

Romans 5:8-10… “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being NOW justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have NOW received the atonement.”

…we NOW long for physical redemption from this world of sin and death.

Romans 8:19-23… “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

The “creature” is creation itself and those saved are the sons of God.  Saved humanity and creation itself will be radically changed by God during this ultimate death defying resurrection.  Our bodies will become celestial as Christ’s body was after His resurrection.  Our consciences will be cleansed to a state of innocence once again.  Does this sound too good to be true?  With God all things are possible (Mark 10:27); Paul writes…

1 Corinthians 15:35-44… “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?  Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”

Our terrestrial bodies must eventually die, since we ARE corrupted by sin and death, and therefore it is appointed unto man once to die (thank God, as death frees us, Hebrews 9:27) and then judgement.  But if one is in Christ, whether of the earth (Israel and Gentiles who bless them) or in the heavens (the body of Christ); these are all eventually resurrected in celestial “transfigured glorious” bodies.

Philippians 3:20-21… “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

Romans 8:14-17… “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Wonder beyond wonder!  Joint heirs of EVERYTHING CREATED with Christ!  Superman ain’t got nothin’ on me  🙂

Only, however, for those who are Perfect as God is Perfect.  “But, nobody’s perfect”, you rightly cry.

Next Post: “Nobody’s perfect.“

The god of this world.

/ grace country pastor / Leave a comment

“What do you mean, the god of this world?” you ask.  “Is that not the God of heaven?”  Lets examine scripture closely and from the beginning.  When satan first appears on the scene, with what incentive did he tempt Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit?

Genesis 3:4-5… “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, AND YE SHALL BE AS gods, knowing good and evil.”

He said she would NOT surely die when God said she would, AND he told her that she would be like (note carefully); “gods”; little “g” and plural.  Clearly then, Eve was aware enough of the existence of these “gods” (creatures) to know she wanted to be “as them” comprehending things she did not currently understand.  They knew more than she did… they were smarter, they were “above” her… “god-like”.  Indeed the angelic host were created to exist above mankind; for Jesus, taking upon himself sinful human flesh, was made “lower” then they.

Quoting Psalms 8:5 the writer of Hebrews says in 2:7-9… “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

satan refers to himself being “AS” the Most High God, as that is his ultimate desire… to rule the heaven and earth as God.  What exactly does scripture show that satan “wills” for himself?  Count 5…

Isaiah 14:12-14… “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, (1) I will ascend into heaven, (2) I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: (3) I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: (4) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; (5) I will be like the most High.”

Adam, by ignoring Gods single commandment (thou shalt not eat of it, Gen 2:17), was subsequently cursed along with creation itself (Gen 3:17-19) and forfeited the dominion God gave him over the world and placed it into the hands of satan.  This is demonstrated when satan offers Jesus that same dominion in:

Luke 4:5-6… “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.”

The Lord does not argue the fact that dominion was given to satan because it is an accurate portrayal of the situation.  Dominion of this world and all its kingdoms with all their earthly glory, was given to him.  Note carefully that it is satan also that chooses who he gives that power to.  (Who has power in the world today?)

The “gods of this world” then are those angels, made higher and mightier than man, which kept not their first heavenly estate, but chose to follow satan in his rebellion against the One True God of heaven.  These are they which Adam and Eve (mankind’s first parents) wanted to be like and thus chose to follow over the Creator God.

Jude 1:6… “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

The singular “god of this world” can therefore be none other than satan himself, the leader of the angelic rebellion.  People are extremely misled about the character of this creature however.  Nearly everyone reading these words have seen “devil” movies like “the exorcist” which portray satan as being overtly evil and a rather disgusting character… a boogyman if you will.  What is he really like?  Scripture shows in:

Ezekiel 28:12-18… “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.”

Full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, covered in gold and gems, perfect in thy ways, multitudes of merchandise, beautiful and bright… is this what the common conception of Lucifer (light bearer) is?  Not at all… most think of him as a monster when in reality he appears as just the opposite.  He is trying to deceive the world that he is the Most High that the world will worship him.  This is his ultimate desire… worship, because he feels that he deserves it.  His heart was lifted up because of his beauty.  What is the easiest way to attract worshipful attention from people?  Give them what they want.  Since satan possesses all the power and therefore money this world generates, he can give such to whomsoever he desires.  He offered such to our Lord when our Lord was contained within sinful human flesh and our Lord turned him down.  We have a far harder time…

satan does not appear as most of us expect him to appear (evil) and actually looks like all that is good in this world, rich, beautiful, bright and full of “blessings” for people.  How does this effect the world on a daily basis?  Paul, speaking to the Corinthian believers, cautioning them about straying from the gospel of grace he preaches and the false teachers which abound, writes in:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15… “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Notice carefully what these are up to and where they practice their “craft”.  These are religious teachers putting forth a false christ… pretend “ministers of righteousness”.  Where do we find ministers of “christ”?  In churches.  satan is therefore not out and about haunting houses and possessing little girls, he and his ministers are out spreading false gospels and lies about the Lord Jesus Christ in order to keep lost people lost, saved people confused and “rightly divided” people slandered.

Paul is jealous over believers with a Godly jealousy (2 Cor 11:2) and warns these same believers in:

2 Cor 11:3… “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

The saving gospel of Christ which Paul preached is so very simple.  Know you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Know that Christ as Savior died the death you so richly deserve.  Anything more or less is a satanic departure from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.  This amazingly simple gospel message for today is nearly completely hidden in today’s churches in favor of all manor of religious zeal.

Those of us who are truly saved by the blood of the Lamb can only speak the words we have been given that anyone we might come into contact with would hear them and simply believe.

2 Corinthians 4:1-6… “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.  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

I commend myself to your conscience in the sight of God.  Believe not the god of this world.  Open your eyes to Bible Truth.  Believe the words our Apostle Paul was given FOR you, that I share here with you.  Amen.

satan is the ultimate deceiver.  He has deceived the world that he is in fact god just as he said he would.  He has the means by which to do it, and those means came from us.  The world served him from the very beginning and nothing has changed.  God made a door which any and all people can step through.

The Creator God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).  The Creator God does not bless us, His heavenly people, with earthly things as He did Israel, His earthly people.  He did bless Israel abundantly with such in time past as He always promised He would (IF they obeyed) and will again in the ages to come, but His earthly program is halted today in favor of His heavenly program.  If you are expecting earthly blessings from God and somehow receiving them, they are coming from the god of this world who has them to give.  You are being deceived by the great deceiver.  If you are hearing a gospel message different from the most simple message Paul has to share, you are being deceived by the god of this world who is thrilled to deceive you away from the simplicity that is in Christ, and to cause such confusion in the professing church – those who “would know” the Lord Jesus.  Please… come to know the True Jesus, our Creator.

You need to get a King James Bible and learn the difference between God and the god of this world.  Paul can and will show you; as to Paul was given the fulfillment of Gods plan for humanity by the Creator directly.  We must know the Lord Jesus in HIS Truth for believers today.  This is what God wants for all mankind.

1 Timothy 2:3-4… “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Get saved by trusting that the Lord Jesus died for your sin and the come unto the knowledge of the truth by learning what God wants us to know about Himself.  Paul writes in:

1 Corinthians 14:37… “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”  We learn these things from Paul.

Reality is a far different place than most realize.  Reality is found only in the King James Bible.  What people see everyday is a near perfect but perfectly opposite replica created by the god of this world that this world would serve him.  It is called “the course of this world” in Ephesians 2.  Most of the world is only too happy to comply.  Paul continues, as all men do have free will to believe whatever they wish to believe:

1 Corinthians 14:38… “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”  Don’t be willfully ignorant.  Trust in Christ and Christ alone; as the Triune God is head over all and will have the final word; and far more (a new heaven and a new earth!).  As Job writes in 12:16… “…the deceived AND the deceiver are His.”

Next Post: “The new creation, a future dispensation for Gods people.“

Israel’s future; but first rapture, anti-christ…!?!

/ grace country pastor / 1 Comment

We cannot speak of the future of Israel without first speaking about the end of Gods longsuffering dispensation of free grace to His creation.

Romans 11:32… “For God hath concluded them ALL in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.”

God; to Paul and through Paul, informs Jew and Gentile alike, that ALL have been concluded by Him to be in complete and total unbelief; that in complete and perfect justice He might have complete and perfect forgiveness toward all.  When once a small group of people were concluded IN belief in order to fulfill Gods purpose for the earth…

Deuteronomy 7:6-7… “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 love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:”

…and, that God has now concluded them in unbelief; Israel are no longer Gods people…

Hosea 1:9… “Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.”

…has God “gone back” on His Word to what were once His chosen?  Has God’s plan for the earth been altered?  Well that just can’t be, since God is true and every man is a liar. Continuing along in Hosea, we learn;

Hosea 1:10… “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it WAS said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it SHALL BE said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.“

Israel will once again be Gods chosen!  God has not altered His plan for the earth, it is simply postponed while the mystery kept secret since the world began (Romans 16:25) plays out… and we now know what that is; God’s plan for the heavens – the body of Christ.  All are currently concluded equally in unbelief, therefore all have equal opportunity to take part in the “new creature” which God has reconciled to Himself via the blood of Christ.

There remains still a problem though.  God has reconciled the world to Himself, forgiving us our trespasses, yet sin still exists in the world and God’s ultimate plan for both the earth and the heavens call for the complete and total eradication of sin in creation.  God is currently “at peace” with the world, toward any and all who accept the gift of the blood of His Son; but that does not mean He is finished with the world.  He cannot be, as the majority of the world will not be reconciled to God because of human pride, and God must still deal justly with these, as well as with those angels which fell, satan at the helm.

So how does God then return to fulfilling His plan for the earth if that plan has been temporarily interrupted?  This heavenly program must somehow come to an end, as an “interruption” implies a subsequent “re-start” of the previous thing.  Most professing Christians have heard of the “rapture” of the church and most (correctly) complain that the word rapture does not appear in the Bible; but because of that, incorrectly assume the rapture cannot be.  The rapture MUST occur however, and is a resurrection (of those dead IN Christ) and a physical alteration (of those alive IN Christ) of all those saved in this dispensation of the free grace of God.  It is a radical and remarkable physical transformation of His body of believers from corruptible to incorruptible (only God can accomplish such!) which will occur at some point in the future that only God can locate.  Paul describes this event in:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18… “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

…and…

1 Corinthians 15:51-53… “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

These verses describe the Lord Jesus gathering His “body of Christ” saints together to Himself “in the air” and NOT “on the earth” where the Jews will be regathered.  This is a graceful and peaceful gathering for those who have no hope of Kingdom resurrection (blaspheming Jews – Mat 12:31-32 – and Gentiles which did not bless Israel), as we have our own hope in the “air” or heavens.  This is NOT the second coming of Christ TO the earth which will be in vengeance and war, as Paul describes in:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9… “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

The mystery, the dispensation of free grace to Gods enemies (blaspheming Jews like Saul/Paul and all us Gentiles) must come to an end before God can and will once again establish the nation Israel in accordance with its intended purpose; to be the channel of blessing from God to the world.  If this dispensation did not end then 2 different gospel messages would be available to mankind and they would contradict one another as Eph 2:8-9 contradicts James 2:24.

“Wait a minute”, you say, “God re-established Israel in 1948 so obviously they are His chosen people still”.  To which the Bible says, “Not so fast…” if  you will pardon my paraphrase.  If believers today are still present in the world as Christ’s ambassadors for grace and peace, that MUST mean that Israel as a nation is still concluded in unbelief, as Israel’s function was to teach and preach God, and to inform the world that the Kingdom of heaven was at hand.  The Kingdom is NOT currently at hand (with this comes judgement and war), as God HAS declared a period of grace and peace through the apostle Paul.  The “Israel” currently occupying the land God promised His earthly people ARE NOT, indeed CAN NOT BE, the Israel of God as they are not preaching Christ nor His Kingdom.  They are still awaiting their “messiah” who WILL be the false or “anti-messiah”.  God, in Christ, has NOT returned to the earth in the flaming fire of vengeance as of yet.  Christ is NOT seated on His earthly throne.  Israel is still blind to God’s ultimate truth.  Let us see what scripture says…

Romans 9:6… “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect.  For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:”

Not all Israel which are of Israel?  Huh?

Romans 11:7-8… “What then?  Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”

Who then is this “election”?  It is NOT us, or simply ALL those who believe in Christ today, Jew or Gentile.  What the first coming of Israel’s Messiah accomplished was not “peace on earth”, as “christmas” cards proclaim, no.  Division was accomplished, but what needed dividing?  See Christ’s own words in:

Luke 12:51… “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth?  I tell you NAY; but rather division:”

Matthew 10:34… “Think NOT that I am come to send peace on earth: I came NOT to send peace, but a sword.”

Swords divide things.  Christ divided believing Israel from unbelieving Israel as He was sent to do.  The “election” or “believing Israel” (Peter and the rest) obtained the keys to the Kingdom and the remainder, the religious leaders and the majority of the nation were blinded to truth, and still are to this day.  Thus; are not “all Israel” which were “of” Israel.  Only a small portion of Israel in time past was Gods.  They have all since physically died and await their own Kingdom resurrection.

Gods longsuffering to all the world MUST come to an end before His Righteous Vengeance can be poured out upon it and His earthly Kingdom established for 1,000 years (peace on earth).  When this dispensation of longsuffering has run its course and His ambassadors have been recalled (raptured), God will once again be dealing with the earth as He was in time past with men consisting of Jew and Gentile; with Christ no longer seated but STANDING on the right hand of God (read all Acts 7) ready and prepared to return with the baptism of flaming fire prepared for unbelieving Israel (Mat 3:11, Luke 3:16); whose future Kingdom saints are supernaturally empowered to endure in the ages to come!  Examine the Bible Chart for a pictorial representation of this.

Man in 1948, walking the course of this world, following the god of this world (Ephesians 2 – please read) established a “government” which then took possession of land (land which God HAS in fact promised to His earthly people) and called that land Israel.  satan, pretending to be God, wants the world to believe that today’s Israel is “of God” so the “believing” world is on his side (Isaiah 14 – satan is God’s counterfeit and we require the KJB to discern between them as satan is very good at what he does; more in next post) as this is where and to whom anti-christ will appear… Israel.  Yes, anti-christ will “look” exactly like Jesus Christ and come to Israel doing great signs and wonders just like Jesus did.  (This time, the wrong time, they will believe.)

2 Thessalonians 2:8-10… “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

Israel, and most of the world, will be (ARE) fooled, as they do not have a love for Bible Truth.  satan even entered INTO Judas Iscariot who then became the son of perdition (the anti-christ, “that wicked”, as in 2 Thes 2:3), who then went to the “chief” priests who were not only glad to speak with him, but paid him for his efforts!  Had they loved their own scripture, they would have known their Lord was present among them (John 5:39); but they do not.  Like most men, they love themselves, the world and the religious system they created.

Luke 22:3-5… “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.  And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.  And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.”

Jesus said these were of their father the devil…!

John 8:44… “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.”

My point, the point the Bible is making, is that nothing at all has changed in 2,000+ years in Israel (the Jewish religion) or the world at large.  Therefore, the Israel of today along with most of the world, blinded to the Creator God Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14), is still of their father the devil, and therefore, his coming son.  Ouch…

The difference between satan’s Israel (that which we see today walking the course of this world, Eph 2, which is satan’s) and God’s however, is stunning.  When God establishes HIS Israel, AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, it will be more special than any man alive can currently imagine (and far larger).  The land will be returned to Edenic-like splendor and all men shall seek God (if they are wise) therein.  Examine Gods description of His coming Holy Land:

Isaiah 11:5-9… “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

Isaiah 35:1-10… “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.  It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.  Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.  Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.  And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.  No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

This very thing was just beginning in early Acts.  The blind were given sight, the deaf could hear; the lame man leaped as an hart (Acts 3:1-11)!  Amazing prophesy fulfilled (but interrupted)!

Isaiah 65-66 (read all)

Zechariah 8:20-23… “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.  Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.  Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”

Jerusalem will be the capitol of the world from where Christ will rule with a rod of iron.  The twelve will sit on twelve thrones.  Indeed Peter, after selling and forsaking all he had, wants to know what’s in it for him!  He questions Jesus in:

Matthew 19:27-29… “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

The Jews will be the worlds religious leaders they were always intended to be… the nation of royal priests:

1 Peter 2:9-10… “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were NOT a people, but are NOW the people of God: which had NOT obtained mercy, but NOW have obtained mercy.”

No, that’s not us, that’s Israel!  God will once again bless those that bless Israel and curse those which do not (Gen 12:3), for another 1,000 years; at which point satan will be loosed upon the earth one last time to gather Gods enemies in one last ultimate battle.

Is this what is honestly going on in the world today?  For anyone with eyes, the answer is clearly no.  Make no mistake however, what God has promised, will absolutely and surely come to pass.  Things are going to get far uglier in this world before God makes them better.

Next Post: “The god of this world.“

Saved…! Now what?

/ grace country pastor / Leave a comment

Glory, I’m saved…

Glory, I’m saved…

My sins are all pardoned, my guilt is all gone!

Glory, I’m saved…

Glory, I’m saved…

I’m saved by the blood of the crucified one!

What a wonderful song to be able to sing in grace and truth!  I pray that you, dear reader, can sing the same; and if so… well, now what?  Are we now free to live a life without regard for consequences, knowing as we do that heaven is the surest thing in the universe for us?  This is, after all, exactly what our legalistic brethren, clinging as they do to religious bondage, accuse us grace believers of.  If they only read what Paul wrote in their Bibles…  What does our apostle, sent directly by Christ to us, have to say about this?

Romans 6:1-2… “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Of course we are not freed in order to sin.  Now that, by the light of our quickened spirit (Col 2:13), we are far more conscious of sin in ourselves, it actually becomes far more disturbing to us; and while it is not possible to stop sinning as long as we are living in these bodies of flesh; the more we come to understand all that Christ has done for us, the less we seek to knowingly live in a way that would be displeasing to our Lord.

Note carefully that Paul says we are dead to sin.

Romans 6:11…  “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It is certainly easier for the mind to logically conclude the truth of these words, than the will of the flesh to follow suit.  While none of these early posts are exhaustive dissertations on any particular subject, in Paul’s epistles are found the means by which we come to live victorious lives in Christ, despite the battle our flesh will provide along every step of the way.  Paul explains the frustration (read slowly and carefully):

Romans 7:15-24… “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Of course it is the cross work of Jesus Christ who saves Paul (and us) from this body of sin and death!  The saved man will find himself in a battle with his worst enemy (which satan takes full advantage of); himself.  The “reckoning” then, the completely conscious understanding that one IS indeed DEAD unto sin, is the key to true Christian living.  We will sin.  We can’t not sin.  Yet sin is not the issue in our lives any longer.  Christ dealt sin its fatal blow on the cross to any and all who will place their faith and trust in Him.  The punishment for sin is past and placed upon our Lord for us.  We, being in Him through faith, have been judicially crucified by God with Him.  God is so very good.  Amen.

This thought, taken to its logical conclusion, begs a good question.  If we have been freed from sin and death, and we are secured a place in heaven already, currently judicially seated with Christ at the right hand of God the father…

Romans 6:3-7… “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

…thought continued below the lines…

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Point of clarification… this is NOT baptism with water.

As the Jewish believers were baptized with water AND baptized BY Christ WITH the Spirit (whose power demonstrated itself through them); we are baptized BY the Spirit INTO Christ’s body, which is the one true church today (note: it is NOT a denomination).  Ours is a spiritual baptism which takes place at the moment of salvation, as a man places his trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:13-14… “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

1 Corinthians 1:17… “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”

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…the question then becomes, what are we still doing here?  Why does God not take us immediately out of this world as we have come to saving knowledge of Him?  The answer is: that, AS He has bought us with the price of His own blood…

1 Corinthians 6:20… “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

…and we belong to God as His purchased posession, He has given us a job to do.  The Lord Jesus Christ is not here on earth.  He is currently seated at Gods right hand in the third heaven.  How are those around us to come to saving knowledge as we have, unless someone in Christ’s stead, should show them?  Some of my personally favorite scripture…

2 Corinthians 5:17-21… “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

As saved men and women, we are, in Christ’s absence, and without Israel yet functioning as prophisied; His earthly ambassadors.  The ministry of reconciliation is given to you and I.  God has reconciled us (all people) to Himself; no longer imputing our (anyone’s) trespasses unto them; formally declaring grace and peace to us (and all people everywhere) by way of the apostle Paul; and asks that we in turn inform people of this abundant grace which He has shown.  This blog and this church is my way of doing what He asks me to do.  If you appreciate what you read, please share it with those you know AND those you don’t.

Christians seem to be very confused by what the “will of God” is for their lives, AS IF God wants something very unique for each and every one of us.  He does not.  He wants the same thing for all people everywhere.  What is that good and acceptable will of God for all?

1 Tim 2:3-4… “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Right there, in one single verse, is the will of God for all people everywhere.  God does not “work in mysterious ways” at all (though He did keep a secret until He sent Paul).  His will is to have all men saved and then to come unto the knowledge of the truth.  Saving knowledge is easy.  “Christ died for your sin.”  Further knowledge requires study.  More specifically it requires us to study what God told Paul.

1 Tim 2:15… “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of truth.”

So, once saved, we are to begin to study Gods word in order to begin to more fully comprehend His Truth.  Why?  Because we are saved UNTO good works.

Ephesians 2:10… “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

We are NEVER saved BY good works.  We are saved UNTO good works.  What then is a “good work”?  Helping an elderly lady cross the street?  If I help several million safely cross, have I accomplished anything eternal?  Have any come to the saving knowledge of Christ?  No.  A good work then is a work that brings someone into the will of God for today, and, as we just learned, Gods very will is that all men should be saved and then come unto the knowledge of the truth.  This then is the saved mans ultimate function in this world.  Bringing people unto the saving knowledge of Christ and teaching them what Christ has done for them is the answer to the question; now what?

Ephesians 4:1… “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;”

Colossians 1:10… “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

2 Tim 2:24-26… “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

Most professing Christians will suggest you begin studying by reading the 4 “gospel” accounts of Jesus life.  This is a tragic mistake as the 4 “gospels” are not written TO us and can only lead us into more confusion, dishonesty and ultimate failure as we try to do things we are not capable of doing.  We can certainly learn valuable things about our Lord and what He is doing for Israel and for the Gentile nations in the future in them and they are therefore very important to us.  Believers today however, should begin to study the book of Romans, keeping in mind that chapters 9, 10 and 11 are written about the nation Israel.  Who they were, where they are now (they ARE not) and who they will be in the future.  Open His Book and start learning what God hath wrought for you, for us.  It is sure to alter your very existence.  Peace…

Next Post: “Israel’s future; but first, rapture, anti-christ!?!“

Paul… following grace.

/ grace country pastor / 2 Comments

In the last post we looked at a broad picture of what it takes to follow Christ as a Jewish believer back in “time past” (see Bible Chart), what salvation meant to him and what he was to do with that salvation.  Now that God has temporarily set Israel (His channel of blessing to the nations) aside:

Acts 28:28… “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”

Hosea 1:9… “Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.”

What were the Gentile nations to do?

Plus, knowing that these Gentiles did not “become” Israel (spiritual or physical) somehow taking their place in Gods plan for the earth; how were they to come to know God without the “shining city on a hill” that was to be Jerusalem?  Enter Paul.  What did Paul advise these folks (you and I) about salvation?  Could we get saved without Israel?  The answer is a resounding YES!  Why?  Because to Paul and Paul alone was given the fulfillment of Gods Holy plan for His creation.  I know you never heard that before!

Paul tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  How were people to know that?  What proved it beyond doubt?  The Law itself did, because it was “un-keep-able”.

Romans 3:19-20… “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The giving of the law was to force Israel to the realization that the law was impossible and that they could not keep it.  The Law was given to drive them from their own self righteous attitudes (as found in):

Deut 6:25… “And it shall be OUR righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.”  (Read the whole chapter!)

…to simple humble faith that it was God and God alone who could provide for them.  They (all men in fact as Paul demonstrates) are incapable of fully providing for themselves.  We are incapable of being or becoming righteous in and of ourselves in order to stand before a Perfect, Holy, Righteous, Just God.  So what did God tell Paul now that the Law had made its ultimate point in the crucifixion of Israel’s own Messiah; the ultimate self-righteous act?

It is my personal belief that these next 2 words are the most important words in scripture for this 2,000+ year period of grace which God has shown the world.

Romans 3:21-24, 28… “BUT NOW the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith OF Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified FREELY by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: …  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”  Please notice carefully it is the faith OF Christ UPON all them that believe.  This faith is not a measure of the believers level of faith toward Christ.  It matters not how much we say we love the Lord.  What matters is how much He loves His creation and what He wants for it in the future.

BUT NOW… meaning, what once was, is no longer.  Something has changed!  Where at one time (time past) men agreed to follow the law to try and earn their own righteousness; “but now” (the dispensation of free grace – the yellow area on the Bible Chart where we live today) the righteousness of God without the law is made available to mankind.  ALL mankind, both Jew and Gentile.

How can a man today possibly follow Christ or Peter when both say that following the law, among other things, was imperative to salvation?  Answer… we don’t.  We follow Paul as Christ instructed in:

John 13:20… “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”  Did Christ send Paul?

Galatians 1:1… “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead;)”  Yes, He did.  What does Paul then say to us?

1 Cor 4:16… “Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.”

1 Cor 11:1… “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

Philippians 3:17… “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”

“MY gospel… be ye followers of ME…  What’s going on?  This is not possible!  I’m supposed to follow Jesus”, you cry.  Let scripture put a fine point on this.

1 Cor 9:16-17… “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!  For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”

Ephesians 3:1-7… “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.”

Colossians 1:25… “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, TO FULFILL THE WORD OF GOD.”  This one should be read again and again until it completely sinks in.  To Paul was given the completion of Gods Word to man.  The final revelation after the Book of Revelation!

Ephesians 1:10… “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him:”

Yet precious few professing Christians see this ultimate Bible truth and suffer great delusion because of it.  Those “teachers/preachers” who say that dispensationalism (or dispensational Bible study) has only been around since the 1800’s need to re-read their KING JAMES Bibles.  God is a dispensationalist; therefore we are dispensationalists.

Do we worship Paul as many claim?  That is as far from truth as one can get and borders simply on name calling much like the term “hyper-dispensationalist” our legalistic brethren like to throw around.  The law is used in churches today simply to keep people guilty, under religious bondage and tithing.  In this writers not so humble opinion today’s churches that do not teach Pauline Truth are satanic at their core; as it is satan that wants more than anything to keep people from the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4… “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.”

Paul commands us to…

Galatians 5:1… “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Has Christ made you free from sin and religious bondage?  It is why He died, FOR you.

How is a man saved today?  How is the righteousness of God without the law made manifest?

Simply by believing what God said and did as communicated by our Apostle, Paul.

1 Cor 15:1-4… “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

Romans 4:25… “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

Ephesians 2:8-9… “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

It is not the strength of OUR faith which saves us.  It is the faith OF Christ to the will of His Father which does.  We must simply believe and trust in what Christ did on our behalf.  Such a gift… such amazing grace and love!  Yet so few come to know what they are in order to receive it.  How can one be “found” if one does not know he is “lost”?  The whole world is lost.  Every man, woman and comprehending child.  When the world teaches a man that he is inherently good, the world is condemning that man to an eternity in hell.  Who is the god of this world?  Who did Adam give his loyalty to?

Luke 4:5-6… “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.”  Delivered by Adam who chose satan over God.  As God gave Adam dominion, Adam transferred the same to satan.

1 Cor 15:22… “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Don’t hear scripture like this in your church, do you?  Paul says, “from such, withdraw thyself”.  If you are still a son of Adam, you will die.  Without Christ, you will die.  Have you been adopted as a son of God?  You were born a son of Adam.

We beseech you; simply believe (in what Christ did) and ye shall be saved!  It is a transaction which occurs between you and God alone.  It is that simple.  Stop trusting in yourself and trust in Christ alone.

Next Post: “Saved…!  Now what?“

Peter… following Christ and the Law.

/ grace country pastor / 2 Comments

For the sake of simplicity, in this post (and likely others), since to Peter were given the “keys of the Kingdom” (Mat 16:19), when I refer to Peter, it is in respect to the twelve (all of them) and what they were instructed to preach to Israel during Christs earthly ministry.  Paul stands alone as the sole Apostle to the heathen (Gal 2:9) for Christs heavenly ministry, post ascension.

What then did a Jewish man like Peter (or any Jew in time past) have to do to be “saved”?  Since the ministry of Christ to Israel began with John the Baptist (John 1:6-7), and since John was a great prophet (Luke 7:28), what did he first instruct those of Israel to do?  John bared prophetic witness of the coming Messiah first and foremost, that the one to come after him was THE Christ (John 1:15), and to make straight the way of the Lord (John 1:23).  In other words, wake up Israel, that which was promised since the world began has arrived!  Repent (of your sins) for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mat 3:2).  Those who believed what John said were straight away baptized with water (Mat 3:6).

What did Jesus Himself instruct Peter to teach the nation?

Mat 4:17… “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mat 10:7… “And as ye go, preach, saying The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mark 16:15-16… “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” 

Jesus and John the Baptist then, are in accord.

Let’s fast forward past the cross and see what Peter is preaching to the Jews gathered from all nations at Pentecost, the feast of weeks.  Peter preaches a scathing murder indictment (Acts 2:22-24 – “wicked hands have crucified and slain”) and all who believed were distraught and asked “what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

Acts 2:38… “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

The giving of the Holy Ghost with power was Gods sign of affirmation, that these were in fact inside the will of God and thus “saved”.  They believed and subsequently did what God required of them.  It seems that all are on the same page then; John, Jesus and Peter, as Peter is doing exactly what Jesus commanded him.  There are a few additional requirements (post salvation belief) throughout the 4 accounts of Christs earthly ministry (note: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are four accounts of a single gospel, the gospel of the circumcision (Kingdom), but not today’s gospel of grace.  Calling these books “the four gospels” as if they told of the gospel you and I need to hear, is tragically misleading as you will prayerfully soon understand.).

In Matthew 24:13-14… Christ adds a requirement while clearly speaking the same things.  “But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”  So now these believers must endure to “the end”… the end of what?  The end of the great tribulation, that period of time known as “Jacob’s trouble” and “Daniels 70’th week” during which the wrath of God is poured out on unbelieving Israel and an unbelieving world.  Jesus return to earth to set up “His Kingdom Come” arrives after this time of near ultimate destruction as prophesied in Joel, which Peter references.  Does Peters testimony agree with this?

Acts 3:19-21… “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, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.“

Examine what these words are saying… 1) repent and be converted.  Why?  2) that your sins may be blotted out.  When?  3) when the times of refreshing SHALL come (future).  From what?  4) from the presence of the Lord (who is now up in heaven).  Until when?  5) until the time of restitution of all things when Christ shall come again.  So… from the time of these believers conversion to belief in Christ the Messiah, they must “endure” till the time of restitution of all things, or Christs second coming (after Gods wrath is poured out), for their sins to be blotted out.  Their sins are blotted out at the second coming.  What then is “remission” of sin as that is what transpired in Acts 2:38?  Remission is temporary; not yet “blotted out” but the punishment is abated.  They “believed” and are now made fit to “endure”.  This is NOT what you have been taught but is this what the words clearly say?  If we are to be honest, yes, that is what they say.

Jesus placed even more stringent conditions on believing Israel.  As from the beginning, Israel had a covenant agreement with God.  They agreed to follow Gods commandments that they might attain unto righteousness.  Knowing the hearts of men (and to really put the screws to the same) Jesus “doubles down” on the law, thus…

Matthew 5:27-28… “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

Not only do these men have to physically abstain from non-marital sexual relations with women, they have sinned if they even think about it!  Is there a man alive in this world today whose mind is completely free from such thoughts?  Show me one; and I’ll show you one liar.  Not only is the keeping of the law (all the law) physical, it is now in the realm of conscious thought.  Their consciences had to be as pure as their deeds.  Is yours?

Jesus also commanded His believers to sell all that they had and give alms.  The rich ruler asks the Lord, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The Lord answers with a list of commandments to which the ruler replies; “All these have I kept from my youth up.”  What was Christ’s answer to him?

Luke 18:22… “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”

Then to “follow Christ” as most professing Christians believe they are engaged in doing, one must have sold out completely.  “But Jesus was just making a special point to this one person”, you protest.  Scripture replies: Following Peters first sermon where he exhorts the listeners to repent and be baptized: those that did; what did they do next?

Acts 2:44-45… “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; AND SOLD THEIR POSSESSIONS AND GOODS, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”  This is Divinely instituted communism in the Acts 2 church and this is the way to follow Christ in this world.  Quite clearly, you, dear reader, are not following Christ as He commanded His followers to follow Him.  That is because you are NOT a member of the Acts 2 church which was the Jewish Temple.  How could and why would these believers do this?  As they were to go unto all the world preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, all their physical needs were to be miraculously provided them.  As the “desert Jews” received manna and the “multitudes” received bread and fish, these men had NOTHING physical (or even spiritual) to worry about.

Luke 9:2-3… “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.  And he said unto them, Take NOTHING for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.”

Luke 12:22… “And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.”

Mark 13:11… “But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.”

These believers were baptized BY Jesus Christ WITH the Holy Ghost and were given vast Heavenly supernatural power.  They could heal the sick, give sight to the blind, make the lame to walk, speak any and all languages and raise the dead; because they had Holy Ghost power as Jesus did and gave them.  This is the fulfillment of prophesy (Isa 35:6).  They could even live in complete harmony with one another as they were all empowered in the same way.  This is HARDLY the world as it exists today.  We can’t even get along with our natural brothers and sisters, not to mention others who are not “like” us…

Something has changed, and drastically at that (if we are honestly reading scripture)…  As we have seen already (Gal 2:9), Peter agreed with Paul the he would NOT go unto all the world preaching the Kingdom at hand, but stay in Jerusalem and allow Paul to take his place to the heathen nations.  Did Paul then preach the Kingdom as denominational churches maintain?  Scripture demonstrates a resounding NO.

Next post : “Paul… following grace.“