Biblical Moments with Frank King

Victory in Life Through the Word of God (Episode 129)

Many people who read the Bible don’t value it as they should. For some, it'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 works through people to oppose 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 whole 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" (hRAY-ma). This word 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 learn how to use the Word of God as our sword against the enemy, if we want to have victory in life.
Many Christians understand the basic message of the Bible, but they don’t how to properly apply the Word to the situation at hand. This is a main reason they fail to experience victory in life against the enemy.
A good example of the principle of rhema at work is when the devil came against Jesus to tempt Him in the wilderness. This account is recorded in Matthew chapter 4. Notice that in each instance, Jesus knew the right scriptural thing to say to the devil at the right time. Jesus’ responses were preceded by words, “it is written.”
Jesus overcame the devil through the Word. After His third response to the devil, the devil retreated, and angels came and ministered to Jesus (Matthew 4:11).

Four Benefits of Salvation (Episode 128)

The word “salvation” is a household word the Christian community. That's understandable. It 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. He 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 exclusive to 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, our sins no longer separate us from Him. 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. To listen to this episode, click the play button above.
Inviting Others to Christ
Oftentimes, when reaching out to others to accept Christ, we tell them about John 3:16. Or perhaps Romans 10:9. These are perhaps the most popular verses used for that occasion. We may choose to not go any deeper than those verses when witnessing to someone about accepting Christ. But the person may ask you what’s the rest of the story. How will believing in the promises of those verses change my life? Paul the apostle speaks to that question in Romans, chapter 5.
So many people in the world today need to experience the life-changing benefits of God’s salvation. That’s why it’s vital that Christians share their faith with the lost. You don’t have to be a theologian for God to use you to reach the lost for Christ. All the benefits of salvation Paul reveals happen automatically when a person chooses to accept your invitation to follow Christ.
It happens that way because we are laborers together with God. He is with us. We plant and water, but He is the One who gives the increase for our efforts.
When was the last time you invited someone to accept Christ?

Preparing for the Coming of the Lord (Episode 127)

Sad but true, many churchgoers today are not prepared for the coming of the Lord. Jesus warned us about that during His time on earth. He said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’” (Matthew 7:22, NASB). “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…’” (verse 23).
In this episode, Frank King addresses the importance of us being properly prepared for the coming of the Lord. People often talk passively about the Lord’s return. For instance, they may have a favorite verse they often quote about His return. Or they look at the signs of the times around us and say something like, we must be close to the Lord’s return. But the question is, how seriously do we take the idea of the coming of the Lord?
Jesus taught a parable about ten virgins going to meet the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Of course, the bridegroom is a foreshadow of Jesus. The virgins represent those who aspired to attend the marriage feast. The fact that they are referred to as virgins denotes their purity. Still, Jesus referred to five of the virgins as foolish.
These five failed to be adequately prepared to wait for and to meet the bridegroom. Unlike the wise virgins, they did not take enough oil for their lamps. Their lamps went out at the worst time possible. So, they could not go and meet the bridegroom at midnight. Accordingly, they missed out on attending the wedding feast.
The "Oil" We Need
In the parable, Jesus focused on the oil. The wise virgins took adequate oil for their lamps, but the foolish virgins didn’t. In the Bible, oil often represents the Holy Spirit. An analogy can be made between some churchgoers today and the foolish virgins. The latter were not prepared to meet the bridegroom because they had no oil. Similarly, any churchgoer who does not have the Spirit of God indwelling himself is not prepared for the coming of the Lord.
Jesus told Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3, KJV). Many people today attend church regularly. They join in singing songs of worship and praise, and they listen to the Word of God being preached. But they lack a born-again experience through Christ. They are like the five foolish virgins in this parable. It’s not an option. We must be born again. That’s how we get that spiritual oil, the Holy Spirit.
In the parable, all ten virgins went to meet the bridegroom. But the foolish virgins, to put it in modern-day language, were just playing church. They hung out with the real folks, but they themselves lacked diligence in preparing to meet the Lord. They chose to wing it and hoped it would turn out all right—but it didn’t.

Having a Different Spirit (Episode 126)

The most transformative aspect of becoming a Christian is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. That’s how Christ lives in us. We may look the same as the world does on the outside. But on the inside, we have a different spirit. And people should be able to see the evidence of Christ living in us. In this episode, Frank King focuses on this unique spirit living in us.
When the Israelites came to the land God had promised their fathers, Moses sent12 spies to evaluate the land. When the spies returned, they revealed that giants lived in the land. The heart of God’s people melted when they heard about the giants. They did not believe God could deliver the land into their hands because of the giants.
But two of the twelve spies believed God could and would give them the land. Caleb said to the people, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30, KJV).
Caleb was not just speaking empty words when he said that. He really believed what he said because of what he believed about God. This we know because of what God said about Caleb:
“But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Numbers 14:24, KJV).
Note two things God said about Caleb. One, he had another spirit, relative to the other spies. Two, he had followed God fully. The point is that a direct correlation exists between a person’s spirit and how he interacts with God.
What Difference Is It Making?
Everyone who has been born again has been given a different spirit. That would be the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God.
But just because you have been born again does not mean you manifest a different spirit in your daily living. You can be born again and still act like, think like, and talk like the everyday unbeliever. A vast difference exists between the Spirit of God being dormant in you and the Spirit of God being alive in you. You can be a Christian and still persist to be carnally minded and worldly minded.
Accordingly, in Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he writes, “I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1, KJV). He called them brethren because they were believers, but he also said they were carnal and not spiritual.
Caleb talked and believed differently from the other spies because God said he had another spirit. Similarly, Christians should talk and act and believe differently from the way this world does because God has put a different spirit on the inside of us.
But the question is, what difference is this new spirit making in your life? You have this divine power to live for and to serve and to fellowship with God. This should radically change how you live in the world, and how we interact with God. But what difference is it making in your life?

The Name of Jesus (Episode 125)

In this episode, Frank King addresses the authority of the name of Jesus when we pray to the Father, and we believe in the authority of Jesus’ name.  According to Philippians 2:9, God has highly exalted the name of Jesus and given Him a name above every other name.
The names of some people in this world carry great authority. For instance, the CEO of a large, powerful company; or the President of the United States, etc. When these individuals sign a document, their name commands respect. But no matter how great a person's name may be in this world, it pales in comparison to the name of Jesus. Every other name is subject to His.
Near the end of Jesus’ time on earth, He instructed His disciples on how to pray going forward. He said, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23, KJV).
This was a major paradigm shift for the disciples. They were used to coming to Him for everything they needed. Why not? He was God in the flesh. He was right there with them. Whatever they needed, He had access to it in heaven.
But He was telling them that was not how it was going to work going forward. He says you will ask me nothing. But whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you. That means going forward, you are to pray to the Father in my name. That is also how we should pray today.
Are You Really Praying in His Name?
Frank King stresses the point that just because you say “in the name of Jesus” at the end of your prayer does not necessarily mean you are praying in the name of Jesus. You are only praying in His name when you pray consistently with the teachings and principles that He taught and modeled while on earth.
For instance, suppose on the job your boss was giving you a difficult time for no apparent reason other than the fact that you are a Christian. No matter what you do and how nice you try to be, he gives you nothing but a hard way to go.
After a while, you are at your wits end. You pray to God and ask Him to bring the fire of judgment upon your wicked boss. Then you end your prayer by saying “in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.”
The truth is that even though you prayed that prayer in the name of Jesus, you have not prayed in His name. Why not? Because that’s not how Jesus taught that we should pray for our enemies. He says, for instance, we should bless those who despitefully use us and persecute us.
Please know that there is prayer and there is effective prayer. The question is do you just want to pray, or do you want to pray effectively?
The point is that if you are not truly praying to God in the name of Jesus through faith in His name, you are not praying effectively. If this were not an important point, Jesus would not have made it so to His disciples.

Why Go to the House of God (Episode 124)

These days, less people attend local churches. Of course, you don’t have to attend church to be saved. And you don’t have to be saved to attend church. So why should one go to the house of God? That is the focus of this podcast episode.
It is not unthinkable that someone who does not currently attend church will ask you why he or she should start attending a local church. What would be your reply?
In Psalm 73, the psalmist highlights an important benefit of going to the house of God. He writes of a time in his life when he lost focus and became spiritually unstable. “As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped,” he writes (Psalm 73:2, KJV). “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (verse 3).
The psalmist is not alone in that area of struggle. Some Christians today believe that since they serve the Lord, they should have more than those who don’t. Accordingly, they have trouble coming to terms with the prosperity of the wicked. The Bible does not denounce having material wealth. In fact, God promises to bless us when we walk with Him. But nowhere in the Bible are we promised that if we serve Him, we will have more materially than everyone who doesn’t serve God. 
In the psalm, the psalmist expands on the prosperity of the wicked that caused him to be envious. He even questioned the value of living a life committed to God. He writes, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure. And I have washed my hands in innocence” (verse 13, NASB)!
A Trip to the House of God
So, how did the psalmist regain his footing? “Until I went to the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end,” he says (verse 17, KJV). At the house of God his eyes became open to see things in proper context. There, he understood what the end of the wicked would be.
Through the psalmist’s experience, we can see a priceless benefit in faithful church attendance. Like him, we need a place we can attend to help us become or remain properly focused. Also, in this episode, Evangelist King shares three facts about every genuine believer. He said because these things are true about us, they are three more reasons it behooves us to faithfully go to the house of God.
It’s important to note that the person the psalmist is talking about in this psalm is himself. Think about that. God used him to write a portion of the Bible, and he had a moment in which he failed to see the benefit of living for God. The good news is that God uses fallible people to do extraordinary things.
Finally, the writer of the book of Hebrews calls on believers to be faithful in church attendance during these last days:
"Not forsaking our own assembling together but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:25, NASB).
An important takeaway in this verse is that in these last days, the ministry of exhortation will become increasingly more important at the house of God. This should be understandable given the increasingly intensive spiritual opposition that the people of God will encounter in these last days.
 

Increasing Your Capacity for the Word of God (Episode 123)

In this episode, Frank King teaches on how to increase your capacity for the Word of God. Every churchgoer has a certain capacity for understanding and receiving God’s Word. That capacity differs for each of us. Some churchgoers receive very little of what is preached from the pulpit. Some leave with a practical understanding of what God is saying through His Word. Most will fall somewhere in between.
This reality is not a reflection of one’s intelligence. Some churchgoers are greatly educated but have little capacity to receive the Word of God. Some with little education have a large capacity for the same. This is not about education. Rather, spiritual reasons exist as to why our capacity for the Word of God differs from person to person.
To explain why we differ in our capacity for the Word of God, Jesus taught a parable we refer to as the parable of the Seed and the Sower. In it, this farmer went about sowing seed in the ground. As he sowed seeds, they fell upon different places. Some went by the wayside, some fell upon stony places, some fell among the thorns, and some fell on good ground.
After Jesus had finished speaking the parable, the disciples came to Him wanting to know what it meant. Jesus explained the parable in terms of people who come to hear the Word of God. Each type of ground where the seeds fell represents a type of hearer. The interesting thing about this parable is that each of us falls into one of the categories of hearers in this parable.
Why Your Capacity for the Word of God Matters
This subject is important because you cannot live for God beyond your capacity for His Word. If you only have the capacity to receive the elementary teachings of the Word, then you can only live for God on an elementary level. But that’s not where God wants any of us to be. He wants us to have the capacity to receive the deeper teachings of His Word so we can live for Him on a deeper level.
The good news is that if you don’t like being where you currently are, you don’t have to stay there. You can increase your capacity for the Word of God. That is the focus of this episode.
Some churchgoers tend to blame the preacher for their lack of spiritual growth. Admittedly, preachers can have a negative impact on a person’s ability to hear God’s message. In other words, if we as preachers fail to make a clear presentation of the gospel, we can make it harder for people to understand and receive what God is saying so they can grow.
But that’s not the premise of the parable of the seed and the Sower. The premise of the parable is that the seeds that were sown were good seeds. We know that because when the seeds fell upon good ground, Jesus said they produced fruit. 
The bottom line is that if your heart is good ground for the Word of God, it will produce fruit in your life. By contrast, if your heart is not good soil to be sown in, not even the best of preaching can render you fruitful.
 

The Letter Versus the Spirit of the Word (Episode 122)

Some churchgoers can quote lots of the Scriptures. Some of them have gotten good at that because they have practiced memorization of Bible verses for many years. But being able to quote Scriptures is not even close to properly understanding them.
In this episode, Frank King addresses the letter of the Word vs the spirit of the Word. The letter of the Word is what the Scriptures literally say. The spirit of the Word refers to God’s intended meaning of His Word. Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, KJV).
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day, namely, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, considered themselves to be the authorities of the Law (better known as the Old Testament). They had rigid views about what the Law said. And they judged everybody’s conduct by their rigid views. But they understood just enough about the Law to be dangerous.
For instance, they took the Law literally regarding the Sabbath day as a day a rest. To them, that meant absolutely nothing could be done on that day. That was the letter of the Law. But Jesus told them it was lawful to do good even on the Sabbath day.
One reason the Pharisees and the Sadducees knew only the letter of the Law was because they rejected Christ. They saw Him as the enemy. Hence, whenever they read the Scriptures, there was in effect a spiritual veil over what they read. And Paul tells us that veil remains until one’s heart turns to the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:16).
What's Wrong with the "Letter"
When one cannot see beyond the letter of God’s word, legalism will be the result. Just think of all the commandments in Jesus’ teachings and the many calls to action in Paul’s epistles. Some may be led to believe that Christianity is a life of dos and don’ts.
But the clear message in the New Testament is that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. No one can earn salvation by keeping lots of dos and don’ts, “lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9, KJV).
Moreover, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” Paul writes (2 Corinthians 3:6, NASB). These words underscore the life-giving message of the New Testament versus the legalism of the Old Testament.
Still, many people in church today are bound by legalism. They view Christianity as a religion of strict adherence to the commandments and dos and don'ts found in the Scriptures. Those who do so have failed to grasp the spirit of the Word of God. The Christian life is not characterized by rules and regulations but by faith in Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit.
When someone has a legalistic view of Christian living, they view others through their faulty lens. That’s what Jesus encountered in His day. For instance, the Pharisees had a view of what the Law said about the Sabbath Day, albeit wrong it was. They tried to impose their twisted view upon Jesus—who was God and who was Lord of the Sabbath. Perhaps we all know someone who knows just enough of the truth to be dangerous.