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September 1, 2011

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.

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September 2, 2011

SOBER CHRISTIANS
by Cornelius R. Stam

"Let us, who are of the day, be sober..." (I Thes. 5:8 ).

Many people entertain the erroneous idea that truly spiritual Christians must always be solemn and long-faced. In fact, they suppose that such Scripture passages as the above teach this.

Nothing could be farther from the truth, for the word "sober," in our English New Testament does not mean solemn, but completely under control. This is also true of the original Greek word from which the English word "sober" is translated.

Sobriety in Scripture, as in modern English, is the opposite of drunkenness. This is brought out in the rest of the passage cited above. Along with its context, the above exhortation reads as follows:

"For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken be drunken in the night.
"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.
"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
"Who died for us that... we should live together with Him" (I Thes. 5:7-10).

Thus those who are "of the day," and know Christ as their Savior, should not "sleep" on the one hand, or "be drunken" on the other, but should be awake and alert, their faculties completely under control, so that they might witness the more effectively to the saving grace of Christ.

If ever there was a time when true Christians should "watch and be sober," it is now.

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September 3, 2011

TWO ANXIOUS MOTHERS
by Cornelius R. Stam

Some time ago, in Chicago, a little baby was kidnapped right out of her mother's arms in a hospital room, while another mother left her baby in a cardboard box on top of a garbage can.

We have the feeling that in all probability the woman who abandoned her baby -- and it probably was a woman -- was just as much beside herself as the one who had her baby stolen from her arms.

A Registered Nurse told us some time ago that the proportion of mothers who do not want their babies is becoming alarming. We do not believe that these women wouldn't want their babies under normal circumstances. Everybody loves a baby! But in such cases sin has come in to bring trouble and shame and misery. Some of these mothers are unwed and have been disgraced; others are separated or divorced from their husbands or would have to bring their babies home to nothing but bickering and trouble. Still others have passed diseases on to their babies and wish that they had never been born.

This is how sin wrecks lives and homes, but it is wonderful to know that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," as we read in I Tim. 1:15. How does He save sinners? First He bore the penalty of sin for us: "Christ died for our sins" (I Cor. 15:3). But He will save us from sin's control too, if we let Him. Rom. 6:14 says to believers in Christ: "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace," and millions have proved this to be true.

Salvation is more than a religious term, or a feeling or sentiment, it is actual deliverance from the penalty and power of sin, through the redemptive work of Christ on Calvary, where He "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" for every one who simply but sincerely trusts Him as Lord and Savior.

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September 4, 2011

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.

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September 5, 2011

THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CALVARY
by Cornelius R. Stam

Three times in Romans 5 we read that Christ died for us. Verse 6 tells us that He died for us in our weakness, Verse 8 that He died for us in our sin, and Verse 10 that He died for us in our rebellion.

First, Verse 6 says: "For when we were yet WITHOUT STRENGTH, in due time Christ died for the ungodly".

Men sometimes try to make themselves acceptable to God by human effort, but they never succeed. We can't walk or run to heaven, we can't even fly there, and we certainly can't climb there --- not even by doing good works, for good works is what we ought to do, and we should not expect them to counter-balance our sinful thoughts and deeds. Anyway, heaven is God's and He says we cannot gain it by works:

"For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9).

Next, Romans 5:8 says: "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us".

Many people feel shut out of heaven, not merely because of a sense of helplessness, but because of a sense of sinfulness and condemnation. To such God proclaims the glad news that "Christ died for sinners", and "came into the world to save sinners" (I Tim. 1:15). At Calvary He paid the just penalty for sin --- for the sins of all mankind --- so that we, by faith, might be "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

But Romans 5:10 goes even further, offering hope and grace to those who have resisted God's grace and rejected His Son, for here the greatest Christ-rejecter of all time, now gloriously saved and changed, declares:

"When we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10).

And so the helpless, the sinful, yes, and the rebellious, can find acceptance with God if only they will turn from their sin and failure to Him. "BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED..." (Acts 16:31).

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September 6, 2011

A MEMORIAL OF CALVARY
by Cornelius R. Stam

It is disappointing to find some well-meaning brethren calling the Lord's Supper the Passover.

Surely Luke 22:14-20 proves conclusively that after the observance of the Passover, our Lord instituted a "remembrance" of His death.

When Paul recounts what our Lord did and said at the Lord's Supper he mentions only bread and wine, while at the Passover there was certainly much more than this.

The Passover, like water baptism, was an Old Testament ordinance, but the Lord's Supper is as distinctly associated with the New Testament, or Covenant.

"For this is My blood of the New Testament..."
(Matt. 26:28 ).

The Passover, like water baptism, spoke of an unfinished work, for if water cannot wash away sin, neither can the blood of bulls and goats take away sins (Heb. 10:4). Both were shadows of the redeeming work of Christ.

Because so many stumble over the fact that water baptism was practiced even after the cross, we repeat that the full results of Calvary were not manifested until "due time," through the Apostle Paul. Blood sacrifices, circumcision, the sabbaths and feast days likewise spoke of an unfinished work, yet these were all observed after the cross --- by the Spirit-filled disciples. This is simply because the time for the unfolding of God's secret purpose and the gospel of the grace of God was not ripe until God raised up that other apostle, Paul. Indeed, even then its unfolding and the passing away of the old order were gradual matters.

BUT --- whereas the Passover and water baptism were Old Testament ordinances, the Lord's Supper is distinctly a New Testament celebration. The celebration of the Lord's death should never be classed with the ordinances, not even with the ordinance of baptism, for while water baptism spoke of an unfinished work, the Lord's Supper is clearly a celebration of the finished work of Christ.

At least three times the Lord's Supper is stated to be "in remembrance" of Christ and His redemptive work.

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September 7, 2011

THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL
by Cornelius R. Stam

Twice in Galatians 2 Paul speaks of "the truth of the gospel." In both cases the Apostle had been forced to speak out to defend the purity of "the gospel of the grace of God."

In Verses 4,5 he refers to his contest with those at Jerusalem who would have brought the Gentile believers under the law of Moses. Among them were "false brethren," he says, "unawares brought in... to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you."

In the second case he refers to a controversy with Peter who, having enjoyed blessed fellowship with Gentile Christians, had been intimidated by some of his Jewish brethren into separating himself from the Gentiles. Concerning this, Paul writes: "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed" (Ver. 11). Why was Peter to be blamed? Verse 14 answers: Because he "walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel," i.e., "the gospel of the grace of God," in which believing Jews and Gentiles are "one body in Christ."

How we should all thank God for Paul's vigorous defense of the gospel of grace, under which all who trust in Christ as Savior are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one true Bible Church (I Cor. 12:13).

Doubtless Paul's stand for "the gospel of the grace of God" stemmed from the fact that he himself had experienced the truth of this blessed message. As the chief of sinners he had been gloriously saved. All his power and prestige as a Pharisee, all his intellectual achievement, all his rigid Law observance meant nothing now, as in the presence of the glorified Lord he saw himself a sinner, the chief of sinners, and was saved by the matchless grace of God.

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September 8, 2011

THE HIGHEST EXPRESSION OF FAITH
by Cornelius R. Stam

In Rom. 8:26 we read what our hearts must often confess to be true:

"...We know not what we should pray for as we ought..."

But the Apostle hastens to explain that the Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of God, adding:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom.8:28 ).

Believers may not receive whatever they ask for in the darkness of this age, but

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (II Cor. 9:8 ).

We may not receive whatever we ask for, but by His grace we may have so much more than this, that the Apostle, in contemplating it, breaks forth in a doxology:

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

"Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:20,21).

In the light of all this the highest expression of faith today is found in the words of Paul in Phil. 4:6,7:

"Be careful [anxious] for nothing -- but in everything -- by prayer and supplication -- with thanksgiving -- let your requests be made known unto God -- and..."

"And" what?

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive"?

NO!!

"...and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep [garrison] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

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September 9, 2011

"DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES"
by Cornelius R. Stam

"And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles" (Luke 6:13).

Many people fail to distinguish between our Lord's disciples and His apostles. They suppose they are the same. This is incorrect, however, for our Lord had a multitude of disciples while He had only a few apostles. His apostles were chosen from among His disciples, as we learn from the above message from Luke's gospel.

A disciple is a follower; an apostle is a "sent one". A disciple is a learner; an apostle is a teacher. There is a great lesson here for us all to learn.

We must come before we can go. We must follow before we can be sent. We must learn before we can teach. We must listen to the Lord before we can speak for the Lord.

"Thus saith the Lord", was the familiar phrase with which the Old Testament prophets began their messages. But at the head of the long list of Old Testament prophets we find Samuel, a young lad, saying: "SPEAK LORD, FOR THY SERVANT HEARETH" (I Sam. 3:9).

Before we can do or say anything for God, then, we must listen to God. This explains why the reading and study of the Word of God is so important.

First, salvation itself comes by hearing and believing God's Word, especially about Christ, and His death for our sins. Romans 10:17 says: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God", and I Peter 1:23: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever". Then, having been saved, we can serve God acceptably only by diligent study of His Word. Perhaps the most important passage in the Bible on this subject is II Timothy 2:15:

"STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDETH NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH."

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September 10, 2011

Cremation
by Paul M. Sadler, President

Scripture Reading: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." -- Psalm 90:10

With the rising cost of funerals these days many families are faced with the decision as to whether or not cremation should be considered as a viable option to burial. Many have concluded that this is an acceptable alternative since the matter is not addressed in Paul's epistles, and we are living under grace. While there does seem to be liberty here, perhaps it is the better part of wisdom to consult the whole counsel of God.

In Biblical times cremation of the body was primarily identified with the pagan nations of the world. According to the Old Testament there were a few isolated occurrences of this practice, although they always seem to be associated with judgment or cases of emergency rather than merely disposing of the body (Josh. 7:25,26; I Sam. 31:6-13).

Consequently, cremation was more the exception than the rule.

Throughout the Scriptures it is said that they buried their dead.

"Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah..."

"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury."

"And the young men arose, wound him [Ananias] up, and carried him out, and buried him."

In keeping with the Word of God, we believe it is preferable to bury our loved ones even though we may have liberty to do otherwise. Of course, the additional financial burden can be eased by planning ahead for our inevitable departure. The services that normally accompany a funeral bring the unsaved face to face with their own mortality.

Thus, the occasion, heartbreaking as it may be, has often been used of the Lord to bring many sons to glory. Whatever your conviction may be on the matter, it is important to heed the words of the Apostle Paul:

"Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Rom. 14:5).

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September 11, 2011

BECAUSE HE LOVED US
by Cornelius R. Stam

Why did the Lord of glory
Leave His heav'nly home,
To come to earth and suffer here
For wrongs He had not done?

Why did He go to Calv'ry
To bear the shame and loss,
And give His life for sinners vile
Upon th' accursed cross?

Why?...Because He loved us,
And longed that we might be
His very own -- not only now,
But through eternity.
-- C.R.S.

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September 12, 2011

THE STARS OF MESSIAH'S REIGN
by Cornelius R. Stam

"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).

The day is coming when redeemed Israel and all the saints of the Old Testament times will taste the joy of Messiah's glorious reign. But some -- the wise -- will be honored more than others and will shine in that day as the stars of the firmament.

Who are these "wise" ones? Our text answers: "They that turn many to righteousness". Not those who merely knew all the technicalities of the prophetic program, but remained unmoved, but those who, understanding the prophetic plan and recognizing that God must judge sin, did something about it and labored to turn many to righteousness.

These will be the stars of Messiah's reign.

What a lesson this passage holds for us who have trusted Christ as our Saviour in this present "dispensation of grace"!

When we stand before the Lord, all saved by His abundant grace, not all will be equally honored. Outshining the rest will be "the wise", who, understanding God's message and program of grace and, "buying up the time because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16), URGED THE LOST TO ACCEPT "the gift of righteousness" by faith in Christ. Of these we may well say by way of adaption:

"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

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September 13, 2011

FAITH IN THE RIGHT PERSON
by Cornelius R. Stam

Abraham's faith in God was strong. When God called him to forsake his family, friends and country, he obeyed and "went forth, not knowing whither he went." When God promised to multiply his seed as the stars of heaven, he believed it, though childless. When, in his old age, God promised that he would still have a son by ninety-year-old Sarah, he believed it even though he had waited so long, seemingly in vain. When God promised to give his seed the land in which he had sojourned, he believed it, though all reason argued against it. When God asked him to offer in sacrifice the son born so late in life, the son upon whom all the promises depended, he obeyed, concluding that it must be God's plan to raise him from the dead!

Such was Abraham's faith in God! Three times this is emphasized in Romans 4 alone: He was "not weak in faith" (Ver. 19); he "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief," but was "strong in faith" (Ver. 20).

But it was not the strength of Abraham's faith that saved him; it was the fact that the object of his faith was God (See again Gen. 15:6). He had placed his faith in the right Person. His faith became "strong" only because he had heard and believed God in the first place.

"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," and thus "to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3,5).

The simplest, humblest believer, who ever so feebly commits himself to God and His Word, is "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

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September 14, 2011

"GOOD FRIDAY"
by Cornelius R. Stam

There has been much debate among theologians as to whether the Lord Jesus Christ was actually crucified on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Traditionally, of course, it is supposed to have taken place on Friday, but this writer has never been able to get very excited about such details. What matters is that Christ, the Creator, God in flesh, died in shame and disgrace and agony for sins He had never committed -- for your sins and mine.

But have you ever considered that this in itself is not necessarily good news? Many an innocent person has died in the place of some guilty criminal who has gone free through some miscarriage of justice. We didn't see anything good about this. When St. Peter addressed his kinsmen he blamed them for the crucifixion of Christ, saying: "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you... as ye yourselves also know... ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:22, 23), and later he faced the Supreme Court of his nation and charged them with His death (Acts 4:5-11).

What then, was "good" about the death of Christ? Well, we come to this when we reach the Epistles of Paul in our Bibles. There the chief of sinners, saved by grace (I Tim. 1:15), exclaims: "He gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). He says: "God hath made Him to be sin for us... that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Cor. 5:21). He does not blame us for Christ's death -- though our sins helped to nail Him to that cross -- but proclaims the glad news that, "We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace" (Eph.1:7). And why did He do this 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" (Eph. 2:7).

So, for us who have trusted Christ as our Savior, the death of Christ at Calvary is indeed good news. We rejoice in it, sing about it, preach about it and all it has accomplished for a lost humanity. Little wonder Paul declared:

"God forbid that I should boast," except in one thing: "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14).

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September 15, 2011

FORGIVENESS
by Cornelius R. Stam

"WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH [Christ's] BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE" (Eph. 1:7).

The climax of Paul's first recorded sermon is reached in Verses 38 and 39 of Acts 13, where he declares:

"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."

Thus God through Christ, forgives and justifies those who believe. Nor is this all that was accomplished for us by the death of Christ at Calvary. There is also reconciliation, baptism by the Spirit into Christ and His Body, a position at God's right hand in the heavenlies and all spiritual blessings there.

"The forgiveness of sins" must come first, however, and the above passage assures us that in Christ we have this -- not barely, but "ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE". Indeed, the next verse continues: "WHEREIN HE HATH ABOUNDED TOWARD US..."

Thus Ephesians 2:2-7 declares that though we were once "the children of disobedience", and therefore "by nature the children of wrath", "God, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith He loved us", has given us life and raised us from the dead, exalting us to "heavenly places in Christ..."

His purpose in all this? "THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS" (Verse 7).

When God forgives us He no longer sees us in our poor selves, BUT IN CHRIST, who took our place, dying for our sins on Calvary's cross. There He hung in our place that we might now stand in His -- "COMPLETE IN HIM" (Col. 2:10).