Two Minutes With The Bible

[nChrist]

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November 21, 2008

SO VERY RICH (II COR. 8:9)
by Cornelius R. Stam

So rich, so very rich, was Christ
Through past eternity!
As God the Son, with God enthroned,
The Heir of all was He.
So poor, so very poor, did He
As Son of man become!
>From manger birth to shameful death
Rejected by His own.
For us, ah yes, it was for us
He bore such poverty.
That we by His redeeming grace
Might be as rich as He!

- C.R.S.

[nChrist]

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November 22, 2008

WHEN THE LORD BECAME ANGRY
by Cornelius R. Stam

"And He saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

"And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man. Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other" (Mark 3:4,5).

Why did our Lord become angry when the Jewish leaders refused to answer His questions? He was "grieved for the hardness of their hearts." Their silence was not the silence of ignorance but of willfulness. They had "watched Him whether He would heal... on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him," but they could not tell Him what was wrong about it. Indeed, when He asked them what was wrong they refused to answer His questions.

How inconsistent! How unreasonable! How unjust! And, as we read the context, we are amazed to find that this sullen, stubborn opposition came not from the Sadducees but from the Pharisees, not the religious "liberals" but the "conservatives," the Bible-believers of the day!

They were the orthodox group. Nevertheless, because of their pride and bigotry generations following have looked down upon them and have pronounced with contempt the name Pharisee.

Paul stood with them, doctrinally, against the Sadducees. He said: "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee" (Acts 23:6), nevertheless the Pharisees had joined the Sadducees in their opposition to him and to the glorious message he proclaimed. In this respect times have not changed, for those who stand boldly for God's message and program for our day will find themselves still opposed by Sadducees and Pharisees alike.

[nChrist]

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November 23, 2008

BUYING UP THE TIME
by Cornelius R. Stam

Nineteen hundred years ago Paul wrote to his fellow- believers in the vicinity of Ephesus: "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming [Lit., buying up] the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:15,16). Those were indeed evil days, when a wicked tyrant ruled the Roman Empire, when Messiah had been rejected, not only in incarnation, but in resurrection, and Christianity was fighting a life-and-death battle to penetrate the prevailing pagan darkness with the light of God's grace. Surely Paul never dreamed that the dispensation of grace would continue for more than nineteen hundred years. He expected the Lord to come at any time to recall His ambassadors and bring the day of grace to a close. Hence the urgency of his appeal to be "buying up the time, because the days are evil."

But if Paul had reason to suspect that the day of grace would soon be brought to a close, we today have greater reason to think so. Now that the light of the gospel has been brought to Europe, America and many other parts of the world, men are turning their backs on it. Only a small minority of even Christendom truly believe the Bible and know the Christ it presents -- and how very few know the riches of His grace!

Meanwhile our governments, our educational institutions and our social systems are becoming ever more godless. The result? The newspapers, radio and TV -- even a trip downtown to any fair-sized city, will tell us all we need to know. Once again "the days are evil" and the Lord's coming for His own seems imminent. There is still much talk about lasting peace and prosperity, but no thoughtful person believes that we are headed in that direction. Rather the world appears to be heading straight toward the prophesied "day of wrath."

What a comfort it is to the believer, then, to know that "God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us..." (I Thes. 5:9,10). "For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed" and "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:11,13).

[nChrist]

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November 24, 2008

THE RIGHTNESS OF GOD
by Cornelius R. Stam

There are many theological words which most people -- even most Christian people -- do not under-stand. Among these is the Bible word "righteousness". Actually, though, this word is very simple and we ought to understand about God's righteousness even before we learn of His love.

Righteousness is simply an old word for rightness. When we say that God is righteous, we simply mean that what He does is always right; that He will not and cannot do anything that is not right. This is why Paul declares in Romans 1:16, 17:

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth...FOR THEREIN IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS [rightness] OF GOD REVEALED..."

We are proud to proclaim the gospel of the grace of God because it emphasizes God's rightness. The gospel does not tell us that God will overlook our sins or wink at them and smuggle us into heaven. It doesn't tell us that He will forgive us if we are sorry enough or do enough good deeds to counterbalance our sins. By no means.

The "gospel of the grace of God" is based on His rightness. It is the wonderful message that "Christ died for our sins", that He paid for them Himself so that He might justly offer us forgiveness and declare us righteous.

Romans 3:26 puts it beautifully. There the apostle declares that since our sins were paid for by Christ at Calvary, God can now "be just -- and the Justifier of him who believes in Jesus".

For centuries religious people have said to each other: "We must be truly sorry for our sins and do all the good we can and surely God will forgive and accept us". But this is not the gospel. The gospel gives us more solid ground to plant our feet upon. It says to every man, woman and child: "Your sins were PAID FOR by Christ at Calvary. Trust in Him and you will be saved". This is gospel [good news] indeed, for it is based on the just payment of the penalty for sin.

[nChrist]

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November 25, 2008

WISDOM OR FOLLY?
by Cornelius R. Stam

That moon shot, some weeks ago, was really something! We hit the moon, right on target, took 4,319 pictures on the way, as close as 1,000 feet, and all in extraordinary detail, so that we now have pictures of the moon 1,000 times sharper than any previously taken.

How proud many of us feel now! How wise and great we Americans are! Yet, now that our achievement is a few weeks old, let's look at it again in the light of the whole picture of American life.

Let's face it; America is perhaps the most violent of "civilized" nations -- and we can't seem to curb the rapid growth in crime.

Our women dare not walk the streets of many of our larger cities at night -- and none of us dare walk through some localities. From shoplifting to armed robbery, from intoxication to dope addiction, from assault to murder, crime in America has risen to an all-time high -- and is rising faster all the time.

What good will it do us to achieve landings on the crust of the moon in, say six or eight years, if in the meantime we dissipate our moral strength in dishonesty, immorality, vice and crime? It is in this very connection that St. Paul wrote by inspiration of God:

"For the preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent" (I Cor. 1:18,19).

The world, with all its wisdom cannot save itself. It is only Christ's death on the cross that can save, for there our sins were paid for, that we might be "justified freely by [God's] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

[nChrist]

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November 26, 2008

BELIEVERS JUSTIFIED
by Cornelius R. Stam

Our Lord's appearance to Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul) on the road to Damascus, changed the pitiless persecutor in a moment into the docile, yes the devoted follower of the Christ he had so bitterly hated.

This transformation took place not only because he had now seen the risen, ascended Christ; it was caused also by what he had learned from Christ. From heaven the Lord had revealed to Paul the glory of His finished work of redemption and had sent him forth to proclaim "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).

This is seen in the closing words of the Apostle's first recorded sermon, delivered at the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia. After mentioning the death and resurrection of Christ, the Apostle said:

"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).

Paul never changed this message, but kept emphasizing it wherever he went as well as in his writings. He saw in this truth the answer to man's condemnation for breaking God's holy law. Thus he wrote to the Romans:

"...by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested" (Rom. 3:20,21).
"[We] declare, I say, at this time, [Christ's] righteousness; that [God] might be just and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26).

Mark well: He does not say, "believeth and is baptized." This was the message committed to the twelve (Mark 16: 16; Acts 2:38 ). With the ushering in of the dispensation of grace God was manifested as "the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

[nChrist]

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November 27, 2008

SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING
by Cornelius R. Stam

Honest, prayerful study of the Word brings us to spiritual maturity and understanding. But does it not require superior intellectual powers to understand these "deep things of God"? No indeed. Superior intellects among unsaved men are unable to appreciate even the "simple" truths of the Word, for "they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:14). And as to the "mystery" made known to Paul by the glorified Lord, the Apostle declares that it is now "revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Eph. 3:5).

The mystery is not merely something more difficult to grasp intellectually, for the Apostle specifically states that it is "not the wisdom of this world" but "the wisdom of God" (I Cor. 2:6,7), and that only by the Spirit of God can it be understood and appreciated. This explains why many of the humblest believers rejoice in the mystery and understand it so clearly, while so many great theologians and religious leaders fail to grasp it and keep confusing it with God's prophesied program regarding the kingdom of Christ.

The mystery is not "hard to be understood" because men are slow of mind to understand, but because they are "slow of heart to believe," because the devil, who "hath blinded the minds of them that believe not" also seeks to keep God's people from seeing and rejoicing in the truth of the mystery with its riches of grace, its "one body" and its "one baptism." This is why the Apostle prayed so fervently that the believers to whom he ministered might be given "spiritual understanding" to take in the glorious message he was commissioned to proclaim (See Eph. 1:16-19; Col. 1:9,10).

[nChrist]

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November 28, 2008

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."

[nChrist]

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November 29, 2008

WHY GOD WAITS
by Cornelius R. Stam

St. Peter was not wrong when he declared at Pentecost that the last days had begun (Acts 2:16,17). They had indeed begun, but God had a secret plan to give the world a period of grace before putting down its rebellion and sending Christ to reign.

This secret purpose concerning "the dispensation of the grace of God" is the subject of Paul's epistles. However, it is interesting to see how Peter's last message explains the reason for this interruption in God's prophesied program and the delay in Christ's return to reign. First, he says in II Peter 3:8:

"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years years as one day."

Mark well, this is not our feeble explanation now as to the delay in Christ's return. This statement was made at the beginning of this time of waiting, at the dawn of the age of grace. But let us go on with Peter's declaration:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise... but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (Ver. 9).

So the delay in Christ's return to judge and reign should not be counted "slackness" or laxness, but longsuffering. Thus the Apostle goes on to say:

"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation..."

Where did Peter get this information? How did he know about "the dispensation of the grace of God"? Verse 15 explains:

"Even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you."

To Paul particularly was committed "the gospel of the grace of God" which we proclaim today (Acts 20:24). Peter recognized this (Gal. 2:2,7,9), and closed his second epistle with the exhortation:

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Pet. 3:18 ).

[nChrist]

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November 30, 2008

THE FOLLY OF WORLDLY WISDOM
by Cornelius R. Stam

Has not the world made great progress, intellectually, since Paul's day? Is this not evident on every hand? Of course! For one thing, our physicists have taught us how to kill each other much faster now. Moscow, London or Washington could be wiped out in a few minutes, and this is a considerable saving in time!

And think what has been accomplished in the field of electronics! We can now keep intelligent people glued to their TV sets for hours on end, their eyes riveted to shows which are often unwholesome, but sometimes at least entertaining and occasionally even informative. And think of the many time-saving devices in our homes! We are all saving so much time that we cannot even be hospitable to each other and our mental institutions are over-crowded with patients who have collapsed from enjoying all this leisure time.

Then consider our achievements in transportation! Our thoroughfares are crowded with automobiles whose drivers are getting jangled nerves in traffic jams and choking in the deadly carbon monoxide fumes, or else racing at high speeds, which is great fun until suddenly some object looms up ahead as if from nowhere. And the airplane! This is really something! We can now fly through the air with so much noise and commotion that innocent people for miles around our larger airports are kept awake nights. Of course, the minority should be willing to suffer cheerfully for the majority and it is important that great numbers of people get places fast, fast, fast.

But all this is nothing compared with what is going on in outer space. We now have all sorts of things orbiting around out there -- and it's not all debris. It includes some very sensitive instruments, serving us faithfully from day to day. Indeed, men from our earth have actually landed on the moon and have brought some of its rocks and dust back with them. Soon, maybe, we will have people from beautiful New England, or the breath-taking Rockies, or the lovely shores of Oregon, living on its barren wastes. Wonderful prospect! And we can always get the necessary billions from the taxpayers.

But the best of it is that while we have aspired to reach the moon, and even Mars, we've got a Great Society going on earth; a Society whose wild pagan music has all but replaced the beautiful melodies and harmonies of the classics, and whose twisted "art" reflects the bewildered confusion of our times; a Society in which children and young people are corrupted, women are robbed and raped, and men, women and children are murdered in the streets. Oh, it's wonderful! The young people demonstrating at our universities for the right to use filthy language if they want to, and demanding a greater voice in running our institutions of learning; the minority groups marching to protest their various grievances, the rioting and bloodshed, the burning and looting! And meantime, ever so quietly, our most sophisticated mob syndicates are running fine motels and other business organizations -- and pouring an ever-increasing flow of narcotics, pornographic literature, etc., into our enlightened community, judges and juries doing what they can to favor the criminals and, should any of them land behind prison bars, the parole boards are there to help get them released as soon as possible, so that our happy society may benefit from their experience and our mental and penal institutions may be further enlarged. Surely we've never had it so good.

Thanks be to God for the truth of Gal. 1:4:

"[Christ] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world [or, "age"] according to the will of God and our Father."

[nChrist]

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December 1, 2008

STANDING WHATEVER THE COST
by Cornelius R. Stam

When the Babylonian multitudes prostrated themselves in worship before the golden god which Nebuchadnezzar had erected, three young Hebrews refused to bow and remained standing, erect and alone.

When called before Nebuchadnezzar to answer for their impudence and threatened with death in a fiery furnace, they answered:

"Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us... but if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up" (Dan. 3:17,18 ).

This is the stand every believer should take for God and His truth. He is able to deliver us from persecution if we stand true, but even if He does not see fit to do this we should still stand alone, if necessary, for the light He has given us from His Word.

Many have suffered temporary loss for standing for their convictions. Hebrews 11 lists among the heroes of faith some who were "tortured, not accepting deliverance," and others who suffered "trial of cruel mockings and scourgings ...bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented" (Heb. 11:35-37).

But we read that these all "obtained a good report" before God and looked forward to "a better resurrection" (Vers. 35,39).

As the apostasy rises all about us and those who stand for God's truth are often ridiculed and despised, may God give us the grace to stand true regardless of the cost, remembering that any sufferings for Christ are only temporary while the rewards will be eternal.

[nChrist]

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December 2, 2008

"GRACE ABOUNDING IN PAUL'S MINISTRY"
by Cornelius R. Stam

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and THE MINISTRY WHICH I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD JESUS, TO TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD."
--The Apostle Paul in Acts 20:24.

# "GRACE to you, and peace" (Rom.1:7);

# "Being justified freely by His GRACE" (Rom.3:24);

# "we have access by faith into this GRACE wherein we stand" (Rom.5:2);

# "the GRACE of God, and gift by GRACE...is by one Man" (Rom.5:15);

# "the abundance of GRACE and of the gift of righteousness" (Rom.5:17);

# "where sin abounded, GRACE did much more abound...that GRACE might reign" (Rom.5:20,21);

# "for ye are not under the law, but under GRACE" (Rom.6:14);

# "not under the law, but under GRACE" (Rom.6:15);

# "there is a remnant according to the election of GRACE" (Rom.11:5);

# "if by GRACE, then it is no more of works; otherwise GRACE is no more GRACE.... But if it be of works, then is it no more GRACE" (Rom.11:6);

# "By the GRACE of God I am what I am; and His GRACE... was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the GRACE of God which was with me" (ICor.15:10);

# "that the abundant GRACE might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God" (IICor.4:15);

# "receive not the GRACE of God in vain" (IICor.6:1);

# "ye know the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ" (IICor.8:9);

# "God is able to make all GRACE abound toward you" (IICor.9:8 );

# "the exceeding GRACE of God" (IICor.9:14);

# "My GRACE is sufficient for thee" (IICor.12:9);

# "I do not frustrate the GRACE of God" (Gal.2:21);

# "the praise of the glory of His GRACE" (Eph.1:6);

# "the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His GRACE" (Eph.1:7);

# "the exceeding riches of His GRACE" (Eph.2:7);

# "For by GRACE are ye saved, through faith" (Eph.2:8 );

# "the dispensation of the GRACE of God... given me to you-ward" (Eph.3:2);

# "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly...singing with GRACE in your hearts to the Lord" (Col.3:16);

# "the GRACE of our Lord was exceeding abundant" (ITim.1:14);

# "who hath saved us...according to His own purpose and GRACE, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (IITim.1:9);

# "Be strong in the GRACE that is in Christ Jesus" (IITim.2:1);

# "GRACE be with you all" (Tit.3:15).

[nChrist]

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December 3, 2008

ENEMIES OF GOD AND WORSHIPPERS OF SATAN
by Cornelius R. Stam

"...we were enemies..." (Rom. 5:10).

"...the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not..." (II Cor. 4:4).

Many religious but unsaved people will not accept the fact that they are enemies of God, and fail to understand why the Bible should insist that they are.

But the God who says that they are sinners, worthy of everlasting judgment; that their only hope of salvation lies in the One who poured out His life's blood to pay the penalty for their sins -- this God, the God of the Bible, they cannot abide. Let one of His servants tell them what He says about them and they are insulted. When this God, the true God, refuses to accept their "good" works or their "righteous" conduct they react like Cain, of whom we read: "And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell" (Gen. 4:5). They simply will not bow to this God, and their attitude betrays their enmity against Him.

But why will they not turn away from their self-righteousness and trust in Christ, who died for their sins?

Simply because they worship Satan, "the god of this age," who "hath blinded the minds of those who believe not." Worship Satan? This too is hard for the unregenerate man to believe about himself. As he has his own conception of God, he also has his own conception of Satan -- a wrong one.

Unbelievers do not know that the real Satan, the Satan of the Bible, has a vast wardrobe and, in this dispensation of grace, doubtless appears most often as "an angel of light" with "ministers of righteousness" (II Cor. 11:14,15). This Satan they do indeed worship. They adore him, and try to live by his precepts, convinced that the way to salvation is to do and be good.

[nChrist]

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December 4, 2008

DAVID'S BLESSEDNESS
by Cornelius R. Stam

"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom. 4:6-8 ).

Obviously David knew no more about the present "dispensation of the grace of God" than did Abraham, and he certainly did not live under the dispensation of grace. He lived under the dispensation of the Law, when sacrifices were required for acceptance with God. Had David said that the offering of sacrifices was unnecessary, he would have been stoned according to the Law.

But David, unlike many today, understood the purpose of the Mosaic Law: to bring man in guilty before God. In Psalm 130 he said: "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee." He did not know how God could righteously acquit a guilty sinner, but he believed it to be a fact and rejoiced in Psa. 32: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered... unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity..."

Thank God, we now know the reason! God has revealed through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace, how He can be "just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). It is because "God hath made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, [Him] who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Cor. 5:21).

David's blessedness may be ours too, if we will but do what David did: trust in Him who graciously forgives sin and (as we now know) justifies believers on the basis of the redemptive work of Christ.

[nChrist]

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December 5, 2008

How to Have Boldness
by Paul M. Sadler, President

Scripture Reading:

"And [pray] for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
-- Ephesians 6:19,20

In our modern day there is a great demand for instant success. We read frequently of how many have risen to fame and fortune practically overnight. Seldom, however, do we hear of the hours of labor, practice, sacrifice and discipline it took to build that career. Most times we only hear and see the end result. Many have been deceived and disillusioned to think that they can have fame and fortune with little or no effort.

In these days in which we live, the world seems to have a powerful influence over the lives of many believers. For this reason many members of the Body of Christ are looking for that book, conference or seminar that will be a shortcut to spiritual maturity. When it comes to our spiritual lives and having boldness of faith we want instant results with little or no effort put into it. As a Pastor, I would have to say that to have boldness in the faith as the Apostle says, there must be three key ingredients.

Time:

Just as physical growth takes years, spiritual growth also takes time. As we come to spiritual maturity we become more and more confident to speak out for the Lord. It takes time to learn that we have to take our eyes off of ourselves which causes us to be reluctant to speak because of the fear of men.

Discipline:

It takes discipline to sit down with the Word of God and study to acquire a knowledge of the Scriptures. We don't mean just reading the Bible devotionally. It is said that we retain only about 20 percent of what we read. But, if we read and study, we retain about 60 percent when comparing Scripture with Scripture. The better equipped you are in the Word of God the more comfortable you will be to share the truth, rightly divided.

Consistency:

If we are to gain the respect of others in order to more effectively minister the gospel, we must be consistent with the truth. Don't sound an uncertain trumpet, be able to substantiate what you teach with the Blessed Book. Not only should we speak the truth in love consistently, we must also live the truth. Our lives are the only Bibles some men see. That's why the Apostle Paul warns us to put "away lying, [and] speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another" (Eph. 4:25). True boldness in the faith does not come naturally, it is something we grow into as we increase in the knowledge of Him Who has called us into the glorious light.