Biblical Moments with Frank King

According to the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, we should exhort one another. And we should do that even more as we approach the day of the Lord. So, by default, all of us have been given the ministry of exhortation. To exhort means to encourage. The local church is uniquely equipped for the ministry of exhortation. That’s because we understand each other in terms of our desire to learn of Christ and to follow Him. We understand the unique challenges of being in this world but not being of it. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses the importance of self-encouragement. In the days of King David, he and his army came from war to find that the Amalekites had destroyed their city and taken their wives and children captive. David and his men were devastated. “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of the people was grieved…(1 Samuel 30:6a, KJV). Why did the men of David’s army want to stone him? They were looking for somebody to blame and to direct their anger toward. David was the king, so they all blamed him. If he hadn’t taken them out to war, the Amalekites would not have been able to carry out their ambush. But of course, David was just as hurt as the rest of them. He had two wives. And both were gone. But the people were hurt so they directed their anger toward their leader. So, how did David respond to the wrath of his army? “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (verse 6b). When Nothing Else Will Do It’s those times like the one David found himself in that reveal what we are made of. If you want to persist in feeling sorry for yourself, there is little anyone can do to help you move forward. If you want to wallow in pity, no one can make you feel encouraged. You can come to church every week and have people calling and pouring into you and you can still stay in the dumps--if you want to. But if you choose to respond that way, it says something negative about your relationship with God. Why should you abide in despair when we serve the living God? It’s good that we can come to church and be encouraged by the Word of God and the people of God. But when nothing else will do, you must know how to encourage yourself—in the Lord.

In this episode, Evangelist Frank King encourages believers to stay with the truth found in God’s word. How often do we encourage other believers to do that? First, we must know what the truth is before we can stay with it. One thing we know is that not every faith is of the truth. If they were, everyone’s faith would agree with everybody else’s. And we know that’s not the case. But Jesus said to God, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17, NASB). In Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, he rebukes the believers there for their abandonment of the truth for another gospel. He writes, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel (Galatians 1:6, NASB). One takeaway from these words of Paul is that just because a person has been presented with the truth does not safeguard that person from ending up in error. To prevent the latter from happening, it is incumbent upon the individual to stay with the truth. The Galatians had been presented with the gospel of Christ. But they chose to turn away from the truth to embrace another gospel. A Warning for These Last Days This episode is entitled, “Staying with the truth. That’s what we are talking about. That’s what Paul was challenging the church at Galatia to do. Also, in his first epistle to Timothy, Paul issued a related warning concerning the last days. “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” Paul wrote (1 Timothy 4:1, NASB). Note how those believers whom he refers to will end up departing from the faith. They will give heed to demonic spirits and teachings. We do well to heed Paul’s abovementioned words to the Galatians and to Timothy. Again, just because a person has been presented with the truth does not safeguard that person from ending up in error. To safeguard oneself from that undesirable fate, it is incumbent upon the individual to stay with the truth.

We live in an increasingly dangerous world. We must give due attention to our personal protection. On the other hand, there are serious limits to the extent we can protect ourselves. In this episode, Frank King addresses God’s ability to protect you. The mounting dangers around us are changing our way of life and the landscape of our cities. We have security systems in our houses. Because of hackers, we have multiple layers of security on our computers. Due to threats of terrorism, we have physical barriers around our high-risk facilities, etc. The reason our faith in God is important in this matter is because faith gives us a healthy response to the dangers at hand. And the goal of this episode is to encourage you to believe that no matter what you see going on around you that God is able to protect you. In Psalm 91, the psalmist addresses the subject of divine protection. But this psalm does not apply to every believer. That’s an important point because sometimes we embrace promises in the Scriptures that don’t apply to us. Or promises that we have not properly positioned ourselves to receive the fulfillment of. As for the applicability of the psalm, the psalmist writes, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1, NASB). Those who dwell in “the shelter of the Most High” are those who have chosen to make the Lord their dwelling place (verse 9). These are they that Psalm 91 applies to. How God Protect Us The psalmist makes some phenomenal statements about God’s ability to protect us. The question is, how does He accomplish that protection? According to verse 11, God gives His angels charge over us to keep us. We can’t see them, but angels are all around us. They are under divine orders to protect those who love and fear the Lord. Some people may say that they will just be super careful and protect themselves. But being super careful is not enough. We don’t have to go looking for danger, but danger will come looking for us. Of course, we should do what we can to protect ourselves from danger. But that alone is not nearly enough. In times like these, only God has the absolute ability to protect us.

We should always be moving forward in our relationship with the Lord and in our knowledge of Him. For that to happen, we must grow in spiritual insight as well. As the term implies, spiritual insight refers to insight into or knowledge of spiritual things, particularly those things that have bearing our relationship with Christ. That is the subject of this episode. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul said he made mention of the congregation in his prayers (Ephesians 1:16). He prayed that God would give them “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (verse 17). This was to the intent that their understanding would be enlightened (verse 18). In effect, Paul prayed for the people’s spiritual insight to be increased. Paul mentioned three areas he wanted the people to increase in understanding: As Paul the apostle prayed for the church at Ephesus, we do well to pray that God will impart to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Why? That the eyes of our understanding might be enlightened about the greatness of who we are in Him. If we fail to receive spiritual insight from God and His Word about these things, we are left with our own understanding of who we are in Christ. Our thinking will be far below where God’s thinking is because His ways are so much higher than ours. When we read what God says for us to do, at times we may be tempted to say, I can’t do that. But as we gain spiritual insight and get the right revelation of who we are in Christ, we learn that we can do what God says that we should.

Sometimes, making sense of what God is doing in your life is nearly impossible. Or of what He is saying through what you are going through. God tends to not do things in a straightforward way. It’s seldom possible to look at where you are and say you can see where God is taking you. In this episode, Frank reminds us that when God is in the process of blessing us, what we are experiencing may not feel or look like a blessing. That’s why we must walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Consider Joseph, the son of Jacob. He was his father’s favorite son. That brought about much envy from his brothers. When the opportunity came, the brothers did Joseph dirty. They put him in a pit and eventually sold him to some merchants. They in turn took him and sold him in Egypt. At the time, Joseph was only 17, and he was the second youngest of the twelve sons. After they sold him, they took his coat his dad had made, killed a goat and dipped the coat in blood. Then they brought the bloody coat to their dad, saying they had found the coat. So Jacob believed his son was dead. Meanwhile, in Egypt where Joseph had been sold, he was accused by his master’s wife of trying to rape her. For that, he was put in prison. But God was with Joseph (Genesis 39:2). Eventually, Joseph got out of prison and became the most powerful man in Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh. Working Good Through Our Bad To be sure, when Joseph’s brothers threw him in the pit and sold him, making sense of what was going on was impossible. He certainly didn’t feel blessed at that time. But once he got in Egypt, God caused him to prosper in his master’s house. Then God gave him favor in prison. Finally, God promoted him to power in Egypt. It was then that Joseph could see the hand of God working in his life. Accordingly, after Joseph had risen to power, he shared with them his amazing perspective on his painful past. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive,” he said (Genesis 50:20, KJV). Similarly, you may not be able to make sense of what God is doing in your life. But He knows what He's doing. And if you trust Him, things will work out in your favor.

Most if not all of us would agree that the times we live in today are spiritually much darker than they were 20 years ago. So many people today are dealing with a variety of overwhelming issues. What we are seeing is nothing less than the ramped-up works of the devil. The Bible says he is the prince of the power of the air, which is the spirit at work in the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). The good news is that God’s saving power is just as real and powerful today as it was in the days of Jesus and the apostles. In this episode, Frank King addresses God’s power to save sinners. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he refers to himself as the chief of sinners. Before his conversion, Paul hated those who loved Christ. This means Paul, then known as Saul, was a terrible person. In his epistle, he also refers to himself as a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious (1 Timothy 1:13, KJV). On the other hand, that very fact makes Paul’s salvation experience the perfect example of God’s power to save sinners. An Important Take Away for Sinners What is the main point we should take away from Paul’s salvation experience? He writes, “For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (verse 16, KJV). In the verse, Paul highlights God’s longsuffering. What is longsuffering? It is the ability to hold your peace while being provoked. Can you imagine how Paul’s actions before his conversion must have provoked the Lord? But God remained patient with Paul. Paul said God did that as a pattern or an example for other unbelievers going forward. You see, one of the reasons for the Lord’s tarry today is His longsuffering toward the lost. And Paul said God saved him as an example of His longsuffering. He was chief of the sinners. Accordingly, he was the perfect example of God’s power to save sinners. Some unbelievers believe they are too bad for God to be interested in them. But if they seriously consider Paul the apostle’s experience, they might have a change of heart. Also, if you are reading this post, and you don’t know the Lord as your Savior, know that God is more than able to save you and use you for His glory. For the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

Repentance is a change of mind that results in the turning of one’s heart to God. Hence, whenever genuine repentance occurs, at least two things happen. The person has a change of mind, and the person’s heart is turned toward God. In this episode, Frank King addresses the importance and the power of the message of repentance. The message of repentance can be offensive. In effect, it sheds light on a person’s current or past misconduct. And no matter how lovingly you convey it, people take the message personally. Some people today are down on the message of repentance. They argue that under the grace dispensation, repentance is not required even for salvation. But when John the Baptist came, he preached the message of repentance. When Jesus came, He confirmed the need to repent. In Luke 13:3, He said to the people, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. In Acts 3:19, Peter told the people to repent so their sins may be blotted out. Jonah the Prophet's Message God sent Jonah the prophet to preach to the people of Nineveh. His message was simple. He said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:5, KJV). Jonah’s message was one of the most efficient sermons in all the Bible. According to the Scriptures, it was a one liner. It yielded a penitent response unlike any other place in the Bible. “The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” God responded favorably to the people’s response to Jonah’s message. He changed His mind and chose to not destroy Nineveh as He had intended. Hence, God used Jonah’s simple but in-your-face message to bring the city to repentance and to avert God’s judgment. Every genuine Christian has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9, KJV). Continued misconduct in the eyes of God grieves the Holy Spirit. But God does not want you going around carrying the load of guilt and/or shame. Instead, He wants you to turn your heart toward Him, so you can be freed from that guilt or shame. That’s what the message of repentance is all about.

Generally speaking, everybody today is traveling on one of two roads. They are either on the right road or the wrong road. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses these two roads in life. During His public ministry, Jesus warned His followers about the road that leads to destruction. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat” He said (Matthew 7:13, KJV). In effect, Jesus is telling us to not follow the crowd because the majority is wrong. This goes against the grain of human logic. It feels right to us to blend in with the crowd and not to “stick out like a sore thumb.” But the truth is that most people in the world today are headed in the wrong direction. Jesus says the way that leads to life is narrow and few find it (verse 14). Think about that word find. The primary way we find something is by looking for it. Of course, sometimes you find something by stumbling upon it. But the main way you find something is by looking for it. Jesus is the way that leads life. He says no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). Hence, the way that leads to life is a restricted road. It’s not all-inclusive. One does not get to have it his way. That’s why few will find the road and gate that leads to life. That Was Then, This Is Now Jesus gave this warning about the two roads in life 2000 years ago. Even then, He says the majority was on the wrong road. In other words, this was not some prophetic teaching about the last days. Jesus was speaking to the people of His day. But the problem has become worse today. That is, wider is the gate and broader is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be who enter there. Ironically, what we see happening today is the Christian church trying to be more like the world. You don’t see the world trying to be like the church. But in some ways, the church is trying to be more like the world. However, Jesus says the world is on the wrong road. How crazy is that? Of course, we are called to reach the world for Christ. Our message must be relevant to the world we are called to reach. On the other hand, we can’t change the world through trying to be like the world. Nor can we add to the gospel by taking from its message to appease the world. “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.”

A Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Jesus told the man he needed to be born again. Then Jesus explained the plan of God for the lost more completely. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,” Jesus said (John 3:14, KJV). The event Jesus alluded to is recorded in the book of Numbers. The people of God were in the wilderness. During their journey, God led them around the city of Edom, which was longer than going directly through it. The people became discouraged and started railing against Moses. They accused him of having brought them in the wilderness to die. God judged their complaining and sent fiery serpents against them. These serpents had the sting of death and many of the people died (Numbers 21:6). After the people humbled themselves, God told Moses to place a brazen serpent on a pole. Whoever looked upon the brazen serpent on the pole, after having been bitten, would live (verse 8). It was not enough for Moses to place the brazen serpent on the pole. The victim had to physically look upon the serpent on the pole to live. The Only Cure for the Sting of Death The brazen serpent on the pole was a foreshadow of lifting up Jesus. We all received the sting of death because of Adam’s disobedience in the garden. The only cure available for this sting of death is Jesus. Just as the people in the wilderness had to look upon the serpent for healing, sinners must look to and believe in Jesus to be healed. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that God is the Author of this plan of salvation through Christ. Because of His obedience to the cross, God has highly exalted Him. Whosoever believes on Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). It stands to reason that if we want to see more people saved, the church must become more diligent in lifting up Jesus. But we have allowed our voice for Christ to become muted in the public discourse. Everything else is being lifted up in the world. We need to do the same with regard to the name and person of Jesus Christ. Churchgoers know how to exalt the name of Jesus when they come together at the house of God. But not so much after the leave the house of God. Not so much in the office or among relatives who don’t know the Lord. We should exalt the name and person of Christ when we gather. But even more so, we must lift Him up before a dying world. He is the only One who can save us from the sting of death through sin.

In this episode, Frank King addresses something we seldom talk about in the church today. The Bible has much to say about it. That is the subject of moral failure. This involves an act that a person carries out when he knows he should not carry it out. For Christians, our source for knowing what we should or should not do is the Word of God. Though Christians are born again, they can still experience moral failure. That’s because they are yet clothed in corruptible flesh. It is important to state that no degree of moral excellence will get us into heaven. On the other hand, we are called to live our life to bring glory to the Lord. A lifestyle marked by immoral behavior cannot accomplish that end. Frank explains that when fellow believers fail morally, we should be firm toward them when we need to be firm. For instance, when a person keeps repeating the same kind of offenses and claims to be a believer. At other times, we should be compassionate toward those overcome by moral failure. Equally, we need wisdom to know when to do which. Who Is Qualified to Help A problem in today's church is that some congregants are like the scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery to the temple to Jesus. They acted as if they wanted to do the right thing toward the woman. But they were just using her and her moral failure to try to entrap Jesus (John 8:6). They didn’t care about how humiliated and demoralized the woman must have felt. It was all about exploiting her failure to do evil in the house of God. Some people in the church today are like those religious leaders in Jesus’ day. They love exposing the failure of others to make themselves appear morally superior. So, the all-important question is who in church is best suited for ministering to those who have failed morally. Some in the church are not qualified for this ministry. About that, Paul writes, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted” (Galatians 6:1, NASB). So, according to this verse, those who are spiritual in the church should be the ones to reach out to the person who needs to be ministered to after his or her misdeed.

Trust is defined as the firm belief that God is faithful, reliable, and true to His promises. But oftentimes, when we say we are trusting God, it’s hard to determine if we really are when we have alternatives at the same time. The more resources we have, the more difficult it can be to determine how much we are really trusting God as opposed to just saying that we are. In this episode, Frank King says it is when we have no “Plan B” that we must truly trust God. That is when He is most glorified. And to glorify Him is what we have been called to do. Possibly, for all of us, times will come when our resources, no matter how vast they are, can't help us. That’s when God is calling us to trust Him completely. The question is, will our faith rise to the occasion. Furthermore, we are commanded to live our life fully trusting God. The psalmist writes, “Trust in the Lord with all heart. And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. And He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NASB). Gideon's Experience In the days of the Judges, God called a man by the name of Gideon to lead His people against the Midianites. The children of Israel had done evil in the sight of God (Judges 6:1). He in turn delivered them into the hands of the Midianites for seven years. That’s why they were where they were. It was at the end of those seven years of bondage that God called on Gideon to lead His people. The Midianites were a fierce army. Gideon was intimidated by the task. He asked God to show him some signs that He would be with him, which God did. Gideon started out with an army of 32,000 men. But God said to him, “The people who are with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hand. For Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own has delivered me’” (Judges 7:2, NASB). Through a series of events, God reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 men to 300 men. God told Gideon he was now ready to go and fight. With only 300 men, Gideon had no choice but to trust the Lord. If you desire to do anything relevant for the Lord, you must trust Him for a successful outcome. You can’t effectively do in your own strength what He is calling us to do. But if you trust Him, He will show Himself faithful on your behalf. That was Gideon’s experience.

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NASB). These words penned by Paul the apostle underscore the importance of believing in the bodily resurrection of Christ. Our eternal salvation depends upon it. That is the focus of this Easter episode by Frank King. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul addressed the church members who said there is no resurrection of the dead. “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen,” Paul said (1 Corinthians 15:13, KJV). But what we preach and what we celebrate this time of the year is that Jesus did rise from the dead, according to the Scriptures. Paul also saw the church’s argument that there is no resurrection from the dead as an attack on the credibility of the apostles. He said, “We are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not” (verse 15). All the apostles saw the Lord Jesus Christ with their own eyes. The original twelve were with Him throughout His public ministry. After He returned to heaven, they became witnesses of His life, His death, and His bodily resurrection. A false witness is a person who claims to have seen something that he has not seen. That’s, in effect, what the apostles would be, Paul argued, if there is no resurrection of the dead. Believing Having Not Seen Just as it was in the church at Corinth, some who listen to this episode may not believe in the resurrection of the dead. These wrestle with the idea of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Perhaps many who attend church weekly have the same struggle. This is not a minor issue. Rather, it is a matter of eternal consequences. That’s why Paul so passionately addressed the subject in his letter to the church. According to the Scriptures, early on that first day of the week, God raised Jesus bodily from the grave. He took victory from the grave and the sting out of death. Because He lives, those who believe in Him will live forevermore. And that’s what we celebrate this awesome time of the year we call Easter. Everything we hope for and live for rests upon the fact that God raised Christ bodily from the grave. That’s why this is such a big deal for us. And why Paul was inspired to challenge the unbelievers in the church on this matter. But accepting the bodily resurrection of Christ is a matter of faith. None of us have witnessed it. No one can show us infallible proof of the same. “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,” Jesus said (John 20:29, KJV).

No matter how long you live as a Christian, plenty room will always exist in your life to become more like Christ. The good news is that God is still working in your life toward that end. This episode addresses God’s progressive work in our life. The basis of this episode is found in the words of Paul in his letter to the Philippians. There he writes, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, KJV). Note that Paul refers to God’s work in us as a “good work.” Furthermore, until the day of Christ, should we live until then, God will be working to perfect His good work in us. Accordingly, we must be careful and not judge a person based upon some current snapshot we see of the person. Every genuine believer in Christ is a good work in progress. How we see someone today is no indication of who he will be tomorrow. That this is true attests to God’s progressive work in us. He wants to make and mold each of us into the image of His Son. It is important to note that this episode is not about salvation. Salvation is an instant and complete work of God in our life. If someone were to genuinely accept Christ as his or her Savior today and die tonight, that person will go to be with the Lord. This episode, however, addresses our spiritual growth, which is not instant but ongoing. Cooperating with the Process We can impede God’s progressive work in our life. We should instead cooperate with what God is doing in us. He does not force change upon our life. This is the reason some Christians grow more quickly than others do. Imagine that you are on the interstate, and you find out that some road work is going on. The exit you need to take is closed temporarily. So, you must go down a couple more exits and then take some back roads to get to where you are going. Going that way still gets you to your destination; it’s just a longer route because of the roadblock. That’s the situation with God’s efforts to further His work in some Christians’ lives. They build personal detours and roadblocks to what God wants to accomplish in their life. So, He has to work through those issues with them. He can still get them where He wants to take them. But it takes longer when we don’t cooperate with His ongoing good work in us.

We all have physical, emotional, and mental limitations. That means a limit exists as to how much we can be subjected to physically, emotionally, or mentally. No one is an exception to that reality. Consider our men and women in the military. Upon entry, they are mentally and physically strong. But even for them, a limit exists as to what they can be subjected to before they become overwhelmed physically, emotionally, or mentally. Hence, it’s not unusual for some of them to return from the horrors of war experiencing mental and emotional trauma. The reason this is true is because God has not made any of us to carry the weight of our world upon our own shoulders. Those who try to do so will learn that to be true. Our ability to endure and overcome overwhelming situations in life is a function of our relationship with the Lord. This episode addresses four Christian principles that every Christian should incorporate into his or her life. We have not arrived just because we have accepted Christ as our Savior and become born again. When we do those things, we have only just begun. Of course, doing that is enough to get us into heaven. But meanwhile, we must live down here. And our adversary the devil wants to destroy us. About that Peter writes, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8, KJV). Paraphrase: If you are a Christian, the devil is your enemy, and he wants to destroy you. That’s why the Christian principles discussed in this episode are important. They will help you become more victorious, in spite of the enemy’s assaults against you. Incorporating these principles into your life is not a requirement for salvation. Rather, they are a matter of your quality of life as a Christian. They will enable you to live a more effective and fulfilled Christian life. The better you are at incorporating these Christian principles into your life, the stronger and more rooted in the faith your life will be.

What happens to a person when the Lord saves him or her? Is there any power in that experience? Or is the subject of salvation no more than religious jargon? This episode addresses three life-changing effects of a genuine salvation experience. In his first epistle, John writes these words: “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4, KJV). Now that’s blunt language. But it does not get any clearer than that. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become born again through faith. Through that born-again experience, our life radically changes. We become a new creation; old things are passed away; all things become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Because of that reality, John can write so emphatically in the two verses above. Somebody may argue that although he lives like he doesn’t know God, the truth is that he does know Him. But according to what John writes, the way you know that you know God is that you keep His commandments. And if you don’t, you are lying. We conclude then that one way salvation changes your life is that you will thereafter keep the Lord’s commandments. It's important to note that the message in these verses is not that you MUST keep the Lord’s commandments to be saved. Rather, because you are saved, you WILL keep His commandments. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses two other powerful ways salvation changes your life. What’s so amazing about the ways salvation changes your life is God’s simple plan for experiencing these life-changing benefits. Simply put, you must repent of your sins, confess Christ as Lord, and believe that God has raised Him from the dead.

The Bible contains numerous accounts of men and women who successfully walked with God while on earth. We share something in common with them. They successfully walked with God, and we are currently striving to do the same. This episode focuses our attention on the men and women of the Bible whose faith enabled them to receive a good report. According to the writer of the book of Hebrews, these heroes of faith, “Having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise” (Hebrews 11:39, KJV). We tend to think that if someone says he has faith in God to receive something and he does not receive it, he must not have had faith. According to the verse, however, these servants obtained a good report by faith even though they did not receive the fulfillment of the promise. It can be hard to remain faithful to God when you are not receiving what you are believing Him for. But that’s what real faith is all about. What is the promise they did not receive? This is a reference to Jesus Christ. These faithful servants didn’t live to see the fullness of blessings that would come through the promised Messiah. Still, these men and women remained faithful while living in anticipation of these greater promises. The writer refers to the men and women of faith mentioned in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, as our cloud of witnesses. He says we are “compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). A witness is someone who has experienced or seen something firsthand. The heroes of faith mentioned in the book of Hebrews are witnesses because they know firsthand what it takes to receive a good report through faith. From the beginning of the Bible until the end, we have testimony after testimony of real people who had real challenges. They walked with God by faith, and they overcame. According to the Bible, the things that happened to them were written for our examples.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” Jesus said (John 14:6, KJV). To those outside Christendom, this is one of the most arrogant statements Christians can make. Frank King expounds on these powerful words of Jesus in this episode. We have countless religions to choose from today. And in America, we have the right to freedom of religion. Ironically, when it comes to knowing and getting right with God the Creator, you don’t get to exercise freedom of religion. That worldview goes against the grain of our culture. In virtually everything, we have options. But in this matter of eternal consequences, Jesus says, in effect, we don’t have options. Christology is the area of Christian theology pertaining to the person, nature, and role of Christ. These aspects of Christ lay at the very foundation of Christianity. For a religious community to be deemed Christian, it must adhere to the biblical teachings regarding the person, nature and role of Christ. We can disagree many things and still be fellow Christians. But not on these vital truths about the person of Christ. After proclaiming Himself to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus drops the bomb. He says, “No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6, NASB). Hence, to come to the Father, we must follow the Way He showed us. Accept the Truth He taught. And receive Life through faith in Him.

In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses our need for time-management and setting priorities. He says these are two of the keys to success in life. God has given us only 24 hours in a day to work with. We must know what’s important in life and learn how to be a good steward of our time. There is a limit to how much we can prevent life from imposing itself upon us. Each of our lives is inseparably connected with the lives of others. For instance, you may have to help care for an elderly parent or family member. You didn’t ask for that, but you have it. The only way we can get through the challenges of life is by determining what’s important and disciplining ourselves to focus on those things first. Think about Jesus. While He was on earth, He was clothed in human flesh. Hence, He was physically confined. He couldn’t be everywhere solving everybody’s problem. He didn’t try to because that was not His mission. He knew what His mission was, He focused on the mission, and He did that with perfection. We tend to overrate the importance of some things in our life at the expense of other things that truly are important. It may be a hobby or a personal routine. For instance, your daily trip to Starbucks for coffee, or your weekly trip to the golf course. Those things in the lives of some people are overrated. At the same time, they underrate some things that really are important. With time, life will become increasingly more demanding upon our limited time. The best single thing you can do to succeed is to make it a priority to spend time alone with the Lord each day. Your time with Him will positively impact every aspect of your day.

Many people who read the Bible don’t value it as they should. That’s because they don’t know how to properly use it for life. In this episode, Frank King teaches on how to experience victory in life through the Word. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he writes, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11, KJV). The armor of God refers to the weaponry God gives us to fight with as opposed to physical armor. The wiles Paul refers to in this verse refer to deceitful strategies. They lie at the heart of everything the devil does. He is a liar and a deceiver. But according to this verse, through the armor of God, we can endure and stand against the schemes of the devil. Paul refers to the wiles of the devil because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood. Rather, our fight is with the rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (verse 12). We know how to fight against flesh and blood because we were born with that ability. We have perfected how to do that over the years. The problem, however, is that our ability to fight against flesh and blood means nothing to the devil. He is our real enemy, and he is not flesh and blood. He often uses people against us. But the real enemy are those demonic entities Paul mentions. They are the ones we must know how to successfully fight to experience victory in life. The Sword of the Spirit Though Paul addresses the full armor of God, this episode focuses on one piece of the armor—the Word of God. Paul refers to God’s Word as the sword of the Spirit (verse 17). That makes it an offensive weapon. The Greek word translated as “Word” in this case is “rhema.” It does not refer to the Word of God in its entirety. Rather, it is the portion of God’s Word that we speak or apply at the right time for the situation at hand. We must use it as our sword against the enemy, if we want to have victory in life.

The word “salvation” is extremely popular in the Christian community. Why not? That is our ultimate goal in this life. But for those who don’t know our Christian jargon, the term salvation can be somewhat of a mystery. In this episode, Frank King shares four benefits of salvation. It is in chapter 5 of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome that he shares these important benefits of salvation. The very first word in the chapter is the word “therefore.” That’s because in chapter 5, Paul is continuing his discourse from the end of chapter 4. Paul ended that chapter making the case for justification by faith and not by works. Paul’s objective in chapter 5 is to reveal some of the benefits enjoyed by those who have been justified by faith. For instance, he writes, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1, KJV). So, one of the benefits of salvation is that we have peace with God. According to the verse, the reason we enjoy peace with God is because we have been justified by faith. To be justified means to be declared a just person in the eyes of God. When Jesus died on the cross for us, He paid the penalty for our sins. And when we place our faith in Him and His bodily resurrection, God declares us to be righteous. That means He regards us as being freed from the penalty of sin. Accordingly, He is no longer at odds with us because of sin. Instead, we are at peace with God. In the following verses, Paul reveals several other benefits of salvation that Evangelist Frank King addresses in this episode of the podcast. So many people in the world today need to experience the life-changing benefits of God’s salvation. When was the last time you invited someone to accept Christ?