Two Minutes With The Bible

[nChrist]

August 17, 2007
       
        FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        "And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love" (I Cor. 13:13).
       
        St. Paul had been discussing, in I Cor. 13, some of the miraculous signs that were to vanish away as God’s revelation became complete. But faith, hope and love, he declared, would abide as a triune evidence of true Christianity.
       
        These three are all we need in the present "dispensation of the grace of God." Any church where faith, hope and love are found in abundant measure is a "full" church. It may have but a few members, but what greater blessing could it wish for than faith, hope and love in its fellowship?
       
        Faith, hope and love are a trinity often referred to in St. Paul’s epistles. Each is of basic importance in its way, and none can exist without the other two.
       
        Faith is of primary importance. "Without faith it is impossible to please [God]" (Heb 11:6), and how can there be hope and love without faith?
       
        Hope holds the central place among the three. Hope in the Bible is more than a wish; it is the opposite of despair, an eager anticipation of blessings to come. Hope is the Christian’s experience, his living with eternity’s glory in view.
       
        Love is the crowning virtue of the three; it is the fruit of faith and hope, and is greatest in the sense that it is "the bond of perfectness." Moreover, love is eternal. Some day, for every true believer, "faith will vanish into sight; hope be emptied in delight" and love will reign supreme.
       
        May God help us, in our fellowship with each other, to evidence a full measure of faith, hope and love.

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

 August 18, 2007

BETHLEHEM AND CALVARY
by Cornelius R. Stam

“Sweet Name come down from Heav’n above,
To win our heart’s deep tender love;
As Bethlehem and Calv’ry prove:
My Jesus.”

How true this old hymn is! Bethlehem and Calvary do indeed prove that the Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven to win us to himself.

St. Paul’s declaration that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (ITim.1:15) takes in both Bethlehem and Calvary. At Bethlehem Christ showed His love for man, not merely by coming to be with us, but by becoming one of us.

Luke, “the beloved physician,” wrote the famous “Gospel According to St. Luke” to show how truly man the Lord Jesus Christ was. Apart from sin, our Lord experienced all the emotions, the sorrows, the joys, the pains, the pleasures that we do. The Son of God actually became the Son of Man that the sons of men might become the sons of God.

But His life alone could not save us. His holiness would only expose our sin and condemn us. This is why the Apostle Paul declares that “Christ DIED for our sins” (ICor.15:3), and that “WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE” (Eph.1:7).

Those who believe this and trust Christ as their personal Saviour rejoice in the truth of the above poem. Their hearts have been won to the Blessed One who came from heaven to Bethlehem and Calvary because HE loved them.

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 19, 2007

PETER AND HIS PENTECOSTAL BAPTISTERY
by Russell S. Miller

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you… For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES; And that He was buried, and that He ROSE AGAIN the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES” (ICor.15:3,4).

Paul had not only “received” his Gospel, but he also “delivered” his Gospel, which was also “received” by the saints at Corinth. But a most interesting aspect about the gospel that Paul preached is found in the context of I Corinthians 15:3,4. Peter, the Apostle of the Circumcision, “Cephas” (ICor.15:5), had come to understand the Gospel that Paul preached, and he had also come to see that circumcision and the Law was no longer necessary for salvation.

In early Acts, Peter had preached the resurrection of Christ to sit upon the throne of David’s prophesied kingdom (Acts 2:25-31). He did not know what the crucifixion of Jesus Christ had accomplished (Luke 18:34). In early Acts he only knew that “by wicked hands [Israel] had crucified and slain” the Son of God (Acts 2:22-24). Even as late as Peter’s visit to see Cornelius in Acts 10, the Apostle Peter did not understand the preaching of the cross. It was through Paul’s ministry, and the gospel of the grace of God, that Peter came to see what the finished work of Christ accomplished, and through this knowledge he became a stalwart for the truth.

In Acts 15:7-11 Peter declared that Jews are now saved exactly the same way Gentiles are saved today. No longer does the law, nor repentance and water baptism save. Would to God that all our Baptist friends would come to see the truth of the Mystery as Peter had. These are not the words of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:31, but Peter’s own inspired words, to his own countrymen at that Jerusalem Council:

“BUT WE BELIEVE THAT THROUGH THE GRACE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WE SHALL BE SAVED, EVEN AS THEY” (Acts 15:11).

It was no longer salvation through the Jews (John 4:22). And this is why he is called Cephas in Paul’s epistles, a “PILLAR” for the truth of God’s Word “rightly divided.” Listen to Peter’s words later written in his first epistle:

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (I Peter 1:2).

Thus the Apostle Peter forsakes his Pentecostal baptistery for “the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Peter 1:18,19).

Thus, the Apostle Peter came to understand the importance of the one divine baptism into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ:

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. THE LIKE FIGURE WHEREUNTO EVEN BAPTISM DOTH ALSO NOW SAVE US (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh [water baptism], but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into Heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him” (I Peter 3:18-22).

Now hear the Apostle Paul’s own inspired words concerning the so-called Great Commission and its water baptism:

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of [national] faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of the laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit” (Heb.6:1-3).

Thus Paul, in Hebrews 6:1,2, instructs all Jews to leave the so-called Great Commission with its repentance and water baptism, and come on to “perfection” through “the revelation of Jesus Christ” as revealed in his epistles. And having seen this, Peter gave to Paul and Barnabas “the right hand of fellowship” in Galatians 2:9.

And this, beloved, is consistent with the Apostle Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15:3,4, and “the Gospel which [he] preached unto you” that “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.”

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 20, 2007

THE BIBLE A CONFUSING BOOK?
by Cornelius R. Stam

We ran across an article recently, entitled: "Yes, the Bible is a Confusing Book."

The article did not even attempt to dispel this "confusion," or in any way help its readers to understand the Bible. It did not suggest even one basic rule of interpretation. Nor did it explain why the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles constantly exhorted men to study the Bible.

The Bible is indeed a very large Book, so that the greatest of us will never understand it all. Moreover, it is God’s Book and must necessarily contain much that is "hard to understand." But this makes it the greater challenge to the believing heart to seek divine aid in exploring its depths and the greater joy when precious stones are brought up from this exhaustless mine.

God does not reward lazy and indifferent Christians with light from His Word, but confusion invariably vanishes as we prayerfully obey His command:

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15).

In studying the Bible there are basic distinctions to be observed; e.g., between the twelve apostles and Paul, the apostle for this age; between the "gospel of the kingdom" and the gospel for our day: the "gospel of the grace of God," etc., but meantime there are many passages of Scripture so plain and simple that a child can understand them and no theologian can explain them away. For example, in John 3:35,36, we read:

"THE FATHER LOVETH THE SON, AND HATH GIVEN ALL THINGS INTO HIS HAND.
"HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

At the other end from the spiritual poverty experienced by those who deem the Bible "a confusing Book," we have what St. Paul, by divine inspiration, calls "all [the] riches of the full assurance of understanding" (Col. 2:2).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 21, 2007
       
        A SOLEMN AGREEMENT
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        The Apostle Paul, referring to his journey to Jerusalem to tell the apostles and elders there about the good news that had been committed to him, says:
       
        "And I went up by revelation and COMMUNICATED UNTO THEM THAT GOSPEL WHICH I PREACH AMONG THE GENTILES, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain... And when James, Cephas [Peter] and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, THEY GAVE TO ME AND BARNABAS THE RIGHT HANDS OF FELLOWSHIP, that we should go unto the heathen [Gentiles, nations], and they unto the Circumcision [Israel]" (Gal. 2:2-9).
       
        Here, by solemn agreement, Peter, James and John promised publicly to confine their ministry to Israel while Paul went to the Gentiles with his "gospel of the grace of God." This is striking in view of the fact that the twelve, not Paul, had originally been sent into all the world.
       
        Were they all out of the will of God in making this agreement? By no means! Subsequent revelation proves that they were all very much in the will of God and that with the rejection of Christ God had ushered in a new program.
       
        In the light of these Scriptures it is difficult to understand how anyone can argue that Paul’s ministry was merely a perpetuation of that of the twelve, or that "the gospel of the kingdom" and "the gospel of the grace of God" are identical.
       
        If the above passage teaches anything clearly, it teaches the unique character of Paul’s apostleship and message. The Apostle devotes almost two chapters of his letter to the Galatians to the fact that he had not received his message from the twelve, but rather had communicated to the twelve.
       
        He stresses the fact that those who had first been sent to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem," had now, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, agreed to turn over their Gentile ministry to him that he might proclaim far and wide "the gospel of the grace of God," as found in Eph. 2:8,9 and Rom. 3:24.

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 22, 2007
       
        NOT DYING FOR LACK OF LOVE
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        It has been said that "the world is dying for the lack of a little bit of love." When this statement is examined in the light of Scripture, however, it is found to be the exact opposite of the truth. Listen to what God’s Word says about this:
       
        "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
       
        "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8 ).
       
        "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 4:9,10).
       
        Many about us are dying in their sins, but not "for the lack of a little bit of love." It is rather because they reject the great love that God has manifested to us in His Son. We are told in John 1:10,11 that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." This is the problem: men are rejecting His love. "And this is the condemnation," says John, "that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19).
       
        But while others reject Him, you may accept Him as your Savior and know the joy of sins forgiven and of everlasting life, for "as many as received Him, to them gave He the power [Lit., right] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).
       
        "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.
        "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him" (John 3:35,36).
       
        "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 23, 2007
       
        THE NOBLE BEREANS
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        Many Christian groups and organizations call themselves Bereans, but it is surprising how few people know what a true Berean is.
       
        The 17th chapter of Acts relates how Paul called upon his kinsmen at Thessalonica and for three sabbath days "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures," trying to show them that Jesus was the Christ.
       
        Steeped in their own religion, however, the majority were unwilling even to consider the truths Paul proclaimed. Indeed, they resented the fact that some did believe and, in their bigotry, "set all the city on an uproar." Finally Paul’s life was in such peril that the Christians there sent him away by night to Berea, a town about forty miles away.
       
        At Berea Paul again sought out his "kinsmen according to the flesh" -- and what a different reception! Here is what the record says:
       
        "THESE WERE MORE NOBLE THAN THOSE IN THESSALONICA, IN THAT THEY RECEIVED THE WORD WITH ALL READINESS OF MIND, AND SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, WHETHER THOSE THINGS WERE SO" (Acts 17:11).
       
        These people did not immediately close their eyes to further light. On the contrary, they gave Paul an interested hearing, listening with open minds to what he had to say. But they were not gullible either for, having listened to Paul, they subjected his word to God’s Word, searching the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so. For this God called them "noble." They were the true spiritual aristocracy of their day.
       
        We should all be Bereans, spiritually big enough to listen with open minds to the teachings of men, and then big enough too to subject their teachings to the Word of God, the Bible, to see for ourselves whether these things are so. Our Lord said: "Search the Scriptures... for... they... testify of Me" (John 5:39). As we do this we will find eternal life -- and more -- in Christ.

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 24, 2007
       
        HEROES OF FAITH
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        In Rom. 4:12 the Apostle Paul declares that Abraham was the father, not of his physical offspring alone, but also of those who "walk in the steps of that faith" which Abraham had.
       
        Have you ever noticed that God does not hold the great men of Scripture up to us because of their personal virtues? Almost invariably their records are marred by failure and sin. But God bids us observe their faith and what their faith gained for them (See Rom. 4:3,9,11,12).
       
        There is a whole chapter on this subject in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 11 is properly called "the great faith chapter," and its heroes "heroes of faith," for it tells how Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and scores of others "obtained a good report" before God. They all faltered and failed again and again, but Heb. 11:39 declares that "these all... obtained a good report THROUGH FAITH."
       
        This is why Rom. 4:9-12 states that God’s blessing is bestowed upon those who "walk in the steps of that faith" which Abraham exhibited, just as it was bestowed upon Abraham himself.
       
        This truth is driven home in Verses 3 to 5 of the same chapter:
       
        "For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
       
        "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
       
        "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3-5).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 25, 2007
       
        UNIONS OR UNITY?
        by Cornelius R. Stam
 
        Here is a company of Bible-believing Christians joined together in, let us say, an evangelistic endeavor. All are trusting in the shed blood of Christ for salvation, though some are Baptists, some Presbyterians, some Episcopalians and some represent other denominations.
       
        Are all these believers one? Yes, in Christ, for "there is one body" (Eph. 4:4).
       
        What united them? The "one baptism" (Eph. 4:5) by which the Holy Spirit unites all believers to Christ and to each other: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles..." (I Cor. 12:13).
       
        Yet these same believers, all trusting in the finished work of Christ for salvation, remain sadly divided as far as fellowship in the work of the Lord is concerned. They may have blessed fellowship in their evangelistic endeavor, but at its conclusion they go back to their mutually exclusive church organizations.
       
        The reason? Basically it is that they have confused "the gospel of the kingdom," proclaimed by Christ on earth and His twelve apostles, with "the gospel of the grace of God," proclaimed by the ascended, glorified Lord through the Apostle Paul (Acts 20:24; Eph. 3:1-3).
       
        Striving over baptismal modes and meanings, most of them still require their particular forms of baptism for entrance into their churches, while explaining at the same time that the ceremony has no saving value and that it is not required by God for entrance into the true Church.
       
        Can’t we stop being Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists and just be Christians? Why should the Church of Christ remain divided and weak, when God says:
       
        "WE BEING MANY ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND EVERY ONE MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER" (Rom. 12:5).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 26, 2007
       
        COLUMBUS THE BELIEVER
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        Everybody knows that Columbus discovered America, but few people know Columbus the sincere believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, who braved the dangers of the ocean vastness mainly because it was his deep desire to bring the gospel to the Indies. His perseverance in the face of almost insurmountable odds should be a lesson to God’s people. Centuries before Columbus, Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers:
       
        "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (I Cor. 15:58 ).
       
        This stirring appeal of Paul to Christians everywhere (I Cor. 1:2), implies that there is a tendency to abandon the work of the Lord through discouragement or carelessness, for he pleads with us to be "steadfast," and "unmovable" -- not easily shaken, reminding us that our "labor is not in vain in the Lord."
       
        How we need the exhortation!
       
        We do not soon abandon our businesses or our homes. We work on in spite of difficulties and obstacles, and when the outlook is darkest we often toil the hardest. Sometimes our bodies suffer for it, but we do not immediately give up.
       
        If this is so where our own affairs are concerned, how much more should it be so where the things of God and the needy multitudes about us are concerned! If it is so where temporal matters are concerned, how much more should it be so where eternity is involved!
       
        Christians, let us awake! Let us "buy up the time!" Life is too short to fritter away the precious moments. Let us rather neglect our own affairs than to neglect the work of the Lord and the perishing souls about us.

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 27, 2007
       
        BETHLEHEM’S BABE EXALTED
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        The Bible accounts of the birth of Christ are touching indeed. The angelic announcements, the virgin with child, deeply embarrassed, yet highly honored; the holy Babe in a stable because there was no room in the inn, wrapped in swaddling bands and laid in a manger; the night suddenly turned to day, the multitude of the heavenly host praising God!
       
        Surely it is fitting that we remember all this and celebrate it, especially since our Lord thus humbled Himself that He might die for our sins. Yet here we must be careful not to be led astray, lest we know Him only as a sweet babe in a manger rather than as the mighty Savior that He is. As Americans we celebrate the birthdays of great men, but we do not emphasize their babyhood! We rather honor them for what they have accomplished, rejoicing that such men were born into the world.
       
        Our Lord is no longer a babe and He does not wish to be thought of as a babe, but rather as the One who, having died for our sins at Calvary, now lives to dispense to a world of lost sinners the riches of His grace.
       
        It was from His glory in heaven that He revealed Himself to St. Paul and instructed him to write: "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him [so] no more" (II Cor. 5:16).
       
        And again in Hebrews 2:8,9, the Apostle declares: "Now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus.... crowned with glory and honor" as the One who "tasted death for every man."
       
        It is wonderful to remember our Lord as the Babe born at Bethlehem, but still more wonderful to know Him now as the One who is "able to save unto the uttermost all them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make inter- cession for them" (Heb. 7:25).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 28, 2007
       
        Sad, But True
        by Paul M. Sadler, President
        Scripture Reading:
       
        "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." -- I Corinthians 10:12
       
        Heard a story told by a Grace Believer who met another Grace Believer in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge:
       
        "I was standing in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge admiring the view when another tourist walked up alongside of me to do the same. I heard him say quietly, as he took in the beauty of the view, 'What an awesome God.'
       
        "I turned to him and said, 'You a Christian?'
       
        "He said, 'Yes, I am a Christian.'
       
        "I said, 'So am I,' and we shook hands. I said, 'Are you a liberal or a fundamental Christian?'
       
        "He said, 'I am a fundamental Christian.'
       
        "I said, 'So am I,' and we smiled and nodded to each other." I said, 'Are you a Covenant or dispensational, fundamental Christian?'
       
        "He said, 'I am a dispensational, fundamental Christian.'
       
        "I said, 'So am I,' and we slapped one another on the back." I said, 'Are you an early Acts, mid-Acts or late Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian?'
       
        "He said 'I am a mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian.'
       
        "I said, 'So am I' and we agreed to exchange Christmas cards each year. I said, 'Are you an Acts 9 or 13, mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian?'
       
        "He said, 'I am an Acts 9, mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian.'
       
        "I said, 'So am I' and we hugged one another right there on the bridge. I said, 'Are you a pre-trib, or post-trib, Acts 9, mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian?'
       
        "He said, 'I am a pre-trib, Acts 9, mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian.'
       
        "I said, 'So am I,' and we decided to exchange kids for the summer."I said, 'Are you a 12 in or 12 out, pre-trib, Acts 9, mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian?'
       
        "He said, 'I am a 12 in, pre-trib, Acts 9, mid-Acts, dispensational, fundamental Christian.'"I said, 'You heretic, and I pushed him off the bridge!'" -- Author Unknown
       
        The above is sad but all too true, with the exception of being pushed off a bridge, although some may have even considered that! Of course, the shoe could have been on the other foot; that is, the weary traveler might have held the 12 out position -- heaven forbid! The point is, no matter how deeply our convictions may run on secondary issues, they should never disrupt our fellowship together. Issues such as: Are the 12 in or out of the Body of Christ? Was Paul the author of Hebrews? Should we observe holidays? Was Paul in or out of the will of God in Acts 21? Where did the Church begin -- Acts 9, 11, or 13? And on and on we could go.
       
        Our Fellowship in Christ must rest solely on the Fundamentals of the Faith and the Doctrines of Grace found in Ephesians 4:4-6. There is no room for further discussion on these matters. On other areas of the Word of God where we may find ourselves in disagreement, let us "agree to disagree" in a Christ-like manner. This will help maintain the unity of the Spirit among us and glorify God in the process.

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 29, 2007
       
        The Lord's Prayer Dispensationally Considered
        by Paul M. Sadler, President

        Scripture Reading:
        "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him."
        -- Matthew 6:7,8
       
        Religious leaders love to have their people recite the Lord's Prayer. It's been the religious thing to do for centuries. The Lord's Prayer is one of the most beautiful, meaningful, and touching prayers in the Prophetic Scriptures, but those who recite it today are committing two major blunders. First, the Lord warned the disciples that they were not to pray this prayer, or any prayer for that matter, repetitiously (Matt. 6:5-7). Prayer is not a religious exercise, but rather communication with God; therefore, it should always be spoken from the heart. Second, the Disciples Prayer, which is the correct connotation for this prayer, was given as a model for those who would be called upon to endure the Tribulation. Since the Body of Christ is delivered from the wrath to come, this prayer does not apply to us in this dispensation (I Thes. 5:9).
       
        The Disciples' Prayer
       
        Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. The reference here to "our Father" is to the God and Father of Israel -- the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In prophecy, heaven was His throne and earth His footstool. His name was so holy that the Jews feared they might inadvertently speak it in vain, consequently they changed it from Yahweh to Adonai -- Master, Ruler (Deut. 5:11; Isa. 66:1; Matt. 15:31; Luke 1:68 ).
       
        Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. The hope of every Israelite was the establishment of the Davidic Kingdom. God's will for the earth is to overthrow the kingdoms of this world and establish the millennial kingdom of His dear Son (II Sam. 7:8-17; Luke 1:68-72; Rev. 11:15; 20:6).
       
        Give us this day our daily bread. In the future Tribulation, God will set a table in the wilderness for His people, as He did in time past. The saints in that day will find it necessary to pray for their daily provision of food, since they will be unable to buy or sell without the Mark of the Beast. Subsequently, God will supernaturally nourish the chosen nation (Rev. 12:14 cf. Rev. 13:13-18 ).
       
        And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Today we are to forgive others, even as God for Christs sake has forgiven us, but under the kingdom gospel, forgiveness was based upon a like-spirit (Matt. 18:21-35 cf. Eph. 4:32).
       
        And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [Gr. noun: evil one]. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. The sense here is, "Lord lead us not into the Great Tribulation, but deliver us from Satan, who brings death and destruction in his wake" (Rev. 6:7-11; 12:12; 13:1-10).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 30, 2007
       
        OUR GREAT COMMISSION
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        Much is said of the “great commission” which our Lord gave to His apostles just before His ascension. We wonder whether our readers have ever examined the various records of this commission carefully.
       
        This “great commission” does not say one word about “the preaching of the cross” or “the gospel of the grace of God”. The “gospel” which they were sent to preach was very evidently the same “gospel” they had been preaching — the Gospel of the Kingdom — only they could now declare, as Peter did at Pentecost, that the King had risen from the dead and would still some day occupy the throne of David.
       
        The “great commission” demanded faith and baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 16:15,16); it included the power to heal the sick and work miracles (16:17,18 ), but it did not include the glad message that “Christ died for our sins” (ICor.15:1-3). At Pentecost, when Peter began to carry out this commission, he rather blamed his hearers for the death of Christ and when, convicted of their sins, they asked: “What shall we do?” he did not say: “Believe on Christ who died for your sins.” He rather commanded them to “repent and be baptized every one…for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38 ).
       
        But after Christ and His Kingdom were again rejected, God interrupted the prophetic program and sent Paul forth to proclaim “the preaching of the cross” and “the gospel of the grace of God”. In II Corinthians 5: 14-21 this apostle proclaims “the love of Christ” who “died for all” and instructs us as to our “great commission”:
       
        “And all things are of [provided by] God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, AND HATH GIVEN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION;
       
        “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself… AND HATH COMMITTED UNTO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION” (II Cor.5:18,19).

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________

[nChrist]

August 31, 2007
       
        JOHN 3:16
        by Cornelius R. Stam

        “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
       
        Do you believe it?
        With all your heart?
        Do you believe that God gave His Son because He loved the whole world?
        Do you believe that whosoever believes in Him receives everlasting life?
        Gentiles as well as Jews?
        Do you believe that John 3:16 applies to this age?
        SO DO WE!—WITH ALL OUR HEARTS!
       
        We emphasize this because we have been charged of late with putting a dispensational question mark opposite John 3:16.
       
        We not only believe that John 3:16 applies to this age, but that it is more pertinent today than when our Lord first spoke it to Nicodemus.
       
        But first let us turn to two other Scriptures, just as plain, though less frequently quoted.
       
        In Matthew 15:24 we have the plain words of our Lord, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
       
        In Matthew 10:5,6 we read “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
       
        How can we reconcile these Scriptures with John 3:16?
       
        John 3:16, — ”The world...whosoever.”
       
        Matthew 10:5,6; 15:24, — None but “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
       
        The key to this question is found in Acts 3:25,26 where Peter says to the house of Israel, “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, AND IN THY SEED SHALL ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”
       
        The Old Testament abounds with prophecies that salvation would go to the ends of the earth through Israel. This is why our Lord confined His earthly ministry exclusively to the house of Israel. This is why Peter said to the people of Israel, “Unto you first..."
       
        It was no secret that salvation would go to all the world, but remember that it was to go through the covenant people.
       
        We must not forget that John 3:16 was spoken to “A RULER OF THE JEWS.” This makes the words of our Lord doubly significant. It would not be at all amiss to paraphrase them thus: “For God so loved the world, Nicodemus — not only Israel, but the world — that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
       
        Sad to say, the rulers of the Jews rejected Christ. The glorious message of John 3:16 would never have reached the Gentiles if God had waited for Israel to proclaim it.
       
        As a nation they themselves rejected God’s Son. They even persecuted those who preached Christ and Saul of Tarsus became the leader of the opposition.
       
        It was in this crisis that God arrested Saul and saved him so that He might unfold His secret purpose of grace to him and through him.
       
        We quote a few Scriptures from Paul’s letters:
       
        “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but...the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant...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” (ITim.1:13-16).
       
        “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned...so might grace reign” (Rom. 5:20,21).
       
        “FOR GOD HATH CONCLUDED THEM ALL IN UNBELIEF, THAT HE MIGHT HAVE MERCY UPON ALL. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!” (Rom.11:32,33).
       
        “For He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us...for to make in Himself of twain one new man...and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body BY THE CROSS” (Eph.2:14-16).
       
        This message of grace abounding, of grace reigning was revealed from heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ to the apostle Paul. He says in Ephesians 3:2,3: “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward, HOW THAT BY REVELATION HE MADE KNOWN UNTO ME THE MYSTERY.” This was God’s eternal purpose, “kept secret since the world began” (Rom.16:25), “hid in God” (Eph.3:9), “in other ages not made known,” (Eph.3:5), “hid from ages and from generations” (Col.1:26), “THE MYSTERY” (Rom.16:25; Eph.1:9; 3:3,4,9; 6:19; Col. 1:26,27; 2:2; 4:3).
       
        And now, thank God, though Israel, through whom the nations should have been blessed, gropes in darkness and staggers in unbelief, any poor sinner, Jew or Gentile, may rejoice that “GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.”

____________________

Subscribe at:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html
Two Minutes With The Bible

Reply:
If you would like to ask a question or make a comment
regarding the content of this article, please email:
berean@execpc.com
____________________