Two Minutes With The Bible

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Taking God At His Word
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Because of a failure to understand God’s purposes as outlined in the Scriptures some have felt it necessary to alter many of the plainest statements of Holy Writ. Supposing that God could not have meant exactly what He said, they have concluded that these things must be interpreted in a “spiritual” sense.

Actually there is nothing spiritual about failing to take God at His Word, and seeking to explain away difficulties by arbitrarily altering what He has plainly said.

First, this would leave us at the mercy of theologians. If the Scriptures do not mean what they say, who has the authority to decide what they do mean? And how can we turn to the Word of God for light if it does not mean what it says, and only trained theologians can tell us what it does mean?

Second, this altering of the Scriptures affects the veracity of God. It is a thrust at His very honor. If the obvious, natural meaning of the Old Testament promises are not to be depended upon, how can we depend upon any promise of God? Then, when He says: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13), He may also mean something else instead of what He actually says.

Third, this “spiritualizing” of Scriptures endorses apostasy, for it allows men to alter the meaning of God’s Word according to their will.

The path to a true understanding and enjoyment of the Bible is not in altering but in “rightly dividing” it (II Tim. 2:15).

Those who have resorted to the “spiritualization” of the prophetic Scriptures because they cannot account for the seeming cessation in their fulfillment, will find the solution to their problem in a recognition of the unique character of Paul’s apostleship and message. Recognize “the mystery” revealed through Paul and there will be no need to alter prophecy.

[nChrist]

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The Most Important Hour Of History
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The most important hour of all history was the hour when the Lord Jesus Christ died on Calvary’s cross for the sins of mankind. Often, in Scripture, the hour of our Lord’s death is called simply “the hour ,” “My hour ,” or “His hour.”

To fulfill prophecy He could not have died one hour earlier, or one later: Until that hour arrived His enemies were somehow restrained from doing Him bodily harm, so that we read in John 7:30:

    “Then they sought to take Him: but no man laid hands on Him, because HIS HOUR WAS NOT YET COME” (See also John 8:20).

This hour was to be for Him a time of unspeakable agony and shame. Referring to this, He said to Andrew and Philip:

    “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save Me from this hour? But FOR THIS CAUSE CAME I UNTO THIS HOUR” (John 12:27).

He had come to die for the sins of the world and would not now turn away from the sufferings involved. But this hour of suffering and shame was also an hour of glory, for there the Son of God paid a debt which would have sunk a world to hell. This is why, at this same time, in the very shadow of the cross, He said:

    “THE HOUR IS COME THAT THE SON OF MAN SHOULD BE GLORIFIED. Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:23,24. See also John 17:1,2).

Little wonder we read 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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Glorious Consummation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In Eph. 1:9,10 Paul makes a statement regarding the mystery which has baffled many students of the Word:

    “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself:

    “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.”

This will be the glorious consummation of the mystery but we, of the dispensation of grace, are to show men and angels that true oneness is to be found only in Christ (Eph. 3:9-11).

The world knows nothing of this perfect oneness and, indeed, the Church does not experience it — except in Christ. There is no true oneness anywhere — in the world or in the Church — except in Christ. We might illustrate this by two members of the body: our two arms. They hang from opposite sides of the body yet work together as one. But wherein lies their oneness? The answer is: In the head. It is the head which makes my arms and hands operate as one, and so our oneness as members of Christ’s Body, is in Christ, the Head. It is the recognition of Christ as our Head, then, and this alone, that can make us one, experientially. Thus the Apostle says:

    “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

Soon enough the Lord will take us out of this world and all those events will transpire which will finally bring in “the fulness of [the] times,” when all in heaven and earth will be “gathered together in one… in Christ”! “What a day of rejoicing that will be”!

[nChrist]

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The Supreme Importance Of God's Word To The Believer
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Bible will always have first place in the life of the spiritual Christian.

It is of utmost importance that we understand this, for some who feel themselves quite spiritual give much time to prayer, but little, if any, to the study of the Word. Such have actually fallen for the subtle trick of the adversary to play upon their natural human pride and cause them to exalt self and push God into the background.

In saying this we do not for one moment minimize the importance of prayer; we only stress the supreme importance of the holy Word of God. In this we are surely Scriptural, for David says, by inspiration:

    “For Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name” (Psa. 138:2).

Of those who would still object and place first emphasis upon prayer rather than upon the Word, we would ask one simple question: Which is the more important, what we have to say to God or what He has to say to us? There can be but one answer to this question, for obviously what God has to say to us is infinitely more important than anything we might have to say to Him. Our prayers are as fraught with failure as we are, but the Word of God is infallible, immutable and eternal.

Yet some, having fallen for one of Satan’s “devices” and feeling quite spiritual about it, are like the talkative person to whom one listens and listens, occasionally nodding his head, but receiving little or no opportunity to “get a word in edgewise.” They do all the talking, but give little time listening to what God has to say to them.

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A Watchman For Israel And The Apostle Of Grace
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “…I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me” (Ezek. 33:7).

The Prophet Ezekiel was appointed by God as a “watchman” over the house of Israel. He was held responsible to warn the wicked from their way, for while God must deal justly with sin, He had declared: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Verse 11).

If Ezekiel failed to warn the wicked they would die in their sins, but their blood would be required at his hand. If he faithfully warned them, however, and they refused to heed the warning, they would die in their sins, but he would be absolved of all responsibility (See Verses 8 and 9).

Would some Christian reader remind us that we are living under another dispensation and that our message is one of grace? True enough, but this does not diminish, it increases our responsibility toward the lost.

    “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (I Cor. 14:8.).

If we believers carelessly allow the lost to go to Christless graves, are we not morally responsible for their doom? Will we not be held accountable at the Judgment Seat of Christ? (See II Corinthians 5:10,11). This is why we find Paul reminding the Ephesian elders that he had not ceased to “warn” men “night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).

As the apostle looked back over his ministry among the Ephesians he could say: “I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men” (Verse 26). And this had been so of his ministry in general. Indeed, it was now his desire that whatever the cost, he “might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Verse 24).

May Ezekiel, and the Apostle Paul, that great warrior for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be memorials to us — of our great responsibility toward the lost!

[nChrist]

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The Christian Home
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Truth
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Bible is unique among books as Christ was among men, in that it is the only book that claims repeatedly and consistently to be the truth.

It begins with the majestic words: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It does not argue the case; it simply states it. The sacramental introduction to the prophecies is: “Thus saith the Lord,” and a hundred fulfilled prophecies prove that the Bible is indeed the Word of God — the truth.

Without apology it refers to:

    The “manifestation of the truth” (II Cor. 4:2).
    The “knowledge of the truth” (II Tim. 3:7).
    Those who “have erred concerning the truth” (II Tim. 2:18.).
    Those who “resist the truth” (II Tim. 3:8.).
    Those who “hold [hold down, suppress] the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18.).
    Those who “turn away their ears from the truth” (II Tim. 4:4).
    Those who “believe and know the truth” (I Tim. 4:3).
    Those who “acknowledge the truth” (Titus 1:1).
    Our Lord said to His Father: “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).
    Paul wrote to those who were saved when they “heard the word of truth, the gospel of [their] salvation” (Eph. 1:13).

Where the truth is concerned God’s Word is all we need, for:

    “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction in righteousness;

    “That the man of God may be perfect [complete], THOROUGHLY FURNISHED unto all good works” (II Tim. 3:16,17).

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The Christ Bell
by Anonymous


I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God’s child (Rom. 8:16)
I am a light in the world (Phil. 2:15)
I am sealed by God (II Cor. 1:21-22)
I am bought with a price (I Cor. 6:19,20)
I am a saint (set apart for God) (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 22:15)
I have peace with God through Christ (Rom. 5:1)
I have been saved in order to bear fruit (Rom. 7:4)
I am a member of the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27)
I am a citizen of Heaven living on earth (Phil. 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Eph. 2:6)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18.)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (II Cor. 5:17-21)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28.)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12)
I have been crucified with Christ and He liveth in me (Gal. 2:20)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am God’s temple (I Cor. 6:19). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
I have been justified (Rom. 3:24). I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)
I am God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil. 1:6)
I am redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14). I have been adopted as God’s child (Eph. 1:5)
I belong to God. Do you know. Who you are?

Without Christ you are blind and lost (II Cor. 4:3,4), but the good news is, God loves you and Christ died to pay for your sins (I Cor. 15:3,4). The only question is, do you believe He died to pay for your sins, or are you still trying to pay for them in your own way, by doing good works? God says, “to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). Why not “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”(Acts 16:31).

[nChrist]

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Two Aspects of Christian Liberty
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free… If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:32,36).

The true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ enjoys glorious liberty, and our Lord Himself said that there are no strings attached… “Ye shall be free indeed,” free even from the most oppressive of all slave masters: sin. While the Law never saved one man from sin, the Lord Jesus, by His death on Calvary did, for we read that “Christ died for our sins.”

Therefore the Apostle wrote by divine inspiration: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). His letters thunder severe rebukes against believers who “desire to be under the law.” To the Colossian Christians he wrote:

    “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [substance] is of Christ” (Col. 2:16,17).

But true liberty is used for good, otherwise it only reverts to bondage again, for whatever overcomes a man becomes his master (II Pet. 2:19), and doing evil can only harm ourselves and others. Thus the Apostle says further:

    “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak” (I Cor. 8:9).

    “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).

    “…Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth” (Rom. 14:22).

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The Love Of God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Millions of people — even religious people — are afraid of God and are struggling to earn His favor. They suppose that salvation is the reward of showing enough love to Him. If only they would believe what God Himself says, that if we are ever saved it will be entirely because He loved us and graciously provided for our salvation.

The Apostle Paul, in the Bible, called God “the God of love” (II Cor. 13:11) and John declared that “God IS love” (1 John 4:8.). Thus John goes on to say:

    “HEREIN IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE LOVED US and sent His Son to be the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins” (1 John 4: 10).

This is why salvation is so often called a “gift” in the Bible. It is the expression of God’s love to sinners. And so St. Paul tells us:

    “[We] were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, 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 together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Eph. 2:3-5).

    “…after that THE KINDNESS AND LOVE OF GOD OUR SAVIOR TOWARD MAN appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to HIS MERCY He saved us…” (Titus 3:4,5).

Does all this mean that God overlooks sin or condones it? By no means! In His love He paid for our sins on Calvary’s cross “that He might be Just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). This is why we read in Rom. 5:8:

    “…GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS CHRIST DIED FOR US.”

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Mercy Upon All
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Have you ever wondered how the pagan world got that way: idol-worshipping, wicked, gripped by superstition and fear?

The Bible supplies the answer in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Three times in Chapter 1 we read of the Gentile world: “He gave them up… He gave them up… He gave them over….” Why? Because they had given Him up: “And even as they did not wish to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient [becoming]” (Rom. 1:28.).

It would have been difficult to believe 30 or 40 years ago, that our young people would be dancing to the wild, exotic music of pagan lands (if this can be called music), or that our studios would be selling the twisted, hideous paintings of pagan art (if this can be called art).

When you wonder why the lovely melodies and harmonies of yesteryear have given place to the noise and din of today’s “music”; when you wonder why the beautiful paintings of those days have been largely replaced by the masterpieces of chaos that surround us now — why in so many ways we seem to be reverting to paganism — read Romans 1.

All this is the natural result of a departure from God and His Word. Yet there is hope and assurance and joy in store for any individual who will yet heed the message of God — particularly in the Book of Romans. Here we read how Jew joined Gentile in rejecting Christ, and God had to give them all up. But listen to this passage from Rom. 11:32: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief THAT HE MIGHT HAVE MERCY UPON ALL.”

That is, He gave up the Jewish and Gentile nations so that He might show His grace to any individuals who might turn to Him by faith in Christ, thus reconciling both (Jewish and Gentile believers) unto Himself in one body, by the cross (Eph. 2:16).

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How the Spirit Helps
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “The Spirit… helpeth our infirmities” (Rom. 8.26).

A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. If one link in a chain will hold one hundred pounds, another fifty, and another ten, the chain as a whole will hold ten pounds, no more. This is why James 2:10 says:

    “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Many people suppose that we will be saved or lost according to how good or bad we have been. This is not so. It is not a question of how good or bad we have been, but of whether or not we have sinned. A man need commit only one robbery to be a robber, burn only one house to be an arsonist, kill only one human being to be a murderer — and commit only one sin to be a sinner. This is why the Word of God says that all are sinners.

How wonderful to know that in grace “Christ died for our sins” and that by simple faith in Him we may be saved and fully justified before God! (Rom. 5:6,8,10).

But born-again Christians find that the above principle is just as true of them as of the unbeliever. None of us is any stronger than his weakest point. Frightening, isn’t it, especially when we consider that Satan constantly attacks us at our weakest point to wreck our testimony if he can.

But here is where the believer can rejoice that “the Spirit… helpeth our infirmities” (Rom. 8:26). He dwells within to help in time of need, so that we need not fail (Rom. 8:11,12). This does not mean, however, that He takes control of us without being called upon, as He did “when the day of Pentecost was fully come.” Unlike the Pentecostal believers, we live under “the dispensation of the grace of God.”

What God provides by grace we must appropriate by faith. Thus in any given case we may have victory. Indeed it is concerning the weak brother in Christ that Paul declares by inspiration:

    “God is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4).

[nChrist]

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Every-Man Evangelism
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “Do the work of an evangelist.”

Paul’s Spirit-inspired injunction in II Tim. 4:5 applies indirectly to every believer in Christ. Are not our pastors simply leaders in the work of the Lord? Shall the congregation sit idly by as the pastor alone does “the work of an evangelist?” God forbid! The pastor is rather to be an example to his flock to go and do likewise.

How well this writer recalls the days of the so-called Darby-Scofield movement when multitudes all over the country thronged to hear Bible teachers like Gaebelein, Gray, Gregg, Ottman, Chafer and Newell. These able men of God expounded the Word as the “blessed hope” of the Lord’s return was being recovered. But these Bible teachers were evangelists too, in the truest sense of the word, and their evangelism was contagious.

In those days almost all premillenarians, including the young people, carried New Testaments in their pockets wherever they went. Why? They hoped and prayed for opportunities to testify to others about God’s plan of salvation through Christ and they wanted to show them the way from Scripture. In those days if a Christian failed to have a New Testament with him he was apt to be reproved with the words: “What! a soldier without a sword?” By contrast few believers carry New Testaments about with them today, and they certainly don’t carry Bibles!

Some are telling us today that this brand of fundamentalism is out of date and ineffective in these fast-changing times. We reply that all of us ought to get back to this brand of fundamentalism, this earnest effort to personally win souls to Christ by showing them God’s plan of salvation from the Scriptures.

God help his people in general and each spiritual leader in particular, to “do the work of an evangelist.”

[nChrist]

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Cremation
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


    “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).

[nChrist]

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The Accomplishments Of Calvary
by Pastor 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 to Him from their sin and failure. “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED…” (Acts 16:31).