Two Minutes With The Bible

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Two Minutes With The Bible - TWO WALLS


May 10

TWO WALLS

By Cornelius R. Stam

We were all doubtless surprised when the East German authorities began opening the Berlin Wall to West Berlin visitors at Christmas time. We can never be sure just what might be up the Communists’ sleeves, but for the time being it sounds encouraging. What they ought to do, of course, is to tear the wall down. It is a crime against humanity and a sin against God to confine half a city in a cage, to treat human beings as if they were animals. The Bible speaks of a wall that separated all mankind into two parts. In Ephesians 2 the Law, the Ten Commandments, is called "the middle wall of partition."

The Law was given to God’s covenant people. The Gentiles had been given up long before at the Tower of Babel and God had called out Abraham and his seed and had given them the Law. They broke the Law, however, so that Rom. 3:19 says:

"Whatsoever the law saith it saith to them that are under the law, that EVERY MOUTH may be stopped and ALL THE WORLD may be brought in guilty before God."

Because of the broken Law all men have been placed on the same level, but this was also God’s purpose of grace:

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief: that He might have mercy upon all" (Rom. 11:32). And thus God offers salvation to all through Christ, who died for our sins at Calvary. This is why Eph. 2:13-16 says:

"But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who once were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us... that He might reconcile both unto God in one Body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby."

Thank God there is no "Berlin Wall" between God and those who trust His Son, nor between believers who have been made "one Body in Christ."

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - THE VISITING PREACHER


May 11

THE VISITING PREACHER

By Cornelius R. Stam

Paul and Barnabas had seated themselves in the large synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. They were soon recognized as "clergymen," however, for "after the reading of the law and the prophets" they were asked whether either of them might have some word of "exhortation" for those who had gathered.

These details are important, for as Moses, in giving the Law, had declared God’s moral standards, the prophets had for centuries challenged the people to obey the Law and had warned them of the dire consequences of breaking its commands. Hence, in the synagogues passages were generally read from the Law and the prophets, and the religious leaders would then "exhort" the people to heed the prophets and obey the Law.

Paul and Barnabas, the visiting preachers, therefore, were asked whether either of them had a "word of exhortation for the people." Paul responded to the invitation but, rather than merely exhorting his hearers to keep the Law, he proclaimed Christ, who in love had died for all lawbreakers, closing with these words:

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38,39).

How we need this message today! We may forever exhort one another to keep the Law, but who of us has not already broken it? Let us thank God, then, that He is a loving Savior as well as a just Judge and that as God the Son He paid for our sins Himself at Calvary so that we might be "justified freely by His grace."

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - ARE YOU LISTENING?


May 12

ARE YOU LISTENING?

By Cornelius R. Stam

The Apostle Paul had much that he yearned to teach the Hebrew believers -- wonderful truths that would have thrilled their hearts -- but these truths were "hard to be uttered," or difficult to explain to them, since they were "dull of hearing." The word "dull" in Heb. 5:11 really means "slothful," or indifferent (as in Heb. 6:12). They were not merely hard of hearing, as we say, but were too lazy, too indifferent, spiritually, to pay attention. They were not sufficiently interested.

This is always a serious condition in the light of the fact that "God hath spoken," and that disobedience to His Word will be judged (Heb. 1:1,2; 2:1-3). Yet, alas, this is the condition of the professing Church today. The great majority of religious people are not sufficiently interested in what God has said to engage in diligent, prayerful study and, like those of Paul’s day, still have to be taught "the first principles" of the Bible. They have remained babes, spiritually, unable to digest anything but "milk," and so remain "unskillful in the Word of righteousness" (Heb. 5:12-14).

What has brought this condition about? Is it because our Bibles are being burned and the Church persecuted for reading it? Is it because God is unwilling to lead us further into His truth? Most assuredly not. It is because so many men of God in high places no longer have the single passion to know God’s Word and to make it known. They could be as greatly used of God in teaching the Scriptures as their predecessors were, but they are "slothful of hearing" and hence can present their hearers with little that is of true value.

This, in turn, is reflected in the religious masses. They "love" their Bibles, but not enough to study them diligently and become workmen whom God can approve. Let us not be numbered among these. Rather, let it be our one great desire to gain a clear understanding of God’s Word, rightly divided -- for His sake, for our own sake and for the sake of the needy souls about us.

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - ALIENATION AND RECONCILIATION


May 13

ALIENATION AND RECONCILIATION

By Cornelius R. Stam

It is impossible, and unnecessary, to reconcile friends. Reconciliation postulates alienation. It is only after men become alienated that we may try to reconcile them. Thus the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles to God "in one body" could not begin until Israel, along with the Gentiles, had been alienated from God. This is why the Apostle Paul declares in Rom. 11:15 that "the casting away of them is," or opens the way for, "the reconciling of the world." Thus "God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all" (Rom. 11:32). Little wonder the Apostle goes on to exclaim:

"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!" (Ver. 33).

So now the wonderful message from God to a lost world is one of grace and peace, and it is with these words that the Apostle Paul opens all of his epistles signed by his name. In Ephesians 2, where he declares that we were all "the children of disobedience," and therefore "by nature the children of wrath," he goes on to tell of the riches of God’s mercy and love and grace, and says:

"And [He] came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] which were afar off, and to them [Israelites] that were nigh" (Ver. 17). What a blessing to enjoy peace with God, to be reconciled to Him! But this is possible only as we commit ourselves to Him who was "delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification." Indeed, Paul follows these words in Romans 4:25 with the declaration:

"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - LIBERTY -- HOW PRECIOUS!


May 14

LIBERTY -- HOW PRECIOUS!

By Cornelius R. Stam

We were interested to read, recently, about the man in California who ran short of grazing land for his herd of 13 buffalo. To solve this problem he put them on a barge and took them over to a large island in Lake Berryessa where there was lots of pasture. But what did the buffalo do? They jumped back into the lake, swam to shore and began charging fishermen and chasing automobiles -- so enraged were they at being imprisoned on an island!

After all, neither man nor beast enjoys bondage, though many of us are in fact enslaved.

Our Lord said in John 8:32: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." To this the religious leaders replied: "We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?" But our Lord answered: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (Ver. 34). St. Paul says the same thing in Rom. 6:16:

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

Sad to say, many sincere religious people think that they can free themselves from sin by putting themselves in bondage to the Law, the Ten Commandments. This never works, for the Law can only condemn the sinner. Rom. 3:19,20 declares that the Law was given "that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may be brought in guilty before God... for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Again we have to turn to Christ for salvation and true liberty. He "died for our sins" (I Cor. 15:3) and has "redeemed us from the curse of the law" (Gal. 3:13).

Having believed this and trusted Christ as Savior, true Christians serve the Lord, not from fear, or to gain favor, but out of sheer love and gratitude. This is true liberty and this service is the only kind that God desires from us. Probably no man ever served the Lord more sincerely or tirelessly than the Apostle Paul. In II Cor. 5:14 he gives us the secret:

"The love of Christ constraineth us..."

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - GLORIOUS PROSPECT


May 15

GLORIOUS PROSPECT

By Cornelius R. Stam

To the true Christian one of the most wonderful passages in the Bible is Eph. 2:7, where we read of God’s purpose, "That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." This passage appears the more wonderful when viewed in the light of its context.

Verses 2-6 tell how we were all once the "children of disobedience," and therefore "by nature the children of wrath, even as others." But then we read those wonderful words of hope, "But God."

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us..."  And the next verses tell how He has taken believers in Christ from the lowest position of condemnation and wrath and given them the highest place of favor and blessing in Christ at His own right hand in the heavenlies.

The simplest, humblest believer in Christ has been given this position in the heavenlies, for God no longer sees him in himself, but in Christ, who died for his sins. This is why St. Paul so often writes about "those who are in Christ Jesus."

It is for the believer now to occupy this exalted position, to appropriate by faith the "all spiritual blessings" which are his in Christ (See Eph. 1:3). Like Paul, he may be lifted by grace, through faith, above the troubles and sorrows of "this present evil age" and enjoy his position and blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. And even this is not all, for looking far ahead to the future the Apostle, by divine revelation, goes on to say (in Eph. 2:7) that God has done this all for us, "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - ARE BELIEVERS ABOVE THE LAW?


May 16

ARE BELIEVERS ABOVE THE LAW?

By Russell S. Miller

Some people understand the grace principal to mean that living "under grace" we may do as we please, but grace is, by no means, a license to sin. However, it is argued that because the covenant of the law was made with Israel, Gentiles were not under the law, and Romans 3:19 is cited in support of this thinking:

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, IT SAITH TO THEM WHO ARE UNDER THE LAW: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

The covenant of the law was, indeed, made with God’s chosen nation, Israel, and no such covenant was ever made with any other nation, but that did not exclude Gentiles from God’s law. The law was given, we read, "THAT EVERY MOUTH MIGHT BE STOPPED, and all the world might become guilty before God" (Rom.3:19). So, Israel represented the righteous and holy standards of the Law of God in the world. And "when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves" (Rom.2:14). This bears witness that Gentiles had "the law written in their hearts" Rom.2:15). It is no wonder that we have such a lawless society today when believers feel themselves to be above the law.

In this dispensation of grace it is blessedly true of us, that "sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom.6:14). "Free from the Law" does not mean that we are above the law, although we are to produce that fruit which is spiritual (Col.3:1-4), and heavenly (Eph.1:20,21; 2:6), in character. In so doing we shall, by His grace, accomplish what the law could never do.

Therefore as members of the Body of Christ the Apostle Paul exhorts us:

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal.5:16).

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

"Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Gal.5:22,23).

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - THE WALK OF THE BELIEVER


May 17

THE WALK OF THE BELIEVER

By Russell S. Miller

How is it possible to live "under grace" and not be governed and controlled by rules and laws and regulations of a by-gone dispensation?

The "life in the Spirit," of Galatians 5:25, is obtained by faith in Christ. This is where we must begin. Calvary is ever the meeting place between God and man.

And as we come to Christ at Calvary we are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Eph.2:10). No, we’re not perfect yet, and most of us have a long ways to go, but now we have someone with which we can go the distance--"the Spirit". So the number one question is, "Are you saved?"

Then God wants us to know that the Holy Spirit "BAPTIZES" us into Christ and into the Body of Christ (Rom.6:3,4,). Entirely apart from the Law, we are made one with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and one with one another also by "the operation of God" (Col.2:12).

Romans 6:11-13 states that we are now to "reckon" ourselves "alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord".

When believers "walk in the Spirit" (Gal.5:16) their lives produce that which the Law could never do: "...love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance..."; against which the Apostle Paul says, "THERE IS NO LAW".

The Law cannot save you, nor can it keep you, and it certainly cannot bless you (Gal.3:13; 2:20,21; 4:15).

"Knowing this, that the Law is NOT made for a righteous man..." (ITim.1:9).

However...GRACE does save us, GRACE does keep us, and GRACE continues to bless us (Rom.8:3,4; 5:10; 8:34) with "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph.1:3) because GRACE has imputed the very "righteousness" of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, to our account (IICor.5:21).

"That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph.2:7). As we "look" for our wonderful Saviour, Titus 2:11-13 teaches that GRACE is not a license to sin. Therefore do not repay such "love" with such ingratitude to Him who shed His blood to save you from an eternity in "Hell" and "the Lake of Fire" (Rev.20:11-15).

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH


May 18

BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH

By Russell S. Miller

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death" (Rom.6:3)?

It is a sad commentary indeed that after 2000 years the vast majority in fundamentalism still labors under the so-called "great commission" and, consequently, is manifestly confused and divided over the subject of water baptism. However this "baptism" of which Paul speaks here in Romans 6:3 is so absolutely absent of water that most of those who water baptize fail to see that believers in the dispensation of grace are actually "baptized into HIS death". This is why Paul can write in Galatians 2:20:

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." And not only that, but the Apostle further states that it is the old Adamic nature in all of us that was crucified with Christ: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED, THAT HENCEFORTH WE SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN" (Rom.6:6).

And what’s more, in this baptism, "...the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal.6:14).

Furthermore, the Apostle Paul writes by divine inspiration in I Corinthians 12:13 that upon believing in the Lord Jesus Christ we are baptized into the Body of Christ: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." And this was revealed to Paul "by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal.1:11,12).

We have been so completely identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection that Paul goes on in Romans 6 to declare:

"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom.6:4).

No wonder the Apostle exhorts: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal.6:14).

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - CAMPAIGN EXCITEMENT


May 19

CAMPAIGN EXCITEMENT

By Cornelius R. Stam

The Republican and Democratic conventions are past and we are in the midst of the 1964 Presidential Campaign. It is bound to get more exciting as election day approaches. We hope our readers are interested in our government and in what policies it pursues, but there is something even more important than this -- important to you and me personally, and for all eternity.

God has put each man on the spot, as it were, by offering justification and eternal life as a free gift, through Christ, who died for our sins. Rom. 6:23 clearly states: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Now the question is: Will you accept this gift, or will you reject it? Perhaps you reply: "I won’t do anything about it; I’ll take my time and think it over." But you can’t; you can’t just do nothing about a free gift which God offers for your acceptance "now" (II Cor. 6:2). If you do not accept it, you thereby reject it.

God purposely puts us on the spot in this matter, for the consequences are truly great. God’s Word says, in John 3:35,36:

"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

God does not take it lightly when He offers forgiveness and all the riches of His grace as a gift and this gift is spurned. Unbelievers are not condemned only because they have sinned, but because they have spurned God’s grace and rejected salvation through Christ, who died to save them. Thus it is written in John 3:18:

"He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Which will you do, accept Christ or reject Him and the gift of salvation He purchased for you with His blood?

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - THE WAY TO HEAVEN


May 20

THE WAY TO HEAVEN

By Cornelius R. Stam

Perhaps you have heard the story of the man who inquired from a mountaineer the way to a certain destination. The mountaineer stuttered and stammered and finally said:

"You can’t get there from here."

We may smile at this, but the results would be even more amusing -- and sad -- were we to ask the average person on the street the way to heaven.

What is the way to heaven? It is interesting to read in God’s Word what many think about this. In Proverbs 14:12 we read: "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

What are some of these "ways" that "seem right" to men, leading them to hope for heaven? Joining a church? Being baptized? Doing one’s best? Keeping the Ten Commandments? Loving one’s neighbor as himself? These are a few of the ways that men follow, hoping to gain eternal life, but they all come under one heading: "Do good."

But what do the Scriptures say about this? In the Gospel according to John there are recorded for us seven "I ams," which the Lord Jesus Christ used in speaking of Himself. One of these is found in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." This passage has a double significance, since it was not only the declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ, but at the same time a declaration of the divinely inspired Scriptures.

From this verse we learn not only that Jesus is the only way to the Father, but also that He is "the truth" to be believed and trusted in. Thus we can believe the Lord Jesus when He claims to be the way to heaven.

But according to this passage He is also "the life." As we place our faith in Him as the One who died on the cross for us, we receive eternal life. "He died that we might live."

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - THE CHRISTIAN HOME


May 21

THE CHRISTIAN HOME

By Cornelius R. Stam

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:15).

There is no place in all this world so wholesome and refreshing as a Christian home, a home where Christ is truly loved and honored.

This writer was brought up in such a home. There were ten of us: dad, mother and eight children. There was lots going on all the time, but a truly happy home it was, for dad and mother never let us get so busy with temporal things that we brushed eternal values aside.

On the basis that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:4), we read some small portion of the Bible before every meal, and had family devotions before retiring at night.

Result: all eight children have blessed the dear dad and mother who led them aright, morally and spiritually, and best of all, taught them the importance of trusting in the Savior who died for all our sins. More: five of the children and many of the grandchildren have given themselves for full time Christian service, and have become pastors, college deans, Christian writers and missionaries in various parts of the world.

This is not because we are one whit better than others, but because we have experienced the help and grace of God in our lives. And it all began as, one day, a young American, like Joshua of old, came to a decision and declared:

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

________________________

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Two Minutes With The Bible - THE FLOOD OF NOAHS DAY


May 22

THE FLOOD OF NOAH’S DAY

By Russell S. Miller

During Noah’s flood the canopy of Genesis 1:6 that "divided the waters from the waters" converged with "the fountains of the great deep" to become one gigantic ocean (Gen.7:11-16). And God’s judgment upon the wickedness of man "flooded" this globe.

"And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground...and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark" (Gen.7:23).

Genesis 9:9-17 speaks about a covenant that God made with Noah. In short, the "rainbow" is God’s "token of [that] covenant" (9:13) with mankind, that He will never again destroy the earth by a flood. God’s faithfulness to His Word, here, has been wondrously demonstrated for over 4,000 years.

"I DO SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD, AND IT SHALL BE FOR A TOKEN OF A COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH. ...AND THE WATERS SHALL NO MORE BECOME A FLOOD TO DESTROY ALL FLESH" (Gen.9:13,15).

Indeed God has also been faithful to His covenant of "day" and "night" (Jer. 33:20,21) since the beginning of time, that’s 6,000 years! Though God shall never again destroy the earth with "water", the Apostle Peter declares that after the 1,000 year reign of Christ, earth and space shall be purified with "fire" from all that with which man has polluted it (IIPet.3:10-12).

Nevertheless before Prophecy is resumed and "that great and terrible Day of the Lord comes" (Joel 2:11,31; Acts 2:20; Rev.19:11-16) the armies of Heaven shall invade the earth.

"HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH: THE LORD SHALL HAVE THEM IN DERISION. THEN SHALL HE SPEAK UNTO THEM IN HIS WRATH, AND VEX THEM IN HIS SORE DISPLEASURE" (Psa.2:4,5).

Much as He did in the land of Egypt when Pharaoh would not let His people go (Ex.5:1—14:31). Are you ready for this "Coming" of the Lord Jesus Christ? Probably not, who would be!

But God has some "good news" for you; before His wrath is poured out upon this Christ rejecting world, He shall "catch" us away to Heaven (IThes.4:13-18).

First, my friend, God wants to save you from your sins, if you will only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

________________________

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[nChrist]

Two Minutes With The Bible - WONDERFUL NEWS


May 23

WONDERFUL NEWS

By Cornelius R. Stam

The newspapers are filled with sensational news these days, but the divine extension of this present age of grace is the most sensational news of all, yet most newspapers rarely, if ever, mention it.

We are prone to take the blessings of our times too much for granted. We forget too easily that for more than 1900 years the world has been ripe for God’s judgment -- ever since His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, was crucified and sent from this world a royal Exile.

All through the Old Testament Psalms and prophets it is clear that the world’s rejection of Christ was to be visited with awful judgment. The Second Psalm, describing the world’s rejection of "the Lord and His Anointed," goes on to say: "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure." In Psalm 110:1, too, we have the Father saying to His rejected Son: "Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."

Yet, when all seemed ready for the divine judgment to fall, God interrupted the prophetic program and saved Saul of Tarsus, the "chief of sinners," the leader of the world’s rebellion against Christ. More: He appointed this Saul, as the Apostle Paul, to proclaim "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24), the wonderful news that because Christ suffered, the Just for the unjust, at Calvary, any sinner may be saved by grace through faith, apart from religious or other works.

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). And therefore: "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5). Judgment will come, but thank God, He has in grace delayed it until now. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2).

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Two Minutes With The Bible - DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD


May 24

DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

By Russell S. Miller

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (IICor.4:4).

People sin under the cover of darkness—"they that be drunken are drunken in the night" (IThes.5:7). They suppose darkness hides the things they do. This is why unsaved man prefers evolution to creation. It destroys the thought, so he thinks, of having to "give [an] account of himself to God" (Rom.14:12).

How sad! You cannot hide from God. Because there is coming a day "in the which He will judge the world IN RIGHTEOUSNESS by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

In "that day" these poor souls will only wish they could hide from God, but they will not be able to do so. See Revelation 6:15-17; 20:11-15. These same, now suppose that "that day" is so far away that they need not be concerned. To this the Apostle retorts:

"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb.4:13).

The difference between the unsaved and those of us who are saved is that we not only have a Saviour, but we also have "a great high priest", who intercedes for us when we fail. The Lord Jesus loves you, my unsaved friend, and wants to be your Saviour, too.

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Rom.8:31-34).

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb.4:14-16). Don’t hide like Adam who sinned, but "seek the Lord, if haply [you] might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27).

Even in the darkness of this world’s sin and wickedness God is there, and He will hear you, and save you, if you will simply ask Him (Rom.10:13).

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