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August 2, 2008

THE EMPTY TOMB AND A VACANT CROSS
by Russell S. Miller

"Concerning [God's] Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Rom.1:3,4).

To crucify an innocent man, a righteous man, a holy man, shows how wicked men can be when ambitions, and traditions, and politics are placed above the Word of God. Our Lord's words in John 15:25 could not have been more true; "They hated Me without a cause." If ever there was a miscarriage of justice it was upon this dark and gloomy day!

The fact that Jesus Christ was "buried" is the proof that He died upon that cross. We don't bury people who are not dead. In that 24th Chapter of Luke, the believers--Christ's followers, were so depressed and discouraged and down-hearted because they had witnessed His death and burial (Luke 24:13-31). It was at this same place, in Joseph's tomb, that "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary" came to anoint His body, where the angel had said:

"Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay..." (Matt.28:5-7).

The evidence of Joseph's tomb is more than remarkable, rare, or extraordinary, for it clearly manifested the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was astonishing, miraculous, and is most obviously evidence that no "gardener" had taken Him away. And what joy filled their hearts and souls when they saw the risen Lord.

However it is the Apostle Paul, who declares what was actually accomplished in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Colossians he has these words to say about the empty tomb and that vacant cross:

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with [Christ], having forgiven you all trespasses;
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it His cross;
"And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in [the cross]" (Col.2:13-15).

These things the risen, glorified, Lord Jesus Christ revealed to Paul, and inspired him to write fourteen epistles that Jews and Gentiles, yea, all the world, might know that Jesus saves.

And the Lord Jesus will save you, my friend, if you will simply believe:

"[He] was delivered for our offences, and [He] was raised again for our justification" (Rom.4:25).

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August 3, 2008

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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August 4, 2008

THE SON OF A VIRGIN
by Cornelius R. Stam

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child" (Matt. 1:23).

Mary was highly honored that she should be chosen to be the virgin mother of Messiah. This was a distinction for which every Jewish woman had hoped and prayed. But -- now that she had heard the glad news from the angel Gabriel, she was to find herself in the most embarrassing position of an unmarried maiden with child. Little wonder that Mary hastened to the hill country to visit Elisabeth, the mother-to-be of miraculously-born John, later called John the Baptist. Who, in such a case, would better understand, or be better fitted to give sympathetic advice to Mary?

Mary remained with Elisabeth for about three months, or until the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:36,56), but now the real test lay ahead, for she must return to her home in Nazareth to face her relatives and acquaintances -- and Joseph, her lover. What would they say? And above all, what would he say? How could they be expected to believe her story? An angel had appeared to her, indeed!

In the record of Joseph's reactions we are given light as to the extreme embarrassment in which Mary now found herself. Consider Joseph's position. Mary was his "espoused wife." Why had she gone away -- and stayed so long? And now, what is this? She is found with child -- not by him. Her explanation, if indeed she offered it to him, must have seemed most unsatisfactory. He could have charged her with adultery and had her stoned, but "being a just [Lit., "fair-minded"] man" he "was minded to put her away privily" (Matt. 1:19).

But "while he thought on these things," with a heavy heart, "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him" and Joseph learned the truth; that she was indeed to be the honored mother of the Messiah of Israel, the Redeemer of sinners.

It was because our Lord was the Son of God, born into the world by a virgin and not partaking of Adam's sinful nature, that He could go to Calvary and pay the full penalty for our sins. He "suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (I Pet. 3:18 ).

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August 5, 2008

THE GLORY OF THAT LIGHT
by Russell S. Miller

The resurrected Christ appeared unto Paul very differently than His appearances had been unto all those other saints. Peter and the Eleven had only seen the risen Christ as He will reign upon this earth in His kingdom glory (Matt.17:1-9). But Paul saw the risen, glorified, Lord Jesus Christ in "the glory of His grace" (Eph.1:6,14). The glorified Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto Paul as He had never appeared to any man before upon this earth. He appeared unto Paul from heaven:

"And when I could NOT see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias..., Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul... The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, AND SEE THAT JUST ONE, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth. For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard" (Acts 22:11-14).

Christ could have judged the world, and He will, but instead He revealed Himself to Paul in the glory of His grace. To the Apostle Paul, then, Jesus Christ revealed "the riches of His grace" in salvation (Eph.1:7), "the exceeding riches of His grace" in glory (2:7), and "the unsearchable riches of Christ" in heavenly places (3:8 ). And this message Paul calls "the Mystery" in Colossians 1:26. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus commissioned Paul, and us, "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the Mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph.3:9). And all this, Paul says, is "according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust" (ITim.1:11).

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (IICor.4:3,4).

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, therefore, marks the beginning of an entirely new administration of God in the affairs of men:

"...Have [you] 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..." (Eph.3:2,3)?

God now sees us "accepted in the Beloved One" (Eph.1:6), and clothed with the very "righteousness" of our Lord Jesus Christ (IICor.5:21). And we stand before God today "complete in Christ" because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf at Calvary (Col.2:10-15). Through "no works" of our own, then, we are forever "seated" with Christ "in the heavenlies" (Eph.2:6,8,9).

"That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph.2:7).

So in Paul's gospel when he focuses in upon the "crucified" One (ICor.1:23), he proclaims "Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery" (Rom.16:25). Not only has "CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES" (ICor.15:3), but our glorified Saviour is coming again to catch us away to be with Himself for all eternity. In our endeavors, then, to keep our congregations informed of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, may we never forget that God revealed to Paul "the light of the glorious gospel of Christ."

"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.4:4,6).

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August 6, 2008

WHAT GOD IS DOING TODAY
by Russell S. Miller

"...For to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Eph.2:15).

It is a shame that so many in the Body of Christ do not see what it is that God is doing today, in this dispensation of His grace committed to Paul. The error of some is a failure to come unto perfection in the Pauline revelation, for they labor under the so-called Great Commission. Others go to extremes with agendas that are used of the devil to cause "divisions" in the Church and "blind [even] the minds" (IICor.4:4) of believers from knowing the truth. Consequently such teachings are used by Satan to deceive both saint and sinner alike. Thus men walk in darkness. When lies are substituted for truth, the devil gets a foothold in the Church to wreak "havoc".

God, however, will not be mocked of men, for "the Judgment Seat of Christ" (IICor.5:10) awaits those who make merchandise of "the Word of God" (IICor.2:14-17; Tit.3:10) and there shall be a great loss of rewards (ICor.3:15). And when the devil "blinds the minds of them that believe not", souls that could have been saved will be cast into hell and the Lake of Fire at the "great white throne" judgment (Rev.20:11-15).

In this endeavor to discover what it is that God is doing today, several passages of Scripture come to mind. Along with Romans 16:25 and I Corinthians 12:13 are two very similar verses in Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians:

"Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Eph.2:15).

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph.3:9).

God is in the business of building the Body of Christ today, and He is looking for "faithful" men and women in the ministry of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (ICor.4:1,2). He appointed Paul, "the Apostle of the Gentiles" (Rom.11:13), giving him the blueprints (ICor.3:9-15) for the Church today. Paul and Timothy were faithful in proclaiming "this Mystery among the Gentiles" (ICor.4:15-17). Will you "follow" in their footsteps or be drawn into an extreme teaching?

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August 7, 2008

THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN
by Russell S. Miller

“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).

There is, in fact, only one way of salvation in this day and age of grace in which we live today: Christ’s death upon that cross. In the above passage we read that “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS” and it is upon the basis of this one Sacrifice that God saves souls today. Thus the extreme importance of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour! His death upon Calvary’s cross is the only means of salvation from sin’s consequences. The Lord Jesus “made peace” for every believer “through the blood of His cross” (Col.1:20). Listen to the Apostle’s declaration to the Ephesians:

“BUT NOW IN CHRIST JESUS YE WHO SOMETIMES WERE FAR OFF ARE MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST” (Eph.2:13).

Our communion with God today is based upon the blood of Christ (ICor.10:16; Heb.10:19; Eph.3:12). In Hebrews alone there are twenty-two references to the blood of Christ whether in type or antitype (Heb.2:14; 9:7-25; 10:4,19,29; 11:28; 12:4,24; 13:11,12,20). “…AND WITHOUT [THE] SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION” (Heb.9:22). Such is our access to God.

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh” (Heb.10,19,20).

“According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him” (Eph.3:11,12).

The Apostle Paul uses the Greek word, katallagee, rendered “atonement” once (Rom.5:11) and “reconciliation” three times in his epistles (Rom.11:15; IICor.5:18,19), in speaking about the basis of the only way into God’s presence today.

”Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom.5:1,2).

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

“Much more then, BEING NOW JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

“And not only so, but WE ALSO JOY IN GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom.5:9-11).

So we have here the blessed truth that “Christ died for our sins”; that we are “justified by His blood”; that we are “saved from wrath” through the death of Christ, and not by our own works. And we are “reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom.5:10). “His life” at the right hand of God is the manifest evidence of His resurrection and His Almighty power to save those that believe. The fact that “He ever liveth to make intercession for us” keeps us for time and eternity (Heb. 7:25; Rom.8:34). So, whether we like it or not, even changing our minds cannot change His mind about our salvation in Christ Jesus.

No, God does not change His mind regarding those who place their faith in His Son. Jesus Christ is the Eternal God and “whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever” (Ecc.3:14; Rom.8:35-39).

It is therefore not a conditional salvation that Christ wrought upon the tree, but a perfect and complete redemption was fully accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross. If there had been any other way surely “the only wise God” would have known. “…If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law” (Gal.3:21). But there was no other way! None other can save you from Hell and the Lake of Fire. Oh, keep this in memory and don’t ever forget that “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS” because this is the only way to heaven.

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August 9, 2008

THE SPIRIT OF PROMISE
by Cornelius R. Stam

"[Having] believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13).

Of all the wonderful Scripture passages on the eternal security of the believer in Christ, this is perhaps the most blessed of all.

"[Having] heard the Word of truth you believed," says the Apostle, and "[having] believed, you were sealed." Now a seal speaks of finality and permanency, whether it be the official seal on an important document, the seal on an electric transformer or the seal on a jar of preserves. But the most blessed fact of all is that the believer in Christ is "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." Mark well, he is sealed not by the Spirit but with the Spirit; the Spirit Himself is the seal.

Here, let us say, is a woman sealing jars of preserves with wax. The jars are sealed by the woman, but with the wax. Thus the humblest believer is sealed with the Spirit. It is He Himself who keeps us safe in Christ through all eternity.

And this is but the "earnest," the first installment, "of our inheritance" (Ver. 14), for the Spirit keeps us secure in "this present evil age" so that "in the ages to come" God might show "the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (2:7).

Little wonder the Apostle closes this passage on our security with those appropriate words: "To the praise of His glory" (1:14).

What some theologians have called "the perseverance of saints" is not our perseverance at all, but God's faithfulness. We have not persevered; He has preserved us by His grace for His glory.

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August 10, 2008

OUR BAPTISM INTO CHRIST
by Russell S. Miller

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? 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.6:3,4).

Yes, Romans 6 teaches us that when we got saved God took us back to Calvary, made us one with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection; and we have been made one with one another also. And not only are we made one with Jesus Christ in His death, but our sins, and that old sin nature, has been put away forever out of God’s sight (Lev.16:1-34; Heb.13:10-14), and we have been set gloriously free! Just as Jesus Christ was actually buried, so we have been buried with Him. “Therefore,” says the Apostle, “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). Again it is the Apostle Paul who tells us how these things are accomplished:

“Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through THE FAITH OF THE OPERATION OF GOD, [not ministers, but GOD] who hath raised [Christ] from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col.2:12,13).

We have all been so fully identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. So complete is our salvation in Christ. The Lord thought of everything in saving us from our sins. And because these things have actually, really, taken place, Paul says we are to “reckon” them to be so in the daily lives we live for the Lord Jesus:

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.6:11).

This is the gospel that Paul preached, not popular, because it “crucifies the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal.5:24). But “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (ITim.4:8 ). Consequently there is no excuse for sin in the believer’s life today.

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained” (ITim.4:6).

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August 11, 2008

MERCY AND GRACE TO THE “CHIEF” OF SINNERS
by Russell S. Miller

When the world was ripe for the judgment of God to fall, indeed now seems overripe and long overdue, the Lord Jesus Christ reached down in mercy and grace to save “the chief of sinners,” as Paul later calls himself in I Timothy 1:15.

In saving Saul of Tarsus, God has “shewed forth all longsuffering” to this lost and dying world. Consequently, the Lord’s words to Ananias concerned Paul’s conversion, his apostleship and commission, and also speaks of God’s grace to us all when the very next prophesied event was the judgment of God. Contrary to the Great Commission, then, Acts 9:1-6 marks a new beginning as to the administration of God in the affairs of men today:

“…for [Paul] is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15,16).

Notice that the order of Paul’s commission is the reverse of that given to the Twelve! Saul of Tarsus, the one who had persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ, is specially “chosen” of God through whom “God’s Son” is to be revealed to “all nations.” Since the favored nation had rejected Messiah and refused “the Kingdom of Heaven” on earth under their so-called “Great Commission,” God sent forth the Apostle Paul to all nations with a new message and ministry, “to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24), from the moment of his conversion.

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, PUTTING ME INTO THE MINISTRY; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

“AND THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS EXCEEDING ABUNDANT WITH FAITH AND LOVE WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS.

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, THAT CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS; of whom I am chief.

“Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, FOR A PATTERN TO THEM WHICH SHOULD HEREAFTER believe on Him to life everlasting” (ITim.1:12-16).

Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? He will make a real difference in your life, if you will just ask Him to save you. Won’t you do it today?

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August 12, 2008

"WHY CELEBRATE THE LORD'S SUPPER"
by Cornelius R. Stam

The Lord's Supper was first instituted by our Lord after His last observance of the Passover (Luke 22:14-20). The main elements of the Passover feast were roast lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Ex.12:8 ) while at the Lord's Supper they were bread and wine (Luke 22:19,20).

Furthermore, the Lord's Supper was given by Paul to the Gentiles as a celebration of what Christ had done for them. Here let us be Bereans and ask a question or two from Scripture. Was not the Old Covenant made with Israel (Ex.19:3-6)? And does not this covenant affect the Gentiles?

"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" (Rom.3:19).

It is significant that Paul calls himself and his coworkers, not Peter and the eleven, "able ministers of the New Covenant" (IICor.3:6). And remember he was "the apostle of the Gentiles" (Rom.11:13) and wrote this to Gentiles. As with the Old Covenant, so with the New, full light was not given until the revelation of the mystery to Paul by the exalted Lord.

The simple fact is, that what was promised to Israel and Judah under the New Covenant (Jer.31:31-34) we, Gentile believers, receive by grace. As we came under the condemnation of the Old Covenant so we also come under the blessing of the New -- by grace, for remember, the blood of the New Covenant, shed at Calvary, was also shed for us. It is that blood whereby we are saved. He shed no other.

But, beloved reader, has it ever occurred to you that to accomplish this, our blessed Lord had to be baptized into the human race -- become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh--one with us, yea, one of us? Before we could be baptized into Deity, He had to be baptized into humanity. Before we could be baptized into His death, He had to be baptized into our death (Luke 12:50). To lift us from earth to heaven, to bless us with all spiritual blessings, He had to take on Himself a physical body to be beaten and scourged and spit upon and crucified.

God would have us remember this. And not only would He remind us of this stupendous fact and have us live in the light of it (Col. 1:21,22): He would have us show it forth to others as well.

"THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME."

"FOR AS OFTEN AS YE EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP, YE DO SHEW THE LORD'S DEATH TILL HE COME" (ICor.11: 24,26).

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August 13, 2008

WHAT GRACE IS
by Cornelius R. Stam

Never let the devil deceive you into supposing that God planned sin as "a gracious means to a glorious end," for then salvation from sin would be simple justice, not grace. No, you cannot legitimately charge God with your sin. It is to the guilty, the undeserving, far and wide, that God offers "the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7).

There are two significant phrases in Eph. 2 which shed clear light upon the character, the nature, of grace. They are found in Verses 2 and 3, which speak of the unsaved as "children [Gr., huiois, full-grown sons] of disobedience" and "children [Gr., tekna, born ones] of wrath."

Meditate for a moment on these phrases: "Children of disobedience" and "children of wrath." It is against this dark, black background of deserved wrath, that we read further:

"BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith He loved us,
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [given us life] together with Christ (BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED),
"And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
"That in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS" (Eph. 2:4-7).

Somehow it takes a load off one's heart and mind to come to the end of his rope, as it were, and admit that he is a sinner, deserving God's wrath. How sweet to the ears of such is the wonderful message of redemption by grace, through the finished work of Christ at Calvary. We were all the "children [full-grown sons] of disobedience": and therefore "by nature the children [born ones] of wrath": "But God!" When hope seemed gone, He intervened and now offers salvation to all by grace, through faith.

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

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August 14, 2008

TRUE THANKSGIVING
by Cornelius R. Stam

Many people entertain only vague notions about thanksgiving, just as they do about faith.

They confuse faith with optimism, will power, presumption, imagination, and all sorts of other things. A doctor tells his patient that but for his faith, he never would have come through his illness. Somehow the patient was "just sure" he would recover. A smiling mother encourages her married daughter to "have faith, that everything will turn out all right." But faith in God is believing God; believing what He has said. True faith is based on the written Word of God (See Rom. 10:17).

But unregenerate men have vague ideas about thanksgiving. A man escapes some great harm and thanks his "lucky stars." Another says: "I'm grateful for a healthy body," but to whom is he grateful? He doesn't say. In many cases it doesn't even occur to him to ask. He's "just thankful"!

How refreshing, then, it is to open our Bibles, especially to the Epistles of Paul, the chief of sinners, saved by grace, and to see him giving thanks for specific blessings, and to a specific Person -- God!

"Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son" (Col. 1:12,13).

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!" (II Cor. 9:15).

"Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory!" (I Car. 15:57).

"Thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph!" (II Cor. 2:14).

It is our prayer for all our readers that this Thanksgiving season, and always, you may be especially thankful for "the gift of God [which] is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

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August 15, 2008

THE FATHER OF BELIEVERS
by Cornelius R. Stam

"Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3).

Has it ever occurred to you that the most loved, the most honored, the most respected person of all history is -- not Christ, but Abraham. Christ ought to be most loved, honored and respected, but Abraham is. Besides the millions of professing Christians there are untold millions of Jews and Mohammedans who speak with reverence of "our father Abraham."

Clearly this is why God used this man to show how to be saved and justified before a holy God. As Paul is God's great example of grace, so Abraham is God's great example of faith -- saving faith.

"If Abraham were justified by works," says Rom. 4:2, he has something to boast about -- but not before God, who sees and knows all. But Abraham was justified. How? "What saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness" (Ver. 3).

God, of course, had planned salvation through the redemptive work of Christ and has always saved anyone who simply trusts Him and takes Him at His Word. Since Abraham, of course, more of God's Word has been revealed and we know the details of Christ's death for sinners. If we now take God at His Word and simply trust Christ as Savior we are completely justified, for salvation is not; cannot be, by works:

"But to him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5).

"...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).

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August 16, 2008

WASHED, SANCTIFIED AND JUSTIFIED
by Cornelius R. Stam

"And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (I Cor. 6:11).

The preceding verses of I Cor. 6 contain a long list of vile sins and vices into which men have fallen, and the Apostle adds:

"And such were some of you." God's Church is not made up of "good people" who have never fallen into sin. It is rather made up of sinners, saved by grace, through the infinite payment made for sin by Christ on Calvary's cross.

"And such were some of you." Had the Apostle included the more "refined" sins, such as pride, self-righteousness, etc., he would have had to say: "And such were all of you."

Note further, however, that the Apostle says: "And such were some of you." Thank God, he goes on to say of those who had been thus stained with sin: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

How beautiful these three phrases: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified"! The word "but" appearing before each phrase indicates that each should be considered separately. Such vile creatures were some of you, "but ye are washed," cleansed from the sins that contaminated you. "But ye are sanctified." Having been cleansed you are now set apart as sacred for His glory. "But ye are justified." When God justifies us, who can condemn?

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?"

All this is done for the believing sinner, as our verse says, "in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

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August 17, 2008

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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