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nChrist
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God Is Central
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Reply #3120 on:
June 30, 2013, 04:08:45 PM »
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God Is Central
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is the foundation book of Christian theology. It brings us face to face with facts we ought to know and must know to be saved.
In the 16th and 17th verses of the first chapter, the apostle declares that he is proud of the gospel because therein the “righteousness”, or rightness of God is revealed.
God had to deal righteously with sin before He could offer salvation to sinners. Sin is not merely an affliction; it is moral wrong and kindles the wrath of a just and holy God.
The wrath of God is too little discussed by modern evangelists and preachers. They like to talk about the love and mercy of God, as though He were a Grand Old Man with a tolerant attitude toward sin. But they never fully appreciate His love and mercy because they do not understand His infinite wrath against sin.
Much evangelism today has become sort of a “try God” gimmick. The pleasures of the world don’t satisfy? Try God. You can’t shake off some terrible bondage? Try God. When all else fails, Try God!
But this humanistic approach is foreign to Scripture. God, His holiness, His wrath against sin and His love in providing salvation — these are central in Scripture, not man and his condition and his needs.
We are not to look upon God as our servant, who will help us in time of need, but as the Holy One whose justice we have offended but who, in infinite grace, paid for our sins Himself so that we might be redeemed. This is why the Epistle to the Romans begins its mighty argument with almost three chapters on the subject of sin. Then follows the Good News of God’s grace in settling the sin question so that we might be “justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
And thus the same inspired writer declares in Ephesians 2:2-4 that we were “the children of disobedience” and therefore “the children of wrath”, but then goes on to show “God, who is rich in mercy” and “great” in “love”, saves believers by grace, giving them eternal life in Christ, who died for our sins.
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The Father Of Our Country And The Apostle To The Nations
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July 01, 2013, 02:18:24 PM »
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The Father Of Our Country And The Apostle To The Nations
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Millions highly honor George Washington as “the father of our country,” but how few know about Paul, God’s apostle to the nations!
Not Matthew, or Mark or Luke; not Peter or James or John, but Paul alone wrote:
“FOR I SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES (or, YOU OF THE NATIONS] INASMUCH AS I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES [NATIONS]: I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE” (Rom. 11:13).
And remember, Paul wrote this by divine inspiration. But note well that Paul did not magnify himself, but his office, to which he had been appointed by the glorified Lord. In defending his apostleship before the Galatians, he wrote:
“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
“For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11,12).
In many other passages the Apostle claims to speak as a direct representative of Christ (See I Cor. 11:23; 15:3; Eph. 3:2,3; I Thes. 4:15; etc.). To Timothy Paul wrote in I Tim. 6:3-5 concerning his own writings:
“If any man teach OTHERWISE, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing…”
This could not demonstrate more emphatically Paul’s claim that his words were “the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,” received from Him by direct revelation. To the Corinthians, who questioned this, the Apostle wrote:
“…IF I COME AGAIN I WILL NOT SPARE, SINCE YE SEEK A PROOF OF CHRIST SPEAKING IN ME” (II Cor. 13:2,3).
The proof of this claim? This was overwhelming indeed, for Paul was used more than any other apostle to found churches and lead men into the knowledge and joy of salvation. To the Corinthian believers he wrote what he could have written to many thousands of others: “The seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord” (I Cor. 9:2).
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The Significance Of The Resurrection
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July 02, 2013, 05:03:57 PM »
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The Significance Of The Resurrection
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
In his great Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul introduces himself immediately as “a bondslave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,” to proclaim God’s good news about Christ.
Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” was essentially about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was always talking about Christ. His epistles are filled with Christ. Christ, in his message, was everything. This is in striking contrast to much of our modern preaching and evangelism, which is not Christ-centered, but man-centered.
The gospel Paul proclaimed was God’s good news about Christ and His power and glory in defeating Satan, overcoming death, paying for sin and nailing the Law to His cross.
This is why the Apostle calls his message “the good news of the glory of Christ” (II Cor. 4:4). To enter experientially into the truth of this good news is the greatest blessing one can possibly experience.
In Verse 4 of his introduction to the Roman Epistle, the Apostle declares that Christ was powerfully declared to be the Son of God “by the resurrection from the dead.”
The resurrection of Christ had been both prophesied and proclaimed as a historical fact before Paul, but to Paul was committed a special message of good news concerning the resurrection. In his God-given message, Christ was raised from the dead to demonstrate that as God the Son He had paid the full penalty for sins that would have sunk a world to hell. Thus the Apostle writes to Timothy, his son in the faith:
“Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
“Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David [this is how Christ had formerly been known] was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds” (II Tim. 2:7-9).
Read the Epistles of Paul and see how salvation by grace through faith always hinges upon the finished work of Christ for our redemption. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
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Calvary In Retrospect
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July 03, 2013, 02:11:26 PM »
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Calvary In Retrospect
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
If the Bible makes anything clear, it is the fact that the secret of all God’s good news to man is centered at Calvary. It was because Christ was to die for sin that God could proclaim good news to sinners down through the ages.
It was not until some time after the crucifixion, however, that “the preaching of the cross” was widely proclaimed as a message by Paul in “the gospel [good news] of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24; I Cor. 1:18 ).
The proclamation of “the gospel of the grace of God” was the natural accompaniment to the revelation of the cross as the secret of God’s good news to man. In this proclamation of His over-abounding grace to sinners, everything centers in the cross.
According to Paul’s epistles “we have redemption through His [Christ's] blood” (Eph. 1:7), we are “justified by His blood” (Rom. 5:9), “reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10), “made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13) and “made the righteousness of God in Him” because God “hath made Him to be sin for us” (II Cor. 5:21).
The “covenant” of the law was abolished by the cross (Col. 2:14), the curse of the law was removed by the cross (Gal. 3:13), the “middle wall of partition” was broken down by the cross (Eph. 2:14) and believers in Christ are reconciled to God in one body by the cross (Eph. 2:16). Little wonder Paul calls his message “the preaching of the cross”!
To the believer it is thrilling to see the cross as God’s reply to Satan when, at first glance, it had appeared that Calvary had been Satan’s greatest triumph! Thus we can exclaim with Paul:
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (Gal. 6:14).
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Bethlehem And Calvary
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July 05, 2013, 06:15:49 PM »
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Bethlehem And Calvary
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
“Sweet Name come down from Heav’n above,
To win our heart’s deep tender love;
As Bethlehem and Calv’ry prove:
My Jesus.”
How true this old hymn is! Bethlehem and Calvary do indeed prove that the Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven to win us to himself.
St. Paul’s declaration that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (I Tim. 1:15) takes in both Bethlehem and Calvary. At Bethlehem Christ showed His love for man, not merely by coming to be with us, but by becoming one of us.
Luke, “the beloved physician,” wrote the famous “Gospel According to St. Luke” to show how truly man the Lord Jesus Christ was. Apart from sin,our Lord experienced all the emotions, the sorrows, the joys, the pains, the pleasures that we do. The Son of God actually became the Son of Man that the sons of men might become the sons of God.
But His life alone could not save us. His holiness would only expose our sin and condemn us. This is why the Apostle Paul declares that “Christ DIED for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3), and that “WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE”(Eph. 1:7).
Those who believe this and trust Christ as their personal Saviour rejoice in the truth of the above poem. Their hearts have been won to the Blessed One who came from heaven to Bethlehem and Calvary because HE loved them.
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A Stone Of Stumbling
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A Stone Of Stumbling
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Some thirty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, St. Peter wrote to the believers of the Jewish dispersion:
“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious; but unto them which be disobedient, the Stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” (I Pet. 2:7,8 ).
It is true that Israel’s builders, 1900 years ago, “disallowed” Christ as the cornerstone for their building, and that when He became the “Head of the corner,” according to Psa. 118:22, it was for them an occasion for stumbling and embarrassment.
But Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him. In Rom. 9:33 St. Paul quotes from several Old Testament passages:
“As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
In Peter’s day and in Paul’s, those who looked upon Christ as their Cornerstone were never given cause to be ashamed. It was those who disallowed and refused Him who kept stumbling over Him and were constantly embarrassed by Him.
So today, those who put their trust in the crucified, risen Christ are eternally secure and will never be put to shame for having done so. But those who reject Christ keep forever stumbling over Him. They hear Him preached over the radio, they see Him offered as the One who died for their sins, they are constantly confronted with His claims and they are embarrassed. They keep forever stumbling over Him.
Moral: trust Him now as your personal Savior, for “whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
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Little Girl, Arise
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July 06, 2013, 11:08:48 PM »
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Little Girl, Arise
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
I was addressing an Assyrian audience on the raising of Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter by the Lord Jesus Christ, and using the narrative to illustrate how God, through His Word, gives resurrection life to those who are “dead in trespasses and sins.”
I had as my interpreter the incomparable Bedour Hanush Afraim Kassab, but there was one point in the narrative where my audience needed no interpreter. I will explain.
It so happens that Aramaic, spoken by our Lord on earth, is almost identical to Assyrian and there is one small phrase in the story where our English Version presents the very words our Lord spoke to Jairus’ daughter: “Talitha cumi,” or “Little girl, arise.”
Now it also happened that in our audience there was a little Assyrian girl who, like Jairus’ daughter, was twelve years old. As I told of Jairus’ anxiety for his dying daughter and his anguish at the news of her death, the little Assyrian girl could understand nothing; she had to wait until my words were interpreted into Assyrian. But when I got to the words “Talitha cumi” she needed no interpreter. Leaping from her chair she stood looking at me with eager, sparkling eyes, as if to say: “What do you want of me? What can I do now?”
Like Jairus’ daughter, our little girl had heard and understood just those three words and had applied them to herself. So it is with those who have received “life in Christ.” “Dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1), they paid little heed to the Word of God (I Cor. 2:14), but one day, by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, they did take heed and believe some simple gospel passage, like “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3) and, applying it to themselves, were “raised to walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
Nothing would please us more than if some reader should thus apply the gospel of God’s grace to himself and receive eternal life.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and THOU shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
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Are You Sure?
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July 07, 2013, 03:56:40 PM »
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Are You Sure?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Would you like to have the knowledge, the assurance and the joy of sins forgiven? Would you like to be sure of heaven?
Well, the first step to heaven is to realize that you cannot get there by trying. You can’t walk there. You can’t climb there. You can’t fly there. Only God can take you there. Many try to earn heaven. They try to climb there on a ladder of good works. They talk about “adding another rung.” But look out for that good works ladder! It’s not anchored at the top and the higher you climb the farther you will fall.
God’s Word says that salvation is “the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). He is not going to have boasters in heaven — there are enough of them on earth and nobody likes them.
All of us should realize that even the best of us are not good enough for heaven, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), but in this same statement the Apostle Paul declares that believers in Christ, who died for our sins, are “justified freely by His [God's] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
So, friend, it is not by trying, or crying, or praying, or paying, or doing anything that you will reach heaven: it is only by believing. God says He loves sinners, and that Christ died for our sins. Will you believe this and trust Christ as your Savior? The terms are stated very plainly 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, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
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The Son Of Man
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July 08, 2013, 06:22:34 PM »
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The Son Of Man
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
In the four “Gospel” records, the Lord Jesus Christ refers to Himself about eighty times as “the son of Man”. This title is based upon a passage in Daniel’s prophecy in which “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom” are given unto one who appeared as “the Son of Man” (Dan.7:13, 14). This kingdom, says the passage, “shall not pass away, and … shall not be destroyed.”
As the term “Son of God” speaks of our Lord’s deity and the term “Son of David” emphasizes His title as King of Israel, so the term “Son of Man” identifies Him as the representative of mankind in general.
It is as “Son of Man” that He will reign as King of the world, as “King of kings”as we have seen above. It is also as “Son of Man” that He will judge the nations just before His kingdom reign:
“When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him will be gathered all nations” (Matt.25: 31,32).
As Son of man He will also be the Judge at the final judgment at the Great White Throne (Rev.20:11-15).
“For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son… because He is the Son of man” (John 5:22,27).
Surely God could not be more just in His dealings with mankind. But best of all it is as Son of man that our Lord represented us at Calvary, paying the penalty for our sins that He might deliver us from the judgment to come. “For the Son of man came…to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). In “due time” the Apostle Paul was raised up to proclaim the glad news that the great Mediator had given Himself “a ransom for ALL” (I Tim.2:6).
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The New Creation
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The New Creation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
In Romans 5:12 God tells us how we are all related to the first man, Adam:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin… so death passed upon all men…”
This verse clearly indicates that every child born into the world since Adam has partaken of Adam’s sinful nature.
Parents sometimes wonder why their children act as they do. The answer is simple! Every child is related to rebellious Adam by physical birth, and soon rebels like Adam, whose offspring he is.
In Scripture we are told that God “commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8 ).
When you are in trouble and someone comes to your aid, are you not automatically drawn to that person? Should we not then be attracted to the One who cared so much for us that He “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:7,8 )?
Through natural birth we partake of the sinful natures of our parents back to Adam, and frequently we even have the same physical features as our parents. How touching, then, to know that the Lord Jesus Christ took on Him “the likeness of men” (apart from sin) and, as the God-man, died for our sins upon the cross, where sinful men (people like us) nailed Him! As we recognize this and place our faith in Him, a spiritual birth takes place and we become the children of God (John 1:12). More than this, we become members of the Body of Christ, God’s new creation, for “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation” (II Cor. 5:17). “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
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Our Great Commission
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Our Great Commission
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Much is said of the “great commission” which our Lord gave to His apostles just before His ascension. We wonder whether our readers have ever examined the various records of this commission carefully.
This “great commission” does not say one word about “the preaching of the cross” or “the gospel of the grace of God”. The “gospel” which they were sent to preach was very evidently the same “gospel” they had been preaching — the Gospel of the Kingdom — only they could now declare, as Peter did at Pentecost, that the King had risen from the dead and would still some day occupy the throne of David.
The “great commission” demanded faith and baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 16:15,16); it included the power to heal the sick and work miracles (16:17,18 ), but it did not include the glad message that “Christ died for our sins” (ICor.15:1-3). At Pentecost, when Peter began to carry out this commission, he rather blamed his hearers for the death of Christ and when, convicted of their sins, they asked: “What shall we do?” he did not say: “Believe on Christ who died for your sins.” He rather commanded them to “repent and be baptized every one…for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38 ).
But after Christ and His Kingdom were again rejected, God interrupted the prophetic program and sent Paul forth to proclaim “the preaching of the cross” and “the gospel of the grace of God”. In II Corinthians 5: 14-21 this apostle proclaims “the love of Christ” who “died for all” and instructs us as to our“great commission”:
“And all things are of [provided by] God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, AND HATH GIVEN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION;
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself… AND HATH COMMITTED UNTO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION” (II Cor. 5:18,19).
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A Faithful Saying (I Tim. 1:15)
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A Faithful Saying (I Tim. 1:15)
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
A faithful saying this,
The heart of heaven’s scheme:
Christ Jesus came into the world
Vile sinners to redeem.
For love of sinful men
He left His throne on high
And stooped to bear th’ accursed cross,
For sinful men to die.
Nor did He only save
From hell and wrath to come,
But raised us from our sinful state
To dwell on high with Him.
How great, how infinite,
The debt of love we owe!
How can we now do less than live
For Him who loved us so?
- C.R.S.
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Don't Dote On Personalities
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July 12, 2013, 11:35:36 PM »
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Don't Dote On Personalities
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
When Paul instructs Timothy to charge his followers not to “give heed” to “endless genealogies” (I Tim. 1:4), he refers to the status symbol of the personality of his day.
Recently this writer was informed by a correspondent from an eastern state that it appeared that he might be related to a Revolutionary general named Stam — and, did we wish him to investigate further! We replied that we were far too excited about where we were going to care much about where we had come from!
While there are some in our day who are very proud of their ancestry and have coats of arms displayed in their homes, the average Christian probably, has never had his family tree traced back very far. But in Paul’s day genealogies were very important, even among believers. One’s family relationships meant a great deal. If you were a second cousin to Christ or even a third cousin to Peter you “had it made.” You might be crude, or stupid, or even wicked, but all this was overlooked: you were closely related to Christ Himself or to the Apostle Peter and all were ready to give you audience.
Actually, the personality cult is still with us in the Church today though it manifests itself in different ways. We live in a day of mass communications, when the faces of prominent men and women are seen again and again in newspapers and magazines and even their personalities come through to us over radio and television. Thus it is the prominent “Christian” politician, athlete, actor, beauty queen, or even former gangster who commands the attention today. Those who arrange evangelistic campaigns often seek to engage such personalities to attract crowds. Such prominent figures, though perhaps actually saved, may be very much “of the world,” dishonoring their Christian calling every day, but their presence draws crowds and their shallow testimonies are used to justify their public participation in the work of the Lord.
The new evangelicalism has borrowed many prominent personalities from the world to help swell its audiences, while the old prayer that the witness may be hid behind the cross is to all intents and purposes considered passe.
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nChrist
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May God Lead And Guide Us All
Precious Heritage
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Reply #3133 on:
July 13, 2013, 04:30:02 PM »
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Precious Heritage
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
The book, We Americans, published by the National Geographic Society in 1976, depicts a family of eight early settlers, four of whom are holding Bibles in their hands. The caption opens with the words: “Book of books, the Bible, was the end and means of the education of early Americans.”
This is confirmed by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which declares that “The New England Primer… for 150 years widely used as a textbook, was largely composed of Scriptural and doctrinal material. Catechisms were taught in the public schools and prayer was offered twice a day” (EB under School and Curriculum in the United States).
This does not mean that all our Revolutionary forefathers were saved, or regenerated by personal faith in Christ, but the evidence is abundant that they were, as a whole, God-fearing men, and this was bound to have a significant effect on their thinking and their conduct. And, indeed, there were among them many born-again believers.
Revolutionary times conjure up in our minds such pictures as Washington praying earnestly at Valley Forge, the members of Congress kneeling together in prayer for divine guidance, and the precepts of Scripture being pressed home again and again by those high in government, while the citizens in general trembled at God’s Word.
It goes without saying that our nation plays a strategic role in the affairs of the world. Our influence is great. However, America will not again exert the right kind of influence in the world until the Church of Christ recovers from her spiritual illness and our national leaders and the populace once more become at least God-fearing. The fear of God does not in itself save from sin’s penalty, but it is the first step toward salvation. Moreover, God’s Word declares:
“By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil” (Prov. 16:6).
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nChrist
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A Jealous God
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Reply #3134 on:
July 14, 2013, 04:24:28 PM »
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A Jealous God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
We heartily thank God for every politician, athlete, actor or even criminal who comes to know Christ as Savior. But conversion alone does not qualify one for a place of prominence in Christian service. This, especially in Paul’s epistles, is reserved for mature believers, wholly separated to God and established in the truth (See especially II Tim. 2:21).
When hearts beat faster because of the presence of some glamorous personality on the Christian platform; when such personalities receive adulation which belongs rather to the Christ who died for them, God is dishonored and displeased.
True, the motive in procuring such “crowd-getters” may have been to reach greater numbers for Christ, just as some of our spiritual leaders become yoked together with apostate unbelievers in evangelistic endeavors in order to reach souls for Christ, but the end does not justify the means. It is never right to do wrong to accomplish some good end.
Have we forgotten that God’s Word says: “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:5) and “I will not give My glory unto another” (Isa. 48:11)? True we quote here from the Ten Commandments, but remember, Paul in his epistles quotes all the Ten Commandments except one (re the sabbath). The covenant of the Law has been done away but not the moral law itself, and God is the only Being who has legitimate and urgent reason to be jealous of His glory. Christian leaders are playing a dangerous game when they give glory due to God alone to prominent personalities so as to swell their audiences.
It is time for the Church to realize that salvation is the work of God and that true and lasting results will follow only when we conduct His work in His way.
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