All Spiritual Blessings (9-3-06)

All Spiritual Blessings
Bible Study Time 9-3-06

In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes to us today, as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and the very first thing he says after his initial greeting is:

Ephesians 1:3 (NKJ)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

In this statement, Paul does not hesitate. He does not equivocate as he plainly declares that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

The connection between spiritual blessings and the heavenly places is a logical one sense heavenly things are spiritual by nature. Spiritual things stand in contrast to the things of the earth which are physical. In I Corinthians 15, Paul wrote about the resurrection of the dead and said:

1 Corinthians 15:44 (NKJ)
44 (The body) is sown a natural body, (but) it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-49 (NKJ)
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

In this passage we see that the spiritual body is a heavenly body. It is associated with heaven while the natural or physical body is associated with the earth. Paul goes on in Ephesians, Chapter 2, to say that God has:

Ephesians 2:5-7 (NKJ)
5 . . . made us alive together with Christ . . .
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Our position today is in the heavenlies, and therefore, our blessings are spiritual in nature.

Did you notice that Paul used the word together three times? We have been made alive together with Christ. We have been raised up together, and we have been made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Our position and our realm of blessing has been determined by the fact that we have been brought together with Christ. We have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Therefore, we are citizens of heaven, and we are called upon to set our affections on things above, not on the things of the earth.

The other day I heard a lady on television speaking about the blessings that God has for us today, and she said that we should just stick with the four gospels and claim everything that we see in the four gospels. But beloved, just think of the precious blessings that we would miss if we did just stick with the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Apostle Paul is the apostle who was chosen first to go to the Gentiles when the New Covenant Kingdom was being offered to Israel. Then when that kingdom program was set aside, God revealed to Paul the program for today, the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ.

As we study the writings of the Apostle Paul and open our hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual blessings with which we have been blessed become a source of strength for us in our everyday lives. Regardless of the trials and tribulations we face, we know that we are together with Christ. We have been made alive together with Christ. We have been raised together and seated together in the heavenly places in Christ. These are just a few of the spiritual blessings we enjoy in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ.

Our spiritual blessings stand in contrast to the blessings which were promised in the Old Covenant Law. In the Law, God promised Israel that if they would keep His commandments, He would given them health and wealth and protection from foreign invaders. Clearly, these can not be classified as spiritual blessings. These are blessings that pertain to the earth.

When we read the Old Covenant Law, we see that God never promised eternal life to those who kept the Law. God knew the weakness of man’s fleshly nature, and He knew that no one could earn eternal life by keeping the Law.

So, why was the Law given? Paul said that it was given as a schoolmaster. It was given to teach man about God’s righteousness and holiness. The writer of the book of Hebrews confirmed for us that no one can be saved by the Law, and he concluded that without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, the only people who were actually saved during the Old Testament times were those people who had faith in God and believed what God said.

In accordance with the Law Covenant, God gave Israel great physical blessings. He gave them tremendous prosperity and peace throughout the entire region, but the only ones who experienced any of the spiritual blessings of God were those who actually trusted in God and believed what God said.

Joshua is an example of one who truly believed in God. He came back from spying out the land of Canaan and said, “We can take the land because God is on our side.” Later, when God called Joshua to lead the army of Israel into the land, God told Joshua:

Joshua 1:9 (NKJ)
9 " . . . Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Now that was a spiritual blessing. God was making a difference in Joshua’s heart. God was blessings Joshua with freedom from fear. God said, “The Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” This was a spiritual blessing which came down from heaven and blessed Joshua’s heart.
But in keeping with the conditions of the Law Covenant, God also told Joshua that the physical blessings of the kingdom would depend upon whether the children of Israel lived by the Law. He said:

Joshua 1:7 (NKJ)
7 "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

As we know, Joshua did enter into and conquer the land of Canaan, and the kingdom which was established by Joshua’s army did grow into a glorious kingdom under David and Solomon, but toward the end of Solomon’s life, Solomon’s heart was seduced by the gods of his pagan wives. From that time on, the kingdom began to fall apart.

At that point, God spoke to the prophets and the prophets spoke to the people. They said that someday God was going to make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. They said that this New Covenant was not going to be like the Old Covenant because it was going to be based in the power of the Holy Spirit. The people would by God’s own provision have the power to walk according to the righteousness of God.

The Lord Jesus came as Israel’s Messiah. He was rejected by the nation of Israel and was crucified by the Romans, but His shed blood became the basis for God’s New Covenant with Israel.

After His death, burial and resurrection, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven where He placed some of His blood upon the mercy seat of the temple in heaven. At last, all of the prerequisites for the New Covenant had been accomplished, and it was time for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the nation of Israel.

Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Acts document for us exactly what happened. Peter and the other disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. All of a sudden:

Acts 2:2-6 (NKJ)
2 . . . there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
4 . . . they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Peter and the apostles spoke in tongues and then Peter told them that Jesus Christ, the one they had crucified, had been raised from the dead and taken up into heaven. He told them that if they would repent and be baptized, God would forgive their sin, and Jesus Christ would return to earth to fulfill all of the Jewish promises.

It is clear from Isaiah’s prophesy that the power to speak in tongues was given at this time to confirm the message the apostles were preaching. Isaiah said:

Isaiah 28:11 (NKJ)
11 . . . with stammering lips and another tongue (God) will speak to this people,

Three thousand people were saved on that Day of Pentecost, and no doubt many people believed in Jesus Christ that day because they witnessed God speaking through these men in many different languages.

Now here again, we need to make a distinction between that which is spiritual and that which is of the natural or physical world. Speaking in tongues should not be classified as a spiritual blessing. It was not something that happened in their hearts; it was something that happened in their physical bodies.

It was not until the Apostle Paul come along that people began to understand the spiritual blessings which are associated with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Romans, Chapter 6:

Romans 6:3-6 (NKJ)
3 . . . do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

This is the spiritual blessing that took place on the Day of Pentecost in Acts, Chapter 2. The people were baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and as a result they became new creations in Christ. The old things passed away as the old sin nature was crucified with Christ. Then the new nature was produced by the Holy Spirit who was living within them.

This change in their hearts is evident in Acts, Chapter 2, not only be the fact that they spoke in tongues, but by the fact that afterward they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and they continued daily with one accord, praising God. Oh, what a change God had made in their hearts and lives.

When the Apostle Paul wrote to us about our blessings as members of the Church, the Body of Christ, he said that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

This means that every spiritual blessing of the Old Covenant Law is ours. When God told Joshua that He would be with Joshua wherever he went, that is one of our spiritual blessings for we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings. When God told Joshua that He would given him every place that the sole of his foot tread upon, we know that we can not claim that blessing because we have not been blessed with all physical blessings.

In like manner, we can not claim the promised kingdom of the New Covenant. That is a physical blessing which will come upon this physical earth. Neither can we claim the miracles, wonders and signs which God gave in connection with the New Covenant. But I do want to emphasize that all of the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant belong to us.

When we believe, we are baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ just like those who were saved under the New Covenant program. However, as is often the case, we have additional blessings. The New Covenant Christians stopped with the resurrection, but our identification with Christ continues on into the ascension of Christ. No where in Paul’s early New Covenant ministry do we see him speaking of saved people be ascended with Christ into the heavenlies, but that is specifically revealed in Paul’s revelation to the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Today, we enjoy every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Therefore, we should set our affections on things above and not on the things of this earth.

I see that our time is almost gone for this morning, and I hope that you are rejoicing in the spiritual blessings which God has given to us today. After all, a heart that is full of rejoicing is one of the spiritual blessings with which we have been blessed. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Word of God (8-27-06)

The Word of God
Bible Study Time 8-27-06

In Luke, Chapter 11, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that when they were praying, they should call God Father. Up to this point, the Jewish people knew God only as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the Lord Jesus wanted His disciples to know that they had been called into a close personal relationship with God.

In Luke, Chapter 6, the Lord said to the crowds:

Luke 6:35-36 (NKJ)
35 " . . . love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; . . . and you will be sons of the Most High . . .
36 "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

To be accepted as a Son of God based on good works, we would have to be perfect even as God is perfect, but the disciples had already been accepted as Sons of God because of their relationship with Jesus Christ. The fact that they believed in Jesus Christ gave them this special position of favor in God’s sight. The Apostle John later revealed that Jesus Christ is, in fact, the way, the truth and the life and that no man can come to the Father except through Christ.

The Lord also taught His disciples to pray that the kingdom would come so that God’s will might be done on earth as it is in heaven. In this we see the central focus of the Lord’s earthly ministry. As Jesus Christ went preaching the kingdom of heaven, He did miracle after miracle to prove that He was the promised Messiah and that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. All who believed in Jesus were called to be the Sons of God.

Then, after telling His disciples to pray for the kingdom, He taught them to pray that God would give them their daily bread, and this is what I would like for us to focus on for the rest of our time together this morning.

We know that God is the One who supplies our daily needs. We can all attest to the faithfulness of God in doing so. Paul said, “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

It is interesting that Christ instructed His disciples to pray for their daily bread. While most of us feel a little better if we have enough food in the refrigerator for at least a couple of days, we know that God is able to provide for us even on a day by day basis if that’s in keeping with His plan and purpose. Actually, that is exactly what He did when He provided manna for the children of Israel in the wilderness.

Exodus 16 says that when the children of Israel grumbled in the wilderness because they were hungry, God sent down bread from heaven. It says:

Exodus 16:1316,19-21 (NKJ)
13 . . . in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
16 . . . Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.'"
19 And Moses said, "Let no one leave any of it till morning."
20 Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need . . .

God wants us to work hard and save during the good times so that we will have plenty during the hard times. Joseph advised Pharaoh to do exactly that. They stored the surplus grain that was produced during the seven years of plenty so that they would have grain for food during the seven years of famine. As a matter of fact, it was this stored grain which provided for Joseph’s family during the famine.

The Bible also tells us that we can learn a good lesson from the ant. The New Living Translation interprets Proverbs, Chapter 6, this way:

Proverbs 6:6-8 (NLT)
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you (who are lazy). Learn from their ways and be wise!
7 Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work,
8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

So God may allow us to store up and save for the future, or He may provide for us one day at a time, but either way, our faith in His ability to provide is something that has to be renewed by the Spirit of God on a daily basis.

Now as we look a little closer at Luke, Chapter 11, it seems that the Lord Jesus was probably alluding to some even deeper spiritual truths as He spoke of our daily bread. First, we know that Jesus is the bread of life. In John 10 He told the Jews:

John 6:49-51 (NKJ)
49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, (but they) are dead.
50 "This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die.
51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

The Lord Jesus is the true bread which came down from heaven so that we might partake of Him, or more literally, so that we might partake of His spiritual life and receive spiritual nourishment from His Spirit. Then Jesus said something that was and is very hard to understand. He said:

John 6:53-54 (NKJ)
53 . . . "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Now these are strange words, and John said that when Jesus said these words some of the people who had been following Him went back home and “walked with Him no more.” Nevertheless, those who were true believers listened carefully as Jesus explained the actual meaning of His words. He said:

John 6:63 (NKJ)
63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

He encouraged His disciples to look beyond the normal earthly meaning of His words to see the spiritual meaning behind His words. The Lord said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit.”

He was not saying that we have to eat His physical body or drink His literal blood in order to have eternal life, and neither was He saying that we have to eat or drink anything that represents His body or His blood. No, He said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit.” Jesus Christ is the living bread which came down from heaven so that we could eat and drink of His spiritual life and live forever.

This gives us a clue concerning the daily bread for which the disciples were instructed to pray. When the Lord told His disciples to pray for their daily bread, He was referring to Himself and to the Word of God. To be filled with Christ is the same as being filled with the Word of God. Paul said in Ephesians 5:

Ephesians 5:18-20 (NKJ)
18 . . . be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Then in Colossians, Chapter 3, he said:

Colossians 3:16-17 (NKJ)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Now, those of you who love math are going to love these two verses because in them we see the transitive property. The transitive property says that if A=B and B=C then A=C. Since being filled with the Spirit and being filled with the word of Christ both result in the same thing, they must both be equal to each other. These two expressions, being filled with the Spirit and being filled with the word of Christ, can essentially be used interchangeably since being filled with the Spirit will result in a desire for the word and being filled with the word will result in a heart that is open to the Spirit of God.

Therefore, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray for their daily bread, He was asking them to pray for a daily portion of the Spirit of Christ. There is no such thing as storing up enough of the Spirit today so that we will have enough to last us for two days or two weeks. We need a fresh supply of the Spirit of God moment by moment as we serve the Lord.

This means that we need the Word of God on a daily basis. We can’t just read the Bible through one time, and then say, I’ve already read that book. We need to take in the Word of God on a daily basis so that our hearts will be open to the working of the Holy Spirit.

As we look at the rest of Luke, Chapter 11, we do see what appears to be an emphasis upon the Word of God. In verse 5 Jesus said:

Luke 11:5-10 (NKJ)
5 . . . "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; (Again, we see the bread, and you say lend me three loaves,)
6 'for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him';
7 "and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?
8 "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Notice that in this story, the Lord says that if you are seeking some bread, or in other words if you are seeking to understand the Bible, you may have to be fairly persistent. You may not be able to just pick up the Bible and understand everything you read right at first. But don’t give up. God does want you to understand the word of God. He wants you to understand every word of it, but the Word of God is the kind of bread that you have to digest a little bit at a time.

God chided Israel in Isaiah, Chapter 55, saying:

Isaiah 55:2-3 (NKJ)
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live . . .

But in Isaiah, Chapter 28, Isaiah said:

Isaiah 28:9-10 (NKJ)
9 "(To) Whom will (God) teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? . . .
10 . . . precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little."

Yes, God wants us to understand the Word of God, but it will become clear to us one precept at a time. Here a little and there a little. We must be persistent in our desire and persistent in our asking. If we seek, we will find; if we ask, we will receive.

Then, down in verse 27 of Luke 11, a woman cried out after hearing the wonderful words of the Lord Jesus. She said:

Luke 11:27-28 (NKJ)
27 . . . "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"

But what did Jesus say in response? He said:

Luke 11:28 (NKJ)
28 . . . "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

Our family relationships on this earth are the most cherished relationships that we have in all the world, but we have to realize that they are of this world. Jesus said that hearing the word of God and keeping it is more important than even our family relationships. Our family relationships are for the here and now, but the Word of God will stand forever. In fact, the best way for us to enjoy and secure our family relationships is to hear the word of God and keep it.

I see that our time is almost gone for this morning, but as we close I’d like to remind you that if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can’t come to God as your heavenly Father. You do not have personal access to the Father because no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. But if you put your faith in Christ and believe that He died on the cross for your sins, God will forgive your sins and accept you as one of His sons and then you can experience the blessing that it is to come to the God of the universe and call Him Father.

Thank you for listening to another broadcast of Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time..

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Everything New (8-20-06)

Everything New
Bible Study Time 8-20-06

Last week we saw that the curse of death came upon all men because of Adam’s sin, but because of God’s amazing grace, all men now have access to eternal life because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Even before Adam’s sin and before the curse was pronounced, God had already formulated His plan of redemption, and His plan provided for the restoration of mankind as well as the restoration of all of creation. His plan was to make everything new.

For 2000 years, God gave no real clue as to what His plan for redemption might entail other than the fact that He sacrificed an animal to provide clothing for Adam and Eve and His statement that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan.

Nearly 2000 years past before God took the first step in His plan for redemption. That first step was the calling out of Abraham.

While Abraham was still living in Ur of the Chaldeans, the Lord said:

Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT)
1 . . . "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you.
2 I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.
3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."

Later, God told Abraham:

Genesis 17:4,6-8 (NLT)
4 "This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations!
6 I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them!
7 "I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between me and your offspring forever. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8 Yes, I will give all this land of Canaan to you and to your offspring forever. And I will be their God.

In making these promises God had identified the people through whom redemption would come, and He had identified the land which would serve as the focal point in His plan of redemption. The people would be the children of Abraham, and their land would be the land of Canaan.

By the time another thousand years had past, the children of Abraham had indeed grown into a great nation, and they were well established in the land of Canaan. It was at this point that God told King David that someday even the heavens and the earth would be redeemed from the curse and that one of his descendants would rule over all the earth. In Psalm 102 David said:

Psalms 102:25-28 (NLT)
25 In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 . . . they will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing, (but)You will change them like a garment, and they will fade away.
27 . . . you are always the same; your years never end.
28 The children of your people will live in security. Their children's children will thrive in your presence."

David was allowed a glimpse into the future when even the present heavens and the present earth will pass away, but after David the nation of Israel sinned against the Lord. They forsook the Lord God and went after the pagan gods of the Canaanites. As a result, God sent the prophets to warn them of the judgment that was sure to come, the time when the children of Israel would be carried away into captivity to live as slaves in a foreign land.

However, the prophets also confirmed the prophecies of David and said that God would restore Israel and all of creation at some point in the future. In Isaiah 51, the Lord spoke to the believing remnant of Israel, saying:

Isaiah 51:1 (NLT)
1 "Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance — all who seek the LORD! Consider the quarry from which you were mined, the rock from which you were cut!

(Here the Lord refers back to Abraham and more specifically to the faith of Abraham, pointing out that Israel had become a great nation because of the faith of people like Abraham. So He says, “Consider the rock from which you were cut.”)

Isaiah 51:2-3 (NLT)
2 Yes, think about your ancestors Abraham and Sarah, from whom you came. Abraham was alone when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation."
3 The LORD will comfort Israel again and make her deserts blossom. Her barren wilderness will become as beautiful as Eden — the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found there. Lovely songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

Now notice in verse 6 the Lord says:

Isaiah 51:6 (NKJ)
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished.

In Isaiah 55 the Lord said:

Isaiah 55:3 (NKJ)
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you-- the sure mercies of David.

Indeed, Isaiah knew that a new covenant was coming and that this new covenant was going to be an everlasting covenant based on the promises which were given to David.

The author of the book of Hebrews wrote about the glory of the New Covenant, and in the very first chapter, he went right back to David’s prophecy in Psalm 102, saying:

Hebrews 1:10-12 (NKJ)
10 And: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail."

Peter expanded on this theme, saying:

2 Peter 3:10-13 (NKJ)
10 . . . the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

The Apostle John looked into the future and said:

Revelation 21:1-2 (NKJ)
1 . . . I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Someday, God is going to make everything new. What a comforting thought that is for us today as we hear the dreadful news that planet earth can not continue as it is. It used to be that the Bible teachers who were called the prophets of gloom and doom, but now it’s the scientists who predict a dire future for planet earth. Between global warming and natural disasters and wars that have to be fought in order to preserve the peace, what kind of future does this planet have?

Never fear, the Bible says that God has everything under control. Everything is going along precisely in accordance with His plan and purpose. Things will continue to get worse and worse, but the long term future for planet earth looks very positive.

Someday God is going to do away with our present earth, and He’s going to make a new heaven and a new earth. The old heaven and earth will be cast away like an old garment that’s completely worn out. Then God will make everything new. Isaiah said that all things will be as beautiful as they were in Eden, the Garden of God.

But what are we to do in the meantime. Well, God has already started the process of making everything new, and He decided to start that process with those of us who believe in Jesus Christ. In II Corinthians 5, Paul said:

2 Corinthians 5:17,18,20,21 (NKJ)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
21 For He made (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

What we as believers have experienced so far in our walk with Christ is just the beginning of the process of our salvation. The writer of Hebrews says that:

Hebrews 7:25 (NKJ)
25 (Jesus Christ) is . . . able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him . . .

We can look at the word uttermost in two ways. We can look at it in terms of quantity, and we can look at it in terms of quality. First, God is able to save us all the way to the end. He will never leave us or forsake us. Jesus said:

John 10:27-28 (NIV)
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Second, Jesus Christ saves to the uttermost in the sense that He will save every aspect of our being, inside and outside, and He will save everything around us. The redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ will leave no stone unturned. His salvation will save to the uttermost.

At this present time we have experienced the salvation of our souls. God has crucified the old man with Christ and has created within us the new man which is created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Romans, Chapter 6, says that:

Romans 6:4 (NKJ)
4 . . . just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 8:1-2 (NKJ)
1 (And) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made (us) free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:14-17 (NKJ)
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . . that we may also be glorified together.

According to Hebrews, God has made Jesus Christ the heir of all things, and we are joint heirs with Christ. Now, this does not say that we are co-heirs with Christ. A co-heir is one who gets a portion of the inheritance when the inheritance is divided among the heirs.

But we are not co-heirs with Christ; we are joint heirs with Christ. That means that all of us get everything. We have been made the heir of all things with Christ, and this includes the new heaven and the new earth. Romans 8 says that:

Romans 8:19-24 (NLT)
19 . . . all (of) creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
20 Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse.
21 All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
23 And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
24 Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom . . .

Well, I see that our time is already gone for this morning. I trust that you are rejoicing in the fact that someday God will make everything new, and He has already started that process in the hearts of those of us who believe in Jesus. Thank you for listening to another broadcast of Bible Study Time, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

All Sufficient Grace (8-13-06)

All Sufficient Grace
Bible Study Time 8-13-06

In Romans, Chapter 5, the Apostle Paul said:

Romans 5:12-14 (NKJ)
12 . . . just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--
13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Here we see that before the Law, God did not hold people accountable for their individual sins because there was no law. As Paul said, sin is not imputed where there is no law.

However, it is clear that all people from Adam to Moses were under the curse of death because they all died. Paul’s question then was this: On what basis did God sentence everyone to death? His conclusion: All people received the death sentence because of Adam’s sin.

The curse of death passed from Adam to all those who followed after him though they did not commit the same sin that Adam committed. No one after Adam had the opportunity to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When God pronounced the curse, He said:

Genesis 3:22-24 (NKJ)
22 . . . "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, (he may) put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Obviously, God is the One and only being who has the right to determine what is good and what is evil, to determine what is just and what is unjust. There is no one above God to pass judgment upon His judgments or upon His actions. He is the ultimate authority over all of creation. It was God who determined that because of Adam’s sin the sentence of death would pass upon all people.

That’s bad news, and some people say, I just can’t believe in a God like that. Well, for those people there is some more bad news. We don’t get to chose the character of God. God is who He is, and it is in our best interest to find out who He is. Proverbs, Chapter 9, says:

Proverbs 9:8-12 (NLT)
8 . . . don't bother rebuking mockers; they will only hate you. But the wise, when rebuked, will love you all the more.
9 Teach the wise, and they will be wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn more.
10 (The) Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding.
11 Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life.
12 If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.

Those who are wise will want to find out who God is because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Accordingly, those who are wise rejoice in the word of God. The Bible is the direct result of God’s love and of His grace. The Bible is the only book which is written by God, and it is God’s purpose to reveal Himself through the Bible. Paul said:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJ)
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Peter said:

2 Peter 1:19-21 (NKJ)
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Because God loves us, He gave us His word. Because He wants all men to be saved, He gave us His word, and in His word we find that because of one man’s sin, death passed upon all men.

Why did God tell us this? He wants us to understand why we look around and see so much evil. He wants us to understand why we look around and see people who do foolish things and create so much needless pain and suffering. He wants us to understand why we do foolish things that create so much pain and suffering. He wants us to understand how to be saved from sin and from eternal condemnation.

The good news about the word of God is that it is not something that we have to travel across land and sea to find. It’s not something that we have to search for in the far reaches of outer space or in the depths of the ocean. No, the word of God is close at hand. As Moses told the children of Israel:

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NLT)
11 "This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform.
12 It is not up in heaven, so distant that you must ask, 'Who will go to heaven and bring it down so we can hear and obey it?'
13 It is not beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, 'Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear and obey it?'
14 The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans during the Acts-period while God was offering the New Covenant Kingdom to the nation of Israel. Paul said in Romans 10 that his heart’s desire and his prayer for Israel was that they would be saved, but he went on to say that they were ignorant of the fact that:

Romans 10:4-11 (NKJ)
4 . . . Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them."
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

God’s wants people to understand how to be saved from the curse of sin. Oh, what a simple message of salvation God has provided for us through the Bible. The book which is close at hand. It’s found in almost every home in America and is being distributed all around the world even as we speak. This book is the book that contains God’s simple message of salvation:

Romans 10:9 (NKJ)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 5 says that by one man sin came into the world, and by God’s decree, death passed upon all men. God had the right to do that because He is God, but He also has the right to offer salvation to any and all who believe in the work of one righteous man. Romans 5 says that:

Romans 5:15-17 (NLT)
15 . . . this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God's bountiful gift.
16 And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God's wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

It was by God’s decree that death passed upon all men, and it is by God’s decree that all men can be saved because of Christ’s finished work upon the cross. Just as surely as all people face physical death because of Adam’s sin, all who believe in Jesus Christ will be given victory over sin and death and will someday be given an immortal body which is not subject to death.

This salvation has nothing to do with our good works. It has to do with God’s overwhelmingly abundant grace. Paul said:

Romans 5:20-21 (NKJ)
20 . . . the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Law was given so that we could understand the magnitude of our sin, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abounded.

God’s superabounding grace is beautifully illustrated in the parable of the king who forgave the debt of His servant. In that parable the Lord said that the king forgave his servant even though the servant owed him 10,000 talents, which was probably more than 15 million dollars by our standards today. Specifically, Jesus said:

Matthew 18:23-27 (NKJ)
23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 "And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 "But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
26 "The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
27 "Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

Of coarse, we know that according to this parable this same servant went out and found a man who owed him only a hundred denarii, or a few thousand dollars, but he refused to forgive the debt. The Lord said:

Matthew 18:28-34 (NKJ)
28 "But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
29 "So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'
30 "And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31 "So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
32 "Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 'Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'
34 "And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

What an incredible illustration of God’s forgiveness and of our own reluctance to forgive! The king represents our heavenly Father and the fact that He is willing and able to forgive all of our sins, regardless of how great our sin debt may be. He makes no requirement for us to even try to pay the debt ourselves. Our debt is too great to even begin to pay it off.

When I read this story, I am convicted that I often view my sin debt as being somewhat like the 100 denarii, which was about what a man would receive for a hundred days worth of work, or four or five months worth of work. Well, even that is a sizable debt. I know that most of us would be fairly upset if someone owed us 4 or 5 months worth of back pay, but they refused to pay us.

But I am amazed when I see that my sin debt in the sight of God is not represented by a hundred denarii, but it’s represented by 10,000 talents, by millions of dollars. Truly the grace of God is amazing. I know that I can’t even image the vastness of my sin, but this I know, according to Romans 5, where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. Where I am often unwilling to forgive even the sins that I can understand, God is willing to forgive my sin debt which is greater than I can imagine.

Our heavenly Father is willing to forgive our sin debt because of the work of Jesus Christ, His Son, upon the cross of Calvary. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If you have never accepted God’s forgiveness for your sin, won’t you confess your sinful state today and accept God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary.

Well, I see that our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to another broadcast of Bible Study Time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Life After Death (8-6-06)

Life After Death
Bible Study Time 8-6-06

In Mark, Chapter 12, the Sadducees asked Jesus a question about what marriage will be like after the resurrection. Of coarse, the Lord Jesus knew that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection so He said:

Mark 12:24-27 (NLT)
24 "Your problem is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.
25 For when the dead rise, they won't be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.
26 But now, as to whether the dead will be raised — haven't you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error."

The fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were already poised to be raised from the dead makes them living beings even though their bodies lie in the grave.

After Elisha died, his body was placed in a tomb. Some time later, some Israelites were burying a man when they spotted a band of Moabite raiders. They hurriedly placed the man’s body in Elisha’s tomb, and when the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, he suddenly revived and stood upon his feet.

In this we see a powerful demonstration of the potential for life that lies dormant within the bodies of all those who have died. Being raised from the dead is a sure thing for all those who face death.

Believers who die in our present age will be resurrected before the tribulation period. All other believers will be resurrected just before the thousand year reign of Christ. Then all of the unsaved dead will be resurrected at the end of Christ’s thousand year reign only to face Christ at the Great White Throne of judgment.

When Moses went to Egypt to deliver his fellow countrymen from Egyptian bondage, he became discouraged when Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go, but God encouraged Moses, saying:

Exodus 6:2-4 (NLT)
2 . . . "I am the LORD.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, though I did not reveal (to them that) my name (is) the LORD . . .
4 And I entered into a solemn covenant with them. Under its terms, I swore to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living.

Notice that God did not say, “I swore to give you the land of Canaan.” He said, “I swore to give them the land of Canaan.” The implication of these words is clear; someday Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be resurrected to receive the land of Canaan.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived their whole lives knowing that God had not and would not fulfill this promise until after many generations. At one point God actually told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a strange land and would be afflicted for 400 years before being brought back into the land of promise.

Even so, Abraham was not discouraged. Hebrews 11 says that:

Hebrews 11:8-10,13 (NLT)
8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave (his) home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.
9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith — for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise.
10 Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
13 All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth.

Why were these men willing to live their whole lives without ever seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise? They believed in the resurrection. The book of Hebrews goes on to say that

Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJ)
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called,"
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Clearly, Abraham’s faith was not weakened by the prospect of death. Death had no bearing on his faith because he knew that God has the ability to raise the dead.

I’m afraid that many times we get wrapped up in the things of this life, and we start feeling that all is lost if things don’t go just this way or that way, but Abraham did not seem to worry about the details of this life. He was able to keep his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the reward that God had promised Him. He knew that there was nothing in this world that could keep him from seeing and obtaining that heavenly city with eternal foundations.

The Apostle Paul expressed pretty much the same idea in Romans, Chapter 8, when he said:

Romans 8:16-18 (NKJ)
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:28-30 (NKJ)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:33,35,38,39 (NKJ)
33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

On the other hand, in I Corinthians 15, Paul said that:

1 Corinthians 15:19-20,23-26 (NLT)
19 . . . if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.
20 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.
24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind.
25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.
26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Notice that here in I Corinthians, Paul gives the order of the resurrections, and He says that the first resurrection after that of Christ will be the resurrection of believers at Christ’s second coming. Then he says that the end will come and death will be destroyed.

Since Christ’s second coming will occur at the end of the tribulation period, it seems apparent that at this point Paul did not see a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period. This timeline of events is in perfect agreement with Revelation, Chapter 20, where the Apostle John said that the “first resurrection” will be before the thousand year reign of Christ, and it will include those who were killed for refusing the mark of the beast. In Revelation 20, and verse 4, John said:

Revelation 20:4-5 (NLT )
4 . . . I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the word of God. And I saw the souls of those who had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)

Clearly, John did not see a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period, but he went on to say that the second resurrection will take place at the end of the thousand year reign when Christ subdues all of His enemies. This will take place at the Great White Throne judgment when all of the unsaved dead are cast into the lake of fire.

The Bible says that the lake of fire is the second death, and as I Corinthians 15 says, this is the time when death as we know it will be destroyed. The death that we are familiar with is one which is not eternal. People today who die without accepting Christ go to a place known as hell or hades, but at the time of the Great White Throne judgment, death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire along with those who are unsaved. .

It is somewhat startling to many people when they see that neither Paul (in I Corinthians 15) or John (in Revelation 20) saw a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period, and unfortunately, many people look at these verses and conclude that the Church of our present age will go through the tribulation period. However, we must not forget that I Corinthians was written during the Acts period before the Church, the Body of Christ, was revealed.

During the Acts period, the Apostle Paul was preaching as a minister of the New Covenant. He was anticipating the tribulation period, the second coming of Christ and the setting up of the kingdom. By the time the Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Timothy and Titus, he had been given the revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Paul said that this revelation was something which none of the other apostles or prophets knew about because it was revealed specifically to Paul. In the letters which he wrote after the Acts period, Paul never even once referred to the second coming of Christ. Instead, he always referred to the appearing of Christ. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he said:

1 Timothy 6:13-14 (NKJ)
13 I urge you in the sight of God . . .
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing,

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy he said:

2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJ)
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

To Titus Paul wrote that we should:

Titus 2:12-13 (NKJ)
12 . . . live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Paul may not have known about the significance of the appearing of Christ when he wrote his Acts period epistles. If he did, he gave no such indication in those letters.

Today, our hope of the pretribulation rapture lies in Paul’s revelation of the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. In this body of truth Paul revealed that the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, is separate and apart from God’s program for Israel.

Therefore, the Church, the Body of Christ, will be taken up into heaven before God resumes his dealings with Israel. Specifically, the rapture and resurrection of the Church will occur at the time of Christ’s appearing for:

Colossians 3:4 (NKJ)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then (we) also will appear with Him in glory.

I see our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to another broadcast of Bible Study Time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Raptures (7-30-06)

The Raptures
Bible Study Time 7-30-06

Last week we looked at the Day of the Lord and the fact that the Prophet Amos said that the Day of the Lord was not a day to which the unbelieving Jews should be looking forward. In fact he said that it would be a day of great darkness without a any brightness at all.

We saw that the Day of the Lord is a general reference to the time when Jesus Christ will rule and reign upon the earth, but Amos was pointing out the fact that the nation of Israel will have to go through the great tribulation period before the blessings of the kingdom come to the earth.

Jesus spoke of the great tribulation period in Matthew, Chapter 24, and said that when the world sees the antichrist proclaiming himself to be God in the temple in Jerusalem, those who are wise will run for cover:

Matthew 24:21 (NKJ)
21 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

During the evil days of the tribulation period, God will allow the antichrist to destroy the unbelieving Jews while the believing remnant will be protected and prepared for the kingdom. The Lord Jesus went on in Matthew 24 to say that:

Matthew 24:29-31 (NKJ)
29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Here we see a rapture of believers at the end of the tribulation period. All of the people in all of the nations will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.

It is interesting to note that the only time the expression “Son of Man” is used in the Old Testament is in Daniel, Chapter 7, where Daniel sees into the future and sees “One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven” to establish a kingdom in which all the nations of the earth serve the Son of Man in an everlasting dominion.

It would seem then that when the Lord Jesus referred to Himself over and over again as the Son of Man, He was making a subtle reference to Daniel, Chapter 7, and to the fact that He was the promised Messiah who will someday come with the clouds of heaven to establish the everlasting kingdom.

In Matthew 24, the time for subtlety had passed as Jesus clearly stated the fact that after the tribulation period, all the world would see Him coming as the Son of Man with the clouds of heaven to establish the kingdom. He said that at that time His angels would sound a great trumpet and gather His elect from one end of heaven to the other.

In I Corinthians, Chapter 15, the Apostle Paul spoke as a minister of the New Covenant. He was anticipating the coming of the Son of Man to establish the New Covenant Kingdom. He said:

I Corinthians 15:50-53 (NKJ)
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Paul was no doubt excited to reveal this great mystery that when the Son of Man returns to gather His elect, He will catch them up into the clouds of heaven and give them a new, glorified body before He descends to the earth to establish the kingdom. Paul said that this was a mystery. It was something that Amos did not know about. It was something that Daniel did not know about, but God used the Apostle Paul to reveal this great mystery that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

It seems that most of the prophets simply envisioned the Messiah coming to the earth to establish the kingdom, but as spectacular as that would be in itself, it’s actually going to be even more spectacular. Paul said that when Christ returns, all believers will get a new, immortal body, whether they are dead or alive. Those living will be raptured and those in the grave will be resurrected. All believers will get a new, glorified body, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Paul said that this would all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. Well, when we look at the last trump of Revelation, Chapter 11, what do you think we find? We find a resurrection and a rapture. Let’s read in Revelation 11 and verse 15:

Revelation 11:15-18 (NKJ)
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: (This is the last of the seven trumpets) And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth."

When the seventh trumpet sounds, that will signal the time when the dead will be judged. When God resurrects the bodies of all believers who have died, that will be a judgment in an of itself. Those who are left in the grave are those who will be resurrected after the thousand year reign of Christ to face the Great White Throne Judgment.

But at the last trump of the tribulation period, the dead will be judged and God will give rewards to the prophets and to the saints. Paul gives us more information about this event in I Thessalonians, Chapter 4, where he says:

I Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NKJ)
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore, as the Son of Man comes down with the clouds of heaven, He will catch up the saints into the clouds to meet Him in the air. Sometime after Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians, he apparently heard that some false teachers were teaching that the resurrection and rapture had already taken place, so he wrote his second letter the Thessalonians to emphasize that the resurrection and rapture which is associated with the Day of the Lord cannot take place until after the antichrist is revealed. In II Thessalonians, Chapter 2, Paul said:

II Thessalonians 2:1-3 (NKJ)
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

All of these things that the Lord Jesus was talking about concerning the tribulation period, and all of these things that John was talking about concerning the seventh trumpet, and all of these things that Paul was talking about in these Acts-period epistles relate to the everlasting dominion which will be given to the Son of Man when He returns with the clouds of heaven.

All of the great men of faith in the Old Testament times knew about and longed for this everlasting kingdom, but it was not until after the apostasy of Solomon’s kingdom that the prophets began to reveal the need for a New Covenant. They said that the covenant given at Mt. Sinai did not have the spiritual power to deliver the people from sin and generate the conditions which would be necessary for the everlasting kingdom.

At the last supper, the Lord Jesus offered the wine and said, “This is my blood of the New Covenant.” After the resurrection of Christ, the Apostles went out as ministers of the New Covenant, but it seems that only the Apostle Paul realized the significance of the New Covenant. He is the only one who actually stated that he was a minister of the New Covenant.

During the time period covered by the book of Acts, Paul went out preaching as a minister of the New Covenant, and he said that one reason for the salvation of the Gentiles was to provoke the nation of Israel to jealousy. In Romans 11, he said:

Romans 11:7,11 (NKJ)
7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

Paul continued to hope and pray that the Jews would accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah so that they could receive the blessings of the kingdom at that time. He continued to look for the coming of the Son of Man who was to come with the clouds of heaven to catch up the Elect, but at the end of the Acts period, God revealed to Paul that the New Covenant had been rejected by the Jews.

God revealed to Paul that the return of the Lord to establish the kingdom had been postponed and that he was to reveal to the world God’s new program for the people of our present age. This program is the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Therefore, after the Acts period, Paul never mentioned the New Covenant again, he never mentioned the earthly kingdom again, he never mentioned the tribulation period or the antichrist again. Instead, he revealed that the Church which is the Body of Christ is a new creation of God in which Jews and Gentiles are brought together in one body and that Christ is the Head of that body.

We today, as members of the Body of Christ, have a heavenly calling rather than an earthly calling. We have nothing to do with the earthly kingdom of Israel’s New Covenant. Rather, we have been seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Paul revealed this program for the Church in the epistles which he wrote after the Acts period. These epistles include Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians as well as his letters to Timothy and Titus. In Colossians, Paul said:

Colossians 1:24-26 (NKJ)
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

Paul said that this mystery concerning the Church, the Body of Christ, completes the word of God. When John wrote about the tribulation period in the book of the Revelation, he did reveal some new details about the tribulation period, but he was not revealing a new program. He was adding to our knowledge of those programs which had already been revealed. He was actually giving the details of the time when the New Covenant program will come back into play and the kingdom will finally be established in and through the believing remnant of the nation of Israel.

But as Paul revealed the details concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ, he shared with us the fact that even before the tribulation period of the New Covenant program begins, the Church which is the Body of Christ will be taken out of this world to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Philippians 3:20 says:

Philippians 3:20-21 (NKJ)
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

In Colossians 3:1 Paul said:

Colossians 3:1-4 (NKJ)
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Therefore, as we approach the end times, we serve the Lord with confidence, preaching the good news that salvation is a free gift from God which is given to all who believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

Well, I see our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Day of the Lord (7-23-06)

The Day of the Lord – Amos 5
Bible Study Time 7-23-06

The Prophet Amos spoke to the nation of Israel and predicted a time of great tribulation and suffering. His words had a near fulfillment and a fulfillment which would come far into the future. He said that the nation of Israel had turned justice into bitterness and had cast righteousness to the ground. The bribes which were given to their judges had deprived the poor of justice. Then Amos said:

Amos 5:16-24 (NIV)
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD God Almighty, says: "There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst," says the LORD. (Now notice what Amos says.)
18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.
20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light-- pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

With His mighty hand, God had delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. He had brought them through the Red Sea on dry land and then to the foot of Mt. Sinai where all of the people agreed to keep the commandments of the Lord. While Moses was up on the mountain, God said:

Exodus 19:5-8 (NKJ)
5 'Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him.
8 Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

The people promised to keep the commandments, but then they refused to go into the promised land so that God could do all that He had promised. Isn’t that just like many people today? They want to live for God by keeping His commandments, but they refuse to accept the salvation of God by putting their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.”

When the Jews refused to go into the promised land, God led them through the wilderness for 40 years and then brought them back to the promised land. This time they believed in the Lord and entered into the kingdom which God had promised.

God drove out the Canaanites who were living it the land, and the Jews lived under a series of judges for many years. Then God used King David to defeat all of the enemies of the Jews and establish a kingdom of peace through all twelve of the tribes of Israel.

However, the full glory of the Old Covenant Kingdom was not realized until David’s son, Solomon, became the king. Under Solomon, the nation of Israel became the envy of all the nations of the earth. Even the Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to listen to the wisdom of Solomon and to see the glory of his kingdom. The Bible says that:

I Kings 10:4-9 (NKJ)
4 . . . when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.
6 Then she said to the king: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.
7 "However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard.
8 "Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
9 "Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness."

Obviously, the glory of Solomon’s kingdom bore witness to all the world that the God of the Jews was the true and the living God and that God is faithful to fulfill His promises. But the glory of Solomon’s kingdom was as nothing in comparison to the everlasting kingdom which God had promised to David.

All of the believing Jews were waiting for the promised Son of David, the Messiah, who would sit upon the throne of David in a worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace. In this kingdom there would be no exploitation of the poor and there would be no corruption among those who hold public office.

So how did Israel fall so far away from God by the time Amos came predicting their doom and destruction. As we saw a few moments ago, God said that He despised their religious feasts and their assemblies.

This passage reminds me of the folks today who think that their primary duty to God is to go to church every Sunday. Make no mistake about it, God loves to see believers who enjoy the fellowship of other believers and rejoice in the teachings of the word of God, but God hates it when people go to church for the wrong reasons. Those who go to church to earn their way to heaven or to make up for the sins of the previous week have already demonstrated their lack of faith in the word of God, and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Amos told Israel that they were facing a time of great tribulation in which God was going to allow justice to roll on like a river. The people had promised to do all that the Lord commanded. They had promised to love the Lord their God with all of their hearts, but they had gone after the pagan gods of the Canaanites which oddly enough can be traced right back to Solomon.

In spite of all the blessings that God had poured out upon Solomon, Solomon was seduced by the pagan gods of his Canaanite wives. Solomon worshiped these pagan gods, and he even built temples to facilitate their worship. As a result, the Bible says that:

I Kings 11:9-12 (NKJ)
9 . . . the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded.
11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
12 "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

True to His word, when Solomon died, God stirred up the hearts of the people in the northern ten tribes, and they went about establishing their own independent nation. They called themselves the nation of Israel while the two remaining southern tribes called themselves the nation of Judah. The Bible tells us that from the very beginning Jeroboam led the nation of Israel into idolatry. He built golden calves for them to worship so that they would not be tempted to travel to Jerusalem to worship as God had commanded.

As the northern tribes worshiped their idols, the prophets continued to proclaim the validity of the promises concerning the future New Covenant Kingdom. The prophets spoke of the coming kingdom and called it the Day of the Lord, but the people mocked the prophets and often joked about the so called “Day of the Lord”.

I’m reminded of the fact that people today often speak flippantly about hell and holiness and even about God, but one of these days everyone will see the seriousness of all of these things. They’ll see what hell really is, and they will see the value of true holiness which can only be found in Jesus Christ.

The people of Amos’ day often spoke of the Day of the Lord as sort of a slang idiom, but Amos seized the opportunity to teach them the seriousness of their words. He said:

Amos 5:18-20 (NKJ)
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

Amos wanted the people of Israel to know that the day of the Lord’s kingdom will surely come, but it will not come until after a day of great tribulation and suffering for all those who refuse to put their trust in the true and the living God. In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul spoke on this very subject. As a minister of the New Covenant, he was looking forward to the fulfillment of all of the promises of the New Covenant, but he knew that many of the Jews would not believe and would, therefore, not inherit the everlasting kingdom. In Romans, Chapter 2, Paul said:

Romans 2:28-29 (NKJ)
28 . . . he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;
29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Then in Romans 8, Paul speaks of the time when the true Sons of God are made manifest. He says that even the creation is eagerly waiting for the revealing of the sons of God,

Romans 8:21-23 (NKJ)
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

In the Day of the Lord, the true sons of God will be revealed by means of the fact they are going to be the ones who will be given glorified bodies. Before the kingdom is established in the Day of the Lord, the saints in the grave will be resurrected and the saints on the earth will be raptured, and both groups will be given glorified bodies.

In Thessalonica, this doctrine had led to some confusion in that some false teachers had come in teaching that the resurrection of believers had already occurred. When Paul heard this, he wrote his second letter to them, saying:

II Thessalonians 2:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Obviously, Paul wanted to dispel any notion that the rapture and resurrection which is associated with the Day of the Lord had already come for that day could not occur until after the coming of the antichrist in the tribulation period. As Amos said, “The Day of the Lord will be darkness, not light – pitch dark, without a ray of brightness.” This will certainly be a dark day for the those who refuse to believe in the Jesus Christ during the tribulation period.

But all of this stands in stark contrast to the last days of the Church which is the Body of Christ, the Church of our present age. We read in the third chapter of both Philippians and Colossians that the Church is looking forward to the day when Christ will simply appear in the glory of heaven. The curtains of heaven will be folded back, and when Christ appears in the glory of heaven, then we shall appear with Him in glory. There is no hint of the tribulation period or the antichrist in either of these passages that relate to the Church of our present age. But after the Church is taken out, the great tribulation period will begin and then it will culminate in the great and terrible Day of the Lord.

I see that our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Process of Time (7-16-06)

The Process of Time
Bible Study Time 7-16-06

It was the Apostle Paul who first gave us an explanation for all of the evil that is so very prevalent in our world today. Early in Paul’s ministry, he went out as a minister of the New Covenant explaining that anybody can become a new creation through simple faith in Christ. This is a powerful doctrine for it teaches that we as human beings can go from being an essentially evil and sinful person to becoming an essentially righteous and holy person.

Obviously, however, an integral aspect of this doctrine is that all humans are essentially sinful and evil until they become a new creation in Christ, and Paul did not back down from that conclusion by any means. Paul said in Romans 7:

Romans 7:18, 21 (NKJ)
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me . . .

As in turns out, if we look back in Chapter 5 of Romans, we see that Paul had already given us a hint as to the origin of man’s propensity for sin. He said:

Romans 5:12 (NKJ)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men . . .

When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, it resulted in the sin nature being passed down to all of his descendants. So with this understanding we should not be alarmed to find a story of envy, hatred and murder in the very first chapter after Adam’s sin. Genesis, Chapter 4, tells us that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground while Abel brought an animal sacrifice. When God refused to accept Cain’s offering, Cain became very angry and ultimately killed Abel.

Now there was no logical reason for Cain to refuse to bring this animal sacrifice. It would have been a simple thing to do, but the devil specializes in making us do some really dumb things. Things that don’t make any sense. And then he is delighted if and when we have to face the consequences of our rebellion.

Many people today are just like Cain. They have chosen not to accept God’s plan for salvation. God has given us the Bible, and He has given us preachers who preach the gospel of the grace of God from pulpits, from street corners, on the radio and on television, but still people refuse to accept the means of salvation which God has provided. The Bible says that:

John 3:16 (KJV)
16 . . . God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Bible warns us that:

John 3:36 (NKJ)
36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; (but) he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

How simple it is for us to have eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Isn’t it strange that so many people respond to God’s grace by stiffening their necks and hardening their hearts? But God is so merciful and so gracious. He gives us opportunity after opportunity to get our hearts right with God. When the Bible speaks of Cain’s offering, it actually says that:

Genesis 4:3 (NKJ)
3 . . . in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.

In other words, Cain decided to bring this sacrifice of fruit to the Lord after the process of time. This implies that God had taken the time to explain to Cain and Abel exactly what kind of an offering they were to bring.

God never requires people to do things without first explaining what things they are suppose to do and how they are suppose to do them. God never brings judgment upon people who have never had the opportunity to change their ways and get right with God. God always provides a process of time in which people have the opportunity to get right with God.

In the case of Cain and Abel, we know that God explained to Cain and Abel what sacrifice to bring because the book of Hebrews says that it was by faith that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. As a matter of fact, it may have been that in the process of time, Cain had brought the proper sacrifice to God on many occasions but then all of a sudden decided that there was no good reason for God to refuse the fruit of the ground which he had grown.

The devil is so good at sneaking in a thought here and a thought there to undermine the word of God, but the fact remains, we are under no obligation to understand the purposes of God, but we are required to take God at His word. Abel just took God at His word and brought an animal sacrifice by faith. He was rewarded with eternal life and was even granted a place in what many people call the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, and I’m sure Abel will be rejoicing throughout all of eternity that he heeded the instructions of the Lord which were given in that process of time.

When we look at the scriptures we see that God has always provided for mankind a process of time for instruction and warning. Peter called Noah a preacher of righteousness, and many Bible scholars believe that Noah preached to the people before the flood for 120 years to warn them of the judgment to come, but through this process of time, only 8 people entered into the ark and were saved from the judgment waters of the flood.

During the years of the Old Covenant Law, God repeatedly warned the nation of Israel about the dangers of not keeping the Law. Even Moses warned them of the curse that would come upon them if they refused to live by the Law. So the Old Covenant Law was in a sense a process of time in which God instructed the people in the ways of the Law and warned them of the consequences of breaking the Law.

John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus came as ministers of the New Covenant and again we see a process of time for instruction and warning. John the Baptist said that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, but he warned them that the coming Messiah would bring a baptism of fire. He said:

Matthew 3:11-12 (NKJ)
11 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

The Lord Jesus taught that He had come to give life and life more abundant. He said, “If you seek, you will find. If your ask, you will receive. If you knock, the door will be opened unto you.” He said:

John 6:51 (NKJ)
51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever . . .

John 7:37-38 (NKJ)
37 (He said) "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

John 11:25-26 (KJV)
25 Jesus said . . ., I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die . . .

But as the Lord spread the good news of the kingdom, He also warned the nation of Israel about the consequences of unbelief. He said:

John 15:1,2,5,6 (NKJ)
1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

When the Lord Jesus offered up His life on the cross, He was shedding the blood of the New Covenant. After the cross there was again a process of time in which the Apostles went out declaring that Jesus was the Christ and that He had been raised from the dead. They warned the nation of Israel that the great and terrible Day of the Lord was at hand and that it was time to repent and get their hearts right with God.

In the Apostle Paul’s early ministry, he went out as a minister of the New Covenant and warned the Jews in Romans, Chapter 9, that only a small remnant of the nation of Israel will ultimately be saved and inherit the kingdom, but then in Romans, Chapter 11, he said that someday all Israel will be saved. Well, how does Paul go from a small remnant being saved to all Israel being saved? Obviously, in the kingdom all Israel will be saved but before the kingdom God is going to purge the nation of Israel, and all those who are not abiding in Jesus Christ will be cast into the fires of judgment.

In this process of time, Israel rejected Jesus as her Messiah, and God temporarily set aside the New Covenant program. At that point, God called the Apostle Paul to reveal the Church of our present age, the Church which is the Body of Christ. Our present age is one in which God is demonstrating His mercy and His grace. He is not overtly sending specific judgments upon people for specific sins, but He is using this time as a time of instruction and warning about the judgments to come.

Sometimes we hear people after a natural disaster who say that God sent that disaster as a specific judgment for this sin or that sin, but God is not working that way today. Today, God is demonstrating that He is full of longsuffering and grace. This is the age in which God is simply opening up his arms to receive all those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.

Now I have to admit that when I see some of the terrible destruction and death that accompanied some of our recent natural disasters, I have to wonder if God is not giving the world a small taste of the suffering that lies ahead for this planet. I think that if I were lost, it would make me want to get my heart right with God.

And if you are listening this morning and you don’t know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, I hope that you will consider the things that lie ahead for this world. Someday in the future, and it may be very soon, God will catch up His Church to be with Him in heaven and then this age of God’s grace will end, and the very next thing on the calendar for the citizens of the earth is the great tribulation period.

We can be thankful today that we are still in the process of time which God is using to instruct and warn people like he did Cain so many years ago. God is using this time to bring to Himself all those who will heed His call. Those who heed His call will be saved from the wrath to come, and they will rejoice with all of the faithful throughout eternity.

God instructed Abel to bring an animal sacrifice and because of his faith he was given eternal life. Today God has provided the Lord Jesus as our sacrifice for sin, and all those who are willing to put their trust in His finished work upon the cross are given eternal life. It’s just that simple. As Paul told the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’s been a pleasure being with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to being with again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/